He was all the craze at Fantastic Fest and ahead of its sold out screening at Beyond Fest this weekend and at Sitges. Now, folks outside the festival purview will get a taste of things to come with a teaser for Legendary’s latest revival out of Troma history, The Toxic Avenger.
Sri Asih was screened and reviewed for Fantastic Fest. The film releases on DVD in the U.S. from Shout! Factory on December 5.
Making its way to the Asian Future section of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival is Tatsumi, a new revenge drama from writer/director Hiroshi Shoji. The film stars Yuya Endo (Onoda: 10,000 Nights In The Jungle) in the title role opposite actress Kokoro Morita (The Legend & Butterfly), and centers on a lonely Yakuza underling who ventures out to find his ex-girlfriend’s killer with the help of her vengeful younger sister.
Kung fu cinema hit one of the worst stalemates it possibly could in 1973 with the death of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, leaving the fate of the industry in the hands of creators and producers desperate to appease markets and somehow magically bring the dead back to life. Thus, Bruceploitation was born, giving rise to a raft of newcomers all operating under a moniker that would bolster capital in some form or fashion as artificially contrived screen essences of the late film legend. And, it worked. Aplenty.
The eighteenth edition of Fantastic Fest is still underway and I’m only doing a few more films among those left at my disposal if possible. In the meantime, the jury went to work this year and has elected its winners for its various categories. Have a read, and click here for my review coverage up to now!
Life is still as hard as ever for an assassin trying to make it in today’s economy with a decent part-time job. Such was the case in 2021’s Baby Assassins for endearing killer roomies Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa) as the two stood toe-to-toe with heavily-armed yakuza gangsters with daily responsibilties to fulfill in between. Two years later, the oddball duo is still “killing it” while trying to get the hang of adulting in writer/director Yugo Sakamoto’s latest sequel, Baby Assassins: 2 Babies.
Spain has been an interesting location to see action titles emerge from in the last decade or so. Like most countries it’s not typically known for the kinds of productions that get talked about on platforms like this one, so when something like Kike Narcea’s latest Iberian coming-out party, I’ll Crush Y’all! makes an entrance, it’s totally reasonable if heads turn in response.
Filmmaker Jamie Childs’ recent TV credits on Disney+ series “Willow” and Netflix’s “The Sandman” should be an ample warm-up for those who’ve seen his work, and are keen on what the first-time feature director now offers with his latest debut, Jackdaw. At ninety-six minutes, the film packs in a steadily-paced and cerebral crime thriller that runs the gamut for a story set during the course of one night, trekking England’s Northern rust belt amid a heist gone awry.
“There are many martial artists in the world. Only one in every hundred master their art. Those are the ‘One-Percenters.’”
XYZ Films released the clip above exclusively to Variety on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s Fantastic Fest premiere of Francis Galluppi’s debut movie, The Last Stop In Yuma County. The clip above is a perfect summation of what to expect from the film’s suspenseful tone amid its propulsive and seething development leading up to the big finale. The ending is certainly a stunner, but it’s worth a recap for a better analysis in this review, starting with close-up shots of a devastating wreck mid-credits as the film eases into its dated, desert-set Southwestern atmosphere.
The newest official trailer is out this week for Lee Chung-hyun’s Netflix actioner, Ballerina. The film will have its premiere in the Korean Cimema Today section of the 28th edition of the Busan International Film Festival, beginning a day ahead of its October 6 premiere on the streamer.
Sitges is the place to be if you’re keen on getting an early glimpse at Awareness, the newest Spanish language thriller from Xtremo and Tracers director Daniel Benmayor. The film has been picking up steam slowly but surely since announcing last year via Prime Video, followed by a teaser back in March.
Director Joey Min and his new film, Player Agency, will preview the first ten minutes at this year’s edition of the Urban Action Showcase & Expo in New York City. Min and his team will be previewing the clip during their filmmaking panel titled “Indie Action Filmmaking and Operating On A Budget”.
Actor and action star Tak Sakaguchi is returning to Texas next week to host stunt action and self-defense seminar at Tukong Martial Arts in Austin on September 22. In addition, the seminar will coincide with the promotion of the actor’s latest feat, One-Percenter, which will have its next premiere on Saturday, September 23 at this year’s edition of Fantastic Fest.
I’ve been away from the internet for a while but I haven’t forgotten the excitement of getting to cover Fantastic Fest for a second year in a row. It’ll be virtual, as always, since I can’t make the trip, and as such, I’m still obliged to share in the indulgences of what’s to come, and for that, I now offer you a slew of titles to help raise the curtain ahead of the festival’s start date on September 21…
The eleventh edition of Beyond Fest is kicking off later month and the full line-up is finally available. The roster is pretty wicked with a list of new premieres and encores of classics with Gareth Edwards’ upcoming sci-fi adventure, The Creator, screening on opening night, with other titles such as Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s promising new Hindi thrillride, Kill, director David Gregory’s exciting new documentary Enter The Clones Of Bruce, Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger, Xavier Gens’ French actioner Mayhem!, a special edition presentation of James Cameron’s 1989 deep sea thriller, The Abyss, an NC-17 presentation of David Cronenberg’s erotic thriller Crash, Sam Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s revenge drama, Femme, and Gareth Evans’ The Raid in 4K to name a few.
Arriving just in time to mark its 70th anniversary, the latest devastating chapter in the Godzilla franchise has an official trailer for Godzilla: Minus One, following a teaser which premiered in July. The film is also set to close this year’s 36th edition of the Tokyo International Film Festival ahead of its Japan release on November 3, with a nationwide U.S. rollout starting December 1.
After a bevy of shorts and music videos to get started, Francis Galluppi is finally ready to make headway beginning with his feature debut, The Last Stop In Yuma County. The first poster is currently making the rounds as the film looks toward its upcoming premiere at the 18th edition of Fantastic Fest this month.
Fantastic Fest kicks off in a matter of weeks on September 21. In the meantime, the organization announced on Wednesday its newest addition to their feature line-up this year with Kill, the new Hindi action thriller from writer and director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat.
Formerly-titled “The Post-War Project,” is writer/director Shinya Tsukamoto’s next offering, with a teaser now online for roaring period drama, Shadow Of Fire (or Hokage). Featuring actress Shuri, the film centers on the lives of three people in a dilapidated pub left standing amid the black market-driven ruins of World War II: A woman who sells her body to make a living, a war orphan, and a demobilised soldier suffering from PTSD.
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