Author Archives: Tony Huang

Sundance Institute Story Lab sets scene for creative intensity

The Sundance Institute gave 10 writers with aims for careers in television the opportunity to have their work pulled apart and put back together in a week-long burst of creative intensity guided by peers and industry professionals. The inaugural Sundance Institute Episodic Story Lab was held from Sept. 27 through Oct. 2 at the Sundance […]

Movie Review: ‘The Wind Rises’

“The Wind Rises” Directed by Hayao Miyazaki Walt Disney Pictures 3.5 / 5.0 paws When Hayao Miyazaki, possibly the world’s most beloved animation director, announced retirement while premiering his latest film, “The Wind Rises,” his hopeful fans noted that this is not the first time he’s expressed such a sentiment. A year later, he has […]

Academy Award nominations: Live-action short films

Every year, the works chosen for the three Academy Award categories for short films are among the most overlooked of the year’s Oscar selections. Aside from those usually coupled with Pixar films and the rare popular YouTube short, the majority of pieces go on unseen and unheard of by the general public. Yet, for each […]

Movie Review: ‘Stranger by the Lake’

“Stranger by the Lake” can be placed comfortably in opposition to last year’s Palme d’Or winner “Blue Is the Warmest Color.” While the latter found success in fitting lesbian lovers into a conventional romance, the former delights in the transgressive surrealism of its premise, taking cues from Hitchcock in its intertwining of love and death. […]

‘Setsunasa Burger’ wins best story, production design at Campus MovieFest

“Setsunasa Burger,” the only foreign language film in the 2013 UCLA Campus MovieFest Top 16, was almost an accident – an accident that won best story and best production design. Codirected by Joseph Brandel, a fourth-year world arts and cultures student, and Tim Ammand, a graduate of UC San Diego, “Setsunasa Burger” began as a […]

Love|Hate: AFI Fest enlightens audiences of all backgrounds

All week, columnists Sebastian Torrelio and Tony Huang attended AFI Fest, the annual film festival held by the American Film Institute at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The festival is a hub for directors from around the world to come and showcase their movies: some as the next piece in the long line of a […]