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What a Wonderful Family! 3: My Wife, My Life. (2018) - Japan Reviewed by Andrew Chan (FCCA)Veteran Japanese director Yoji Yamada simply does it again in the highly successful “Wonderful Family” series, now well into the third film. It’s more of the same and it’s precisely what is needed and required. The audience have grown to love the characters from the grumpy old grandpa, the lively grandma, the unappreciated housewife, hardworking businessman to the young couple, this film portrays precisely how modern family works and all the fun that goes with it. As much as we enjoy the ride, the...

Jeonju 2018 Review:  Reviewed by Andrew Chan (FCCA) A White Dream (Short Film - 19 minutes) One of the delights of Jeonju Film Festival are finding gems within the short film genres. A White Dream is a well made quarter of an hour about a strained father and daughter relationship. The film begins with a beggar on the street, depicting the main theme where the father a former locksmith, unemployed and unable to keep the house clean after the death of the mother/wife. The film shows a lot of more issues that it can deal with in the short running...

Jeonju 2018 Review: Dreamer (2018)  Reviewed by Andrew Chan (FCCA) The quest for the next generation of Korean cinema continues with Dreamer. Like Graduation, the theme of this year’s Jeonju seems to be angry outlook of youth and lack of hope and aspirations in the bleak modern society. Dreamer is clearly a juxtaposition, modern South Korea is being depicted as not much better than the lack of “freedom” that the North Korean deflector comes from. Director Cho Sung-bin goes dark and brutal in his portrayal of modern society, young people restored to immigrating overseas to do laundry, drugs and murder...

Jeonju 2018 Review: Graduation (2018) Reviewed by Andrew Chan (FCCA)One of the joys of the annual Jeonju Film Fest is the discovery of new directing and acting talents and with Graduation, a film about the difficulty of cracking the Korean film industry and the coming of age process in survival, growing up and pursuing your dreams. I enjoyed watching this film by the 23 year old director Hui Ji-ye, who’s vision and story is easily beyond her years and combining the effortless natural acting of first time lead Lee Tae-kyung, makes the film an easy viewing yet providing those tense...

Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia) Martial Arts maestro Vincent Zhao is back as the role that made him known to the Western market - Wong Fei Hung! In-spite of the VOD release, this is a big thing to the martial arts world of fans. Exactly 24 years since Once Upon a Time in China ("OUATIC") 4 and 5, when the young and fresh Vincent Zhao took on the mountain of a mantle left behind by the legendary Jet Li. Since then, Vincent Zhao, unable to make a career in Hong Kong, left the shores and struggled...