Pig [2021] – The Character Study of a Grizzled Man

Michael Sarnoski's Pig (2021) is a melancholic and deeply introspective portrait of grief and loss

Au Revoir: A Memoir From Behind a White Collar – Narrated with Surprising Candor and Utmost Compassion

Au Revoir offers a gripping first-hand account of Dr. Sara Jothi’s 2 year experience as a medical officer in the Oncology Department.

Insomnia [1997] – An Engrossing & Overlooked Norwegian Neo-Noir

Fog and encroaching sunlight during the high summer of Northern Norway are the primary destructive forces that sets off a detective's downward spiral in the gritty neo-noir, Insomnia (1997)

Embracing (1992) & Katatsumori (1994) – The Maturation of a Unique and Unabashedly Personal Film-Maker

Both Embracing and Katatsumori are not documentaries in the conventional sense. Instead, it’s a meditative view of the thoughts of a young individual over her past and her binding attachments.

Made In China – Cheap Goods and Disposable Lives

Amelia Pang provides a detailed sketch of how the persecution and imprisonment of Falun Gong (from 1999) and other political prisoners has been converted into a profitable financial model. 

The Castle [1997] – The Vibe is Wonderful in this Amiable Aussie Comedy!

Australian film-maker and comedian Rob Sitch’s directorial debut The Castle reminds you of the good-natured Ealing comedies mixed with the very Australian weirdness and unabashed eccentricity.

Clergy [2018] – A Searing Drama on the Hypocritical Religious Institution

Clergy (2018) ably confronts the overwhelming power of Church in Poland and cognizes the long-term traumatizing effects of its undisputed misconducts.

Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. – An Intriguing and Intimate Portrayal of a Musician-Activist

Director Loveridge may as a friend express admiration for Maya (in the interviews), but he consistently keeps his documentary subject at arm’s length, never turning it into a hagiography.

Hotel Silence – A Quirky and Poignant Journey of Self-Discovery

This dryly humorous and oddly comforting novel reaffirms our belief in human spirit despite all the grief, trauma, and violence pervading our modern world.

Everybody Knows [2018] – A Flawed yet Engrossing Family-Disputes Thriller

Iranian film-maker Asghar Farhadi’s movies are all about presenting a devastatingly complex objective truth, the outcome of intricate human relations and their inarticulated, equivocal emotions. With his latest film Everybody Knows (‘Todos lo saben’, 2018), Farhadi transplants his unique dramatic style and pet themes – marital disharmony, class consciousness, conflicted family dynamics, etc – from...

Toms River – A Disturbing and Extensive History of a Town’s Industrial Pollution

Residential cancer clusters in United States have mostly been dismissed as a illusion conjured by statistics, except in two cases where there was strong uncertainty over the impact of environmental contaminants on residential childhood cancer. One was the landmark Woburn (Massachusetts) water contamination case in the 1980s, which was thrillingly detailed in Jonathan Harr’s best...

Hurricane and Stolen Plutonium: Thoughts on Two Recent American Blockbusters

Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 2 and Christopher McQuarrie’s Mission Impossible: Fall Out is what we’d consider as the enjoyable showcase of hyper-masculinity, effortlessly upheld by the movies’ respective stars Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise.