Manufacturing Dissent (2007) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Christiaan Harden) When Debbie Melnyk and Nick Caine, two self-proclaimed progressive liberal filmmakers, set out to make a biography celebrating Michael Moore, they began as admirers and fans. After discovering a number of otherwise unknown facts about his documentaries, however, they...

April 29th, 2007 | Read More

Disturbia (2007) Movie Review / Shia LaBeouf Takes us on a Trip to Disturbia

(Movie Review by Richard Lewis) Shia LaBeouf is a very confident young actor, and for good reason. At the ripe young age of 20, LaBeouf has already amassed a huge body of work. “Constantine” opposite Keanu Reeves, “Holes” with Sigourney Weaver, and “Charlie’s Angeles:...

April 6th, 2007 | Read More

The Reaping (2007) Movie Review / Hilary Swank is Reaping the Rewards of an Amazing Career

(Movie Review by Richard Lewis) It is not every day you get to visit with a two-time Academy Award winner. By all accounts, Hilary Swank is just as down to Earth and approachable in person as she appears to be in her films. She is the quintessential girl next door (although I must say that if I lived...

March 30th, 2007 | Read More

Shooter (2007) Movie Review #2

(Movie review by John C. Ford) Not many people are in a mood to thank the Administration these days, but the makers of “Shooter” probably are. Stephen Hunter’s cinema-ready thriller novel about a master Vietnam sniper, under appreciated by both his country and his government, languished...

March 18th, 2007 | Read More

Shooter (2007) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Richard Lewis) I have always liked Mark Wahlberg. It is not because he is the most accomplished performer of his generation, and it would be a stretch to call him a method actor. And no one would ever compare him to the Edward Norton’s or Leonardo DiCaprio’s of the world...

March 13th, 2007 | Read More

Zodiac (2007) Movie Review

(Movie review by John C. Ford) David Fincher wants you to feel exhausted. He wants to show you how the interminable search for the Zodiac, a real-life California serial killer, chewed up the lives of three men who pursued him for more than a decade. Unfortunately, David Fincher is extremely good at his...

March 6th, 2007 | Read More

Ghost Rider (2007) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Richard Lewis) I sat down in the theater with a big smile on my face. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I had managed to somehow find a seat up front in a sold out show. Frankly, I think it’s just because I actually like superhero movies. I normally give these films...

February 20th, 2007 | Read More

The Queen (2006) Movie Review

(Movie review by John C. Ford) In 2003, a well-regarded director of independent films spun Oscar gold from a wisp of a storyline — a tone poem about a woman and a man from different generations who make a faltering, elusive connection in an exotic setting. And now, it has been done again. Ladies...

October 23rd, 2006 | Read More

Hanbando (2006) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Eric Choi) I had my doubts about “Hanbando” from the very beginning. It was clearly a nationalistic film, the sort of patriotic movie that exploits a very current situation in order to grab an audience. In this case, the issue is the continuing confrontation between South...

August 13th, 2006 | Read More

The Host (2006) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Eric Choi) Finally, a movie that is so refreshingly entertaining that it puts most blockbusters to shame. “The Host” is the new film by director Bong Joon-Ho (”Memories of Murder”), and besides being one of the best films I’ve seen all year, it deserves...

August 11th, 2006 | Read More

Lucky Number Slevin (2006) Movie Review

(Movie review by John C. Ford) “Lucky Number Slevin” is like a house of cards with baroque design — an exercise in style that, while dazzling in its details, leaves little to savor other than the effort necessary to make such an artificial construction. The labyrinthine plot of this...

April 10th, 2006 | Read More

Heaven’s Soldiers (2005) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) It’s inevitable that the South Korean movie machine would eventually get around to contributing to the shaping-history time travel movie genre, this time in the form of rookie writer/director Min Joon-ki’s “Heaven’s Soldiers.” As films in the...

October 27th, 2005 | Read More

A Time to Love (2004) Movie Review

(Guest Movie Review by Alex Lui) It was inevitable that the classic love story Romeo and Juliet would get updated yet again, as if having to endure Baz Luhrmann’s dizzying interpretation in his 1996 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes wasn’t bad enough. Though the story has been...

October 10th, 2005 | Read More

Turtles Can Fly (2004) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Donnie Saxton) If you are looking for yet another opinion on the propriety of the Iraq war, you won’t find it in the first film from Iraq since the war began. “Turtles Can Fly,” the gritty and compelling movie by director Bahman Ghobadi seeks not to lecture...

October 7th, 2005 | Read More

Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children (2004) Movie Review

Guest Movie Review by Alex Lui For followers of the Final Fantasy games, “Advent Children” comes as a reward for those long hours spent in front of the TV pushing buttons and ignoring a social life. For everyone else, this is pure eye candy, especially since the film has a story continued...

October 4th, 2005 | Read More

Serenity (2005) Movie Review

Guest Movie Review by Alex Lui Fans of the now defunct science fiction show “Firefly” seems to be the main reason “Serenity” has reached the big screen at all. Cancelled in mid-season during its chaotic run on the FOX network, “Firefly” went straight from TV to DVD...

October 3rd, 2005 | Read More

Slaughterhouse of the Rising Sun (2005) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) “It’s such a fine line between stupid and clever.” David St. Hubbins, “This is Spinal Tap” (1984) The origins of director Vin Crease’s “Slaughterhouse of the Rising Sun” may be more compelling than the feature itself. A low-budget...

September 25th, 2005 | Read More

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Eric Choi) Expectations can ruin a movie. That’s the adage that must have been on Park Chan-wook’s mind as he prepared to release “Sympathy For Lady Vengeance,” the final film in his much hyped “revenge” trilogy that began with “Sympathy For...

September 23rd, 2005 | Read More

Crying Fist (2005) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Eric Choi) Ryoo Seung-wan has always been a talent to watch. A director with a unique ability for blending the artistic with the commercial, Ryoo is no doubt one of the best filmmakers working in South Korea today. I’ve always thought of him as a Korean Robert Rodriguez; both began...

September 20th, 2005 | Read More

Ichi the Killer (2002) Movie Review #2

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) On the commentary track for one of his films, director Robert Rodriguez (”Sin City”) relates a story that I’ll paraphrase here: While taking questions about his low-budget debut “El Mariachi,” a critic asked about the significance of a tortoise...

August 9th, 2005 | Read More