festivals and events

NYAFF Winter Showcase: Actress Han Ji-Mae Hailed As Ambassador For This Season’s CRAZY BROKE ASIANS/A TOUCH OF OLD SCHOOL Selections

New York City residents can now get their tickets handy for the Winter Showcase, hosted by none other than the New York Asian Film Festival. Showings will be held for the first two three-day weekends of February with ticket prices varying from $5 to $15, and membership prices also listed. The film series is being hailed with award-winning actress Han Ji-Mae following her performance in Lee Ji-won’s 2018 South Korean drama, Miss Baek, which will serve as the opening gala for the showcase on February 1. Going forward the line-up will showcase a variety of tastemaker titles from the last half-century, as well as a surprise screening for the second weekend. The showcase will take place at the School Of Visual Arts, located at 333 West 23 Street. Read on, and then click here to get your tickets accordingly! For the inaugural edition of the New York Asian Film Festival […]

The 13th London Korean Film Festival Announces Its Full Line-Up

Lee B. Golden III

If you’re in London and feeling the film festival mood, you’ll have about a month to yourself starting Thursday for the 2018 installment of the London Korean Film Festival (LKFF), now online with its full programme for the 13th edition. The festival will run through November 25, hosted this year by the Korean Cultural Centre UK along with the support of the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism, the Korean Film Council and Korean Film Archive. The UK Premiere of Jeon Go-woon’s award-winning film, Microhabitat (2018, UK Premiere) will serve as the opening gala centered on a young woman journeying across the city and back into the lives of her former bandmates after being forced from her apartment. Danish-Korean director Malene Choi’s emotively-charged adoption drama, The Return (2018) starring Karoline Sofie Lee as a young woman returning to Korea in an effort to track down her birth parents, will […]

JAPAN CUTS 2018: Don't Miss The Trailer For The Twelfth Festival In NYC!

Lee B. Golden III

New York City residents are in for a treat if the 17th NYAFF isn’t enough to fill bellies. The full line-up for the 2018 edition of Japan Cuts is also live and listing a pleathora of thrilling and intriguing works celebrating Japanese cinema. Now in its 12th year, JAPAN CUTS continues to grow as the largest festival of contemporary Japanese cinema in North America. Bringing a wide range of the best and hardest-to-see films made in and around Japan today — from blockbusters, independent productions and anime, to documentaries, avant-garde works, short films, and new restorations — JAPAN CUTS is the place to experience Japan’s dynamic film culture in New York City. Every year, this thrilling 10-day festival offers exclusive premieres, special guest filmmakers and stars, fun-filled parties, live music and more! Sato Shinsuke’s BLEACH and Beat Takeshi’s Outrage: Coda are both worth making note of. Check out the trailer […]

NYAFF 2018 Launches Ticket Sales For The Savage Seventeenth Edition

Lee B. Golden III

Things are in full swing for what’s being dubbed as the “Savage Seventeenth” installment of the New York Asian Film Festival launching June 29. From the robust opener with Dynamite Graffiti to a rowsing and eclectic line-up of Asian titles both new and ceremonial with special guests in attendance, right down to the hotly-anticipated closer with Erik Matti’s BuyBust, words such as “interesting” and “exciting” almost seem paling. From vicious, life-destroying phone scams to balletic battles between equally corrupt cops and yakuza, NYAFF offers films that reflect on contemporary society while offering extreme genre pleasures. There are self-referential takes on cinematic zombies, existential date nights, and teens finding their own corners of the world despite familial and societal expectations. After last year’s Sweet Sixteen, this year’s program is dubbed the Savage Seventeenth edition with four world premieres, three international premieres, 21 North American premieres, three U.S. premieres, and twelve New […]

FANTASIA 2018: Second Wave Reveals Zombies, Bigfoot, Witches, Superheroes, Cynthia Rothrock And Much More!

Lee B. Golden III

Fantasia 2018’s second wave of titles arrived on Thursday and the first thing that stood out to me in a social media post was the name Cynthia Rothrock. That said all I needed to know to look further into the raft of titles, segments and events made public before the full line-up announcement on July 7 and as expected, the programme is turning out to be quite the feat. Erik Matti’s hotly anticipated BuyBust is pretty much an all-in factor for the hardcore action fans already lined-up for its August 10 North American release from Well Go USA. The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion starring Kim Da-Mi was another surprise in recent weeks showcasing a rather awesome trailer for I Saw The Devil writer Park Hoon-Jung’s latest feature directing effort. Also in tow are Sam Elliott in The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot, Searching starring Jon Cho, […]

DIRECTING A DANCE OF VENGEANCE: Director Sam Puefua Talks Revenge Action Thriller Shortfilm, MAMBA

Lee B. Golden III

The latter end of May through early June saw the emergence of a promo campaign for a project now shaping up be quite the festival favorite. The project in question hails actress Sonalii Castillo in her latest electrifying role in Mamba, a new revenge shortfilm thriller from actor and filmmaker Sam Puefua. “Sonalii brings a level of authenticity to her character,” says Puefua who also co-stars as Sam, a former soldier who applies his skillset aptly as Kali’s right-hand man. “She’s a hard worker and very passionate about her role, and having created this character, there’s no one better than her to bring this character to life!” Heralded as a cross between John Wick and Colombiana, Mamba is currently garnering acceptances and praise from multiple territories in North America and Europe with Castillo having recently won the Gold Award for Best Actress at the Independent Shorts Awards. The project also […]

Erik Matti’s NYAFF-Selected BUYBUST Opens In The U.S. And Canada On August 10

Lee B. Golden III

CORRECTED: Acclaimed filmmaker Erik Matti is positioning himself to direct a superhero film in the months ahead. Until then and with the current development of a sequel for his celebrated 2014 crime pic, On The Job, expect to hear more from Matti in the coming weeks while on the road promoting his hotly-anticipated action thriller, BuyBust, following its release date pushback from February in the Philippines. BuyBust will instead have a summer outing in festivals, as well as select theaters with Well Go USA informing us directly that the film will open in select U.S. and Canadian theaters on August 10 (a correction issued following a Facebook post from Matti suggesting initally the film would open on August 15). The August 10 release will succeed from its World Premiere during the 17th annual New York Asian Film Festival which lasts from June 29 through July 15 as one of two Matti pics getting […]

Hey NYC! Celebrate VENGEANCE IS HIS: CHANG CHEH’S MARTIAL LORE At Quad Cinema Beginning May 23!

Lee B. Golden III

Further signaling the justice done by the American Genre Film Archive, New York City residents and kung fu fanatics will have the opportunity to endulge in a week-long entree of classic delights at the Quad Cinema for Vengeance is His: Chang Cheh’s Martial Lore. Co-presented by the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), the seven-day festivities kick off on May 23 through 29 with a list of up to 14 classic titles embodying the film life and legend of the celebrated filmmaker during his tenure at the iconic film studio. As the storied Shaw Brothers began to transform the Hong Kong film industry in the 1950s, a new golden age was on the horizon. At the vanguard of it was director Chang Cheh. The martial arts action in his movies was awe-inspiring—and so too was his career. “Prolific” barely does justice to a director who averaged a half-dozen movies annually during […]

Fantasia 2018: BLEACH, BUFFALO BOYS, ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, WILDERNESS And More Hail The First Wave!

Lee B. Golden III

July will see the full line-up of what this year’s feats at Fantasia Fest may bring. The first wave is here in the meantime and teasing a raft of high-energy titles including a number of Japanese live-action titles, animated features, horror and twisted, mindbending thrillers. Several big mentions worth noting are horror zombie musical Anna And The Apocalypse which got nabbed by Orion back in January for a late 2018 release and Sato Shinsuke’s highly anticipated manga adaptation, BLEACH. Mike Wiluan of Beyond Skyline fame will have his world premiere this summer with Buffalo Boys whose star I had the pleasure of interviewing last month. The first wave is now online and full detail. Stick around because this is only gonna get sicker! FANTASIA’S 22nd EDITION TO FEATURE THE INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE OF SHINSUKE SATO’S BLEACH, THE WORLD PREMIERE OF NIGHTMARE CINEMA, AND MORE! World Premieres of the stunning Indonesian Western […]

EAST WINDS FILM FEST 2018: ‘Loi Bao’, ‘Gonjiam’, ‘The Liquidator’ And More!

Lee B. Golden III

It was back in late March that we shared word of Victor Vu’s spectacular action sci-fi superhero thriller, Loi Bao, for its day-one kick off for the sixth East Winds Film Festival. As of this weekend, the official line-up is being hailed with Vu himself sustaining a commanding presence for attendees. Last year’s event was especially a milestone for Parkpoom Wongpoom whose drama film, Kitarajanipon received the 2017 East Winds Audience Award. The festival has been alive and running since 2011, raising awareness for rare Asisn cinema in the UK and as a prolific stage for East Asian cinema and cultures, and in the good graces of renowned filmmakers such as Clifton Ko, Herman Yau and Miki Satoshi. The festival runs from Monday, April 30 through Friday, May 4. Check out the line-up! 5 WORLD FESTIVAL PREMIERES. 7 EUROPEAN PREMIERES. 3 UK PREMIERES. 1 SPECIAL SCREENING. East Winds Film Festival, […]

JAPAN SOCIETY NYC Honors Late Legendary Cinematographer Miyagawa Kazuo Next Month

Lee B. Golden III

In the midst of the 20th century, noted cinematographer Miyagawa Kazuo left a body of work in Japanese cinema now celebrated by film fans to date. Such festivities are now the center of a retrospective courtesy of Japan Society Film in association with The Museum Of Modern Art with a raft of classic titles to be prsented in respective 4K and 35mm formats. In celebration of the 110th anniversary of his birth, Japan Society presents an 11-film retrospective surveying the work of Kazuo Miyagawa (1908-1999), the most influential cinematographer of postwar Japanese cinema. Working intimately with directors like Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Kon Ichikawa on some of their most important films, Miyagawa pushed Japanese cinema to its highest artistic peaks through his lyrical, innovative and technically flawless camerawork. This career-spanning selection displays his great versatility, including major masterpieces and rarely shown titles, screening in 35mm and new digital restorations. […]

SWEETER THAN BITTERSWEET: Friday Night Dining With Some Of The UASE’s Best

Lee B. Golden III

Ever hear the one joke about the New Yorker and the Canadian? …Nah, me neither! It’s not easy as I’m writing this on a crisp, chilly Saturday morning while at work again. Granted, it’s neither the cold nor is it the usual next-day recovery period from loss of sleep. Rather, it’s more perfunctory in that I’m lucky if I get to be in a room at least once or twice a year with as many like-minded people as I got to last night at the Times Square Diner And Grill in wake of all happening at this year’s fifth annual Urban Action Showcase & Expo. Indeed, it took a little help whilst planning a gathering of what I expected initially to be a handful of maybe ten people plus a few local friends, and with the help of D.L. MacDonald, a stuntman freshly in from Canada wearing, of all things, […]

Hey New York City! Get Metrograph Tickets For ICHI THE KILLER In 4K Restoration Now!

Lee B. Golden III

Get ready to embrace the craziness once more in a complete 4K restoration of Miike Takashi’s cult manga adaptation, Ichi The Killer. Tickets are available for the film’s opening this Friday and over the weekend at the Metrograph in New York City courtesy of Well Go USA who are also readying a wider release thereafter. Searching for his missing boss and a lot of missing money through the channels of the seedy underworld, Kakihara (Tadanobu Asano), a sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer, more than meets his match in the form of the mysterious Ichi (Nao Ohmori), a shy, sexually-repressed lad who, when enraged, becomes a virtuoso of creative slaughter. Miike’s manic manga adaptation was a phenomenon, appalling audiences around the world, and may never be topped for the sheer variety of ways that it presents to pulverize the human body. Asano Tadanobu and Omori Nao lead the cast for the controversial cult […]

Fumihiko Sori’s FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST To Close Anime NYC 2017!

Lee B. Golden III

The time is nearly upon those who plan on attending Anime NYC’s inaugural three-day spectacle kicking off on November 17 at the Javits Center in New York City. Closing out the event is an early premiere of Fumihiko Sori’s new film, Fullmetal Alchemist, which will mark the film’s debut U.S. screening ahead of its general theatrical release in Japan on December 1. The film takes off from the pages of Arakawa Hiromu’s longstanding manga set in a time where alchemy, one of the world’s most advanced sciences, also bares its share of controversy. Such is the case of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, ill-fated in an attempt to revive their deceased mother and forced to suffer a terrible sacrifice before setting out on a turbulent quest for a mythological Philosopher Stone to restore alchemical balance to the world. Ryosuke Yamada (Edward Elric), Tsubasa Honda (Winry Rockbell), Dean Fujioka (Roy […]

BEYOND SKYLINE: Liam O’Donnell’s Sci-Fi Action Sequel Scores Multi-Platform U.K. Releases This Winter

Lee B. Golden III

Signature Entertainment has dibs for the upcoming U.K. release of Liam O’Donnell’s long-awaited sci-fi sequel, Beyond Skyline. A Digital HD release is in tow for December 15 followed by Blu-Ray and DVD on January 8, 2018 while the best and earliest place UK fans can screen the film will be at the Horror Channel Fright Fest on October 28, provided that tickets are still available! In the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2010 breakout blockbuster hit SKYLINE, tough-as-nails detective Mark (THE PURGE star Frank Grillo) embarks on a relentless pursuit to free his embittered rebellious son Trent (INSURGENT/ALLEGIANT star Johnny Weston) from a nightmarish alien warship as the extraterrestrial menace continues its human harvest. Set concurrently with the original sci-fi shocker, with Mark and Trent trapped on a subway train as the intergalactic invasion begins, THE RAID franchise martial arts star Iko Uwais joins the thrilling turbo-charged action adventure as a […]

GARO: KAMI NO KIBA: Catch The Trailer For Amemiya Keita’s New Chapter In The Toku Franchise

Lee B. Golden III

Tokusatsu auteur Amemiya Keita continues onward with the longstanding popularity of the Garo franchise. The latest iteration now heads to the big screen with a 2018 release for Garo: Kami No Kiba which continues the story left off from the original Garo series in 2005 with actors Kuriyama Wataru, Ikeda Junya, Aoki Tsunenori and Inoue Masahiro starring. The Garo franchise is a wide-spanning one that branches out with a number of stories and characters but don’t fret if you’re interested in catching up; Among swarms of other inbound film and TV products, Section23’s genre film licensing shingle, Kraken, has since nabbed U.S. rights to the original hit series and will release it on Blu-Ray on October 17. Garo: Kami No Kiba will first get its world premiere at this year’s 30th Tokyo International Film Festival which kicks off on October 25 through November 3. An official date remains pending but the […]

SAMURAI JACK: THE PREMIERE MOVIE EVENT: Fathom Event Teases The Ultimate Theatrical Fan Experience Set For October 16

Lee B. Golden III

If you can help clearing your schedule for October 16 and you’re a fan of Genndy Tartakovsky’s hit animated brainchild, Samurai Jack, you may be in for an exclusive treat. Fathom Events is holding the Ultimate Fan Experience with Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie Event only on the aforementioned date at 7:00 p.m. local time, remastered in high definition with exclusive extras from Samurai Jack: The Complete Series Box Set and for attending fans along with other surprises. “Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie Event” follows a young Samurai after he is sent to the future by the evil wizard, Aku. Determined to undo his destruction, Jack sets off on a daring journey to return to the past and defeat Aku once and for all. Gathering allies and combating other villains along the way, Jack battles to accomplish his mission and restore the peace of the past. The screening takes place […]

LEAFF 2017: The New Festival Trailer Tick-Tocks With A Beautiful, Bizzare And Brutal Mix

Lee B. Golden III

The second installation of the London East Asian Film Festival is about to go down on October 19 with its own fair array of delights. Its current line-up is listed in several interesting categories for its focus on films of today with a few classics thrown in, spanning several genres in long and shortform. A closer gander at the programme reveals The Fortress as its opening nighter followed by a director’s cut of Ryoo Seung-Wan’s Battleship Island, Chang’s Reset, Park Hoon-Jung’s VIP, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster and Kitano Takeshi’s festival closer Outrage Coda (a.k.a. Outrage: Final Chapter) to name a few. More entries are also pending so attendees may very well be in for a treat when they arrive at any of the London venues listed below. Watch the festival trailer announcement below and read the full presser just beneath, and be sure to visit the official website for […]

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, KUBO, GODZILLA And More In The Trailer For The 30th Tokyo International Film Festival

Lee B. Golden III

The 30th Tokyo International Film Festival is gearing up for a spectacular presentation of its line-up. Films like Fumihiko Sori’s upcoming December release of manga adaptation, Fullmetal Alchemist, as well as screenings of Chen Kaige’s sprawling fantasy, Legend Of The Demon Cat, Travis Knight’s Kubo And The Two Strings, Hara Keiichi’s 2015 anime movie, Miss Houksai, and Steve Soderbergh’s crime comedy, Logan Lucky, are just a morsel of what attendees can expect when the fest launches on October 25. The festival will also feature a poignant tribute screening of Honda Ishiro’s 1954 monster classic, Godzilla, with a special concert performance by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra – an opportune homage for fans in the wake of the recent passing of the film’s original suit actor, Nakajima Haruo. The Toyko International Film Festival has plenty more details listed at its official website.

BEYOND FEST 2017: 12 Days Of Classic Hit Niche Delight With Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, Argento And More In Attendance

Lee B. Golden III

Los Angeles’s biggest genre film festival is readying its slate for 12 days of celebrity and hit cinema with a variety of titles spanning fifty years of film fandom. Such is what will ensue on September 29 at the American Cinematheque for this year’s Beyond Fest with tickets on sale beginning Thursday, and all one could look forward to in films we’ve either grown up with in action and horror, to titles newly being discovered. Such films include Jean-Claude Van Damme classic, Double Impact as well as the first two episodes of upcoming Amazon series, Jean-Claude Van Johnson, Schwarzenegger hit thriller The Running Man, Cambodian action romp, Jailbreak, Ted Geohegan’s new thriller, Mohawk and so much more. Not for nothing either with a raft of slated appearances by the likes of Van Damme and Schwarzenegger themselves, in addition to Vince Vaughn seeing to the premiere of RLJE Films’s most recent […]