TheRetroCritic

Stephen Chow takes on the world of acting in this typically goofy comedy about a clumsy but driven extra and his struggles to make it big in movies and doesn't disappoint. Although this isn't quite as cartoonish an outing as we've come to expect from Chow there's still plenty of silliness to enjoy. Watch out for a dramatic death scene involving gross dangling nose fluid and a shameless, cockroach-loving prostitute. There's also a fun Jackie Chan cameo and repeated piss-takes of overblown John Woo-style thrillers complete with gun face-offs, black trenchcoats, flying doves and churches. The film gradually grows a heart and introduces a promising romance between a young "club girl" and Chow's character but when a big name actress gives Chow the role of his life the film loses confidence and takes an odd sudden turn. The third act turns into some kind of dark cop thriller and a lot of the romance is washed over and is left under-developed making the

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the cinema, long after a film like Antichrist , Dream Home comes along. Based on a true story (loosely, I'm guessing), the film explores Hong Kong's exorbitant rise in house prices post 1997 and director Ho-Cheung Pang peppers an otherwise pretty sensible story with some of the most graphic and disturbing serial-killings you'll see in any film. Strangulations, guts pouring out, slashed penises, brains blown off, screwdrivers through the eye...the list goes on. And yet, unlike 99% of horror films out there, the story and its characters actually remain involving and intriguing throughout. Main character Cheung's desperation and her troubled relationship with her father add an extra weight to the story and help make Dream Home more than just another slasher flick. And what a glorious slasher flick it is. With every new death more inventive and unpredictable than the last, Cheung crosses the line from despera