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

Infestation (2009) Movie Review

You know the worst thing about sitting through a horror/creature movie where a group of disparate characters are trapped in one locale and forced to put aside their differences and team up in order to survive the menace outside? You can pretty much count on at least one (sometimes more) asshole in the...

September 14th, 2009 | Read More

20th Century Boys: Chapter Two – The Last Hope (2009) Movie Review

The epic Japanese “20th Century Boys” trilogy, based upon the hugely popular manga by Urasawa Naoki, continues with its second instalment, “The Last Hope”. Director Tsutsumi Yukihiko (previously responsible for cult hits such as “2LDK” and “Forbidden Siren”) returns to continue the sprawling...