Category Archives: Movies

Review: Filmlovers!

Posted on January 29, 2025 by philipbrasor

At some point in a serious filmmaker’s career they tackle the subject of cinema itself. Usually, it’s in the form of a narrative love letter to the art, such as Truffaut’s Day For Night or Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, but sometimes … Continue reading →

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Review: The Goldfinger

Posted on January 24, 2025 by philipbrasor

Based on a true story, this thriller set in Hong Kong during the 70s and 80s stars Tony Leung and Andy Lau, together for the first time since the popular early-aughts Infernal Affairs trilogy, and was written and directed by … Continue reading →

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Review: The Apprentice

Posted on January 18, 2025 by philipbrasor

The Japanese distributor of Ali Abassi’s origin story of Donald Trump The Monster probably thinks they’ve scored a coup by releasing it the weekend before Trump’s second term as POTUS begins (it opened in the U.S. about a month before … Continue reading →

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Review: Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In

Posted on January 17, 2025 by philipbrasor

Though I don’t normally look to Hong Kong kung-fu epics for political meaning, I was puzzled by a central plot point in this 1980s-set action movie directed by Soi Cheang, which reportedly is the first of a series. Raymond Lam … Continue reading →

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Review: A Normal Family

Posted on January 16, 2025 by philipbrasor

Probably no national cinema addresses the conflicts of social class with the directness of South Korea’s. There’s something almost perverse about Korean filmmakers’ willingness to expose the soul-destroying rot of the capitalist system on its citizens. Parasite is the most … Continue reading →

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Review: Teki Cometh

Posted on January 15, 2025 by philipbrasor

With its monochromatic palette and focus on quotidian activity, Daihachi Yoshida’s Teki Cometh, which won the Grand Prix at the most recent Tokyo International Film Festival, initially offers a disarmingly unassuming approach to the notion of passing into insignificance upon … Continue reading →

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Review: Emmanuelle

Posted on January 10, 2025 by philipbrasor

Because Audrey Diwan directed Happening, a movie that honestly addressed abortion, it’s likely her remake of the 1974 softcore classic, which launched countless sequels and copies, will be described as a feminist take on the subject; but even if it … Continue reading →

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Review: Formed Police Unit

Posted on January 9, 2025 by philipbrasor

Sometimes the background of a movie is more interesting than the movie itself. This action blockbuster about a Chinese UN peacekeeping force sent to a wartorn African country had its shooting schedule extended about half a year after its star, … Continue reading →

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Review: Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry

Posted on January 3, 2025 by philipbrasor

The character of Etero (Eka Chavleishvili) is familiar in a literary way. A single woman in her late 40s whose life has been in service to the males in her family, specifically an older brother and a widowed father who … Continue reading →

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Review: The Beekeeper

Posted on January 2, 2025 by philipbrasor

Director David Ayer should have checked out some Korean revenge flicks before taking on this Jason Statham vehicle. The Koreans have produced hundreds if not thousands and in the process had to think up new and more interesting reasons for … Continue reading →

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