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The Mule (2018) - USA Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)   At the ripe of old age of 88, Clint Eastwood defies the fact that a decade ago we saw “Gran Torino” as his fitting finale. Yet in “The Mule” he plays a similar character except even more outrageous and intense as a drug dealer and prostitute hanger of a beguiled grandfather. Eastwood is an ancient relic with long lasting stealth and in this film shows he can still direct and star in a very good film. Based on a true story of a granddad way...

One Spring Night (TV-2019) - South Korea   Original Netflix Series - 16 episodes (60 minutes each) Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)   Realistic romantic drama is what makes director Ahn Pan Suk and writer Kim Eun second collaboration with the similarly themed “Something in the Rain” a success. “One Spring Night” follows a similar route to portray real characters in their 30s thrown into situations and circumstances of life that are largely realistic as if the audience is witnessing their relationships and changes in real-life effect. Its help that the chemistry between two leads played...

Annabelle Comes Home (2019) - USA Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)   This is a creepy entry to the long lasting horror supernatural franchise. What made this film works better than other “Annabelle” is the fact that we get all the “evils” in one basement together to set the tone for a truly spooky atmosphere. First time Director Gary Dauberma (previously wrote the screenplay for the past two “Annabelle” and “The Nun”) excels in pacing the tense moments and in mix and turn some of the scenes where nothing actually happens end up more creepy than...

Last Letter 你好，之华 (2018) - China / Japan   Director’s Cut version - 137 minutes Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)   Directed by veteran Japanese filmmaker Shunji Iwai in his Chinese language debut comes a slow burner that revokes his film “Love Letter” whilst staying true to his usual themes of love, lost and the conflicts of adulthood and nativeness of youth. Produced by the evergreen hopeless romantic Hong Kong’s Peter Chan, “Last Letter” is every bit the melodrama framed to slowly engage the audience bit by bit like reading a good old book about the lingerings...

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) - USA   Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)   The ninth film in Quentin Tarantino’s chartered filmography comes a classic approach to film making in a homage to Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West”, all those Spaghetti Westerns and to the Manson’s murders. The 1960s and 70s remains a period of time that Tarantino clearly enjoyed and embraced as if he wanted to experience that unique era in Hollywood where reality can be blurred with the movies of the time. This creates an illusion and mood...