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Resident Evil: Extinction

Resident Evil: Extinction

Milla Jovovich returns as post-apocalyptic ubervixen Alice in the third big-screen spinoff of the best-selling video game. Less claustrophobic than the first two slaughterfests, this time the zombies are stalking the ruins of Las Vegas.

Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad

It's the season for illnesses in the Japanese family. Last week gave us Alzheimer's disease in Memories of Tomorrow; now we have this filial piety-cum-terminal illness flick for which the Taiwanese distributor is putting up a decent advertising campaign. An author reminisces about life as a child with his mother in the country after walking out on his father, then as an adult looking after his mother as she succumbs to cancer. The title refers to the famous city landmark, and it plays an important symbolic role. Based on a bestselling autobiography, the film also did well in Japan.

One Piece The Movie: The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle

Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad

Released in Japan last year, this is the seventh of eight (and counting) animated features that retell sequences from the popular manga/anime series One Piece about a band of pirates. Those who are not fans of the series may struggle to catch up with the characters and the context of the story, but by all accounts the quality of animation is good and promises an entertaining entry point for One Piece neophytes. Great for kids, though two female pirate characters (one an archeologist and the other a teenage navigator) are accompanied by sound effects for their large, bouncing breasts.

One Piece The Movie: The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle

The King Maker

A Thai production from 2005 whose only familiar face to most local filmgoers would be that of John Rhys-Davies, who played the dwarf Gimli in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The epic story of court intrigue set in the 16th century stars former English boxer Gary Stretch and involves expensive battle scenes, plush scenes of romance and apparently very bad acting. It's not clear which of these earned Taiwan's restricted rating.

The King Maker

Tazza: War of Flowers

An unusual film, this: a Korean saga of cutthroat professional gamblers. Variety magazine praised its "involving characters and devil-may-care tone" and particularly Kim Hye-su (who had a part in horror omnibus Three five years ago) for "looking every voluptuous inch a legendary femme fatale." A popular, invigorating and stylish film based on a Korean manga, this would be worth seeing to remind one of just how awful most of those Hong Kong gambling pics really were. Opens next Wednesday in limited release.

Tazza: War of Flowers

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