Author: Rob Daniel

Definitely not to everyone’s taste, but ink black humour and Choi’s powerhouse performance prevent ‘Oldboy’ from becoming unendurable.

‘Nausicaa’ has its cake and eats it, being a pacifist’s warning about conflict and conservation while cramming in edge-of-the-seat thrills and excitement.

This is Brigitte Lin’s movie and her climactic tirade against her husband, bursting with anger and confusion lingers as one of her finest screen moments.

A rewarding stand-alone experience, ‘Elegant Slaughter’ is also an irresistible taster for stories yet to come. The queue starts here.

While ‘Ju-on 2’ is another rewarding journey through a landscape of fear and loathing, now is the time for its creator to terrorise avenues new.

If you think Japanese horror cinema is becoming mired in recently coined cliché, or you simply love being scared, the troubling, dreadful world of ‘Ju-on’ is required viewing.

With brains, brawn and cool, cruel style to spare, ‘Japan Organized Crime Boss’ is a fantastic entry point to Fukasaku’s earlier movies.

Popular in its day ‘The Jade Bow’ now is more of historical interest for fans of wuxia pien, its thrills done bigger and better elsewhere.

For those prepared for difficult material and subject matter it is a stylish, gripping example of fearless, maverick cinema.

John Woo allowed his imagination and cinematic showmanship full flight in ‘Hard Boiled’, strapping his trademark visuals and themes to an RPG and launching them into orbit.

O Sing-Pui cooks up a stew of heavy-handed comedy, eroticism, romance and horror to send everyone home happy.

Of itself ‘Ghost of the Mirror’ is a slight, though enjoyable fantasy romance. As an early film from an actress who would become one of Asia’s legends, it is fascinating.