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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Play it again… Ito?: Stuart Heisler’s 𝑇𝑜𝑘𝑦𝑜 𝐽𝑜𝑒” by...
📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Stuart Heisler (director), Tokyo Joe, 1949. 89 min. Of all the gin joints in all the world, Humphrey Bogart had to walk into yet...
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[REVIEW] “She Was Elegylight: Sawako Nakayasu’s 𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠” by Tim Tim Cheng
📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sawako Nakayasu, Pink Waves, Omnidawn, 2022. 90 pgs. When I received Sawako Nakayasu’s Pink Waves, I was drawn to its cover. Green,...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Miracle of Adaptation in Pepe Diokno’s 𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝐻𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑎”...
📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jose Lorenzo “Pepe” Diokno, Isang Himala, 2024. 145 min. Isang Himala (A Miracle), directed by Jose Lorenzo “Pepe” Diokno, is an...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “A Place’s Sorrowful Tomorrow: Wong Siu-pong’s 𝑂𝑏𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒”...
📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wong Siu-pong (director), Obedience, 2024. 71 min. Although Wong Siu-pong’s latest observational documentary, Obedience, does not...
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[REVIEW] “What Did I Hope to Hear?: A Review of Chan Kwan Ee Tom’s 𝐿𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛” by...
📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Listen. Chan Kwan Ee Tom, Listen, Atmosphere Press, 2023. In monochrome, a fallen beast is...
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[REVIEW] “Recovering Shanghai’s Lost Surrealist Tradition: Lauren Walden’s...
📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lauren Walden, Surrealism from Paris to Shanghai, Hong Kong University Press, 2024. 152 pgs. In Surrealism from Paris to Shanghai,...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Memory-keeping: Yōko Ogawa’s 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑎’𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑏𝑜𝑥” by...
📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yōko Ogawa (author), Stephen B. Snyder (translator), Mina’s Matchbox, Pantheon Books, 2024. 288 pages. In Yōko Ogawa’s previous...
View ArticleProtected: [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Ghosts of Wong Kar-wai: On 𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑜𝑑...
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[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Gut-punching Melodrama: Jiaming Tang’s 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒” by...
📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Jiaming Tang, Cinema Love, John Murray, 2024. 304 pgs. Cinema Love is the impressive debut novel by Chinese-American writer...
View ArticleProtected: [REVIEW] “Overhearing 𝑄𝑖: Jing Wang’s 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑, 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑓 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑦”...
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[REVIEW] “Sometimes Painful, Sometimes Uplifting—𝐼𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑡: 𝐴𝑛 𝐴𝑛𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 𝑂𝑓 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑠...
📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Yvonne Yevan Yu, Christine Vicera, and Julie Ham (editors), Ingat: An Anthology of Works by Migrant Domestic Worker Creatives in...
View ArticleProtected: [REVIEW] “Rediscovering Prajwal Parajuly’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑢𝑟𝑘ℎ𝑎’𝑠 𝐷𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟:...
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View ArticleProtected: [REVIEW] “Lived Reality: Annie Zaidi’s Memoir 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝐶𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡,...
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View ArticleProtected: [REVIEW] “Labyrinthine Corridors of the Human Psyche: Aparna...
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[EXCLUSIVE] “In Farghestan” by Matt Turner
“Article 5.3: Under no circumstances shall any citizen go to the capital.” This is one of the most serious of all our laws. Anyone who grew up in my village of Orfetel, only a few days’ travel from...
View ArticleProtected: [REVIEW] “Excavation and Memory in 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑒: 𝐴 𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑟 𝑏𝑦...
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View ArticleProtected: [EXCLUSIVE] “You Are Not of Human Kind: A Freudian Comparison of...
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[EXCLUSIVE] “Julie Otsuka: The Ideal of Justice and the Reality of History”...
📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ❀ Julie Otsuka, When the Emperor Was Divine, Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. 148 pgs.❀ Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic, Alfred A....
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[REVIEW] “When a Passion Turns Toxic: Rin Usami’s 𝐼𝑑𝑜𝑙, 𝐵𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔” by Wendy...
📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Rin Usami (author), Asa Yoneda (translator), Idol, Burning, HarperVia, 2022.144 pgs. Japan, for me, has long been a pop music...
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[REVIEW] “Disco-TECA: Disco Culture as Queer Culture” by Hongwei Bao
Author’s note: This is a review of the Disco-TECA performance that took place at The Stage, London, as part of Queer East 2024, which may be different from its previous or subsequent versions. A...
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