Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds (1984) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) “Nausicaa” (also known by the longer title, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”) is based on the manga series of the same name, written and drawn by the film’s writer/director Hayao Miyazaki. The story is set 1,000 years from now, in a so-called...

December 21st, 2004 | Read More

Zhou Yu’s Train (2002) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Edward Lee) Love drives human beings wild. Ever since the first two people fell in love, love has been full of equal parts splendor and monotony, passion and indifference, sanity and danger, and loyalty and treachery. Despite what love does — despite how attached we grow to one...

December 7th, 2004 | Read More

Gun Crazy: Vol. 1 – A Woman From Nowhere (2002) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Edward Lee) The world loves a good western. As a matter of fact, Europeans loved them so much that, when distribution problems of the early 1960s made these movies increasingly difficult to import, they started making their own. While starring actors of various nations, most of these...

December 5th, 2004 | Read More

National Treasure (2004) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Donnie Saxton) Promoting a blockbuster can be a double-edged sword, just ask the makers of “National Treasure”. Trailers and promos get people in the theater, but often reduce the quality of the overall experience. If you have watched even half an hour of television this...

November 24th, 2004 | Read More

Legendary Weapons of China (1981) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) At the turn of the 20th century, China is in chaos as foreign imperialists move in and divide the country into neat little pieces to exploit. This leads to the rise of quasi-religious societies/cult militias made up of Chinese “Boxers,” warriors bent on expelling...

November 1st, 2004 | Read More

Team America: World Police (2004) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Donnie Saxton) Ironically, just the other day I was asking myself: why in the world hasn’t anyone made a film exploring the geopolitical realities of nuclear proliferation starring wooden marionettes? Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the fire-breathing creators of “South Park”,...

October 21st, 2004 | Read More

Patlabor: The Movie 2 (1993) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) “Patlabor 2″, the sequel to 1990’s “Patlabor: The Movie”, examines the unique status of Japan in the modern world. The country is an economic world power, but due to the constitution drafted after World War II by the Allies, Japan is not allowed...

October 11th, 2004 | Read More

The Shaolin Temple (1979) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Boy sees father killed by evil warlord. Boy escapes to Shaolin Temple to learn kung fu. Boy gets payback. Of course, there’s more to the plot than that, but not much. This is a pretty standard kung-fu movie with a couple...

October 9th, 2004 | Read More

Patlabor: The Movie (1990) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) In the late 20th century, highly advanced robots, known as Labors, were created for construction purposes. Other labors were developed to be used in the military, for undersea exploration and even recreational purposes. However, with the growing amount of labors, there is...

October 9th, 2004 | Read More

Ladder 49 (2004) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Donnie Saxton) There were only two things I wanted to be as a 7-year old: an NBA basketball player and a firefighter. I was too young to care that either profession would amplify my status with the ladies. It turns out that employment eligibility with the NBA requires world-class basketball...

October 7th, 2004 | Read More

Young Thugs: Innocent Blood (1997) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) Considering the sheer volume of his output, it may never be possible for any viewer, either in Japan or abroad, to take in the complete resume of director Takashi Miike. As of this writing, the Internet Movie Database lists a whopping 61 movies where Miike is credited as...

October 7th, 2004 | Read More

Young Thugs: Nostalgia (1998) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) “Nostalgia” revisits Riichi Nakaba in younger times, though by no means are they more innocent. Director Takashi Miike starts things off with a bang as he treats the audience to a merry little black-and-white flashback complete with festival music where we witness...

October 7th, 2004 | Read More

In the Line of Duty 4: The Witness (1989) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) Yuen Woo-ping’s “In the Line of Duty 4: Witness” starts off in Seattle, where Hong Kong detective Yeung (Cynthia Khan) arrives to work with the local PD to take down some drug smugglers. Meanwhile, dockworker Luk (Sunny Yuen) has the bad luck to witness...

October 5th, 2004 | Read More

Silmido (2003) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Jerry White) “Silmido” tries to be two things: a scathing indictment of an embarrassing footnote in Korean history, and a high-octane action blockbuster. This split personality — political treatise/money maker — creates a movie that is certainly watchable, but...

October 3rd, 2004 | Read More

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Bill Paterson) Hey, folks use computers to simulate lots of aspects of real life — sex, gambling, and all that important stuff. So, what the hell, why not fabricate the backdrop of an entire movie? That’s exactly what director Kerry Conran has done with “Sky Captain...

September 21st, 2004 | Read More

Cellular (2004) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Donnie Saxton) “Cellular” is a telephonic thriller that finds Chris Evans (Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch in the upcoming big budget “Fantastic Four” film) assuming the role of an anonymous white knight called to action by a mechanically inclined damsel in distress...

September 13th, 2004 | Read More

Open Water (2003) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Bill Paterson) A fish tale of a movie like “Open Water” is bound to be gutted by some. Opinions vary widely among both critics and audiences on whether “Open Water” is a watershed or waterlogged. We’ll get back to my thoughts on that in a moment. For now,...

September 7th, 2004 | Read More

Collateral (2004) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Donnie Saxton) Some actors have made cottage careers out of playing homicidal maniacs or calculating killers. Tom Cruise (”The Last Samurai”) is not one of them. In “Collateral”, the silver-haired Cruise plays, for the first time in my memory, a completely unsympathetic...

August 30th, 2004 | Read More

Rainy Dog (1997) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Bill Paterson) Upon viewing the two films following “Shinjuku Triad Society”, it became clear to me that this is not exactly a trilogy. Not anymore than, say, three wacky ’80s movies starring those Corey tools would be a trilogy. Search out alternative opinions on...

August 17th, 2004 | Read More

Wings of Honneamise (1987) Movie Review

(Movie Review by Erick Kwon) It’s a bit of cheat, but reviewers will use analogies to describe movies simply because it’s the quickest way to get the point across. Hence, “Volcano High” is “The Matrix” meets “Harry Potter”, and “The Matrix”...

August 16th, 2004 | Read More