A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Chinese and Chinese-language Films
Te Wei, “Feelings of Mountain and Water” (1988) Inspired by the traditional Chinese shanshui genre of landscape painting – “shanshui” means “mountain – water” – in…
Tim Wilkime, “Adam Ruins Everything (Season 2, Episode 4: Adam Ruins Dating)” (2017) If ever there were profitable scams preying on people’s insecurities in finding lasting…
Satoshi Kon, “Tokyo Godfathers” (2003) No, this ain’t no cult yakuza film – though yakuza types do appear for a short while – but instead this…
Matthew Pollock, “Adam Ruins Everything (Season 2, Episode 1: Adam Ruins Pregnancy)” (2017) Appropriately for a first episode of a new season, the topic covered is…
Goro Miyazaki, “Tales from Earthsea / Gedo senki” (2006) Watching this film, gorgeous as it is visually, I couldn’t help but feel that it’s a classic…
Pongsa Kornsri, Gun Phansuwon, Nat Yoswatananont, “The Legend of Muay Thai: 9 Satra” (2018) Not known for its animation industry, Thailand nevertheless seems to be pinning…
Makoto Shinkai, “5 Centimetres per Second” (2007) As with his “Your Name”, Makoto Shinkai’s earlier “5 Centimetres per Second” is a teenage romance based around desire,…
Makoto Shinkai, “Your Name” (2016) At first this teenage romance drama seems to be just as sappy and sentimental as any other such film – especially…
Rick Morales, “Batman vs. Two-Face” (2017) Adam West’s final outing as Batman before his death in June 2017 brings him face to face (or face to…
Rick Morales, “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” (2016) The series of Batman films by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher in the 1990s and by Christopher…