A run-down Taipei cinema screens its final movie: King Hu’s legendary wuxia film Dragon Inn. While the film plays the cinema’s disabled cashier (Chen Shiang-chyi) slowly goes about her work, young gay men awkwardly use the theatre as a place to … Continue reading REVIEW: Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
Regular readers of this website will likely be aware of my love for director Takashi Miike. He is one of Japan’s most versatile directors, jumping from genre to genre pretty much on a film by film basis. He seems as … Continue reading REVIEW: The Bird People in China (1998)
A young woman goes to see her grandfather in hospital. He is suffering deeply from depression, and clearly some additional mental illnesses because he is soon chasing a cleaning lady around the ward with a knife. Before long that sequence … Continue reading REVIEW: Love and… (2015)
Always push your viewing habits. I am not demanding that you do so constantly, but always make sure you push a little on your comfort zones. If you only ever watch science fiction, go watch a straight drama. If you … Continue reading REVIEW: Where Are You Going? (2016)
“Mother” (Jennifer Lawrence) wakes up in an isolated house in the country, where she lives with “Him” (Javier Bardem) her poet husband who suffers terribly from writer’s block. When a stranger (Ed Harris) unexpectedly arrives with a not-entirely-truthful story, closely … Continue reading REVIEW: mother! (2017)
Five uncontrollable teenage boys commit a terrible crime. As punishment they are handed over to an anonymous sea captain, who takes them as his captive crew on a sea voyage to a distant island. There they encounter strange, hazardous wildlife, … Continue reading REVIEW: The Wild Boys (2017)
The following synopsis is going to severely under-sell Kaili Blues, but here goes: Chen (Yongzhong Chen) is a reformed ex-con living in China’s Guizhou province. He operates a small medical clinic with an elderly colleague, although of late he has become concerned … Continue reading REVIEW: Kaili Blues (2016)
A disabled man lives in a decrepit house up on a hill, with only two ghosts and a shape-shifting fish for company. The Deserted is a 55-minute short feature written and directed by Taiwanese arthouse master Tsai Ming-liang, and shot by him … Continue reading REVIEW: The Deserted (2017)
