The Berlin International Film Festival’s jury press conference, headed by Hollywood star Kristen Stewart, concluded on Thursday, but remarks made by legendary Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To at the event are still reverberating a world away.
When the festival juror were asked by a journalist in the crowd to share their views on why cinema remains important in today’s world, To, considered on the greatest filmmakers Hong Kong has produced, responded: “For me, cinema has always been in the vanguard. When totalitarian rule emerges, when people lose their freedoms, cinema is the first to take the hit. In most cases, cultural production will be forcefully suspended, since the cinema speaks directly to the audience. That’s why dictators always target the cinema. I think Hong Kong… No, sorry. I think all the countries and peoples fighting for freedom across the globe should support the cinema. Because the cinema...
When the festival juror were asked by a journalist in the crowd to share their views on why cinema remains important in today’s world, To, considered on the greatest filmmakers Hong Kong has produced, responded: “For me, cinema has always been in the vanguard. When totalitarian rule emerges, when people lose their freedoms, cinema is the first to take the hit. In most cases, cultural production will be forcefully suspended, since the cinema speaks directly to the audience. That’s why dictators always target the cinema. I think Hong Kong… No, sorry. I think all the countries and peoples fighting for freedom across the globe should support the cinema. Because the cinema...
- 2/19/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Before he was Mr. Big on "Sex and the City," Chris Noth was a lead on a little show called "Law & Order" from 1990-1995 and appeared in 111 episodes. He'd later reprise his role as Detective Mike Logan in the "Law & Order" spinoff film, "Exiled," in 1998 and the spinoff series "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" for another 36 episodes from 2005-2008, per IMDb. Prior to "Law & Order," Noth had several acting credits to his name. The series is what began a lengthy career for him with a number of prominent roles.
So imagine if Noth didn't end up starring in the series after being associated with the show and the leading man for years? Well, that was almost reality. Noth nearly lost out on the part in favor of Michael Madsen, an actor you may know from his numerous appearances in Quentin Tarantino films, according to Mental Floss.
Mr.
So imagine if Noth didn't end up starring in the series after being associated with the show and the leading man for years? Well, that was almost reality. Noth nearly lost out on the part in favor of Michael Madsen, an actor you may know from his numerous appearances in Quentin Tarantino films, according to Mental Floss.
Mr.
- 8/24/2022
- by Andrew Korpan
- Slash Film
Joe Alwyn is partially responsible for co-writing some of the standout songs from Taylor Swift’s Folklore and Evermore. I mean, “I’ve seen this film before and I didn’t like the ending” from “Exile“? Iconic. But Swift’s boyfriend Alwyn decided to hop on the track’s credits with the pseudonym William Bowery.
On Thursday, Alwyn made an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show and revealed the origin of the name. “We chose to do it so the people first and foremost would listen to the music first...
On Thursday, Alwyn made an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show and revealed the origin of the name. “We chose to do it so the people first and foremost would listen to the music first...
- 5/19/2022
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Mark McGrath is joining CAA as an agent in the TV News department.
McGrath joins CAA from WME, where he served as an agent in the nonfiction TV department for the last decade. After developing an expertise in the news media, McGrath signed Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Kat Timpf, Vanessa Yurkevich, Chris Livesay, Lilia Luciano, Rahel Solomon, and Kate Rooney. His clients also included October Films and Exile Content, among others.
Before he became an agent, McGrath spent three years at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He earned his bachelor’s degree in public policy & law from Trinity College, where he competed on varsity crew and the ski team.
Along with being a big consumer of news as well as film and scripted TV, CAA describes McGrath as “laughably competitive when it comes to NYC’s adult ice hockey, roller hockey, and softball leagues.”...
McGrath joins CAA from WME, where he served as an agent in the nonfiction TV department for the last decade. After developing an expertise in the news media, McGrath signed Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld, Kat Timpf, Vanessa Yurkevich, Chris Livesay, Lilia Luciano, Rahel Solomon, and Kate Rooney. His clients also included October Films and Exile Content, among others.
Before he became an agent, McGrath spent three years at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He earned his bachelor’s degree in public policy & law from Trinity College, where he competed on varsity crew and the ski team.
Along with being a big consumer of news as well as film and scripted TV, CAA describes McGrath as “laughably competitive when it comes to NYC’s adult ice hockey, roller hockey, and softball leagues.”...
- 4/19/2022
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Capstone has acquired the feature film rights to New York Times bestselling author James Swallow’s series of Marc Dane spy thriller novels, setting his Sunday Times bestseller, Nomad, as the first title to be adapted for the big screen.
Published internationally by literary giant Bonnier in 2016, Nomad introduced audiences to Dane, an MI6 field agent at home behind a computer screen, one step away from the action. When a brutal attack on his team leaves Marc as the only survivor—and with the shocking knowledge that there are traitors inside MI6—he’s forced onto the front lines.
Nomad is being fast-tracked, with Capstone currently out to writers for the screenplay adaption. Christian Mercuri and Head of Production Joe Gatta will produce for Capstone, alongside David Haring. In addition to Nomad, the Marc Dane series features novels including Exile, Ghost, Rough Air,...
Published internationally by literary giant Bonnier in 2016, Nomad introduced audiences to Dane, an MI6 field agent at home behind a computer screen, one step away from the action. When a brutal attack on his team leaves Marc as the only survivor—and with the shocking knowledge that there are traitors inside MI6—he’s forced onto the front lines.
Nomad is being fast-tracked, with Capstone currently out to writers for the screenplay adaption. Christian Mercuri and Head of Production Joe Gatta will produce for Capstone, alongside David Haring. In addition to Nomad, the Marc Dane series features novels including Exile, Ghost, Rough Air,...
- 3/10/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Gordon Lam and Ann Hui, recipients of Variety honors at the New York Asian Film Festival, could scarcely be more different. Actor-turned producer Lam, who is receiving Variety Star Asia Award is ebullient and busy. Hui, for all her renown in Asia and Europe as a top director, is quiet and unassuming. She will be presented with the Variety Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award.
What they have in common is a lengthy career that has taken them from the bottom of the Hong Kong entertainment industry to the upper echelons. Both have achieved reputations that have been earned by endless hard work, which has served their carefully honed talent.
Born in Manchuria of Japanese and Chinese parents, Hui was convent school-educated in Hong Kong and studied film in London, where she brushed up against industry icon King Hu.
Returning to Hong Kong in 1976, Hui was thrown in at the deep end,...
What they have in common is a lengthy career that has taken them from the bottom of the Hong Kong entertainment industry to the upper echelons. Both have achieved reputations that have been earned by endless hard work, which has served their carefully honed talent.
Born in Manchuria of Japanese and Chinese parents, Hui was convent school-educated in Hong Kong and studied film in London, where she brushed up against industry icon King Hu.
Returning to Hong Kong in 1976, Hui was thrown in at the deep end,...
- 8/6/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
By Glenn Dunks
It is not very often an autobiographical documentary about genocide is selected to open a prestigious strand of one of the biggest film festivals in the world. I suppose that’s what being the first filmmaker to, among other things, land an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film with a work of non-fiction does to one’s reputation. Director Rithy Panh has forged his career through telling the stories of his Cambodian homeland and it’s a testament that despite what may be considered tunnel vision for other filmmakers, this is his 18th feature, he continues to find new and interesting angles to investigate.
After detours through a colonial archival scrap-book in France is Our Mother Country and meditative stargazing experimental curiosity Exile, Panh has returned to the more earthbound terrain of his Oscar-nominated The Missing Picture (my no. 1 documentary of the decade). A film as...
It is not very often an autobiographical documentary about genocide is selected to open a prestigious strand of one of the biggest film festivals in the world. I suppose that’s what being the first filmmaker to, among other things, land an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film with a work of non-fiction does to one’s reputation. Director Rithy Panh has forged his career through telling the stories of his Cambodian homeland and it’s a testament that despite what may be considered tunnel vision for other filmmakers, this is his 18th feature, he continues to find new and interesting angles to investigate.
After detours through a colonial archival scrap-book in France is Our Mother Country and meditative stargazing experimental curiosity Exile, Panh has returned to the more earthbound terrain of his Oscar-nominated The Missing Picture (my no. 1 documentary of the decade). A film as...
- 5/6/2020
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Exclusive: Jeremy Thomas’s Brit sales and production firm HanWay is rebranding catalog label HanWay Select to The Collections as part of a drive to highlight and propel its significant library of more than 350 movies.
HanWay has struck a deal with UK distributor Arrow Films to handle distribution and restorations in the UK of the Jeremy Thomas collection, with films including multi-Oscar winning epic The Last Emperor, John Malkovich-Debra Winger romance The Sheltering Sky and David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch. Arrow recently re-released HanWay’s David Bowie-starrer Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.
HanWay is currently restoring around five titles a year with recent updates including David Cronenberg’s Crash, which screened at Venice. Upcoming is Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth.
We also understand the company is close to striking a deal with a well known filmmaker to bring around 20 movies into The Collections fold.
The catalog drive...
HanWay has struck a deal with UK distributor Arrow Films to handle distribution and restorations in the UK of the Jeremy Thomas collection, with films including multi-Oscar winning epic The Last Emperor, John Malkovich-Debra Winger romance The Sheltering Sky and David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch. Arrow recently re-released HanWay’s David Bowie-starrer Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.
HanWay is currently restoring around five titles a year with recent updates including David Cronenberg’s Crash, which screened at Venice. Upcoming is Gary Oldman’s Nil By Mouth.
We also understand the company is close to striking a deal with a well known filmmaker to bring around 20 movies into The Collections fold.
The catalog drive...
- 5/5/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
European Film Promotion’s networking program Producers on the Move will take place as a digital edition on its original dates – from May 11 to 15 – and independently of the Cannes Film Festival, which has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Twenty up-and-coming European producers will meet online and present their projects in speed meetings and roundtable sessions. A case study as well as talks with experts will round out the program.
Efp, a network of 37 European film promotion institutions, has selected the following producers from 20 different European countries: Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria), Danijel Pek (Croatia), Mikuláš Novotny (Czech Republic), Monica Hellström (Denmark), Elina Litvinova (Estonia), Aleksi Hyvärinen (Finland), Andrea Queralt (France), Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer (Germany), John Wallace (Ireland), Giovanni Pompili (Italy), Yll Uka (Kosovo), Marija Razgutė (Lithuania), Alan R. Milligan (Norway), Marta Habior (Poland), Mário Patrocínio (Portugal), Marina Gumzi (Slovenia), Olmo Figueredo González-Quevedo (Spain), Marie Kjellson (Sweden), Flavia Zanon (Switzerland) and Rupert Lloyd (U.
Twenty up-and-coming European producers will meet online and present their projects in speed meetings and roundtable sessions. A case study as well as talks with experts will round out the program.
Efp, a network of 37 European film promotion institutions, has selected the following producers from 20 different European countries: Vesela Kazakova (Bulgaria), Danijel Pek (Croatia), Mikuláš Novotny (Czech Republic), Monica Hellström (Denmark), Elina Litvinova (Estonia), Aleksi Hyvärinen (Finland), Andrea Queralt (France), Tanja Georgieva-Waldhauer (Germany), John Wallace (Ireland), Giovanni Pompili (Italy), Yll Uka (Kosovo), Marija Razgutė (Lithuania), Alan R. Milligan (Norway), Marta Habior (Poland), Mário Patrocínio (Portugal), Marina Gumzi (Slovenia), Olmo Figueredo González-Quevedo (Spain), Marie Kjellson (Sweden), Flavia Zanon (Switzerland) and Rupert Lloyd (U.
- 5/5/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
“Belgravia” is a lavish historical drama set in the early days of Queen Victoria‘s reign that tells the story of an upwardly mobile family striving to find their place among the aristocracy. This six-part limited series on Epix is based on the novel of the same name by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes, who is fresh from the success of the “Downton Abbey” film. The TV edition of that drama set against the backdrop of the English aristocracy was an Emmys favorite, picking up 15 awards over the years.
“Belgravia” could do equally well with TV academy voters who may be eager to embrace escapist fare like this in these trying times. With its lavish attention to detail, “Belgravia” is sure to contend in a slew of below-the-line races. The video above captures the craftsmanship of BAFTA-winning costume designer James Keast (“The Long Firm”) and BAFTA nominated hair and makeup designer...
“Belgravia” could do equally well with TV academy voters who may be eager to embrace escapist fare like this in these trying times. With its lavish attention to detail, “Belgravia” is sure to contend in a slew of below-the-line races. The video above captures the craftsmanship of BAFTA-winning costume designer James Keast (“The Long Firm”) and BAFTA nominated hair and makeup designer...
- 5/4/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Fresh from the success of the “Downton Abbey” film, Oscar and Emmy winner Julian Fellowes returns with “Belgravia,” a new limited series on Epix that he’s adapted from his 2016 best-selling novel. Set in the well-heeled London neighborhood in the 1840s, the story chronicles the lives of the aristocratic Bellasise family and the upwardly mobile Trenchards.
Epix is rolling out this six-parter weekly with a new episode debuting every Sunday night. But Emmy voters don’t have to wait to see how the story unfolds – they can visit the Epix Fyc site to watch all six episodes now. “Belgravia” was directed by two-time BAFTA nominee John Alexander. With just one helmer for all the episodes, “Belgravia” has the feel of a film. That feeling is underscored by composer John Lunn, who won two Emmys for his work on “Downton Abbey.”
Period pieces like “Belgravia,” with their lavish attention to detail,...
Epix is rolling out this six-parter weekly with a new episode debuting every Sunday night. But Emmy voters don’t have to wait to see how the story unfolds – they can visit the Epix Fyc site to watch all six episodes now. “Belgravia” was directed by two-time BAFTA nominee John Alexander. With just one helmer for all the episodes, “Belgravia” has the feel of a film. That feeling is underscored by composer John Lunn, who won two Emmys for his work on “Downton Abbey.”
Period pieces like “Belgravia,” with their lavish attention to detail,...
- 4/20/2020
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Los Angeles and Mexico City-based studio Exile Content has teamed up with Spanish journo Ana Pastor’s media company Newtral to produce long-form unscripted premium content in Spanish and English. The joint venture’s first project is a documentary series about the genesis of the first-ever women’s soccer team at Real Madrid, Spain’s most renowned soccer team and winner of the FIFA World Cup a record-breaking four times.
Spurred by the growing interest in women’s soccer — especially after the 2019 Women’s World Cup triumph of the U.S. soccer team led by Megan Rapinoe and in Spain, where Spanish female soccer teams at rivals Atletico Madrid and Barca played to a record-busting crowd of 60,000 — Real Madrid opted to absorb Club Deportivo Tacon, a small neighborhood women’s soccer club in Madrid.
The docuseries, co-directed by Pastor and Alfonso Cortes-Cavanillas, has been chronicling, since September, the trials and...
Spurred by the growing interest in women’s soccer — especially after the 2019 Women’s World Cup triumph of the U.S. soccer team led by Megan Rapinoe and in Spain, where Spanish female soccer teams at rivals Atletico Madrid and Barca played to a record-busting crowd of 60,000 — Real Madrid opted to absorb Club Deportivo Tacon, a small neighborhood women’s soccer club in Madrid.
The docuseries, co-directed by Pastor and Alfonso Cortes-Cavanillas, has been chronicling, since September, the trials and...
- 1/22/2020
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Endeavor Content is upping its local-language game, signing a significant first look deal with Mexico City-based producer Subtrama.
Endeavor enters the deal with Exile Content Studio, a long-form English and Spanish content maker. Subtrama is behind films like Gael García Bernal’s “Museo.” Mauricio Katz, Manuel Alcalá, and Panorama Global’s Gerardo Gatica and Alberto Muffelmann run Subtrama.
“We are thrilled to power an engine that combines Mauricio and Manuel’s unique style with Gerardo and Alberto’s seasoned experience producing compelling content for global markets”, said Daniel Eilemberg, president of content at Exile.
Adds Endeavor VP of international strategy Kelly Miller, “Subtrama is at the intersection of compelling content, global audience, and gripping storytelling, all of which are paramount to the Endeavor Content fold, and we’re excited to be working with Mauricio and the entire team.”
This deal will focus primarily on Spanish-speaking projects. First up is “Litempo,...
Endeavor enters the deal with Exile Content Studio, a long-form English and Spanish content maker. Subtrama is behind films like Gael García Bernal’s “Museo.” Mauricio Katz, Manuel Alcalá, and Panorama Global’s Gerardo Gatica and Alberto Muffelmann run Subtrama.
“We are thrilled to power an engine that combines Mauricio and Manuel’s unique style with Gerardo and Alberto’s seasoned experience producing compelling content for global markets”, said Daniel Eilemberg, president of content at Exile.
Adds Endeavor VP of international strategy Kelly Miller, “Subtrama is at the intersection of compelling content, global audience, and gripping storytelling, all of which are paramount to the Endeavor Content fold, and we’re excited to be working with Mauricio and the entire team.”
This deal will focus primarily on Spanish-speaking projects. First up is “Litempo,...
- 1/21/2020
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
While it seems most critics and cinephiles think of Takashi Miike when it comes to a director who displays a certain work ethic, there is, however, very few talk about Hong Kong director Johnnie To. Over the course of his long career, To has maintained a steady and constant pace consisting of three to four and sometimes even five features per year and while the quality of some of these features may vary, there is no denying the director has also many strong years under his belt. For example, in 2005 and 2006 he produced and directed “Election” and its sequel as well as “Exiled”, three movies which are perhaps among the best of To’s filmography. Along with works such as “Fulltime Killer”, the “Running Out of Time”-films and “Vengeance” To has proven to be a director who follows the footsteps of filmmakers like John Woo, but who expands their...
- 1/4/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
One of the the most prolific directors in Hong Kong, let alone the world, Johnnie To is a filmmaker who I’m surprised has never been asked to join the Criterion Collection with any number of his films. Until now, perhaps. Not only did IFC Films pick up his critically acclaimed film Vengeance (which was put out by Mpi Home Video) but they also recently asked him what his 10 favorite Criterion films were, which you can see right here. He’s very short and sweet as to why he loves these films, but while perusing the list, one can see his influence and how he crafts his films.
So we here at the Criterion Cast like to play guessing games and are wishful thinkers, so here’s a top 10 Johnnie To films that we wish could enter the Criterion Collection. Remember, a lot of hands are on these films, in...
So we here at the Criterion Cast like to play guessing games and are wishful thinkers, so here’s a top 10 Johnnie To films that we wish could enter the Criterion Collection. Remember, a lot of hands are on these films, in...
- 6/18/2011
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
The Courier might sound and look like a blatant rip off of The Transporter, but with a great cast in Jeffrey Dean Morgan (The Watchmen), Mickey Rourke (Expendables, Immortals), Josie Ho (Exiled), Til Schweiger (Inglorious Basterds, Three Musketeers) it might just hit the mark.
We've tracked down the first stills from the film and they mostly feature the film's lead Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Synopsis:
A million bucks, just to deliver a briefcase.
The catch is delivering it to a killer as elusive as a nightmare and so feared the entire Underworld trembles at the mention of his name. But The Courier (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is no ordinary carrier. In a business that asks no questions he.s the best there is, and with the life of his only friend held to ransom there.s no way he.s missing the drop, come hell or high water.
Hounded by hitmen and hustlers,...
We've tracked down the first stills from the film and they mostly feature the film's lead Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Synopsis:
A million bucks, just to deliver a briefcase.
The catch is delivering it to a killer as elusive as a nightmare and so feared the entire Underworld trembles at the mention of his name. But The Courier (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is no ordinary carrier. In a business that asks no questions he.s the best there is, and with the life of his only friend held to ransom there.s no way he.s missing the drop, come hell or high water.
Hounded by hitmen and hustlers,...
- 5/11/2011
- QuietEarth.us
A man gets dressed in his bedroom; a bird flies in; he catches it and sets it loose again, only for it to return; the room is silent; the man smiles; a flute flurries over the top. Is Sparrow (2008) really a Johnnie To film? Yes – and the Exiled (2006) director is kicking it back in style. Sparrow is a nonchalant little piece, all style and little plot.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 5/3/2011
- by Matt Groizard
- CineVue
A question for you: how do you deal with contradictions in a director's filmography? The question becomes more complicated when talking about "workman" filmmakers like Japanese maverick Takashi Miike or Johnnie To (or, going back, of course, Howard Hawks, Raoul Walsh, William Wellman, and the lesser known)—with such prodigious output, how do audiences, critics, and the artist-workers themselves understand the instances of one film project contradicting another?
How, in the case of To, do we talk about Election and Triad Election (a.k.a. Triad Election)—critical indictments of violent genre cinema—when those films are followed up by Exiled, which proceeds to indulge those very same conventions? Or, in the case of the director of the subject of this piece, how does one look at 2004's withering time traveling anti-violence treatise Izo, and then see, several films later, 13 Assassins—as classical or old fashioned a samurai film as there ever was?...
How, in the case of To, do we talk about Election and Triad Election (a.k.a. Triad Election)—critical indictments of violent genre cinema—when those films are followed up by Exiled, which proceeds to indulge those very same conventions? Or, in the case of the director of the subject of this piece, how does one look at 2004's withering time traveling anti-violence treatise Izo, and then see, several films later, 13 Assassins—as classical or old fashioned a samurai film as there ever was?...
- 4/29/2011
- MUBI
<p><img src="http://www.justpressplay.net/images/stories/newstream.jpg" alt="newstream" width="590" height="175" /></p> <p>Today's new additions to Netflix Instant Watch that are worth watching features works by great Asian directors Johnnie To and Kim Ki-duk. Oh, and there's a Viking movie, too.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">• • •</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><img class="Image-Right" src="http://cdn-8.nflximg.com/en_US/boxshots/gsd/70120168.jpg" alt="" width="150" />Valhalla Rising</strong></p> <blockquote> <p>After years of slavery, Viking warrior One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) escapes from his captors and seeks refuge on a Norse ship bound for his homeland. When a storm throws them off course, the crew lands at a mysterious realm inhabited by invisible demons. As the bloodthirsty creatures claim one sailor after another, One-Eye rediscovers his fighting spirit but begins to wonder if they have arrived in Jerusalem or someplace much more sinister.</p> </blockquote> <p>We don't get a lot of Viking movies, and when we do, too often it's played for schlock. This Danish film mixes a moody arthouse aesthetic with bursts of hyperviolence to an entertaining degree. Our own Rob Young wrote <a href="http://www.justpressplay.net/movie-reviews/40-reviews/6799-valhalla-rising.html" target="_self">this favorable review</a> for the theatrical release.</p> <p><a href="http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Valhalla-Rising/70120168" target="_blank">Watch!</a></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><img class="Image-Right" src="http://cdn-6.nflximg.com/en_US/boxshots/gsd/70118406.jpg" alt="" width="150" />Vengeance</strong></p> <blockquote> <p>Today,...
- 12/1/2010
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
Carving themselves out to be a niche brand and a competitor to the well-liked genre label Magnet Releasing, Indomina Releasing have made their third film pick-up in less than three weeks, grabbing Dante Lam's Fire of Conscience not from Tiff's Midnight Madness section, but from the just completed 6th edition of Fantastic Fest in Austin. This is their second action film/Asian title pick-up and gives us a better idea of what kind of company Indomina is branding themselves as. A release should be expected for 2011. Featuring Leon Lai (Bodyguards and Assassins, Seven Swords) and Richie Ren (Exiled), this is about an investigation of a prostitute's homicide brings headstrong Detective Manfred in an unlikely collaboration with sly Inspector Kee from the Narcotics Bureau. When the DNA samples of one of Manfred's fellow officers are found at the crime scene, implicating him as the prime suspect. In the line of fire...
- 9/30/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Specialty outfit Indomina Releasing has picked up U.S. rights to Fantastic Fest feature "Fire of Conscience" by writer/director Dante Lam. The deal for the film, starring Leon Lai ("Bodyguards and Assassins") and Richie Ren ("Exiled"), was negotiated by the La and Dominican Republic-based company's VP of Acquisitions, Rob Williams, and Head of Business and Legal Affairs, Toby Midgen, with Media Asia Films' Assistant General Manager, Fred Tsui, the copyright owner of ...
- 9/30/2010
- Indiewire
Indomina Releasing is on a bit of a shopping spree.
The new distributor has acquired North American theatrical and home entertainment rights to "Griff the Invisible" and "True Legend," as well as U.S. rights to "Fire of Conscience." "Griff" was picked up in the wake of its world premiere in Toronto, while "Legend" and "Conscience" were acquisitions at the Austin-based Fantastic Fest.
Leon Ford's "Griff," which stars Ryan Kwanten ("True Blood") and Maeve Dermody ("Beautiful Kate"), is about a working stiff moonlighting as a superhero who meets a woman who shares his passion for the impossible.
Nicole O'Donohue produced the film, while Jan Chapman and Scott Meek are executive producers. Screen Australia, Screen Nsw and Fsm financed the project. The deal was negotiated by Indomina vp acquisitions Rob Williams and Fortissimo senior vp Winnie Lau on behalf of the filmmakers.
"True Legend" stars Vincent Zhao ("Dragon Gets Angry...
The new distributor has acquired North American theatrical and home entertainment rights to "Griff the Invisible" and "True Legend," as well as U.S. rights to "Fire of Conscience." "Griff" was picked up in the wake of its world premiere in Toronto, while "Legend" and "Conscience" were acquisitions at the Austin-based Fantastic Fest.
Leon Ford's "Griff," which stars Ryan Kwanten ("True Blood") and Maeve Dermody ("Beautiful Kate"), is about a working stiff moonlighting as a superhero who meets a woman who shares his passion for the impossible.
Nicole O'Donohue produced the film, while Jan Chapman and Scott Meek are executive producers. Screen Australia, Screen Nsw and Fsm financed the project. The deal was negotiated by Indomina vp acquisitions Rob Williams and Fortissimo senior vp Winnie Lau on behalf of the filmmakers.
"True Legend" stars Vincent Zhao ("Dragon Gets Angry...
- 9/28/2010
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fans of Battle Royale will surely be diggin' on the new flick from director Chao Feng, The Island, when it opens in China this October. We've got a one-sheet, an international trailer, and some stills for you to start cutting your horror-loving teeth on!
Details are sparse at the moment, but we can tell you that The Island follows a group of contestants who all must survive some horribly violent games. Someone should send them Russell from "Survivor".
The film stars Sek Tian-Lung, Yung Cheung and Lam Suet, who has starred in Fulltime Killer, Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunter, Ptu, One Nite in Mongkok, Kung Fu Hustle, Election 2, Dog Bite Dog, Exiled, The Storm Warriors, The Legend is Born: Ip Man, and Triple Tap.
Click here to check out around thirty stills that include other posters and members of the cast and crew.
Dig on the goods below, and...
Details are sparse at the moment, but we can tell you that The Island follows a group of contestants who all must survive some horribly violent games. Someone should send them Russell from "Survivor".
The film stars Sek Tian-Lung, Yung Cheung and Lam Suet, who has starred in Fulltime Killer, Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunter, Ptu, One Nite in Mongkok, Kung Fu Hustle, Election 2, Dog Bite Dog, Exiled, The Storm Warriors, The Legend is Born: Ip Man, and Triple Tap.
Click here to check out around thirty stills that include other posters and members of the cast and crew.
Dig on the goods below, and...
- 9/16/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Bleeding Cool reports that Chin Han ("The Dark Knight") and Hong Kong actress Josie Ho ("Exiled," "Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li") have joined the cast of Steven Soderbergh's pandemic thriller "Contagion".
Ho would play the sister of Patient Zero, the first diagnosed case who is a casino worker who spreads a deadly virus to passengers on an airplane leaving for the United States.
Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and John Hawkes also star. Shooting kicks off in Hong Kong later this month for a release next October.
Ho would play the sister of Patient Zero, the first diagnosed case who is a casino worker who spreads a deadly virus to passengers on an airplane leaving for the United States.
Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and John Hawkes also star. Shooting kicks off in Hong Kong later this month for a release next October.
- 9/3/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Stephen Soderberg’s action thriller “Contagion” already has the A-list cast you’ve come to expect from his movies. Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, and Marion Cotillard, are already cast. Now he’s added two Asian stars to the cast. Josie Ho (“Exiled”) and Chin Han (“The Dark Knight”) will also appear in the viral outbreak yarn. Still in pre-production, “Contagion” will shoot in La, Chicago, and then extensively in Hong Kong, which makes the addition of some high quality Asian talent an expected move. Double Feature Films and Participant Media are producing the film for Warner Bros.
- 9/2/2010
- by Brent McKnight
- Beyond Hollywood
We love a good, nasty revenge tale, especially when they come from Asia like Chan-wook Park’s notorious Vengeance trilogy. We also love the work of cerebral Hong Kong action auteur Johnnie To, whose Election 1 & 2, Exiled, Mad Detective, Ptu, Fulltime Killer and A Hero Never Dies garnered To a major international fan base. So Fangoria just had to share these exclusive pix (see below the jump) from To’s own Vengeance, a gripping new thriller that Roger Ebert called “an elegant genre exercise.” The film, which premiered to great acclaim in competition at Cannes in 2009, is currently available nationwide on demand via IFC Midnight.
- 8/20/2010
- by samueldzimmerman@gmail.com (FANGORIA Staff)
- Fangoria
"In a city without laws, there's nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose."
Ugh.
Taglines like that are movie-killers, if you ask me. It's so painfully trite and derivative that it makes film buffs shy away from the theaters. It certainly turned me off.
What am I talking about? Below is the trailer for Vengeance, directed by Johnny To (Exiled, Election), the Hong Kong director's first English-language film. At first glance, it looks like yet another Death Wish knock-off: An ordinary man's family is killed, he hunts down the killers. However, it apparently played extremely well at Cannes and even drew some parallels to Eastwood's Unforgiven. It's apparently an unflinching revenge flick, with the added dynamic of the professional hitmen that he hires to help him out.
Of course, the rest of the world has already seen it, but it's due out in "selected theaters" later this year in the U.
Ugh.
Taglines like that are movie-killers, if you ask me. It's so painfully trite and derivative that it makes film buffs shy away from the theaters. It certainly turned me off.
What am I talking about? Below is the trailer for Vengeance, directed by Johnny To (Exiled, Election), the Hong Kong director's first English-language film. At first glance, it looks like yet another Death Wish knock-off: An ordinary man's family is killed, he hunts down the killers. However, it apparently played extremely well at Cannes and even drew some parallels to Eastwood's Unforgiven. It's apparently an unflinching revenge flick, with the added dynamic of the professional hitmen that he hires to help him out.
Of course, the rest of the world has already seen it, but it's due out in "selected theaters" later this year in the U.
- 8/16/2010
- by TK
Along with their partnership with The Criterion Collection, it looks like IFC Films is set to jump into an even bigger portion of the video-on-demand world, with a brand new, genre friendly brand, IFC Midnight.
The brand will bring horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic films, action and any other film of that ilk to televisions nationwide. Midnight itself also has a special distribution deal with Mpi Media Group, so it is more than likely that these films will have little to no chance of making the jump to the Criterion Collection (sorry for all those Human Centipede fans craving a “C” to appear on the corner of the film’s DVD cover art, it just isn’t going to happen).
If there is one thing that IFC has been able to do since its inception is bring some of the best and most envelope pushing films to the mainstream, or at...
The brand will bring horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic films, action and any other film of that ilk to televisions nationwide. Midnight itself also has a special distribution deal with Mpi Media Group, so it is more than likely that these films will have little to no chance of making the jump to the Criterion Collection (sorry for all those Human Centipede fans craving a “C” to appear on the corner of the film’s DVD cover art, it just isn’t going to happen).
If there is one thing that IFC has been able to do since its inception is bring some of the best and most envelope pushing films to the mainstream, or at...
- 5/16/2010
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
IFC Films, one of the leading foreign and independent film distributors, today launches a new genre label called IFC Midnight. IFC Midnight will offer the very best in international genre cinema, including horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more. Four new IFC midnight films will premiere each month on video-on-demand; select titles will also be released in theaters at the same time as their VOD premiere. In addition, an IFC Midnight branded line of Blu-ray and DVD product will be released via a distribution arrangement with Mpi Media Group
President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step. While we...
President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step. While we...
- 5/12/2010
- MoviesOnline.ca
Exiled
Starring: Anthony Wong, Nick Cheung, Francis Ng, Simon Yam, Roy Cheung, Lam Suet
A clear and distinctive nod to his own back-catalogue, prolific honk-Kong helmer Johnny To concocts a slyly surreal meditation on honor and loyalty. Cooking up what is, for all intents and purposes, a Spaghetti Western, set in a non-descript locale that looks far less like rural China than some South-of-the-border Mexican berg. Mining the macabre humor of the genre, in particular the abrupt tonal shifts of Sergio Leone, for all they're worth, To engages us with a simple set up that sees a gang of criminals reuniting under intentionally confrontational circumstances. Descending on the home Wo (Nick Cheung), a onetime hitman now living the quiet life with his wife and baby, are two pairs of assassins - one with orders to kill him and the other intent on saving his life. After a furious flurry of bullets,...
Starring: Anthony Wong, Nick Cheung, Francis Ng, Simon Yam, Roy Cheung, Lam Suet
A clear and distinctive nod to his own back-catalogue, prolific honk-Kong helmer Johnny To concocts a slyly surreal meditation on honor and loyalty. Cooking up what is, for all intents and purposes, a Spaghetti Western, set in a non-descript locale that looks far less like rural China than some South-of-the-border Mexican berg. Mining the macabre humor of the genre, in particular the abrupt tonal shifts of Sergio Leone, for all they're worth, To engages us with a simple set up that sees a gang of criminals reuniting under intentionally confrontational circumstances. Descending on the home Wo (Nick Cheung), a onetime hitman now living the quiet life with his wife and baby, are two pairs of assassins - one with orders to kill him and the other intent on saving his life. After a furious flurry of bullets,...
- 5/12/2010
- by Neil Pedley
- JustPressPlay.net
IFC Films has just announced its slate for this summer's IFC Midnight, and as expected, it's packing quite a punch for fans looking for some badass off-the-grid type horror!
Information on how, when, and where you can dig on these movies appears below along with the synopsis for each entry. Considering the crap we have shoveled into theatres on a weekly basis, we're a lot more open to paying for these flicks to see them in the comfort of our own homes via VOD. Expect your cable bill to go up soon, as some of these movies are total winners whose titles you should be more than familiar with!
From the Press Release:
The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
Written and directed by Tom Six, the film is a truly one-of-a kind horror film about a mad scientist who achieves his sick lifetime fantasy of creating a human centipede. Entertainment Weekly...
Information on how, when, and where you can dig on these movies appears below along with the synopsis for each entry. Considering the crap we have shoveled into theatres on a weekly basis, we're a lot more open to paying for these flicks to see them in the comfort of our own homes via VOD. Expect your cable bill to go up soon, as some of these movies are total winners whose titles you should be more than familiar with!
From the Press Release:
The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
Written and directed by Tom Six, the film is a truly one-of-a kind horror film about a mad scientist who achieves his sick lifetime fantasy of creating a human centipede. Entertainment Weekly...
- 5/11/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
HollywoodNews.com: IFC Films, one of the leading foreign and independent film distributors, today launches a new genre label called IFC Midnight. IFC Midnight will offer the very best in international genre cinema, including horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more. Four new IFC midnight films will premiere each month on video-on-demand; select titles will also be released in theaters at the same time as their VOD premiere. In addition, an IFC Midnight branded line of Blu-ray and DVD product will be released via a distribution arrangement with Mpi Media Group
President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step.
President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step.
- 5/11/2010
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
With Hong Kong director Johnnie To having long been admired as an auteur by French film critics, his desired collaboration with European talent has been a much mooted and anticipated possibility. Finally, it arrives in the form of “Vengeance”, which sees To teaming with legendary French singer Johnny Hallyday for a thriller written by Milkyway regular Wai Ka Fai. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the film is heavily reminiscent of two of the director’s signature works, namely “The Mission” and “Exiled”, not least since its cast includes the likes of Anthony Wong, Lam Suet, Gordon Lam and Simon Yam, with support from other familiar faces including Michelle Yip, Eddie Cheung, Maggie Shiu, Felix Wong, Berg Ng, and Stanley Fung. Despite underwhelming some critics, the film played in competition at Cannes 2009, with To being nominated for the prestigious Golden Palm Award. All things considered, the narrative is pretty much standard fare for To and Wai Ka Fai,...
- 1/24/2010
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
Filipino director Erik Matti has long been a favorite of this site, his films consistently charming with their unique sense of style and energy. But as much as we may argue that films like superhero riff Gagamboy or atmospheric chiller Pa-Siyam are fun films - which they very definitely are - the realities of the system that Matti has been forced to work within have largely meant that while his films are consistently fun they are very seldom what would be called good, at least not good in the big, serious arthouse definition of the word. Only once that I'm aware of in his career - with the gritty drama Prosti - has Matti really been able to showcase the serious craftsman in him and that film has been seen by so tragically few people that it hardly counts.
This is about to change.
When posting the trailer for Matti's...
This is about to change.
When posting the trailer for Matti's...
- 1/20/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Your cinematic birthdays for 12/02. If it's your big day, let us know.
Steven, Lucy and Warren
1894 Warren William, charming snake, pre-code movie star who was often paired with formidable actresses like Claudette Colbert (Imitation of Life, Cleopatra), Joan Blondell (Gold Diggers of 1933, Stage Struck) and Bette Davis (Three on a Match, Satan Met a Lady)
1914 Ray Walston, the Damn Yankees! devil had a lengthy career on screens small and large
1914 Adolph Green, musical giant of 'Comden & Green' fame. I can't even begin to choose a favorite song by that duo. Plus they wrote the screenplay to Singin' in the Rain!
1923 Maria Callas, La Divina. Fanny Ardant recently played her in Callas Forever. The next actress who'll have a go at her is Eva Mendes in Greek Fire
1925 Julie Harris was Oscar nominated for her film debut (The Member of the Wedding), co-starred with James Dean (East of Eden) and...
Steven, Lucy and Warren
1894 Warren William, charming snake, pre-code movie star who was often paired with formidable actresses like Claudette Colbert (Imitation of Life, Cleopatra), Joan Blondell (Gold Diggers of 1933, Stage Struck) and Bette Davis (Three on a Match, Satan Met a Lady)
1914 Ray Walston, the Damn Yankees! devil had a lengthy career on screens small and large
1914 Adolph Green, musical giant of 'Comden & Green' fame. I can't even begin to choose a favorite song by that duo. Plus they wrote the screenplay to Singin' in the Rain!
1923 Maria Callas, La Divina. Fanny Ardant recently played her in Callas Forever. The next actress who'll have a go at her is Eva Mendes in Greek Fire
1925 Julie Harris was Oscar nominated for her film debut (The Member of the Wedding), co-starred with James Dean (East of Eden) and...
- 12/2/2009
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
The DVD cover for Triangle says “Three Masters. One Masterpiece.” Triangle does not in fact live up to the hype its cover hopes to generate, but I understand the desire to make a little-known (to Americans anyway) film’s cover eye-catching. This Hong Kong import did pique my interest with its distinction of bringing together three innovative and influential Hk directors: Tsui Hark (Zu Warriors, Once Upon a Time in China), Ringo Lam (City on Fire, which inspired Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, the underrated twin Jackie Chan comedy Twin Dragons, and Chow Yun Fat vehicle Full Contact), Johnnie To (Ptu, Election, and Breaking News).
The primary cinematic appeal of Triangle is invested in the collaboration between these three “masters.” Each director takes the reins on one 30-minute section of this 90-minute film. The trio maintains the same editor and cinematography to ensure continuity but bring their own stylistic choices and cinematic flair to their third.
The primary cinematic appeal of Triangle is invested in the collaboration between these three “masters.” Each director takes the reins on one 30-minute section of this 90-minute film. The trio maintains the same editor and cinematography to ensure continuity but bring their own stylistic choices and cinematic flair to their third.
- 9/24/2009
- by Mark Zhuravsky
- JustPressPlay.net
“The Sniper” is a film which hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, thanks to the all-consuming nude photo scandal surrounding star Edison Chen, resulting in a long delay to its release and an apparently drastic cutting down of his role. However, for once this may actually have been a good thing, as the film which has finally emerged is a short, sharp burst of action which comes at a time when there are few and far between genre films of note on Hong Kong screens. The film boasts a talented director at the helm in the form of Dante Lam, whose recent “The Beast Stalker” won acclaim and prizes, and an interesting cast which also includes Taiwan actor-singer Richie Jen (also in Johnnie To’s “Exiled”) and Mainland actor Huang Xiaoming (recently in hit comedy “Fit Lover”). The film revolves around a police sniper unit led by the...
- 6/6/2009
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
If you ask me who the coolest director working in Hong Kong right now, the first name to pop in my head would be Johnnie To's. Though he's known as a chameleonic director who has dabbled in various genres (my very first exposure to To was the Chow Yun-Fat tearjerking family drama All About Ah-Long), he's understandably popular in the West for his Triad and cop movies.
What seperates him from his contemporaries is his approach to action scenes, which is less kinetic and huge compared to the gonzo action of John Woo or Tsui Hark. Johnnie To takes his cues from Sergio Leone and makes his shootouts all about the buildup. Do yourself a favor and rent Exiled to see how a bunch of guys shooting at each other can look like gorgeous painting in motion. To is at Cannes this year with another crime story, the upfront-sounding Vengeance.
What seperates him from his contemporaries is his approach to action scenes, which is less kinetic and huge compared to the gonzo action of John Woo or Tsui Hark. Johnnie To takes his cues from Sergio Leone and makes his shootouts all about the buildup. Do yourself a favor and rent Exiled to see how a bunch of guys shooting at each other can look like gorgeous painting in motion. To is at Cannes this year with another crime story, the upfront-sounding Vengeance.
- 5/20/2009
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
How far would you go to keep your dream home? That's the question director Pang Ho Cheung will ask of audiences when his new movie Dream Home comes out later this year. Judging by the stills this film's main character is willing to go pretty damned far!
Dream Home tells the story of a young woman who goes to extreme measures when she can no longer afford her dream home. The film, which is in post-production, stars Josie Ho (Exiled) and Anthony Wong (Infernal Affairs) with Eason Chan, Michelle Ye Suen, Lawrence Chou, Derek Tsang, Juno Mak, Sin Lap Man, Wong Ching, and Lo Hoi Pang.
The filmmakers are hoping to turn the flick into a successful franchise, and I'm willing to bet that if the movie is even halfway good, we'll be seeing an American remake in like two weeks.
Click on the image below to see some...
Dream Home tells the story of a young woman who goes to extreme measures when she can no longer afford her dream home. The film, which is in post-production, stars Josie Ho (Exiled) and Anthony Wong (Infernal Affairs) with Eason Chan, Michelle Ye Suen, Lawrence Chou, Derek Tsang, Juno Mak, Sin Lap Man, Wong Ching, and Lo Hoi Pang.
The filmmakers are hoping to turn the flick into a successful franchise, and I'm willing to bet that if the movie is even halfway good, we'll be seeing an American remake in like two weeks.
Click on the image below to see some...
- 5/13/2009
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
We first wrote about Dream Home - the upcoming Hong Kong slasher film from director Pang Ho Cheung - back at the end of March, rather excited indeed about the prospects of a female centered slasher picture coming from Hong Kong in general - where these sorts of films are rare in the extreme - and from director Pang in particular. If you’re not already familiar with his work Pang is, quite simply, the best and most diverse of the young generation of Hong Kong talent.
Josie Ho (Naked Ambition, Exiled) stars in the picture as Cheung, “a woman who will stop at nothing to own her Dream Home.” And lest you think this is something you’d see on one of those home improvement networks we’ve just gotten the first two stills to share with you - one of Ho and another of co-star Juno Mak, missing part of his face.
Josie Ho (Naked Ambition, Exiled) stars in the picture as Cheung, “a woman who will stop at nothing to own her Dream Home.” And lest you think this is something you’d see on one of those home improvement networks we’ve just gotten the first two stills to share with you - one of Ho and another of co-star Juno Mak, missing part of his face.
- 5/8/2009
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
Variety just reported on a new Chinese slasher film that was filmed right under our nose. Fortissimo Films has boarded Hong Kong helmer Pang Ho-cheung's slasher pic Dream Home which tells the story of a young woman who goes to extreme measures when she can no longer afford her dream home. Start-up shingle 852 Films is producing the pic, for which Fortissimo is handling worldwide sales, excluding Hong Kong. "Dream Home," which is in post-production, stars Josie Ho ("Exiled") and Anthony Wong ("Infernal Affairs"), Eason Chan, Michelle Ye Suen, Lawrence Chou, Derek Tsang, Juno Mak, Sin Lap Man, Wong Ching and Lo Hoi Pang. "We're hoping with 'Dream Home' to have a repeat of the success we previously enjoyed in the genre zone with the 'Eye' films," commented Fortissimo co-chairman Michael J. Werner.
- 5/7/2009
- bloody-disgusting.com
“Tactical Unit – the Code” is likely to be an enticing prospect for fans of Hong Kong action cinema, being the first in a series of follow ups to Johnnie To’s seminal 2003 police thriller “Ptu”, a film which still stands as one of the best of the genre. Here, To serves as producer, passing the directorial reins to Law Wing Cheong, a member of the Milkyway stable previously responsible for “Hooked on You” and the comedy “2 Become 1”, and who recently starred in “Sparrow”. The film was written by Yip Tin Shing, another frequent To collaborator, who scripted “Election”, “Exiled”, “Throw Down” and others, and boasts a great cast of familiar faces including Simon Yam, Maggie Siu and Lam Suet. Thankfully, the film lives up to its impressive pedigree, proving itself worthy of the Milkyway brand, and manages to transcend its low-budget roots. The film revolves around an incident in which...
- 3/8/2009
- by James Mudge
- Beyond Hollywood
As a Twitch-o-Meter, this post will remain up on top of the page for one day (or, being a “Mr. deMille” article, until it gets guessed). There might be newer posts below this, so don’t forget to take a look!
It took me a while to warm towards Simon Yam because he always seemed to be playing the same character and his face was distinctive enough to say: “Ah, him again”.
But a string of knock-out roles changed that completely, most of all the truly excellent work he did in both “Election” movies.
Whether he plays a meek businessman or a ruthless Triad leader, a smooth player or an awkward policeman, Simon Yam always brings intelligence to the table. It’s hard to think of him playing a character that is totally dumb.
Also, I have to think really hard to recall a recent Johnnie To movie without Yam in it,...
It took me a while to warm towards Simon Yam because he always seemed to be playing the same character and his face was distinctive enough to say: “Ah, him again”.
But a string of knock-out roles changed that completely, most of all the truly excellent work he did in both “Election” movies.
Whether he plays a meek businessman or a ruthless Triad leader, a smooth player or an awkward policeman, Simon Yam always brings intelligence to the table. It’s hard to think of him playing a character that is totally dumb.
Also, I have to think really hard to recall a recent Johnnie To movie without Yam in it,...
- 3/7/2009
- by Ard Vijn
- Screen Anarchy
Director Benny Chan's (Invisible Target) action thriller Connected (an adaptation of the 2004 Hollywood film 'Cellular') is up for pre-order on DVD. The pic, a big hit with Asian audiences stars Hong Kong's Louis Koo (Rob-b-Hood) as the everyman hero - while as the film's black-clad villain, Liu Ye (Blood Brothers) exudes over-the-top entertaining menace. Rounding out the cast are Nick Cheung (Exiled) as a stalwart traffic cop, with Louis Fan (The Moss), Eddie Cheung (Election), Tvb actor Wong Cho Lam and model Ankie Beilke. This is Chan back at his very best.
- 11/11/2008
- 24framespersecond.net
Director Benny Chan's (Invisible Target) action thriller Connected (an adaptation of the 2004 Hollywood film 'Cellular') is up for pre-order on DVD. The pic, a big hit with Asian audiences stars Hong Kong's Louis Koo (Rob-b-Hood) as the everyman hero - while as the film's black-clad villain, Liu Ye (Blood Brothers) exudes over-the-top entertaining menace. Rounding out the cast are Nick Cheung (Exiled) as a stalwart traffic cop, with Louis Fan (The Moss), Eddie Cheung (Election), Tvb actor Wong Cho Lam and model Ankie Beilke. This is Chan back at his very best.
- 11/11/2008
- 24framespersecond.net
Vincent Van Gogh cut off an ear for a prostitute named Christine; and Hong Kong police Inspec tor Bun, the hero of "Mad Detective," cuts off one of his as a gift for a retiring superior.
No wonder Bun (Lau Ching-wan, excellent) is booted off the force.
But you can't keep a good cop down, even if he is loony and has only one ear.
Five years later, a younger cop (Andy On) gets Bun to help him on a perplexing case involving a missing officer and his gun, which has been used in several serious crimes.
No wonder Bun (Lau Ching-wan, excellent) is booted off the force.
But you can't keep a good cop down, even if he is loony and has only one ear.
Five years later, a younger cop (Andy On) gets Bun to help him on a perplexing case involving a missing officer and his gun, which has been used in several serious crimes.
- 7/18/2008
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
By R. Emmet Sweeney
Since the formation of his Milkyway Image production company in 1996 in Hong Kong, Johnnie To has been the most imaginative (and prolific) director of genre films in the world. Mainly known stateside for self-reflexively stylish gangster flicks like "The Mission" (1999) and "Exiled" (2006), he's also produced a slew of hit romantic comedies (including the delirious 2002 supernatural love story "My Left Eye Sees Ghosts"). Whatever the subject, his films hum with the skill of a committed craftsman, every shot jiggered for maximum lucidity and intensity. There's no wasted motion in a To film -- every gun crack or eye-poke carries the weight of the character behind it.
To's collaborated with screenwriter and Milkyway co-founder Wai Ka-Fai on his most daring projects, including the bodybuilding Buddhist thriller "Running on Karma" (2003), and they reteam again for "Mad Detective," which recently screened at the New York Asian Film Festival and which...
Since the formation of his Milkyway Image production company in 1996 in Hong Kong, Johnnie To has been the most imaginative (and prolific) director of genre films in the world. Mainly known stateside for self-reflexively stylish gangster flicks like "The Mission" (1999) and "Exiled" (2006), he's also produced a slew of hit romantic comedies (including the delirious 2002 supernatural love story "My Left Eye Sees Ghosts"). Whatever the subject, his films hum with the skill of a committed craftsman, every shot jiggered for maximum lucidity and intensity. There's no wasted motion in a To film -- every gun crack or eye-poke carries the weight of the character behind it.
To's collaborated with screenwriter and Milkyway co-founder Wai Ka-Fai on his most daring projects, including the bodybuilding Buddhist thriller "Running on Karma" (2003), and they reteam again for "Mad Detective," which recently screened at the New York Asian Film Festival and which...
- 7/15/2008
- ifc.com
And the hot streak continues for Johnnie To. While the latest from the prolific action auteur lacks the blistering intensity of the Election films and the extreme high style of Exiled it reunites him with a pair of favored collaborators - screenwriter and co-director Wai Ka Fai and star Lau Ching Wan - and the result is an entertaining, surprising piece of work anchored by a powerhouse performance from Lau.
- 7/13/2008
- by Todd Brown
- Screen Anarchy
- Way back in the early ‘90s Hong Kong cinema was known for three things: Jackie Chan’s acrobatics, Jet Li’s bone-crushing , and John Woo’s bullet ballets. True to form, Hollywood made it a priority to poach these icons and bring them to America at large. While all three found great success in the transition, only Woo totally crossed over without looking back. As a consequence, Hk cinema was left scrambling to find someone to take up the mantle. Many tried to make their mark, from hacks like Joe Ma to the highly competent like Corey Yuen, but it wasn’t until Johnny To stepped up to the plate did the industry finally have a new action maestro. With an astounding 25 films to his credit in the last 8 years alone (and that’s just as a director!), few can boast his prolific output and sheer quality. Best known
- 7/9/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
- Unless you have a multi-region DVD player and seek out obscure foreign imports, Johnnie To films usually come late to North American audiences. As was the case with low-budget thrillers Exiled and Election, To's films have no problems finding takers - its just that there is the hassle of finding the highest bid among low bidders. Variety reports that the folks over at IFC have picked up a Johnnie To/Wai Ka-fai title that played out at recent fall fests at Venice and Toronto but had yet to find a North American buyer. Mad Detective sees Lau Ching-wan play the title character, a loopy police inspector who solves cases by seeing a suspect's inner "ghosts." After a long absence from the force for mental-health reasons, he is brought back to track down a missing officer.This will be released via the profitable IFC First Take label and fans can
- 12/3/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
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