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Noémie Merlant in a still from Emmanuelle.

Review | Emmanuelle: Hong Kong-set erotic drama a chic reboot of soft-core classic

Noémie Merlant is inscrutable as Emmanuelle in this Hong Kong-set update of the cult 1974 erotic film that’s more tasteful than titillating.

Noémie Merlant is inscrutable as Emmanuelle in this Hong Kong-set update of the cult 1974 erotic film that’s more tasteful than titillating

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Review | Once in a Blue Moon: bittersweet drama set in pandemic-era Hong Kong

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Review | Transformers One, a refreshing animated prequel, sees alien robots reign

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Review | Love Lies: Sandra Ng, Michael Cheung in online dating scam dramedy

Ng plays an emotionally stunted doctor who falls prey to an online dating scam in a film with a profound message hidden beneath its comedy.

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Sandra Ng as doctor Veronica Yu and Michael Cheung as scam artist Joe Lee in a still from Love Lies (category I; Cantonese), directed by Ho Miu-ki.

Review | Officer Black Belt: Kim Woo-bin stars in fun Netflix action comedy

Kim Woo-bin plays a martial artist who finds some much-needed purpose in new Netflix action comedy Officer Black Belt, directed by Jason Kim.

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Review | Tales of Taipei: anthology movie with Sammi Cheng a mixed bag

Also featuring Karena Lam and Stephy Tang, Tales of Taipei doesn’t have much to do with that city nor its 10 component films with each other.

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Review | The Wild Robot: a robot navigates nature in heartfelt sci-fi adventure

In this stunning movie, a baby goose must find a way off a soon-to-be inhospitable island – and his only help comes from a large, mysterious robot (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) that washes ashore in a box.

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A still from The Wild Robot.

Review | Broken Rage: Takeshi Kitano’s deliciously meta yakuza comedy

Takeshi Kitano blissfully does his own thing as an ageing hitman in short-and-sweet yakuza comedy Broken Rage.

Review | Youth (Homecoming): Wang Bing’s compelling portrait of Chinese workers

Wang Bing spent three years compiling this documentary about migrant workers in Hebei and the moments of joy they find in their harsh lives.

Review | Stranger Eyes, unsettling Singaporean drama about being watched

Yeo Siew Hua muses over Singapore’s use of security cameras in his voyeuristic anti-thriller about surveillance of a missing child’s parents.

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A still from Stranger Eyes. Photo: Akanga Film Asia

Review | Joker: Folie à Deux – Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga in musical sequel

Lady Gaga plays music teacher and more to Phoenix’s Joker behind bars in a highly original sequel that’s menacing and beautifully styled.

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Lady Gaga (left) and Joacquin Phoenix in a still from Joker: Folie à Deux. Photo: Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Review | Queer: Daniel Craig shines in Luca Guadagnino’s steamy drama

Premiering at the 2024 Venice Film Festival and starring Daniel Craig as a homosexual drug addict, Luca Guadagnino’s Queer is a faithful dive into the universe of author William Burroughs.

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Update | The Room Next Door, Pedro Almodóvar’s Golden Lion winner

Tilda Swinton stars as a cancer patient who wants to end her life and asks her old friend (Julianne Moore) to be near her when she takes a euthanasia pill, in this Pedro Almodóvar drama.

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Review | Mistress Dispeller: documentary has unique take on love in China

A wife in China, suspecting her husband of an affair, hires a woman to break it up. Remarkable for the access she, the couple, and the mistress grant filmmaker Elisabeth Lo, its finale is extraordinary.

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Mistress Fei Fei (a pseudonym) getting a haircut in a still from Mistress Dispeller. Photo; Marcona Media

Review | Wolfs: Brad Pitt, George Clooney in laid-back comic thriller

Playing no-name guys who dress and talk the same, Pitt and Clooney bring bonhomie to Wolfs, a slick crime story with a clever set-up where the story is secondary to the entertainment.

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Brad Pitt and George Clooney in a still from Wolfs, which will stream on Apple+. Photo: Sony Pictures.

Review | Cloud: Kiyoshi Kurosawa thriller takes aim at online reselling

The lead character’s get-rich-quick schemes rebound on him, and when a mob turns up the guns come out. Well enough acted and with atmospheric settings, Cloud is somehow less than the sum of its parts.

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Review | In Maria, a delicate biopic, Angelina Jolie shines as opera singer

Pablo Larraín’s elegant Maria stars a stunning Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, one of the greatest opera singers of all time, and tells the story of the final week before her fatal heart attack.

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Review | Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Tim Burton revives his fantasy comedy

The plot is a bit of a grab bag, but the wacky characters and strong acting, from Monica Bellucci especially, make this film a more than acceptable sequel to Burton’s 1988 fantasy Beetlejuice.

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Michael Keaton in a still from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Photo: Parisa Taghizadeh/Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Review | Look Back is a nostalgic Japanese film about manga and friendship

Fujino (voiced by Yuumi Kawai) is a schoolgirl who has built a fan base for her comic strip and who becomes jealous of another girl (Mizuki Yoshida) who is also a popular artist. Then they team up.

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Review | The Unwavering Brotherhood: watchable Hong Kong gangster film

A genre film par excellence, Terry Ng’s film about three mid-level gangsters who land in big trouble is well enough acted. If you like gangster movies, you will love The Unwavering Brotherhood.

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Review | Touch: cross-cultural love story by turns tender and hollow

This Covid-set drama with Koki and Masahiro Motoki, about an Icelandic man searching for his Japanese flame from the 1960s, could have done more to explore the struggles of Hiroshima bombing survivors.

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Koki and Palmi Kormakur in a still from Touch. Photo: Lilja Jonsdottir/Focus Features

Review | The Killer: John Woo’s gender-flipped remake of his classic is a dud

John Woo’s Paris-set remake of his action masterpiece, with Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy in place of Chow Yun-fat and Danny Lee, lacks the original’s dynamism and seems destined to die a quick death.

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Omar Sy and Nathalie Emmanuel in a still from The Killer, directed by John Woo. Photo: Christine Tamalet/Universal Pictures International

Review | The Monk and the Gun, Bhutanese political satire, is a triumph

The Monk and the Gun is a witty Bhutanese political satire about the kingdom’s move towards democracy in the wake of the king’s announcement that he is abdicating.

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Review | Channing Tatum in Blink Twice, Zoë Kravitz’s thrilling directing debut

Tatum plays an oily tech billionaire in actress Kravitz’s first film as director, a compelling story of survival with a message about the male-female dynamic and an ending worthy of David Cronenberg.

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Review | Is lowbrow Chinese comedy Successor a critique of state control?

Its humour is mostly unfunny and its message baffling. Successor depicts a father untouched by China’s economic progress, yet we soon learn this is part of an elaborate ruse involving his schoolboy son.

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Ma Li (left) and Shen Teng in a still from Successor (category IIA; Mandarin), directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo. Xiao Bochen co-stars.

Review | Pilot is a Korean cross-dressing comedy that takes on gender imbalance

Jo Jung-suk stars as a disgraced pilot working for a rival airline as a woman in this cross-dressing comedy – less a tale of deception than one that highlights gender imbalance in today’s world.

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Jo Jung-suk in a still from Pilot.

Review | Dead Talents Society, hilarious supernatural comedy starring Gingle Wang

Gingle Wang plays a young woman who has recently died and is trying to prove herself worthy of being a ghost by going through contests and auditions, in John Hsu’s screwball comedy.

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Review | Borderlands, video game adaptation so poor Cate Blanchett can’t save it

Cate Blanchett shines in this video game adaptation, but the sci-fi shoot-’em-up is let down by a faltering plot, some annoying characters and a lack of emotion.

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Film reviews
Hollywood blockbusters, local greats, European movies, Japanese and Korean dramas, animation, art house films, you can find them all here. 
last updated:
9 September, 2024
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