Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  There's a Strong Wind in Beijing 2000

  ★★★★½ Watched 08 Jan 2025

  我觉得今天北京的风不大。

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  What Time Is It There? 2001

  ★★★★★ Watched 01 Jun 2023

  A beautiful depiction of our loneliness while we are mourning, lovesick or homesick.

Popular reviews

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  Boogie 2021

  ½ Watched 06 Apr 2021

  Following Justin Lin's "Better Luck Tomorrow" (2002) screening at Sundance, the late Roger Ebert rose up from his chair. Although Ebert eventually lost his voice to cancer, that day he was heard yelling. "What I find very offensive and condescending about your statement is nobody would say to a bunch of White filmmakers, ‘How could you do this to your people?’” The film critic was outraged. A White audience member had criticised Lin for his representation of Asian Americans. In…

• 

  Unknown Pleasures 2002

  ★★★★ Watched 18 Mar 2023

  It takes a true artist to document China’s ongoing, rapid transformation. Although state censorship complicates the process, its true complexity rests on time. If you look away, even just briefly – you WILL miss something special. Luckily, Jia Zhangke is a filmmaker who doesn’t take time for granted. Nor does he ever look away from China’s common people.

  Often set in the present, Jia's films hold a deep understanding of when the feelings of “now” must be remembered by future…

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