Author Archives: Justin

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

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Justin

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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SBS: 16 Chinese/HK films on TV over February

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Justin

SBS TWO have scheduled a treat for us over the next month, starting tomorrow: sixteen films spanning modern Chinese film history, from King Hu’s wuxia film for Shaw Brothers Come Drink With Me in the late sixties to Benny Chan’s Shaolin from 2011.

It’s a big plate of crowd-pleasing mostly action films, with a large helping of Jackie Chan and Jet Li films, but that suits us at HC just fine — we’ve seen and loved all of these over … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘The Guillotines’ (China, 3D)

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Justin

If Poppy Hill sounds like it doesn’t have enough grimy warriors in armour and, well, decapitation for you, then there’s another Asian film in cinemas this week that ticks those particular boxes.

HK director Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs, Legend of the Fist) has shown over the last decade or two that he turn out solid (and generally great-looking) genre films, spanning a variety of different styles and settings.… (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘From Up On Poppy Hill’ (Japan, anime)

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Justin

I’m a touch late on cinema releases this week — I blame the season, there’s too much running around to do this time of year!

Studio Ghibli fans that happen to live in a couple of Aussie cities have just under a week to catch their newest anime film in cinemas, From Up On Poppy Hill, directed by Goro Miyazaki and written by his father, Hayao Miyazaki. … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Back to 1942’ (China)

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Justin

This Thursday (Nov 29) sees the Australian cinema release of Back to 1942, a historical drama from mainland Chinese director Feng Xiaogang (Aftershock, A World Without Thieves, Big Shot’s Funeral). As seems to be more often the case nowadays, we’re getting it right after its premiere at the International Rome Film Festival (on Nov 11!)

The film takes as its subject the famine of 1942-43 in Henan province during the second Sino-Japanese War, and it … (read more)

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Korean Short Film Night at the KCO (Sydney, Nov 29)

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Justin

The hard-working folks at the Korean Cultural Office here in Sydney dropped me a line to remind me that they have their 2012 Korean Short Film night scheduled for Thursday evening next week, with free admission for all (though you’ll need to book). It’s a chance to see some local and international talent strut their stuff with a collection films celebrating cultural diversity and Korean heritage.… (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Cold War’ (Hong Kong)

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Justin

This Thursday (8 November) brings us a new film in the modern (well, post-90s) tradition of gritty Hong Kong police films: Cold War, the first film as co-directors for Sunny Luk and Longman Leung. It stars HK veterans Tony Leung Ka Fai and Aaron Kwok in the lead roles, and it has a cameo from Andy Lau for the Lau completists out there!

The story follows two senior cops bucking for a promotion as a crisis overturns their precinct: … (read more)

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Giveaway: Tickets to ‘Tai Chi Hero’ (Closed)

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Justin

Thanks again to Icon, we’ve got five double passes to Tai Chi Hero to give away!

It’s the sequel to 3D steampunk martial-arts film Tai Chi 0, which we had out in cinemas here a month ago. Given that the two films were shot back-to-back on a shared budget, I’d expect this film to be pretty tightly coupled to the storyline of the last one, but that doesn’t mean you can’t go in unaware (or armed with a … (read more)

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