An anthology of five short films ("The Hands of a Stranger", "The Other War", "A Distant Province", "The Eighth District", and "PHILCAG"), made jointly by Vietnamese and American filmmakers. Collectively, the films "explore the faces of the Vietnam war that lie behind the fighting--those that must fight a war against fear, hunger, and despair. [They are] told through the stories of five "faces": a Filipino doctor and a Vietnamese child; a Vietnamese soldier and a Vietnamese villager; an American technical expert; a Saigon youth; and a Philippine Civic Action Group (PHILCAG) contingent" (US National Archives). The film is hosted by an unnamed man speaking to a Filipino audience (in English); so the anthology likely was screened in and/or partly produced with the Philippines.
Alongside A Drowning Man, I Signed The Petition, 3 Logical Exits, and A World Not Ours, A Man Returned continues to paint a realistic portrait of the Refugee Crisis that eschews the Western gaze and stereotype. These are real portraits painted by a director with lived experience, cultural connection and an amazing eye for visuals.
I like discovering something new among the old and Tubi has an assortment of horror films from cinema's past for just such an occasion.
Han's turn to villainy in 'Frozen' was foreshadowed cleverly in the story.
"WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE?!!!!" "EVERYTHING!!!!!" This is but one of a multitude of highly emphatic questions, and subsequent answers, being asked in the newest feature film from one of the current masters of horror, Jordan Peele ("Get Out", "Us" and "Nope"). I must give Peele credit in that he continues to push the boundaries of specific genres and their associated tropes in order to provide what ends up amounting to subtly then jarringly intense, yet still character and story-driven, cinema that speaks more to indie stylings than mainstream.
“And I think to myself….what a wonderful world”. Louis Armstrong sang about this notion via his classic 1967 song, an ode to witnessing elements of our life that should be but some reminders of exactly what that concluding line of each verse indicates. Now we see our contemporary realities and, just being honest, it makes a sentiment like this seem SO overtly far away….perhaps even impossible….to accept or believe could be. It sounds harsh, but again, so much of what is occurring speaks not to beauty, but bedlam.
One Christmas Eve, after a sudden snowstorm, a group of teenagers will discover how their lives will change forever.
