By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Frequently in “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” anime director Isao Takahata’s first film in 14 years, the edges of the frame seem unfinished, fading into white. This directs the viewer’s attention to the center of the frame, to whatever action, in whatever colors. Then gradually, the frame fills […]
SIFF REVIEWS: The Asian Weekly at the movies — The first staff picks for SIFF 2013
By Staff Northwest Asian Weekly Each year, the Northwest Asian Weekly sends a team of intrepid film reviewers to the Seattle International Film Festival to pick out the best Asian and Asian American films. Starting this week and running through the end of May, we will be reviewing our picks for the most interesting APA […]
Understanding passion and perfection through ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly David Gelb’s remarkable documentary film “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” opens quietly with images of a peaceful restaurant, white gloves, and a man explaining the importance of falling in love with one’s work. We soon learn that the man is 85-year-old Jiro Ono, the founder and head chef of the […]
Put ‘A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop’ together, and it’s confusing
“A Woman, a Gun, and a Noodle Shop,” the new film from Chinese director Yimou Zhang, is his first film adapted from a Western source.
Goro Miyazaki follows proudly in his father’s footsteps with “Earthsea”
“Tales from Earthsea” is the first feature film directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of master Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. The film had a tough time making it to American screens. First, the father disagreed with the son over the film’s animation techniques. Eventually, they stopped speaking to each other during its production. Then, the film’s USA distribution got held up due to copyright issues …
Northwest Asian Weekly at SIFF!
Film reviews of the good, the great, and the ones you absolutely can’t miss “Daytime Drinking,” South Korea Reviewed by James Tabafunda
Who doesn’t want to be millionaire?
“Slumdog Millionaire” opens with our hero, Jamal (Dev Patel), getting smoke blown into his face by a police interrogator. Then he gets his head slammed into a bucket of water, and electrical shock is applied to his feet. English director Danny Boyle always makes Jamal’s fast grin, quick mind and mischievous pranks fun to follow. However, he never reconciles this fun with the film’s often-devastating spin throughout India.