2022/03/29 |
What’s in a Slap?
Smith was wrong to slap Rock, in public or in private. And Rock and ABC were wrong for approving the joke. But commentators are also wrong for treating this incident the same as they would had all three people involved been White.
2022/03/21 |
‘The Dawn of Everything’ Is a (Qualified) Masterpiece
‘The Dawn of Everything’ not only shows that there are alternatives to neoliberal patriarchal settler capitalism. It tells a compelling story of how we “got stuck” where we are now.
2022/04/27 |
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Is the Only Valid Title for This Galaxy-Brained Film
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ fully lives up to its title.
2022/04/23 |
Zhang Yimou Crafts an Unusual Propaganda Film with ‘Snipers’
‘Snipers’ is an unapologetic Chinese patriotic melodrama. It’s not for everyone, but there were times that it was able to hint at a more multifaceted story.
2022/01/24 |
The Relationships in ‘Heart’ Are Authentically Messy
‘Heart’ is an enthralling exploration of filmmaker intimacy, desire, and ethics.
2022/02/19 |
Boredom Gives Rise to Experimentation in ‘The Cloud in Her Room’
Films in the quarter-life crisis genre often treat the drifting ennui of young adulthood as an aberration, or at most a regrettable rite of passage. But what if the ennui itself is what gets you through?
2022/03/28 |
‘Microhabitat’ Is an Ozu Adaptation in Both Story and Heart
No matter how desperate Mi-so’s situation is, she’s always more concerned for those around her. Our view of her suggests that the critique is not just of modernity, but of contemporary capitalism.
2022/01/04 |
‘Being the Ricardos’ Turns ‘I Love Lucy’ into the Nicole Kidman Show
‘Being the Ricardos’ has divided critics on everything but one point: Nicole Kidman is a revelation.
2022/05/26 |
‘Ink & Linda’ Celebrates Artistic Kismet
Two completely dissimilar people bond over a common project. The result is a radical story of artistic creation.
2022/06/22 |
From Folk Hero to Video Game Character: ‘The Legend of Tianding’
Based on a Taiwanese folk hero, ‘The Legend of Tianding’ is a game with stunning period aesthetics, engrossing action, and political relevance.
2022/11/15 |
2022 Golden Horse Asian Cinema Observer Report: Part 1
Our film critic CJ Sheu was at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival to review nominees for the Asian Cinema Observer Recommendation Prize. Here he gives the first of a two-part survey of the films, including entries from Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
2022/10/28 |
‘August at Akiko’s’ Calmly Reflects on Hawai‘i’s Colonial Trauma
Trauma and dispossession are at the heart of ‘August at Akiko’s’. But a soaring jazz score and sweeping cinematography suggest new directions and the possibility of moving on.
2022/09/20 |
A Vivid Future, Rooted in Legend: Red Candle Games and the Making of Nine Sols
A successful crowdfunding campaign has delivered ‘Nine Sols’, a new title from Taiwanese game developer Red Candle. Its Taoist-cyberpunk imagery and action gameplay is a major break from previous hits ‘Detention’ and ‘Devotion’.
2022/01/31 |
‘Moonlight Shadow’ Is the Film Edmund Yeo Was Born To Make
Edmund Yeo’s Japanese-language debut ‘Moonlight Shadow’ is a life-affirming fantasy.
2022/01/31 |
With Each Ending, a Beginning: Hellos and Goodbyes in a Taipei Winter
As winter plays host to an arriving spring, what are the seasonal experiences Taipei residents enjoy?
2022/06/22 |
‘After Yang’ Is Infused With Asian Americanness
‘After Yang’ is a sci-fi grounded in a plausible future history, conveying an uncanny sense of frisson familiar to Asian Americans, American Asians, or indeed anyone caught between two cultures in hard-to-delineate ways. The film is part of the 2022 Taipei Film Festival.
2022/07/19 |
I Have Some Questions about ‘What To Do with the Dead Kaiju?’
What does a reviewer do with a film like ‘Dead Kaiju’?
2022/07/29 |
‘Shalom Taiwan’ Is Cloying, Superficial, — And Thought-Provoking
‘Shalom Taiwan’ doesn’t amount to much. But it is, amid its unrelenting mediocrity, thought-provoking.