"Shield of Straw" Teaser Poster

Fresh off a turn in the dark cult drama I’m Flash, popular actor Fujiwara Tatsuya continues to tackle challenging roles. Although he’s most well known for his part in Battle Royale and Death Note, it appears that Tatsuya is looking to carve a name for himself as a serious thespian. His latest is titled Shield of Straw and arrives from none other than acclaimed director Takashi Miike.

The grim drama follows a confessed child killer as he is being transported by police across the country for a trial. The only trouble is, one of his victim’s grandfathers has put out a $12 million bounty on Tatsuya’s head – kinda like the scene in The Dark Knight where the Joker tells Gotham City to take out that Wayne Enterprises employee before he reveals Batman’s identity.

Shield of Straw hits Japanese theaters in Spring 2013. In the meantime, hop on over to Twitch Film for the teaser trailer and a clip.

"Back to 1942" International Poster

China Lion Film Distribution will release the Feng Xiaogang epic Back to 1942 on November 30th throughout the U.S. and Canada, day-and-date with its planned Chinese Mainland release. The film, based on the bestselling Chinese novel Remembering 1942 by Liu Zhengyun, revolves around the devastating famine that ravaged the Henan province while Nationalists and Japanese troops fought during World War II. The film stars a cast of well-known Chinese stars including Xu Fan, Zhang Guoli, Chen Daoming, Zhang Mo and Zhang Hanyu as well as Academy Award winners Adrien Brody (The Piano) and Tim Robbins (Mystic River).

China Lion Film will initially release the film throughout the U.S. and Canada in limited release throughout major North American metro areas of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington, D.C., and Vancouver on November 30th. The film will open in Chicago and Seattle on the 7th of December, with future bookings to be announced.

China Lion Film is planning special advance screenings on November 27th in both Vancouver and Toronto for press and selected members of the public. Locations for special advance screenings in the U.S. will be announced. Watch the official trailer at Apple or Youtube.

Cityonfire.com received the above press release from China Lion on November 14th, 2012.

"Swelter" Teaser Poster

According to sources – including The Film Catalogue and the folks at vandammefan.net – Jean-Claude Van Damme is set to star in an action movie titled Swelter, which will be directed by Keith Parmer (Mob Rules). The film will also star Dermot Mulroney, Lennie James, Alfred Molina, Josh Henderson and Catalina Sandino Moreno.

Swelter centers on four violent escaped prisoners arriving in a dusty, small California town where the heat is unbearable and everyone knows each other’s business. The escaped convicts are in search of the fifth man who fled with over $10 million in cash.

According to imdb.com, many of the above cast members, including Van Damme, are not credited. But according to The Film Catalogue, Swelter is still on, currently in pre-production, and is set for release in 2013. Van Damme is currently wrapping up Enemies Closer, which reunites him with Peter Hyams (Time Cop).

Check back with cityonfire.com for more updates regarding this project.

Painted Skin: The Resurrection Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

This is one heck of an eclectic week, that sees a couple of high-profile Asian film releases, the Blu-ray edition of “Lawrence of Arabia,” numerous Blu-ray Triple Features, and more. If you’re interested in any of these titles, you can support the site by ordering through our affiliate. We appreciate it!

Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 11/13/12:

ASIAN CINEMA

Painted Skin: The Resurrection (Blu-ray/DVD) – Well Go USA brings this 2012 visually lush Chinese fantasy to North America. Expect our review tomorrow

Silmido (The Basters) (DVD) – one of the most successful Korean films of all time finally sees a Region 1 DVD release. The 2003 film follows a group of North Korean infiltrators in the late 60’s tasked with assassinating the South Korean President

Big Tits Zombie (DVD) – with a title like that, what more can I say? This 2010 Japanese zombie splatterflick hits retail on Tuesday

Slave Ship (DVD) – the Japanese sexploitation continues with this 2012 effort about a S&M ‘pleasure’ cruise

FOREIGN CINEMA

Trilogy of Life (The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, Arabian Nights) (Blu-ray/DVD) – the Criterion Collection presents this trilogy of films about premodern literature from legendary Italian filmmaker Pier Pasolini (director of “Salo”)

Weekend (Blu-ray/DVD) – your friends at the Criterion Collection give the hi-def treatment to director Jean-Luc Godard’s 1967 film, long considered one of his finest efforts

Zorro (Blu-ray/DVD) – French superstar Alain Delon brings the swashbuckling hero to life in this 1975 adaptation

A Burning Hot Summer (DVD) – two couples find their love tested to the extreme in this 2011 film anchored by French stars Monica Belluci and Louis Garrel

Asylum (AKA I Want to Be a Gangster) (DVD) – a 2008 independent, French-language gangster film, courtesy of Synapse Films

Offenbach’s Secret (DVD) – a 2012 German and French-language examination of composer Jacques Offenbach

Schoolgirl Report #9: Mature Before Graduation… (DVD) – Impulse Pictures presents a little German sexploitation with this 1975 film

MAINSTREAM

Savages (Blu-ray/DVD) – Oliver Stone tackles the drug trade in this gritty 2012 crime drama

Brave (Blu-ray/DVD) – the 2012 family-friendly adventure from Pixar animation, now on home formats

Empire of the Sun (Blu-ray) – a very young Christian Bale made his big screen debut in this 1987 film from Steven Spielberg

Watchmen Collector’s Edition: Ultimate Cut + Graphic Novel (Blu-ray) – receive Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ groundbreaking graphic novel as well as Zack Snyder’s feature film in its ‘Ultimate Cut’ form

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Blu-ray) – the 1989 cult classic that helped launch the career of Keanu Reeves lands in hi-def

Snowmageddon (Blu-ray/DVD) – mysterious natural disasters begin to strike in Alaska in this 2011 flick starring Michael Hogan

Children Who Chase Lost Voices (Blu-ray/DVD) – a full-length anime feature from the acclaimed creator of “Voices Of a Distant Star” and “5 Centimeters Per Second”

Dark Horse (Blu-ray/DVD) – this 2012 unsettling indie drama is the latest from shock master Todd Solondz (“Welcome to the Doll House”)

RE-RELEASES

Ocean’s Eleven / Ocean’s Twelve / Ocean’s Thirteen (Triple Feature) (Blu-ray) – all of Steven Soderbergh’s star-studded pictures, together at an affordable $19.29 price point

Superman: The Movie / Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut / Superman Returns (Blu-ray) – Richard Donner’s first two Superman classics, alongside Bryan Singer’s revamp of the caped hero

American History X / A History of Violence / True Romance (Triple Feature) (Blu-ray) – an interesting mash-up of titles, together on Blu-ray

16 Blocks / Last Boy Scout / Last Man Standing (Blu-ray) – Bruce Willis headlines this Triple Feature of action flicks in hi-def

2001: A Space Odyssey / Clockwork Orange / Shining (Blu-ray) – three films directed by Stanley Kubrick on one Blu-ray disc

The Lost Boys / Lost Boys: The Tribe / Lost Boys: The Thirst (Blu-ray) – what do you know, the “Lost Boys” series actually spawned two sequels and here they are

House of Wax / Return to House on Haunted Hill/ Ghost Ship (Blu-ray) – three low-budget horror flicks on one Blu-ray

CLASSICS

Lawrence of Arabia (Restored Version) (Blu-ray/DVD) – director David Lean’s 1962 award-winning epic finally receives the hi-def treatment

Barbarian & the Geisha (Blu-ray + DVD combo) – John Wayne headlines this 1958 picture, directed by John Huston

Big Trail (Blu-ray) – a very young John Wayne stars in this 1930 epic, one of the few Widescreen films made at the dawn of ‘Talkies’

Twilight’s Last Gleaming (Blu-ray/DVD) – Burt Lancaster stars in this movie from the director of “The Dirty Dozen,” about a group of men who hold America hostage from a nuclear base

HORROR

The Fantasist (DVD) – Katrina’s Nightmare Theater presents this obscure 1986 horror flick from the director of the original “Wicker Man”

5 Dark Souls (15th Anniversary Special Edition) (DVD) – this 1996 horror movie chronicles a group of high school students who decide to murder someone on camera just to see what it feels like

The Definitive Document of the Dead (DVD) – Synapse Films presents this behind the scenes documentary of George R. Romero and his many zombie films

Interested in any of these movies? If so, we hope that you’ll consider ordering from our affiliate to help support this site. Thank you!

"The Assassins" Chinese Theatrical Poster

Cityonfire.com has received the following press release from Well Go USA:

Martial Arts Superstar Chow Yun-Fat Returns

THE ASSASSINS

Yifei Liu and Hiroshi Tamaki Also Star in

Director Linshan Zhao’s Historical Drama

Debuting on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital January 8^th

Bonus Materials Include a Behind-the-Scenes Featurette

Details:

Legendary action hero Chow Yun-Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Dragonball: Evolution) tackles his most demanding role yet in Director Linshan Zhao’s action-adventure film THE ASSASSINS, debuting on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital January 8^th from Well Go USA Entertainment. Also starring Yifei Liu (White Vengeance) and Hiroshi Tamaki (Heavenly Forest), the lavish historical action drama is set inthe Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history and focuses on Han Dynasty warlord Cao Cao (Chow Yun-Fat) in his latter years, as he explores the areas of military tactics, love, and the relationship between father and son. Bonus materials in a behind-the-scenes featurette.

Synopsis:

During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao stands as the last pillar of power preventing the collapse of the Han throne. Emperor Xian, who sits on that throne, cares more about music and poems than his own power. But behind the Emperor’s disinterest, rumors that Cao Cao wants the throne for himself have driven Emperor Xian to plot Cao Cao’s assassination, a plan that’s been years in the making. An ancient prophecy states that when the four elemental start to align, a new dynasty will arise, and in 221 A.D., they do. With the weakened government and impending omen, Cao Cao has enemies everywhere, and they all want him dead. Someone has been abducting the children of Cao Cao’s dead enemies and training them to be assassins. In 221, they are grown, and sent to infiltrate Bronze Sparrow Tower. When the four stars align over Bronze Sparrow Tower, the struggle for Cao Cao’s life begins …

Bonus Features:
–  Behind the Scenes
–  Trailer

THE ASSASSINS has a runtime of approximately 103 minutes and is not rated