Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

Lieutenant Raine addresses his troops.

Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds (2009) directed by Quentin Tarantino In 1941 France, SS officer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), already known as “The Jew-Hunter”, ferrets out a hidden family, killing most of them, but decides to let Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) the almost-adult daughter to outrun him to, perhaps, have the pleasure of hunting her down again later.… Continue reading Movie Review: Inglourious Basterds

Book Review: The Crystal Stopper

Book Review: The Crystal Stopper by Maurice Leblanc Arsène Lupin should probably have been more cautious when two members of his gang, Vaucheray and Gilbert, asked him to assist with the burglary of the Enghien country home of government deputy Daubrecq. But Vaucheray is experienced, and Lupin is impressed with Gilbert’s good character (for a… Continue reading Book Review: The Crystal Stopper

Movie Review: The Mask of Fu Manchu

Fu Manchu is proud of his multiple doctorates.

Movie Review: The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932) directed by Charles Brabin Once again, representatives of the British Museum, led by Sir Lionel Barton (Lawrence Grant), plan to rob a tomb and steal another country’s treasures. Now ordinarily that would make them seem like bad guys. But as Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone) explains, in London, shorn… Continue reading Movie Review: The Mask of Fu Manchu

Movie Review: Pan’s Labyrinth

Ofelia descends into the heart of the labyrinth.

Movie Review: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) directed by Guillermo del Toro (aka “El Labarinto del Fauno”} It is 1944, and elsewhere in Europe, the Allied troops recently landed in France on D-Day. But here in a remote mountainous region of Spain, Captain Vidal (Sergi López) and his men are hunting down the remnants of the Republicans who… Continue reading Movie Review: Pan’s Labyrinth

Book Review: The Warlords

Book Review: The Warlords by Matt Braun It is 1915, and in Europe, World War One is at something of a stalemate. The troops are entrenched, warplanes are still in their infancy, and while the new weapons of war mean far more deaths per capita, both sides have them. Kaizer Wilhelm’s military fears that despite… Continue reading Book Review: The Warlords

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

Yuki's profession is so hazardous in itself that she's never thought about the possibility of dying of plague instead.

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance (1974) directed by Toshiya Fujita So, it turns out Yuki (Meiko Kaiji) survived the ending of the previous film, much to her own surprise. Problem is, people remember she did all that murder beforehand as Lady Snowblood. We pick up several years later after the end of… Continue reading Movie Review: Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance

Movie Review: Militant Eagle

Fang contemplates the broken jade bracelet that symbolized his marriage vows and briefly regrets what he did to his wife.

Movie Review: Militant Eagle (1978) directed by Chia Chih Li At the end of a three-year war, a general bids a fond farewell to one of his best officers, who wants to return to civilian life. We jump to ten years later, after another war has just ended. By imperial (I think it’s the Tang Dynasty)… Continue reading Movie Review: Militant Eagle

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood

Even Yuki can appreciate the beauty of a flower.

Movie Review: Lady Snowblood (1973) directed by Toshiya Fujita Yuki (Meiko Kaji) was born in prison, the result of her mother Sayo (Miyoko Akaza) seducing multiple guards in order to get pregnant. Sayo’s husband and son had been murdered, and herself raped and tortured, by four criminals as a byproduct of the criminals’ scheme to defraud… Continue reading Movie Review: Lady Snowblood

Movie Review: Captain Blood (1935)

Bishop and Blood discuss their thorny relationship.

Movie Review: Captain Blood (1935) directed by Michael Curtiz When he was a wild Irish lad, Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) fought for the French against the Spanish, the Spanish against the French, and learned to sail with the Dutch. But with his earnings, he got training in the medical arts and retired from action to become… Continue reading Movie Review: Captain Blood (1935)

Webtoon Review: A Tale Dark & Grimm

Gretel and Hansel have managed to regain some optimism.

Webtoon Review: A Tale Dark & Grimm Once upon a time, there were a brother and sister named Hansel and Gretel. They lived happily with their parents until the day their father chopped their heads off. Although the pair somehow survived this experience, it understandably made them wary of the King and Queen, and so… Continue reading Webtoon Review: A Tale Dark & Grimm