Wednesday 30 January 2019

Titanic 2 (USA, 2010)


Titanic 2

USA | 2010 | D: Shane Van Dyke



One of the biggest box office movies of the 90’s gets an awesome sequel.. from The Asylum. They’re well known for their high quality films, like Snakes on a Train, so you know this is going to be terrific.

It would be really easy to write all the negatives about this movie and not focus on the positives – so that’s what I am going to do! Because quite frankly they didn’t get much right.

Tuesday 29 January 2019

Who Killed Cock Robin? (Taiwan, 2017)


Who Killed Cock Robin?

Taiwan | 2017 | D: Wei-Hao Cheng


I found this movie while browsing at my local ‘movie store’ in Guangzhou one afternoon, and decided “Hey with a title like that, lets find out!”

And here’s the thing about movie titles – boy, oh boy can they be misleading. Little did I know the title was more euphemism for “murder mystery” and not a character name. Well, consider me schooled. Genius marketing from the publicity group on this film.

Hex (Hong Kong, 1980)


HEX

Hong Kong | 1980 | D: Chih-Hung Kuei


On the weirdness scale of Shaw Brothers horror films, this one isn’t actually weird at all. But it is very campy/ridiculous so keep that in mind.

Clearly shot on a sound-stage but with improved visual effects, this movie tells the story of a not-so-wealthy-anymore woman who lives with her I-married-into-a-rich-family abusive husband. He is a real asshole. She is sick, but he thinks she is faking it for attention.

Monday 28 January 2019

Chicken and Duck Talk (Hong Kong, 1988)


Chicken and Duck Talk

Hong Kong | 1988 | D: Clifton Ko


The first time I saw this movie was on CCTV’s movie channel in mainland China. Without English subtitles. And I was laughing my head off – you didn’t need to understand it; the language of humour was strong with this movie. But it’s even better when you watch a version with English subtitles though!

What we have here is a very traditional Hong Kong restaurant owner. He has a small shop that specialises in its Duck dishes. He has a secret recipe and doesn’t let anyone else prepare the ducks, yet they were to learn the art of the spices.


Black Magic 2 (Hong Kong, 1976)


Black Magic 2

Hong Kong | 1976 | D: Meng Hua Ho


I can’t believe they made a sequel to Black Magic. Even more amazing is that it’s the same director and virtually the same cast. Except they are all in completely different roles.

This time, Get Quick Rich guy from the first movie is now the Black Magic Master (BMM) – and he is all kinds of super-awesome. And yes, he also has an obsession with breast milk to ensure we get our nudity quota sorted. Speaking of which – opening sequence pretty much has you covered.

Black Magic (Hong Kong, 1975)

Black Magic

Hong Kong | 1975 | D: Meng Hua Ho


Hong Kong’s The Shaw Brothers are well known for their movies. They pump them out rather quickly and to various degrees of quality. They’re usually good and always worthy of a night at home with some popcorn. This movie is a little different.

It’s a horror film, which no doubt back in 1975 would have been scary, but viewing it with a modern mindset yields a different result. This is a movie about black magic – or voodoo. We’ve got a black magic master (BMM) who speciality seems to be love spells. Or is it death spells? Not too sure as they both seem to have the same requirements to work!