There is very little I could say or explain about Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams that hasn’t already been said or explained by perhaps better – certainly more professional – critics and writers, but what is the Internet for if not screaming into the void? An adaptation of a graphic novel by Sara Varon, the filmContinue reading “Robot Dreams”
Tag Archives: cinema
The Garden of Evening Mists (2019)
An incredible cast, a great Taiwanese director, and remarkable production values from a co-production by heavyweights featuring HBO Asia, among many others. Unfortunately, it all let down by the absolutely incompetent storytelling decision to use dialog that is probably around 90% expository. Where did it all go wrong? Sylvia Chang, Malaysia’s Angelica Lee or LeeContinue reading “The Garden of Evening Mists (2019)”
Goddamned Asura (2021)
Six people affected differently by the same effect; a mass shooting at a night market. The shooter, his friend, a victim, the victim’s fiancée, a journalist, and a witness. Where to start? Taiwanese cinema has long explored bleak depictions of working and middle class urban lives, and since the New Taiwan Cinema there has alsoContinue reading “Goddamned Asura (2021)”
Shithouse (2020)
4.5/5 Writer, director, and editor Cooper Raiff’s coming-of-age dramedy about a 19-year old struggling to adapt to college life seems like a series of red flags; unassuming male protagonist, possibly creepy behavior as romance, stoner roommate, and whatever else you might be tired of seeing in indie and mainstream features about young adults in college.Continue reading “Shithouse (2020)”
Blue Bayou (2021)
Blue Bayou 112 minutes USA, 2021 4.5/5 Justin Chon’s 3rd feature-length outing as writer/director is an assured, confident mix of family drama, crime drama, and social commentary. Telling the story a 33-year old Korean adoptee who was brought to the US as an infant, our protagonist finds himself to have never been granted citizenship despiteContinue reading “Blue Bayou (2021)”
Tokyo Oasis (2011)
Writer/director Matsumoto Kana’s brilliant follow-up to her equally brilliant Mother Water (マザーウォーター) follows the actress Touko, portrayed by Kobayashi Satomi, who hitchhikes into the Tokyo night, encountering random people she connects with over the next two days. The first, Nagano (Kase Ryo, whom I have yet to see take on a bad role), believes he’sContinue reading “Tokyo Oasis (2011)”
The Calling of a Bus Driver
Ivana Wong’s new vehicle (pun intended I’m not sorry) is a genre hybrid following a recently dumped woman trying to find a new path in life. Luckily, there’s a lot more going for the film than simply Ivana Wong’s presence in the lead role. Ostensibly a romantic drama, the film branches out into extended comedicContinue reading “The Calling of a Bus Driver”
My Missing Valentine (2020)
Chen Yu-Hsun’s latest masterpiece celebrates the connections we make with people and the often-delayed realizations that those connections exist. Yang Hsiao-Chi is a young woman who, for her entire life, has always moved one second faster than everyone else. While she has learned to cope with it, for the most part, she worries that beingContinue reading “My Missing Valentine (2020)”
The Woman Who Left
I will eventually upload the rest of my other reviews that I’ve been sitting on, but I’m trying to catch up on HK cinema and doing the whole new year cleaning thing which isn’t actually a thing because I just made it up. Pinoy filmmaker Lav Diaz might be best known in film circles forContinue reading “The Woman Who Left”
House of Hummingbird
Devastating, beautiful. One of those films that I believe are the reason cinema exists, and this was Bora Kim’s feature-length writing and directing debut! I also won’t be reviewing this because I don’t feel it’s appropriate to score a film of this nature. It reminded me of The World of Us, though, which is anotherContinue reading “House of Hummingbird”
The Seeming and the Meaning 