December 16, 2013

The Lady Assassin (Quang Dung Nguyen, 2013)

The Lady Assassin, a martial arts blockbuster, is my first Vietnamese film. A light Sunday night screening at this year’s Fantasia Festival, it was attended by a notable number of people from Montreal’s Vietnamese community. Billed as a Vietnamese wu xia, in the film, a princess sold in marriage is taken in by a team of high-flying, ass—kicking, thieving assassins […]
March 28, 2013

Sunny (Hyeong-Cheol Kang, 2011)

Sunny is at once a coming-of-age film, with detective elements, feminine-pop aesthetics, fleshed-out characters and intricate narrative elements.
November 26, 2010

Kuroneko (Kaneto Shindo, 1968)

in its new restoration, Kuroneko (Kaneto Shindo, 1968) is one of those gems, a ‘60s Japanese horror film with a sharp aesthetic.
November 26, 2010

Brass Knuckle Boys (Kankuro Kudo, 2008)

Brass Knuckle Boys is a Japanese comedy about an old Japanese punk-rock music band from the ’70s and ’80s looking to extend their 15 minutes of fame.
March 4, 2011

The Clone Returns Home (Kanji Nakajima, 2008)

Although the premise seems ripe for the movie becoming a welcome addition to the minimalist cerebral sci-fi genre, The Clone Returns Home disappoints.