News »
Bulletproof Monk (2003) Movie Review
You have to be a really big fan of Hong Kong legend Chow Yun-Fat (“The Killer”) to fully appreciate “Bulletproof Monk”, a derivative film about an immortal Tibetan monk (Chow) who has been protecting
Read More »
Sabu (2002) Movie Review
Apparently Takashi Miike is capable of more than just throwing gobs and gobs of blood, bodyparts, S&M, and the senseless brutalizing of women at the screen. Go figure. “Sabu” is absolutely nothing one would
Read More »
The Bodyguard (2004) Movie Review
Apparently writer/director/star Mum Jokmok thought the only way to follow up on the success of “Ong Bak” was to make a film completely unlike it. The result: an unrestrained action/comedy embolden by a big
Read More »
Jan Dara (2001) Movie Review
As the Thailand movie Jan Dara opens, a note from director Nonzee Nimibutr cautions the viewer that the movie they are about to see is not to be taken seriously, that it’s not meant
Read More »
Repli-Kate (2002) Movie Review
“Repli-Kate” is basically your average College Screwball Comedy. It even has all the standard conventions of the genre, including: the evil dean, the dean’s pet student, the introverted hero, the hot girl he pines
Read More »
Full Metal Yakuza (1997) Movie Review
Takashi Miike is a name I go out of my way to avoid. He joins Chris Tucker, Martin Lawrence, Kate Hudson, and Drew Barrymore as people whose movies I do not care for. After
Read More »
The Alzheimer Case (aka The Memory of a Killer, 2003) Movie Review
Cop films are cop films regardless of the accents of the cops. Rather it’s Dutch, as in the case of “The Alzheimer Case”, or an American product, you can expect the usual conventions of
Read More »The Eye 2 (2004) Movie Review
Here’s the thing about these “I see dead people” movies: if I woke up one day and realized I was seeing ghosts, I would be scared; at least, for the first couple of days,
Read More »Toolbox Murders (2003) Movie Review
Serendipity sometimes works in Romantic Comedies, but they almost always come across as manufactured. The same is true for horror movies. In Tobe Hooper’s “Toolbox Murders”, the killer is not the brightest guy in
Read More »Ring Virus (1999) Movie Review
Fans of the Naomi Watts horror film “The Ring” may be surprise to learn that the US remake wasn’t the first attempt at redoing the story. It was remade in South Korea in 1999,
Read More »
The Punisher (2004) Movie Review
Probably the only thing writer/director Jonathan Hensleigh got right with his big budget version of “The Punisher” is to cast Thomas Jane (“Deep Blue Sea”) in the lead role. With his raspy voice and
Read More »
Batman (1989) Movie Review
Before 1989, unless you were an avid comic book reader, you probably viewed Batman as a clownish superhero, trading punches and quips with bad guys with his youthful assistant Robin faithfully at his side.
Read More »Van Helsing (2004) Movie Review
Let’s be honest, “Van Helsing” is a big, dumb movie. But it also happens to be a relentlessly enjoyable dumb movie. While illogical and sometimes confusing, it delivers a staggering amount of spectacle, enough
Read More »
Troy (2004) Movie Review
The biggest problem modern audiences will encounter with Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy”, despite its lavish backdrop and elaborate action set pieces, is that the film is adapted from a poem dating back over 2,000 years.
Read More »Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004) Movie Review
Movies like “Agent Cody Banks 2″ allow me to break out the old adage: “It is what it is”. And if you happen to like what it is, then you’ll like this movie. But
Read More »Starsky and Hutch (2004) Movie Review
I’m reasonably certain almost no one had anything nice to say when plans were announced to remake “Starsky and Hutch”, the popular ’70s cop show, into a feature length comedy starring Ben Stiller and
Read More »
Mr. Handy (aka Mr. Hong, 2004) Movie Review
If you’ve seen your share of South Korean comedies in the last few years, you might be wondering if the industry has stopped making adult comedies altogether. With the likes of “Sex is Zero”
Read More »Dark Harvest (2003) Movie Review
Apparently scarecrows are the new Inbred Rednecks to low-budget horror filmmakers. Aside from Paul Moore’s “Dark Harvest”, about killer scarecrows that come back from the dead seeking revenge, we also had the South African
Read More »Shredder (2003) Movie Review
“Shredder” is a pretty idiotic movie. It’s completely random in just about everything it does and there’s no rhyme or reason for why things are the way they are. If there is one solace
Read More »Bloody Beach (2000) Movie Review
If you were wondering if director In Soo Kim and his five writers (count’em, five) patterned their Teen Slasher “Bloody Beach” after their American counterparts, all you need to do is watch what happens
Read More »
