Category Archives: Uncategorized

Jason Statham back in business as The Beekeeper

Action icon Jason Statham stars as the titular Beekeeper, an assassin retired from a top-secret, off-the-books branch of government designed to eliminate threats when all else fails. Statham keeps his bees at retired teacher Phylicia Rashad’s farm. When evil scammers … Continue reading

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Andy Lau stars in I Did It My Way

Andy Lau continues his remarkable resurgence in the crime thriller I Did It My Way, yet another variation on Infernal Affairs. Lau plays George Lam, lawyer for a drug ring so powerful it has evaded legal consequences for its crimes. … Continue reading

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Barber: Private eye blues in Dublin

Slow-paced and dignified, Barber plays by genre rules. Set in Dublin, the story follows private eye Val Barber (Aiden Gillen) as he investigates the disappearance of a young co-ed. It’s a mystery more interested in character than plot, one that … Continue reading

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Palmanova and Aquileia: touring two UNESCO sites in Friuli

This year the Far East Film Festival celebrated its twenty-fifth year in Udine, Italy. A medieval town about an hour northeast of Venice, Udine offers theaters, shops, and an array of restaurants and cafés. It is the largest town in … Continue reading

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Moonage Daydream review: pieces of Bowie

How much you like David Bowie, and when you started liking him, will determine how you respond to Moonage Daydream. Written, directed, produced, and edited by Brett Morgen, the documentary provides an exhaustive account of very specific sections of Bowie’s … Continue reading

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Brahmāstra Part One: An Indian multiverse

Years in the making, Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva is the first episode in a trilogy about the “Astraverse,” an Indian take on the multiverse. Astras are superpowers that can take the form of a weapon or a person (a “divine” … Continue reading

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Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse in Benny Chan’s Raging Fire

A first-rate action thriller, Raging Fire pits dedicated cop Donnie Yen against Nicholas Tse’s gang of killers in a story of betrayal and revenge. It’s sadly the last film from director Benny Chan, who died of cancer in 2020. Raging … Continue reading

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HK Action throwback Undercover Punch & Gun

Action films, in particular martial arts action, used to be the bread-and-butter of Hong Kong cinema. With the industry in freefall, it’s not easy to find hard-core titles like Undercover Punch & Gun, a throwback to those Tsui Hark and … Continue reading

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Pixar returns to form with Soul

After years as the industry’s best studio, Pixar suffered through hit-or-miss releases, some of the worst being poorly packaged sequels. One shining exception was 2015’s Inside Out, directed by Pete Docter. It was a movie that combined exhilarating intellectual ideas … Continue reading

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Fighting for kids in the doc My Name Is Pedro

Opening virtually after touring festivals in 2017, My Name Is Pedro is a bare-bones, unprepossessing documentary about Bronx-born educator Pedro Santana. Making her feature documentary debut, director Lillian LaSalle takes a narrowly focused story and connects it to larger themes … Continue reading

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