Film Reviews · Backpex

Title	Overview		Toggle columns Title Overview
The Vulture	Two old women who happen to be pickpockets stole money from Simon, the taxi driver. The police are unable to find the thieves, so Simon decides to find them himself.
Mary Shelley	The love affair between poet Percy Shelley and 18 years old Mary Wollstonecraft, which resulted in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein.
Jagged Edge	San Francisco heiress Page Forrester is brutally murdered in her remote beach house. Her husband Jack is devastated by the crime but soon finds himself accused of her murder. He hires lawyer Teddy Barnes to defend him, despite the fact she hasn't handled a criminal case for many years. There's a certain chemistry between them and Teddy soon finds herself defending the man she loves.
Hornet's Nest	An American commando who's the sole survivor of a parachute jump into WWII-era Italy leads a group of children in a campaign of sabotage against the Nazis.
Aimy in a Cage	A creative teenage girl is forced to undergo a mind-altering procedure while a virus spreads throughout the globe. Crispin Glover co-stars in this black comedy-fusion-surreal plague thriller. A delicious, phantasmagoric fantasy, directed by Hooroo Jackson.
Pilgrimage	Accompanied only by music the film alternates between shots of pilgrims near the tomb of Saint Sergei in Sergiyev Posad, Russia and pilgrims at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico.
Jeopardy	A woman is kidnapped when she goes to get help for her husband who is trapped on a beach with the tide coming in to surely drown him.
Killing Auntie	A grotesque fairy tale of fantasies in a 21-year old's mind. First he confesses to a priest about killing his aunt. Then he is sending parcels from the post office. Just when it appears that he is going to be arrested, the aunt appears alive and well from her trip. This time though, he decides to go for it...
The Giant King	A re-interpretation of Ramayana, the Thai animation film tells the story of a giant robot, Na Kiew, who's left wandering in a barren wasteland after a great war. Na Kiew meets Jao Phuek, a puny tin robot who's lost his memory and is now stuck with his new big friend. Together they set out across the desert populated by metal scavengers, to look for Ram, the creator of all robots.
The Big Shave	This short film is a metaphor for the Vietnam War. A man walks into a meticulously clean and sterile bathroom, concentrating on the polished porcelain and shiny metal motif. He then proceeds to shave. When his face is clean, however, he only continues to shave until he pierces through his skin. Blood covers him and falls around him, the red contrasting the perfect spotlessness of the bathroom.
The Violent Professionals	With or without help from law enforcement officers, a lone individual decides to crack down on the syndicate.
Chinese Box	The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.
The Flight of Dragons	The realm of magic is being threatened by the realm of logic, so Carolinus, the green wizard decides to shield it for all time. Ommedon, the evil red wizard, stands in his way. Carolinus then calls for a quest that is to be led by a man named Peter Dickinson, who is the first man of both the realms of science and magic. It is Peters job to defeat Ommedon.
Johnny Mnemonic	A data courier, literally carrying a data package inside his head, must deliver it before he dies from the burden or is killed by the Yakuza. In a dystopian 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits - and will kill him if the data is not removed in time - but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.
Touch of the Light	Yu-Siang is blind – but he has a superb sense of hearing. Born in rural Taiwan, this extremely talented musician moves to the capital Taipei to study the piano. But how will he manage on his own? Even the walk across campus from his halls of residence poses a challenge and he must learn how to make the trip step by step. Yu-Siang began winning awards for his piano playing as a young boy but he once overheard somebody saying he only won because of his blindness. Since then he has avoided public competitions – in spite of his teachers' encouragement. Yu-Siang is not interested in recognition: to him his musical development is more important. One day he meets a young woman working in a snack bar. She dreams of becoming a dancer. The encounter proves to be a turning point for both of them.

The Vulture

Two old women who happen to be pickpockets stole money from Simon, the taxi driver. The police are unable to find the thieves, so Simon decides to find them himself.

Mary Shelley

The love affair between poet Percy Shelley and 18 years old Mary Wollstonecraft, which resulted in Mary Shelley writing Frankenstein.

Jagged Edge

San Francisco heiress Page Forrester is brutally murdered in her remote beach house. Her husband Jack is devastated by the crime but soon finds himself accused of her murder. He hires lawyer Teddy Barnes to defend him, despite the fact she hasn't handled a criminal case for many years. There's a certain chemistry between them and Teddy soon finds herself defending the man she loves.

Hornet's Nest

An American commando who's the sole survivor of a parachute jump into WWII-era Italy leads a group of children in a campaign of sabotage against the Nazis.

Aimy in a Cage

A creative teenage girl is forced to undergo a mind-altering procedure while a virus spreads throughout the globe. Crispin Glover co-stars in this black comedy-fusion-surreal plague thriller. A delicious, phantasmagoric fantasy, directed by Hooroo Jackson.

Pilgrimage

Accompanied only by music the film alternates between shots of pilgrims near the tomb of Saint Sergei in Sergiyev Posad, Russia and pilgrims at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico.

Jeopardy

A woman is kidnapped when she goes to get help for her husband who is trapped on a beach with the tide coming in to surely drown him.

Killing Auntie

A grotesque fairy tale of fantasies in a 21-year old's mind. First he confesses to a priest about killing his aunt. Then he is sending parcels from the post office. Just when it appears that he is going to be arrested, the aunt appears alive and well from her trip. This time though, he decides to go for it...

The Giant King

A re-interpretation of Ramayana, the Thai animation film tells the story of a giant robot, Na Kiew, who's left wandering in a barren wasteland after a great war. Na Kiew meets Jao Phuek, a puny tin robot who's lost his memory and is now stuck with his new big friend. Together they set out across the desert populated by metal scavengers, to look for Ram, the creator of all robots.

The Big Shave

This short film is a metaphor for the Vietnam War. A man walks into a meticulously clean and sterile bathroom, concentrating on the polished porcelain and shiny metal motif. He then proceeds to shave. When his face is clean, however, he only continues to shave until he pierces through his skin. Blood covers him and falls around him, the red contrasting the perfect spotlessness of the bathroom.

The Violent Professionals

With or without help from law enforcement officers, a lone individual decides to crack down on the syndicate.

Chinese Box

The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.

The Flight of Dragons

The realm of magic is being threatened by the realm of logic, so Carolinus, the green wizard decides to shield it for all time. Ommedon, the evil red wizard, stands in his way. Carolinus then calls for a quest that is to be led by a man named Peter Dickinson, who is the first man of both the realms of science and magic. It is Peters job to defeat Ommedon.

Johnny Mnemonic

A data courier, literally carrying a data package inside his head, must deliver it before he dies from the burden or is killed by the Yakuza. In a dystopian 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits - and will kill him if the data is not removed in time - but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.

Touch of the Light

Yu-Siang is blind – but he has a superb sense of hearing. Born in rural Taiwan, this extremely talented musician moves to the capital Taipei to study the piano. But how will he manage on his own? Even the walk across campus from his halls of residence poses a challenge and he must learn how to make the trip step by step. Yu-Siang began winning awards for his piano playing as a young boy but he once overheard somebody saying he only won because of his blindness. Since then he has avoided public competitions – in spite of his teachers' encouragement. Yu-Siang is not interested in recognition: to him his musical development is more important. One day he meets a young woman working in a snack bar. She dreams of becoming a dancer. The encounter proves to be a turning point for both of them.