Ash Is Purest White (Jiang hu er nü) China (2018) Dir. Jia Zhangke When Tammy Wynette famously sang Stand By Your Man it may have been intended as a rallying cry for women to show their support for their men faults and all, but the song doesn’t lay out the downside to having this devotion … Continue reading Ash Is Purest White (Jiang hu er nü)
Triple Threat Thailand/China/US (2019) Dir. Jesse V. Johnson It sounds like an action cinema fans dream to see the worlds of esoteric Asian martial arts, Kung Fu and MMA come together in a violent bullet riddled, fist and feet flying blow out. British stuntman turned filmmaker Jesse V. Johnson has decided he is the man … Continue reading Triple Threat
Ciao Ciao China (2017) Dir. Song Chuan “Home is where the heart is” according to the old adage, which for young people living in countries under strict rule, might be anywhere else but home. This can’t be helped but what if they live in a society where family is considered paramount, an uncomfortable divide between … Continue reading Ciao Ciao
City Of Rock (Feng ren ji yue dui) China (2017) Dir. Da Peng Are you ready to rock? It’s not a crime to want to make a racket with electric guitars and pounding drums though some people still seem to think it is, which is amusing when you consider some of the great careers many … Continue reading City Of Rock (Feng ren ji yue dui)
An Elephant Sitting Still (Da xiang xi di er zuo) China (2018) Dir. Hu Bo The world is not a nice place at the moment, a sad but true fact which haunts us all on a daily basis. Many have their own ways of dealing with it - some face it head on with varying … Continue reading An Elephant Sitting Still (Da xiang xi di er zuo)
Iceman: The Time Traveller (Bing feng: Yong heng zhi men) Hong Kong (2018) Dir. Raymond Yip You know the deal, a film is successful so a sequel is made and the success continues - at least that is how it is supposed to go. In the case of 2014’s Iceman, the film was a flop … Continue reading Iceman: The Time Traveller (Bing feng: Yong heng zhi men)
Not One Less (Yi ge dou bu neng shao) China (1999) Dir. Zhang Yimou One of the biggest problems facing many schoolchildren in the world today is being too poor to afford many of the basics needed for their education, something which is shared by the schools themselves thanks to governments starving them of funding. … Continue reading Not One Less (Yi ge dou bu neng shao)
