Website Chinese Films reports that the China Film Directors’ Guild Awards recently took place on April 8th in Beijing. The action-comedy Let the Bullets Fly ended up making a big impression at the star-studded event. The 2011 film, starring Chow Yun Fat, earned director Jiang Wen a Best Director award. Chow Yun Fat’s co-star, Ge You, took home the Best Actor trophy. Director Jiang Wen said, “I treasure this award very … Continue reading →

Hopefully you have a taste for Japanese exploitation/grindhouse-style flicks as that’s mostly what’s on the agenda for this week. Without further adieu, here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 4/10/12: ASIAN CINEMA Female Convict Scorpion (Blu-ray) – Tokyo Shock brings this 2008 Japanese exploitation flick to hi-def True Story of a Women in Jail: Sex Hell (DVD) – well, that title kind of says it all, doesn’t it? Unrated … Continue reading →

The 2011 French action-thriller Sleepless Night has garnered rave reviews online, with some critics even dubbing it ‘Die Hard in a nightclub.’ The film follows a disgraced police detective out to save his young son’s life by returning some stolen drugs to a mob boss. The drug deal is set to take place in the boss’ swank club but everything that can go wrong, does go wrong and it ends … Continue reading →

The first three months of 2012 set a new record for box office earnings in China, according to the website Chinese Films. Domestic titles like Tony Leung’s The Magician and the romantic comedy LOVE earned high grosses, however no Chinese films managed to reach 200 million yuan in sales. In comparison, the Hollywood blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol has bagged a whopping 647 million yaun – and is still being … Continue reading →

Nightfall is a 2012 Hong Kong murder mystery from director Roy Chow (2009’s Aaron Kwok thriller Murderer). The film features a host of familiar faces including Nick Cheung (The Stool Pigeon), Simon Yam (Full Contact), and Michael Wong (Knock Off), as well as Shawn Dou, Janice Man, and Kay Tse. The story is about a hardened detective investigating the death of a Hong Kong celebrity. As he digs deeper, he … Continue reading →

There are literally no live-action Asian movies releasing this week, and that ain’t no April Fool’s joke. Disappointing, but I guess we’ve just got to move on and hop that next week is more promising. Regardless, we get “Chinatown” on Blu-ray for the first time so that’s something to celebrate. Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 4/3/12: ASIAN CINEMA Howl’s Moving Castle (Blu-ray) – we … Continue reading →

Guns N’Roses is a curious title for a movie, no doubt about that, but when the action looks this fierce we can give the filmmakers a break. The alternate title for director Ning Hao’s upcoming Chinese heist movie is A Big Gold Robbery. The film is set in the 1930’s, when the Japanese army had set up a puppet state in Manchukuo, and follows a ragtag group who plans to … Continue reading →

If your day needs a little pick me up, hop on over to Beyond Hollywood for the (NSFW) trailer to Lionsgate’s forthcoming direct-to-DVD action flick Black Cobra. The film stars three time “Martial Arts Hall of Fame” inductee T.J. Storm (Punisher: War Zone) as a man out to raise enough cash to get his father out of prison before the old man is murdered by gangs. In the process T.J. … Continue reading →

It’s a bit of a light week but there are plenty of highlights, whether it’s Van Damme on Blu-ray, Chow Yun Fat stepping into the shoes of Confucius, or a slick action flick all the way from France. Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 3/27/12: ASIAN CINEMA Confucius (Blu-ray/DVD) – Chow Yun Fat stars as the famous philosopher in a more action-packed kind of biopic, … Continue reading →

There are no English subtitles in this new trailer for the forthcoming Korean crime thriller, Over My Dead Body. But guess what? I don’t need a translation to know that this looks like one wild and interesting film. It also stars one of my favorite Korean actors, Ryu Seung-beom (The Unjust, No Mercy). He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t even know how to turn in a bad performance. The … Continue reading →

The Chinese film industry continues its love affair with the horror genre with the forthcoming movie, Desert Island. Find out what happens when a group of old college friends stage their reunion on a yacht, only to have it shipwrecked on a remote island. Not only do they have to deal with dwindling food supply and tensions within the group, but it looks like someone may be stalking them on … Continue reading →

Forgive the convoluted headline. It just means that Kim Hyeong-joon-I, the director of No Mercy – a 2010 Korean thriller currently streaming on Netflix Instant in HD – is back with a new film. Titled The Scent, the movie is about a private investigator who faces a personal and professional crisis when his wife wants to leave him for another man and he’s framed for a murder he didn’t commit. … Continue reading →

We’re totally on time and kicking ass with this week’s new releases list. Get ready for “Battle Royale,” Bruce’sploitation, and more serial killers than you can shake a stick at. Are you ready? Here are your Blu-ray and DVD new releases for the week of 3/20/12: ASIAN CINEMA Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (Blu-ray/DVD) – the director’s cuts and theatrical cuts of both “Battle Royale” and “Battle Royale II,” in … Continue reading →