Extraordinary Mission (China, 2017) [NYAFF 2017]
When a film’s title boldly proclaims that the audience is going to see something astounding, the content usually either lives up to the superlative or...
Saving Sally (Philippines, 2016) [NYAFF 2017]
Saving Sally is one of the most ambitious attempts at commercial filmmaking from the Philippines to date, and probably one of the best in terms...
Bad Genius (Thailand, 2017) [NYAFF 2017]
In a competitive, status orientated society where students are defined by their GPA, does a little cheating really hurt if it helps some maintain a...
Call for Guest Bloggers – Chinese Cinema of the 1980s & 1990s
In collaboration with the DC Chinese Film Festival, VCinema is seeking guest bloggers for a series of posts on the theme of Chinese Cinema of...
Kim Ki-young’s Cinema-as-Plague: The ‘Housemaid’ Trilogy’s Domestic Theatre of Cruelty
Images of stairs have been a personal fascination, be it in photography or cinema. To be more precise, I have been drawn to threshold spaces...
Jasmine (USA, 2015)
Dax Phelan’s psychological thriller Jasmine begins with Leonard To (Jason Tobin) returning to Hong Kong after an extended break to pursue a position at a...
Preview – JAPAN CUTS 2017: Festival of New Japanese Film, July 13-23
JAPAN CUTS, North America’s premiere showcase for new Japanese cinema, returns for its 11th installment July 13-23 to serve up a slice of the best...
The Iron Ministry (China/USA, 2015)
The train has been a favoured narrative element of copious directors from Josef von Sternberg to Alfred Hitchcock to Wes Anderson, but in The Iron...
Cartographic Acts & Spaces of Current (Independent) Philippine Filmmaking, Part 3
A review of select titles of the series ‘A New Golden Age: Contemporary Philippine Cinema’ at the Museum of Modern Art, June 1-25. The inside-outside divide...
Preview – Creative Visions: Hong Kong Cinema 1997-2017, TIFF Bell Lightbox, June 23-25
In partnership with Create Hong Kong and the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society with support from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in...