Written by Patrick Hao 52/100 Under the Open Sky is the disappointing feature from Miwa Nishikawa attempting to explore the difficulties an ex-convict faces as he tries to integrate back into society. That ex-convict is Mikami (Koji Yakusho), a former … Continue reading.
Written by Patrick Hao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEsoGXOH1Nw Three Rounds with the Boxing Films at the New York Asian Film Festival Boxing as a metaphor for daily struggle, pain and resistance has been a cinematic tradition going all the way back to Wallace … Continue reading.
Written by Patrick Hao 43/100 John and the Hole is the tantalizing debut feature of Spanish filmmaker Pascual Sisto and one of the most divisive films out of this year’s Sundance. Filmed with a cold resolve bordering on absurdism, the … Continue reading.
Written by Taylor Baker 55/100 We’ve grown accustomed to a certain type of spectacle propaganda film coming out of East and Southeast Asia in the last 10-15 years. Slowly the ante for such films from China has increased alongside it’s … Continue reading.
You can visit Fantasia Virtually or In-Person this year https://youtu.be/_x_Fbq5lD1w Fantasia 2021 will run August 5 -25 with, as usual, a fascinating selection of genre films, talks, and experiences. In the video above, I got my friend and fellow movie … Continue reading.
Written by Michael Clawson 90/100 Keisuke Kinoshita’s The Ballad of Narayama, a ravishing, kabuki-styled period drama from 1958, considers such themes as mortality, aging, and tradition through a lens of radiant artifice and theatricality. At the story’s center is Orin … Continue reading.
Written by Patrick Hao 62/100 Over the last 20 years, the Tiong Bahru region of Singapore, one of the oldest urban public housing estates, has gone through massive development and gentrification. The demolition of the Pearl Bank Apartments in March … Continue reading.
Written by Maria Athayde 40/100 Stillwater directed by Tom McCarthy and starring Matt Damon is one of the most uninspired pieces of media I have consumed in a long time. The movie “loosely based” on Amanda Knox’s story has been … Continue reading.
Written by Taylor Baker 55/100 Disney's new theme park ride inspired film Jungle Cruise is a tale of two films, something not all that surprising when you factor in that 7 writers worked on the film. 4 writers for the … Continue reading.
Written by Patrick Hao 75/100 There is a simple beauty to the premise of Old, M. Night Shyamalan’s latest feature. A seemingly idyllic family goes to a seemingly idyllic beachside. Of course, the families and the beachside are not quite … Continue reading.
