REVIEW: Su Mi Ma Sen, Love (2009)
A chance meeting leads to a day of romance in this odd, modest little drama from Taiwan. Broadly akin to an Asian remake of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995), director Lin Yu-hsien adds an unusual level of metatextuality to its simple … Continue reading REVIEW: Su Mi Ma Sen, Love (2009)
REVIEW: The Bare-Footed Kid (1993)
The career of director Johnnie To can be pretty easily split into two phases. From the late 1990s he established his own production company, Milkyway Image, and embarked on a hugely successful career directing idiosyncratic crime films, romantic comedies, and … Continue reading REVIEW: The Bare-Footed Kid (1993)
REVIEW: God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya (2019)
An impulsive act of rebellion leads to a religious crisis in Teona Strugar Mitevska’s timely and compact drama God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya. Produced in North Macedonia in 2019, it boldly tackles the heavy influence of religion in that country … Continue reading REVIEW: God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya (2019)
REVIEW: The Hotel Venus (2004)
A decrepit old hotel behind a cafe is the home for an assembly of anonymous, regretful strangers in this surreal and weirdly mournful drama – a Japanese feature performed in Korean, and directed by Hideta Takahata. The early 2000s saw … Continue reading REVIEW: The Hotel Venus (2004)
REVIEW: My Salinger Year (2020)
The thing about ‘coming of age’ stories is that there are just so damn many of them, and they all seem too damned twee for their own good. Young people seem to be travelling to big cities all the time, … Continue reading REVIEW: My Salinger Year (2020)
REVIEW: Double Tap (2000)
Double Tap, directed by Law Chi-leung in 2000, is what it is: a film in which two overly emotional men face off against one another on the streets of Hong Kong. As melodramatic as a soap opera and aggressively masculine, … Continue reading REVIEW: Double Tap (2000)
REVIEW: The Impostors (1998)
There are certain actors that, when placed into a feature film, automatically make it better. They are often not big Hollywood stars – although they often appear in big Hollywood movies. They are perhaps not all household names – although … Continue reading REVIEW: The Impostors (1998)
REVIEW: The Miracle Fighters (1982)
In February 1983 Tsui Hark’s Hong Kong fantasy Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain brought Hollywood visual effects to Hong Kong fantasy cinema, revolutionising the form and invigorating the genre. Yuen Woo-ping’s comedic fantasy The Miracle Fighters was released seven months earlier, … Continue reading REVIEW: The Miracle Fighters (1982)
REVIEW: Chaplin (1992)
Back in 1992 one of the most pivotal talents in the history of American cinema received a glowing tribute in Richard Attenborough’s earnest biographical picture Chaplin. The biopic has always been a popular genre of film, but it is often a … Continue reading REVIEW: Chaplin (1992)
REVIEW: They Reach (2020)
They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but it is also a handy method of testing cultural footprints. It has been five years since Netflix debuted its nostalgia supernatural series Stranger Things, and there is now a steady … Continue reading REVIEW: They Reach (2020)
