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After leaving the set of Ong-Bak 2 in what appeared to be something of a meltdown, then appearing in tears on national Thai television, Tony Jaa has finally returned to complete the film. His mentor action choreographer Panna Rittikrai will be taking over direction duties from him. Read more about Tony Jaa’s return on Wise Kwai’s Thai Film Journal »

The 65th Venice International Film Festival is now well under way and runs until 6 September. New Asian films in competiton include: Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo On The Cliff, which you can see pictures of and read more about it here at Twitch; Takeshi Kitano’s Achilles and the Tortoise; and Yu Lik-wai’s Plastic City, which you can read more about on MonkeyPeaches.

Meanwhile, Wu-jing.org reports that the latest collaboration between actor/action choreographer Donnie Yen and director Wilson Yip, Ip Man, has been completed.

Three of Hong Kong’s most respected directors – Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To – each take one half-hour segment of the same plotline, each with complete creative control – but is it any more than an self-indulgent experiment? (more…)

That’s the question Time journalist Tim Youngs asks in his well-informed article The China Syndrome. A Tim points out, the Hong Kong film industry has been in decline for many years now, not helped piracy, internet and shrunken local markets.

Under a 2003 trade pact, Chinese co-productions are recognized in mainland market as Chinese films, not as imports subject to tight quotas, but what concessions are directors ready to make towards strict censorship in order for a slice of that market?

Read Tim Youngs article, The China Syndrome, in full »

Origin: Spirits Of The Past is released by Manga on DVD today. Directed by Keiichi Sugiyama (Neon Genesis Evangelion), is the first full-length animated feature film made by Studio Gonzo, the Japanese anime studio responsible for the likes of Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Hellsing and She, The Ultimate Weapon.

Read our review here »

Black Kiss, directed by Tezka Macoto (Hakuchi: The Innocent) and starring Reika Hashimoto (Survive Style 5+), Masanobu Ando (Battle Royale) and Ken Mitsuishi (Audition), is released by 4Digital Asia on 22 September.

Yo-Yo Girl Cop, directed by Kenta Fukasaku (Battle Royale 2; X-Cross) and starring J-Pop sensation Aya Matsuura, is released by 4Digital Asia on 22 September.

Tokyo Zombie is released on DVD in the UK by Manga on 13 October.

The Film4 FrightFest begins at the Odeon West End in London today, including a midnight showing of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s Tokyo Gore Police on 23 August – described as ‘David Cronenberg body horror and insane RoboCop-style TV commercial inserts meet freaky Samurai bondage splat-stick starring Eiihi Shiina of Audition fame’.

Read more about Tokyo Gore Police at the Fright Fest »

Starfish Hotel is released by 4Digital Asia on UK DVD on Monday 27 October (originally 13 October).

The sequel to Death Note, Death Note – The Last Name, is released on DVD in the UK by 4Digital Asia on 13 October.

Asia House in partnership with Curzon Cinemas launches the inaugural Asia House Festival of Asian Film beginning 22 August. It will premiere films from Singapore, South Korea, Iran, Indonesia and China, including 881, Seven Days and Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon. The festival celebrates the best in Asian cinema, showcasing films that have been critically acclaimed at recent film festivals and providing the first and possibly only opportunity to see these films in the UK.

All screenings take place at 6.30pm at the RENOIR Cinema, The Brunswick in London. See www.asiahouse.org for more details »

Director Prachya Pinkaew brings us a whole new female fighting sensation in the making, JeeJa Yanin, but is it another Ong-Bak or an overly earnest disappointment like Warrior King? (more…)

John Woo’s new Chinese epic Red Cliff, starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro, has been chosen to open the 21st Tokyo International Film Festival running from October 18 to 26.

Read more on the official Tokyo International Film Festival site »

Based on one of the most popular and most frequently adapted modern stories in Japanese literature (‘Paprika’ author Yasutaka Tsutsui’s 1965 novel ‘Toki o Kakeru Shojo’), the award winning, feature-length anime The Girl Who Leapt Through Time comes to the UK boasting an unrivalled pedigree of creative talent.

Produced by Madhouse Studio (Paprika; Millennium Actress; Perfect Blue), directed by Studio Ghibli veteran Mamoru Hosoda (director of Digimon: The Movie and the originally intended director of Howl’s Moving Castle before Hayao Miyazaki took the reins), with art direction by longtime Ghibli art director Nizou Yamamoto (Princess Mononoke; Little Nemo: Adventures In Slumberland) and character design by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Neon Genesis Evangelion), The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was the first ever recipient of the Japanese Academy’s newly formed Best Animation Film Award in 2007.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (cert. PG) is released by Manga Entertainment and will open at selected UK cinemas on 19th September 2008.

There’s something in the air all right… but Beijing Olympics or not, haven’t we seen it all before? (more…)

Triangle, featuring the combined directing talents of Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnny To, is released Manga Entertainment at selected cinemas on 29 August.