The King of Pigs (South Korea, 2011) [NYAFF 2012]
Written and directed by Yeun Sang-ho, The King of Pigs looks like just another movie cautioning against childhood bullying, but the story goes far deeper. ...
Gyo (Japan, 2012) [PiFan 2012]
How does one begin to describe a film like Takayuki Hirao’s Gyo? With an end of the world scenario that revolves around “death stench” gas,...
Rainbow Fireflies (Japan, 2011) [PiFan 2012]
At first glance, the poster for Uda Kounosuke’s Rainbow Fireflies, with its series of picture bubbles featuring scenes of various children enjoying the salad days...
Tormented (Japan, 2011) [NYAFF 2012] [Japan Cuts 2012]
Also titled Rabbit Horror 3D, Tormented is directed (and co-written) by Takashi Shimizu, who made a huge splash both in Japan and internationally with his...
The VCinema Show Episode 45: Tokyo Drifter
In this episode, we review Seijun Suzuki’s 1966 gangster pastiche Tokyo Drifter and talk about his famous run-in with Nikkatsu around the time. To keep...
One Moment of Asia: Summer in Japan
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Young Dudes (Taiwan, 2012) [PiFan 2012]
“We are all the heroes of our dreams” That is not a piece of dialogue from DJ Ying-Jung Chen’s Young Dudes, though it could have...
In the Realm of the Senses (Japan, 1976)
Is it or isn’t it? It’s almost not even worth having this argument anymore. Oshima Nagisa’s controversial 1976 film, In the Realm of the Senses,...
Big in Taiwan: A Tale of Stepping in Internet Doodoo
Sometimes you get recognition for the good reasons and other times for the, shall we say, not so good ones. This is a story about...
Exodus (Hong Kong, 2007)
It is apparent from the opening sequence of Pang Ho-Cheung’s Hong Kong police procedural Exodus that this will be an odd experience: starting with a...