March 11, 2013

Fists of The White Lotus (Lieh Lo, 1980)

After Executioners from Shaolin, Fists of the White Lotus confronts our heroes with Pai-Mei’s brother hell-bent on exacting revenge for Pai-Mei’s death.
March 22, 2010

Les Carabiniers (Jean-Luc Godard, 1963)

In Les Carabiniers, Godard is in control, from playing with our scopophilic gaze in the makeshift rape scene or denying us narcissistic satisfaction.
March 3, 2011

Legendary Assassin (Chung Chi Li and Jacky Wu, 2008)

In Legendary Assassin, following the murder of a triad boss, an assassin is trapped on the small island where the deed occurred due to weather conditions.
April 19, 2010

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone, 2006)

Although its story recalls the hope and determination of the first Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976), Rocky Balboa is a pale copy.
March 29, 2010

Gone, Baby, Gone (Ben Affleck, 2007)

WHAT IT IS: Boston: A private investigator is enlisted to find a little girl who’s been abducted in his old neighborhood. HOW IT IS: In his directorial debut, Ben Affleck borrows from many of the great living directors, from Eastwood to Van Sant. Most notable is the latter’s influence in the cinema vérité shots. A Bostonian himself, Affleck’s neighborhood seems […]