1. “Kwaidan (1964)” movie review

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    I firmly believe that enjoying a movie comes down to a balance between its objective quality and our subjective response to the film, with the percentage differing from person to person and sometimes movie to movie. Prior to watching “Kwaidan”, I was in a sour mood due to some technical difficulties surrounding my latest episode of “Critiquing the Critics”. It was ruining my entire week and I wanted to get my mind off of it. In retrospect, perhaps watching "Kwaidan" during this time was a mistake. I was not in the right state of mind to deal with something this methodically slow, which is a shame because the concept of a 'samurai ghost story' really intrigues me. Did all of this effect my enjoyment of “Kwaidan”? Possibly, as I was utterly bored while watching it.
  2. “The Raid: Redemption (2012)” movie review.

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    “The Raid: Redemption” has been getting a lot of buzz among us martial arts fans as of late, apparently enough to earn a wide release. I had heard of it before, when it was just referred to as “The Raid”, although I failed to make a connection. It comes to us from the guys who made “Merantau”, a flawed but impressive film in its own right. “Merantau” showcased some spectacular martial arts choreography, but was rather clunky when it tried to be dramatic, tragic or funny. “The Raid” has no ambitions to be anything but the most vicious, badass martial arts film that you've ever seen. So naturally, it was awesome.
  3. “Bodyguards and Assassins (2009)” movie review.

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    Sometimes the wrong kind of marketing can really sink your movie. I'm not just talking about something like "The Grey" either, where it promises an awesome scene that we never get to see. Sometimes we expect a completely different kind of movie than what we get. Sometimes a romance markets itself as a comedy, sometimes an actioner markets itself as horror and sometimes a melodrama markets itself as a martial arts film. I don't know how "Bodyguards and Assassins" was advertised in Hong Kong, but in the west it presented itself as a martial arts vehicle for Donnie Yen. IT IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT THAT KIND OF MOVIE.