nyaff 2022

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NYAFF 2022 Review: SHIN ULTRAMAN Delivers A Kaiju-Sized Good Time for Fans and Newcomers

The film follows the activities of Japanese Government organization “S-Class Species Suppression Protocol”, a task force dedicated to the elimination of kaiju threats, and primarily SSSP member Shinji Kaminaga (Takumi Saitoh), a strategy officer and former National Police Agency Security Bureau member. During an attack by one of these giant monsters, an unknown, silver humanoid giant appears and quickly dispatches the monster. Dubbed by one member of the team as “Ultraman”, the giant continues to appear to meet kaiju threats of escalating levels of danger. Through his regular disappearances during kaiju attacks, Shinji is quickly revealed to the viewers as Ultraman himself, wielding an alien technology called the Beta Capsule.

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NYAFF 2022 Review: Park Ri-Woong’s THE GIRL ON A BULLDOZER Piles On The Odds With Partial Catharsis

This year’s twentieth New York Asian Film Festival saw quite a few things happening, including for a few of its special guests this year – one of them them being actress Kim Hye-yoon, who has been on television for years leading up to her 2017 theatrical debut, Won Shin-yeon’s Memoir Of A Murderer. Her latest role in Park Ri-woong’s new drama, The Girl On A Bulldozer, has since earned her the Screen International Rising Star Asia Award for its premiere this summer at NYAFF following its world premiere at Busan last year, and its theatrical release in South Korea this past July.

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NYAFF 2022 Review: Shinji Higuchi’s SHIN ULTRAMAN Is One Of The Biggest, Most Deserving Fanfilms Ever Made

There’s a huge, extensive legacy to consider with the Ultraman franchise as it dates back to 1966, and the question of whether or not a studio can remake a classic property. As a Westerner, I can certainly speak for Hollywood’s intake of IPs whether homegrown or born abroad, and it’s been a rocky ride. With a film like Shin Ultraman, however, I can only ascertain its general success from its current box office reception following its theatrical Japan release back in May, and so to that end, I can only dive into this review as someone relatively new-ish to the franchise apart from my past consumption of Ameritoku and learning of its Super Sentai Origins and other Showa-era materials.

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NYAFF 2022 Review: Eiji Uchida’s OFFBEAT COPS, Practice, Practice, Practice!

Offbeat Cops is an original story written and directed by Eiji Uchida for his fourteenth film to date. It stars Hiroshi Abe as Tsukasa Naruse, a divorcee and hard-boiled detective on the verge of catching the elusive leader of a phishing ring that targets elderly people, violently invades them at home and robs them of any money or personal belongings before leaving their victims for dead. When the film starts, he’s so close to getting his man that he can taste it, and will go to just about any lengths necessary to catch the culprit, even if it means abusing his authority with suspects.

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NYAFF 2022 Review: MAMA BOY, A Visually Poetic Tale About Growing Pains

U.S.-born filmmaker Arvin Chen’s third feature is a profile in coming-of-age hardship amid family drama in Mama Boy, fresh out of Taiwan and currently circulating festivals abroad with its latest movement now at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival. Distribution Workshop is representing the film internationally per its announcement last year with a cast led by Tiny Times franchise actor Kai Ko, and actress Vivian Hsu following their last shared screen credit, Jeff Chang’s 2013 comedy, Machi Action.

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NYAFF 2022 Review: ONE AND FOUR Evens The Odds With Solid Direction

Anyone out here in the West looking to familiarize themselves with actor and poet Jinpa can do so with a few possible selections, including leading Tibetan auteur Pema Tseden’s sixth feature, Jinpa, as well as Zhang Yang’s 2016 adventure drama, Soul On A String. Otherwise, audiences are currently welcome to embrace the actor’s latest role in a searing new Chinese-Tibetan western noir from Tseden’s son, debut filmmaker Jigme Trinley in the form of One And Four, a film that squarely reunites the star with Tseden who produced the pic for its local release last year.

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NYAFF 2022 Review: LEGENDARY IN ACTION!, An Uplifting, Timely Ode To The Enduring Spirit Of Hong Kong Cinema

Films about filmmaking are always a welcome feat for consumers and festival audiences, both narrative features and documentaries alike. Screwball comedies like Bowfinger and Tropic Thunder, Jarod Crooks’ martial arts romp, Indie Guys, and even Soushi Matsumoto’s It’s A Summer Film! are among those that come to mind. Leave it now to co-helmers Li Ho and actor Justin Cheung as they make headway for their own outing with Legendary In Action!, serving as a humble profile of wuxia and Hong Kong cinema following the city’s sociopolitical unrest from 2019 and onward. Joining Cheung on screen are actresses Wiyona Yeung, Harriet Yeung and Buber Mak, and actors Jiro Lee and Lam Yiu-sing who each play a role in the events that arise in this newest artful drama from the far East now making the festival rounds globally.

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NYAFF 2022 Review: Jun Robles Lana’s BIG NIGHT, A Timely, Upbeat Satire Told Through A Grim, Gutpunch Lens

If there was ever a point of inspiration in world history for Filipino cinema, it’s definitely the era of former President Rodrigo Duterte whose tenure saw one of the most controversial and deadly anti-drug policies take effect. Such is the setting we are immersed in with award-winning filmmaker Jun Robles Lana’s newest release out of last year, Big Night, with a story that’s as equally delightful as it is terrifying given the backdrop.

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SHIN ULTRAMAN, THE KILLER, FULL STRIKE And More New And Classic Titles Heading Up The In-Person 2022 Edition Of The New York Asian Film Festival

The 20th edition of the New York Asian Film Festival is in full swing next month as a fully in-person event launching this July, after going virtual in 2020 and taking a hybrid route last year. The first wave of the festival’s full line-up is also now online with over 60 new and classic titles, including some exciting features that have arrived this year as well.

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