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 →

If you don’t live in any of the major North American movie markets like New York or L.A., you might not even realize that Chinese-language films like The Viral Factor and Love in the Buff have received a theatrical release over here. All the same, website Chinese Films reports that these foreign films are doing quite well at the US box office. China Lion’s Milt Barlow says: “Audiences are looking … Continue reading →

This is officially labelled ‘coolest movie I hadn’t even heard of until today.’ 24 Frames Per Second linked the trailer and some great character posters for the upcoming Chinese action/thriller An Inaccurate Memoir. Not much is known about the film despite the fact that it opens in China on April 28, but if you watch the trailer it speaks for itself. Vicious bank robbers, sweaty tough guys, cute school girls … Continue reading →

This week is a bit light on Asian releases but the other genres should offer something for everyone. Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 4/17/12: ASIAN CINEMA Late Spring (Blu-ray) – the Critertion Collection brings Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s 1949 black-and-white masterpiece to Blu-ray After the Banquet (DVD) – Pathfinder Pictures presents this 2009 Korean romantic drama about a wedding disrupted by the appearance of … Continue reading →

The Hong Kong Film Awards will be held tomorrow, April 15th, at the Hong Kong Cultural Center. In preparation of the event, website Chinese Films has an article lamenting the fact that it is increasingly difficult for new talent to make waves in the Hong Kong film industry. The article makes notice that many of the filmmakers nominated for the Best Director award – like Tsui Hark, Ann Hui, and … Continue reading →

The Korean film industry has been putting out game-changing thrillers on a regular basis, with no signs of slowing down. In Korean theaters this March is Helpless, a thriller based on the novel All She Was Worth by Japanese author Miyuki Miyabe, who is known as the Queen of Crime Fiction. The story follows a detective who is approached by a man to help locate his missing fiance’. As the … Continue reading →

The Hollywood Reporter gives word that Gemma Arterton is close to starring in a new film called The Wright Girls from Relativity Media. The article pays mention that the film is a dark comedy “inspired” by the Japanese film 2LDK. So I guess you don’t have to pay for remake rights if you claim you’re only riffing on the source material? This version of the 2LDK story comes from Easy A screenwriter … Continue reading →

The static on your TV might not just be bad reception – that evil little girl from Ringu and The Ring is back. Based on the forthcoming novel from original Ringu author Koji Suzuki, Sadako 3D is a 3D horror film continuing the tragic tale of Sadako, the long-haired ghost with a penchant for climbing out of wells. Sadako 3D hits Japanese cinemas on May 15th but for now we … Continue reading →