This week in cinemas: ‘Snowpiercer’ (South Korea)

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Justin

Opening tomorrow in Aussie cinemas is a big release: Snowpiercer, the first English-language film from top-flight South Korean director Bong Joon-ho (Memories of Murder, The Host, Mother).

Liz has already reviewed this one for us (read about it here), but in brief: humanity tried to solve climate change with an atmospheric science experiment that went horribly wrong, and now the remains of all human life live on a train, endlessly circling the … (read more)

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New World (2013)

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Posted on July 20, 2014 by Samson

Without a doubt, South Korea’s crime thrillers rank amongst the best in world cinema. And New World is the latest proof supporting that claim. This box office hit from 2013 boasts a rock solid cast that includes some of the hottest male stars from South Korea today: Lee Jung Jae (The Thieves), Choi Min Sik (Oldboy) and Hwang Jung Min (The Unjust).

New World tells the story of the struggles amongst and between the … (read more)

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The Kirishima Thing (2012)

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Posted on July 18, 2014 by Deni
Kirishima Thing Poster

It’s funny what kind of impression you get from movie posters, and I guess in that light, movie poster design isn’t anywhere near an easy thing. Take for instance the poster for Daihachi Yoshida’s The Kirishima Thing. Looking at the dominating image of the bespectacled student with the 8mm camera, you would think it’s a movie about one person, probably a school student, who makes movies. You’d only be partially right. Kirishima Thing doesn’t have nearly that level of … (read more)

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Asian Cinema at the Melbourne International Film Festival 2014

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Justin

It’s MIFF time, everyone! The venerable Melbourne Film Festival has released their program for this year’s event, and as always it’s crammed with cinema from Asia, from horror classics from Hong Kong (which have their own stream this year, A Perfect Midnight: Haunted Hong Kong) to gritty noir or modern arthouse.

Read on for our rundown of the features from Asia (don’t forget there are some great shorts and documentaries, too) screening this year, and you can find the … (read more)

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Blue Exorcist the Movie (2012)

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Posted on July 14, 2014 by Deni

There’s something fundamentally appealing about stories about siblings – particularly brothers and specifically twins. Socially, twins are still seen as something worth remark. Scientifically, the study of twins might even help science identify where genetics influences human development and growth and where it doesn’t. But mythologically, brothers have long held a strong and undeniable fascination. Cain and Abel, Romulus and Remus, Castor and Pollux, Famamir and Boromir, Thor and Loki, Dean and Sam, Dante and Virgil. Brothers are either at … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘Z Storm’ (Hong Kong)

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Justin

Opening today in Australian cinemas is Hong Kong crime thriller ‘Z Storm’, from director David Lam (his first film in fifteen years, after 1999’s Street Angels). It stars the omnipresent Louis Koo, Dada Chan, Gordon Lam and Michael Wong, and if you’re like me it’ll bring to mind recent entries in the genre Cold War and the Overheard series.

Topical perhaps for audiences in New South Wales, the story focuses on Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) as … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘The Lunchbox’ (India)

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Justin

This Thursday July 10 sees the Aussie cinema release of an Indian romantic drama, The Lunchbox, starring Irrfan Khan (the narrator in Ang Lee’s Life of Pi), Nimrat Kaur (Peddlers) and Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Gangs of Wasseypur). It is the debut feature from director Ritesh Batra, and it’s garnered some very positive attention internationally, including taking the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award at Cannes.

The film takes as its subject the dabbawala lunchbox delivery system … (read more)

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This week in cinemas: ‘The Breakup Guru’ (China)

Posted on July 2, 2014 by Justin

In Aussie cinemas this week (and opening well in China and some USA cinemas according to according to Variety, despite the money-hoovering colossus of Transformers 4) is Chinese rom-com The Breakup Guru.

Starring Yang Mi and Deng Chao (who also co-directs with Yu Baimei), the trailer suggests that this film is going for My Sassy Girl territory, but I’m guessing that it swaps the tugging at heartstrings for louder comedy fare.

The Breakup Guru opens in most … (read more)

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