Cha

Category: films

[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Just that Little Bit Different: Hong Sang-soo’s 𝐼𝑛 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Oliver Farry

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hong Sang-soo. Hong Sang-soo (director), In Water, 2023. 61 min. Of the 31 features Hong Sang-soo has directed, you’d be hard pressed to find a…

Jul 10, 2024
[REVIEW] “Amah, You’re My First Place: Pat Boonnitipat’s 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑀𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝐵𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑎 𝐷𝑖𝑒𝑠” By Rhanydell Bien Baysa

📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Pat Boonnitipat (director), How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, 2024. 127 min. This review may contain spoilers. Dare I say it, Pat Boonnitipat’s How to Make Millions Before…

Jun 19, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Love In Translation: Decoding Jopy Arnaldo’s 𝐺𝑖𝑡𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔” by Richard Muñiz

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jopy Arnaldo (director), Gitling, 2023. 105 min. The world’s noise fades into the background when you’re with the right person. Gitling (or Hyphen in English) (2023) is…

Jun 7, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Enigmatic Pronouncement: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s 𝐸𝑣𝑖𝑙 𝐷𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑁𝑜𝑡 𝐸𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡” by Oliver Farry

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (director), Evil Does Not Exist, 2023. 106 min. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s follow-up to his Oscar-nominated hit Drive My Car starts off as a seemingly much more…

Apr 29, 2024
[REVIEW] “Femme Fatale: On Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka’s 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔” by Nirris Nagendrarajah

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Huang Ji and Ryuji Otsuka (directors), Stonewalling, 2022. 148 min. The first time she wears the t-shirt she paces before a mirror practicing a tongue twister. “Forty…

Apr 29, 2024
[REVIEW] “Clean Work: Wim Wenders’s 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝐷𝑎𝑦𝑠” by Oliver Farry

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Perfect Days. Wim Wenders (director), Perfect Days, 2023. 123 min. Wim Wenders is not alone among Western filmmakers in having a fascination with…

Mar 21, 2024
[REVIEW] “While We’re Still Connected: Sasha Chuk’s 𝐹𝑙𝑦 𝑀𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝑛” by Kammy Lee

📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS 📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Fly Me to the Moon. Sasha Chuk (director), Fly Me to the Moon 但願人長久, 2023. 112 min. A story fraught with the problems and pain…

Mar 15, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Human Loneliness: Jun Ichikawa’s 𝑇𝑜𝑛𝑦 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑖” by Yimin Huang

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jun Ichikawa (director), Tony Takitani, 2004. 75 min. Tony Takitani is a film about loneliness and its unwavering cloudiness—the way it makes you want to lie down in a…

Jan 21, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “In the Tradition of Film-set Comedy Dramas: Kim Jee-woon’s 𝐶𝑜𝑏𝑤𝑒𝑏” by Oliver Farry

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Jee-woon (director), Cobweb, 2023. 135 min. Song Kang-ho (best known for Parasite and A Taxi Driver) in Cobweb Kim Ki-yeol (Song Kang-ho, best known for Parasite and A Taxi…

Jan 19, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “An Artifact of a Bygone Sensibility: Satyajit Ray’s 𝐵𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑒” by Toshi Tomori

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Satyajit Ray (director), Branches of the Tree, 1990. 130 min. Made and released in 1990, Satyajit Ray’s Branches of the Tree arrives as an artefact of a bygone sensibility,…

Jan 17, 2024
[REVIEW] “Defying Explanation: Hayao Miyazaki’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑛” by e rathke

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hayao Miyazaki (director), The Boy and the Heron, 2023. 125 min. This review contains spoilers. For me, what’s perhaps most interesting about The Boy and the Heron is that…

Jan 11, 2024
[ESSAY] “Tragedies of Inequality: Bong Joon-ho’s 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 and Jordan Peele’s 𝑈𝑠” by Jonathan Chan

茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Tragedies of Inequality: Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and Jordan Peele’s Us” by Jonathan Chan Bong Joon-Ho (director), Parasite, 2019. 132 min.Jordan Peele (director), Us, 2019, 116 min. The sociologist Teo You Yenn…

Jan 6, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Beauty of the Unsaid: Celine Song’s 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝐿𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠” by Elliot Ng

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Celine Song (director), Past Lives, 2023. 106 min. Life is a sea, a kaleidoscopic cornucopia of experiences with a myriad of people. We start in shallow waters of first…

Jan 5, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Poignant Appeal: Nick Cheuk’s 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑇𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠” by Flora Mak

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nick Cheuk (director), Time Still Turns the Pages 年少日記, 2023. 95 min. This review contains major spoilers. With five nominations in the 60th Golden Horse Awards, Nick Cheuk’s tightly…

Jan 4, 2024
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Liminality of Being: Anthony Chen’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐼𝑐𝑒” by Jonathan Chan

茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Liminality of Being: Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice” by Jonathan Chan Anthony Chen (director), The Breaking Ice, 2023. 97 min. Arresting visuals, an immersive soundtrack, and interesting ideas do…

Dec 14, 2023
[ESSAY] “Die With Your Pants Down: Patrick Tam’s 𝑁𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑑” by Matt Turner

茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Die With Your Pants Down: Patrick Tam’s Nomad” by Matt Turner Patrick Tam (director), Nomad (烈火青春), 1982. 157 min. This review contains spoilers. I really didn’t see the final scene coming.…

Nov 22, 2023
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Cultural Orphanage: Davy Chou’s 𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑆𝑒𝑜𝑢𝑙” by Oliver Farry

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Davy Chou (director), Return to Seoul, 2022. 119 min. There’s an ambiguity inherent in the title of Davy Chou’s film Return to Seoul. At first sight, it seems to…

Sep 11, 2023
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “𝑊𝑜𝑙𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 as a Statement on Parenthood and Modern Japan” by Jeremiah Dutch

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mamoru Hosada (director), Wolf Children, 2012. 117 min. A story about a single mother trying to bring up two half-Japanese children on her own might naturally be of interest…

Jul 22, 2023
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Michihito Fujii on Netflix” by Paul French

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ❀ Michihito Fujii (director), The Journalist, 2019. 113 min.❀ Michihito Fujii (director), A Family, 2021. 136 min.❀ Michihito Fujii (director), Village, 2023. 120 min. In these days of ever fewer choices…

Jul 4, 2023
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Two Stories in One: Wong Kar-wai’s 𝐶ℎ𝑢𝑛𝑔𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠” by e rathke

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Chungking Express. Wong Kar-wai (director), Chungking Express, 1994. 92 min. Whenever I think of Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express I hear California Dreamin’ by The Mamas…

Jun 23, 2023
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Hong Kong History in Chan Tze-Woon’s 𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑” by Michelle Suen

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Chan Tze-Woon (director), Blue Island, 2022. 97 min. A history student, I linger in the Hong Kong Museum of History’s condensed Hong Kong Story exhibition: one room per millennium,…

Jun 23, 2023
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Traditionalist Material Symbols in Yudho Aditya’s 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑎” by Upasana Dandona

📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yudho Aditya (director), Pria, 2017. 22 min. In a world where heterosexuality is still considered the norm, there remain many deterrents for LGBT people from embracing their queerness. And,…

Jun 22, 2023
[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Intimating Emergency in Isabel Sandoval’s 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎 𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑎” by Sean Carballo

📁 Return to First Impressions📁 Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Isabel Sandoval (director), Lingua Franca, 2019. 90 min. In the gloaming hour, light leaves remnants of ambiguity everywhere. Nothing of consequence has asserted itself, at least not yet.…

May 29, 2023
[REVIEW] “Not Her Story: Jia Zhangke’s 𝐴𝑠ℎ 𝐼𝑠 𝑃𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒” by Michael Tsang

{Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Jia Zhangke (director), Ash Is Purest White (Chinese name: 江湖兒女 Jianhu Ernü), 2018. 136 min. Note: This review contains spoilers. One of the most influential Chinese independent film directors today, Jia Zhangke turns to the…

Aug 3, 2021
[Review] “Forging Dreams Through Time: Bi Gan’s Kaili Blues” by Artemis Lin

{Written by Artemis Lin, this review is part of Issue 42 (January 2019) of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} Bi Gan (director), Kaili Blues (Lu bian ye can), 2015. 113 min. What is a place? Is it…

Dec 19, 2018
[REVIEW] “The Asian American Elite’s Victory: 𝐶𝑟𝑎𝑧𝑦 𝑅𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑠 in Print and on Screen” by Michael tsang

{Written by Michael Tsang, this review is part of Issue 41 (September 2018) of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films.} This review contains spoilers to the entire franchise. Though highly celebrated commercially, Crazy Rich Asians the film also seems to…

Sep 9, 2018
[REVIEW] “Becoming a Hero: Jang Hoon’s A Taxi Driver” by Grace Chia

{Written by Grace Chia, this review is part of Issue 39 (March 2018) of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films} Jang Hoon (director), A Taxi Driver (Taeksi Woonjunsa), 2017. 137 min. A Taxi Driver is set during the…

Mar 25, 2018
[Review] Vinyl Love: Chung Man Yee’s And I Hate You So

{Written by Vivian Tang, this review is part of Issue 39 (April 2018) of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films} Chung Man Yee (director), And I Hate You So (Siu chan chan), 2000. 96 min. At the start…

Mar 25, 2018
[REVIEW] “The Recipe for Embracing Biformity: Ang Lee’s 𝐸𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑀𝑎𝑛 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛” by Amanda Cattel

{Written by Amanda Cattel, this review is part of Issue 39 (April 2018) of Cha.} {Return to Cha Review of Books and Films} Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Ang Lee. Ang Lee (director), Eat Drink Man Woman (Yin shi nan nü), 1994. 123…

Feb 5, 2018
Call for Film Reviewers

At Cha, we are expanding the Reviews section to include film reviews. We welcome reviews of films, both classic and more recent, that are set in Asia, explore Asian themes, depict Asian characters and/or have an Asian focus. Please first…

Dec 23, 2017