In my experience of talking to film reviewers, there seems a general consensus that terrible works are far and away the easiest to review, followed by great films, and that the hardest ones to write about are the mediocre ones … Continue reading REVIEW: The General (1926)
A middle-aged Mexican wrestler prepares for his most challenging match ever. Meanwhile a Japanese man in polka dot pyjamas wakes up in a room with no doors. The next 90 minutes either make no sense, or a lot of sense, … Continue reading REVIEW: Symbol (2009)
Kazuto (Kazuto Osawa) is an under-confident security guard with a tendency to faint when faced with confrontation. Behind on his rent and facing dismissal from his job for not disclosing his condition, Kazuto runs into his estranged brother Hiroki (Hiroki … Continue reading REVIEW: Special Actors (2019)
It has taken a long while for Woody Allen’s A Rainy Day in New York to become available to Australian viewers. Shot back in 2017, its 2018 global release was cancelled by Amazon at the height of the “Me Too” movement and … Continue reading REVIEW: A Rainy Day in New York (2019)
When progressive or experimental films make unexpected breakthroughs in how to tell stories on screen, they are rightfully praised. Sometimes, however, it worth stepping back and also acknowledging quality mainstream work: films that do not reinvent or transform anything, but … Continue reading REVIEW: The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)
Ng Kau-Sau (Josie Ho) was a champion badminton player, but her poor attitude and aggressive style saw her career shattered. Now she’s overweight, depressed and working in her brother’s restaurant – until a chance encounter involving a meteorite and a … Continue reading REVIEW: Full Strike (2015)
In the 1860s Japan is in a turbulent period of transition as the Americans’ gunboat diplomacy forces the country to interact with a broader world. In a Tokyo brothel a grifter named Saheji (Frankie Sakai) overstays with no money, and … Continue reading REVIEW: Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (1957)
For a while there in the early 2000s Sammi Cheng was one of the biggest stars in Hong Kong cinema. Every year brought about another high profile romantic comedy, more often than not pairing Cheng with superstar Andy Lau. While … Continue reading REVIEW: Magic Kitchen (2004)
A man named Georges (Jean Dujardin) pays more than €7,000 for a garish fringed leather jacket made from deer skin, before booking himself into a nearby hotel. His obsession with his purchase then spirals out of control, in this absurd … Continue reading REVIEW: Deerskin (2019)
I come to praise John Candy – to mangle the famous phrase – not to bury him. This hugely talented Canadian comic actor has been dead a little over 26 years, and yet one can watch the landscape of American … Continue reading REVIEW: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
