Asian Movie Reviews »
Libera Me (2000) Movie Review
Despite my original aversion to Firefighter movies, I was sufficiently entertained enough by the Hong Kong Firefighter movie “Lifeline” to seek out other films in the genre. I stumbled across “Libera Me” from South...
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Gingko Bed (1996) Movie Review
It’s uncanny how much Korean director Je-gyu Kang’s career has paralleled that of American director Michael Bay, for better or worst. Kang’s first movie, “Gingko Bed”, is Michael Bay’s “Bad Boys”. It’s dumb, lacks...
Read More »Naked Killer (1992) Movie Review
Here’s an interesting survey for those of you planning on watching 1992′s “Naked Killer”: If you’re a cop, and you witness a woman repeatedly stab a guy in the balls with a scissor, should...
Read More »Lifeline (1997) Movie Review
I’m a sucker for cop movies, but I’ve never been all that enthusiastic about firefighter movies. I mean, besides watching firefighters battle fires, what’s the point? And really, how many different ways to show...
Read More »Il Mare (2000) Movie Review
If you thought the idea of actual time travel is fraught with disaster, then you should try your hand at writing a Time Travel movie! The smart filmmakers make the conscious decision to address...
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Choice of Hercules (2002) Movie Review
Masato Harada’s new movie “Choice of Hercules” would probably make more sense re-titled as “The Labors of Hercules”. Like the Greek myth before him, Atsuyuki Sassa (Koji Yakusho), a knowledgeable official with a Japanese...
Read More »Sleeping with the Dead (2002) Movie Review
Although sold as a Supernatural Horror film, the new Jordan Chan movie “Sleeping with the Dead” actually works better as a Drama. For one thing, the supernatural premise behind “Sleeping” is a retread of...
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Onmyoji (aka Yin Yang Master, 2002) Movie Review
“Onmyoji” (or “Yin Yang Master”) is about wizards at a Japanese royal court (circa 1000 A.D.) that do battle for the fate of the current ruling emperor. On one side there’s Seimei (Mansai Nomura),...
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Bounce ko Gals (aka Leaving, 1997) Movie Review
I don’t know what type of box office numbers writer/director Masato Harada gets in his native Japan, but I am almost certain it isn’t astounding. As he did with “Kamikaze Taxi”, a social movie...
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Ping Pong (2002) Movie Review
It must be hard for filmmakers to constantly have to find a new sport from which to form a Sports Movie around. Even the niche sport of curling has been explored in the Canadian...
Read More »Running Out of Time 2 (2001) Movie Review
The motto of “Running Out of Time 2″ seems to be, if it ain’t broke, make another sequel just like it. Following pretty much the same narrative structure used in the original “Running Out...
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Heaven and Earth (Ten to Chi to, 1990) Movie Review
You really have to respect director Haruki Kadokawa for the monumental task of directing a movie like “Heaven and Earth”, which is more enterprise in filmmaking than actual filmmaking. Not really a movie, but...
Read More »And I Hate You So (2000) Movie Review
“And I Hate You So” is a Romantic Comedy/Chick Flick. It’s a Chick Flick in the vein of “Serendipity”, and anyone interested in knowing what that means should go back and read the review...
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Krai Thong (2001) Movie Review
I’ve been asked why I haven’t reviewed that many movies from Thailand. It’s simple, really. The vast majority of movies from Thailand are just terrible. I mean, really, really bad. The acting, the writing,...
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Returner (2002) Movie Review
Sometimes there’s just no real reason for a movie to be in the first place. Take the South Korean movie “Resurrection of the Little Match Girl”, and now take the Japanese movie “Returner”. Both...
Read More »Viva Erotica (1996) Movie Review
For those familiar with Hong Kong cinema, the term “Cat III” conjures up images of sex for the sake of gratuitous sex. Hong Kong films that fall into the Cat III rating belong in...
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Wu Yen (2001) Movie Review
“Wu Yen” looks like a play turned into a movie, but without all the trappings of a “movie world” and everything associated with that. The film purports to tell the “real” story of the...
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Freeze Me (2000) Movie Review
With “Freeze Me”, I’m reasonably certain writer/director Takashi Ishii is trying to make a statement about the hardships of being a woman in contemporary Japan, but the problem is that the film just isn’t...
Read More »Bio Zombie (1998) Movie Review
More “Return of the Living Dead” than “Night of the Living Dead”, the Hong Kong salute to Zombies Attack film “Bio Zombie” is funnier and more effective than you would think at first glance....
Read More »Ardor (aka Deep Loves, 2002) Movie Review
I wish I could tell you I didn’t know how “Ardor”, a South Korean movie about a wronged wife who herself enters into an affair, would end, but unfortunately I can’t. I had hoped...
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