The real world is a mess. Just about everywhere you look there’s something to be despondent about, whether it’s the state of the global climate, the power grab by nationalist parties within global governments, or the general vibe of “get… Read More ›
Like many in the Hong Kong scene, Donnie Yen has worn and continues to wear many hats. He’s been a member of a stunt team (The Miracle Fighters) and an actor (Tiger Cage; Blade II), sometimes on the same project;… Read More ›
Janus Contemporaries’s newest unnumbered entry into the Criterion Collection is priced just right at $20.99. The Beast, the latest film from Bertrand Bonello (House of Tolerance; Saint Laurent), is a surreal tale starring two of the best actors working today,… Read More ›
“He who seeks revenge digs two graves.” – Confucius In December 2023, director Martin Bourboulon’s The Three Musketeers – Part I: D’Artagnan released into U.S. theaters, kicking off a brand-new adaptation of author Alexandre Dumas’s classic novel. It currently remains… Read More ›
It’s very common for members of Hong Kong (HK) cinema to take on multiple career paths through their lifetime. Many start as stunt people, working their way up to actor and then, often, to the position of writing and/or directing,… Read More ›
In the world of animation, most know names like Walt Disney, DreamWorks, Illumination, and Studio Ghibli. Either in hand-drawn or CG animation, they have created stories that move audiences by stirring their emotion. But there’re also studios like LAIKA and… Read More ›
Some things feel like inevitability due to hindsight. The human fascination with the unknown tends to spark real-world exploration, which is why the science-fiction adventure tale Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne (published 1870), were it written… Read More ›
Life is not like a video game. Sure, you can improve your health through exercise and your wealth through education, work, and luck, and you shouldn’t smash some bad guys and collect their purse or take their clothes and/or belongings…. Read More ›
In 2024, it’s quite easy for cinema-going audiences to identify the Chinese genre of fantastical martial arts tales known as wuxia thanks to films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hero (2002), and, more recently, Śakra (2023). Though a popular… Read More ›
In our era of perpetual information, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of all the horrific embattlements going on across the world. The two most top of mind are the Russo-Ukrainian War and the Israel-Gaza War, but there’s also violence… Read More ›
If you haven’t heard of Rich Peppiatt’s newest feature, Kneecap, it’s because it flew so under the radar for everyone and its theatrical window was relatively short. However, it has now hit home release on DVD only, but don’t be… Read More ›
There are fables that challenge children (The NeverEnding Story), that push children (Labyrinth), and that are not safe for children (Pan’s Labyrinth). In each instance, no matter their differences, the perspective of the child is the focal point through their… Read More ›
Frankie Freako and his freaks are ready to dominate your television sets, so don’t adjust the motion smoothing (actually turn it right off), kick your feet up and get ready to get lost in this absolute maddening blast-from-the-past nostalgia kick… Read More ›
Touted as the first Irish-language horror film, John Farrelly’s An Taibhse (The Ghost) is a well-intentioned mix of folk horror, disturbing imagery, and narrative references to the horror genre in general (mostly The Shining (1980)). With an all-too familiar setting… Read More ›
Redemption stories come in a great many forms. Time loops stories utilize the constriction created by a repeated day(s) to force introspection and change, the loop broken in comedies (Groundhog Day), dramas (The Map of Tiny Perfect Things), and horror… Read More ›
Body horror is a fascinating subgenre and one that tends to make a lot of people particularly squeamish. With films like The Fly (1986), about a scientist who becomes a human fly hybrid, and Crimes of the Future (2022), where… Read More ›
When we think of directors who are famous for what they’ve done in a specific genre, it’s weird to see a movie from them that is so enriched by their personal life and feels like an incredibly personable film. That… Read More ›
In what could be described as a movie that lives in the same spiritual world as Daina Oniunas-Pusić’s Tuesday (2023), Andrea Arnold’s Bird, similar in vibes and tonal elements in storytelling, focuses on coming-of-age and growing up faster than needed… Read More ›
If you’ve never heard of the name Timo Tjahjanto (The Night Comes for Us; The Big 4) then there is something you need to fix, immediately. One of the most exciting directors to exist today, he never misses and continues… Read More ›
Stuntman-turned-Actor Jackie Chan has been the lead of some of martial arts cinema’s most beloved films, including Meals on Wheels (1984), Police Story (1985), and Rumble in the Bronx (1995), which don’t even include the films made after his crossover… Read More ›