Having grown up in Canada’s largest wine region, and spent a fair amount of time living in its second largest; I’ve always been surrounded by it. However, the culture that revolves around wine is never something I’ve found terribly interesting. The pomp of the industry, and the intrinsic status of being “in it” that has been carefully fermented, bottled and sold has always sort of turned me off.Read More
The Beijing-based indie comedy “This is Sanlitun” is heading to the Toronto International Film Festival, with or without members of the cash-strapped cast.Read More
The soon-to-be-released blockbuster sequel of a sequel Iron Man 3 will be heavily modified for Chinese audiences when it opens in China on May 3rd, revealed an article in The Hollywood Reporter. Specifically scenes featuring the character Dr. Wu and his assistant (played by Chinese stars Wang Xueqi and Fan Bingbing respectively) have been heavily …Read More
It was my intention to sit down and write a review of “The Man with the Iron Fists” this week. I just watched it a couple nights ago, and had a lot to say about it. Well, enough to fill a few paragraphs here. I was going to cry foul my disappointment at what RZA …Read More
If you’re like me, you probably perk up anytime you hear about a movie being made in or about China. Having one made about expats living in China was a first though, and so when I first heard about Shanghai Calling, a romantic comedy about American expats living in Shanghai, I was pretty keen to …Read More
For the laowai who likes movies, there are certainly a number of offerings available this month to tempt you out to the movie theater instead of staying at home and watching pirated DVDs. While Nicki has just reviewed the “Flowers of War” with its serious historical plot line involving things few of us really want …Read More
Today, for my all-to-close-to-Christmas birthday, my hubby took me on a date. We saw the new and somewhat controversial Zhang Yi Mou directed “The Flowers of War,” starring Christian Bale. For those of you who haven’t been following the controversy involving Mr. Bale, the movie is a period piece set during 1937’s Rape of Nanjing. …Read More
When Shanghai-based expat Jakob Montrasio first told me he was directing a spaghetti western set in his adopted city, I’m sure I blinked uncomprehendingly. The movie, Shangdown: The Way of the Spur is an east-meets-west kung fu cowboy mashup. This Bruce with boots (or Clint with a kick) premise for a film seemed strange and …Read More
There are a handful of movies that define the obsessions of my youth, but few moreso than The Karate Kid. Daniel San and Mr. Miyagi, wax on/wax off, Sweep the Leg — these things had me running around my neighbourhood pretending to be a ninja until I discovered girls (and their strange lack of admiration …Read More
I read with interest last week that the new X-Men film, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine“, had been leaked online by somebody close to the production. I was interested because I figured it was only a matter of time before my local DVD shop would have a copy. Sure enough, after a nice meal out with the …Read More
Last night, I had nothing to do and no classes this morning, so I popped in a pirated copy of There Will Be Blood. About halfway through, I decided to turn on the Chinese subtitles, since I’d seen the movie before anyway, but I was pretty surprised at what I found, and parts are pretty …Read More
Last summer acclaimed documentary filmmaker Tan Siok Siok headed out into the streets of Beijing with a rather ambitious goal of capturing the essence of the city and its people the summer before the Olympics. The result is Boomtown Beijing, a film that paints a picture of not just a city or the sporting event …Read More
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