The Seeming and the Meaning

Bits of film criticism, film history, film theory, and probably sometimes music.

  • Blue Sun Palace (2024)

    October 5, 2025 by

    A poignant, warm drama depicting the lives of a small, tight-knit group of Sino immigrants in New York City, Constance Tsang’s calmly paced and tender directorial debut is remarkable in its artistry and focus. Lee Kang Sheng is Cheung, revealed to be separated by physical distance from his wife and consequently growing emotionally distant from… Read more

  • Robot Dreams

    June 11, 2024 by

    There is very little I could say or explain about Pablo Berger’s Robot Dreams that hasn’t already been said or explained by perhaps better – certainly more professional – critics and writers, but what is the Internet for if not screaming into the void? An adaptation of a graphic novel by Sara Varon, the film… Read more

  • The Garden of Evening Mists (2019)

    April 24, 2023 by

    An incredible cast, a great Taiwanese director, and remarkable production values from a co-production by heavyweights featuring HBO Asia, among many others. Unfortunately, it all let down by the absolutely incompetent storytelling decision to use dialog that is probably around 90% expository. Where did it all go wrong? Sylvia Chang, Malaysia’s Angelica Lee or Lee… Read more

  • Goddamned Asura (2021)

    April 17, 2023 by

    Six people affected differently by the same effect; a mass shooting at a night market. The shooter, his friend, a victim, the victim’s fiancée, a journalist, and a witness. Where to start? Taiwanese cinema has long explored bleak depictions of working and middle class urban lives, and since the New Taiwan Cinema there has also… Read more

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