Cinema Escapist

10 stories

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: Teochew Hit “Dear You” Is Great Melodrama, But Doesn’t Fix China’s Soft Power Deficits

August 28

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: “Afterword” Bridges Taipei and New York in a Metatextual Examination of Fiction

August 2

Cinema EscapistAsiaInterview: Director Brian Hung Illuminates Hong Kong’s Ethnic Minorities in “Let’s Have a Cup of Doodh Patti Chai”

August 1

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: “Akashi” Documents a Japanese Canadian Artist’s Re-Exploration of Family, Relationships, and Homeland

July 29

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: Korean Indie Film “Journey There” Delicately Portrays Grief and Intergenerational Bonds

July 23

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: Raymond Red’s “Manila’s Finest” Depicts a Slow Yet Visceral Journey Through the 1970s Philippines

July 18

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: Korean Historical Film “Hallan” Confronts the Buried Horror of the Jeju 4.3 Uprising

July 13

Review: Macau-Set “I Blew Out The Candles Before Making A Wish” Serves Cinematic Splendor and Character Charm, But No Social Critiques

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: Macau-Set “I Blew Out The Candles Before Making A Wish” Serves Cinematic Splendor and Character Charm, But No Social Critiques

July 11

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: Thai Canine Movie “Gohan” Leans on Tearjerking and Melodrama

July 9

Cinema EscapistAsiaReview: “Last Night in Taipei” Aimlessly Meanders through its Chance Encounter Premise

July 8

Cinepuuulse is a magazine, a radar and a diary about Asian cinema — Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand — read from Tokyo.

Our mark is 銀幕, ginmaku, the old word for the silver screen; it is the same two characters in Japanese, Chinese and Korean. A magazine, because every week one film is worth reading about slowly. A radar, because we count what the region's screens are talking about — box office, festivals, directors, anime, streaming — and show it as it moves. A diary, because a seal is set each day in that day's colour, and the days add up.

We read the local press in its own languages and bring it over in English: the Japanese film sites, the Korean trade papers, the Chinese culture desks, the Vietnamese and Thai entertainment pages. Everything here links back to the people who made it; the images belong to their authors.

Cinepuuulse will keep changing. New sources, new signals, new ways of looking — a little better each week, never finished. If a film here made you want to buy a ticket, that is enough.

Thank you for reading. ありがとうございます。