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

‘Club Kid’ Review: Jordan Firstman’s Brazen, Funny, and Surprisingly Earnest Directing Debut Is a Wild Party Movie with Heart

11.04

The controversy-courting comedian/actor reinvents himself as a filmmaker, and as the star of his own hugely crowdpleasing movie as a washed-up New York party promoter forced to mature the hard way.

Read at IndieWire ↗

More from IndieWire on Cinepuuulse

‘Being Heumann’ Review: Siân Heder’s ‘CODA’ Follow-Up Is an Essential Biopic That’s Not Afraid to Have Some Fun IndieWire

Will Brill Won a Tony and Got His First Leading Film Role, but That’s Not How He Measures Success IndieWire

‘Cherry & Virgin’ Review: A Fantastic Indie Anime Blends Different Art Styles and a Slew of Pop Culture References into an Innovative Modern Rom-Com IndieWire

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

‘Club Kid’ Review: Jordan Firstman’s Brazen, Funny, and Surprisingly Earnest Directing Debut Is a Wild Party Movie with Heart

More from IndieWire on Cinepuuulse

‘Being Heumann’ Review: Siân Heder’s ‘CODA’ Follow-Up Is an Essential Biopic That’s Not Afraid to Have Some Fun IndieWire

Will Brill Won a Tony and Got His First Leading Film Role, but That’s Not How He Measures Success IndieWire

‘Cherry & Virgin’ Review: A Fantastic Indie Anime Blends Different Art Styles and a Slew of Pop Culture References into an Innovative Modern Rom-Com IndieWire

Alan Cumming Says ‘Tip Toe’ Was His Greatest Role Ever — but He Never Wants to Think About It Again IndieWire

‘Caligula’ Director Tinto Brass Dies at 93 IndieWire

‘The Greatest’ Review: Amazon’s Handsome Muhammed Ali Biopic Connects in Spite of Itself IndieWire