I had the pleasure of first talking to Marcello Milteer back in the summer of 2009, when I was a Korean movie writer for the site POPSEOUL. After checking out his own site, JapanCinema, I was blown away of the in-depth reviews and passion Mr. Milteer had for Asian cinema. During this time, we had some back-and-forth discussion on some of our favorite movies, trends in cinema, and recommendations to watch. Fast forward a year later, I went in a different direction; I founded Green Tea Graffiti with some friends. When creating the movies section, I wanted to interview a person that knew their stuff about Asian movies. Remembering Marcello's knowledge and passion of the films of Asia, I knew he would be an incredible person to pick his brain in a movie discussion.

The questions in bold is Jangta, while the answer to the question is from Marcello. With that being said, let's get this interview started.

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1) Jangta:    How did you get into Asian cinema? Did you stumble upon it by yourself or did someone you know introduce you to the world of Asian movies?

Marcello:       Well, it's really strange that as much as I grew up around films, foreign films were never a big part of my childhood. All my friends growing up were indifferent to movies, but my mother and I were huge film buffs and she would take us to see a new movie every week at the theater. Our original love was big budget Hollywood flicks, and I had yet to discover foreign films myself. That all changed when we went to check out Ang Lee's crossover hit, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which I distinctively remember being absolutely captivated by as a teenager. In addition to being introduced to flying swordsmen and warriors duking it out standing on tree limbs, I could relate to the film as well. Zhang Ziyi was good as the bratty aristocratic, who's yet to find what she really wants in life. I could relate to this aspect as I was going through the same thing in my life at that time. Eventually this led me into a frantic scavenger hunt for Kung Fu movies, and then other Hong Kong actioners, Samurai movies and other East Asian films which led onto watching all kinds of films from all over! It started with Iron Monkey, Once Upon A Time in China, The Bride with White Hair, Fist of Legend and 5 Deadly Venoms, etc. I was watching 5 films a day nonstop for weeks. I was hooked.

2) What inspired you to create JapanCinema.net?

Like a magician revealing the secrets behind his most mysterious magic trick, prepare to be letdown. About 2 years ago I was stuck in a job that was really boring yet allowed me to have unlimited time to browse the internet. One day at work I decided to create a blog and fumbled with a few ideas on what topic to center it around. Completely naive to the website scene I had no idea how many movie blogs were out there. I quickly became discouraged figuring I would just be another lonely number in a sea of similar movie blogs. I quickly came to realize if I was going to stand out from the crowd, I would have to find a niche. Remembering how much I enjoyed Asian films and Anime, I decided to create a blog based around that. That reason alone isn't what motivated me however, because after a few short blog posts I realized my knowledge of Eastern films was very minimal. I quickly realized that having a niche website that you don't know much about is ironically the best kind of website to have! You literally have an endless supply of reviews and news to talk about. Aside from the mainstream Asian films that everyone knows about, I quickly realized that I had an entire catalogue of films that I haven't seen. As I ventured further into my website, opportunities to watch movies I had never heard of, whether I am reading a book at a bookstore, or having a conversation with a stranger, the thoughts and ideas kept flowing. As a friend of mine once told me, "I think that by blogging in niche you know nothing about, it will be difficult run out of things to write." He was absolutely right, and it is because of this, I never get bored with my website.

3) Does your circle of friends and people you associate yourself with know a lot about Asian cinema?

I have a few childhood friends who grew up watching anime such as Ninja Scroll and Akira with me, but nothing to the extent of what I know now. Living in the heart of Texas, the audience for foreign films aren't exactly in the high numbers, admittedly. I find myself viewing movies alone, due to many of the people in my social circle not even lending me an ounce of optimism in checking out a new genre. It seems there is still a lot of evolution to be had in garnering the attention of foreign films to the average hot blooded American. The biggest shame of it all though, is these people do not know what they are missing.

4) Which genres do you prefer?

I was never a big fan of comedies because, aside from a select few, once you know all the gags and jokes, the film becomes stale. I usually enjoy Thrillers/psychothrillers from South Korea. They're like horror without the unnecessary gore. You also can't beat a good drama film, especially when the acting by everyone involved is very believable, which can make it quite harrowing at points.

5) From looking at your site, there are a lot of top 10 lists. That's great stuff. At the same time, with everyone having differing opinions, it also must be hard as well. How do you create a criteria to rank movies? What aspects of a movie do you look for when ranking movies? Is it difficult to do so?

It actually is quite challenging because I know lists are very important to people who are passionate about films and I usually come under a bit of scrutiny for it. It brings a bit of balance to the website getting feedback that isn't always pleasant. The process starts out fairly selfishly, as I try to come up with a topic that will return the most google rankings or discussions. I'll try to take a popular actor or director and list off their best movies, etc. A lot of websites create Top 10 lists because it is the easiest path to getting noticed in the Blogosphere. Aware of this, I didn't want to cheat my readers, so I wanted to provide well thought out and quality driven segments. I accomplish this by paying close attention to certain aspects. Of course, no one knows which are the best DVDs, movies, TV shows, etc. We're all guessing and inflicting our opinions on the masses. For starters, I disect the movies and try to find out what makes them great, or what makes them lack in a certain area. I break them down and distill information into easy-to-digest, interesting bites that my readers can follow. You make a list of 50 and chop it down to 30, then to 20, then the final 10, just like a bad reality show elimination process. Some lists are harder than others to compile, but the hard work is definitely worth it and I always encourage my readers to leave feedback and even provide their own top 10 lists. The end result is anything but typical.

6) Out of the current films being released today (2007 - present), in your opinion, what are the top 3 most influential movies in Asian cinema and why?

Thanks to my website I have seen hundreds of films in the past few years. Even though my site is entitled Japan Cinema, I must admit that South Korea and Hong Kong clearly have the leg up when it comes to the competition. If I had to pick just 3 I would choose, The Chaser, Ip Man, and A Frozen Flower, as they have all been genre defining. The Chaser basically set the bar for me. The thing that this film has going for it the most is that it's wonderfully erratic. You can never guess what is going to happen next and that is the reason why Korean movies are so fantastically entertaining. Ip Man revived my love of kung fu films that I felt were on a downward slope and I felt it was Donnie Yen's comeback and return to form. A Frozen Flower might not be as commercially successful as the other films, but I think it might be more influential then any film I have seen in the past 3 years. There is love, lust, political intrigue, and it wraps together an interesting love triangle, filled with passion, and jealousy, all in a colorful period package. I feel like we are in another golden age of cinema, and that films are just getting better and better. Take director Takashi Miike, for example, who has produced 80 films in the past 10 years, I feel, is having his best year ever releasing 13 Assassins. So I am very excited to see what is beyond the horizon.

7) Why do you think Hollywood is adopting or importing more Asian movies in the past five years? Past examples include: A Tale of Two Sisters (2003, Korean), Oldboy (2003, Korean), Infernal Affairs (1998, Hong Kong), and Ju-On (2000, Japan).

As I touched upon earlier, and what most Hollywood studios are agreeing with, is that Asian movies are great! However, Western audiences, for one reason or another, aren't interested in seeing a film from the East because all we care about is star power. Put Will Smith or Johnny Deep in the role of Oldboy or any other movie and it will bring more people to the theater. It is just how we operate here in America. I appreciate how Hollywood is expanding its cultural borders, and bringing a lot of Asian movie culture to the rest of the world, but I dislike it when credit is taken for originality without promoting the source material. If they made it known to the public it was an Asian remake, it might inspire more movie goers to check out the foreign genre. As for the 'why'? The answer is simple. Americans are not original in making movies and haven't so in the longest time. The craze now is to even remake their own movies! We are getting reboots of Superman, Catwoman, Hulk, James Bond, and more. I can only predict that Asian films will be remade more and more as the popularity of the genre grows, unfortunately.

8) If you were to tell a person that was just entering the world of Asian cinema, what would you tell them to suck them into Asian films?

If you are just a film fan who has started to develop an appreciation for some Asian cinema, there are quite a number of films I would recommend. I would pick and choose films that would promote your understanding for the genre and expand your horizons. Jet Li is a big mainstream actor for a reason, his films are good! Fist of Legend, Hero, or Drunken Master are always a treat. For the drama fans, Infernal Affairs, A Bittersweet Life, and Oldboy, of course. For comedy fans, 200 Pounds Beauty, 100 days with Mr. Arrogant & My Sassy Girl are the pick of the litter. Last but not least, for all you gore hounds out there, The Art of the Devil trilogy should provide plenty of horror filmage to whet your appetites. It just goes to show you, Asian cinema has something for everyone!

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From his humble beginnings charting the unexplored territories of Asian cinema to now being an expert, Marcello has come a long way. With his exposure to new films, a sleek new webdesign, and the same passion for the cinema of Asia, he shows no signs of slowing down. On behalf of GTG, we would like to thank Marcello for taking the time to answer our questions. We look forward to hopefully working with him in the future.

For more in-depth movie reviews, we urge our readers to please visit JapanCinema.