Adventures in the Anime and Manga Trade
“Some scholars have argued that far from clinging to the past until they were overwhelmed, the Qing dynasty created modern China in 1644, by establishing a previously unseen level of centralized control, and by wiping out the northern border problem. … Continue reading →
Over at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, I update my entry on China with details of the relatively new sub-genre of stories in which time-travelling boffins try to make China great again.
“Officially, the film was shot entirely in Iran during the last years of the Shah, presenting a priceless time-capsule of everyday life before the 1979 revolution propelled the Ayatollah into power. Secretly, several pick-ups and interiors were actually filmed back … Continue reading →
Confirmed child-free housewife Ireene Helasuo (Salli Karuna) is aghast to discover that her husband Kustaa (Joel Rinne) has agreed to care for his niece after his sister has died in childbirth. She plays the “she goes or I do” card, … Continue reading →
My voice sneaks onto the Lost Rivers documentary by my old Route Awakening cohorts in Singapore. I pop up on a couple of occasions, and sadly they didn’t use the takes where I tried to perform in the voice of … Continue reading →
“The problem with Taisho-era Tokyo is that almost all of it was wiped out by the fire-bombings of the Second World War. Director Kiyoshi Saeki is forced to keep his camerawork close on street scenes and most exteriors, because a … Continue reading →
Sori’s idea was to treat Ping Pong like a science fiction project or a fantasy movie – to get all the mundane stuff in the camera, and then treat it afterwards to add the special magic, which in this case, … Continue reading →
For viewers in the United States, I am on the History Channel on Friday in The UnXplained with William Shatner, 8pm Central time / 9pm Eastern, discussing Japan’s Imperial Sacred Treasure, the sword Kusanagi, as well as the ancient Kingdom … Continue reading →
“The backers were all expecting Totoro to be a flop. I mean, who cares about a movie where nothing happens in the countryside, right? Suzuki came up with the idea of shoring up Miyazaki’s mad pastoral project by running it … Continue reading →
“For my teenage self, living by the Thames Estuary a world away from the exotic East, Rayns’ accounts in Monthly Film Bulletin and Sight & Sound of Beijing night clubs and Hong Kong Film Festivals were like dispatches from another … Continue reading →