A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

An action thriller about two brothers on opposite sides of the law, A Better Tomorrow was a smash hit in Hong Kong and helped birth the “heroic bloodshed” sub-genre. With Chow-Yun Fat’s performance as the third member of this triangle, the antagonistic but loyal gangster Mark, it was a role that cemented the actor as […]

Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990)

“Adios, bozo – this time I’m downloading you straight to hell!” Powering through 1990s cyberpunk cinema, particularly direct-to-video terrain, and the glistening vistas of anime await. Cyber City Oedo 808 (1990) is some cyberpunk anime that I’d never heard of before, but on the title alone was compelled to check out; fundamentally three 45-minute episodes […]

The Beastmaster (1982)

One tier of fantasy adventure is the kind that everyone knows across different generations – from Star Wars to Lord Of The Rings – while others on the lower tier are tied to a time and place, and probably known more by the one generation that grew up with them on video tape or cable […]

Motorway (2012)

I love that the skill which the hotshot highway traffic cop (Shawn Yue) has to master is nailing a tight ass turn. Talk about a hero’s journey! This is what Motorway (2012), a Hong Kong crime thriller from Milkyway Productions, Johnnie To’s company, offers. That and Anthony Wong as the hotshot’s senior partner giving him […]

Lone Wolf And Cub: White Heaven In Hell (1974)

The final entry of the series, Lone Wolf And Cub: White Heaven In Hell (1974) has a great opening sequence of samurai assassin Ogami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) and his son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikaway) using the baby cart as a sled through a snowy landscape, backed by musician Kunihiko Murai turning in a very funky instrumental […]