‘Chasing Dream’: Film Review

Richard Kuipers “A Life Turned Upside Down: My Dad’s an Alcoholic” casts a damning eye on the pernicious role alcohol plays in the working careers and social lives of Japanese men. Narrated by the innermost thoughts of a daughter during the 25 years she spends watching her father drink himself to death, Kenji Katagari’s second feature cleverly plays like a quirky little TV sitcom about an ordinary middle-class family before moving into darker territory.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefDocumentary feature “Tibet: Roof of the World” is set to premiere on leading broadcast channels in the U.S. and Europe in the coming months, following a series of co-production deals.

The Shanghai International Film Festival, China's longest-running major cinema event, will take place in-person beginning July 25. The 2020 edition of the festival, now scheduled to kick off in just over one week, will take a condensed form and be mostly a Chinese affair, staffers for the event told The Hollywood Reporter Thursday.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Shanghai International Film Festival will take place July 25 to Aug. 2, after Chinese authorities announced Thursday that cinemas will reopen at long last, beginning next Monday in low-risk regions.The Shanghai International TV Festival has also set its dates.

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticImagine a Japanese version of “Pygmalion” in which the sculptor continues to caress slabs of marble even after Galatea has come to life. That is the unusual premise of “Romance Doll,” a marital drama in which a sex doll maker’s rapt obssession with his new prototype, leads to rejection of his human muse.

China's largest cinema chain operator Wanda Film said it expects to lose $214 to $228 million (RMB 1.5 to 1.6 billion) in the first half of 2020 thanks to over five months on continual cinema shutdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The decline represents a stark reversal of fortunes from the $75 million profit the Chinese exhibition giant reported during the same period in 2019.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s largest cinema chain operator Wanda Film said Tuesday that it anticipates reporting a net loss of between $214 and $228 million (RMB 1.5 to 1.6 billion) in the first half of the year, after cinemas were shut for almost that entire time due to COVID-19. In contrast, the firm saw a net profit of $75 million (RMB 524 million) during the same period last year.

Also Read: 'First Cow' Director Kelly Reichardt Wins $50,000 Spirit Awards Filmmaker GrantAfter a brief, contemporary prologue that haunts every frame to follow, we find ourselves in the Oregon Territory around 1820.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticA cigar is never just a cigar where Sigmund Freud is concerned.

Lisa Kennedy Four Vietnam vets reunite for a mission, one that will lean on their wartime exploits but also expose more than a few old tensions.

Dennis Harvey Film CriticSnarled loops of time travel have proved a surprisingly versatile and rewarding fantasy-cinema trope in recent years, from the big-budget likes of “Edge of Tomorrow” to such enterprising indies as “Predestination,” not to mention comedies (“Palm Springs”), horror (“Happy Death Day”), romance (“Before I Fall”) and more.

For a debut feature, writer-director Charlène Favier’s powerful coming-of-age sports drama Slalom couldn't come at a more timely moment.

truth and beauty, too, it’s safe to say that “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” finds a bit of both of those things.Also Read: 'Palm Springs' Film Review: Andy Samberg Puts an Indie Rom-Com Spin on 'Groundhog Day'The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, went to the Berlin and True/False Film Festivals and had a series of virtual screenings on July 8 to celebrate National Dive Bar Day, with a virtual rollout scheduled for July 10.

Maggie Lee Chief Asia Film CriticEye-popping action steals the show in “Lupin III: The First,” the first computer-animated feature entry in the classic franchise about the French gentleman thief and master of disguise.

Hong Kong director Derek Tsang'sBetter Dayswon the top prizes at the first—and perhaps only—virtual edition of Italy's Far East Film Festival (FEFF). Tsang's romantic crime drama, starringZhou Dongyu and Jackson Yee, took the overall audience award, the Golden Mulberry, as well as the Black Mulberry, voted on by the Shogun pass holders.

The Shanghai International Film Festival is expected to take place in-person in late July, several reputable Chinese media outlets have reported. The festival, China's oldest and most prestigious international cinema event, typically is held in mid-June, but it was indefinitely postponed this year in response to the pandemic.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Shanghai International Film Festival is planning to take place in-person later this month, likely from July 18-27, according to Chinese and Iranian reports.Other large, in-person entertainment industry events such as the Shanghai TV Festival and the ChinaJoy gaming industry conference are also set to occur in-person soon, reports said, as the country opens further in the wake of COVID-19 despite recent outbreaks in Beijing and Hebei province.Chinese cinemas have been

Rebecca Davis editorThe FIRST International Film Festival this week announced that it will occur with in-person screenings from July 26 to August 3 in China’s Qinghai province — implying that cinemas will be open in at least parts of the country by the end of the month. This would make it among the first festivals in the world to occur since the novel coronavirus, and one of few that has not had to cancel or change its originally planned dates.

Denise Ho — Becoming the Songpresents a thoughtful, if surprisingly reserved portrait, of Hong Kong-born, Montreal-reared singer Denise Ho, the first Cantopop superstar to come out publicly as gay.