Home Reviews Page 8

Reviews

NYAFF : ‘Wolf Hiding’ is a Revenge-Movie with a Social Commentary

Courtesy of iQIYI Inc. The New York Asian Film Festival 2024 presents the North American Premiere of Wolf Hiding (Nu chao), a crime-thriller shot in Malaysia. Director Marc Ma has packed an action movie with social commentary and the right dose of drama. The screenplay written by Hui Chen, Yu Gong, and Haoran Gu centers…

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In / Review

©Well Go USA Entertainment  Hong Kong is a vastly different city now then it was in the 1980s. Its most notorious landmark, Kowloon Walled City, no longer stands, but scores of luxury brand retail showrooms have subsequently opened, reshaping the financial hub. Sadly, freedom of the press and rule of law are also endangered, if…

Daughters : What Does It Mean to Be an Incarcerated Father?

©Courtesy of Netflix After winning Festival Favorite and Audience Award: U.S. Documentary Competition at the last Sundance Film Festival, Daughters by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton finds its streaming platform on Netflix. The documentary focuses on the Daddy Daughter Dance, a program run in a Washington D.C. jail that allows incarcerated men to spend a…

Fantasia: The Tenants: Yoon Eun-kyung’s Writing is Remarkably Sharp

©Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival  New Yorkers might not even consider this near-future Korean metropolis (a sort of, but not exactly Seoul) a strange and unfamiliar urban dystopia, as director-screenwriter Yoon Eun-kyung intended. Yes, the air quality is awful and it is nearly impossible to find an affordable, livable apartment, thanks a bizarre and…

NYAFF : Carefree Days is a Testament to People’s Vulnerabilities

Photo: © Shanghai Film (Group) Co., Ltd.; Chips Pictures Embracing humor and resilience during their time of despair proves the versatility of a seemingly jovial but ultimately strong-willed, person. That’s certainly true for actress Lyu Xingchen’ protagonist of Xu Lingling in the new drama, Carefree Days. The new movie, which is presented in Chinese with…

NYAFF : Brief History of a Family: An Exquisite Thriller from Chinese Director Lin Jianjie

©Courtesy of NYAFF  Brief History of a Family, the feature directorial debut for Chinese filmmaker Lin Jianjie, is described as a “mystery thriller” film but comes with none of the sensational cliches often associated with such a genre. This poignant, slow-paced movie is a little gem of style and sensibility: a tender and poignant probing…

Fantasia : Sunburnt Unicorn / The Film Never Truly Cohesively Comes Together

@Courtesy of NMA Releasing  Surely, there are easier ways for fathers and sons to repair their relationships, like maybe tossing around a football in the backyard? Regardless, it will take a grave car accident and a subsequent mythical quest for Franklin (known as Frankie) to finally better understand his father in Canadian director-screenwriter Nick Johnson’s…

Fantasia : Bunny of the Magic Forest from the Film Synapusyu The Movie: Pusyu, Brand Nyu World : Video Review by Serena Davanzo

Check out more of CinemaDaily US’ video interviews on our YouTube channel Serena Davanzo, a Pennsylvania native, graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a BA in Journalism and a BA in Theatre in December 2022. She currently works full time as a weekend anchor/producer and MMJ’s weekdays. She aspires to be an entertainment based…

NYAFF: The Killers is a Fun Anthology about Blood and Crime

@Courtesy of NYAFF What else could be achieved using this figure after all the movies that portrayed the hitman in every possible declination? The answer is the Korean movie The Killers, composed of four episodes, each trying to redefine the concept through a personal approach. Different directors, different styles, and different tones compose a cinematic…

Fantasia : Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp Review

©Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival  At least poor Koyomi Araragi is not a Renfield. As a freshly turned minion, his mistress bestowed full vampire powers on him. Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade—truly an anime name, if ever there was one—might even allow him to return to human form, eventually. For now, Araragi must protect her from…

Mantra Warrior: The Legend of the Eight Moons, at Fantasia 2024

In the fan-favorite anime film, Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama, the simian warrior Hanuman steals the show, because who doesn’t love a big talking monkey? The classic Japanese-Indian co-production directed by Ram Mohan, Koichi Sasaki, and Yugo Sako presents a reasonably faithful adaptation, from an Indian perspective. Over the centuries, the archetypal epic travelled…