Festivals And Events

Promotional photo from Jackdaw for Fantastic Fest

Fantastic Fest XVIII Review: Jamie Childs’s JACKDAW Burns The Midnight Oil In A High-Speed Cat-And-Mouse Thriller With An Even Darker Twist

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. Par for the course is a harrowing story of redemption, hitting the ground running as ex-soldier and motocross champion Jack Dawson – a.k.a. Jackdaw (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) – sets out to acquire a package in the North Sea for crime boss Silas (Joe Blakemore). Efforting to make some quick cash to leave town with his younger brother, Simon (Leon Harrop), it isn’t long after the parcel’s retrieval that Jackdaw realizes he’s being pursued […]

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Fantastic Fest XVIII Review: In ONE-PERCENTER, Tak Sakaguchi Demonstrates The Method To The Madness!

“There are many martial artists in the world. Only one in every hundred master their art. Those are the ‘One-Percenters.’” …That’s a line spoken in the international trailer and newest incumbent feature from writer/director Yudai Yamaguchi, a man imbued with a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to working with actor and genre cinema favorite, Tak Sakaguchi. The pair have done various types of movies together, with Sakaguchi in roles that have seen him merc the undead, partake in explosive baseball battles, and even wipe out henchmen as a bionically-weaponized gangster, among other projects the two have collaborated on with other directors. It would be in 2005 that fans of Sakaguchi would see the actor embark a little more on his own quest into action direction, clearly looking to up his station in the craft following the success he gained from his previous credits. Alas, after more than […]

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Fantastic Fest XVIII Review: Francis Galuppi’s THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY Steals With A Crackling Crime Debut

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. It’s a hot day in Yuma County in Arizona, and a bank robbery is all the hullabaloo that anyone can think about as a green pinto approaches a gas station with a nearby hotel and the adjacent diner famous for its distinguished pie. A clean-cut and affable-looking knife salesman (Jim Cummings) decides to venture to the diner […]

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BALLERINA: Jun Jong-Seo Graces The Screen With Sweet Revenge In The Official Trailer

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. Busan programmer Jung Han-seok has more from the festival: Ok-joo (Jun Jong-seo) faces the sudden death of her one true friend, Min-hee (Park Yu-rim). A former bodyguard with unrivaled skills, Ok-joo embarks on a mission to find the villain, Choi Pro (Kim Ji-hun), who led Min-hee, once a promising ballerina, to her death. This marks the second feature from new director Lee Chung-hyun, who garnered attention with his short film Bargain and his feature film debut Call. Lead actor Jun Jong-seo, who also happens to be the director’s real-life partner, portrays a formidable female warrior, building upon her demonstrated ability to embody […]

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AWARENESS: Catch The Trailer For Daniel Benmayor’s New Action-Packed Spanish Prime Video Thriller Launching This October

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. Ian, a rebellious teenager living on the outskirts of society, can manipulate minds with his ability to generate visual illusions. He uses this power to survive running small, indiscreet, scams. When one of his cons goes awry, his abilities publicly spiral out of control and Ian becomes the target of two rival organizations, each seeking to exploit his powers. Awareness is set to screen as an Oficial Fantàstic presentation for Sitges on Sunday ahead of its Prime Video launch on October 11, and now more than ever is the crucial premiere of an official trailer that puts all […]

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PLAYER AGENCY: Art School Dropouts To Host Ten-Minute Preview During UASE 2023 Panel

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”. Player Agency is a rarity of its kind in that ninety percent of the film takes place in a virtually animated setting. The film centers on Ken (Kage Yami), a man who falls into depression after losing his job of ten years. He’s cajoled by his college friend into an usual method of gaining his confidence back: a VR-based adventure RPG (role playing game), where he will quest through a realm ruled by the tyrannical “Lich King”, and must battle his demons both internally and virtually to take back his life. Min’s banner has garnered multiple awards over […]

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Tak Sakaguchi giving a seminar in Austin, Texas in 2018

Hey Austin! Come Take A Seminar With ONE-PERCENTER Star Tak Sakaguchi!

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. One-Percenter is written and directed by Yudai Yamaguchi, and centers on an aging stuntman whose dreams of achieving the production of a pure action movie arrives when he finds himself crossing blows with yakuza mobsters looking for a hidden cache of drugs. The film is produced by Takayuki Ota (Crazy Samurai Musashi) and Ryo Uchiyama, and also marks a reunion for both the star and director following previous credits like Battlefield Baseball, Tebana Sankichi: Snot Rocket & Super Detective, Cromartie High: The Movie, Deadball and Yakuza Weapon, as well as […]

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Fantastic Fest XVIII: Full Line-Up Includes Studio Selects, Genre Delights, Fantasy, Action, Horror And Docs to Exicite This Year’s Audience

Fantastic Fest XVIII: TRIGGERED, 100 YARDS, And More Titles To Check Out At This Year’s Festival

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… Fifteen titles, in fact, all ranging in the usual assortment of genres that this site covers, a few honorable mentions notwithstanding: Gareth Edwards’ newest ambitious sci-fi adventure The Creator, Joe Lynch’s enticing new horror thriller Suitable Flesh, and Kim Tae-gon’s fifth career entry at the helm, Project Silence; I started with ten in mind at first but there was just too many to consider, obviously, and barring some of the reviews […]

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Beyond Fest XI: THE CREATOR, THE TOXIC AVENGER, THE RAID in 4K And More Announced For This Year’s Line-Up

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. There are two shorts blocks as well, and among the screenings there will be a few free ones, as well as others with guests in attendance. All screenings are […]

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GODZILLA: MINUS ONE Official Trailer Wreaks Havoc On Post-War Japan!

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 the war, Japan has been reduced to zero. Godzilla appears and plunges the country into a negative state. Against the most desperate situation in the history of Japan, how — and with whom —will Japan stand up to it? Godzilla: Minus One is written, directed and VFX-scored by none other than Takashi Yamazaki (Returner, The Eternal Zero, The Great War Of Archimedes). The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando and Kuranosuke Sasaki.

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THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY Teases A Fully-Loaded Showdown In The First Poster

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. When a traveling knife salesman is forced to wait for fuel at an isolated rest stop, violence erupts around him when two bank robbers arrive during their getaway from a big heist. Galluppi also penned the film and serves as producer along with Atif Malik, and Matt O’Neill. The cast includes Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Richard Brake, Nicholas Logan, Faizon Love, Michel Abbott Jr., and Alex Essoe. Per Fantastic Fest programmer Lori Donnelly: Equal parts western and heist thriller, writer/director Francis Galluppi’s debut feature harnesses the energy of the stripped-down action B-movies of the 1970s […]

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Fantastic Fest XVIII: Hindi Action Thriller KILL Announced For This Year’s Feature Line-Up

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. The film is led by celebrated TV actor Lakshya, who stood out for Best Actor at the Lions Gold Awards for 2018 series, “Porus”. In Kill, the actor plays Amrit, an Army commando who must help fend off fourty armed bandits who’ve stormed a train to New Delhi and save the lives of all the passengers on board, including the woman he loves, Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), ahead of an arranged marriage already set in stone by her father. Also starring are Raghav Juyal and Rupesh Kumar Charanpahari. The film features action sequences by Oh Se-yeong whose career spans multiple regions covering Hollywood (Avengers: Age Of Ultron), and […]

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Shinya Tsukamoto’s SHADOW OF FIRE: The Residual Ruin Of Wartorn Lives Explored In The First Trailer

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. Shuri, whose lead role in Kosai Sekine’s Love At Least (2018) won her Newcomer of the Year at the 42nd Japan Academy Awards, is joined by burgeoning talent Oga Tsukao, actor Hiroki Kono who previously appears in delinquent thriller Demekin (2017) and Shin’ichirô Ueda’s Special Actors (2019), and Mirai Moriyama whose credits partly include two-part boxing drama Underdog (2020), and Shin Kamen Rider (2023). “It’s about a fire and the everchanging shadows it casts on its surroundings,” said Tsukamoto, […]

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Big Bad 2023: Win Tickets To The LA Screening Of Chilean Martial Arts Thriller FIST OF THE CONDOR!

The inaugural Big Bad Film Fest action movie festival launches this Thursday for locals in Los Angeles looking to get their action fix during this four-day weekend of festivities. Par for the course is Fist Of The Condor, the latest pairing between Ernesto Diaz Espinoza and action star Marko Zaror which is currently available in the U.S. through Well Go USA and their in-house streamer, Hi-YAH!. Those looking to catch the film in a theatrical setting however may do so when the film screens for the festival at the Look Dine-In Cinema Glendale at 3:00pm PST. For this, we’re teaming up with the festival to give away ten tickets which attendees may collect at the door. Simply e-mail us at fcsyndicate@outlook.com with your name for us to forward to the festival hosts by the contest’s deadline on Thursday evening at 11:00pm PST. Fist Of The Condor is billed as the […]

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KOREAN CINEMA’S GOLDEN DECADE: THE 1960s: Swordsmen, Damsels, Romance And Intrigue And More Make Way Next Month At Film At Lincoln Center

New York City’s Film At Lincoln Center is just a little over a week away from its upcoming retrospective celebrating classic and newly restored Korean films in its new 17-day series, Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade: The 1960s. The series is being organized by Young Jin Eric Choi, Goran Topalovic, and Tyler Wilson, and is co-presented by Subway Cinema in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center New York and the Korean Film Archive. Long before Bong Joon Ho, Hong Sangsoo, and Park Chan-wook catapulted South Korean cinema onto the world stage, the foundation of their country’s film industry formed in the aftermath of the Korean War. The period kickstarted a wealth of eclectic and innovative filmmaking that culminated in the 1960s. Closer inspection of this decade, now widely considered Korea’s premier film renaissance, reveals the arrival of seminal works from auteurs such as Kim Ki-young, Shin Sang-ok, Yu Hyun-mok, Kim Soo-yong, […]

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Fantastic Fest XVIII: Full Line-Up Includes Studio Selects, Genre Delights, Fantasy, Action, Horror And Docs to Exicite This Year’s Audience

I just spent the last ten minutes feeling restless as all hell after getting a quick glimpse of the line-up for this year’s edition of Fantastic Fest. I’m looking at listings for the new martial arts drama 100 Yards, South Korean delights like Cobweb, Concrete Utopia, and the spriteful Killing Romance which also opened this summer for NYAFF, Yudai Yamaguchi’s One Perecenter and the long-awaited Baby Assassins 2 which just screened in Montreal, RKSS’s We Are Zombies, Jamie Childs’ Jackdaw which first took off earlier this year at EFM, Thomas Negovan’s latest presentation of 1980’s Caligula, Soviet-Era action comedy The Invisible Fight which was just picked up by LevelK for world sales out of Locarno, Macon Blair’s Toxic Avenger and Richard Somes’ Triggered (Topakk) which will also have its day in the UK for the 24th edition of FrightFest this month… And these are just some of the selections worth […]

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Pigeon Shrine FrightFest UK: SUITABLE FLESH, TRIGGERED (TOPAKK), FARANG And More Announced In The Full Line-Up

The next edition of Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2023 hit the ground running on Tuesday announcing its full line-up of titles screening for its UK venues beginning August 24. Guest line-up and shortfilm schedules are in tow as well, while passes and single tickets are currently on sale for anyone looking to attend. The line-up itself starts with Suitable Flesh, the latest from Everly and Point Blank helmer Joe Lynch, and continues with a list of stirring selections like Enter The Clones Of Bruce Lee, Onur Tukel’s Poundcake, Jenn Wexler’s The Sacrifice Game, Erik Bloomquist slasher Founders Day which is also getting its Popcorn Frights premiere this Friday, Richard Somes’ Pinoy gory wartorn action thriller Triggered (Topakk), and Xavier Gens’ latest martial arts-fueled Farang (a.k.a. Mayhem!) which just landed IFC Films for its U.S. release after premiering for Fantasia earlier this month. There’s more included in the announcement. Read on for […]

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Fantasia XXVII: THE ROUNDUP, HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, More Announced Among Audience Award Winners

The 27th edition of Fantasia Festival has come to a close and the audience awards have been announced as of Monday. I didn’t get to screen and cover as many films as I wanted to this year so I’m walking away a little disappointed, but I’m particularly pleased to see some of these selections getting their deserved reception, namely Mike Cheslik’s Hundreds Of Beavers and Don Lee actioner The Roundup: No Way Out, the latter which I haven’t seen yet and hope to rectify at some point in the not-too-distant future. Reviews are catalogued here for this year’s edition if you’re interested in the write-ups. As for all else, read on for the winners and keep an eye open for forthcoming date annoucements on Fantasia XXVIII! August 15, 2023 – The Fantasia International Film Festival wrapped its successful 27th edition last week on August 9th. In addition to the previously […]

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BIG BAD 2023: NINJA 2, UNDISPUTED 3 Announced As Scott Adkins Double Feature For First Edition

The Big Bad Film Fest action movie festival has announced the two titles heading up the Scott Adkins Double Feature for its first edition in Los Angeles later this month with Ninja 2: Shadow Of A Tear (2013), and Undisputed 3: Redemption (2010). Both selections will screen for festival attendees on Sunday, August 27 at 2pm at the Look Dine-In Cinema Glendale. The pair are directed by action auteur Isaac Florentine whose works have contributed impeccably to Adkins’ meteoric rise to action cinema stardom in the twenty years that followed their first pairing on 2003 military actioner, Special Forces for Millemium Films. Adkins’s debut as Uri Boyka in Florentine’s Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing (2006) paved the way for a new screen figure to fuel martial arts action fan-service, ensuing its third chapter in 2009. After redeeming himself from his previous defeat to George “Iceman” Chambers, Boyka and fellow in-mate […]

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100 YARDS: Check Out The Official Festival Trailer For The New Martial Arts Drama Coming To Toronto

Martial arts period drama 100 Yards has been acquired by Well Go USA. The film will release in 2024 following its festival run, which includes an upcoming centerpiece premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall. 100 Yards previously screened in Shanghai back in June. Set in 1920s Tianjin, northern China, the film stars Jacky Heung and Andy On, and tells of the son of a martial arts master and his most talented apprentice, and their fight to take over a prominent martial arts academy. As the story goes, rather than obey the rule of settling disputes behind closed doors, they take their fight to the street. Also starring are Bea Hayden Kuo, Tang Shiyi and Li Yuan, and also marks a reunion with martial arts choreographer Duncan Leung and The Grandmaster co-writer Xu Haofeng, who co-directs the new period martial arts flick with Xu Junfeng. “100 Yards masterfully […]

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