Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)

I remember some DJ night at The Bird when someone ended their set, or played as ‘closing up’ music, Ryuichi Sakamoto’s theme to Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983). I mean, what an all timer piece of music, so ethereal, plaintive, calming, just plain beautiful. And it is kind of bizarre that it is the title […]

Drunken Master (1978)

I’d long heard about the legend of Drunken Master (1978) so it was good escapism to finally catch up with this iconic Jackie Chan film, a box office hit in Hong Kong early in his career, Wikipedia tells me. As the character of Wong Fei-Hung, Chan is a cheeky, cocky troublemaker whose mischief catches up […]

Miami Vice (2006)

For a film version that didn’t give the 1980s pastel aesthetic that fans of the TV series grew up with, switching it up for intense drug enforcement research and grainy digital cameras, I’m always heartened by the cult love that Michael Mann’s Miami Vice (2006) generates for film lovers and Michael Mann fans. I completely […]

The Last Dragon (1985)

My favourite moment in Motown producer Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon (1985) is when a packed movie theatre showing Enter The Dragon is interrupted randomly by two break-dancers and a boom-box, who are then shouted down and told to leave. Right before the unforgettable Sho’nuff (played by Julius J. Carry III in an indomitable performance) […]

Blow The Man Down (2019)

Acquired by Amazon Studios and streaming now on Amazon Prime is the film, Blow The Man Down (2019). Beginning with a stirring rendition of the title sea shanty by several fisherman on the docks (who function as a type of Greek Chorus throughout the film), it’s a stylish way of announcing its setting – a […]