23rd Busan Internationational Film Festival: House of Hummingbird Review

Hummingbirds are the smallest of birds, with their tiny wings flapping away even faster than their heartbeats, unless they experience torpor, a hibernation-like state that hummingbirds use to protect themselves from the cold. Even though they are tiny, they build nests that have been named among the most exquisite wonders of nature. Much like hummingbirds, there…

Justice League Review

Does it or does it not? Suck, that is? We seem to have several very loud sides in this discussion; from Marvel fans, all to happy to jump at anything DC and DCEU, to DC fans, loudly defending not only this film, but also the previous DC hits and misses (and let’s face it, there…

The 12th London Korean Film Festival: The First Lap Review

The London leg of the 12th London Korean Film festival came to a close this year with The First Lap, the second feature of an up-and-coming South Korean indie filmmaker Kim Dae-hwan, who is being continuously compared to his fellow SK indie filmmaker and film festival favourite Hong Sang-soo – and yet, it is The…

The 12th London Korean Film Festival: Jamsil Review

Lee Wan-min is a young South Korean filmmaker. She directed several shorts,  including Chima (2006), Mensrea (2008), Sang (2009) and Mock or Die (2010), and in 2016, she presented her first feature, Jamsil (2016), which she both wrote and directed, at the 21st Busan International Film Festival; this year, the film was screened in the Women’s…

Blade Runner 2049 Review

35 years ago, Ridley Scott released Blade Runner, a film that eventually marked a major spot in film history, even though its future did not seem bright back in 1982 – the futuristic, neo-noir sci-fi film flopped on all levels and found itself drowned in harsh criticism that was only dispelled a decade later, with…

Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow Review

In the Western cinematic scopes, we can find a number of chess-themed sports films and biopics, but there is a mere handful of productions that feature the Japanese cousin of the popular board game: shogi, known also as ‘Japanese chess’; a sport that has, since its 16th century beginnings, evolved into one of the most…

“We Are X” Review

“If you put your everything into something, your life … you don’t lose. If worst comes to worst, you die.” (Yoshiki) 1975 was a formative year for one Yoshiki Hayashi, who – despite his life being limited by several ailments (and a severe case of asthma) – was a shining classical music prodigy; at the…

Ben Younger’s Bleed for This

The 21st Busan International Film Festival served us this year with a multitude of great Asian films and with several amazing Western film creations, among which Bleed For This, written and directed by Ben Younger, perhaps stood out the most – not only because Ben Younger himself attended the festival, along with his two all-star…

The 1st London East Asia Film Festival: The World of Us

As we grow up and get busy pretending that we are fully-fledged adults, we sometimes forget the trials and losses and gains that helped us grow and shaped us while we were growing up. Childhood is the era in one’s life when friends have as much influence as family – or even more; and it…