Niels Matthijs
Antwerp, Belgium

Niels joined Twitch back in 2009. Convinced that there is no such thing as too obscure, he set out to cover some of the weirdest, oddest and incomprehensibly overlooked Asian films. When he's not watching celluloid, he's either writing about his love for electronic music and webdesign or enjoy life with his soon to be wife.

Review: PARADE (ISAO YUKISADA)
At first glance Parade may look like any other Japanese drama, and to some extent it is exactly that. But with each progressing segment something more unique develops. Something that could be called Yukisada's trademark magic, an almost translucent quality... More »
  

Review: MONDAY (Personal Favorites #51)
Hiroyuki Tanaka (Kanikosen, Blessing Bell, Drive) is a very big favorite of mine. Largely unknown in the West (unless you're part of a privileged fest crowd that is), Tanaka is a director with plenty of commercial appeal who failed to... More »
  

Review: TEKON KINKURITO (Personal Favorites #24)
Tekon Kinkurito is without a doubt one of the most unlikely Japanese animation projects ever realized. Based on an obscure manga, helmed by an American director, conceived in the bowels of Studio 4° offices, there seemed to be no commercial... More »
  

Review: ETERNAL MOMENT (Yibai Zhang)
Even though Yibai Zhang (Spring Subway, Lost Indulgence) is somewhat of a critics favorite, his films clearly fail to find their way outside the confines of the Chinese borders. Some lukewarm film fest successes and fringe critical acclaim are not... More »
  

Review: KIKUJIRO NO NATSU (Personal Favorites #83)
So far I've been ignoring the work of Takeshi Kitano (Achilles To Kame, Kantoku Banzai), but as I'm slowly revisiting my all-time favorite films there really is no way around Kitano's impressive body of work. So let us start with... More »
  

Review: ONE DAY (Chi-Jan Hou)
One Day is continuing my lucky streak of picking quality Taiwanese films (Honey PuPu, Blowfish, Starry, Starry Night and Make Up), making me wonder why so many people are still ignoring (or missing) the obvious (artistic) growth of the Taiwanese... More »
  

Review: VISITOR Q (Personal Favorites #34)
Last week I reviewed Takashi Miike (Sun Scarred, Crows Zero, Crows Zero II, Zebraman 2)'s most impressive arthouse venture 46 Okunen no Koi, this week I'll be tackling Miike's biggest anti-arthouse middle finger: Visitor Q. Visitor Q is without a... More »
  

Review: MAKE UP
2011 was a prime year for Taiwanese cinema, with films like Honey PuPu, Blowfish and Starry, Starry Night topping my end of year list, so when I sat down to watch Yi-Chi Lien's first-time effort Make Up my expectations were... More »
  

Review: ROGUE RIVER
Jourdan McClure's Rogue River may not be the world's most original, genre-bending or exciting film, but for a simple genre film it has all the perks it needs to make for a convincing 80 minutes of horror entertainment. The film... More »
  

Review: 46-OKUNEN NO KOI (Personal Favorites #25)
Takashi Miike still stands as one of my all-time favorite directors, even though the quality of his recent output has somewhat diminished. It isn't easy to pick one film from his vast oeuvre that stands out as his absolute best,... More »
  

Review: LOVER'S DISCOURSE
As if materializing out of thin air, one day I just bumped into Tsang and Wan's first-time, self-directed semi-anthology film Lover's Discourse. Motivated only by the beautiful poster art and a somewhat vague screenshot, I sat down to ready to... More »
  

Review: GHOST IN THE SHELL (Personal Favorites #48)
Mamoru Oshii (Tachiguishi Retsuden, Sky Crawlers, Ghost In The Shell 2.0, Patlabor 2, Tenshi no Tamago) is without a doubt my favorite director out there, so there's really no way I could ever pass up on reviewing his ultimate classic:... More »
  

Review: SAYA-ZAMURAI (Hitoshi Matsumoto)
Hitoshi Matsumoto (Symbol, Dai-Nipponjin) is back! The man made only two films prior to Saya-Zamurai, but he gained instant access to my list of favorite Japanese directors thanks to his excessively dry humor and quirky direction. Matsumoto remained behind the... More »
  

PI (Personal Favorites #9) Review
>Darren Aronofsky's Pi was a film that seemed specifically tailored to my preferences. A rather typical film coming from a first-time director, somewhat experimental in nature, sporting a kick-ass electronic soundtrack and a subject that spoke to me on multiple... More »
  

WHEAT Review
In recent years there has been no shortage of Chinese war epics. Every year several prominent directors stick their names to one or other excessive big-budget affair where no expenses are spared to recreate the largest battles in China's rich... More »
  

PERMANENT NOBARA Review
With Permanent Nobara director Yoshida confirms his signature style, removing all doubt that his previous films were some kind of lucky hits. Pay no attention to the poster I listed here por the trailers you find online, Yoshida's latest is... More »
  

STARRY STARRY NIGHT Review
Tom Lin's latest endeavor may be his definite ticket to international recognition, if Starry Starry Night makes it out of Taiwan (always somewhat of a gamble). It's a film with enough potential to appeal to a wide audience while at... More »
  

TOKYO.SORA (Personal Favorites #5) Review
If you ask me about the pinnacle of Japanese drama cinema there is only one name that withstands all criticism: Hiroshi Ishikawa. Sadly his work is terribly under-appreciated (or just plain unknown), even amongst fans of Japanese cinema. What better... More »
  

Niels Matthijs' Brightest Discoveries Of 2011
I'm not really a man of melancholy and traditions, unless they are just plain and unmistakably useful. So here we go again, my rundown of the 10 best movies I've discovered in 2011. A list of films you simply need... More »
  

DEAD END RUN (Personal Favorites) Review
By now you probably should've realized Sogo Ishii (August In The Water, Electric Dragon 80.000V, Kyoshin) is set firmly on my shortlist of favorite directors. I appreciate his punk approach to cinema, but he also has a softer side he's... More »
  
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