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Mr. Iron Palm (2003) Movie Review
The South Korean movie “Mr. Iron Palm” is an undeniable Romantic Comedy, and as such its ending is inevitable from the opening frame. We know, for instance, that Korean expatriate Iron Palm (In-Pyo Cha)...
Read More »Public Enemy (2002) Movie Review
Despite a very graphic suicide (a bullet through the head) popping up early in “Public Enemy,” the rest of the film takes a dramatic shift toward comedy. Not long after the suicide, a cab...
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Nang Nak (1999) Movie Review
The story of Nang Nak (which translates from Thai as “Miss Nak” (the formal/respectful designation for a woman)) has been told ad infinitum and remains a popular (if not the most popular) part of...
Read More »Tell Me Something (1999) Movie Review
“Tell Me Something” is an interesting thriller about a serial killer who is offing (and then dismembering) the ex-lovers of a beautiful young woman. Not satisfied with just cutting them to pieces while they’re...
Read More »Soul Guardians (1998) Movie Review
The biggest problem with Kwang-chun Park’s “Soul Guardians” is that there is a feeling that the filmmakers are not entirely sure about the kind of movie they wanted to make and what sort of...
Read More »Legend of Gingko (2000) Movie Review
The actual title of “Legend of Gingko,” as revealed in the movie’s opening sequence, is actually “Legend of Gingko Tree.” Which brings me to this point: I don’t think the actual Gingko Tree shows...
Read More »2002 (2001) Movie Review
Nicholas Tse (Time and Tide) stars as Chiu, the only cop in a department within the Hong Kong Police Department designated “2002″ that deals with supernatural occurrences around the city. (Don’t ask, I don’t...
Read More »Say Yes (2001) Movie Review
If movies have taught me anything (and to be honest, they’ve taught me very little, natch), it’s never to drive cross-country without either a gun or a really big bodyguard. I bring this up...
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Bangkok Dangerous (2000) Movie Review
It probably won’t come as any surprise to anyone that “Bangkok Dangerous,” the Thai contribution to the old (but clearly not going anywhere) Hitman Genre, is a faithful rendition of the best of the...
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Dark Water (2002) Movie Review
It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that you could throw a rock at the present Asian film industry and hit a dozen or so ghost stories either being conceived, are...
Read More »Devil Face, Angel Heart (2002) Movie Review
Question: How do you know a film has little (to no) faith in its screenplay (re: its story)? Answer: When the screenwriter’s name doesn’t even appear in the opening credits, you know you’re in...
Read More »The Killer (1989) Movie Review
“The Killer” marks probably the best Yun-Fat/Woo team up as star/director, respectively. After the runaway success of “A Better Tomorrow,” the two men became international sensations, and “The Killer” solidified their reputations for all...
Read More »Nightmare (aka Gawi, 2000) Movie Review
The South Korean horror film “Nightmare” is a slasher film in the vein of “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” with heavy doses of supernatural elements ala the Japanese film “Ring.” It’s a...
Read More »Nowhere to Hide (1999) Movie Review
The tactics used by the cops in Myung-se Lee’s “Nowhere to Hide” to extract information from suspects would make the cops on TV’s “NYPD Blue” blush. They are, in a word, hardcore, and beating...
Read More »Princess D (2001) Movie Review
About halfway through the Hong Kong drama “Princess D,” a character that has suffered a mental breakdown is visiting her incarcerated husband; in a heartbreaking scene, the woman silently tries (but is unable) to...
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Waterboys (2001) Movie Review
The Japanese film “Waterboys” is a mixture of “The Bad News Bears” and “The Full Monty,” in which misfits attempt to accomplish something they’re just not cut out for, and in which no one...
Read More »My Schoolmate the Barbarian (2002) Movie Review
I’m always a little hesitant to assume things about foreign popular culture that I’ve never studied in-depth (i.e. college courses). Hong Kong is one of those places. I bring this up only because the...
Read More »Hit Team (2001) Movie Review
The most infuriating thing about Dante Lam’s Hit Team is that it’s obviously not a low budget production, and yet so little time and effort was spent on the English translations that one wonders...
Read More »Swordsman (1990) Movie Review
“Swordsman” is your standard Hong Kong-produced period martial arts movie. All the conventions of the genre are present, including the always popular girl mistaken for man because she wears man’s clothes big (this “confusion”...
Read More »The Eye (2002) Movie Review
The phrase “Two minds are better than one” seems to hold sway when it comes to sibling filmmakers. Which might explain the recent boom in multiple filmmakers from the same family attached to the...
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