I had always harboured fond memories of Dario Argento’s 1982 slasher flick, as it was the very first of his films I ever saw. I had not rewatched it until now, and must confess I remembered precious little about it save for John Saxon and the famous arm-slicing scene. The sad truth is that the […] Read more »
You never need an excuse to rewatch a James Bond film, even a middling entry like Guy Hamilton’s Live And Let Die, but this time I was attentively revisiting the film in preparation for my appearance on podcast The Auteur Cast. I was a guest on the show a year or so ago when they […] Read more »
Screened as part of Toho Cinema’s ongoing 10am series of classic films, The Day Of The Jackal (1973) is an adaption of Frederick Forsyth’s acclaimed novel. Set in 1963, the story traces a fictional attempt to kill the former president of France, Charles de Gaulle. de Gaulle had made enemies over the independence of Algeria […] Read more »
Rock Hudson stars as Tony Wilson, the newly rejuvenated version of tired businessman Arthur Hamilton, who enlisted the services of a secret organisation to give him a “second chance” at life. No sooner did he make the decision, however, “the company” becomes increasingly manipulative and controlling, while Tony finds his new life, friends, home and […] Read more »
Fritz Lang’s excellent sequel to his silent epic Dr. Mabuse The Gambler (which I’ve not yet seen) sees the eponymous master criminal incarcerated in a mental asylum, where he perpetually scribbles plans for further crimes. When these crimes begin to come true, an assortment of doctors, detectives and professors attempt to solve the riddle. A […] Read more »
Some grumbled about Antoine Fuqua’s straight-faced approach to this “Die Hard in The White House” wannabe, but I mostly enjoyed the way it got back to basics, without the need for knowing self-parody that so many action films feel oblige to include these days. Gerard Butler plays it dead straight as a former Secret Service […] Read more »
Ayako is young, mid-20s woman who works in a grey, flat and rather dull Tokyo office. She has enough authority to add some level of significance to her work, but not enough to give her real control over the direction of her life. Ayako lives at home with emotionally reserved father (Ken Mitsuishi), a TV/Film […] Read more »
It seems to have taken me a very long time to see Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest effort, and researching a lengthy interview I had with the man, I was forced to spoil much of the story for myself in order to discuss it in detail. Fortunately, narrative is low on the list of priorities for […] Read more »
While a somewhat minor entry in Johnnie To’s prolific canon of work, there is no denying this lighthearted tale of pickpockets has become something of a fan favourite. The cast of Milky Way stalwarts, including Simon Yam, Gordon Lam and Lo Hoi Pang do great work, as does Kelly Lin as a mysterious beauty who […] Read more »
Tom Hanks leads a convincing charge for his third Best Actor Oscar as real-life merchant seaman Capt. Richard Phillips, whose container ship is overpowered by Somali pirates in Paul Greengrass’ breathless and exhilarating thriller. While Hollywood spent much of the last decade obsessing over the rum-swigging dandy pirates personified by a swaggering Johnny Depp, the […] Read more »
Still very enjoyable on second viewing, with James Franco in particular continuing to impress as the ridiculously charicatured drug dealer, Alien, who bails out a group of college girls looking for a new kind of thrill during their vacation. Read more »
Settling in for a solid slice of 80s Cannon Film fare, nothing could have prepared me for the quality, intensity or profundity of Andrei Konchalovsky’s Runaway Train. Jon Voight, in one of his best, most-underappreciated roles, plays a violent and notorious criminal, who escapes from a maximum security prison with the help of a hot-headed, […] Read more »
Hugh Jackman reprises his signature role yet again, this time employing James Mangold to take Logan to Japan and embrace one of the character’s best-loved comic book story arcs. While proceedings do ultimately descend into indestructible objects punching each other, this is far more of a crime drama built around strong characters and meaningful relationships […] Read more »
The closing film at PiFan this year was this modest, yet mostly effective thriller starring Ha Jung-woo as a shamed TV anchor, now radio DJ, who is forced back on the air when a terrorist calls into his morning show. Falling somewhere between Phone Booth and Talk Radio, the action takes place entirely within the […] Read more »
After losing his job, a lowly office lad attempts to drown his sorrows, only to be thrown out of a girly bar. He manages to anger a gang of yakuza in the process and hides in a derelict building, where he discovers a beautiful mannequin doll that begins to show signs of life. While this […] Read more »
Excellent low budget Indonesian thriller about a young, pornography-addicted taxi driver who becomes obsessed with the prostitute next door. With echoes of Drive and Taxi Driver, this is nevertheless an impressively executed tale of obsession and misplaced affection. Read my full review here Read more »
In what promises to be a new landmark, both in science fiction cinema and the craft of filmmaking itself, Alfonso Cuaron’s deep space survival thriller offers jaw dropping spectacle, nail-chewing suspense and an incredibly intimate character study, shot against the stunning backdrop of planet Earth itself. A difficult filmmaker to pigeonhole, Alfonso Cuaron has accumulated […] Read more »
Eric Matti’s gritty yet composed Filipino thriller is one of the year’s best crime dramas, exploring the allegedly true stories of incarcerated prisoners plucked from their cells to commit high profile hits for corrupt politicians. Joel Torre is phenomenal in the lead role, as an aging convict facing parole and potentially the end to a […] Read more »
Excellent Spanish thriller that takes two seemingly separate story strands and sends them hurtling towards each other with predictably shocking, tragic consequences. In the Spanish countryside on the eve of the civil war, a group of children who can feel no pain are confined to an asylum after being deemed a danger to themselves and […] Read more »
There was such a giddy sense of anticipation for Bong Joon-ho’s first English language film that ultimate disappointment seemed almost inevitable. But, where his countrymen Park Chan-wook and Kim Ji-woon failed to transplant their unique cinematic perspective into Stoker and The Last Stand respectively, Snowpiercer is by comparison a monumental triumph of dystopian science fiction. […] Read more »