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

Variety AsiaAsia

Korean Webtoon Adaptations, ‘The Vanishing Act’ Lead 2027 Vertical Slate Unveiled by COL Group, V47 and Virtue Asia

10.28

Adaptations of Korean webtoons and web novels developed with CJ Group and a batch of new originals headline the 2027 vertical slate unveiled in Singapore on Wednesday by FlareFlow parent COL Group…

Read at Variety Asia ↗

More from Variety Asia on Cinepuuulse

AsiaThai Forest Spirit Horror ‘Cher,’ First Thai Winner at Frontières, Joins Tokyo Gap-Financing Market Variety Asia

AsiaKore-eda Hirokazu Hails Japanese Cinema’s Global Moment as Ninomiya Kazunari, Academy’s Amy Homma and ‘Kokuho’ Producer Murata Chieko Take Stage at Kering Women in Motion Tokyo Event Variety Asia

AsiaOscars Will ‘Always’ Reward Human Excellence in AI Era, Academy Chiefs Say as They Leave Door Open to International Feature Rule Tweaks (EXCLUSIVE) Variety Asia

AsiaTokyo Opener ‘Sukiyaki’ Director Zeze Takahisa on the Protest Roots of a Global Japanese Pop Hit: ‘The Culture Used to Be Wide Open – Now It’s Become Narrower’ Variety Asia

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest