Articles Written by James Mudge
James Mudge is BeyondHollywood.com's longest contributing movie reviewer. Based out of Glasgow, James is our go-to guy for Asian movie reviews old and new. He has a forthcoming book about Asian movies set to be released sometime this century. Maybe.
Bright Future (2003) DVD Review
“Bright Future” is a recent effort from acclaimed Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, finally released on region 2 DVD via Tartan. Although Kurosawa is best known for horror films such as “Kairo”, “Séance” and “Cure”, his works have always had an appeal beyond the genre, mainly due to his measured, philosophical approach, and the way in [...]
November 10th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreInvisible Waves (2006) DVD Review
“Invisible Waves” is a recent offering from acclaimed Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang, who scored a cult hit in 2003 with the excellent “Last Life in the Universe”. The two films actually have a lot in common, both being surreal mood pieces, beautifully lensed by master cinematographer Christopher Doyle, and featuring pan-Asian casts headed by Japanese [...]
November 10th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreSecret Sunshine (2007) Movie Review
“Secret Sunshine” is the latest effort from acclaimed Korean director Lee Chang Dong, who previously won praise and prizes both at home and abroad for his films “Green Fish”, “Peppermint Candy” and “Oasis”. Returning to the director’s chair following his work as Korean Minister of Culture and Tourism from 2003 to 2004, he managed to [...]
November 3rd, 2007 | James Mudge | 1 Comment | Read MoreThirteen Princess Trees (2006) Movie Review
“Thirteen Princess Trees” is a film with a sadly chequered release history, having run into trouble with the notorious Chinese censors. Based upon a book by university professor He Dacao, and directed by Lu Yue (a noted cinematographer who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Zhang Yimou’s “Shanghai Triad” and who [...]
November 3rd, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreFive Element Ninjas (1982) Movie Review
By the 1980s, having already filmed almost every martial arts story imaginable and facing increasing competition from other studios such as Golden Harvest, the Shaw Brothers were getting a little desperate. The continuing search for innovation took their productions in some pretty outlandish directions, resulting in a number of frankly crazy kung fu films which [...]
November 3rd, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreHalloween Movie Recommendations: 2007 Edition
Draw the curtains, carve the pumpkins and chill the moderately priced booze! October 31st is fast approaching and arguably the best and most fun holiday of the year is here again. Though genre fans for once do at least have a couple of decent big screen efforts to choose between in the form of “Saw [...]
October 29th, 2007 | James Mudge | 1 Comment | Read MoreThe Cut (2007) Movie Review
There can be no doubt that Korean horror is badly in need of a blood transfusion, as the majority of genre films over the last few years have been a pretty anaemic bunch without much in the way of visceral thrills. Strangely, despite the best efforts of the DVD box art, marketing blurb and indeed [...]
October 28th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreBoys of Tomorrow (2006) Movie Review
“Boys of Tomorrow” is poorly served by its misleading DVD box art, which seems to suggest some kind of wacky action comedy, despite the fact that the film is a very different proposition indeed, being a gloomy portrait of disaffected youth. Although this is perhaps understandable given that the film is not a particularly obvious [...]
October 28th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreMuoi: Legend of a Portrait (2007) Movie Review
“Muoi: Legend of a Portrait” is the latest of the 2007 batch of Korean summer horror films to make it to DVD. As any fan will sadly admit, the genre has of late become rather stale, with directors all too often content to simply recycle the same old tales of vengeance seeking female spectres, and [...]
October 27th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read MoreLady of Steel (1969) Movie Review
“Lady of Steel”, originally released back in 1970, was another vehicle for the Shaw Brothers sword queen Cheng Pei Pei, who appeared in countless classics for the studio including “The Flying Dagger” and “The Shadow Whip”, and who younger viewers might recognise from Ang Lee’s worldwide hit “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. The film was directed [...]
October 27th, 2007 | James Mudge | 0 Comments | Read More
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