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

Baradwaj RanganIndia

Readers Write In #1188: My Baththa (Batha)

10.31

By Varsha Balasubramanian (Contains spoilers for those who have not watched Baththa) Exactly a week back when my father and I were doing golu hopping, we were asked if either of us sing.

Read at Baradwaj Rangan ↗

One letter a week, starting soon.

Latest

Readers Write In #1188: My Baththa (Batha)

More from Baradwaj Rangan on Cinepuuulse

IndiaFrom the Web (FTW) #46: The Netflix Original Movie Experiment Has Failed — and Netflix Will Be All the Better for It Baradwaj Rangan

IndiaReaders Write In #1187: Pressure (2026): Courage Under Fire Baradwaj Rangan

IndiaTrivikram’s ‘Aadarsha Kutumbam House No. 47’ is a decent entertainer, despite losing steam as it goes along Baradwaj Rangan

IndiaMurukaiya’s ‘Pulavar’ is an interesting, experimental drama about crime and punishment Baradwaj Rangan