September 29, 2011

Ip Man: The Legend is Born (Herman Yau, 2010)

Unimpressed by Ip Man: The Legend is Born trailer, the film didn’t make it into my preliminary list of ten films for the Fantasia Festival therefore, mere hours before the showing, cutting it close to showtime, I quickly decide on a secondary list of ten films for the festival, bringing my total up to twenty films so far. Once I […]
December 29, 2011

Hello Ghost (Young-tak Kim, 2010)

Hello Ghost is hands-down the best film I’ve seen in 2011, utilizing appealing comedic techniques, and crafting new visual gags and convoluted situations.
November 26, 2010

Sell Out! (Joon Han Yeo, 2008)

The only showing of the Singapore film, Sell Out, is, oddly enough, sold out. It’s my first Singaporean film, a musical sporting a peculiar premise, so I’m excited about it. A young Singaporean engineer, working for a multinational conglomerate, designs a terrific new product (a tofu processor) but discovers that his invention (and any kind of innovation) isn’t welcomed at […]
February 26, 2013

Mitsuko Delivers (Yuya Ishii, 2011)

Mitsuko Delivers is a great beginning to the festival for me, starting with what could be the best acting performance of the year. Riisa Naka plays the eponymous Mitsuko, an energetic and pregnant young woman who travels back to her old stomping grounds and quickly befriends a cast of quirky local characters, forcing them to seek happiness, whether they’re open […]
November 26, 2010

Kuroneko (Kaneto Shindo, 1968)

in its new restoration, Kuroneko (Kaneto Shindo, 1968) is one of those gems, a ‘60s Japanese horror film with a sharp aesthetic.