![]() Kino Lorber has the terrific collection, Pioneers of African American Cinema, a collection of nearly 30 short and feature-length films from 1915 to 1978. That's not even getting into Kurosawa, Ozu, Kar-wai, revolutionary filmmakers without whom the artform would not be the same. Chu and performers as diverse as Akwafina to Steven Yeun to THE ROCK to Temuera Morrison (yes, Boba Fett is a Pacific Islander) to Hiroyuki Sanada to Michelle Yeoh to Jamie Chung, filmmakers of Asian & Pacific Island descent are making films at every level in every genre. With greater recognition than ever, from Oscar-winning Chloe Zhao to the blockbuster-directing Jon M. ![]() But your viewing should stop with anime! Big Fish and Begonia is a great intro to Chinese fantasy and Satellite Girl and Milk Cow is a beautifully quirky Korean sci-fi romp. And there's lighter fare, such as the musical mermaid adventure Lu Over the Wall (Japan) and the 3D animation adaptation of the classic manga, Lupin III: The First (Japan). There's serious work like Perfect Blue (Japan), which follows an idol singer as she loses her grip on reality. And while Hayao Miyazaki's excellence cannot be overstated, there's a ton more out there. Obviously, no review of Asian cinema would be complete without mentioning the massive contributions to animation from that region of the world. The Yellow Handkerchief likewise shows the universality of the difficulties young people face. For something more potentially more relatable, Bing Liu's documentary, Minding the Gap (USA) follows a trio of friends in a desolate Illinois town as they try to make it as skateboarders. Modern master Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (Taiwan) similarly explores espionage and intrigued, but was overlooked at the time of its release by receiving a death knell label of NC-17 from the MPAA. A less bleak procedural, Park Chan-wook's JSA (Joint Security Area) (South Korea) follows the investigation of a multiple homicide in the DMZ. Presitge: Hiroshima (Japan): A harrowing look at the effects of the Little Boy nuclear attack on the city. ![]() And the elephant in the living room: Parasite (South Korea)! If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for? If you're looking for comedy, Taika Waititi's Jo Jo Rabbit (New Zealnd) is a scathing satire of Nazi Germany. The films cemented Jackie Chan as one of the greatest stuntmen, choreographers, and action directors of all time (and possibly, actually insane). If you're looking for more "action" than "arthouse", Criterion also released a double feature of Police Story and Police Story 2 (Hong Kong). Curated by Martin Scorsese, this collection focuses on pieces from Asia, including the seminal Insiang (Philippines) and Taipei Story (Taiwan). Very enjoyable experience - and although it's meant to (in my opinion) be run in the background, we found ourselves quite often being mesmerized by the fish and watching them intently from time to time.The place to start is definitely The Criterion Collection's, World Cinema Project No. ![]() The bubbles are great, and you can turn that up or down as much as you want so it's neither too loud or too quiet. The fish are beautiful, and are not constantly on screen but they do dart around into the scenery items pretty often. This current, in my opinion, enhances the experience because you can see a little more movement in the scenery. If it were that strong on an aquarium the size of what you see, the fish would noticeably be affected by it I'm sure. Probably from a much larger aquarium than what you're actually seeing though - you can tell this mostly from the current of the water which is pretty strong. I'm giving this a 4-star rating because I wasn't expecting perfection for something so inexpensive and it still came pretty close. I probably looked over the reviews for every aquarium or sea-related mood disc on here and for the most part they were rated either very poorly or at 4 stars or so. Bought this here because it was quite inexpensive (Just over $6 and shipped free with Plus) and I needed another choice from the fireplace disc I have had for years.
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