I’ve been following Todd Rigney’s coverage of the upcoming Chinese horror film Blood Stained Shoes over at Beyond Hollywood for a couple of reasons. One is that the Asian horror genre remains interesting, despite the countless Ringu knock-offs and American remakes it’s been forced to endure. Two is that Blood Stained Shoes stars Kara Hui, the martial arts icon famous for appearing in Shaw Brothers films like My Young Auntie … Continue reading →

Nunchuku is a new Mandarin-language martial arts film slated to hit Chinese theaters on March 2, 2012. It’s also a difficult film to bring you information on since not much has been written about it in English! From what Cityonfire.com has been able to gather, the picture is directed by and stars an actor named Chen Star. The film explores themes of honor, family, and loyalty, but also features Chen … Continue reading →

From the director of Torque, the 2004 Fast ‘n Furious clone that blew audience’s virgin minds with its video game cutscene-like special effects and blatant Mountain Dew advertising, comes Detention, one of the most buzzed about flicks at last year’s South By Southwest. The film is a self-aware, tongue-in-cheek parody of horror films that AICN described as a cross between Scott Pilgrim and Scream. Not much was heard about the … Continue reading →

Since No Country For Old Men author Cormac McCarthy sold his first spec script to Hollywood a few weeks ago, the project, titled The Counselor, has been on the fast track – and that’s putting it mildly. It didn’t take long before Blade Runner and Alien filmmaker Ridley Scott signed on to direct and today AICN reports that acclaimed actor Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class, Shame) is attached to the … Continue reading →

The 2012 Berlin Film Festival may have just wrapped a few days ago, with the Italian docudrama Caesar Must Die taking home the Golden Bear for Best Picture, but there’s no doubt that Chinese filmmakers made a strong impression at the international fest. Acclaimed director Zhang Yimou was on hand with star Christian Bale for his new film The Flowers of War, about the Nanking Massacre in 1937. The film … Continue reading →

For decades, China has allowed 20 “blockbuster” foreign films to be screened in its country year round. Last year, movies like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Transformers: Dark of the Moon ended up becoming breakout hits in the country, much to the chagrin of the Chinese government, who were hoping that historical pieces like Beginning of the Great Revival would garner higher ticket sales. Now it appears that … Continue reading →

It had to happen sometime. The Japanese horror genre appears to have gone all Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield on us with a new film titled POV ~Norowareta Film~. The good news is POV actually looks like it could be a lot of fun. The film just hit Japanese theaters on February 18th and Far East Films has the trailer. In the movie, two high school girls set out to … Continue reading →

It’s slim pickings this week as far as Asian cinema goes but, hey, there’s plenty for fans of global cinema and classic Hollywood films to enjoy. So let’s get cracking. Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 2/21/12: ASIAN CINEMA War of the Arrows (Blu-ray/DVD) – the biggest Korean box office sensation of 2011 comes to home formats courtesy of top Asian film distributor Well Go … Continue reading →

Now this has to be the strangest trailer I’ve seen in awhile. A micro-budgeted Japanese action flick called Beach Patrol Force: Cherry and Peach is on its way. It looks to follow the exploits of two female cops in short shorts who make sure the beaches of Japanese are safe and, if the occasion calls for it, team up with local police to take down drug dealers. Surprisingly, the trailer … Continue reading →

For decades, Roger Corman has been synonymous with low-budget but influential genre filmmaking. Through his production house he helped iconic American directors like James Cameron and Jonathan Demme get their start. Lately distributor Shout! Factory has been re-issuing many of Corman’s out-of-print films on blu-ray and DVD. Today several of these Roger Corman Cult Classics arrive streaming on Netflix. Celebrate the man, the legend, that is Roger Corman with these … Continue reading →