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Immaculate

Do you know what the term Twin Films means? According to Wikipedia, Twin Films are two films with the same or similar plots produced and released at the same time by two different studios. Examples of this would be: The Warriors and The Wanderers both released in 1979. The Howling and An American Werewolf in […]

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AIRPORT

Burt Lancaster described his participation in what would become the first of a batch of 1970s all-star disaster epics as the worst picture he’s ever done.  He declared it “the worst piece of junk ever made.”  Perhaps because of this assessment we were eventually blessed with the Airplane! spoofs a decade later.   Airport […]

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Saltburn (2023) Review

Saltburn wasn’t on my radar at all until it seemed to take my workplace by storm. ‘You like films don’t you, Alex? You might like Saltburn. It’s on Prime. Good but proper weird, don’t put it on if there’s any kids around.‘ I’d say that put it on my watchlist, but that doesn’t really mean […]

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In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no Corrida) (1976)

Nagisa Oshima’s controversial erotic art film, “In the Realm of the Senses,”  as it is known in the United States, has two other titles. L’Empire des Sens (Empire of Senses) in France, and an original Japanese title, Ai no Corrida (Bullfight of Love). For once, I believe that the Americans got it right with their […]

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Milos Forman ran away from his home country, Czechoslovakia, after the Russian tanks put down the more liberal Czech government, and he was subsequently fired from the Czechoslovakia state-run movie studio.    His American movie that he most likely felt an affinity for was his cinematic interpretation of Ken Kesey’s brilliant exhibition of the totalitarian […]

Comedy

Movie Review: Mom, Is That You?! (こんにちは、母さん)

Just like Clint Eastwood, who is still making films at 93, 92-year-old Japanese filmmaker Yoji Yamada (山田洋次) is also proving that age is just a number. The man who brought the world the beloved TORA-SAN series has recently released his 90th work, MOM, IS THAT YOU?! It’s the third film in his “Mother” series that […]

Crime

Movie Review: Only the River Flows (河邊的錯誤)

If you’ve been watching the movies coming out of China over the past few years, you’ve no doubt noticed that many… okay, most… of them have a patriotic bent. Gone are subjects that the government has deemed to undermine national security, and that means no more movies about corrupt cops or government officials because they […]

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Green Room

In the Pacific Northwest, a punk rock band The Aint Rights are trying to make a name for themselves without the aid of social media, so they decides to play this venue in a secluded part of the area. Upon their arrival they notice that most of the people there are skinheads, so they play […]

Action

Movie Review: Cesium Fallout (焚城)

With China’s heavy hand of censorship now firmly on the neck of the Hong Kong film industry, our filmmakers have learned they must toe the line if they wish to secure both funding and distribution for their projects. Gone are the days when corrupt police or government officials feature prominently in local stories because, we […]

Biography

Elvis (2022) Review

Elvis is an overlong but enjoyable look back at the rise of Elvis Presley! Typically Baz Luhrmann in style and tone, this is easily one to watch on the big screen!

Documentary

The Voices of the Silenced (2023)

Documentary film “The Voices of the Silences”, which won the Mecenat Award for Best Documentary when it was shown at the Busan International Film Festival in last year, is about one defiant old Korean Japanese woman and her old but valuable chronicles of her fellow Korean people in Japan. As her several old documentary films […]

Comedy

Movie Review: Successor (抓娃娃)

It’s one of the biggest domestic releases in China this year. SUCCESSOR, which debuted on July 16, is closing in on US$500 million at the box office and this is even before its roll-out to other markets. The film is opening in Hong Kong this weekend and the big question is whether local audiences here […]

Action

The Crow (2024) Review

In the world of filmmaking, the term “remake” usually comes up as a “double edge” sword within its undertaking and overall execution. For the good part, it allows filmmakers to revisit an old property and reinvent for a modern audiences offering up a new […]

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Inspector Clouseau (1968)

I wasn’t even aware that Arkin took a turn at portraying the bumbling and ridiculous officer of the law, but he indeed did, and it is every bit as patently silly as any of the other famous pictures starring the late great (though famously tough to work with) Peter Sellers. Arkin, […]

Comedy

Film Review – Con Job (2024)

Con Job (2024)  Director – Ian Niles (Lie Hard) Cast – Ian Niles, Menuhin Hart, Dean Edwards, T.L. Flint, Aaron Berg, Julia Claire Schweitzer Plot – Selfish hustler Chris (Niles) employs the support of his best friend Angus (Hart) to try and swindle Chris’s long-term acquittance and August’s brother Tim (Edwards) out of […]

Comedy

The Beta Test Review

Bursting onto the scene in 2018 with the brilliant indie film Thunder Road, Jim Cummings returns with his brand new film that he stars, writes and directs in. The Beta Test is another dark comedy that follows Jordan, a Hollywood agent that receives a mysterious letter that invites him to a hotel to participate in […]

Crime

TIFF ’24: ‘Babygirl’ Review

The media has played a major part in how men perceive women. Through commercials, television series and films, women have been objectified and hypersexualized to sell an ideal form of beauty only desired by men. Thankfully, power dynamics in the workplace have shifted over the years, but there is still a power […]

Action

Civil War (2024) Review

It’s basically Heart of Darkness but with a really long road instead of a river. Or Apocalypse Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the above. But it’s not an adaptation, just quite inspired by. Now if we said every movie that consisted of a long journey in war time, we could get silly and say everything […]

Drama

Film Review: Bird

A coming-of-age drama set in Kent, England, Bird tells the story of a rebellious twelve-year-old girl with an eye for the innocent beauty around her. Though unfamiliar with the works of writer/director Andrea Arnold, I was surprised to find a quiet calmness in her depiction of the female preteen experience. She manages to capture an […]

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