SARAH LOHMANN WRITES — In this age of scrolling feeds and images, what are we, if not our faces, our best days posted, and our reputations on display for the world to see? The photos we take of our bodies make up the mask we show to the world, so…
Tag: movie review
MOVIE REVIEW: INCANTATION (2022) – A MONSTER THAT LIVES IN YOUR HEAD
Incantation – 2022 – 1 hr 50 min – Kevin Ko SARAH LOHMANN WRITES – Do you believe in blessings? Intentions and outcomes rarely equal in importance; these two are set in sequence with each other by Ronan’s monologue to the viewer at the beginning of Incantation (2022). Intentions come first, and,…
‘BELLE’ MOVIE REVIEW: A BEAUTY AND THE BEAST TALE FOR THE VR GENERATION
AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES — These days, remakes and reboots rarely offer surprises on the silver screen. But Studio Chizu’s Belle -which hit US theatres January 14th– goes beyond the typical remake formula to fully reimagine and reinterpret the classic Beauty and the Beast tale. Writer/director Mamoru Hosoda not only builds…
MOVIE REVIEW: “LOVE HARD” BREAKING THROUGH ORIENTALIST VIEW
CADY ABE WRITES — In preparation of the Holiday season, Netflix released the new Christmas movie, Love Hard, on November 5th, 2021. The movie premiered with an all-star cast, most notably comedian Jimmy Yang and The Vampire Diaries’ Nina Dobrev as the two romantic leads. Amid all the large steps…
‘NO TIME TO DIE’ REVIEW: DOES FUKUNAGA STICK THE LANDING FOR CRAIG’S FINAL FILM?
AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES – Balance is tough for any action film to get right, especially in franchises known for their blockbuster effects and grand set pieces. Too easily, action flicks can fall into the trap of having so many fists flying, guns firing, and cars doing backflips that it all…
CLASSIC FILM IN RE-REVIEW: IN LIGHT OF THE FIREFLY
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES — Grave of the Fireflies, one of those works of art that will never die, nonetheless is a film that lacks concrete resolution – there is no main lesson to be learned at the end. The audience is instead left with the understanding of the ephemerality of…
LOOKING BACK: ‘LUST, CAUTION’ THE GREAT MOVIE
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES — Lust, Caution (2007) made by the visionary director, Ang Lee, is an erotic espionage film1 that begins in 1938, during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The story of this film has been believed by many to be inspired by true events and the life of a Chinese…
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘ORIENTAL’ MULAN IS OUTDATED
CADY-BREE ABE WRITES — At first, Mulan was a girl worth fighting for, but the new live action movie released in 2020, starring Yifei Liu, leaves audiences disappointed and devastated. The live action Mulan transforms a beloved Disney princess movie into something nearly unrecognizable to many who held this film…
VIETNAM: Film ‘Song Lang’ has a refreshing take on ‘queer love’
Directed by Leon Le, the movie Song Lang, set in 90s Saigon, begins with Dung “Thunderbolt”, a debt collector, meeting Linh Phung, a cải lương (Vietnamese opera) actor. When Dung sees Linh Phung on stage, Dung was instantly pulled back to the past he has long been trying to ignore…
LGBTQ: The Indian Films From Outfest You Need to See
PAULA MARKOW WRITES– Outfest Fusion, a film festival that showcases the LGBTQ community, ran from March 1 to 5 at the Chinese Theatre, offering an array of short films. One segment that caught my attention was a series of shorts about the LGBT community in India. The first short, Yaman,…
MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Tokyo Godfathers’ is The Animated Movie You Need to See
JENICA GARCIA ROSE WRITES– Everyone has a favorite animated movie. This past holiday season, in addition to the usual Western animated classics, such as Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer (1964), A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), The Polar Express (2004), and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), I had the chance to…
CHINA: NETFLIX FALLS SHORT WITH ITS UMBRELLA REVOLUTION ORIGINAL FILM
YI NING WONG WRITES – Netflix Original, Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower, tells the story of young Hong Kong activist, Joshua Wong, as he leads the infamous Umbrella Revolution against China in 2014. Directed by Joe Piscatella, the docufiction keeps its viewers interested, featuring the inception of a student organized pro-democracy…
MOVIE REVIEW: JAPAN’S ANIMATED ‘YOUR NAME’
It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a film for Asia Media, but after seeing Makoto Shinkai’s “Kimi no Na Wa.” (君の名は。), also known by its Western title, “your name.”, I felt compelled to return to spread the word about what could go down as one of the greatest animated…