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2 months ago | 
cinemaescapist.com | Anthony Kao |Richard N. Yu |Brian Hioe
COVID-era lockdowns may be in the world’s rearview mirror now but—like the virus itself—debates over how to remember the pandemic linger. For example, the CIA announced last month that it now favors the “lab leak” theory of COVID’s origins; this comes amidst a broader revision of “official narratives” in the US around health, COVID, and beyond following Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
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Sep 17, 2024 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Tianshu Hu |Xingting Gong |Anthony Kao |Richard N. Yu
Over the past few years, China’s leading internet companies—like ByteDance and Alibaba—have gone through rounds of layoffs and cost-cutting amidst slower economic growth and regulatory pressures. Employees over 35 are particularly vulnerable, often facing termination without proper compensation as companies prioritize younger blood.
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Jul 19, 2024 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Richard N. Yu |Anthony Kao
Earlier this year, Thai family drama How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies became a box office and social media sensation. The film—from famed studio GDH, which also produced other hits like Bad Genius—quickly became the top-grossing Thai movie of 2024 thus far, and also the 11th-highest grossing Thai film of all time. When released in other Southeast Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and beyond, How to Make Millions continued its box office success.
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Jul 16, 2024 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Anthony Kao |Richard N. Yu
Heist movies and shows have shown their appeal worldwide, from classics like Ocean’s Eleven to recent streaming sensations like Money Heist. Taiwan hasn’t seen too many domestically produced heist movies, which isn’t too surprising given the small size of its film market and relative lack of violent bank robberies in recent memory. This makes Breaking and Re-entering worth noting.
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Jul 7, 2024 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Anthony Kao |Richard N. Yu
With the assassination of strongman Park Chung-hee on October 26, 1979, South Korea entered a period of political turmoil that eventually resulted in General Chun Doo-hwan seizing power as a new military dictator and cracking down on citizens in incidents like the May 1980 Gwangju Massacre. Consequently, movies about South Korean politics between 1979 and 1980 exist aplenty—from The President’s Last Bang to May 18 and beyond.
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Jul 6, 2024 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Brian Hioe |Minsoo Kim |Richard N. Yu
The Tenants is an evocative film about urban poverty in Korea. While comparisons to Parasite are inevitable, given the similar subject matter of tenants living in crowded, tiny, and run-down apartments, The Tenants stands out with its soft dystopian setting, seeing as it is set in the near future at a time in which holograms are common but there is little else that is far-flung science fiction.
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Mar 25, 2024 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Brian Hioe |Anthony Kao |Richard N. Yu |Arjun Baokar
Old Fox is a masterful film that rarely misses a beat. On top of its cast’s strong acting and an evocative depiction of 1980s Taiwan, Old Fox shines for its depiction of socioeconomic inequality through the eyes of a child. In particular, Old Fox follows Liao Jie, the 11-year-old son of waiter Liao Tai-lai. Liao Jie has grown up in a single-parent household, raised by his father. The Liaos are poor, having to skimp on everything from clothes to gas.
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Feb 6, 2024 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Brian Hioe |Jamin Shih |Jackie YC Chen |Richard N. Yu
Dead Fishes is an atmospheric, if somewhat narratively flawed, look at the residents of a Tokyo commuter suburb. Newcomer Shun Miyata moves to the suburb and takes up a job at a bento restaurant run by a woman named Yuriko. There, he becomes close with another co-worker named Yuka.
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Sep 15, 2023 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Anthony Kao |Richard N. Yu
Popular Thai production house GDH 559’s latest film You & Me & Me focuses on two identical teenage twin sisters named You and Me, who come of age in the waning months of 1999. As the Y2K scare looms in the background, You and Me’s close relationship gets tested when a male classmate catches both of their eyes, and marital problems affect their parents. The film’s directors—Wanweaw and Weawwan Hongvivatana—also happen to be identical twin sisters.
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Sep 15, 2023 | 
cinemaescapist.com | Brian Hioe |Richard N. Yu |Anthony Kao
Starring Jerry as Himself is a masterful film, standing at the intersection of documentary and fiction. The movie follows Taiwanese immigrant retiree Jerry Liu, who lives in Florida. Liu is divorced from his wife, but has a good relationship with her. However, Liu is somewhat distant from the three sons that he had with his wife. Though he sees one regularly, as they are busy with work or their own families. One day, Jerry receives a message from a man claiming to be Chinese law enforcement.
