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‘Once Upon in the Middle East’ Review: China’s Oscar Entry Is a Breakneck Blockbuster That Mixes Food Porn With Wartime Devastation

Variety 13 October 2026 8h ago
‘Once Upon in the Middle East’ Review: China’s Oscar Entry Is a Breakneck Blockbuster That Mixes Food Porn With Wartime Devastation
68
Relevance
3/25
Freshness
25/25
Authority
18/20
Brand Signal
17/15
Depth
5/15
Relevance Freshness Authority Brand Depth
Not since Zhang Yimou’s 2002 wuxia spectacle “Hero” has China landed an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature — and this dry spell surely won’t be broken with this year’s bombastic submission “Once Upon a Time in the Middle East.” Like most of the country’s entries over the past decade, this blockbuster epic — a […]
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