Articles Written by Gopal
The Echo (2004) Movie Review
Filipino director Yam Laranas’ new film “The Echo” is yet another entry into the ever expanding genre of Asian atmospheric horror films. It uses most of the standard visual and thematic cues of its more famous Japanese forbearers, but does it effectively, and as a result creates an interesting and suspenseful film. Well put together, [...]
July 19th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read MoreCharlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Movie Review
Although comparisons are inevitable, Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” really shouldn’t be put up against the 1971 Gene Wilder children’s classic “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” While based on the same source material, the two films are quite different in tone and target. As with the fairy tales penned by the brothers [...]
July 17th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read MoreHana to Hebi ala Flower and Snake (2004) Movie Review
Japan has always had a long running tradition of extreme cinema. Be it gangster films, period dramas, or horror, there has always been a renegade group of filmmakers that have relentlessly pushed the boundaries of taste and decency. One only need look at Nobuo Nakagawa’s “Jigoku”, or just about anything by Kinji Fukasaku (”Battle Royale”) [...]
June 27th, 2005 | Gopal | 1 Comment | Read MoreHowl’s Moving Castle (2004) Movie Review
With Disney and Pixar firmly entrenched on the side of CGI for their animated efforts, it looks like Japan and the FOX Network are the last bastions of hand drawn animation. Perhaps the most revered name from this old school is Hayao Miyazaki, best known in the US for “Princess Mononoke” and the Oscar-winning “Spirited [...]
June 17th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read MoreUnleashed aka Danny the Dog (2005) Movie Review
Generally speaking, Jet Li’s western films have been hampered by indecision on the part of the filmmakers as to how to handle his onscreen persona. Since English is not Li’s first language, he is typically relegated to playing a stone-faced killer required only to beat the crap out of everyone he sees. Thus, I suspect [...]
May 15th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read MoreUnhuman (2004) Movie Review
Science fiction is a dangerous genre. It takes a degree of thought and subtlety to pull off a good film. However, the genre is so ripe with ideas that any Tom, Dick and Harry who get their hands on a camera and a chunk of cash can subject an unwitting audience to their take on [...]
May 11th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read MoreTears of the Black Tiger (2000) Movie Review
There has been a long established two-way street between Hollywood and Asian cinema. The venerable Akira Kurosawa took the inspiration for many of his films from the epic features of John Ford, and Hollywood filmmakers from Clint Eastwood to George Lucas have studied hard at the school of Kurosawa. The Thai film “Tears of the [...]
May 9th, 2005 | Gopal | 1 Comment | Read MoreTiger on the Beat (1988) Movie Review
One of the staples of action cinema is the buddy cop films, and the Hong Kong film industry is as inundated with them as Hollywood. Whether it’s John Woo behind the camera or Jackie Chan, Mel Gibson, or Eddie Murphy in front of it, the formula remains the same. A particularly enjoyable entry is 1988’s [...]
May 3rd, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read MoreMen Behind the Sun 4: Black Sun - The Nanking Massacre (1996) Movie Review
From the Crusades to the Nazis, the various atrocities committed during wars have been covered fairly well by most high school and college history classes. However, one event that rarely gets much international exposure is Japan’s conquest of China in the late 1930s. The accounts of Japan’s treatment of the conquered Chinese are at a [...]
May 2nd, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read MoreUnstable (2005) Movie Review
Despite the strides made in America over the past 50 years towards acceptance and equality amongst the many different types of people that make up our population, prejudice and hate are still very real parts of society. As much as we’d like to think otherwise, they affect all of us on one level or another [...]
April 15th, 2005 | Gopal | 0 Comments | Read More
This movie will be really awsome! It comes out tomorrow here. The movie wont be as good as the book ...
This barley even resembles Dragonball.
They took the old 'learn kung fu to save the world' type of movie and called ...
