Author Archives: Justin

This week in cinemas: ‘Aberdeen’ (Hong Kong)

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Justin

In Australian cinemas this week is a bit of a change of pace from Hong Kong director Edmond Pang Ho-cheung, after 2012’s adult-film industry comedy Vulgaria. His newest film Aberdeen is a quieter family “dramedy” — I still find it hard to type that particular term — focusing on the ups and downs of a typical Hong Kong family.

It’s got a killer cast of HK veterans, starting with Louis Koo, Eric Tsang, Miriam Yeung, Gigi Leung, Ng Man-tat … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Iceman’ (3D, China/Hong Kong)

Posted on April 27, 2014 by Justin

Donnie Yen aficionados will be happy to find that their latest fix is arriving in Australian cinemas next Thursday, May 1st. Iceman is a remake of minor HK classic The Iceman Cometh (which starred Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah and had some really, really impressive stunt work).

Donnie stars as a Ming Dynasty soldier, frozen in the ice only to be revived in the present day, along with his equally-skilled evil foe (Wang Baoqiang, recently in Personal Tailor). The … (read more)

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Kaiju Shakedown is back!

Posted on April 26, 2014 by Justin

March this year brought the return of Grady Hendrix’s wonderful writing on Asian cinema to the web, in the form of the rebirth of his blog Kaiju Shakedown at the Film Comment website. Grady is one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival, and he brings a depth of knowledge and a sharpness of wit to his writing on cinema, particularly Hong Kong cinema, that I’m thoroughly jealous of.

Some choice bits from the new Kaiju Shakedown … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Canopy’ (Australia/Singapore)

Posted on April 25, 2014 by Justin

Australian/Singaporean co-production Canopy opened here in Australia yesterday, April 24.

Almost a decade in the making for writer-director Aaron Wilson and producer Katrina Fleming, it follows the story of an Australian fighter pilot (Khan Chittenden) shot down over Singapore in 1942, his struggle to survive and his bond with resistance fighter Seng (Mo Tzu-Yi). You can read Yee-Yin’s review for a more detailed take on the film.

Here’s the trailer:

Screening details are available at the film’s official site; … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘That Demon Within’ (Hong Kong)

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Justin

This week in Aussie cinemas we have the latest thriller from Hong Kong director Dante Lam (last year’s Unbeatable, The Viral Factor, Beast Cops).

It’s a psychologically fraught cop-vs-criminal number starring Daniel Wu and Nick Cheung — who’s just won best actor at the HK Film Awards for his role in Unbeatable, incidentally. This review from Maggie Lee at Variety suggests that it’s director Lam’s darkest work yet, which is definitely quite a call. (You don’t … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘The Raid 2’

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Justin


Alright, so everyone who reads Heroic Cinema regularly knows this one is due out soon; we’ve posted trailers, given away double passes…. but this week’s the week.

Indonesian martial arts film The Raid 2: Berandal (Indonesian for “Thug”, according to Wikipedia) arrives in Australian cinemas this Friday, March 28, and it looks like it’ll make a lot of action cinema fans sit up and take notice.

Directed by Gareth Evans, it’s his follow-up to low-budget locked-building actioner The Raid… (read more)

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Giveaway: Tickets to see ‘The Raid 2’ (Closed)

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Justin

Arriving in Aussie cinemas (twin hammers at the ready, from the look of the poster!) on March 28 is Indonesian film The Raid 2, director Gareth Evans’ follow-up to his 2011 action flick The Raid.

The original film was an impressive piece of martial arts cinema given its tiny budget and cast of relative unknowns, and Evans suggested in interviews at the time (like the one we did) that the sequel would have the wider scope and … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘The Wind Rises’ (Japan, anime)

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Justin

This week in Aussie cinemas we have the long-awaited new film from famed Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, The Wind Rises (風立ちぬ, Kaze Tachinu). The story follows an aircraft engineer in pre-war Japan, loosely based on Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Zero fighter plane used in WWII, and Miyazaki had said at one point that it would be his final film.

(I believe I’ve read somewhere that he’s since decided not to retire quite so soon — here’s hoping … (read more)

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