By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly “The World of Kanako” begins with a Christmas celebration or, to be more precise, several Christmas celebrations. Snow falls slowly. Bright lights twinkle in […]
“Jellyfish Eyes”
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly The poster and publicity for “Jellyfish Eyes,” the debut film from Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, left me wondering if the film might be an […]
Revisiting Taiwanese New Wave — Northwest Film Forum features retrospective of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s films
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Hou Hsiao-hsien, who’s been directing films since 1980, is considered one of the most prominent directors in the Taiwanese New Wave cinema movement. The […]
“Short Peace” — Three little films in one
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly In 1995, anime director Katsuhiro Otomo masterminded an omnibus film called “Memories,” consisting of three unrelated segments from three directors, including Otomo himself. His […]
“Beyond Outrage”
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Takeshi Kitano’s film “Outrage” began with the writer/director/actor, also known as Beat Takeshi, waiting outside a bigwig yakuza meeting. His character, Otomo, was a […]
“Space Battleship Yamato”
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly “We’re oooooooooff in out-ter space/We’re leeaaving Moth-er Earth/To saaaaaaave the hum-an raaaace/Our Star Bla-zers!” This theme rang out, starting in 1979, in my friend […]
“In Another Country”
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Up until now, it’s been safe to say that South Korean director Sang-soo Hong has had a knack for crisp photography, deftly-drawn interperonsal struggles, […]
Telling a “Tokyo Story”
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly When the British Film Institute’s prestigious monthly magazine Sight & Sound published the new results of its once-a-decade poll for the title of greatest […]
New “Full Metal Alchemist” installment bold in story and design
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly “All is of one, and one is in all.” So says an alchemist — a fancy term for magician — at the beginning of […]
Ip Man: a legend shamefully overlooked
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Ip Man (1893–1972) was a legendary Chinese marital artist whose students included a young Bruce Lee. Several films have been based on his […]