Weathering with You 『天気の子』 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Weathering with You 『天気の子』

The Director: Makoto Shinkai

The Cast: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Kentaro Araki, Chieko Baishô and Kana Hanazawa

The Story: A high-school boy who has run away to Tokyo befriends a girl who appears to be able to manipulate the weather.

The Fable / ザ・ファブル - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: The Fable / ザ・ファブル

The Director: Kan Eguchi

The Cast: Jun'ichi Okada, Fumino Kimura, Koichi Sato, Mizuki Yamamoto, Ryo Kimura

The Story: An legendary assassin from Tokyo is forced to live as a normal person in Osaka for one year without killing anyone.

Mina-Anud - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Mina-Anud

The Director: Kerwin Go

The Cast: Dennis Trillo, Jerald Napoles, Matteo Guidicelli, Alvin Anson and Mara Lopez

The Story: Paradise is upturned when 3 tons of cocaine wash up on the peaceful shores of a fishing village. Two local surfers must decide if the lure of a richer tomorrow is really worth risking family and freedom.

Exit / 엑시트 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Exit / 엑시트

The Director: Lee Sang-geun

The Cast: Cho Jung-seok, Im Yoon-a, Ko Du-shim, Park In-hwan, Kim Ji-Young

The Story: A rock climber tries to save the day when a mysterious white gas envelops an entire district in Seoul, South Korea.

Yellow Rose - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Yellow Rose

The Director: Diane Paragas

The Cast: Eva Noblezada, Princess Punzalan, Dale Watson, Libby Villari and Lea Salonga

The Story: Rose, an undocumented 17 year old Filipina, dreams of one day leaving her small Texas town to pursue her country music dreams. Her world is shattered when her mom suddenly gets picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Signal 100 / シグナル100 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Signal 100 / シグナル100

The Director: Lisa Takeba

The Cast: Kanna Hashimoto, Yuta Koseki and Toshiki Seto

The Story: A group of high school students are forced into a game where they are hypnotized to commit suicide on an unknown command. Where no one is safe from a sudden death, how can they avoid their fates?

Blood Machines - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Blood Machines

The Director: Seth Ickerman

The Cast: Elisa Lasowski, Anders Heinrichsen, Christian Erickson, Natasha Cashman, Joëlle Berckmans, Noémie Stevens, Alexandra Flandrin, Garance Silve and Walter Dickerson

The Story: An artificial intelligence escapes her spaceship to turn into a female ghost and challenges two blade runners to a galactic chase.

Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos / 나쁜 녀석들: 더 무비 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos / 나쁜 녀석들: 더 무비

The Director: Son Yong-Ho

The Cast: Ma Dong-Seok, Kim Sang-Jung, Kim Ah-Jung, Jang Ki-Yong, Kang Ye-Won

The Story: Bad guy prisoners are sent on a mission to capture bad guy escaped prisoners.

Nina Wu / 灼人秘密 - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Nina Wu / 灼人秘密

The Director: Midi Z

The Cast: Wu Ke-Xi, Sung Yu-Hua, Hsia Yu-Chiao and Shih Ming-Shuai

The Story: Struggling actress gets dream role and the experience comes with unexpected consequences.

Kampai! Sake Sisters - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Documentary Review

The Movie: Kampai! Sake Sisters

The Director: Mirai Konishi

The Cast: Miho Imada, Rebekah Wilson-Lye and Marie Chiba

The Story: Once forbidden to set foot into sake breweries, today women are the ones driving the most exciting changes within the sake industry in Japan. This documentary delves into the passionate lives of three pioneering women.

Dark Place - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Movie Review

The Movie: Dark Place

The Directors: Kodie Bedford, Perun Bonser, Rob Braslin, Liam Phillips, Bjorn Stewart

The Cast: Tasia Zalar, Katherine Beckett, Luka May Glynn-Cole, Leonie Whyman and Clarence Ryan

The Story: Australian genre cinema takes an exciting leap forward with a quintet of tales that approach postcolonial Indigenous history through the lenses of horror and fantasy, all made by filmmakers of Aboriginal origin.

TwoOhSix Picks - 2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Presented by Halekulani

This is now my fifth year covering the Hawaii International Film Festival and I am so excited for this year's lineup of films, I wasn't sure how I was going to narrow it down for my TwoOhSix Picks selections. Well, here we are, I've done the work, and the list is complete. Check out the twenty films that have been chosen to be this year's TwoOhSix Picks.

Parasite (기생충) - Movie Review

The Movie: Parasite (기생충)

The Director: Bong Joon-ho

The Cast: Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik and Park So-dam

The Story: All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.

Knives Out - Movie Review

The Movie: Knives Out

The Director: Rian Johnson

The Cast: Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell

The Story: A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

2019 Hawaii International Film Festival Presented by Halekulani - Lineup Announcement

Hard to believe this will be my fifth year covering the Hawaii International Film Festival and yet here I am perusing the press release for the 2019 rendition of one of my favorite film festivals of the year. This might be the best year yet as the curators of this cinematic extravaganza have put together a roster of films that make me wish I could be there for all of it.

Opening night will feature Taika Waititi's latest offering Jojo Rabbit which is a great way to kick things off and then the festivities will come to a glorious conclusion as Weathering with You, Makoto Shinkai’s follow up to the crazy popular Your Name, hits the screen. Keep on reading to get the full lowdown from the recently unveiled press release.

Dance with Me 『ダンスウィズミー』 - Fantasia 2019 movie Review

The Movie: Dance with Me 『ダンスウィズミー』

The Director: Shinobu Yaguchi

The Cast: Ayaka Miyoshi, Yuu Yashiro, Chay, Takahiro Miura, Tsuyoshi Muro

The Story: Hypnotized woman who sings and dances any time she hears music sets off on a journey to fix her musical dilemma.

Go Back to China - SIFF 2019 Movie Review

The Movie: Go Back to China

The Director: Emily Ting

The Cast: Anna Akana, Richard Ng, Lynn Chen, Kelly Hu, Kendy Cheung

The Story: When spoiled rich girl Sasha Li blows through most of her trust fund, she is cut off by her father and forced to go back to China and work for the family toy business.