A collection of youngsters are drawn into a dangerous web of simmering violence in Ho Wi Ding’s Taipei-set drama.
Dec 26, 2022 • Subscribe
More like this
Youth (Spring) (青春, Wang Bing, 2023)
Wang Bing turns his camera on the mostly young workers in the textile factories of Zhili.
Nomad (烈火青春, Patrick Tam, 1982)
Aimless youth longs for exile in pre-Handover Hong Kong in Patrick Tam’s New Wave classic.
Dangerous Youth (危險的青春, Hsin Chi, 1969)
A young couple struggle to adapt themselves to a changing society in Hsin Chi’s youth morality drama
Love Lies (我談的那場戀愛, Ho Miu-ki, 2024)
Falling for a romance scam allows a middle-aged woman to reassess her romantic past in Ho Miu-ki’s charming cybercrime dramedy.
Yuri Manga: Kanade Aoharu Band Yuri Anthology (青春バンド百合アンソロジー)
Well, so, Kanade Aoharu Band Yuri Anthology (青春バンド百合アンソロジー) is definitely a Yuri anthology in which characters are near musical instruments and occasionally even play them. Which is not…
Who’ll Stop the Rain (青春並不溫柔, Su I-Hsuan, 2023)
Two young women meet and fall in love amid the student protests of ’90s Taiwan but find their connection frustrated by ongoing lack of “freedom” in the new…
The Sunny Side of the Street (白日青春, Lau Kok-rui, 2022)
An embittered taxi driver is forced to reflect on his prejudices and relationships after getting into a vendetta with a refugee in Lau Kok-rui’s melancholy drama.
Action Hero (액션히어로, Lee Jin-ho, 2021)
A student dreaming of becoming an action star decides to expose institutional corruption at his uni while making a film in Lee Jin-ho’s action dramedy
Nomad 烈火青春 (1982) Director: Patrick Tam [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Nomad 烈火青春 (1982), by director Patrick Tam, is a sensuous story of youth looking for themselves through love and culture. [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Dust in the Wind (戀戀風塵, Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1986)
The innocent love of a young couple from the country is gradually eroded by the compromises of city life in Hou Hsiao-hsien’s melancholy youth drama
No Regrets for Our Youth (わが青春に悔なし, Akira Kurosawa, 1946)
A young woman is torn between a future with a passionate rebel or spineless conformist in Kurosawa’s meditation on the militarist folly.
It’s A Ho Ho Post – A – Rama!!
Just hear those blogging bells chime for a merry post – a – rama and it’s FRIDAY!! OLD and NEW to the Kino corner every…
Next Door (옆집사람, Yeom Ji-ho, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
An aspiring policeman becomes embroiled in a kafkaesque series of events after waking up next to a dead body in next-door’s apartment in Yeom Ji-ho’s deliciously dark farce.
18×2 Beyond Youthful Days (青春18×2 君へと続く道, Michihito Fujii, 2024)
Screenshot Apparently inspired by a real life viral blog, the latest from the prolific Michihito Fujii, 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days (青春18×2 君へと続く道, Seishun 18×2 Kimi e to Tsudzuku…
Through My Midwinter (그 겨울, 나는, Oh Seong-ho, 2021)
The relationship between a young couple is gradually eroded by the demands of a hyper-capitalist society in Oh Seong-ho’s empathetic indie drama.
I Still Remember (二次人生, Lik Ho, 2021)
A directionless young man regains a sense of purpose after reuniting with a childhood father figure in Lik Ho’s sporting drama
Brave: Gunjo Senki (ブレイブ -群青戦記-, Katsuyuki Motohiro, 2021)
A history buff and archery enthusiast finds himself in his element when his school is thrown back to the Sengoku era in Katsuyuki Motohiro’s timeslip drama.
Spiraken Movie Review Ep 24: Die Hard (or Now I Have A Machine Gun! Ho! Ho! Ho!)
Merry Christmas, It's time for our very special Christmas episode of the Spiraken Movie Review . And for you our listeners, Xan, Deke and Kal go all out…
If it’s not one tham ding, it’s another…
If you follow me on twitter, you’ve got the gist of it… But the last week or so has kinda sucked. And it’s going to suck for a…
The Rest of Our Lives (ラストターン 福山健二71歳、二度目の青春, Shinji Kuma, 2023)
A pair of elderly men struggle to find meaning in their lives in the face of well-meaning infantilism and health anxiety in Shinji Kuma’s warmhearted ageing drama.
SPEAKERPODCAST EP.145 – H.E.A.V-ho!
A little-known fact is that this year's Godzilla vs Kong released in Japan a good 3 months later than in the rest of the world, not hitting cinemas…
Bong Joon-ho, manga fan
When Bong Joon-ho talks to interviewers in Japan, he likes to bring up manga. It stands to reason that he would be a fan of the medium: the…
Hijacked Youth – Dare to Stop Us 2 (青春ジャック 止められるか、俺たちを2, Junichi Inoue, 2024)
Junichi Inoue paints a larger than life picture of director Koji Wakamastu in a semi-autobiographical tale of the later dayd of Wakamatsu Pro.
Breaking and Re-entering (還錢, Wang Ding-Lin, 2024)
A master thief finds himself in the awkward position of returning the money from a giant heist in Wang Ding-Lin’s charming crime caper.
Mama Boy (初戀慢半拍, Arvin Chen, 2022)
A diffident young man begins to step into himself after falling for a middle-aged woman in Arvin Chen’s charming romantic dramedy.
Spider Lilies (刺青, Zero Chou, 2007)
Two women connected by childhood tragedy struggle to overcome their respective anxieties in Zero Chou’s ethereal reflection on love and the legacy of trauma
The Beast (비스트, Lee Jung-ho, 2019)
Internal police politics frustrate the hunt for a potential serial killer in Lee Jung-ho’s dark social thriller.
Early Spring (早春, Yasujiro Ozu, 1956)
A dejected office worker and his disappointed wife battle the emptiness of the “salaryman dream” in Ozu’s embittered marital drama
Wait and See (あ、春, Shinji Somai, 1998)
An emotionally distant salaryman faces instability in his professional and personal lives just as his estranged father resurfaces in Somai’s gentle family drama.
Taipei Story (青梅竹馬, Edward Yang, 1985)
An ambitious young woman is determined to keep pushing forward while her more traditional boyfriend remains trapped in the past in Yang’s melancholy urban drama
Abang Adik (富都青年, Jin Ong, 2023)
Displaced brothers find themselves trapped on the margins of a prosperous city in Jin Ong’s gritty drama.
The Wild, Wild Rose (野玫瑰之戀, Wong Tin-lam, 1960)
A free-spirited nightclub singer’s dreams of love are shattered by fragile masculinity and an unforgiving society in Wong Tin-lam’s take on the classic opera Carmen.
Christmas in August (8월의 크리스마스, Hur Jin-ho, 1998)
The cruel ironies of life are visited on a lovelorn photographer nearing the end of his life in Hur Jin-ho’s understated melodrama, Christmas in August (8월의 크리스마스, Palwolui…
A Normal Family (보통의 가족, Hur Jin-ho, 2023)
Two brothers experience a moral crisis when their kids become the subject of a viral video in Hur Jin-ho’s steely drama.
Black Lagoon – 3/4 [Ring-Ding Ship Chase/Die Rückkehr des Adlers] – Throwback Thursday
Welcome all, to the 2nd week of Black Lagoon! This week we start to explore the wider world, expanding the setting and learning what kind of lives our…
Spiraken Manga Review Ep 71: Ikigami The Ultimate Limit (or Ding Dong Ikigami Calling)
In this episode of the Spiraken Manga Review, Xan ponders about life and death and reviews the disturbing intellectual manga , Ikigami The Ultimate Limit by Motoro Mase…
The Blue Beast / 青い野獣 / Aoi yaju (1960)
Obscure Japanese Film #140 Tatsuya Nakadai Yasuhiko Kuroki (Tatsuya Nakadai) is an ambitious young man working for a magazine publishing c...
The Cabbie (運転手之戀, Chen Yi-wen & Chang Hwa-kun, 2000)
The crazy freewheeling life of a lovestruck taxi driver eventually takes a turn for the contemplative in Chen Yi-wen & Chang Hwa-kun’s infinitely charming comedy.
Between the Knees (무릎과 무릎 사이, Lee Jang-ho, 1984)
A young woman struggles to accept her desires amid the oppressive social codes of contemporary Korea in Lee Jang-ho’s erotic melodrama.
Er Woo Dong: The Entertainer (어우동, Lee Jang-ho, 1985)
A liberated woman is condemned by an oppressive society in Lee Jang-ho’s feudal drama.
Trigun (Toraigan) – The Gung-Ho Guns Arc, Episodes 12-17
Trigun (Toraigan) (1998) Fourth in this short series of posts about Trigun – time for the Gung-Ho Guns Arc. Here the series takes a bit of a turn…
Breakout Brothers (逃獄兄弟, Mak Ho-Pong, 2020)
A trio of inmates decide to break out of prison but discover that it’s friendship that sets them free in Mak Ho-Pong’s cartoonish crime caper
WE 12 (12怪盜, Berry Ho Kwok-man, 2023)
Phenomenally popular Cantopop boyband Mirror have been dominating the Hong Kong box office lately with several of the guys playing regular roles in movies not particularly designed as…
River of Salvation (一江春水, Gao Qisheng, 2020)
The seemingly boring life of a dejected young woman is disrupted by a series of revelations and reversals in Gao Qisheng’s indie drama
Happy Together (春光乍洩, Wong Kar Wai, 1997)
Lovers on the run flee pre-Handover Hong Kong for Argentina to “start over” but discover only more loneliness and heartache in Wong’s melancholy romance.
Haru to Midori, Volume 3 (春とみどり)
Haru is a lonely woman. She’s never really moved on with her life, even as she has lived it. There was once a girl who had meant something…
Legendary in Action! (大俠Action!, Justin Cheung & Li Ho, 2022)
A struggling director gets a second chance at a big break when hired to direct a classic wuxia in Justin Cheung & Li Ho’s behind the scenes dramedy.
Lee Jang-ho’s Baseball Team (이장호의 외인구단, Lee Jang-ho, 1986)
A young man dreaming of baseball glory is forced on a bizarre desert island training mission by his insane mentor in Lee Jang-ho’s incredibly strange sports movie.
The Sparring Partner (正義迴廊, Ho Cheuk-tin, 2022)
Ho Cheuk-tin’s tense courtroom drama puts human nature and the criminal justice system on trial as two men stand accused of a heinous murder of that shocked the…
Haru to Midori Manga, Volume 2 (春とみどり)
In Haru to Midori, Volume 2 (春とみどり) having committed to being a foster parent for her late childhood friend’s daughter, Midori struggles daily to separate her feelings for…