Tag: china
First Look 2023 Preview: Survey of New World Cinema
Once again, First Look Festival at the Museum of the Moving Image is upon us, showcasing new, adventurous films from around the world. Encompassing features, shorts, narratives and non-narratives, this year's wide ranging selections include Tori and Lokita, a new film...
Review: NEW GODS: YANG JIAN, Pretty, Pretty Pictures
Directed by Zhao Ji, the animated adventure from China looks very good.
Friday One Sheet: IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME
Today we have a handsome set of pastoral pastiche from the land of Chinese blockbusters. Derek Yee's In Search of Lost Time may have nothing to do with Proust, but it has plenty to do with one of many social crises...
New York Asian 2022: FAST & FEEL LOVE Kicks Off 20th Anniversary Edition
Without getting too sentimental, I remember reading about the very first New York Asian Film Festival on a "message board," the early internet incarnation of a worldwide news site. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary edition, the New York Asian Film...
Neuchâtel 2022 Daily: I AM WHAT I AM From China, BEAUTIFUL BEINGS From Iceland
If Saturday is alright for fighting, as Elton John once claimed, the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival suggests watching movies, instead. The festival's final day of screenings features all kinds of recommended titles, including Something in the Dirt, Maika, Freaks...
Hot Docs 2022: ETERNAL SPRING Trailer, Survival and a Battle
Jason Loftus' animated documentary Eternal Spring just won multiple awards at the recently-concluded Hot Docs 2022, where it made its North American premiere. "Combining present-day footage with 3D animation inspired by Daxiong's art, Eternal Spring," according to the official verbiage,...
Review: BLACKLIGHT, Grandpa Fixer
Liam Neeson and Aidan Quinn star in an action-thriller, directed by Mark Williams.
Review: THE 355, Super-Spy Team-Up Wastes Top-Tier Talent
Jessica Chastain leads fierce females in an international espionage thriller, directed by Simon Kinberg.
ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? Trailer Asks the Right, Troubling Question
Heading for release in Asia on January 20, a new trailer for Are You Lonesome Tonight? (original title: Re dai wang shi) paints a properly bleak and moody atmosphere for a Chinese film described as a crime thriller. Directed by...
STRIDING INTO THE WIND Trailer: Auteur Aspirations
I'm all about mood and atmosphere this morning, and Swirling Into the Wind strikes me as just right for a cool December day. Accompanied by a gently twanging stringed instrument, the trailer, as good as it is, tells me nothing...
Opening This Week: THE NOVICE Intensity, FORTRESS Fun, SCHEMES IN ANTIQUES Soars
Also: 'Last Words,' 'Nightmare Alley' and 'Spider-Man: No Way Home.'
Friday One Sheet: SCHEMES IN ANTIQUES 古董局中局
Orange & Teal comes to China by way of this key art for Schemes in Antiques. A focus on the highly strategic and deceptively simple game of Go, and a repeating unit ("Go-Ception"? "Go-Fractal"?) is at the heart of artist...
Blu-ray Review: ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA: THE COMPLETE FILMS, Essential Entertainment
Tsui Hark's magnificent reinvention of Wong Fei-hung, starting with Donnie Yen, gets a deluxe treatment as The Criterion Collection scores a knockout with its box set.
SHOCK WAVE 2 Trailer: Delightfully Bonkers Cop Action
Earlier this year, our own James Marsh described Herman Yau's Shock Wave 2 as a "delightfully bonkers cop actioner...not to be missed." The film will be premiering on November 2 to North American audiences, via various On Demand platforms, and...
Friday One Sheet: SWIMMING OUT TILL THE SEA TURNS BLUE
This minimalist key art for Jia Zhang-Ke's latest documentary on Chinese culture, Swimming Out Till The Sea Turns Blue, has almost a screen-printed look and feel to it. Although it may look to be a prosaic respresntation of the lengthy...
Now Streaming: IP MAN: KUNG FU MASTER, Teacher As Police
Dennis To stars as the legendary martials arts teacher during a rocky time fighting corruption, directed by Li Liming and now streaming on Hulu.
Review: THE ROOKIES, Absurdist Action-Comedy Confounds, Disappoints, Underuses Star
“Truth in advertising” awards are few and far between. Assuming someone somewhere is still giving out “truth in advertising” awards, The Rookies (Su ren te gong), an international co-production co-written and directed by Alan Yuen (Monster Hunt, Firestorm, New Police...
CLIFF WALKERS Trailer: Spy Versus Spy
Circle April 30 on your print calendar. (Or mark it on your on-line calendar.) Go ahead, I'll wait. Zhang Yimou's Cliff Walkers arrives in theaters worldwide on April 30, 2021. I hope that you are in a position (and feel...
Now Streaming: RAINING IN THE MOUNTAIN, Intrigue, Drama, Action
Directed by King Hu, the late 70s drama ('Kong shan ling yu') features royal intrigue, Buddhist philosophy, and beautiful action; now streaming on The Criterion Channel.
Zhang Yimou's Spy Film CLIFF WALKERS Running Soon to Theaters Everywhere
Chinese auteur Zhang Yimou continues his assault upon genre film with his first foray into the spy field: Cliff Walkers, which is running toward theaters across North America and internationally on April 30, courtesy of CMC Pictures. Gadzooks! That's only...
