ATTACK ON PARADISE (2026) Fantasia 2026

A man comes home from prison and just wants to be left alone and take care of his mom. Unfortunately the aprtment block has been over run by gangs and the cops are looking to take them out. What is a man who just wants to make sure his mom is okay to do.

Buy a ticket and bring a seatbelt because this film is wild.   A perfect balance of motion and character ATTACK ON PARADISE made my jaw drop open.  Its not so much there are these incredible action sequences, but rather there are these incredible action sequences that are full of great characters that drive the plot.  This is one of the rare action films of recent vintage where we are interested in what is going on just because we like the characters. In a weird way this is a drama with gun shots.

I loved this film.

This is one of the great films at Fantasia and an absolute must see.

Highly recommended.

DEAD SOULS (2025) Starts Wednesday

Alex Cox's alleged last film is an off kilter western based on a Golgo novella refashioned into a warning about the current state of America- specifically the way ICE is taking over the streets.

Cox plays a man named Strindler. He's come to a backwater spaghetti western sort of town, looking to buy the names of dead  Mexican laborers. However his plans go sideways, as his weirdness collides with the behavior and greed of those atround him.

Cox, often seeming to channel John Huston in his performance, creates a character that will make you wonder why he didn't take the lead in more films. Cox is hypnotic in a way that few actors ever are. That he can take a character that would have been a supporting player in any other film speaks volumes about how good he is.

Never having read the source novella, I can't speak as to how faithful it is. On the other hand it really doesn't matter since this film is really off kilter. Sure the notion of trying to find out the names of Mexican's in America echoes what ICE is doing, in real life, but that's kind of unintentional since the surreal nature of it all only would have kicked in when Trump was just getting back into office and the was being filmed  At the same time this film takes some odd turns with animation and musical numbers appearing seemingly out of nowhere.  You would think it shouldn't work, and the truth is it probably shouldn't have, but this is the work of Alex Cox who has made a career out of making things that shouldn't work work (to some degree.)

I really liked this film a great deal, though I'm going to be completely up front and say I still don't know what the hell is going on all along the way. Written by Cox and spaghetti western legend Gianni Garko the film has the weird sense that some of the Euro-westerns have, basically a sort of dream logic that comes when you dream with your face in the pillow. It's a strangeness that makes me want to go again sooner than later. 

This is a great film on its own terms and will remind you of of just how the movies can truly make you rethink the world you are in.

Recommended.

Afterpiece (2026) NYAFF 2026

A theatrical director decides to stage his final play- or at least that is what everyone thinks. He ends up casting an unknown in the lead, but his diva ex wants the role. Chaos ensues.

Infinitely better than my description this is an excellent comedy drama that hits a few of the expected notes, more that are unexpected and some how ends up being a moving little film. I loved the mix of drama and show biz. I  especially appreciated that the film didn’t follow the expected route. I was moved and entertained and when it was done I sent off some emails suggestions a few friends give it a shot.

This is a sweet little film and is very recommended.

NYAFF 2026 Capsule reviews: I BLEW OUT THE CANDLES BEFORE MAKING A WISH; JET LAG IN SUMMER; LAST NIGH IN TAIPEI, TAKE OFF and RIVER TALES

I BLEW OUT THE CANDLES BEFORE MAKING A WISH 
A young girl who thinks she can pay her father's debts hooks up with a nebish to try and win the money in a casino in Macao. Great looking film with one of the greatest sense of place ever put on film.  I loved the images. The story itself isn't bad.  Worth a look.

JET LAG IN SUMMER 
Two Chinese filmmakers in New York, one working on his film and the other not finding opputunities decides to go back home and gets stranded in Los Angeles. Low budget comedy is perfectly fine, but it didn't strike me  as anything special

LAST NIGHT IN TAIPEI 
Three friends, all looking to follow their dreams of being actors drift back together for an evening.  This is yet another riff on the BEFORE SUNRISE formula. As with many of these of the films that are in the new genre the film is perfectly fine. I enjoyed it while it was on, but to be honest by the time I sat down to write it up it kind of all drifted away.  It's not bad but it just didn't stick with me.

RIVER TALES
One of the very few Indian films to ever play NYAFF, RIVER TALES is set along the Ratuawa River. It is essentially the life of the river as seen through the yes of a family who live on it.  This is very much an art house drama. That doesn't mean it's a bad film, rather it simply means that it is very much of a type, low key, seemingly real but with a purpose. It's not bad, but it never quite connected with me.

TAKE OFF
I don't know if I don't like TAKE OFF or that it got caught in the crush of festival films. This tale of a man who caught his fathers desire to fly and so tried to make something to do just that, missed for me. I don't know if it was because it wasn't good or because it didn't connect with me or because I saw it in toward the end of the festival crush of both NYAFF and Japan Cuts and it got lost.
Its worth a try if you'r interested but for me it missed

Night King - The Director's Cut (2026) NYAFF 2026

Unreal

One of the highest grossing films in Hong Kong cinema is this tale of a hostess club in Hong Kong that is on it's last legs. The new owner has given the current manager, and her ex, 30 days to get the club back into shape. 

Running almost 3 hours, it is a half an hour longer than the theatrical cut, this "comedy" is a lot to take in. Glitzy and glamourous this is a film that is very manufactured and very much of a type.  It wants to be a good time distraction but at the same time it wants to say something deep and meaningful about the decline of Hong Kong.  I'm not certain it is always successful.

Part of the problem, at least in this version, is that there is too much here. The pacing is off and the film kind of runs on and on. Some bits feel long. The tone shifts awkwardly. This version is supposed to be harder edged, and that's there, but at the same time the film doesn't seem to be balance the humor and the seriousness.

While not bad, there was a point where I kind of tuned out because the film didn't really feel focused nor was I certain as to why it was taking so long to go forward.

Tight Lettuce (2026) Fantasia 2026

 

Based on a true story, this is the story of a son who tries to save his father who is heroin and fentanyl addict.

My question regarding this film is "what is this doing at Fantasia?". That is not a a knoock on the film, but more a question of what is a film with such a serious undercurrent of human existence and humanity doing at a genre festival? This is something that should be playing at the big festivals like TOronto or New York because the dramatic edge on this film could buckle your knees.

The answer is that in addition to having a deadly serious look at addiction in it, the film is also riotously funny. Dad is out of control and it makes for some belly laugh moments. Because of the wild mood swings I'm guessing most festivals, and probably a good number of audiences, are not going to know how to handle the wild mood swings. Fantasia being Fantasia is perfectly fine with the swings.

Dakota Daulby will break your heart as the son and if the gods will it he will win multiple awards. He is beyond that good.

If you can stand the mood shifts in a film that is the very definition life not ceasing to be funny when it serious nor serious when it is funny, then but a ticket and take a ride.

Brief thoughts on Break Free (2026) Fantasia 2026

A yakuza enforcer finds fame when his moves end up on Tic Tok.

I don't have a lot to say about BREAK FREE. This is a small little comedy with lots of laughs but not a great deal of weight. The lack of weight is perfectly fine since the laughs are constant.

What makes this work is the is the cast. Perfectly matched for the silliness everyone on screen sell the insanity. They perfectly mix seriousness with the occasional silly moment. The result is suspense and chuckles.

What a delight.

Sure this won't be the best comedy you've ever seen, but at the same time it will give you more laughs then most Hollywood comedies.

A review of Sunspark (2026) which is playing Fantasia 2026 and an interview with director Danny Bourque

A robot needing a new hover wheel for his truck takes a broken woman instead. It changes his life.

This is a sweet little animated film that is ultimately about finding the one we love and the things that we will do for them, and they for us. Even though I found it a bit eerie that the girl girl robot in the parts dump (I know its about robots but I am disturbed by the only woman we see is in a trash dump- but I'm reading way too much into this) 

What is a amazing is that this was done by director Danny Bourque over two years. It's an amazing achievement.

This is a small scale gem you need to see.

SUNSPARK impressed the hell out of me. I couldn't believe on person did all of this alone. I liked the film so much that I reached out to director Danny Bourque to see if he would answer a few questions via email. He said yes. What follows are the nine questions I sent him.

I want to thank Mr Bourque not only for taking the time, but also for making such a wonderful film.

STEVE:The film took you years to do. How do you stay focused on the one film and not wander off? Did your friends and family remember what you looked like?

DANNY: Believe it or not, during that time I still managed to train for and perform the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim hike with my parents, traveled with an old film school buddy to a remote cemetery in Texas to catch the total eclipse, visited Costa Rica for the first time, and purchased a kayak to explore the Puget Sound area around where I live. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about getting back to working on Sunspark while I was on each of those trips. Part of what kept me focused and motivated to see the project to its end was choosing a deadline and sticking with it. I specifically chose the SXSW early deadline to have my film completed by. Even though SXSW passed on the film, it still helped me get it to the finish line.

STEVE:You did everything on this yourself, how did you manage to do it all? I ask because it seems most one creators tend to bring someone in for some part, primarily the music. Why didn't you take help to do the film? 

DANNY: Over the years I’ve steadily built up an array of skills by pursuing different hobbies and interests. I’ve been comfortable with visual composition ever since I discovered photography in high school, eventually working for a while as a photojournalist for The Times-Picayaune newspaper in New Orleans. I created my own live-action short films and documentaries throughout my college years. In my 30s I took up electronic music as a hobby and found myself performing live multiple times under the name Glitch Black, including twice in the New Orleans House of Blues, and even having one of my albums named among the top 10 synthwave albums by Metal Hammer Magazine.  I also used Glitch Black as my artist name when creating short 3D animations, looping gifs, and other experimental visualizers. Sunspark is what happened when I decided to combine all my collected skills into one big project. 

And with an 11-minute runtime, one of the final hurdles was just getting the entire film rendered. I ended up using the Render Network to render all of the film's individual frames online. Most people are familiar with the idea of a traditional render farm where you're working with a centralized pool of machines that has limited capacity. The Render Network works differently by connecting creators to a decentralized network of computer users around the world who can contribute the collective power of their idle GPUs. And with a grant from the Render Foundation, I avoided spending months rendering the film frame by frame on my own PC.

STEVE: I know its robots, and I'm over thinking this,  but I found it kind of weird/creepy to have "dead" robots at the parts place. Has anyone mentioned the eeriness? Do you for see a future where humans have something similar when we get to a point where we can just switch broken parts?Apologies I keep seeing Victor Frankenstein going to a one stop shop...(Sorry I'm a monster kid and my brain leans into the ghoulish)

DANNY:You’re definitely the first to mention this part feeling creepy or eerie! If you go to a real junkyard you might find old cars, computers, and other objects of daily life. If robotic helpers were commonplace, there’s no question older models would eventually follow this same path. The point Sunspark tries to make is that there can still be value found in things that we are so quick to throw away.

STEVE:What  were and who are your inspirations for the film?

DANNY:My biggest inspirations include the videogame Machinarium, the 1998 Oscar-nominated short film More,  and the movies The Iron Giant, The Brave Little Toaster, and WALL-E. Most of these touch on themes of transcendence through personal sacrifice and finding value in things that have been discarded.

STEVE: There is something about the emotional center and humanity of the film that reminds me of Kid Koala's SPACE CADET.  I was wondering if you saw the film and if so what you thought of it.

DANNY: I haven’t had the chance to see Space Cadet but I really want to. I first discovered it when I was researching film festivals for Sunspark and I hope one day I’ll finally get a chance to see it.

STEVE:What was your path into animation? Were you a filmmaker who fell in love with the art form or are you just an animator?  Or are you going to be like Yeon-Sang Ho or Brad Bird and swerve from animation to live action?

DANNY:After earning my MFA in Film Production, I took a full-time corporate video editing job in New Orleans. Over time I picked up on how to create basic motion graphics animations. Eventually this led me to creating 2D character animations in After Effects and Flash. I also began to toy around with 3D animation in Blender, and years later found myself working at an advertising agency where I learned Cinema 4D. Over time I became comfortable enough with Cinema 4D and After Effects to the point where making Sunspark felt possible.

STEVE:Everyone talks Disney and Ghibli- but what films - animated or not, that you think people should see? 

DANNY: The stop-motion short film More from 1998 is only 6 minutes long, but its story is told so powerfully through its synthesis of visuals and wordless music. It’s one of the biggest influences that first propelled me on my filmmaking journey, inspiring me to make my first short film in 2001 called Neverthought. 

STEVE: Who are the filmmakers who make you drop everything to go and see? 

DANNY: Of directors who still produce new work, my list would include: 

Denis Villeneuve - has consistently created the very best in modern sci-fi

George Miller - I’ll never get enough of the world of Mad Max. I’m hoping we get a sixth from Miller.

Alfonso Cuarón - I wish he did more sci-fi

Michael Mann - I love gritty urban criminal stories and I have high hopes for Heat 2

Kathryn Bigelow - consistently creates hard-hitting cinema

Robert Eggers - his movies often feel like you’re living in a daguerreotype photo from nearly 200 years ago

Paul Thomas Anderson - just an all-around incredibly competent filmmaker that never seems to miss

Stanley Kubrick (undead) - I would watch anything from zombie Kubrick

STEVE: SUNSPARK is done, so what's next? Will there be a crew this time? 

DANNY: I’m already nearing the completion of my next animated short Eye for an Eye for a Nose. This time I did recruit an actress to voice some characters, but other than that I’ll be the entire crew once again. I’m taking lessons I learned from Sunspark but still giving myself new creative and technical challenges to solve. Now that I’m nearing the end of its production, I can confidently say that I’m even stronger now in my overall animation skills than when I started. I recently launched the social media accounts for Eye for an Eye for a Nose here: https://www.instagram.com/eye4eye4nose/

Higuma!! The Killer Bear (2025) NYAFF 2026

A young man’s plans are gone when his father unexpectedly dies leaving him with no means of paying for school. Taking a job with some sketchy characters he finds himself working with some people who kill and remove bodies. Things take a turn for the worst when out in the forest a homicidal bear begins to hunt them.

One of my must see films at NYAFF became one of its biggest disappointments as what I thought was going to be a tense horror film became a not so tense horror tinged comedy. Playing everything for a laugh this film kind of just never came together. Yes I know it wants to make points about the things we do to get by but at the same time this is not what I expected from the director of the soul crushing films FORGIVEN CHILDREN and LIVERLEAF. While not bad, it isn’t up to the directors earlier work. Think of it as how you would feel if William Friedkin made a Sharknado film.

It might have worked but the bear looks so god damn silly

A miss

Numb (2025) Japan Cuts 2026

A young boy who can't speak after being abused by his father, grows up watching how bad things happen to the people he loves as he tries to stop the cycle.

You are either going to love this exercise in pain and misery or you are not. Shot in realistic style that makes us feel the pain this is a film where bad things happen to good people - particularly mom. Its a film that wants to show us that life is pain.

I disconnected. Not so much because it was bad, but because I never had the feeling that this was going anywhere. Perhaps my tolerence for pain and suffering is not as high these days, but I would have walked away if I wasn't covering this for Japan Cuts.

FUNKY FREAKY FREAKS (2025) NYAFF 2026

Director Han Chang-lok's FUNKY FREAKY FREAKS has me curious what he will do next. His technical skill in this film it truly something to see. At the same time I'm not sure I ever need to see this film again.

The film follows a goup of teens who are dealing with angst, dealing with life and running various games in order to get along.  The problem is that the kids personalities grind against each other and things turn even darker.

Told in an assured style that creates the nervous anxiousness of youth. Its the work of a director full of piss and vinegar and great technical prowess. 

The problem is that as you watch the film you get a sense that this isn't life, this is the director and his cast in a location filming. It is also a film where you can feel the director being excited off screen babbling about the cool things he's going to be doing.  The result is film that doesn't connect and when things go dark toward the end we are not full invested. (It killed me- that scene in the classroom on it's own kicks ass but as part of the film doesn't fully work.)

I don't hate this film, hell it put a great director on my radar. I'm just disappointed that this wasn't better.

Street Kingdom (2026) NYAFF 2026

Yuichi Jibiki, a photographer from the sticks, ends up chronicaling the early days of punk rock in Japan.

One of my favorite films at this years NYAFF, this is a shot of nostalgia of the finest kind. Its a look back at the early days of punk that plays much more real than many Hollywood films of similar type. I like that events just seem to be transpiring and not being forced.  Jibiki doesn't feel like he's being inserted into events, he feels like he's part of it, even if he's on the fringe. Yes, this is Jibiki's story but it is also the story of the music and director Tomorowo Taguchi allows them both to exist as their own things. 

I had a blast. This is a great collection of music and people. I was enjoying the film so much that when it ended I wanted to go again right away.

Recommended.

A pointer toward Dancefreak (2026) Fantasia 2026

 

Off kilter comedy is about people on the fringe, a disease that makes people dance, uncomfortable interactions and stuff. 

Shot in a grainy black and white this is a film for those hip happening sort of people who like to enjoy feeling uncomfortable and love to laugh at other people's pain. Its a film that looks and feels like BEGOTTEN or ERASERHEAD but which with less of  weight to it.

To be honest I love the look and feel of the film but I dislike the script which didn't amount to much for me.

If you're fan of the directors work give it a try, otherwise proceed with caution

WE ARE NOTHING AT ALL (2026) NYAFF 2026

Herman Yau makes his best film and his most frustrating film at the same time.

The film is the based on true story about a bus explosion on a city street. The police investigate and try to piece together what happened and who was responsible.

To be perfectly honest the police procedural portion of this film is as good a film as I’ve seen this year. It’s frank discussion of the bombing and its nuts and bolts look at how the police investigate some thing as terrible as this is fantastic. This seemed to be as close to a police investigation as I’ve ever seen put on film. Its meaty and honest and truly great.

The problem is the material is the soap opera tales of all the people on the bus. By the numbers doesn’t do it justice. The people stuff is wildly over the top. More so the tale of doomed gay romance. It never felt real and felt like it was being used simply to pull at the heart strings of the audience. I wasn’t so much engaged but strapped to a chair and forced to watch.

I was frustrated because it was too much of a slog to get through the drama to really enjoy the police procedural.

If you can put up with the soap opera, the police stuff is worth a look

Youyogi Johnny (2025) Japan Cuts 2026

I like you as much as I like history

This is a mannered & deadpan dry comedy about a high school squash club that doesn’t play squash. It seems that one of the members wanted to start a club but needed four people to make it work so friends agreed to join. Things become complicated when they actually have to play in a match. This further complicates things with their private lives as well.

This is a funny and knowing comedy that I enjoyed, but which I didn’t fully give myself over to. Blame the very deliberate  construction which made me think that the director was trying to let us know things were funny. For example, the opening break up scene where there is not so much emotion and obtuse reasoning (I like you like I like history). Its funny but it’s also kind of disconnected. I liked it while it was on but I’m not sure I need to revisit.

Worth a look if you like mannered humor.

A pointer toward Tiger (2025) Japan Cuts 2026

Taiga is a closet masseuse trying to figure out where he belongs. His career is going no where. His father is dying. His inheritence is tied to his getting married and starting a family. He is eyeing a move into adult films. Where is he going?

Based on actual experiences TIGER often has the feel of real life. More often though the film has the feel of  film striving to be about something. Its a film that is very much about the experience of being gay in Japan. The problem is that unless you can find something to connect to this film may not click with you.

At this point I'm going to raise my hand and simply say this film is really well made and well acted but beyond that the film completely didn't connect to me. Its not so much that I am not not  gay, but more the film was so adrift, like our hero, that I didn't know what the point was. Yes I completely understand that life has no meaning except that which we give it, but movies should have a point of view. Or of not a point of view it shouldn't leave me feeling "why did the filmmakers tell me this story?". Several days after watching TIGER I still don't know. I say that because I intentionally did not write the film up after I finished it so that I could think on it. Nothing came.

On the other hand the film is well made, strangely erotic at times, and well acted. I'm sure if you find something here you'll love it. But for me this film eluded connection.

Brief thoughts on Cold War 1994 (2026) NYAFF 2026

First of two prequels  to the COLD WAR films from 2012 and 2017. The film is told in flashback as a case from 1994 is echoing in a current case.

Another complicated tale with lots of characters, played by great actors, trying to get to the bottom of a case involving a kidnap ring.  Its a film that fits perfectly with the previous two films. And as with the previous films I think the best thing in the film is the action sequences. There are some incredible fights here. This doesn't mean there is a problem with the rest,  rather it's simply that the plot is needlessly complicated.

I like this film a great deal. 

This is definitely one to see on the big screen if you can.

With The Yellow Sea playing NYAFF on July 19 here is Mc C's thoughts from when it originally played

With YELLOW SEA returning to NYAFF here is Mr. C's thoughts when it played 15 years ago

The 10th annual NY Asian Film Festival came in whimpering to the theme of love & being horny on the 1st day of screenings to going out with a bang on the Yellow Sea of revenge by the 14th night! Mucho thanks to the guys & gals at Subway Cinema for organizing such a fun event!



THE YELLOW SEA directed by Na Hong-Jin, part of the korean sea of vengeance themed programming was the last screening on this fortnight of NYAFF bliss! Let me highlight a few things from this festive night that made the finale quite unique before going off on a tangent with an abbreviated mr. c monarch note of the film. Trouble would lurk in the projection booth at Walter Reade Theater before the Yellow Sea screening. There were technical difficulties with projecting the subtitles and/or they didn’t have the right format of the film for the showing. The movie seemed to be of the digital projection variety as opposed to traditional film with no subtitles burned onto the image. The director, Na Hong Jin had to use power point with the english text translations on each slide to translate the dialogue for all the scenes in the movie while he tapped on the computer to forward each slide in morse code like rhythm to be in sync with the conversations in real time! The power point slide would be projected onto the digital print of the movie on the bottom of the screen where traditional burned in translations would be! Na Hong Jin did a great job with the subtitles as his timing was impeccable! There were a few instances when the subs were a millisecond or two ahead of the dialogue but better early than late, I suppose! The director told us that he had only one hour to prepare for this debacle! Kudos to Na Hong Jin for rolling with the punches to allow us to watch this film! The 2nd highlight or more accurately, lowlight of the night was the Q&A session after the screening. Some of the questions that were asked by the audience to the director were totally ridiculous & quite embarrassing in my opinion. It definitely made the Q&A awkward & sort of weirded out the night to an otherwise enthusiastic crowd for the screening! The translator also looked confused. Maybe she botched up the translations so we didn't look as bad?! The 1st question/comment posed to Na Hong-Jin from the audience was: I screened this film in China a few months ago & I liked that version better. Do you think an alliance or collaboration with East Asia is important? *WHAT?*
The 2nd question was: How many cars did you smash up on the set? Another bright question: How pertinent was North Korea in relation to the film? *WHAT?* The film had nothing to do with North Korea. It was all about South Korea, China, & the ethnic Koreans living in China. You should of seen the look on the director & translators face! One south asian film student asked: Do you think about the edited portion of the scene before you actually shoot the footage? *WHAT*
The one question that took the golden trophy was (not in these exact words): What is going on with Korea & the epidemic of recent thriller-killer-violent films like the Yellow Sea, I Saw the Devil, The Chaser, and so on! What does that say about Korean society? *STEREOTYPE* It’s called entertainment, buddy!

To be honest, I had mixed feelings about THE YELLOW SEA. The movie had big budget aesthetics written all over it and it seemed to be expertly filmed minus a little bit too much of the shaking camera syndrome & closeup shots to show intensity when under the duress of a life or death action sequence. For fans of ultra violence & blood splatter induced by a hatchet in a thriller setting which crosses over to the horror umbrella, you might find this of interest! For you realism fans, you might start out believing in the dream like Martin Luther King Jr said, but after a few twists & turns here and there, you might start questioning the script. The story starts out great, real grim, dark, & bleak! The setting of the movie takes place in Yanbian, China, a city that is not too far from the borders of north korea. Yanbian would be heavily populated by ethnic Koreans otherwise known as joseonjok who live/work there in hopes for a better opportunity outside of Korea. Our main character, Ku-nam is a cabbie, living day to day with a mah jong gambling habit. He suspects that his wife is cheating on him as she disappears into the arms of South Korea while the grandma takes care of their child. Temptations would soon grab a hold of our furry ethnic Korean friend when a proposal from a raggamuffin gangster type who is very proficient with a hatchet wants to hire him as a hitman to eliminate someone in Seoul. With a big debt on his hand, a runaway wife, and a kid to support, our joseonjok man takes up the offer to murder a professor and bring back his thumb! The only caveat is that he must complete this mission under a strict time limit or else his mother & daughter will be in harms way. The games would soon begin as a rocky boat ride of immigrants from yanbian china to south korea proves to be lethal for some. Things don’t go as planned as Ku-nam entangles with another mafioso when going for the hit. Things from here on out will get the movie realists to shake their heads. Car chases, evading police, eating dog meat off the bone, hatchet hacking, running...lots of running, & some South Korean, Benny Hill style law enforcement will all be a part of this dark thriller-horror-comedy?! The prospects of finding his wife and/or the lover will add fuel to the fire! The crazy hatchet master that hired Ku-Nam will eventually come out from Yanbian-China to play in South Korea! Both of these characters will have more than 9 lives each as death seems to elude them! Realizing that he has been framed, Ku-nam tries to unearth the story as survival & the search for his wife will make a heavy heart. This movie will be a real hit or miss for some. The story takes a bit to build up, but when it does, it gets real suspenseful offering up lots of violence to boot. The instrumental soundtrack to this film is very eery and puts you on edge when the characters start fleeing for their lives or while they are breaking down human parts for portability reasons! The movie is over 2.5 hours long & even with the unbelievable plot, I have to say that I was still engrossed in all the melee! I was completely fascinated by the ethnic Koreans aka joseonjok's that are living in Yanbian, China! I hope to see more movies on this subject!

Tunnels- Sun in the Dark (2026) Fantasia 2026

Set in the Cu Chi tunnel system during the Vietnam War in 1967, the films tells the story of the men and women who fought ans died for the Viet Cong in one the major intelligence hubs for the North. The tunnel system covered over 400 square kilometers.

Unlike any Hollywood war film, TUNNELS is a view of the war and war in general in ways you've never seen. There are no soldiers but just people fighting a war. The images are low to the ground and tightly framed for the most part. We are in these places and we are claustraphobic. Its a view that is very different than any American or French film.

This is ultimately a film with a distinct point of view. Its a film that clearly shows why the West lost the fight. You watch the Americans shoot at nothing, as their targets are long gone. By the time the final shot comes, one that is nothing special until it's held and you realize what it means on every level, you know no one was ever going to win in Vietnam other than the Vietnamese.

The action sequences are atypical. Shot to look real and not like a splashy action film, there is a sense at times that the battles are matter of fact. That doesn't mean people don't die or that we aren't moved, but rather this is a film that isn't just telling a story but imparting wisdom. War is something other than movies and Tv or even news and documentary have shown us since what has gone before wants to provoke an emotion. TUNNELS wants to tell us what it it really is, coldly and dispassionately.

I was moved.

Sure it isn't perfect here and there, but emotionally it is on target and its ending had me audibly reacting.

Track a ticket or the film down.

ky nam inn (2025) NYAFF 2026

Vietnamese romantic drama about a translator from the North beginning a romance with a widow from the South in the days after the end of the war.

This is a small little romance set in a place most of us have never been. Growing up during the war my impressions of the Vietnam from the same period are that of a war-torn country with bomb craters everywhere. I’m wrong of course, but that was what I thought as a child. This film sets the record straight and in doing so gives us a super little drama.

While I don’t think the film’s attempts at using The Little Prince for deeper resonance always work, I think the film as a whole is a small gem. This is exactly the sort of film you should see if   you want something far removed from Hollywood.

Recommended