Best of 2022 (20-11)

Looking back on 2022, I believe it will be remembered as one of the better years of the decade for film, with something for just about everyone. From huge blockbusters, to quiet, if explosive indies, to a huge influx of spectacular foreign films, and even small labors of love that premiered to disappointingly little fanfare, […]

‘One Night in Miami’ is a powerful look at race, representation and responsibility in modern America

There’s a pressure that comes with telling the tale of a famous figure, so when you expand that story to four of the most important men in American history, that pressure only increases tenfold. Fortunately, the person handling this pressure is the ever-amazing Regina King, the award-winning actress who here makes her directorial debut with […]

‘House of Hummingbird’ is a real, raw look at growing up Korean

Much of the coming of age landscape over the last few decades has seemed very suburban and very white, so it’s always refreshing when a director comes along to give a glimpse into the lives of young people who differ from the norm. Kim Bora’s House of Hummingbird presents a coming of age story that […]

“Burning” is subtle and sensitive mystery by a Korean master

Director Lee Chang-Dong is the pitmaster of film. Instead of bringing out films year after year, or even two years, like most in his profession, he prefers to let his films simmer, and in the process allows the flavors to become deeper and more intriguing. It’s been eight years since his previous masterstroke, Poetry, hit theaters, and in that time he may have […]

‘Shoplifters’ is a raw, poignant look at what makes a family

2018 has been a banner year for Asian cinema. Whether you’re looking at Asian American hits like Searching or Crazy Rich Asians; festival favorites like Burning or Angels Wear White; or the steady inflow of Asian classics to home video, including long-awaited Wuxias like Legend of the Mountain and Dragon Inn, Asians have made a major impact on […]

Jyanween: Over the Garden Wall (McHale, 2014)

Though much of the fun of Halloween is the spooks and frights, one of my favorite elements of the holiday is the aesthetic. Fall leaves, pumpkins, the orange of the dying light over withering trees, it’s all an exhilarating part of the experience. “Over the Garden Wall” understand this aesthetic, utilizing it to create a […]

JyanWeen: Ghostwatch (Volk, 1992)

Many people call “The Blair Witch Project” the beginning of the found footage craze, but a few years before that film was a little British broadcast on BBC, “Ghostwatch”. Airing in 1992, the faux news program follows a crew as they investigate what’s declared as the “most haunted house in Britain”. What begins as a […]

Jyanween: Angel’s Egg (Oshii, 1985)

There are few films in this year’s Jyanween that may not always feel like horror films, but are so bizarre that they defy categorization. Anyone who watches Angel’s Egg will see, it is certainly one such film. Even if it doesn’t quite scare you, there’s an unnerving obscurity and uncertainty that you just can’t shake. […]

JyanWeen: Idle Hands (Flender, 1999)

There are certain films that act as a snapshot for a certain moment in time. Just one look at Taxi Driver tells everything we want to know about 70s New York; Smithereens gives you a warts and all look at punk life in the 80s; the 40s noir is soaked in the LA of their […]

Anything Can Happen on Jyan-ween: The Devil (Zulawski, 1972)

Andrej Zulawski is a filmmaker like no other. Now, we say that about a lot of directors, but the moment you begin watching a Zulawski film, you’ll know there’s no other way to describe him. His most famous film, a Lovecraftian freak out called ‘Possession” could be summed up by some as “Sam Neill yelling […]