By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Director Wayne Wang’s new dramatic film “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” begins with a business diner in Shanghai. The well-dressed Chinese at the […]
Director Lu explores fall of Nanking
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly Chinese director Chuan Lu graduated from the prestigious Beijing Film Academy and wrote his dissertation on Francis Ford Coppola, director of the “Godfather” saga. […]
In “13 Assassins,” personalities as interesting as the action scenes
“13 Assassins,” the new historical samurai epic from notable Japanese director Takashi Miike, opens with a samurai warrior committing hara-kiri, or ritual suicide.
Hard to breathe easy in this gripping tale of infidelity and imprisonment
“Breath,” the latest dramatic film from eccentric South Korean director Ki-duk Kim, begins with a prison inmate scratching on a wall with some kind of pen-shaped object.
“Evangelion 2.0” worthy of its predecessor
The first installment of the “Neon Genesis Evangelion” film series (adapted from the Japanese science fiction TV anime) begins with eerie near-silence.
Father–son bond explored and mourned in “The Harimaya Bridge”
Director Aaron Woolfolk’s dramatic feature, “The Harimaya Bridge,” filmed mostly in Japan, opens with a young Black man working on a painting.
Film details Japan’s buggy love affair
Director Jessica Oreck opens her made-in-Japan documentary, “Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo,” with two Japanese insect hunters in a wooded area.
“Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl,” a monster movie already bad before it became racist
The first three minutes of “Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl” contain more blood than you will see in any other movie this year.
Director captures Japan’s history on film
Alexander Sokurov’s “The Sun” opens in an awkward fashion. On the surface, life seems ordinary enough at the Imperial Palace of Japan. A servant brings in breakfast for the emperor on a tray. A second servant reads off the itinerary for the day. The emperor must attend a meeting with his war ministers. Then he will study marine biology, his favorite subject.
Thai Tom commits health code violations … again
Public Health — Seattle & King County responded to a complaint filed by a patron at Thai Tom restaurant, who saw a cockroach on the counter where food was being served.