Disney Hulu

Beatles ‘64

Another Beatles doc you should Come Together for. The new made-for-Disney+ doc “Beatles ‘64” focuses on how, after JFK’s assassination, the Beatles made their first visit to America to perform on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” This was a 14 day…

Drama

“The Piano Lesson” Film Review: The Ghosts of our Past

The Piano Lesson (2024) is an American drama film from director Malcolm Washington, producer Denzel Washington (his father) and starring John David Washington (his brother). It tells the story of the Charles family in 1930’s Pittsburgh, as they debate whether to sell a piano that has become a family heirloom. The film debuted at the Telluride […]

Adventure

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)

And so I’ve been on a bit of a Hemingway kick while reading a brand new book (Just released) by favorite author Mark Kurlansky. Kurlansky tracks some of his adventures in journalism alongside those of Hem while on assignments and travels in Europe, Cuba and elsewhere. I didn’t read this particular […]

Comedy

Anora

Anora makes it clear why no woman — no man — should marry the son of a Russian oligarch. In Sean Baker’s comedy the title character, played by Mikey Madison, meets Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn) at a Manhattan club where she’s a sex worker and after a dizzy weekend he plays Richard Gere to her […]

Amazon Prime Video

Immaculate

Do you know what the term Twin Films means? According to Wikipedia, Twin Films are two films with the same or similar plots produced and released at the same time by two different studios. Examples of this would be: The Warriors and The Wanderers both released in 1979. The Howling and An American Werewolf in […]

Amazon Prime Video

AIRPORT

Burt Lancaster described his participation in what would become the first of a batch of 1970s all-star disaster epics as the worst picture he’s ever done.  He declared it “the worst piece of junk ever made.”  Perhaps because of this assessment we were eventually blessed with the Airplane! spoofs a decade later.   Airport […]

Amazon Prime Video

Saltburn (2023) Review

Saltburn wasn’t on my radar at all until it seemed to take my workplace by storm. ‘You like films don’t you, Alex? You might like Saltburn. It’s on Prime. Good but proper weird, don’t put it on if there’s any kids around.‘ I’d say that put it on my watchlist, but that doesn’t really mean […]

Amazon Prime Video

In the Realm of the Senses (Ai no Corrida) (1976)

Nagisa Oshima’s controversial erotic art film, “In the Realm of the Senses,”  as it is known in the United States, has two other titles. L’Empire des Sens (Empire of Senses) in France, and an original Japanese title, Ai no Corrida (Bullfight of Love). For once, I believe that the Americans got it right with their […]

Amazon Prime Video

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Milos Forman ran away from his home country, Czechoslovakia, after the Russian tanks put down the more liberal Czech government, and he was subsequently fired from the Czechoslovakia state-run movie studio.    His American movie that he most likely felt an affinity for was his cinematic interpretation of Ken Kesey’s brilliant exhibition of the totalitarian […]

Comedy

Movie Review: Mom, Is That You?! (こんにちは、母さん)

Just like Clint Eastwood, who is still making films at 93, 92-year-old Japanese filmmaker Yoji Yamada (山田洋次) is also proving that age is just a number. The man who brought the world the beloved TORA-SAN series has recently released his 90th work, MOM, IS THAT YOU?! It’s the third film in his “Mother” series that […]

Crime

Movie Review: Only the River Flows (河邊的錯誤)

If you’ve been watching the movies coming out of China over the past few years, you’ve no doubt noticed that many… okay, most… of them have a patriotic bent. Gone are subjects that the government has deemed to undermine national security, and that means no more movies about corrupt cops or government officials because they […]

Amazon Prime Video

Green Room

In the Pacific Northwest, a punk rock band The Aint Rights are trying to make a name for themselves without the aid of social media, so they decides to play this venue in a secluded part of the area. Upon their arrival they notice that most of the people there are skinheads, so they play […]

Action

Movie Review: Cesium Fallout (焚城)

With China’s heavy hand of censorship now firmly on the neck of the Hong Kong film industry, our filmmakers have learned they must toe the line if they wish to secure both funding and distribution for their projects. Gone are the days when corrupt police or government officials feature prominently in local stories because, we […]

Biography

Elvis (2022) Review

Elvis is an overlong but enjoyable look back at the rise of Elvis Presley! Typically Baz Luhrmann in style and tone, this is easily one to watch on the big screen!

Documentary

The Voices of the Silenced (2023)

Documentary film “The Voices of the Silences”, which won the Mecenat Award for Best Documentary when it was shown at the Busan International Film Festival in last year, is about one defiant old Korean Japanese woman and her old but valuable chronicles of her fellow Korean people in Japan. As her several old documentary films […]

Comedy

Movie Review: Successor (抓娃娃)

It’s one of the biggest domestic releases in China this year. SUCCESSOR, which debuted on July 16, is closing in on US$500 million at the box office and this is even before its roll-out to other markets. The film is opening in Hong Kong this weekend and the big question is whether local audiences here […]

Action

The Crow (2024) Review

In the world of filmmaking, the term “remake” usually comes up as a “double edge” sword within its undertaking and overall execution. For the good part, it allows filmmakers to revisit an old property and reinvent for a modern audiences offering up a new […]

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