Hello Summer!! 🌞 Glad the summer season is here, and it's getting quite hot here in Minnesota. I came back from Japan on Memorial Day weekend, and it's already sweltering hot there even in mid-May. My hubby and I went to Tokyo and Kyoto, and we absolutely loved our Japan trip, perhaps one of the …
FlixChatter Review: RENOIR (2025) – 1980s Tokyo seen through the eyes of a precocious, imaginative young girl
This review focuses on the Japanese film that came out this year, not to be confused with the 2012 French movie sharing the same title about the famous painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The story and the filmmaking approach definitely pay homage to Renoir, as writer/director Chie Hayakawa uses an "impressionistic" style, weaving together small, seemingly unrelated …
FlixChatter Review: Forastera (2025) – A beguiling, haunting tale of familial loss set in Mallorca
Loss of a loved one hits differently across cultures, and Forestera explores grief from the perspective of a young Spanish woman while on holiday in Mallorca. Cata (Zoe Stein) and her sister Eva (Martina García) are clearly enjoying their time with their grandma Catalina (Marta Angelat) and grandpa Tomeu (Lluís Homar). They have a special …
Japan on my mind – 10 Favorite Films/TV series filmed on location in Japanese cities and towns
Hello, everyone!! FlixChatter is going on holiday!! 🇯🇵🍜🍱⛩️ 🎏🎎🏯😎 I'm almost done packing for an 11-day trip to Japan!! It's been on our bucket list for ages, just like our trip last year to Portugal. I said in that post that there are relatively few films/series set in Portugal, but there are a bunch set …
FlixChatter Guest Review: MORTAL KOMBAT II (2026) – Flashier, funnier, with more action than its predecessor
Directed by Simon McQuoid Starring: Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Jessica McNamee, Josh Lawson, Ludi Lin, Mehcad Brooks, Martyn Ford, Tadanobu Asano, Damon Herriman, Lewis Tan Admittedly, to this day, I haven’t spent any time playing the video game or getting to know Mortal Kombat’s universe. But no one can deny the game’s popularity, even to …
FlixChatter Review: The Sheep Detectives (2026) – A baaa-rilliant, ram-bunctiously fun murder mystery
I really enjoy comedic murder mysteries; they've become one of my top subgenres. Shows like Only Murders in the Building and The After Party are a lot of fun, while The Thursday Murder Club and the Knives Out films satisfy my craving for humor and mystery. The Sheep Detectives is a fresh take on murder …
Happy Cinco de Mayo! 🇲🇽💃🏾🪅 5 great movies by 5 Mexican filmmakers released in the last 5 years
Happy Cinco de Mayo to all who celebrate! 🇲🇽💃🏾🪅 The fifth of May is a holiday following Star Wars Day that marks the Mexican army's victory over France on May 5, 1862, at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. So it's not the same as Mexican Independence Day. I'm a bit late to …
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