Ever since the China Media Group's uber-unpopular decision to pull out uber-popular Avatar from 2D screens for Confucius, there have been multiple rumblings about the philosophical implications of Chinese audiences abandoning the centuries-old sage for blue-skinned aliens. While we won't completely dismiss the "Avatar = nailhouse troubles" argument, based on our recent viewing of Confucius, we think there's a much simpler reason people are avoiding it: It sucks. more ›

This season's much watch holiday movie, Bodyguards and Assassins is a highly anticipated action drama and studded with almost as many stars as Founding of the Republic. But this debut film of Cinema Popular, a collaboration between Hong Kong and Mainland filmmakers, is not your typical kung fu flick. more ›

A lot of us are led to believe that when it comes to choosing which movies to watch, the Chinese are fond of copying their American counterparts. However, after looking at the current top five movies at the Chinese box office, we think maybe the Chinese aren't getting the best of the West (or East): more ›

Japanese filmmaker Satoru Mizushima (水島総) was not too happy about Nanking, the American documentary about the Nanking Massacre. So he set out to create his own film The Truth about Nanjing (南京の真実, Nanking no shinjitsu) to set straight what he felt were "fabrications" and "false impressions" propagated by the film and a "setup by China to control intelligence". Several leading politicians, including Tokyo's rightwing governor, Shintaro Ishihara, have come out in support of the film which basically denies that a massacre ever happened and honours several post-war criminals as martyrs. Now that the film is out, tensions are running high (watch that fiery debate in the second clip on the right). more ›

Next time, Steve, stay for some Grandma's Mashed Potatoes. Trust us. more ›

At the risk of pissing off our rich and powerful film producer friends and thereby never getting invited to a press junket again, we want to begin this movie review with a simple declarative sentence, the likes of which has not and may never be seen again in film criticism: the movie Blood Brothers (天堂口) sucked ass. more ›

There's a definitely a buzz for fans of Chinese cinema with the release of Jia Zhangke's new film Still Life 《三峡好人》. In Shanghai and probably the rest of China, the film's theatrical release comes on December 14, the same day that Zhang Yimou's new film Curse of the Golden Flower. And while from the standpoint of the box office returns, it seems pretty clear who the winner will be, Jia doesn't at all seem flustered by the lackluster box office performance that his film has seen in the limited screenings that have happened over the last few weeks. more ›