LA Film Fest 2013 Review: Mumbai Drama I.D. Can't Establish Credentials

To comment on Indian cinema growing beyond the Bollywood aesthetic that has defined it for so many years would be almost passé at this point. With films like Gangs of Wasseypur crashing onto the scene with great flourishes of... More »

By Alex Koehne

The Kids Talk Film: Jackie Chan's POLICE STORY

Twitch has been on the Internet so long that many of its writing staff have children old enough to understand and consume media in a way that is both raw and fresh. It might even come with an inkling of... More »

By Kurt Halfyard

Review: Shinkai Makoto's GARDEN OF WORDS Is Cheesy, But Has Heart

Promoted as a feature-length film, Shinkai Makoto's Garden of Words surprisingly only lasts 46 minutes. However, it was enough for the director to portray human emotions as well as understand the purpose of relationships.The word "love" in modern Japanese is "ai", but in... More »

By Trung Rwo

Review: SO YOUNG Is (Mostly) An Endearing Nostalgia Trip From Zhao Wei

For her directorial debut, mainland actress Zhao Wei employs a vivacious cast of mostly unknown youngsters for a spirited adaptation of Xin Yiwu's best-selling novel. The resulting film has proved a box office sensation in China, despite major dramatic missteps... More »

By James Marsh

LA Film Fest 2013 Review: EUROPA REPORT Is Mushy But Enjoyable Sci-Fi

Ecuadorian filmmaker Sebastián Cordero has a handful of titles on his directing resume, the best known probably 2004's John Leguizamo-starring non-comic journalist drama Cronicas. All of his films have been in Spanish and none venturing into what we would... More »

By Ryland Aldrich

Review: THE GUILLOTINES Dulls Its Blade

It has been a long and bumpy road for Peter Chan, getting his new production of The Guillotines to the big screen. First announced back in 2009 with Hong Kong's man-of-the-moment Dante Lam at the helm, Teddy Chen then took... More »

By James Marsh

Review: SWITCH Proves A Mission Impossible For Andy Lau

Bombastic, sprawling yet largely incoherent, writer-producer-director Jay Sun's debut feature shoots for top-flight blockbuster status with its mix of glamorous stars, exotic locations and high-concept action set-pieces, but not even Andy Lau can save Switch from collapsing under the weight... More »

By James Marsh

Sydney 2013 Review: COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING Doesn't Soar But Still Reaches Pretty High

Co-directed by Nicholas Bonner (UK), Anja Daelemans (Belgium) and Kim Gwang-hun (North Korea), Comrade Kim Goes Flying is the first North Korean feature made with Western production partners in over 30 years. It was the first ever North Korean movie... More »

By Hugo Ozman

Review: YAMLA PAGLA DEEWANA 2 Goes Any Which Way But Good

A couple of years ago, Bollywood legend Dharmendra (Sholay) put together a wacky comedy starring himself and his two movie star sons, Bobby Deol and Sunny Deol. That film was called Yamla Pagla Deewana (Nutty, Looney, Crazy) and was a... More »

By J Hurtado

Review: Jade Castro's JUANA C. THE MOVIE is a Caricature that Seeks to Both Tickle its Audience and Tackle Pressing Issues

An actress working mainly in theater for several years, Mae Paner landed her greatest role when she, along with a ragtag team of advocate artists including esteemed playwright Rody Vera and other theater performers, uploaded a video on YouTube... More »

By Oggs Cruz

Sydney 2013 Review: THE LAND OF HOPE Is One Of Sono Sion's Best

Breathtaking is perhaps the best word to describe Love Exposure director Sono Sion's latest, The Land Of Hope. It is a film that takes audiences on a long and draining but ultimately very rewarding journey, with two families torn apart... More »

By Hugo Ozman

Review: AMERICAN DREAMS IN CHINA Insists on Being About More Than Just Friendship

After a string of period martial arts dramas, Peter Chan scores another hit with this (almost) contemporary story of three friends who meet at university and, over 20 years, build an empire around teaching English. But, while the film has... More »

By James Marsh

Review: PEE MAK PHRAKANONG is a Thai Horror Comedy Deserving of its Success

Re-inventing a classic Thai ghost story into a goofball comedy romance, seasoned director Banjong Pisanthanakun has scored a huge box office hit in his native Thailand. While unlikely to do the same kind of business outside South East Asia, Pee... More »

By James Marsh

The Kids Talk Film: PAPRIKA

Twitch has been on the internet long enough that many of its writing staff have children who are old enough to understand and consume media in a way that is both raw and fresh, along with an inkling of consideration... More »

By Kurt Halfyard

Jeonju 2013 Review: Experimental ECHO OF DRAGON Explores Myths and Emotion

When it comes to what we expect to see on screen, it's worth considering sometimes just how strict we can be. Though we demand filmmakers to be creative, our definition of originality is actually quite narrow. As the lights dim... More »

By Pierce Conran

Blu-ray Review: PATLABOR: ORIGINAL OVA SERIES Looks Fresh And Sharp

(Do you feel lucky, otaku?) Confession time: after I saw Ghost in the Shell I became a stark raving mad fan of its director Oshii Mamoru, and made it a point to hunt down his other works as well. While... More »

By Ard Vijn

Review: Brillante Mendoza Produces A Queer Film About Loneliness In The Social Network Era With UNFRIEND

When we think about the new wave of queer cinema from the Philippines one of the first names which comes to mind is surely Joselito Altarejos. His films - from Antonio's Secret to The Game in Juan's Life - have... More »

By Pierre Hombrebueno

Blu-ray Review: MAWARU PENGUINDRUM Will Make You Dance To Its Beat!

(Insert Linux joke here...) Recently I lamented the general lack of originality in anime. Next thing I know, this series was dropped in my lap, making me eat my words. For Mawaru Penguindrum is not just original, it's beyond batshit... More »

By Ard Vijn

DVD Review: FRACTALE, More Than Just A Pretty Anime-By-Numbers?

(Is it original, or an infinite spiral of repeated anime tropes?) Many recent Japanese animation series look good on the technical front, but seem to have trouble distinguishing themselves from the many series which came before them. It's always the... More »

By Ard Vijn

Cannes 2013 Review: ONLY GOD FORGIVES and the Art of Violence

Nicolas Winding Refn may have burst onto the Hollywood scene with his slow burn but relatively straightforward actioner Drive, but before that film, Refn made a name for himself with considerably more abstract narratives such as Valhalla Rising. Refn... More »

By Ryland Aldrich

Page 1 of 120

Leading Voices in Global Cinema

Todd Brown, Founder & Editor Toronto
Peter Martin, Managing Editor Dallas
Ryland Aldrich, Festivals Editor Los Angeles
James Marsh, Asian Editor Hong Kong
Brian Clark, European Editor Paris

Destroy All Monsters: Retire Superman

While the internet is tearing itself apart in its efforts to empirically determine whether Man of Steel "sucks" or "is awesome" - because such things are now apparently possible, given Superman Returns' near-unilateral, and intellectually disturbing, dismissal - I'd like to pause to make a gentler request: may we please... More »

Fifteen Unfilmable Novels And The Directors Who Should Try Anyway

Ah, the 'unfilmable' novel. Go back ten or fifteen years and it seems everyone had some sort of list of great novels that could never be brought to the screen. The limitations at the time were largely technical and in recent years those lists have dwindled with titles such as... More »

Jason Gorber's Cineruminations: On MAN OF STEEL, SuperJesus, and THIS IS THE END's Jewpocalypse

Back in 1933, while Hitler was ascending into power in Germany and diasporic Jews throughout the world looked on with concern, two high school students created one of the most indelible mythical heroes of the last century. Borrowing from the Nietzschean concept of the Übermensch, Joe Shuster and Jerry... More »

Twitchvision: Talking MAN OF STEEL and THIS IS THE END

This is the big week of Superman's return, with Zack Snyder's take on the caped saviour hitting our screens. While my opinion's kind of mixed on the film, there's still plenty to admire about it. I also discuss the overt Jesus imagery throughout, as expanded in a full cineruminations column... More »

70s Rewind: Bridges, Barbra, Bogdanovich, Brynner

Amazon's Prime Instant streaming service is not as well-established as Netflix and has far more modest offerings in off-beat and strange cinema. Still, since I temporarily dropped Netflix, I've been diving deeper into Amazon's catalog, and discovered a good number of films from my favorite movie decade. Here's a selection... More »