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River of Exploding Durians 榴莲忘返 (2014) – Malaysia [2015 HKAFF] Reviewed by: Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Director: 杨毅恒 Edmund Yeo Cast: 朱芷莹 Zhu Zhi-ying, 高圣 Shern Koe, 刘倩妏 Daphne Low, 梁祖仪 Joey Leong I have always been interested in Edmund Yeo’s works and his transition from shorts to feature length film is by no means a simple journey. The film is narratively constructed to reflect several layers of mirrors, Edmund’s own childhood, first love and reflections on politics and the wider world around him through the male lead character, while the characters in the film themselves crosses parallel paths. The...

Aqérat 阿奇洛 (We, the Dead) (2017) – Malaysia [HKAFF 2018] Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Edmund Yeo’s continuation of his promising directorial feature debut in 2014’s “River of the Exploding Durians” comes in “Aqerat”, a difficult film to sit through, but nonetheless, also his most ambitious to date. Tackling the political and universal human rights based the true events on the discovery of mass graves in northern Malaysia of over two hundred Rohingya refugees, buried by Malaysian human traffickers, the film become layers of dream-like sequence and often providing damning of humans losing humanity and eventually mortality. Yeo...

A Family Tour 自由行 (2018) - Taiwan [HKAFF 2018]   Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)     There is a lot of problems with Ying Liang’s latest movie. It feels far too much a snapshot of a moment in his own life and experience that is unfortunately hampered by poor pacing, overindulgence on his own standpoint and failing to capture genuine emotions. I am all for political films and understand the hardship for it to reach the big screens, but “A Family Tour” is a personal story that should have remained a short film, rather than...

Color Me True 星光奇遇結良緣 (2018) - Japan   Aka: Tonight, At the Movies / 今夜、ロマンス劇場で   Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)     A romantic love letter to classical cinema is the best way to describe the beautifully filmed “Color Me True”, helmed by director Hideki Takeuchi. What is so beautiful about this film is the manner it pays homage and respect to former cinematic glories and how in the Netflix era, it makes us wonder how long will cinema survive continue to live another day. Make no mistake, this is a lovely romantic story that...

50 First Kisses 50次初吻 (2018) - Japan   Aka 50 Kaime no Fasuto Kisu   Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia)     The Japanese remake of Hollywood’s “50 First Dates” stay far to close to its source material and the result of director Yuichi Fukuda’s effort feels like a complete carbon copy of the original and almost completely uninspiring. Replacing the chemistry driven duo of Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore will always be a tough ask and Japanese counterparts Takayuki Yamada and Masami Nagasawa. The real problem lies in the fact that the original heavily relied...