Heroic Cinema 3.0

Starry Starry Night (2011)

John Snadden — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:36:31 +0000

Hardly ever do the diverse elements of film production blend so seamlessly and appeal to such a wide audience as they do in Starry Starry Night, a recent Taiwan-China co-production. Based on a childrens’ picture book by world-famous Taiwanese artist Jimmy Liao and directed by Taiwan’s Tom Lin, this is one of the best films of the year.

“Coming of age” movies is a sub-genre in most film cultures, mainly because the often painful and confusing time between childhood … (read more)

Asian Cinema at the Sydney Film Festival 2012

Justin — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:41:39 +0000

That time of year has rolled around again: the Sydney Film Festival has released its full program for 2012, and there’s a lot there to get excited about this year!

(As always, we here at HC are mostly interested in the Asian films showing, but there’s a boatload of other cinema showing and you owe it to yourself to peruse the full program!)

Firstly, we’ve got two tracks entirely devoted to Asian cinema: Focus on India and Nikkatsu 100… (read more)

Underwater Love (2011)

Deni — Sun, 13 May 2012 22:58:01 +0000

I almost wasn’t going to review this film – what I have to say about it is hardly the kind of thing that is going to make you want to see it (at least, that’s what I’m assuming). But then again, I thought, in the interests of full disclosure, why not talk about it? After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, right? As so many of the reviews around seem to attest.

I wouldn’t go so far as … (read more)

Sector 7 (2011)

Deni — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:29:51 +0000

The blockbuster horror movie, much like the blockbuster action movie, is a genre from which you can, and most certainly should, expect certain things. And, yes that does mean taking the good (things lurking around in the dark, people dying horribly and spectacular man-monster showdowns preferably involving explosions and/or heavy machinery) with the bad (contrived plot devices, stereotyped characters, average dialogue and predictable developments). When you know what you’re in for and the good balances out the bad, well, surely … (read more)

Trishna (2011)

Justin — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:06:14 +0000

Trishna opens nationwide on May 10, 2012 — check your local cinema for details.

Trishna is a contemporary adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles from English director Michael Winterbottom, with quite a change of scenery. It transplants the story to India, swapping industrial England for rural Rajasthan and urban Mumbai as India modernises.

Freida Pinto (who made her film debut in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire) plays Trishna, a young woman living in with her family in … (read more)

Inseparable (2011)

Deni — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:51:57 +0000

Sometimes I wonder if I read film titles too literally. Take Inseparable by Chinese-American director Dayyan Eng (Waiting Alone, Bus 44) for example. Who is inseparable? What is? Is Eng talking about the couple in the film, or the main character and his new and slightly loopy friend? Or maybe he means to imply that the main character is inseparable from the experiences that make him human, or that all of us are inseparable from the systems within … (read more)

Yakuza Weapon (2011)

Deni — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 09:42:11 +0000

I only had a vague understanding of what I could expect with this film. Anyone in any way familiar with Ryuhei Kitamura and his unofficial muse Tak Sakaguchi should at least have an inkling of what they’re in for. Or, conversely, if you’re familiar with the cult films coming out of Nikkatsu’s production company Sushi Typhoon (responsible for such gems as Alien vs Ninja and Mutant Girls Squad), again, there should have been no surprise. In fact, what ultimately … (read more)

The Viral Factor (2012)

Deni — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 05:56:21 +0000

I guess I’m terminally optimistic. I expect an action movie to not be that hard to understand. I mean, there’s a basic formula, right? You need a good guy, and a bad guy, and you need something for them to fight over. The good guy needs to be the hero (technically) so usually it’s a case of the good guy trying to stop the bad guy from doing bad things, whether that be on a personal scale (like Liam Neeson … (read more)

Bleach 4: Hell Verse (2010)

Deni — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:23:19 +0000

The Original Video Animation, or OVA (or, alternatively, OAV depending on your tomayto-tomahto standpoint) has gone the way of the Dodo. It’s dead. Defunct. It has rejected cumbersome technologies and eliminated redundant markets and evolved into the Movie; as in Naruto the Movie, or One Piece the Movie, or for the purposes of this review, Bleach the Movie – Hell Verse (also known as Hell Chapter), to be exact.

It used to be that your typical … (read more)

Cinema Asia (2007)

Justin — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:46:28 +0000

Cinema Asia is a series covering some of the history and the state today (well, in 2007 when it was made) of five cinema industries in Asia: China, Taiwan, South Korea, India and Iran. Each episode takes a look at the the background of each national cinema, the things that make it unique, and cuts together interviews with actors, critics and prominent directors. Continue reading →

Japanese Cinema Week in Sydney

Deni — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:44:13 +0000

Lucky, lucky Sydneysiders! From the 16th to the 20th of April, you can be front and centre for the fabulous Japan Foundation’s Japanese Cinema Week, and as a long-time Japanese cinema fan who happens to live in Brisbane, I am so green with jealousy.

Three of the films are already booked out (Big Man Japan, Ozu’s Floating Weeds and Ghibli’s Ocean Waves) but there are plenty of brilliant films left, including Ghibli’s Porco Rosso and Only … (read more)

The Lady (2011)

Elizabeth Kerr — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:14:40 +0000

Before you flip out, no, I haven’t forgotten what the name of this website is, nor has it slipped my mind the general region from which the films reviewed here originate. That said, the chances of any Asian filmmakers tackling the thorny subject of activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the political stalemate in Burma (or Myanmar) are low. Asian film industries have limited resources and focus first and foremost on their own markets (India excepted). Add to that the … (read more)

Asian cinema on the Gold Coast in April

Deni — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 23:26:13 +0000

You should already know this, but I don’t mind restating the awesome – the Gold Coast is, this month, the place to be. Why? Well, if you’re an Asian cinephile living in our (usually) sunny state and you don’t have tickets to the Gold Coast Film Festival already in your inbox, you’re going to kick yourself, because you’ll be missing out on some seriously fantastic films.

The GCFF program is featuring a wide range of films for all tastes. For … (read more)

Outrage (2010)

Justin — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 11:37:15 +0000

The last film I saw from Japanese powerhouse director Takeshi Kitano was his wonderful update of Zatoichi in 2003. Since then, he’s made a trio of more personal films that some have described as his ‘surrealist autobiographical’ trilogy: Takeshis’, Glory to the Filmmaker! and Achilles and the Tortoise. This film marks his return to more commercial territory, the yakuza film, in which scheming mob bosses and ambitious young thugs do battle on the street.

Kitano plays Otomo, a … (read more)

Bordwell’s “Planet Hong Kong”

Justin — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 07:00:08 +0000

So, I’m one of the teeming millions that picked up the new iPad last week, and its amazing screen propelled me into looking for books to read on it. If you’re in the same situation, I hugely recommend picking up the PDF version of David Bordwell’s excellent book Planet Hong Kong — if you haven’t seen the original version, it’s a wonderful overview of HK cinema by film theorist, professor, prodigious blogger and HK cinema fan David Bordwell.

The original … (read more)

Corpse Princess – Collection One (2008)

Tom — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 06:42:14 +0000

Ouri Kagami is an orphan at a temple in Japan. He’s been there for most of his life, having been found as a young boy by one of the monks at the temple — Keisei Tagami, who later in life is seen by Ouri as a brother figure. A lecherous pervert of a brother figure, but a brother figure none the less. After many years at the temple, Ouri decides that it’s time to move away and start a new … (read more)

Giveaway: ‘The Sorcerer and the White Snake’ on Blu-Ray (Closed)

Justin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 07:59:57 +0000

Update: This giveaway has closed, thanks to everyone who wrote in!
Congratulations to Judith in Geelong, Andrew in Melbourne and Michael in Adelaide: your discs are in the mail.

Today from our friends at Icon, who did such an impressive job releasing Asian films in Australia last year, I have three blu-ray discs to give away of Ching Siu Tung’s 2011 film with Jet Li, The Sorcerer and the White Snake.

All you’ve got to do to … (read more)

Big films screening at the KCO for March (Sydney)

Justin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:48:58 +0000

Just a quick note for readers in Sydney — as part of their Cinema on the Park series, the Korean Cultural Office have dubbed this month’s programme ‘X-treme Korea’, and they’re showing a bunch of great stuff. Several of these screened at festivals last year, so if you missed out, now’s your chance to catch one for free!

I’m too late for March 1st’s film, which was The Man From Nowhere, but coming up on Thursday nights from tomorrow … (read more)

The Raid (2011)

Justin — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 07:07:10 +0000

The Raid opens nationwide on the 22nd of March. Check Madman’s site for more details.

Director Gareth Evans and newly-minted action star Iko Uwais have followed up their 2009 martial arts flick Merantau with this hard-edged action film, and Madman have been good enough to bring it to cinemas nationwide! The last big action movie I remember them doing a cinema release for in Australia was Ong Bak, a logical point of comparison for this one — both come … (read more)

Bleach on the Gold Coast

Deni — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 02:44:55 +0000

Okay, so those of you well familiar with our sunny GC might think this post’s title to be an exercise in stating the obvious, but that’s not the kind of bleach I mean. I do of course mean Bleach, the long running anime TV series based on Kubo Tite’s manga, and more specifically I mean the 4th and most recent movie, Hell Verse.

What does it have to do with the Gold Coast, you might ask? Well, just … (read more)