Arthouse Reviews

Superlative - everyone should see this

Great, a must-see if you like the genre

Good, a decent example of the genre

Watchable, but only for serious genre fans

Unwatchable

Half stars could have gone either way depending on mood.

Movie Name / Release Year	Summary	Date	Reviewer
Samsara (2001)	Mixed views	2003-06-07	Simon
Samui Song (2017)	Tries too hard to confound the audience	2021-08-15	Simon
Sia Dai (1994)	Harrowing	2003-03-09	Simon
Spider Forest (2004)	Some interesting ideas but not worth watching the film for	2012-05-25	Simon
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring (2004)	Pretty	2004-12-12	Simon
Stalker (1979)	Visually striking religious allegory	2012-11-30	Simon
Strange Circus (2005)	Flowers are scars	2020-10-27	Simon
Suicide Circle (2001)	Pretty intense	2003-02-21	Simon
Sukiyaki Western Django (2007)	Strange beast, merits a second viewing	2013-06-09	Simon
Survive Style 5+ (2004)	Gorgeous, whimsical and hyper-stylised	2012-05-22	Simon
Suzhou River (2000)	Drifting along	2021-08-03	Simon
Swallowtail Butterfly (1996)	One of the greatest movies ever made?	2002-03-17	Simon
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (2005)	Not what I expected	2012-11-15	Simon
Tears Of The Black Tiger (2000)	Loved it!	2002-05-04	Simon
Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989)	Perhaps the strangest thing you will ever see	2013-06-10	Simon
The Assassin (2015)	Pretentious arthouse yawnfest	2023-12-28	Simon
The Blade (1995)	Tsui Hark reinvents himself again	2005-10-30	Simon
The Bride With White Hair (1993)	One of the most beautiful and tragic wu xia films	2013-01-03	Simon
The Butterfly Murders (1979)	Tsui Hark's first film	2020-08-17	Simon
The Drummer (2007)	More enjoyable than I'd expected.	2008-02-24	Simon
The Element of Crime (1984)	Fascinating and frustrating	2023-11-22	Simon
The Flowers of Evil (2019)	Shockingly mature Noboru Iguchi film	2024-01-02	Simon
The Forest of Love (2019)	Cinema is life, you know	2020-08-16	Simon
The Fountain (2006)	Vacuous and trite	2007-06-12	Simon
The Grandmaster (2013)	Incoherent and overblown	2013-04-07	Simon
The Guys From Paradise (2000)	Further confirmation of Miike's extraordinary film-making talent	2003-06-23	Simon
The Idiots (1998)	Not just empty provocation	2023-12-18	Simon
The Land Of Hope (2012)	Gently urgent warning about Fukushima	2014-01-05	Simon
The Midnight After (2014)	Uneven and ultimately a bit unsatisfying	2015-01-17	Simon
The Missing Gun (2002)	Superlative cinema	2024-01-14	Simon