By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Director Tran Anh Hung left his native Vietnam in 1975, at the age of 12, after Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces. Until the year 2000, he made all of his films, with permission, inside the unified Vietnam, showing a rich mixture of love for his homeland with [...]
Archive | At the Movies
Vietnamese director brings Murakami’s Norwegian Wood’ to life
Posted on 26 January 2012.
Posted in At the Movies, Vol 31 No 5 | 1/28-2/30 Comments
New “Full Metal Alchemist” installment bold in story and design
Posted on 19 January 2012.
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly “All is of one, and one is in all.” So says an alchemist — a fancy term for magician — at the beginning of “Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos,” the second feature derived from the popular Japanese manga and TV anime “Fullmetal Alchemist.” Over the course of [...]
Posted in At the Movies, Vol 31 No 4 | 1/21-1/270 Comments
The 10 best Asian films of the year
Posted on 29 December 2011.
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly 2011 gave us a wide variety of Asian cinema, from sweeping historical epics to smaller, more human-scaled studies of life. Seek out the following films wherever you can. They are ranked in order of excellence.
Posted in At the Movies, Features 01, Vol 31 No 1 | 12/31/11-1/6/120 Comments
‘Outrage’ aptly portrays yakuza, but too gory
Posted on 15 December 2011.
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Takeshi Kitano’s new film “Outrage” opens with the camera panning slowly across a group of men slouching against luxury cars, some fanning themselves in the heat. They are the yakuza promised in the film’s advance publicity, but they are not stylish. They do not immediately look dangerous. The filmmaker [...]
Posted in At the Movies, Vol 30 No 51 | 12/17-12/230 Comments
Ip Man: a legend shamefully overlooked
Posted on 15 September 2011.
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Ip Man (1893–1972) was a legendary Chinese marital artist whose students included a young Bruce Lee. Several films have been based on his amazing life. This newest one, “The Legend is Born: Ip Man,” is the first to offer an account — fictionalized, but derived loosely from real [...]
Posted in At the Movies, Vol 30 No 38 | 9/17-9/231 Comment
Review of John Sayles’ “Amigo,” about a war not well-remembered by Americans
Posted on 02 September 2011.
The American director John Sayles has a long and distinguished history of tackling difficult projects addressing difficult aspects of life and history. His latest film “Amigo,” set in the Philippines, explores a time in history not well-remembered by most Americans, but which remains vivid to Filipinos …
Posted in Arts & Entertainment, At the Movies, Reviews, Vol 30 No 35 | 8/27-9/20 Comments
The Old west gets a new sci-fi twist, “Trigun”-style
Posted on 28 July 2011.
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Director Satoshi Nishimura’s anime feature “Trigun: Badlands Rumble” begins with frantic police radio calls and the ringing of a burglar alarm inside a bank. We see bank employees held hostage as the robbers pillage the vault, arguing about how to divide the loot. But this is no ordinary bank [...]
Posted in At the Movies, Vol 30 No 31 | 7/30-8/51 Comment
“Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”
Posted on 20 July 2011.
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Director Wayne Wang’s new dramatic film “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” begins with a business diner in Shanghai. The well-dressed Chinese at the table speak fluent English and toast two of their number. Nina (played by Bingbing Li) and Sebastian (Archie Kao) are to leave for New York [...]
Posted in At the Movies, Vol 30 No 30 | 7/23-7/290 Comments
Director Lu explores fall of Nanking
Posted on 07 July 2011.
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Chinese director Chuan Lu graduated from the prestigious Beijing Film Academy and wrote his dissertation on Francis Ford Coppola, director of the “Godfather” saga. He summons all of his knowledge for his devastating third dramatic feature, “City of Life and Death,” a study of the Nanking Massacre. The still-shocking [...]
Posted in At the Movies, Vol 30 No 28 | 7/9-7/150 Comments
Award-winning film from Thai director expertly defies conventions
Posted on 16 June 2011.
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who turns 40 in July, began making feature films 11 years ago in 2000. Working outside the Thai studio system, he quickly established himself as an artistic maverick, with films rich in light and spirit.
Posted in At the Movies, Vol 30 No 25 | 6/18-6/240 Comments
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