Feature Essays
“It comes from not growing up at all” | Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
A corrupt media tycoon (Jonathan Pryce) attempts to start a war to profit from the news coverage. Only two people seem placed to prevent the ...
REVIEW: Black Bear Forest (2016)
In a difficult-to-access region of Taiwan's Yushan National Park, Professor Hwang Mei-hsiu undertakes research into the obscure and endangered Formosan Black Bear. Accompanied by indigenous ranger Lin Yuan-yuan, Professor Hwang tracks, tags and studies this remarkable animal that is under pressure from encroaching civilization and poaching. Six years in the making, Lee Hsiang-hsiu's documentary Black Bear ...
REVIEW: The Sea Hawk (1940)
If you wanted Hollywood action in the 1930s or 1940s, your absolute best bet was director Michael Curtiz. He had already directed numerous feature films before 1935, but it was that year that he took an extra named Errol Flynn and cast him as the leading man in the swashbuckler Captain Blood: a huge commercial hit ...
REVIEW: Slow West (2015)
Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a young Scot who has travelled to America to reunite with his true love Rose (Caren Pistorius). On his journey across to the west he encounters a gunslinger named Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender). They travel together, having a series of unusual encounters, and with secrets slowly revealed about their respective pasts. ...
REVIEW: Robo Rock (2007)
There will always be a special place for the ultra-low-budget cult film, produced on a shoestring but boasting a highly idiosyncratic storyline and a distinctive tone. They're often quite shakily produced, with more enthusiasm than craft, but they have such a punk-rock enthusiasm that it's difficult not to forgive their drawbacks and focus on whatever ...
REVIEW: The Beach of the Drowned (2015)
The dead body of a fisherman washes up on a beach in Galicia. The police investigation, led by Inspector Leo Caldas (Carmelo Gómez), soon uncovers a mysterious secret involving a two-year old shipwreck, a missing woman, and a group of former sailors with a terrible secret. Based on the novel La playa de los ahogados by Domingo ...
REVIEW: Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017)
Mary is staying with her Great Aunt Charlotte while waiting for her parents to return home and her school holidays to end. When she finds a strange blue flower in the woods, she finds herself whisked away on an adventure to a magical academy for witches and warlocks hidden among the clouds. Wonder turns to ...
REVIEW: Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler (2009)
Kaiji Ito (Tatsuya Fujiwara) is a listless 30 year-old compulsive gambler. When a friend whose loan Kaiji promised to guarantee skips his payments, Kaiji finds himself confronted by a local loan shark and given two choices: pay up the millions of yen in debt and interest, or take his chances on a high stakes card ...
