January 3, 2014

Fantasia 2013 bits IV

Reviews bits of the Fantasia Film Festival.
November 28, 2010

Overheard (Felix Chong and Alan Mak, 2009)

Overheard is a Hong Kong film from Alan Mak in the vein of Infernal Affairs, with magnificent performances from its lead actors.
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 […]
April 20, 2010

Rough Cut (Hun Jang, 2008)

Rough Cut constructs a dual history of characters, mirror images of one another, distorted through time, in a film within a film.
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 […]