November 28, 2010

Accident (Pou-soi Cheang, 2009)

Accident devolves into a too simplistic whodunit, where the director tries to dazzle us with his technical mastery and film knowledge.
March 3, 2011

Instant Swamp (Satoshi Miki, 2009)

After Adrift in Tokyo (2007) Instant Swamp disappoints with its unfocused fable exploring the great divide between magical thought and rational thought.
September 28, 2010

Coming Home: Melodrama and social change

David Ehrenstein condemns melodramas like Coming Home for perpetuating the illusion that they can affect social change instead of creating real change.
September 7, 2011

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (Tsui Hark, 2010)

Although Hark makes good use of his limited budget, Dectective Dee’s script feels convoluted, while the actors perform as if they’re in a campy picture.
March 11, 2013

Punch (Han Lee, 2011)

Punch, a Korean drama, will more likely be remembered for the way it adds to the Korean conversation on immigration than for its other story elements.