This omnibus film brings together three globally acclaimed directors from Asia with a common theme 'Living Together in Asia' to depict the lives of characters who journey between Japan, Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Brillante Mendoza grapples with the issue of loss of national identity and home, with a story set in the Obihiro area of Hokkaido and Manila in the Philippines. Isao Yukisada directs a story in Malaysia where the Japanese army was once stationed but is now home to many Japanese retirees living out their remaining years. An elderly man has parted from his family in Japan to live alone in Penang, but when a new helper comes to the house, he slowly opens his mind and an unexpected bond forms between the two. Finally director Sotho Kulikar conveys a beautiful but heart-rending love story between a Japanese man and Cambodian woman that unfolds across past and present against the backdrop of Cambodia's civil war.
Black Panther was obviously an epic movie and big hit! It was the highest-earning superhero movie of all time in the US! It's pretty clear that Black Panther has more meaning for race and diversity than your average Marvel superhero movie. This movie means a lot in terms of black pride and representation - and has much cultural significance in America as a whole.
Mark Anthony Green was unable to connect all of the pieces in his debut feature film, leaving Opus as a middling entry in an already oversaturated genre.
Ricky Staub’s Concrete Cowboy, based on Greg Neri’s novel "Ghetto Cowboy", tells the story of a young teenager forced to adapt to a new lifestyle.
Netflix's new thriller Apex, starring Charlize Theron, puts a twist on survival horror. Despite its setting in the beautiful- yet-dangerous Australian wilderness, Apex is not a movie about man vs. nature. Instead, it’s woman vs. man. While checking out the title card and its unpretentious Netflix release might lead viewers to believe Apex is just another celebrity project churned out of the streaming machine, Apex - whether by luck or by intention - is a consistently harrowing film about the reality of being a woman in a public space.
It’s 2021 and what few LGBTQ+ films that are produced by major film studios continue to star cisgender heterosexual actors, rather than actual LGBTQ+ people.
