Patrick Tam Final Victory (Patrick Tam, 1987) A pair of eyes stare at us from under a green bowler hat. Then Eric Tsang looking uncomfortable, also facing us. Back to the hat, now revealing the whole face under it, that of Tsui Hark: pale, bearded, and glaring. Back to Eric Tsang, scared perhaps by Tsui, perhaps by
It's a Drink, It's a Bomb Longman Leung & Sunny Luk Reviews: Cold War [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/cold-war-longman-leung-sunny-luk-2012/] (2012) — July 4, 2016 Cold War 2 [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/cold-war-2-longman-leung-sunny-luk-2016/] (2016) — July 6, 2016
Alan Mak Alan Mak & Felix Chong Capsule Reviews Infernal Affairs II (2003) — June 29, 2017 Everything with Anthony Wong, Carina Lau, and Eric Tsang is excellent. And Francis Ng is pretty good too, though he seems to have time traveled two years into the future to steal Simon Yam’s Election performance. Chapman To and Roy Cheung do
Crippled Avengers Alan Mak & Felix Chong Reviews: Infernal Affairs [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/infernal-affairs-andrew-lau-alan-mak-2002/] (Andrew Lau & Alan Mak, 2002) — March 19, 2013 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/alan-mak-felix-chong-capsule-reviews/]: Infernal Affairs II (Andrew Lau & Alan Mak, 2003) — June 29, 2017 Overheard (2009)— May 6, 2015 Overheard 2 (2011) — May 8, 2015 Overheard 3 (2014)
Crippled Avengers Gordon Chan Capsule Reviews Fight Back to School (1991) — April 15, 2019 Is to Ringo Lam’s On Fire films what Hot Fuzz is to Michael Bay. With a little bit of Kindergarten Cop thrown in, because why not. Beast Cops (1998) — August 5, 2017 Not only does this have Anthony Wong at his
Miike Takashi Takashi Capsule Reviews Dead or Alive (1999) — November 1, 2017 No filmmaker in the world has more fun that Takashi Miike. That’s evident from a late career masterpiece like 2012’s Ace Attorney, or from the last of the prolific director’s films to play here in Seattle, Yakuza Apocalypse. But even
Hong Sangsoo Grass (Hong Sangsoo, 2018) Evan Morgan: Let’s start with the title. Hong arguably crafts the best titles of any filmmaker working today; something like On the Beach at Night Alone is tinged with mystery, poetical and allusive. Grass, on the other hand, sounds quite atypical: earthy, prosaic, direct. Critical writing on Hong often
Apichatpong Weerasethakul Apichatpong Weerasethakul Short Films Thirdworld (1998) — March 10, 2016 Early short from Apichatpong Weerasethakul already follows his split narrative structure. First half is two men talking at night, images of feet and hands and murky shadows, they talk about their pasts, the villages they’re from. It’s very mellow and sweet. The second
Devils on the Doorstep Miike Takashi Reviews: Yakuza Apocalypse (2015) — November 6, 2015 First Love (2019) — September 25, 2019 Blue Fight (2025) – February 17, 2025 Capsule Reviews: Dead or Alive (1999) — November 1, 2017 Ace Attorney (2012) — March 16, 2017 The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji (2013) – January 31, 2022 The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio
Kim Jeewoon Kim Jeewoon Capsule Reviews A Bittersweet Life (2005) — March 15, 2017 Kind of like Miller’s Crossing, but without all the plot, dialogue, or character. It’s a vehicle for surface-level emotions (love, pain, revenge), but Kim has great eye for cool and set-piece construction. He tends toward the gimmicky, the kind of camera
Devils on the Doorstep Kim Jeewoon Reviews: The Age of Shadows [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/the-age-of-shadows-kim-jeewoon-2016/] (2016) — September 27, 2016 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/kim-jeewoon-capsule-reviews/]: A Bittersweet Life (2005)— March 15, 2017 The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)— December 30, 2010 List: Kim Jeewoon Movies [https://letterboxd.com/theendofcinema/list/kim-jeewoon-movies/]
Nattawut Poonpiriya Bad Genius (Nattawut Poonpiriya, 2017) Fresh off of wide acclaim both at film festivals across North America (the New York Asian Film Festival, Fantastic Fest in Austin ,and the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, as well as here at VIFF) and at home, where it was just edged out as Thailand’s submission to the
Kurosawa Kiyoshi Kiyoshi Kurosawa Capsule Reviews Cure (1997) — May 10, 2016 “Psychiatry is a pseudoscience.” — Tom Cruise Pulse (2001) — May 10, 2016 Remember when the internet was so new and mysterious we thought it might plausibly contain demons? Now we know it’s just full of assholes. Double feature this with The Midnight After. Tokyo Sonata
Devils on the Doorstep Kurosawa Kiyoshi Reviews: Daguerrotype (2016) — November 3, 2017 Before We Vanish (2017) — March 8, 2018 Cloud (2024) – September 1, 2024 Capsule Reviews: Cure (1997) — May 10, 2016 Pulse (2001)— May 10, 2016 Tokyo Sonata (2008) — May 12, 2016 Creepy (2016) — June 11, 2016 To the Ends of the Earth (2019) — December 12,
Devils on the Doorstep Yamashita Nobuhiro Capsule Reviews Linda Linda Linda (2005) — May 13, 2015 Last night, I dreamt that Bae Doona was a professional basketball player and was generating serious All-Star consideration as the point guard for the New York Knicks. It took me awhile, on waking, to realize that that was in fact a dream and
Devils on the Doorstep Bong Joonho Capsule Reviews Memories of Murder (2003) — September 13, 2019 It always seems like Bong’s movies, while they’re good and I like them, are never really quite as good as they probably should be. Like how Mother is just a worse version of Poetry, or Shin Godzilla is a much better
Devils on the Doorstep Devils on the Doorstep Capsule Reviews Singapore Anthony Chen: Wet Season (2019) — September 28, 2019 Literally everything but the plot is great. All the details, performance, sound design, subtext about language and changing culture: great. Plot though — totally generic. The Breaking Ice (2023) – September 13, 2023 Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen’s most impressive career achievement to-date
Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab Capsule Reviews Leviathan (Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor, 2012) — December 5, 2013 I’m on board. Sound, fish POV, net POV, the colors, watching TV, humanity as unconquerable monster dominating other species, more sound, the terror of seagull attack, the possibilities of digital cinema, oh wow the colors. The Iron Ministry (JP
Devils on the Doorstep JP Sniadecki and the Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/tag/harvard-sensory-ethnography-lab/]: People’s Park [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/peoples-park-jp-sniadecki-libbie-cohn-2012/] (JP Sniadecki & Libbie Cohn, 2012) — December 13, 2012 Yumen [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/yumen-jp-sniadecki-xu-ruotao-huang-xiang-2013/] (JP Sniadecki, Xu Ruotao & Huang Xiang, 2013) — October 23, 2013 Capsule Reviews [https://www.thechinesecinema.com/harvard-sensory-ethnography-lab-capsule-reviews/] : Leviathan
Yuen Woo-ping Yuen Woo-ping Capsule Reviews Drunken Master (1978) — June 13, 2013 Much better subtitled than dubbed (obviously). Even still, the subs translate Jackie Chan’s character’s name as “Freddy Wong,” which kind of obscures one of the most interesting things about the film: that it’s a total subversion of the Wong Fei-hung legend.
Tricky Brains Yuen Woo-ping Reviews: Miracle Fighters (1982) – November 8, 2024 Shaolin Drunkard (1983) – November 8, 2024 The Tiger Cage Trilogy (1988-1991) – August 25, 2022 In the Line of Duty IV (1989) – March 24, 2023 The Tai Chi Master (1993) – June 21, 2022 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016) — February 27, 2016
Corey Yuen Corey Yuen Capsule Reviews Ninja in the Dragon’s Den (1982) — December 30, 2013 Conan Lee fights a guy on stilts. Conan publicly humiliates a Taoist magician. Then a ninja shows up, trying to kill Conan’s old friend. Conan fights the ninja (Sanada Hiroyuki, the Japanese guy from Royal Warriors) in a room
Tricky Brains Corey Yuen Reviews: Yes, Madam! (1985) — July 2, 2015 Righting Wrongs (1986) – August 1, 2022 She Shoots Straight (1990) — December 22, 2013 Saviour of the Soul I & II (Corey Yuen, David Lai, & Jeffrey Lau, 1991 & 1992) – April 12, 2023) The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk (1993) – January 23, 2022 The
Chor Yuen Chor Yuen Capsule Reviews The House of 72 Tenants (1973) — July 21, 2013 A comic version of the “poor people living in cramped quarters” genre that pops around around the world in movies like Humanity and Paper Balloons by Sadao Yamanaka, Street Scene by King Vidor, many of the 1930s films of Naruse and
Fallen Angels Chor Yuen Reviews: Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972) — July 7, 2013 Killer Clans (1976) — December 26, 2012 The Web of Death (1976) – February 22, 2022 The Sentimental Swordsman (1977) — July 23, 2013 Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre Parts I & II (1978) — July 25, 2013 Swordsman and Enchantress (1978) – January
