Festivals And Events
Japan Cuts XV Review: Takashi Miike’s THE GREAT YOKAI WAR: GUARDIANS Takes You To Yokai Church
My first exposure to Takashi Miike began less than twenty years ago, eyeing Suncoast’s DVD kiosks where I would nab copies of some of their Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock titles. His range of directing proved to me to be as unique as it is versatile, exuding a style that rightfully stirred the pot at times and peppered it beautifully at others.
NYAFF XX Review: Jéro Yun’s FIGHTER, A Boxing Drama That Delivers A Win Beyond The Ring
If you’re into films with actors making their debuts, and if you especially enjoy sports dramas, Jéro Yun’s Fighter may just be more your speed. I’m not at all sure what the casting process was here, but it was awesome being introduced to actress Lim Seong-mi in her first lead role and absolutely killing it, and the ceremony she’s been receiving ever since.
NYAFF XX Review: Chan Kin Long’s HAND ROLLED CIGARETTE, A Story Of Those Made (And Unbroken) In Hong Kong
The reception is a hugely earned one this year, by and large, for actor and film multi-hyphenate Gordon Lam with currently four films slated to take the floor at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival. Our focus here will be on his headlining role in actor Chan Kin-long’s feature directorial debut, Hand Rolled Cigarette, one of several recipients of First Feature Film Initiative, Film Development Fund back in 2018 and as of last Fall, host to seven Golden Horse Awards nominations, including Best Leading Actor, an awards’ first for Lam.
Japan Cuts XV Review: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s WIFE OF A SPY, War And Strategy Amid Matrimony
If you’ve seen your fair share of WWII movies, it’s no real mystery the challenges that lie ahead for our main characters going into Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s new period drama, Wife Of A Spy. The 1940s were a trip as world governments collided, and dehumanizing atrocities were taking shape at the hands of countries like Germany, and of course, Japan. Kurosawa nimbly crafts his story around these events, inviting viewers into a character study, specifically of one woman who, despite all her daily exuberance at life and subservience to her husband, gets thrust into confronting her own identity when she learns a horrific truth for herself, and her husband’s flummoxing role in it all.
NYAFF XX: Benny Chan’s RAGING FIRE Heads Up Centerpiece Premiere With Kim Ji-Hoon’s SINKHOLE To Close Festival
Not to be outdone for a ways to end the week on a high note, folks attending the New York Asian Film Festival will undoubtedly be privy to the addition of two more titles to this year’s hybrid festivities, with the Centerpiece presentation of Benny Chan’s Raging Fire, and the closing premiere of Kim Ji-hoon’s survival pic, Sinkhole.
Fantasia Adds Donnie Yen Action Thriller RAGING FIRE To This Year’s Festival Line-Up!
It’s always a welcome feat that festivals like Fantasia drop a surprise last-minute addition. This year, the 25th hybrid installment just got a little bigger with the announcement of action crime thriller, Raging Fire, starring Donnie Yen and Nicholas Tse.
FANTASIA XXV: Twenty Titles You Don’t Want To Miss At This Year’s Hybrid Festival
The third wave just recently hit for the 25th Fantasia International Film Festival, which is hosting in-person and virtual screenings and events from August 5 through 25. Thus, peep the first wave and the second wave before hitting up the latest article and take in the full line-up as things rev up to help make for one awesome post-Covid semi-comeback.
JAPAN CUTS XV: The Great Yokai War: Guardians, Kiba: The Fangs Of Fiction, Docs, Narrative Shorts And More In The Full 2021 Line-Up
2021 has been riddled with its share of strife, personally, but that hasn’t slighted or stunted the progress of festival coverage on this site. Gladly, this includes this year’s hybrid virtual/in-person installment of Japan Society’s Japan Cuts, launching one month from today as of this article.
Celebrate Sammo Hung With A Hip-Hop-Flavored Fistful Of Well Go USA’s IP MAN 2 This Friday!
Netizens are invited this Friday to partake in this month’s livestream celebration of actor and Asian action legend Sammo Hung for Shaolin Jazz’s latest livestream installment of Can I Kick It?.
NYAFF XX Debuts 2021 Poster, Announces Kickoff With Well Go USA’s ESCAPE FROM MOGADISHU And Much More For Its Second Wave Announcement!
The twentieth installation of the New York Asian Film Festival is coming in as hot as the Summer sun. The festival just announced its second wave of titles in addition to the celebration and ceremony of NYAFF honoree, filmmaker and producer Ann Hui, and among other things, has also announced a brand new section for the festival titled Asian American Focus.
North Bend 2021 Review: Sion Sono’s THE RED POST ON ESCHER ST., A Love Letter Written In Pain, Tragedy And Cinematic Jacquerie
More than thirty years into his career, ceremony remains on-going for acclaimed director Sion Sono’s eclectic approach to cinema. That no less includes the praise and approval among fans witnessing one of his latest film-within-a-film (within-a-film) effort, The Red Post On Escher St., a “graduation project” of sorts comprised of students from his acting workshop, and shot in a way that lends an extra layer of perceptive depth to the overall environment and setting.
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