RYAN DAO WRITES — After a long 12-year hiatus, the legendary king of monsters makes his triumphant return of the silver screen with “Shin Godzilla” (“Shin Gojira,” or internationally known as “Godzilla Resurgence”), a modern-take on a classic Japanese icon. “Shin Godzilla” is the 29th installment in the Godzilla franchise…
Tag: movie
JAPAN and US: Everything’s Offensive
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – “Politically correct.” Rarely do you come across a phrase that will elicit so many different reactions. There’s a thin line between offensive and funny, and lately it seems as if it always leans more towards the former than the later. But is this a phenomena exclusive…
QATAR: The Freedom to Censor
ALEXIS CRUZ WRITES – Usually it’s censors who block a controversial film from domestic distribution. Not so in Quatar, at least in the case of The Danish Girl. Following online outrage at the transgender tale, the country’s Ministry of Culture tweeted out this month: “We would like to inform you…
CAMBODIA: Lights, Camera, Oscar Nomination!
ARACELI PALAFOX WRITES – Amid political conflict and social uprising, Cambodia finds a sense of solidarity in the nation’s first Oscar nomination. Cambodian director Rithy Panh’s “The Missing Picture” is among the five final nominations in the “Best Foreign Language” film category. Panh’s “The Missing Picture” is a largely autobiographical work, telling the story…
PAKISTAN: Action Movie Paints India as the Bad Guy
AUSTIN SZABO WRITES – With explosions and non-stop action, Pakistan’s first action blockbuster, Waar, is making waves. Indians are less excited: they are the bad guys. Reuters offered a summary of the movie: “Indian villains team up with Islamist militants to plot spectacular attacks across Pakistan. Pakistani security forces jump in…
CHINA: US Saves the Day, Even in the Movies
LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – The movie Pacific Rim, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, opened this summer to only so-so reviews in the US. The sci-fi story of monsters called Kaiju which emerge from the Pacific Ocean to try and destroy the human race made only $99,331,880 domestically, while…
VIETNAM: Officially Banned, Unofficially a Smash Hit
YVONNE EPPS WRITES – It’s been banned, but can you really keep it under wraps if it’s already been leaked onto the web? Earlier this summer, the National Cinema Department (NCD) instrumented a hasty campaign to ban Bui Doi Cho Lon (Life in Chinatown) directed by Vietnamese-American Charlie Nguyen, but…