A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Arabic-language Films, Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Wen Muye, “Once Upon a Time in the Middle East” aka “Welcome to the Dragon Restaurant” (2026) Its story told using flashback narrative structure, this Chinese…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films, Southeast Asian Films
Lan Hongchun, “Dear You” (2026) Made on a budget equivalent to US$2.06 million or nearly $3 million in Australian currency, with little marketing and promotion, and…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“Land Reform in the Philippines” (Asianometry, 17 October 2022) For most of its existence as an independent nation since 1946, the Philippines has suffered from unequal…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“Australia’s Natural Gas Dilemma” (Asianometry, 26 September 2022) Despite being the world’s leading natural gas exporter, exporting US$25 billions’ worth of LNG to Asia, Australia also…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“What Raiding the Rich Did For Malaysia” (Asianometry, 29 August 2022) A daring stockmarket raid hatched by politicians and bankers in Malaysia on the shares of…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“Storing Freshwater in the Salty Sea” (Asianometry, 22 August 2022) In this video, the Asianometry host digresses from economics, business and IT issues to one relevant…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“Why the Soviet Computer Failed” (Asianometry, 8 July 2022) A very interesting visual essay, illustrated with archived photographs drawn from various sources, this Asianometry video delves…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“Why North Korea Starves” (Asianometry, 10 January 2022) While accurate information about North Korea is difficult to obtain, due to its government’s secrecy, this Asianometry mini-documentary…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“South Korea’s Cram School Obsession” (Asianometry, 4 July 2022) What initially started out as an investigation into South Korean families’ mania for after-school private tutoring for…
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
“Why South Korea’s Seniors Are So Poor” (Asianometry, 19 April 2022) The statistics – and this mini-documentary is full of them! – are alarming: the relative…