≡ Category: Action, Drama, Exploitation, Not Worth Your Time, Swordplay, United States | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: United States
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay/ Exploitation
Director: Steve Carver
Year: 1975
Rating:
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
I’m afraid I’ve become spoiled by Japanese chambara flicks and triad movies from Hong Kong’s Golden Age (1985-1995). Chambara flicks generally boast skillful actors, literate screenplays, elegant cinematography, evocative sets, and even lovely music scores. Triad movies from the 80s and early […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Recommended, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Tokuzô Tanaka
Year: 1963
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Nemuri Kyoshiro (Raizô Ichikawa) is a different kind of hero. Most lead characters in Japanese chambara series fall into one of two categories: either they have had their world ripped out from under them so completely that they have no recourse but to pursue […]
≡ Category: Action, Bullet Ballet, Drama, Hong Kong, Recommended | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Drama/ Bullet Ballet/ Action
Director: Joe Cheung
Year: 1990
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
Okay, I’ll admit that Return Engagement isn’t a great film, but it sure is fun.
In Vancouver, Lung (Alan Tang), a triad leader, is embroiled in a mob war with the Italians. In spite of his wife’s entreaties (Carrie Ng, in a cameo), […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Highly Recommended, Japan, Swordplay | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Nobuo Nakagawa
Year: 1969
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIE
I have a special affection for Hong Kong flicks from the late 80s and early 90s, but if I let myself admit it, the ratio of quality to quantity is rather low, better than action films from the United States perhaps, but nothing […]
≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Drama, Korea, Martial Arts, Not Worth Your Time | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Korea
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Martial Arts/ Comedy
Director: Hyo-jin Kang
Year: 2007
Rating:
MOT WORTH YOUR TIME
When I sat down to watch Punch Lady, what I was expecting was a Korean version of the J. Lo vehicle Enough. I thought the major difference would be that the lows would be much lower, the difficulties would be more intense, […]
≡ Category: Category III, Hong Kong, Not Worth Your Time, Suspense | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Category III/ Suspense
Director: Biu Ga-Chun
Year: 1993
Rating:
NOT WORTH YOUR TIME
Category III flicks usually turn out to be one of two things: softcore romps rushed out to make a quick buck or genre flicks saturated in sleaze and/or violence. Obsession straddles the two (no pun intended).
In the opening minutes of Obsession, Carrie (Yip […]
≡ Category: Comedy, Drama, France, Highly Recommended, Romance | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: France
Genre: Romance/ Comedy/ Drama
Director: Claude Berri
Year: 2007
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIE
In a time when the middle class is disappearing throughout the world and the social safety net is increasingly being attacked, it has become increasingly difficult to create stories about friendship and romance which are hopeful and at the same time don’t insult […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Korea, Suspense, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Korea
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Suspense
Director: Kim Hyeong-Joon
Year: 2010
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
No Mercy starts out well enough. Someone has left the dissected body of a young girl in a rural location. It’s up to Medical Examiner Kang Min-ho (Kyung-gu Sol) and detective Min Seo-yeong (Hye-jin Han) to figure out who killed her and why.
We find […]
≡ Category: Action, Comedy, Hong Kong, Martial Arts, Recommended | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Martial Arts/ Comedy/ Action
Director: Liu Chia-Liang
Year: 1979
Rating:
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
I’m beginning to rethink my aversion to old Shaw Brothers flicks. I guess it’s like any other type of cinema–the bad flicks outnumber the good flicks by a wide margin. Mad Monkey Kung Fu is one of the good ones.
The foundation, as […]
≡ Category: Action, Drama, Japan, Swordplay, Worth A Look | ≅ Leave a Comment
Country: Japan
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Swordplay
Director: Takashi Miike
Year: 2010
Rating:
WORTH A LOOK
Takashi Miike is best known for cinematic provocations like Dead Or Alive, Audition, and Ichi The Killer, although if you take a look at his overall cinematic output, it’s bewilderingly diverse.
However, this is the first time that Miike has attempted a straightforward samurai movie, as […]