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Ghost System (2002) Movie Review
Although it clocks in at just a shade over 70 minutes, writer/director Toshikazu Nagae’s “Ghost System” really has no business being a feature-length film. Or, in this case, a pseudo feature-length film. Aside from...
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Whispering Corridors (1998) Movie Review
If South Korean movies set in high school have thought me anything, it’s not to go to high school in South Korea! If the teachers aren’t beating the living hell out of you on...
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Godzilla X MechaGodzilla aka Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002) Movie Review
Godzilla may have turned 49, but he shows no sign of slowing down. In the initial part of a planned trilogy, he battles an enemy very familiar to fans of the kaiju genre. An...
Read More »Xanda (2003) Movie Review
“South Park” once did an episode where they made fun of Sports Movie cliché, including the biggest clich’ of the genre, the inevitable Big Game (or Big Fight or Big Race, etc.). The second...
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Three Seasons (1999) Movie Review
It may shock most Americans to realize that, despite their insistence on holding onto the memories of the Vietnam War, that the Vietnamese people has since left that part of their past behind. Or...
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Alive (2002) Movie Review
It’s no surprise at all that Ryuhei Kitamura chose “Alive” as his first film post-”Versus”. Whereas that low-budget zombie/yakuza film was a meshing of hyper kinetic chaos and stylized action, “Alive” is a slightly...
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Cat Soup (2003) Movie Review
Tatsuo Sato’s “Cat Soup” is an odd brew. And because it’s such a short experiment in bizarre visuals, giving this 30-minute movie a grade becomes a problem. It’s much too short to be properly...
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Elysium (2003) Movie Review
If you approach it correctly, the South Korean animation “Elysium” really isn’t that bad. I mean, it is quite unremarkable, that goes without saying. The whole movie is essentially a 70-minute episode of “The...
Read More »My Wife is a Gangster 2 (2003) Movie Review
It was inevitable that a sequel to the wildly popular “My Wife is a Gangster” would show up sooner or later. Two years after the original, the sequel has arrived, returning star Eun-Kyung Shin...
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Moon Child (2003) Movie Review
Takahisa Zeze’s “Moon Child” is artistically very satisfying, but is unfortunately very generic. Gackt Camui, a big pop star in his native Japan, stars as Sho, a Japanese street urchin making a tough living...
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I.K.U. (2000) Movie Review
“I.K.U.” is written and directed by Shu Lea Cheang — who, if my name recognition skills is correct, is Chinese — but declares itself to be “a Japanese Sci-Fi Porn Feature.” The film is...
Read More »Sex is Zero (2002) Movie Review
It’s inevitable that filmmakers around the world would look at the phenomenon of the “American Pie” movies and think, “Eureka! I’ll remake it, only I’ll use gags from my own culture, that way I...
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Wonderful Days (aka Sky Blue, 2003) Movie Review
Visually startling, with a haunting soundtrack that hits you right in the soul, “Wonderful Days” nevertheless falters badly when it comes to story. Narratively speaking, the South Korean animation moves well, and there are...
Read More »The Mission (1999) Movie Review
If 1999′s “The Mission” proves anything, it’s that filmmaker Johnnie To is better as a solo filmmaker than he ever was when working with frequent collaborator Ka-Fai Wong, whose presence on a Johnnie To...
Read More »Beast Cops (1998) Movie Review
“Beast Cops” cleaned up the hardware in its native Hong Kong’s annual movie awards in 1998. The film was highly acclaimed by the critics and was, most importantly, a box office hit. The screenplay...
Read More »Tube (2004) Movie Review
Two things about “Tube”: In the beginning, during a shootout at the airport, just ignore the fact that you never see anyone reload, even though there are enough bullets flying back and forth to...
Read More »Asian Charlie’s Angels (2001) Movie Review
Here’s the odd thing: most of Christy Chung’s co-stars record their dialogue using sync sound, but only Chung’s dialogue is entirely dubbed from beginning to end! It would be interesting to find out why...
Read More »Drunken Monkey (2003) Movie Review
I must confess that when it comes to Old School Hong Kong martial arts period films, I’m not privy to a lot of background. For instance, I am familiar with exactly zero actors in...
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Shogun Assassin (1980) Movie Review
Shogun Assassin is actually a series of movies made in the 1970s masquerading as an American release. Shogun Assassin was originally called Lone Wolf and Cub: (Enter Secondary Title Here), and I believe there...
Read More »Sopyonje (1993) Movie Review
What makes “Sopyonje” stand out is its unflinching look and interpretation of a Korea under assault — not assault from foreign attacks or invaders, but from something just as deadly: cultural imperialism. It is...
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