June 9, 2013

Graceland (Ron Morales, 2012)

Graceland is a dark and dirty moral tale of desperation and revenge, denouncing corruption. Yet, it isn’t sophisticated enough to deal with the subject.
September 21, 2011

The Unjust (Seung-wan Ryoo, 2010)

The most interesting feature of The Unjust is its main actor and star, Jeong-min Hwang. I discovered him in Private Detective (2009) at Fantasia.
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.
August 12, 2011

Petty Romance (Jeong-Hoon-Il Kim, 2010)

With its raunchy premise, Petty Romance begins with strong comedic elements. The most interesting part of the movie is its odd first half.
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 […]