Law Abiding Citizen (2009) Movie Review

“Law Abiding Citizen” posits that age-old question: if the system failed you, and you had the wherewithal to make it happen, would you blow it all up and start over? Okay, so the question doesn’t quite go like that, but it’s close enough. In the case of Kurt Wimmer’s “Citizen”, the answer...

October 16th, 2009 | Read More

The Road (2009) Movie Review

“The Road” is an adaptation of the 2006 novel of the same name by author Cormac McCarthy, whose novel “No Country for Old Men” was adapted into last year’s Best Picture Oscar winner. “The Road” obviously has similar aspirations: It’s a haunting, beautifully crafted film with great performances,...

October 16th, 2009 | Read More

Dying Breed (2008) Movie Review

The ‘Afterdark Horrorfest’ doesn’t register on most of the minds of people in Britain, so the films that fall under this banner most often appear in the U.K with little fanfare. It’s certainly a shame though, for gems such as “Autopsy” and “Dark Ride” end up hitting the...

October 14th, 2009 | Read More

On His Majesty’s Secret Service (2009) Movie Review

Wong Jing goes back to the old school with “On his Majesty’s Secret Service” a truly madcap period set comedy in the classic early 1990s style. Although the master of the form himself, Stephen Chow, isn’t starring in such films anymore, there’s certainly no reason to stop making them, and in...

October 12th, 2009 | Read More

Tracing Shadow (2009) Movie Review

“Tracing Shadow” marks the fourth directorial outing for popular Hong Kong Star Francis Ng, and sees him again co-helming with Marco Mak, who he previously worked with on “Dancing Lion”. The film itself is somewhat of a throwback to the glory days of Hong Kong cinema, being a wacky martial arts...

October 12th, 2009 | Read More

World’s Greatest Dad (2009) Movie Review

Although it’s definitely not a popular opinion to express in certain circles these days, I am, for the most part, a Robin Williams fan. I appreciate the unbridled madcap energy of his stand-up act, as well as the nuanced, thought-provoking performances he’s given in such underappreciated...

October 9th, 2009 | Read More

Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg (2009) Movie Review

With so many Chinese films still being called ‘Kung Fu’ something or other, and with the continuing global success of Michael Bay’s blockbuster “Transformer” franchise, “Kung Fu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction” was pretty much inevitable. The Hong Kong director getting in on the act is none...

October 9th, 2009 | Read More

Secret Couple (aka My Girlfriend is an Agent, 2009) Movie Review

“Secret Couple” (a far better title than the rather familiar and misleading “My Girlfriend is an Agent”) is basically a Korean take on the recent Hollywood action couple comedy thriller “Mr and Mrs Smith”. Strangely enough, the film was directed by Shin Tae Ra, whose previous efforts were...

October 9th, 2009 | Read More

Blood: The Last Vampire (2009) Movie Review #2

“Blood: the last Vampire” is an interesting proposition, not only because it sees Jeon Ji Hyun (“My Sassy Girl”), one of Korea’s most popular actresses, making her English language debut, but also since it represents one of the few Hollywood Japanese anime adaptations to make a real effort...

October 9th, 2009 | Read More

The Piano Teacher (2001) Movie Review

Love and violence may seem axiomatically opposed, but in the movies they share a common bond – they’re both difficult to depict on screen without attaching any sense of thrill to their meanings. And yet The Piano Teacher, a French film from director Michael Haneke, based on a novel by Nobel Prize...

October 8th, 2009 | Read More

I Sell the Dead (2008) Movie Review

“I Sell the Dead” marks the debut outing for writer director Glenn McQuaid, and boasts a great offbeat cast, including Dominic Monaghan of “Lord of the Rings” fame, cult director Larry Fessenden (“Habit”, “The Last Winter”), Angus Schrimm (“Phantasm”) and “Hellboy” himself, Ron...

October 6th, 2009 | Read More

Automaton Transfusion (aka Zombie Transfusion, 2006) Movie Review

Originally released back in 2006 under the slightly more interesting, if nonsensical title “Automation Transfusion”, writer director Steven C. Miller’s debut feature now arrives on region 2 DVD via Momentum Pictures as “Zombie Transfusion”. The film is a low budget slice of independent horror,...

October 4th, 2009 | Read More

Zombieland (2009) Movie Review

To be clear, Ruben Fleischer’s “Zombieland” is less a zombie movie than it is a road movie/comedy. Just to get that out of the way first, because if you’re going into “Zombieland” demanding decent zombie action, I have to tell you, you’ll find the film to be lacking. But if you can put...

October 2nd, 2009 | Read More

PVC-1 (2007) Movie Review

Somewhere deep in rural Colombia, a gang of brutal thugs invades a family’s home, holding a husband and wife and their three small children at gunpoint. The thugs are after a large sum of money allegedly hidden in the house, but the father swears on his life that his family is poor and have never seen...

October 1st, 2009 | Read More

Cyborg She (2008) Movie Review

“Cyborg She” sees Korean director Kwak Jae Yong of “My Sassy Girl” fame switching to Japanese for a genre blending romantic comedy that adds a science fiction, time travelling twist to his usual formula. Also known as “My Girlfriend is a Cyborg”, the film is not to be confused with “Oldboy”...

October 1st, 2009 | Read More

Samurai Princess (2009) Movie Review

More Japanese gore madness arrives from 4Digital Asia in the shapely form of “Samurai Princess”, the cover art not coincidently bearing a striking resemblance to that of its recent sister in slaughter, “Chanbara Beauty”. The film’s pedigree should certainly give fans of the form reason to be...

September 29th, 2009 | Read More

Yi Yi (2000) Movie Review

The rules of genre identification used to be simple: comedies ended in weddings, and tragedies ended in death. “Yi Yi” begins with a wedding and ends with a funeral, a cinematic blend of comedy and tragedy, one in which is presented without much music or stylistic embroidery the stillness and pace...

September 24th, 2009 | Read More

Big Man Japan (2007) Movie Review

“Big Man Japan”, now available on region 2 DVD via Revolver, marks the directorial debut of noted Japanese comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto, one half of the popular duo Dauntaun. Here, as well as scripting, he also takes the central role in a mockumentary following the daily life and exploits of Masaru...

September 22nd, 2009 | Read More

Kingdom of Heaven: Director’s Cut (2005) Movie Review

Ridley Scott’s “Kingdom of Heaven”, although employing the Crusades as the backdrop of religious history, is just about as religiously ascetic as a movie of this kind can be, and as such it tends to loom over the subject material. It is more about how the characters are affected by the events around...

September 19th, 2009 | Read More

Book Review: Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol

With all the hype surrounding the new Dan Brown novel, you’d expect to achieve orgasmic bliss upon turning the final page. The plot was deemed mega secret, and by some incredible miracle didn’t get leaked onto the Internet forty seconds after the book was announced (apparently God has forgiven...

September 16th, 2009 | Read More