Free tickets to ‘My Kingdom’ (Closed)

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Justin

(Update: I’m all out — Thanks everyone who got in touch!)

Courtesy of Icon, I have five free double passes to give away for My Kingdom, which opened nationally last Thursday and should run until at least the 22nd.

All you have to do is check that you can get to one of the cinemas screening the film, and then get in touch with us via the Contact Us page. The first five people to drop me a line … (read more)

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13 Assassins (2010)

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Posted on September 8, 2011 by Tom
13 Assassins begins with a man committing seppuku. He preformed this act to bring attention to Lord Naritsugu a somewhat vile and sadistic man. This will not be the only bloody death before this tale ends.
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September in Cinemas

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Justin

Once you’ve had your fill of festival cinema screenings — ably provided by KOFFIA in Melbourne and the JFF if you’re in Adelaide this week — September looks set to offer quite an array of Asian cinema in regular theatres. Here’s what’s coming up this month:

My Kingdom (China)

A big-budget film set in the late 19th century and centered around a Shanghai opera troupe. Stars Wu Chun, Han Geng and Barbie Hsu, and the trailer seems to indicate that … (read more)

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No Blood No Tears (2002)

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Posted on August 30, 2011 by Justin

This year’s KOFFIA festival opened with a bang, with director Ryoo Seung-wan presenting his huge hit from last year, The Unjust — an action thriller in which policemen, prosecutors and property developers are caught in an endless cycle of corruption. A couple of days into the festival, as part of their Bloody Friday match-up, the KOFFIA team programmed another Ryoo film: 2002’s No Blood No Tears.

As with the opening film, director Ryoo himself got up on stage and … (read more)

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Bedevilled (2010)

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Posted on August 26, 2011 by Alan

It is always interesting when folks see a film and call it ‘hard to classify’. Such was some of the pre-buzz I had heard about Jang Chul-soo’s debut film Bedevilled. Of course, not all films present themselves as classifiable genre flicks. But while some do so awkwardly (Cowboys and Aliens, anyone?), others deliberately skirt with and deconstruct genre conventions, and Bedevilled certainly does that. In fact, while the title resonates throughout the plot, it could be seen to … (read more)

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Shim’s Family (2007)

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Posted on August 22, 2011 by Justin

Screening in both Sydney and Melbourne at this year’s KOFFIA festival, Shim’s Family is a character drama with bits of ensemble comedy sticking out. Or perhaps it’s the other way around. South Korean director Jeong Yoon-Chul presents us with a darkly funny look at the chaotic life of a small family (the film’s other English title is Skeletons in the Closet), shot through with the occasional rapid shifts in mood that I’ve come to love from Korean cinema.

Yong-sun … (read more)

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Chanbara Beauty (2008)

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Posted on August 20, 2011 by Alison

The tagline for this one is “Blades, Bikinis, and a Fistful of Zombies”, and I can tell you that these guys believe in truth in advertising. True, there’s only one bikini, worn rather fetchingly under a poncho and hat à la Clint Eastwood, although the bikini-wearer doesn’t have the grimy toughness of Clint, and I have no intention of imagining Clint in a bikini.

There are also only two blades – one wielded by Bikini Girl, and one wielded by … (read more)

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The Storm Riders (1998)

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Posted on August 12, 2011 by Eugene

Well, there seems to a plethora of comic book based movies nowadays, with the ever-increasing ability of digital effects to recreate the comic book panel.  So whilst skimming over a cinema guide recently, my mind slowly drifted to one of the first comic book digital effects spectacles that I could remember: The Storm Riders.  It was convenient then that Pinnacle are about to do an Australian DVD release, meaning I get to revisit this 1998 ‘classic’.

Ah, nostalgia – … (read more)

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