How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies
I haven't seen many (any?) films from Thailand, but this one has apparently been a "runaway hit" in East Asia, so I thought I'd give it a go. The tale…
Joy Ride
This gal pal comedy is at its heart a sweet story about identity and friendship. But boy is it wrapped in raunch! Adele Lim's (Oscar nominee for co-writing Crazy Rich…
Review: Wood and Water
Not a lot "happens" in this character study film, but that doesn't mean it's boring. It's the story of Anke (played by Anke Bak, the director’s mother), a German woman…
Review: Drive My Car
Adapted from a short story by Haruki Murikami, one of my favorite authors, Drive My Car is a haunting drama about love and grief and reckoning. It centers on two…
Arty Chick
Chick Flick
Chinese
Drama
French
Indie
Italian
Musical
Romance
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Thriller
Arty Chick’s Seven Flicks: Week 15
What a group of films I have for you this week! There’s an end of the world love story set in Los Angeles and a twisted sister rivalry in old…
Adaptation
Amazon Original
Arty Chick
Award Winning
Biopic
Chinese
Danish
Documentary
Drama
Eastern European
Female led films
Israeli/Palestinian
Korean
Scandinavian
Special Feature
Arty Chick’s Oscar Ballot
Update: I began my Oscar viewing thinking the show was fun and creative, but it went totally off the rails about half way through and ended in the most abrupt…
Action/Adventure
Arty Chick
Award Winning
Chinese
Drama
Romance
Russian
Spanish language
Special Feature
Thriller
Arty Chick’s Seven Flicks: Week 4
This week's picks run the gamut from a classic Hollywood epic to one of my favorite action flicks. I've also chosen a bunch of foreign fare. Something from Russia, from…
Arty Chick
Award Winning
Chick Flick
Chinese
Comedy
Crime
Date movie
Drama
Female led films
Special Feature
Arty Chick’s Seven Flicks: Week 2
Week two of listing favorite films that may not be on your radar because they're not new. A few of these were made before I was born, and they're still…
Review: Lucky Grandma
This dark comedy set mainly in New York's Chinatown begins with curmudgeonly chain-smoker Grandma (Tsai Chin - Joy Luck Club, Casino Royale) visiting LeiLei the Fortune Teller (Wai Ching Ho…
Review: The Farewell
In this bittersweet dramedy based on a real story from the writer/director's own family, Billi (Awkwafina, Crazy Rich Asians) a struggling New York writer discovers that her Grandma (Zhou Shuzhen)…
Review: One Child Nation
Nanfu Wang has made a couple of my favorite documentaries of the past few years. Hooligan Sparrow followed a Chinese women's rights activist's journey and put both the subject and…
Quickie Review: Ramen Shop (Ramen Teh)
Following in the tradition of a spate of recent foodie flicks, Ramen Shop wraps a slight story in a culinary journey and has you drooling and wishing the film would…
AFIDOCS Reviews Part One
Another Year at AFIDOCS. Four days of back to back documentary films in Washington, DC (and Silver Spring, MD, though we stayed downtown this year.) We've been going since 2014…
God of War Review
In this historical epic from China, you get it all - Samurai, Pirates, Shaolin Warrior Monks, battles galore, and kick-ass female fighters, too. Based on a true story, during the…
Hooligan Sparrow
I love gutsy women and Ye Haiyan aka Hooligan Sparrow has got to be one of the gutsiest around. As a Chinese women's rights activist she has put herself in…