Cox’s astonishing genre-bending masterpiece satirically and anachronistically lays bare the dark shadow of American imperialism across time, shot in Nicaragua during the Contra War, and featuring Ed Harris as 19th-century mercenary leader William Walker.
Kaurismaki adapts Shakespeare for the dog-eat-dog world of industrialising Finland with this decent black-and-white revenge noir filled with moments of absurdist humour and conniving tactics.
Bigelow’s first solo outing as director is an entertaining, at times subversive, neo-western vampire movie that is not afraid to have fun with its material.
Sparks truly fly in this superb film about a love triangle set in the milieu of television reporting, featuring a terrific Holly Hunter as a feisty news producer.
Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung star in this movie straddling between two eras with a ghost story in the mix, directed by Stanley Kwan with a strong sense of melancholy and nostalgia.
Paul Verhoeven’s Hollywood breakthrough remains a standout violent sci-fi actioner from the ’80s and a decent commentary on mankind’s ill-fated fascination with science and technology.
A delightful Rohmer omnibus as four short films featuring the two titular characters—one a countryside girl, the other a city girl—give us an intellectual if light-hearted take on how independent women can thrive in a manipulative society.
Chabrol was no stranger to Hitchcockian mystery-dramas and this is one of his better outings centering on the masks that people wear to hide their true selves.
Stone’s take on the greed and problematic ethics of Wall Street remains relevant though there is a sense of mechanical dullness to the proceedings – interesting but not particularly compelling.
Has its moments of awe-inspiring grandeur, but the film is unable to sustain in its final act despite Spielberg’s assured direction.
Eternality Tan 