A reimagination of Oz through the lens of ‘70s New York, blending dazzling production design with soulful and disco-infused music, as an all-Black cast led by Diana Ross and a young Michael Jackson take center stage.
Somai captures both the energy and inquisitiveness of youth, and the resignation of the aged, as three boys’ encounter with a lonely old man brings about changed perspectives toward life and death.
Weerasethakul’s debut feature is like a living folk tale, a radical blend of documentary and fiction, shaped through the surrealist ‘exquisite corpse’ method as ordinary Thais collectively spin an evolving story.
Somai’s tender and transformative masterwork, about a child grappling with her parents’ divorce, boasts an extraordinary acting debut by Tomoko Tabata, capturing the emotional, physical and psychological aspects of separation with such empathy.
Hovering between introspection and narcissism, Allen channels Fellini’s ‘8½’ in this self-reflexive work that sees a filmmaker at his own retrospective wrestling with fans, fame and failed relationships, shot artfully by the great Gordon Willis.
Arguably Tsui’s angriest film, this live-wire and nihilistic HK New Wave entry sees the collision of rebellious youth, lowly gangsters and nasty foreigners as society crumbles into death, violence, cruelty and insanity.
The Japanese master’s greatest achievement, this is an anime of endless imagination and hypnotic power, winning the coveted Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
This confirms Aster as one of America’s most provocative auteurs, as he uses a fictional town on the brink of the coronavirus to capture the post-2020 zeitgeist of rage-baiting politics, the toxicity of social media and post-truth nihilism, backed by a sensational turn by Joaquin Phoenix.
The US version features clunky news segments that spell out the spectacle, but when the two kaijus are pitted like pro-wrestlers with comical moves, the movie somewhat works on a childlike level with its reliance on rear projection and miniature toys.
Shot in solemn black-and-white, Hong’s elegiac, non-linear reflection on infidelity, regret and emotional burden sees a condemned man trying to move on from his extramarital affair.
Eternality Tan 