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(From left) Jack Black, Danielle Brooks and Jason Momoa in a still from A Minecraft Movie. Photo: Warner Bros Pictures
American cinema

Review | A Minecraft Movie: video game adaptation is nonsensical but fun

Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Jennifer Coolidge bring the laughs in this zany adaptation of the world’s most successful video game.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | The Last Dance (extended version): what the deleted scenes entail

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American cinema

Review | Warfare, one of the most authentic combat movies of modern times

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Grand Maison Paris: Takuya Kimura goes to France in Japanese chef drama

TV show La Grande Maison Tokyo spin-off with Ok Taec-yeon and Kyoka Suzuki a feast for the eyes but not the ears as Kimura butchers French.

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Takuya Kimura in a still from Grand Maison Paris.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Peg O’ My Heart: great visuals, awful story in Nick Cheung horror thriller

Andy Lau cameo can’t save Cheung’s film starring himself, Fala Chen and Terrance Lau that is heavy on style but lacks convincing backstories.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | In 1st Kiss, Japanese time-travel romance, Takako Matsu woos a younger man

Director Ayuko Tsukahara’s story follows a middle-aged woman who travels back in time to save her marriage and her husband’s life.

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American cinema

Review | Snow White: Rachel Zegler carries Disney’s bland live-action remake

Lacking the magic of some other live-action remakes of Disney classics, Snow White is missing the heart you expect from the House of Mouse.

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Rachel Zegler as Snow White in a still from the live-action Snow White. Photo: Disney
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | In fencing-themed drama Pierce, Liu Hsiu-fu and Tsao Yu-ning are brothers

Singaporean filmmaker Nelicia Low’s feature film debut has some visual flourishes but is let down by glaring weaknesses in its narrative.

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Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Revelations: Ryu Jun-yeol leads Yeon Sang-ho’s disappointing Netflix thriller

A flimsy plot and sketchy logic spoil this story of a pastor and a detective who go after a recently released sex offender.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The Solitary Gourmet review: beloved Japanese TV food comedy hits cinemas

Directed by and starring Yutaka Matsushige, The Solitary Gourmet movie gives a warmhearted tour of traditional Japanese small-town cuisine.

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Yutaka Matsushige in a still from The Solitary Gourmet (Category I; Japanese).
American cinema

Review | Novocaine sees Jack Quaid play a bank manager aroused in action thriller

Quaid plays a timid introvert who dates a colleague, sees her abducted by a brutal gang and takes matters into his own hands to get her back.

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Jack Quaid as Nate in a still from Novocaine. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | True Love, for Once in My Life: self-indulgent Hong Kong romance

A self-financed autobiographical story, this film about a wife’s devotion to a love-cheat ex-husband is melodramatic and ill-judged.

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | In Salli, a dating scam leads Esther Liu to find her worth

Lien Chien-hung’s film follows a lonely chicken farmer who embarks on a journey of self-discovery after being scammed on a dating app.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Little Red Sweet: Stephy Tang, Simon Yam in Hong Kong family drama

A family and their dessert shop are turned upside down by illness in a film that chooses nostalgia over substance.

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(From left) Jeffrey Ngai, Simon Yam, Mimi Kung and Tang in a still from Little Red Sweet.
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | What Does that Nature Say to You: Hong Sang-soo finds humour in domesticity

Korean director’s film examines, with humour, the difficulties of artistic life through the lens of a man meeting his girlfriend’s family.

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Ha Seong-guk (left) and Kwon Hae-hyo in a still from What Does that Nature Say to You. Photo: Jeonwonsa Film Co
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Ne Zha 2, record-breaking Chinese animated film, is the real deal

Complicated and convoluted, this sequel to the most successful animation ever continues the wild ride of half demon Ne Zha.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | The Way We Talk: Chung Suet-ying shines as a deaf woman finding herself

Chung Suet-ying delivers a powerful performance in Adam Wong’s The Way We Talk, which explores identity and deaf culture with great humanity.

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American cinema

Review | Blue Moon: tender drama starring Ethan Hawke and Margaret Qualley

Richard Linklater’s new film sees long-time collaborator Ethan Hawke play the American lyricist Lorenz Hart as he struggles with fading fame.

Margaret Qualley (left) and Ethan Hawke in a still from Blue Moon, directed by Richard Linklater. Photo: Sabrina Lantos/Sony Pictures
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Forbidden Fairytale: bubbly Korean sex comedy is closed-minded and prudish

Park Ji-hyun plays a youth protection officer who starts writing pornography to pay for car repairs in this non-risqué erotic comedy.

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Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Girls on Wire: Wen Qi shines in Vivian Qu’s uneven genre blender

Taiwanese actress shows her versatility as a soap star turned stuntwoman in a film marred by narrative confusion and a sudden tonal change.

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Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Mickey 17, wild sci-fi satire from Parasite’s Bong Joon-ho

Robert Pattinson plays the titular Mickey, a loser sent into space, where he is cloned with hilarious results in this cult-novel adaptation.

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Robert Pattinson as Mickey 17 and Mickey 18 in a still from Bong Jooh-ho’s sci-fi comedy Mickey 17, screened at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival. Naomi Ackie and Mark Ruffalo co-star. Photo: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
American cinema

Review | Dreams, chilling film with Jessica Chastain about US-Mexico ties

Jessica Chastain plays the rich lover of an illegal immigrant in Michel Franco’s exploration of America’s relationship with poorer neighbour.

Jessica Chastain in a still from Dreams, directed by Michel Franco and co-starring Isaac Hernández. Photo: Teorema
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Living the Land a captivating tale of upheaval in 1990s rural China

Non-professional actors and stunning camerawork lift this engrossing story of the drastic changes experienced in rural China.

European cinema

Review | Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy – Renée Zellweger nails the older woman

Bridget Jones is back for a fourth film, and director Michael Morris brings a freshness to the franchise while nodding to the earlier movies.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Living in Two Worlds: obnoxious teen turns back on deaf parents

Where Oscar winner CODA was warm-hearted, Mipo O’s film makes its child of deaf parents in Japan so unsympathetic he is hard to root for.

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Ryo Yoshizawa as Dai, a child of deaf parents in rural Japan, in a still from Living in Two Worlds (category IIA; Japanese). Akiko Oshidari and Akito Imai co-star, while Mipo O directs.
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Dark Nuns: Korean exorcism horror with Song Hye-kyo, Jeon Yeo-been

Two nuns resort to extreme measures, including exorcism, to save the life of a possessed boy, and in the process defy their church superiors.

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Song Hye-kyo as Sister Giunia in a still from Dark Nuns.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Cells at Work!, live-action manga adaptation about body’s workings

Actors depict red and white blood cells in Hideki Takeuchi’s laugh-out-loud movie about how the human body battles cancer and loose bowels.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Ha Ha Ha Happy New Year: Philip Keung hams it up for bizarre comedy

Is it a sci-fi suspense thriller? A nonsense comedy? A family melodrama? Hong Kong-Malaysia co-production’s script so weak it’s hard to say.

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