Another World at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival. A Chinese Reimagining of a Japanese Novel.

Although the number of animated releases from Hong Kong are few and far between, just what’s offered in Another World are insightful looks at the human character, and this film is no exception.

Another World Movie PosterAMC Atlantic Times Square 14
May 3, 2026, 6:00 pm (buy tickets here)
* Mild Spoiler Alert

Although Tommy Ng’s animated adaptation of Naka Saijō’s novel Thousand Year Ghost differs from its source, that’s likely because the original’s intent is hard to comprehend cleanly. It’s possible this work is more like a huge anthology than a focussed tale about one individual. Another World is more digestible. At its core, we follow Gudo (Suet-Ying Chung), a child-like supernatural being searching for the meaning of life. As one of many soulkeepers guiding spirits toward reincarnation, he understands that not all will pass on. Those weighed down by guilt or resentment risk becoming “Wraths,” not ghosts in the traditional sense, but manifestations of unresolved emotion taken to their extreme.

These beings linger in the living world, causing harm. Stopping them isn’t Gudo’s role; others handle that. What stands out is how observational the movie feels. There’s no grand rebellion against cosmic order, just quiet witnessing. This lad’s presence adds to that unease. The mask he wears, or what may simply be his face, seems to act like a chamber, giving his voice a different resonance. We hear him as though he’s speaking from an empty room. The sound design brilliantly reinforces that he’s not from our world, but another one, which perfectly suits the film’s title.

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Beyond Trading Cards: Why Obsession Can Be a Double-Edged Sword

And we have an interview too! When Trading Cards is one of eight shorts as part of the LAAPFF’s Almost Ordinary programming block, they programmers have certainly saved the best for last.

Trading CardsPlaying today at LAAPFF 2026
AMC Atlantic Times Square 14
May 2, 2026 4:00 pm

Radheya Jang’s short film Trading Cards is a work that will have viewers consider the line between ordinary fixation and something far more consuming. Whether that comes from fear, uncertainty, or overthinking a situation, almost everyone faces that need for reassurance at some point in life. What’s explored here is about more than using a thin piece of cardboard to look into the future. Instead, it’s about looking back. Jang’s latest caught my attention because it deals with what may be the greatest compulsion of all: am I okay?

For Jay Jay Jegathesan, who performs the narration, what’s presented in the first few minutes is a look at a kid with a handful of cards. As the writer/director’s father, he had plenty of emotion to draw from. “That creates a different emotional terrain,” he said. “I have watched his inner world take shape across years, and with Trading Cards, I felt I was recognising parts of that landscape in a way that was both beautiful and confronting. Rather than trying to impose emotion onto the words, I found myself returning to real moments, real silences, and the emotional undercurrents that families often understand without ever fully speaking aloud.”

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Gimme Truth … or should that be Liberty Than Condemnation?

At Hot Docs 2026, Gimme Truth explores conspiracy culture, spiritual identity, and fringe belief systems with a detached, observant eye. Rather than proving or debunking its subjects, the film watches how people build meaning, community, and personal mythology around the ideas they hold dear.

GIMMIE TRUTH Faux PosterWorld Premiere at Hot Docs 2026

What is the truth behind Gimme Truth, a documentary that questions the various beliefs circulating around the world? From conspiracy narratives that include 9/11 to New Age World Orders, there is a wide range of material on display. Filmmakers Simon Ennis and Brad Abrahams seem less interested in proving or disproving anything than in observing how these ideas spread. Through Hot Docs 2026, running this weekend, the response from many viewers may well be a simple, “Oh, really?” after watching it.

As for facts and verification, that responsibility feels deliberately left to the viewer. That is partly why the film opens at Conscious Life Expos. These gatherings are filled with people who are not easily categorised as “hippies,” but rather individuals who believe they are attuned to a higher frequency, if not a wider range of thought.

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More Than Just A Tribute: With Eraserheads Combo on the Run, The Show Must Go On

Eraserheads Combo on the Run gives the Beatles of the Philippines space to tell their own story, tracing their rise, tensions, and lasting influence on Filipino music.

Eraserheads Combo on the Run Official PosterNow playing at select theatres across North America. For venues, please visit www.eraserheadsfilm.com

For a band often called the Beatles of the Philippines, the Eraserheads have cemented a legacy few will forget. Director Maria Diane Ventura’s Eraserheads Combo on the Run offers a rare reckoning, giving the band a chance to set the record straight in their own words. Their message of hope lives in what they deliver best: songs about love, friendship, and student life.

This tribute follows Ely Buendia, Raymund Marasigan, Marcus Adoro, and Buddy Zabala from their origins as university kids at UP Diliman in 1989 to their rise as the defining voice of a Filipino generation. Also included is their parting of ways and an examination of what led to their 2022 Ang Huling El Bimbo reunion concert. According to this work, a quarter of a million people attended!

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Light Chaser Animation’s Liao Zhai Lan Ruo Si May Well Be Ghosted By Western Distributors, and ….

….it’s easy to see why changes to this narrative is struggling to be visible outside of China. Strange Tales (Liao Zhai Lan Ruo Si) is borrowing from tropes some may say are outdated but not everyone will agree to that accessment.

Liao Zhai Lan Ruo SiLight Chaser Animation

After countless searches and a properly worded query to Claude AI about availability, the elusive Liao Zhai Lan Ruo Si (Curious Tales of a Temple, aka Strange Tales: Lan Ruo Temple) is finally within reach. When it will receive an official release remains uncertain. In a future article, I’ll explore the challenges behind getting Ne Zha 2, White Snake: Afloat, and this work to home video. For now, wht’s offered are my early reactions.

What I’ve managed to see in the wilds of the Internet suggests this is a film worth watching. I won’t dive into a full review just yet, but it’s worth sharing some early impressions. As for how long this fleeting upload remains available is anyone’s guess.

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Just One Star Shy: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Strangely Incomplete But Always Joyful

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie delivers colourful cosmic spectacle and plenty of familiar Nintendo charm, but its thin worldbuilding and safe storytelling keep it from reaching the same spark as its predecessor. It’s breezy, playful, and entertaining, even if it leaves its bigger ideas floating unresolved.

The Super Mario Galaxy MovieThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie may be all fun and games for the brothers spending their time in a new world, and as the only plumbers in Princess Peach’s realm, they’re helping keep the peace rather than fixing faucets. But none of them are exactly equipped to deal with their ruler’s current existential woes. When Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) admits she doesn’t know where she came from, the story quietly opens a larger mystery, one it only partially resolves.

That thread leads into the absence of Rosalina (Brie Larson), whose kidnapping by Bowser Jr. sets the events in motion. He leans fully into the shadow of his father, eager to prove himself through familiar cruelty. When this sequel is straightforward and paint-by-numbers, there’s not much to be excited over.

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