Essays Infernal Affairs and the Dark Night of the Soul One thing I find displeasing about the contemporary Western cinematic landscape is its visual flakiness. The best shots of our biggest blockbusters are basically lifeless realizations of pre-vis. The images just aren’t memorable. The whole “One Perfect Shot” phenomenon is remarkably ironic given how many of the contemporary shots
Essays In the Mood for Love I’ll never understand completionist critics. It’s better, they would have it, to see 10 unique films than only eight unique films with two re-watches littered in the mix. There are so many movies that it would be a waste to spend your precious waking minutes revisiting old film
Reviews Don't Miss Out on the Restored Version of Drunken Master II (The Legend of Drunken Master) It’d be a mistake of a lifetime to miss out on quite possibly your only chance to ever see this film on the big screen.
Reviews A Misunderstood Masterpiece: CHUNGKING EXPRESS Wong Kar-wai is one of the best filmmakers from one of the most significant film movements, the Hong Kong New Wave. I’d argue he is one of the best filmmakers, full stop without any necessary qualifications. And, in my opinion, Chungking Express is his best film. Supposing one plus
No Gods Left Exclusive A Stellar New Perspective on Modern Chinese Cinema In his article “Why ‘The Chinese Cinema’?”, film critic Sean Gilman provides a thoughtful explanation for why he uses “cinema” as singular and not plural. For his purposes, it’s a reference to Andrew Sarris’s famous work “The American Cinema” and is not meant as a film critic'
Essays National Iconography in the Films of Two Chinese Directors Two Chinas rest between Zhang and Jia.
Essays The Politics of China in the Films of Jia Zhangke Jia Zhangke is one of the most important Chinese directors today. He won the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival for Still Life, NPR critic John Powers called him “the most important filmmaker working in the world today,” and he took home the Best Screenplay award at the 2013 Cannes
