Giveaway: Passes to see ‘Cult Japan’ at QAGOMA (Brisbane) (Closed)

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Justin

Brisbane readers might know that the Gallery of Modern Art are currently screening a program of films dear to our hearts here at HC, entitled Cult Japan. And as usual for QAGOMA’s cinema seasons, they certainly haven’t done things by halves.

The program covers a huge swathe of post-war Japanese cinema with a particular focus on the weird and wonderful, from Ghibli anime classics like Nausicaä, through Seijun Suzuki’s powder-blue yakuza flick Tokyo Drifter to modern cult cinema … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Monk Comes Down the Mountain’ (China)

Posted on July 9, 2015 by Justin

Already in Australian cinemas (hat tip to martial arts movie blog Budomate, whose Twitter post I saw) is Chen Kaige’s brand-new period fantasy/comedy/adventure Monk Comes Down the Mountain. This seems to have arrived on our shores last week, which means it came day-and-date with (or just before) the Chinese release.

The film is a period adventure film with a big cast; Variety‘s review describes it as like Chen’s 2005 film The Promise without that film’s kitschiness, definitely … (read more)

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Giveaway: Tickets to ‘Ip Man’ (Melbourne, Dragons from Asia) (Closed)

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Justin

Following up on our post about Dragons from Asia’s screening of modern HK martial arts classic Ip Man, we’ve got a double pass to give away to a reader in Melbourne.… (read more)

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Melbourne: Dragons from Asia screens ‘Ip Man’

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Justin

News for Melbourne readers: HC’s own John Snadden dropped me a line to say that he’s helping to organise a screening of Wilson Yip’s 2008 martial arts film Ip Man, starring Donnie Yen as the titular kung fu master.

Hopefully the first of many, it’s being run by Dragons from Asia, who plan to run a regular Asian film series in North Melbourne at the Electron Workshop cinema.

The show begins at 5pm on Sunday 12 July, tickets … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Hollywood Adventures’ (China)

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Justin

Opening tomorrow June 25 in Aussie cinemas is action-comedy road movie Hollywood Adventures, a US$30M Chinese studio production shot mostly in California, with American talent behind the camera. Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 3 through 6) is producing and Timothy Kendall (for whom this looks to be his first feature, though he’s done a lot of shorts/commercials/webseries work) directs.

The film follows the exploits of three Chinese tourists, played by Chinese stars Zhao Wei, Huang Xiaoming and … (read more)

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Court (2014)

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Posted on June 22, 2015 by Justin

My first film at this year’s Sydney Film Festival was Chaitanya Tamhane’s Court, an Indian film that packs a great deal of social commentary — with an intelligent, understated touch — into a courtroom drama.

Narayan Kamble (played by Vira Sathidar) is an ageing folk singer in Mumbai who divides his time between teaching in the surrounding cities and performing fiery protest songs on makeshift stages with a troupe of musicians. As the film opens, we see one such … (read more)

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An Inspector Calls (2015)

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Posted on June 21, 2015 by John Snadden

One of this year’s biggest Chinese New Year film releases has belatedly arrived in Melbourne’s Chinatown Cinema for a short season. Well, better late than never I suppose. A successful Chinese New Year movie will nearly always have the following ingredients: it must be family oriented, have big name stars, countless celebrity cameos and story-lines guaranteed not to tax the intellect.

An Inspector Calls is a strange choice for a Hong Kong movie, let alone a major Chinese New Year … (read more)

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Asian Cinema at the Sydney Film Festival 2015

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Justin

The full programme is out and the clock is ticking down to the opening of the 2015 Sydney Film Festival, in just under two weeks from the time of writing! This year’s festival runs from 3-14 June, and as usual we have run through the list and picked out the Asian feature films on show this year.

It looks like there are slimmer pickings from this year, too, with only one from China and two from Japan — but … (read more)

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