Heroic Cinema 3.0

The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2011)

Justin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:27:48 +0000

Remaking Hong Kong cinema’s greatest hits seems to have been all the rage lately. Last year we had Wilson Yip’s swing at remaking A Chinese Ghost Story and Tsui Hark’s second go at King Hu’s classic Dragon Inn. To be fair, Tsui’s Flying Swords of Dragon Gate ended up as more a sequel to New Dragon Gate Inn than a remake, and it was considerably more fun than I was expecting — I’ll write it up when I get … (read more)

Comics, Film and Anime at the Australian Cinémathèque, GoMA (QLD)

Deni — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:20:56 +0000

So, you know how I was saying there was going to be nothing to go see after the whole JFF, BIFF, GCFF Queensland film frenzy was over? Well, I was wrong, because from the 6th of January (that’s tomorrow, people!) the Australian Cinémathèque at the Gallery of Modern Art is starting a new programme – Drawn to Screen: Graphic Novels, Comics and Serials.

I’ll refrain from making too much fangirly noise but omg SO COOL. There’s going to be … (read more)

Arrietty (2010)

Deni — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:20:58 +0000

Arrietty, the most recent release from Studio Ghibli, is released in cinemas nation-wide on the 12th of Jan, 2012.

Recently, Studio Ghibli seems to have turned to more non-Japanese inspiration for their particular and delightful brand of animated features – Howl’s Moving Castle was based on books by British author Diana Wynne Jones and Tales from Earthsea was of course drawn from the series by American author Ursula Le Guin. In both cases, Ghibli saw in these stories something that … (read more)

KCO’s final film for 2011: ‘He’s on Duty’ (Sydney)

Justin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:18:39 +0000

Our friends at the Korean Cultural Office in Sydney (who ran this year’s fantastic KOFFIA festival) are showing their final film tomorrow (Thursday 22nd) evening in this year’s Cinema On The Park programme. It’s open to the public and free, so if you have the evening free, why not go along and check it out?

The film being played is 2010′s He’s On Duty, from director Yook Sang-hyo (Hi, Dharma 2, Iron Palm), a light-hearted comedy … (read more)

3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy (2011)

Elizabeth Kerr — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 22:37:56 +0000

(Ed: we don’t normally prepend a disclaimer to a review, but we just thought we’d warn you: Liz is pretty frank in this piece, and you should expect explicit discussion of, well, very explicit themes and the occasional spoiler. You are reading about a film titled ‘3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy’, after all!)

Pardon me for taking personal offense, but the question must be asked. Did anyone involved with the production of 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy… (read more) ever

Free tickets to ‘Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D’ (closed)

Justin — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:26:52 +0000

(Update — I’m all out. Thanks everyone!)

Thanks once again to Icon, I have five double passes to give away to Tsui Hark’s new wuxia/swordplay film Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D, which (as I mentioned yesterday) opens this week across Australia. Now’s your chance to get in to see Jet Li do his stuff for nothing!

The film is showing at the following cinemas:

NSW… (read more) – Hoyts Chatswood and Broadway, Event George Street and Macquarie, Greater Union

This week: ‘Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D’ in cinemas

Justin — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:50:43 +0000

OK, so the English-language title is a bit of a mouthful. Perhaps it’s inevitable, when we’re on the second remake; director Tsui Hark’s already taken a tilt at this story once, with 1992′s star-studded New Dragon Gate Inn. The original, King Hu’s Dragon Inn (1967) is a classic from a director whose influence on wuxia film is immense — we’re still seeing echoes from his films from the ’60s today.

Anyway, it’s a new Tsui Hark wuxia/swordplay film, and … (read more)

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Collection One (1985)

Tom — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:44:52 +0000

A little while ago I reviewed Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team for this very site. In that review, I expressed my concern that jumping into the Gundam franchise in the wrong way was likely to drive someone into a Lovecraftian madness. Continue reading →

‘Shanghai Space’ and ‘Mumbai Disconnected’, free screenings in Melbourne

Justin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:52:52 +0000

A quick update for Melbournians up for something interesting (and free!)

The good folks at MIFF are bringing a series of documentaries to the big screen in Federation Square on Thursday November 24, and the first two are films about Asian megacities that proved popular at MIFF 2010. We figured HC’s readership might be interested, so here’s the deal:

From 6:30pm to 8:30pm, they’re screening two of the Danish Cities on Speed documentaries. The first, Nanna Frank Møller’s Shanghai Space… (read more)

Space Battleship Yamato (2010)

Deni — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:56:24 +0000

You get what you pay for and in cinematic terms the currency, as everyone should know, is genre. If you go to see a big budget action movie, you should probably expect a big budget action movie and all that entails, and you really shouldn’t complain if you get it. In my opinion, it’s important to be clear on this concept; that way you don’t end up sitting behind me in the cinema making annoying pseudo-intellectual comments about a) the … (read more)

Life Without Principle (2011)

Justin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:52:55 +0000

Looking through our archives, it seems like almost everyone who’s ever written for Heroic Cinema has sat down at a keyboard to bash out a review of a Johnnie To film at one time or another. Ching Yee compared films from Milkyway Image to comfort food in her review of My Left Eye Sees Ghosts, and she’s right — To’s films have developed a distinctive style and consistently high level of quality over the years, and I always look … (read more)

Vampire (2010)

Elizabeth Kerr — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:00:46 +0000

Leave it to Japanese auteur Iwai Shunji to find a way around the ongoing moony-eyed romantic vampire craze as it’s defined by Twilight. Simply titled Vampire, the vampirism of Iwai’s English-language debut exists in its own world as it were, one that’s rooted in reality more than the fantasy tropes of stakes through the heart, aversion to garlic and turning into the undead if bitten — and of course sparkling! Vampire hinges on a 28-year-old high school biology … (read more)

Johnnie To’s ‘Life Without Principle’ in cinemas

Justin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:33:44 +0000

John reminded me that Heroic favourite Johnnie To (Election, The Mission, much more besides) has a new film that’s in Australian cinemas — but it’s a quick run, so get your skates on if you want to catch it!

Life Without Principle stars Lau Ching Wan, Denise Ho, Richie Ren and Myolie Wu in a timely crime drama set in today’s Hong Kong. A policeman, a banker and a small-time hood each have their own financial difficulties, … (read more)

JFF, BIFF & GCFF: November movie madness in QLD

Deni — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:32:16 +0000

Bloody hell, the November cinema scene up here in Queensland has gone a little crazy!

First up early in the month, the Japan Film Festival is happening around the country, and sure, we don’t get a lot to choose from comparatively speaking, but what we do get is worth leaving the house for – Studio Ghibli’s Arrietty, based on The Borrowers; live action extravaganza Space Battleship Yamato (come on, it’s a battleship in space that shoots a laser … (read more)

The Fantastic Asia Film Festival comes to Melbourne

Justin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:34:28 +0000

Melbournians take heed! A new festival is coming to town, and it’s bringing with it four days of Asian film that run the gamut of cult and genre cinema: from their opener, Nishimura’s zombie splatter film Helldriver, to low-budget Filipino ghost/horror flicks Altar and Yanggaw. They’ve packed a huge number of films into the Cinema Nova in Carlton over four days, starting on the 10th of November.

You’ll find the complete lineup and session times at their website… (read more)

Free tickets to ‘The Sorcerer and the White Snake’ (Closed)

Justin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:32:00 +0000

(Update: we’re all out, I’m afraid. Thanks, everyone!)

Tony Ching Siu-tung’s The Sorcerer and the White Snake, starring Jet Li, hits Australian cinemas nationwide this Thursday, and Icon have sent me five double passes to give away!

If you’d like one, head on over to the Contact Us page and get in touch. Make sure you include a postal address, otherwise I’ll have nowhere to send it!

The film is a big-budget adaptation of the classical Chinese Legend of … (read more)

Free tickets to ‘My Kingdom’ (Closed)

Justin — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:33:05 +0000

(Update: I’m all out — Thanks everyone who got in touch!)

Courtesy of Icon, I have five free double passes to give away for My Kingdom, which opened nationally last Thursday and should run until at least the 22nd.

All you have to do is check that you can get to one of the cinemas screening the film, and then get in touch with us via the Contact Us page. The first five people to drop me a line … (read more)

13 Assassins (2010)

Tom — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:32:35 +0000

13 Assassins begins with a man committing seppuku. He preformed this act to bring attention to Lord Naritsugu a somewhat vile and sadistic man. This will not be the only bloody death before this tale ends. Continue reading →

September in Cinemas

Justin — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 09:42:47 +0000

Once you’ve had your fill of festival cinema screenings — ably provided by KOFFIA in Melbourne and the JFF if you’re in Adelaide this week — September looks set to offer quite an array of Asian cinema in regular theatres. Here’s what’s coming up this month:

My Kingdom (China)

A big-budget film set in the late 19th century and centered around a Shanghai opera troupe. Stars Wu Chun, Han Geng and Barbie Hsu, and the trailer seems to indicate that … (read more)

No Blood No Tears (2002)

Justin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:33:49 +0000

This year’s KOFFIA festival opened with a bang, with director Ryoo Seung-wan presenting his huge hit from last year, The Unjust — an action thriller in which policemen, prosecutors and property developers are caught in an endless cycle of corruption. A couple of days into the festival, as part of their Bloody Friday match-up, the KOFFIA team programmed another Ryoo film: 2002′s No Blood No Tears.

As with the opening film, director Ryoo himself got up on stage and … (read more)