Category Archives: Reviews
Review: Weiner (USA 2016)
This documentary contains some fascinating material on the failed Anthony Weiner 2013 mayoral run in New York, though I was not overly impressed with the way, at least in the early going, the filmmakers put their thumb on the scale … Continue reading
NYAFF 2017 Review: The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio (Japan 2016)
Sick of serious Miike? 13 Assassins and Hara-kiri Miike? Yearning for the older, wackier V-cinema Miike? Look no further than The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio (a belated sequel to 2013’s The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji). This film is … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged 2016, Japan, NYAFF, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Takashi Miike, Yakuza
Leave a comment
NYAFF 2017 Review: Fabricated City (South Korea 2017)
So, so, so dumb but so, so, so fun. Fabricated City starts off with our lead, disaffected loner Kwon Ju (Ji Chang-wook) going into battle in a multi-player war game with his team of random internet gaming geeks, performing crazy … Continue reading
NYAFF 2017 Review: Suffering of Ninko (Japan 2016)
More an erotic fable than a proper narrative, Suffering of Ninko puts a Japanese spin on the popular mythological concepts of the succubus and the incubus. Ninko is a Buddhist monk, fixated on his own asceticism. Unfortunately, his very presence … Continue reading
NYAFF 2017 Review: Split (South Korea 2016)
The festival program describes Split as a mash-up of Rain Man and Kingpin, and that’s exactly right. The problem is that there is way too much Rain Man, and way too little Kingpin. It’s a bowling dramedy, but weighted heavily … Continue reading
NYAFF 2017 Review: Kfc (Vietnam 2017)
Kfc starts out with the opposite of the Fargo disclaimer – a emphatic reassurance that the film’s events are purely fictional. Whether that’s a reaction against Fargo or just an attempt not to get sued, I don’t know, because Kfc … Continue reading
NYAFF 2017 Review: Extraordinary Mission (China 2017)
Extraordinary Mission is exactly the kind of movie that Hong Kong as always excelled at – a twisty undercover cop thriller that frequently breaks out into no-holds-barred action scenes. Very much in the spirit of its direct cinematic forebears like … Continue reading
NYAFF 2017 Review: Bad Genius (Thailand 2017)
Bad Genius makes me feel like the Thai film industry just leveled up. I’ve watched a lot of Thai movies. There’s a ton of great action even beyond the filmography of Tony Jaa (stuff like Dynamite Warriors and Power Kids), … Continue reading
NYAFF 2017 Review: Saving Sally (Phillippines 2016)
I really enjoyed Saving Sally, the passion project of director Avid Liongoren and screenwriter Charlene Sawit. The film is bursting with creativity, the leads are sweet and likable, and the film has a lovely “Blues Clues meets Liquid Television” aesthetic … Continue reading
Review: Belladonna of Sadness (Japan 1973)
Wow, that was one hell of an acid trip of a movie. A remaster and re-release of an early animated film produced by Osamu Tezuka, this film is completely unique, the closest comparison being the more outré works of Ralph … Continue reading