By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY It begins simply enough, with a concerned parent wondering to school faculty, why his son, a good student, did poorly on a test. It ends four hours later in murder, madness, the destruction of lives, and the loss of hope. Edward Yang’s epic film “A Brighter Summer Day,” released […]
“Legend of the Mountain” balances sacred, profane, and funny
By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Film director/writer King Hu (1932-1997) was born in Beijing, but achieved success working in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He shot several classic “wuxia” (martial arts films set in ancient China), but by the time he made “Legend of the Mountain” in 1979, he’d moved beyond the relatively simple martial […]
“Detective Chinatown 2” — A raunchy romp caught up short
By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY I couldn’t choose between the Duck Mascot Fu or the Cheap Spiderman Costume Fu. Fortunately, I didn’t have to. “Detective Chinatown 2,” directed by Sicheng Chen, picks up where the hit original “Detective Chinatown” left off. Once more, we’re watching Haoran Liu as Qin, the intense, shy, and soft-spoken […]
“The Last Jedi” review
By John Liu NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY The first part of my review will have no spoilers, and I will give a warning before the spoilers start. Episode 7: The Force Awakens was released in December 2015 and left us with a chaotic conclusion. Finn is seriously injured by Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), but fortunately Rey […]
“The Swindlers” — A fast, fraught, frothy thief of your time
By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY Chang-won Jang’s new caper thriller “The Swindlers” opens in a moment of deep pain. Overdone, operatic pain, as everything else in this film will prove operatic and overdone, but a moment of deep pain, still. A group of South Koreans, some young, some no longer young, learn they’ve lost […]
Ishiro Honda — Godzilla, gratefulness, and greatness
By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY I tried to call Ishiro Honda, once. I was about 10, and I loved reading about his Godzilla stories and watching them on KSTW-11’s “Sci-Fi Theater.” (I wanted to stay up late and catch more good ones, like Honda’s classic “King Kong vs. Godzilla,” but my bedtime was nine […]
Daguerrotype: slow, simmering, resolute terror
By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY A figure approaches from the other side of frosted glass. The light’s bright on the other side, but the audience can’t see who, or what, travels along the glass. Only the shadow, vague, with sharp edges from the glass, coming closer and closer. Kiyoshi Kurosawa loves the frosted glass […]
The Foreigner is full of surprises: good and bad
By John Liu NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY The Foreigner is based on the action thriller novel “The Chinaman,” released in 1992 and written by Stephen Leather. The film was directed by Martin Campbell and written by David Marconi. Here is a quick warning. If you are interested in seeing this movie already, avoid reading any further […]
Chasing the Dragon will leave you feeling high
By John Liu NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY As you may have guessed from the title, Chasing the Dragon is about drugs. This story is about the infamous Ng Sek-Ho (Donnie Yen), who emigrated from China with his buddies to make a name for himself in Hong Kong in the 1960s. After arriving, Ho and his buddies […]
“The Dalai Lama”
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Filmmaker Mickey Lemle first started filming the Dalai Lama in 1991, for a documentary he called “Compassion In Exile.” He’s back now with a new film studying the changes in the world, the changes in the Dalai Lama, and the leader’s pondering of his own end, and beyond. Unfortunately, […]
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