Author Archives: Justin

Asian Cinema at the Sydney Film Festival 2013

Sydney Film Festival

Festival season is upon us again, and this year’s Sydney Film Festival released their full programme a couple of weeks ago. SFF always includes a pretty serious cohort of Asian films, and this year is no different! I’ve put together a quick roundup of the feature films from the East on show this year.

You’ll find schedule info, trailers and more information on the SFF’s official site — don’t forget to book your tickets early, as the popular films always(read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Miracle in Cell No. 7′ (South Korea)

Miracle in Cell No. 7 (Poster)

Arriving this week in cinemas via Dream Movie is South Korean film Miracle in Cell No. 7. It looks like a feel-good family comedy, but with a rather unusual setup: the wrongful imprisonment of a mentally-challenged man for murder.

The film stars Ryoo Seung-ryong and Park Shin-hye, and has done very well domestically — it’s number three for all-time box office in Korea right now, with more than twelve million tickets sold.

Here’s a trailer:

It’s screening at the … (read more)

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Wu Dang (2012)

Wu Dang

An entertaining, family-friendly mishmash of martial arts picture and Indiana Jones-style treasure hunt, Wu Dang shows off some serious talent both in front of and behind the camera, coupled with a stunning setting way up amongst the Taoist temples in the Wudang Mountains.

Vincent Zhao returns to the role of leading man after 2010′s True Legend, which was his first cinema appearance in quite some time, after spending most of the decade prior in television in Hong Kong and … (read more)

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Giveaway: ‘Tai Chi 0′ on DVD and Blu-Ray (Closed)

Tai Chi 0

It’s time for another giveaway, and this time courtesy of Icon Film Distribution we’ve got ten copies of Tai Chi 0, the first film in the series of Chinese 3D period actioners from from Stephen Fung. After this film, we got the less frenetic Tai Chi Hero, and there is apparently a planned third film in the works, Tai Chi Summit.

We here at HC rather enjoyed these quirky steampunk-influenced flicks, and if you missed catching them … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Drug War’ (China/HK)

Drug War

According to distributor Dream Movie’s Twitter and Facebook feeds, we’re getting an Aussie cinema release of HC favourite Johnnie To’s newest film, Drug War on this Thursday, April 18.

(‘War’ titles seem to be coming across my desk a lot lately, actually — we’ve had Cold War and Silent War just recently, too!)

This one’s a bit of a watershed film, since it’s To’s first film in the genre we love him for — Milkyway Image’s neon-splattered crime films — … (read more)

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Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons (2013)

Journey to the West 3D

From Melbourne With Love

A survey of the modest collection of obsolete optical media in my apartment reveals 32 Stephen Chow titles, a ratio of at least 5:1 over any other actor or director. Rather than being an irrelevant humblebrag on my part, this elucidates the fact that there is a global audience for Hong Kong’s popular cinema and — more importantly — Chow, whom I still consider its shining star. My take on his most recent film, Journey to (read more)

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Melbourne: Asian Cinema at the MQFF

MQFF 14-24 March 2013

The good people at the Melbourne Queer Film Festival have gotten in touch and let me know that they’ve got a few Asian films on this year’s program, amongst quite a large collection of films from all over the world. The festival starts this week, running from 14-24 March, and here’s what I can see on the program from Asia (with links to their synopses and ticketing info):

Two Weddings and a Funeral
2012, South Korea, directed by Kim Jho … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Journey to the West’ (China, 3D)

Journey to the West 3D

Five years after CJ7, Stephen Chow returns to our screens with a new film as writer/co-director, and he’s returning to familiar territory!

Journey to the West: Conquering The Demons is another adaptation/interpretation of Journey To The West, the classical Chinese epic; familiar to all Australians lucky enough to grow up with the much-loved Japanese TV series Monkey. It’s ground Chow has covered before, in Jeff Lau’s two first Chinese Odyssey films — back when I first joined … (read more)

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