This Thursday, April 19th, the Cannes Film Festival announces its official lineup for 2012. A few days later, the film selection at the independent Directors’ Fortnight will be revealed. Website Film Business Asia speculates whether the new curator, Edouard Waintrop, will showcase any Mainland Chinese films at the Directors’ Fortnight. The article laments the fact that, in the past, the Cannes Film Festival has favored independent Chinese cinema to the … Continue reading →

Design of Death looks to be one of the most difficult to categorize Chinese movies on the horizon. Billed as a dark and absurd comedy, the film is based off the novel by Chen Tiejun and chronicles what happens to a village outcast when he is trapped by his fellow townspeople in an elaborate death maze. Over at Chinese Films, you can scope out the first trailer. Design of Death … Continue reading →

Dark Castle Entertainment’s foray into action cinema continues with Stash House, a new pulse-pounding thriller starring action icon Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV, The Expendables). Sean Faris of Never Back Down fame stars as a young husband who thinks he’s just bought his wife the perfect home – secluded, fortified, and safe inside a gated community. They discover only too late that a large stash of heroin has been sequestered away … Continue reading →

Beyond Hollywood has the scoop on a disturbing new movie out of China/Singapore, called Hotel69. Director Oman Dhaz’s film looks to trade in the ultra-transgressive territory of pictures like A Serbian Film and Human Centipede. The trailer features plenty of NSFW imagery and even has a quote from Aristotle. Here’s the synopsis: “A psychopath pimp takes revenge on a man by luring him into a depraved brothel, where a sexual … Continue reading →

April is winding down but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of Blu-ray and DVDs to get excited about. So let’s get cracking! Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 4/24/12: ASIAN CINEMA Let the Bullets Fly (Blu-ray/DVD) – Well Go USA presents this smash hit 2011 Chinese-language action-comedy starring Chow Yun Fat and director/actor Jiang Wen. Imagine an ultra-bloody Chinese homage to spaghetti Westerns and … Continue reading →

The official lineup for the 2012 Cannes Film Festival was announced yesterday and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the list is a bit sparse when it comes to Asian films. Website Film Business Asia has previously examined the difficulty Chinese filmmakers face in making it into Cannes. Regardless, there are a few Asian or Asian-related movies to look forward to this May 16. IN COMPETITION In Another Country – Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s (Night … Continue reading →