All Things: Asian Film, Vol. III

New trailer for Kazuo Umezu's directorial debut "Mother" | NipponCinema

A publishing company is working on a book about Umezu’s life. The lead editor, Sakura, knows that Umezu’s late mother Ichie was very influential to his work. As the investigation continues, bizarre incidents begin occurring one after another. Soon, the grudge of a mother who should be dead sparks mounting fear around Umezu.
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Umezu is one of the biggest names in horror manga. Interesting to see he's stepping into film.
 
24Framespersecond.net - FIRESTORM arrives on U.S DVD

A storm is heading toward the city of Hong Kong, threatening the lives of everyone in its path. As citizens scramble for cover, a crew of seasoned criminals stage a series of armoured car heists in broad daylight, showing no mercy to anyone who gets in their way. Hardboiled police inspector Cao Nam (Andy Lau) has had enough. He vows to take back his city, but quickly learns that regular police tactics are no match for the thieves’ unmerciful brutality. The more Nam pursues them, the more unhinged he becomes - and the savage confrontation brewing in the streets may leave an aftermath even more horrifying than the devastating effects of nature itself.
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24Framespersecond.net - In a Nutshell: FIRESTORM

Firestorm does take itself too seriously at times, and the overblown action sequences don't always compliment the moody tone. Fortunately, Firestorm avoids the pitfalls of sentimentality, often a hindrance of Hong Kong cinema. If anything, Andy Lau's latest gets darker and more grisly the longer it goes on, taking some of its characters down surprising - and more engrossing - routes. Firestorm is ablaze with huge explosions, pulsating gun battles and electrifying chase sequences. If you take the standout bank heist from Heat and multiply it by ten you won't be far off the mark. Unlike the gunmen in Firestorm, who couldn't hit an elephant's bum with a banjo.

Andy Lau delivers another solid turn in a fairly routine action movie, were it not for the quality of its gun battles. Get past the earnest tone and Firestorm is ludicrously cool high-octane fun. Recommended.
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The Protector 2 Blu-ray review | BluRayDefinition

Never mind that the plot and subplots in this film are too confusing to even follow, the real story here is the action, and The Protector 2 does deliver on that. From the first act with an extended chase and fight scene involving motorcycles on a rooftop, over a bridge, a big explosion and more, to an amazing fight in the middle of a room on fire in act three, The Protector 2 takes it all over the top. Unfortunately, the use of CGI is overdone and much of it looks very artificial. This is unlike many of Tony Jaa’s previous films where the visual effects were practical and looked realistic. That being said, anyone looking for an adrenalin rush won’t be disappointed in the nonstop action this film presents them with and the amazingly choreographed fight sequences.
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Trailer for South Korean film Roaring Currents

First, there’s actor Choi Min-sik as a determined admiral unwilling to lose hope even in the worst case scenario. Secondly, there’s the war historical epic background, a naval battle opposing the Japanese army against the Korean. Then, there’s director Kim Han-min at the helm of this big budgeted South Korean blockbuster.

Roaring Currents is set during the Korean-Japanese war in the late 16th century, depicting the famous Battle of Myeongryang — the Japanese navy had the upper hand, coming with more than a hundred ships… when the Korean navy had only 12 ships. A typical Goliath and David story.
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24Framespersecond.net - 14 BLADES finally arrives in the USA

The phrase “better late than never” does spring instantly to mind, but if you’re a Donnie Yen fan in the US, who didn’t get bored of waiting and picked it up from pretty much anywhere else in the world, the Donmeisters 2010 Wuxia fight fest 14 Blades is finally landing on your shores. It’s in (no doubt a very limited number) theatres August 22, then it drops onto DVD in September.

Got there in the end! Watch it, its gooooood.
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Heard lots of good stuff about this. Will try to see it in a theater if I can.

14 Blades - Rotten Tomatoes
 
Tsui Hark’s “The Taking of Tiger Mountain” Teaser Now Online! | Film Smash

Prolific director Tsui Hark has released an early teaser for what is sure to be one of China’s biggest films of the year, The Taking of Tiger Mountain. A famous Peiking opera, the story centers on a Communist scout who disguises himself as a bandit. Infiltrating the cadre of criminals to gain intelligence, he eventually enables the Communist forces to wipe out the enemy. The film is set to hit Chinese cinemas in late December.
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Japan's most-killed samurai stuntman wins immortality at last | Film | The Guardian

He's made a career playing henchmen and underlings in thousands of Japanese samurai movies, always in the role of the kirareyaku, a swordsman whose job is to die spectacularly on film. Now, at the age of 71 and after a reputed 50,000 on-screen deaths, Seizo Fukumoto has won a prize for his first ever lead role in a semi-autobiographical movie.

The veteran actor plays an ageing samurai stuntman in Uzumasa Limelight, which references his own career as one of the country's best known kirareyaku. The performance won Fukumoto the best actor prize at the Fantasia International film festival in Montreal and the movie won the Cheval Noir for best film.

"I still can't believe this," Fukumoto reportedly said after winning the award. "I do not feel like myself. I still feel like I'm being deceived."
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Trailer: Ann Hui's THE GOLDEN ERA Is A Tragedy Of Epic Proportions | Twitch

Ann Hui's The Golden Era is set to have it's world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it will screen as the official closing film early next month. It stars Tang Wei (Lust, Caution, Finding Mr. Right) as the prominent female writer Xiao Hong, who garnered acclaim for her novels, poetry and memoirs detailing her experiences in China in the 1930s, during the Japanese Occupation.
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Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Penance Gets U.S. Release Date

Chicago-based independent distributors Music Box Films will release on Blu-ray Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's (Tokyo Sonata, Cure) serial drama Penance. The two-disc set will be available for purchase on October 14th.

Official synopsis: Master of Japanese horror Kiyoshi Kurosawa's eerie, intense psychological thriller Penance (Shokuzai) unfolds on a sleepy small town playground, when a mysterious stranger approaches a group of young friends, then kidnaps and brutally murders one of the girls. Wracked with grief, the victim's unhinged mother Asako (Kyoko Koizumi) demands that the shaken survivors identify the killer or face a penance of her choosing. Growing up in the shadow of this tragic debt, each of the four girls cultivates a warped survival mechanism – avoidance, desperation, fear, obsession.

A disturbing, sensitively helmed chronicle of post-traumatic stress from a female perspective, Penance offers Kiyoshi Kurosawa's trademark creepy twists as well as a subtle commentary on Japanese society and gender expectations. This gripping long-form serial drama highlights a new facet of renowned auteur Kurosawa and features absorbing performances from a stellar line-up of award-winning, up-and-coming young actresses.
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Recently picked up an HK DVD release of this, but haven't watched it yet. Heard good things.
 
3D Version Of Wong Kar-Wai's 'The Grandmaster' Coming This Fall With Unseen Footage | ThePlaylist

Variety reports that "The Grandmaster 3D" will hit cinemas in China this October. And yes, Wong Kar-Wai himself looked over the conversion process, and claims this is the way he's always wanted it to be seen. “We had originally planned to film ‘The Grandmaster’ in 3D not only for the cinematic sensation, but also for the subtlety of the expression of this beautiful story,” the director said. “We now have the opportunity to show the film as it was always intended – searching for a brand new aesthetic or cinematic language in the 3D format.”

And oh yeah, this cut will apparently have new material in it. You might recall that "The Grandmaster" was released in a much shorter version in the U.S. (in an edit put together by Wong Kar-Wai himself), and the 3D version is said to utilize that cut but with more added. “This is likely to be a special edition, probably resembling the so called U.S.-cut, but with added unseen footage,” said Jeffrey Chan of distributors Bona Film Group. “Now that many people have seen the film everyone can tell that that there is far more material, and a broken narrative.”
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Go **** yourself.
 
TIFF Review: Korean Thriller 'Haemoo' Co-Written By 'Snowpiercer' Director Bong Joon-Ho | ThePlaylist

South Korea’s peculiar brand of cinema is doubtlessly thrilling when done right. Similarly though, it can tip the genre scales a little too forcefully at times, making for a nauseous ride. "Haemoo" is bit of mixed bag in that sense, and a certain time-jumping decision at the end will leave many international audiences scratching their heads, while it may very well resonate with a more understanding South Korean crowd. In any case, "Haemoo" is a picture worth seeing for its thrills, scrupulous tension-building and mischievous genre twists that will have you gasping one second, and laughing the next.
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