I contributed an editorial covering last month’s Night After Night concert celebrating the collaboration of M. Night Shyamalan and James Newton Howard with the Philadelphia Orchestra
The Oct. issue is live with Brian Tyler’s TRANSFORMERS ONE, Goldenthal in Ghent, Mann’s EMILY IN PARIS, the Blair Bros.’ REBEL RIDGE, the French JERRY GOLDSMITH BOOK, Gurtler and Miserre’s THE OUTRUN, Steven’s BOOKWORM, Heinila’s SEBASTIAN—and more! Enjoy!
To promote Anatomy of A Fall’s release in China, Sandra Hüller once again flexes her language skills by recording a minute-long video message completely in Chinese
The Boy and the Heron will be released in China on April 3. This is the first time a new Hayao Miyazaki film to have a theatrical run in China. Also, the original Japanese title “How Do You Live” is used as the official Chinese title
My top 10 artfully bleak teenage coming-of-age dramas:
1. Rumble Fish
2. Christiane F
3. Lilya 4-Ever
4. Over the Edge
5. River’s Edge
6. Elephant
7. Kids
8. Thirteen
9. The Chocolate War
10. Paranoid Park
One thing always frustrates me is that we never really get a late-stage masterpiece from any Chinese-language directors for one reason or another. They either died young or had to retire due to poor health, forced to make endless propaganda films, or just simply lost their edges
Jia Zhangke announced on Weibo his new book about some of the basic knowledge of cinema titled "Two or Three Things I Know about Cinema" will be published in Chinese in 2024. Here's my translation of the table of contents. It includes 17 lectures, an author's preface and an extra
After seeing Ghost in the Shell: Innocence in theater, I’m once again reminded that in a year that this film, Oldboy, 2046, Tropical Malady, Nobody Knows, and Woman Is the Future of Man all in the main competition of Cannes, somehow Michael Moore won the Palme d’Or
Wei Wei, the lead actress in Fei Mu’s Spring in a Small Town, has passed away at the age of 101. She also appeared in Jia Zhangke’s documentary I Wish I Knew
Very sad news ahead of the closing ceremony
#Cannes2024
: Jia Zhangke just posted on Weibo that CAUGHT BY THE TIDES won’t win any awards tonight. He thanked all the rave reviews and encouragement and will start to work his next film soon
@BilgeEbiri
Fun fact: the main villain of the film Kananga (played by the great Yaphet Kotto) was named after this stuntman Ross Kananga who also owned the crocodile farm where this scene was shot
“The fact that our film can travel through such a distance to reach you proves that art is only bounded by imagination but transcends language and border”
According to the presentation at the Chinese CinemaCon, Bi Gan’s new film Resurrection starring Jackson Yee & Shu Qi has already begun shooting. The description sounds very Blade Runner: a film focusing on “bionic man” with elements of sci-fi, surrealism, and detective stories
Wang Bing’s Youth (Sping) finally made its China premiere at Institut Français in Beijing (diplomatic immunity I guess) and Jia Zhangke was in attendance. He praised the film as an immersive work that can even make the audience feel the temperature and breathes of those workers
I’m regret to learn that this is NOT a restoration in any way. It’s a simple digitalization of the film and it’s not even a scan of the original negative. According to the producer, this version won’t be available for home video or streaming release at least for the next 3 years
Now having seen all Edward Yang’s film (not including his made for TV works) here’s my preference. Not a single bad film and you can clearly see he’s entering a new stage in his career with Yi Yi. Can’t even imagine what he could have accomplished if he’s still with us
Tsai Ming-liang posted a very touching in memoriam for Cheng Pei-pei, recounting his first encounter with Come Drink With Me and working with Cheng on a TV anthology. When he visited MoMA in 2022 for his retrospective, he showed his drawing of Cheng as the iconic Golden Swallow
Watching
#Dune
is like witnessing the dinosaurs walking upon the earth again. It’s something that Hollywood forgot how to make in a very long time: a mainstream blockbuster yet also a prestige film. No praise is enough for what
@HansZimmer
has achieved here. A true epic.
#NYFF59
Just found out that this “restoration” is done by China Film Archive using TikTok’s owner Bytedance’s AI algorithm Volcano Engine and it’s part of a bigger project to “restore” some of the most beloved Hong Kong classics. This sounds like the worst idea possible on so many levels
🏖️ Tonight at
#Cin
émaDeLaPlage...
It's time for action with Jackie Chan, tasked with recovering a Nazi treasure hidden for decades in a fortress deep in the Sahara. Suffice to say, with Armour of God II: Operation Condor, directed by the actor himself, you'll have your feet in
The most unexpected experience I had during my first visit to Cannes is to become the last minute interpreter for the amazing Zhang Ziyi. One of the most talented actors of her generation, I truly hope she can find more films that match her caliber in the future
@davidchang
@edgarwright
As a Wuhan native, I fully support that we call it China Virus or Wuhan Virus in order to remember and hold the Chinese government accountable.
Unsurprisingly, the last episode of Blossom Shanghai ends in 1997, with a brief scene in Hong Kong. But we do have some surprises from Wong Kar-Wai: these never before seen archival footages used in the episode were shot by Wong himself on July 1st, 1997
Bi Gan made a cute 15-minute short film A Short Story (the Chinese title is "the Broken Heart of the Sun") for Pidan, a cat product company. And of course, the film is about a black cat's adventure.
Caught by the Tides is basically Ash Is Purest White 2.0 in terms of general story and structure, except it's almost a Tsai Ming-liang film. I hope Zhao Tao wins every award in the world
Isn’t it amazing that Edward Yang manage to show us more magic of Elvis in A Brighter Summer day without the man ever being there than the entire 2 hours and 39 minutes biopic titled Elvis?
@davidchang
@edgarwright
Regardless what else he said or did, it’s essential for the world to remember that it’s the Chinese regime that hide the truth for more than a month and did nothing when the virus first appeared in Wuhan.
Holding my tears throughout the film but when Glory to Hong Kong played, I just bursted into tears and started to sing along with the rest of the audiences. It’s the definitive documentary about the 2019 Hong Kong movement.
@TheAcademy
please nominates this incredible film
Now with 18 episodes in, I can firmly say that Blossom Shanghai is a very good TV show coming from Wong Kar-Wai. It’s a spiritual sequel to the Grandmaster in the sense that it’s trying to evoke the entrepreneurial era of Shanghai in the early days of China’s economic reform. 1/3
Wow Olivier Assayas really put the original Irma Vep footage in episode 3 but changed Maggie Cheung’s name to “Jade Lee”. However if you understand Chinese, you’ll know that Jade exactly means Maggie Cheung’s Chinese name 曼玉
Soi Cheang’s TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN had its first press screening in China yesterday and the reactions are over the roof. Some compare it to Mad Max: Fury Road for the non-stop action and bloody violence and Kung Fu Hustle for the manga-like fighting style
A screening of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s DUST IN THE WIND at the In Moments Film Festival in Fujian, China was censored three times by the someone using his hand to cover the projector
good blocking is hard to find - especially when there's 3 or more people in a scene.
the best ensemble blocking is like a tableau - people don’t naturally position themselves symmetrically, so it has to be curated to look cinematic, but it also has to be a bit loose to not feel
Seeing Lust, Caution again in a theater on 35mm print with Ang Lee himself in person is such a treat. Probably the most subversive film ever made about the Sino-Japanese War. I love Decision to Leave but this is truly Tang Wei's performance of a lifetime
David Bordwell in a Hong Kong film: in Norris Wong’s 2019 film My Prince Edward, a character is reading the Chinese version of Poetics of Cinema on the toilet
Hearing Hamaguchi talking about Kiyoshi Kurosawa for 20 straight minutes made you almost can feel his presence, and that’s very Kurosawa indeed
#NYFF59
Wow
@IFCCenter
is bringing back the Tree of Life, aka the greatest film ever made, at the end of this month for a whole week. If you have never seen this film on a big screen, what are you waiting for?
According to a report by HK01, Johnnie To is shooting a new film in Kwun Tong area with Hong Kong pop star Anson Lo. It appears that he’s playing a driver in the scene. This will be To’s first feature film in 5 years since Chasing Dream
"I think cinema makes too much effort to convince audiences that they’re seeing something of this world. But we’re not; we’re seeing the parallel world of cinema, with different laws."
GRAND TOUR director Miguel Gomes speaks to Dennis Lim at
#Cannes2024
.
Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is my favorite Hong Kong film in recent memory. Imaginative in action design while heartfelt in camaraderie, it’s the living proof that the Hong Kong cinema is not dead, that the spirit of Hong Kong will live on. I really fucking love this city
Grand Tour: with maybe the exception of Jia, Gomes is operating on a completely different level than any other films I’ve seen in competition this year. I’m completely mesmerized by it
A pre-screening message at BJIFF screening of in water: This film is a very experimental work. The blurry visual is from creator’s intention, not due to projection error or your tired eyes. Let's go into the water together and figure out Hong Sang-soo’s true meaning. (1/2)
An Unfinished Film: once again we’re reminded why Lou Ye is the most special filmmaker working in China today. An honest and intimate portrait of a film crew during the beginning of the lockdown. It’s a film that can only be “finished” when it’s screened to audiences in China and
That’s not even his real daughter. It’s Liu Haocun from his movie. Jackie Chan infamously neglects and mistreats his actual daughter Ng Chok-Lam from an extramarital affair. He not only didn’t provide any financial support for her growing up, she never even met him til this day
Jackie Chan and his daughter crying while watching some of his old movie scenes is the most wholesome thing you’ll watch today.
Thanks for our childhood legend ❤️
According to a report on Weibo (China's equivalent of Twitter), Wong Kar-Wai's long awaited TV show Blossoms Shanghai is finally gonna air on China's national tv channel for tv shows CCTV-8 in primetime and stream on Tecent Video in late December.
Andy Lau talked about his three favorite films he’s in: Love on A Diet, Infernal Affairs, and Boat People. He also expressed interest of directing a comedy
#TIFF23
We have the official poster paying tribute to Akira Kurosawa, the Honorary Palme d’Or for Ghibli, and the Directors Fortnight poster paying tribute to Kitano. Yet there’s not a single Japanese film in the Main Competition while the new Kiyoshi Kurosawa film is right there
The poetic beauty, hypnotic magic and apparent simplicity of the cinema. The official poster of the 77th Festival de Cannes revealed! 🌕💙
The scene is taken from Akira Kurosawa's 1991 film Rhapsody in August. The next-to-last film by the director reminds us of the importance
Name a film, preferably newish, that, while widely considered great, has you itching to get on your soapbox and shouting "DO YOU ALL REALIZE HOW GREAT THIS IS? WE NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT HOW GREAT THIS IS. ALL. THE. TIME."
Yes, I just rewatched Phantom Thread.
According this post on Weibo, during a recent Q&A after the screening of Exile in Japan, Johnnie To announced that he’ll begin shooting his next film around Lunar New Year even though there’s no a finished script yet
The English title of the new Tony Leung’s spy film Hidden Blade (the original Chinese title 无名 means “the Nameless”) was given by Jia Zhangke, apparently taken from Assassin’s Creed’s signature weapon of the same name. Gamer Jia confirmed
Looking at the MoMA Johnnie To retrospective lineup I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed that they still regard him mostly as an action film director while largely ignoring his romcom efforts
IndieWire ranked the 100 best films of the 2000s!
absolutely *brutal* process, even compared with other decades, but i'm confident we at least got
#1
right.
(a lot more to come as part of our 2000s Week)
Can’t help myself from crying every time watching this montage from Lou Ye’s Summer Palace. It’s been 34 years since the Tiananmen Square Massacre and it’s a shame that this is still the only film about this fateful event