Our mark is 銀幕, ginmaku — the silver screen, and the same two characters in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

I came to Tokyo at twenty-three for a summer job at a Shibuya mini-theatre and the job never quite ended. Fifteen years of festivals later I still think the only review that counts is the one the room gives you: where the laugh lands, the moment three hundred people stop moving at once, whether anybody stays for the credits.

Cinepuuulse follows Asian cinema — Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand — across about a hundred and twenty sources. A good number of them are Spanish, French and Portuguese, because those countries programme this work seriously and write about it better than most of the English-language trade. Genre and art-house get the same seat here. I am not ranking them, and nothing is scored out of ten.

Each story is a headline, a short excerpt, one still and a link to the outlet that did the reporting. We never republish the piece, and the still belongs to its studio or its photographer. A Korean trade paper appears in Korean, a French review in French. We point at the work; we do not put words in anyone's mouth.

— Daren Wise, Tokyo

← Cinepuuulse Archive

IndieWire

Bill Hader Always Wanted to Direct a Film — His Divorce, ‘SNL,’ and Kiyoshi Kurosawa Helped Him Finally Build ‘They Know’

October 17

The "Barry" creator revealed details about his upcoming horror film at IndieWire's Future of Filmmaking 2026 Summit presented by AT&T in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Japan-inspired

Read at IndieWire ↗

Asia‘Renoir’ Producers Join Asia-Europe Co-Production Panel at Tokyo Market as Japanese Accelerator Atmovie Global Track Partners With Ties That Bind Variety Asia

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

Bill Hader Always Wanted to Direct a Film — His Divorce, ‘SNL,’ and Kiyoshi Kurosawa Helped Him Finally Build ‘They Know’

Related

Asia‘Renoir’ Producers Join Asia-Europe Co-Production Panel at Tokyo Market as Japanese Accelerator Atmovie Global Track Partners With Ties That Bind Variety Asia

AsiaAcademy CEO Bill Kramer to Head to Tokyo for Leadership Award and Onstage Summit With Toho Boss Matsuoka Hiro Variety Asia

Netflix Reveals New Trailers, Cast for ‘Cyberpunk,’ ‘Bass X Machina’ and ‘Blue Eye Samurai’ Animation Magazine

FranceIsao Takahata : une formidable expo retrace le parcours du co-fondateur du Studio Ghibli Écran Noir

AsiaSamurai Vengeance Easternkicks

John Wilson’s Next Documentary Will Reportedly Show Audiences ‘How to’ Tour Like Harry Styles IndieWire