Asian Movie Reviews »
Don’t Click (2012) Movie Review
Some 14 years after Sadako crawled from the television set, the influence of Hideo Nakata’s classic “Ringu” is still very much in evidence in the Asian horror genre. New Korean shocker “Don’t Click” is...
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I Miss U (2012) Movie Review
Despite its title, “I Miss U” is actually a Thai horror film, albeit one with a decidedly romantic and wistful bent, director Monthon Arayangkoon, combining the love story of his 2010 “Big Boy” with...
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The Cases (2012) Movie Review
Documentaries about the sinister and spooky have long been popular in Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, from back in the 1980s through to the present day, most recently seen in the sadly rather lacklustre...
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Nightmare (2012) Movie Review
The last few years have been an interesting time for the horror genre in Chinese cinema, with film makers venturing more and more into the realms of the sinister, while being held back by...
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Film Shots: Storage 24, We Are the Night, and My Ex
STORAGE 24 (2012) Prolific British writer, director, actor and more Noel Clarke returns in his 4th film of 2012, science fiction horror thriller “Storage 24”, directed by Johannes Roberts, helmer of a variety of...
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Romance Joe (2011) Movie Review
“Romance Joe” marks the debut of writer director Lee Kwang Kuk, who served his apprenticeship by working on several films by Korean master Hong Sang Soo including “HaHaHa” and “Like You Know It All”....
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10+10 (2011) Movie Review
Although the anthology format is common enough in Asian cinema, “10+10” offers something a little different, not to mention more densely packed and diverse, cramming in no less than 20 short films, each no...
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The Wings of the Kirin (2011) Movie Review
Abe Hiroshi returns as popular Japanese literary figure Detective Kaga Kyoichiro, appearing on the big screen for the first time after several popular television adaptations of the Higashino Keigo novels. “Wings of the Kirin”...
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Miss Conspirator (2012) Movie Review
“Miss Conspirator” is a Korean comedy action romance directed by Park Chul Kwan, known for his popular 2001 gangster spoof “Hi Dharma!”. The film is headlined by top actress Ko Hyun Jung, star of...
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Tai Chi Zero (2012) Movie Review
Stephen Fung’s “Tai Chi Zero” is a failed attempt to mix up the martial arts movie genre into something new. The movie revolves around Lu Chen (Jayden Yuan) aka “The Freak”, who is born...
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Dangerously Excited (2011) Movie Review
“Dangerously Excited” is another Korean comedy with a musical theme, though this time with more of an indie vibe, following popular character Yoon Je Moon (“Battlefield Heroes”) as a straitlaced civil servant who gets...
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Lacuna (2012) Movie Review
Pang Ho Cheung, arguably most the talented and exciting Hong Kong film maker of the last decade, serves as producer on “Lacuna”, directed by his regular collaborators Derek Tsang and Jimmy Wan, who wrote...
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In Another Country (2012) Movie Review
Acclaimed Korean director and international festival favourite Hong Sang Soo returns with “In Another Country”, his 15th outing and another playful meditation on life and relationships, washed down as ever with plenty of alcohol....
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Vulgaria (2012) Movie Review
“Vulgaria,” a new comedy co-written, produced and directed by Pang Ho-Cheung and starring Chapman To as a B-movie producer, opens with a lot of promise. Immediately, a voice over disclaimer warns viewers to be prepared...
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The Thieves (2012) Movie Review
Dong-hoon Choi’s “The Thieves” successfully revisits the heist genre that first brought him to fame. This time around, the production uses an ensemble cast of established, young and veteran actors from Korea and Hong...
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New on Blu-ray: Tetsuo – The Iron Man/Body Hammer
Japanese and cult film fans were given real cause for excitement recently, with the announcement by Third Window that they would be releasing Shinya Tsukamoto’s seminal classics “Tetsuo: the Iron Man” and “Tetsuo II:...
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Kotoko (2011) Movie Review
Japanese auteur and cult favourite Shinya Tsukamoto returns with “Kotoko”, combining the apocalyptic style of his classic “Tetsuo” films with the monstrous and terrifyingly intimate tale of a young single mother losing her mind...
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The Egoists (2011) Movie Review
Japanese director Hiroki Ryuichi has had a pretty fascinating career, starting off in Pinku films, before being hailed in the mid-2000s as one of the country’s top New Wave indie helmers thanks to acclaimed...
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Hard Romanticker (2011) Movie Review
The excellently titled “Hard Romanticker” takes a (very) violent look at the Zainichi (Korean-Japanese) criminal underworld and youth gang battles, with popular actor Matsuda Shota, known for hit television shows like “Boys over Flowers”...
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A Muse (2012) Movie Review
“Lolita” goes Korean with “A Muse”, the story of a 70 year old poet falling in love with a young high school girl. Based upon the popular and controversial novel “Eun Gyo” by Park...
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