Asian Movie Reviews »
My Sassy Girl (2001) Movie Review
The oddest thing about Jae-young Kwak’s “My Sassy Girl” is that its entire premise of a young, 20-something woman acting outrageous and going against the norm of how a “young woman” is supposed to...
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Guns and Talks (2002) Movie Review
There is very little doubt that writer/director Jin Jang (“No Comment”) has a firm technical handle on his new movie, “Guns and Talks”, but I doubt if he knew what he wanted to say,...
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2000 A.D. (2000) Movie Review
Gordon Chan’s 2000 A.D. doesn’t represent your average Hong Kong film production. For one, one of its writers is a fellow name Stu Zicherman, a non-Chinese name as you’ll ever find. Zicherman shares screenplay...
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One Fine Spring Day (2001) Movie Review
Love hurts. That simple statement expresses everything there is to know about Jin-ho Hur’s One Fine Spring Day, a movie that is about the awkwardness of attraction and the pain of a burning passion...
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Ballistic Kiss (1998) Movie Review
Ballistic Kiss is the kind of movie that we in the States refer to as “Vanity Projects.” Such projects usually involve a known actor, already famous and with an established name and reputation, who...
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Gen-Y Cops (2000) Movie Review
The “men” at the core of Gen-Y Cops are 3 Chinese cops who are supposed to be an “elite” squad that handles “all of Hong Kong’s toughest cases,” but the actors playing them look...
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Danger Zone (2003) Movie Review
“Danger Zone” is one of those movies so unconcern with being even slightly competent that you just have to tip your hat to it, because to do otherwise would drive one insane. Take this...
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Wild Zero (2000) Movie Review
When he set out to make what would later become a horror film classic, George Romero, through sheer will and the acquaintance of some foresighted investors, managed to frighten up (forgive the pun) somewhere...
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Ashes of Time (1994) Movie Review
Wong Kar-wai’s “Ashes of Time” is a rare film. It manages to be complex, thoughtful, and incredibly entertaining at the same time. Based on a novel of the same name by Louis Cha, “Ashes...
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Failan (2001) Movie Review
Kang-Jae is not much of a man. In fact, he’s not much of a human being. He’s boisterous and loud, a tough guy without any toughness in him. His boss abuses him and his...
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Avalon (2001) Movie Review
Pointless. That’s how I feel after finally finishing a First Person Shooter (FPS) game. It doesn’t matter if the FPS was a good game, a bad game, or if it was too hard, too...
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Gonin (1995) Movie Review
A movie like Gonin astounds and fascinates me. Writer/director Takashi Ishii is obviously a very talented man. There are visuals and camera framing in Gonin that just takes my breath away. The man has...
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New Dragon Inn (1992) Movie Review
The thing about New Dragon Inn is, I really don’t care all that much for the movie or its ridiculous plot. Still, I can’t bring myself to completely dislike it, if only for the...
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Hana-Bi (1997) Movie Review
Detective Nishi (Takeshi Kitano) is having a very bad week. It starts with the death of his 4-year old daughter, which leads to his wife’s hospitalization and discovery that she has terminal cancer, and...
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Hot War (1998) Movie Review
I’m not a big fan of movies that shows more than one scene of someone typing on a computer keyboard. I have been using computers for over 10 years and unless I’m writing on...
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Full-Time Killer (2001) Movie Review
Full-Time Killer concerns a professional assassin named O (Takashi Sorimachi), a Japanese living in Hong Kong (although he doesn’t speak Chinese) and happens to be the top assassin in Asia. All of Asia’s most...
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Violent Cop (1989) Movie Review
Azuma (Takeshi Kitano) is a 20th century cop living in a country still mired in the traditions of the past. Rookie cops kowtow to the veterans at every turn and even the homicidal drug...
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Blood: The Last Vampire (2000) Movie Review
Blood: The Last Vampire is my second Japanimation in as many days. Blood is a cinematic feature that runs just over 45 minutes long. In Japan, this would be akin to a movie-of-the-week, since...
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Ring 2 (1998) Movie Review
Thirty minutes into Ring 2 and my only thoughts were, “The director really shouldn’t have hired a woman with a bum leg to play the female lead.” This thought surfaced because of the female...
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The Hidden Fortress (1958) Movie Review
Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress’ full name is actually The 3 Villains of the Hidden Fortress, and in interviews of the past, George Lucas of Star Wars fame has admitted that there were elements...
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