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Reviews

GIRL, INTERRUPTED (1999): A Gap Year at the Psych Ward

As of May 2022, GIRL, INTERRUPTED is streaming on NETFLIX and PlutoTV. Upon first look, GIRL, INTERRUPTED (1999) appears to be the sister film of the critically acclaimed ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975). The way Lisa (Angelina Jolie) enters the ward, kicking and screaming, marks her as GIRL, INTERRUPTED’s McMurphy and the force […]

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DONBASS (2018): WHY WE LIKE THIS FILM // HIFF Selects

DONBASS, an absurd, political satire that takes place during the wake of Russia’s 2014 invasion of the Eastern European region actually was released stateside in 2019 (after its debut at Cannes 2018). Watching it now as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unspooling on our TV screens on a daily basis, lends an unnerving, heightened resonance

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HIFF SELECTS FEBRUARY: ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU

WATCH ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU ON HIFF SELECTS DURING THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY Anderson Le  /// February 1, 2022 When cineastes discuss South Korean cinema, especially in the context of hallyu (Korean wave), auteur names like Bong Joon-ho, Kim Jee-woon and Park Chan-wook are ubiquitously brought up. In 2021, Hwang Dong-hyuk, the creator of SQUID GAME

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Sundance 2022 Review: EVERY DAY IN KAIMUKĪ

Alika Tengan’s Every Day in Kaimukī (2022) is the first narrative feature by a Kānaka Maoli filmmaker to premiere at Sundance, but it arrives as part of a cohort of similarly unconventional features from Hawaiʻi, including Christopher Makoto Yogi’s August at Akiko’s (2018) and I Was a Simple Man (2021), and Christopher Kahunahana’s Waikiki (2020).

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Notes on DUNE from a Native Hawaiian / by Kanani Lyons

Timothée Chalamet (pictured) as Paul Atreides  Not even the dunes of Arrakis could smother the massive-scale retelling of Frank Herbert’s 1965 DUNE and psychedelic-inducing spice pales in comparison to the vision Denis Villeneuve achieves. But with that, we still have to ask: Is Dune a “white-savior” story?   Note from the author: In an attempt

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