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Chow Yun-fat takes the lead in this scene from John Woo’s patchy but occasionally brilliant follow up to his own A Better Tomorrow.

Playing the twin brother of the character of the role he played in the original, we first meet him as the owner of a restaurant on New York. When a guy from a protection racket tries to threaten him and his business, Chow Yun-fat flies into a full on Robert De Niro impression – in English – expounding how rice is like his mother and father! The scene even ends with the line “You talking to me?”

With the upcoming release of I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Okay on 4 April, director Park Chan-wook talks to the Guardian’s Ryan Gibley about how he can’t stand watching violence…

Read the article on the Guardian Online »

The Man From Nowhere owes a great deal of it’s conception to Taken, written and produced by French filmmaker Luc Besson, but only hints at a mutual appreciation towards Eastern cinema. To celebrate its upcoming release on UK DVD, we take a closer look at this special relationship… (more…)

Reserved, considered and with a measured pace. Sorry, are you sure this is Takashi Miike? You know, the same guy who directed Sukiyaki Western Django and The Happiness Of The Katakuris?… (more…)

Director Daniel Lee is back, this time with Donnie Yen and Vicky Zhao in tow – thank god this is an improvement on Three Kingdoms then… (more…)

A sumptuous production with epic battle scenes, but even the most ardent Jackie Chan fan will find it hard to wade through the propaganda… (more…)

The 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival will commemorate the life and enduring influence of Bruce Lee with a special tribute at the festival’s Winds of Asia Middle-East section, entitled The 70th Anniversary: Bruce LEE to the Future.

Screenings will include the film that finally catapulted him into the mass populace, Enter The Dragon, sadly released just after his death, and a rare chance to see the Japanese version of Game Of Death, distributed in 1978. There will also be exciting new films that pay homage to Lee nearly 30 years after his death, including Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng’s Gallants and Luu Huynh Luu’s The Legend Is Alive.

The 23rd TIFF will be held from October 23-31, 2010 at Roppongi Hills and other venues in Tokyo.

Find out more from their official website »

A spell binding and often perplexing vision – it’s Wong Kai-wai’s much anticipated sequel to In the Mood for Love… (more…)

Get ready for the next phenomenon as Nakoi Urasawa’s hit manga finally hits our screens as a live-action trilogy… (more…)

The first of Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s three-part adaption of Nakoi Urasawa’s 20 million copy selling 2oth Century Boys is released today – check it out! (Sorry, no English Subs!)

You can read our review of 2oth Century Boys here »

Third Window Films in association with CUEAFS and Coventry University will be hosting their annual East Winds Film Festival on the weekend of 2nd-4th March, 2012.

East Winds Film Festival was created with the purpose of bringing East Asian cinema to a University campus under the premise that the film festival is predominantly run by and for students, therefore making it one of its kind in the UK. The festival, despite only being in its 2nd year has drawn large international attention due to the way it operates, and this year sees Nissan sponsor the event as well as welcoming many world renowned film-makers and actors in attendance.

This years’ lineup of films includes a retrospective of Japanese film-maker Miki Satoshi (Turtles Are Surprisingly Fast Swimmers, Adrift In Tokyo) who will attend along with his regular actress Fuse Eri. There will also be a double-bill of feature films from legendary Hong Kong director Herman Yau, who will also be in attendance.

Other screenings include the European Premier of Taiwan/China co-production Starry Starry Night with a Q&A from director Tom Lin as well as screenings of Yuya Ishii’s follow-up to Sawako Decides with Mitsuko Delivers; the South Korean blockbuster smash The Yellow Sea and the European Premier of the acclaimed short-film BloodTraffick starring rising actress Grace Huang.

» Find out more about at the official East Winds Film Festival website.

Next Monday quite possibly the best martial arts/kung fu film ever finally makes its way on to DVD in UK! (more…)

Actually saucy doesn’t even cover it! Seriously is only for Adults only, distributor Metrodome have left us in no quandary about just how sexy 3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy gets with this so-called ‘Red Band’ trailer. Well, it is an 18 certificate after all!

(For ‘Red Band’, read those funny little red triangles you used to get on Channel 4 all those years ago. Except I’m guessing this’ll be something folks will want to watch, not some weird art movie…)

It’s shattered box office records across the Asia Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Singapore, and grossed over $1m on just 6 screens in Australia. In the UK it will be exclusively in Odeon Cinemas. Is this what 3D was for?

3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy comes to UK cinemas next Friday, 2 September.

Just remember if you watch the trailer, it is an adult movie… okay?

Just been to an FDA screening of 3D Sex And Zen: Extreme Ecstasy. Bit of a mixed reaction to say the least: some folks left halfway through (yes, I will be reading what you say about the end!) and I definitely heard snoring near the end – but Mark Kermode seemed to be appropriately combing his quiff in the bathroom and The Observer’s Philip French was in attendance too! We’ll be bringing you our thoughts later in the week…

…in the meantime, here’s a clip (NOT FOR MINORS!)

Oooooh er, missus! easternKicks gets all saucy with the director of the new 3D Sex And Zen: Extreme Ecstasy movie, Christopher Sun Lap-Key. But you’d almost think it was more of a ‘chick flick’ to hear him describe it… (more…)

An outrageous spectacle in full eye-popping 3D, but is it really that sexy…? (more…)

The Terracotta Far East Film Festival returns to London this May, with another great hand-picked choice of films from Asia. Running from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th May 2011, this year’s 14 film line-up will include:

• Karate Girl (European Premiere) – starring Rina Takeda, real teenage Karate Champion (star of High Kick Girl!), Japan

• Petty Romance (UK Premiere) – starring Lee Sun-kyun (Oki’s Movie), Choi Kang-hee, directed by Kim Joung-hoon, South Korea.

• Revenge: A Love Story (UK Premiere) – starring and written by Juno Mak, directed Wong Ching Po (Jiang Hu) and co-starring Sola Aoi (Big Tits Zombie), Hong Kong.

• Gallants (UK Premiere) – directed by Clement Cheng, Hong Kong.

• Yakuza Weapon (European Premiere) – directed by Tak Sakaguchi, Japan.

• Lost Bladesman (European Premiere) – starring Donnie Yen (Ip Man), directed by Alan Mak and Felix Chong (Infernal Affairs), China.

Confirmed guests already include Rina Takeda, Clement Cheng and Tak Sakaguchi, with hopefully more on the way.

Terracotta Festival will also tie up with the heavyweight SCI-FI-LONDON, a festival of sci-fi, manga, anime and genre/ fanboy films. Terracotta Festival will present Gantz (based on a smash hit Manga) at SCI-FI-LONDON in April, and to reciprocate, SCI-FI-LONDON will present Yakuza Weapon at Terracotta Festival in May.

Once again the festival will be Prince Charles Cinema, with tickets available from today as a Festival Pass, or for single screenings (and a discount if you order before 15 April). The full line-up and further guests will be announced next week.

» Find out more on the official Terracotta Festival website

The Terracotta Far East Film Festival returns to London this May, with another great hand-picked choice of films from Asia. Running from Thursday 5th to Sunday 8th May 2011, this year’s 14 film line-up will include:

• Karate Girl (European Premiere) – starring Rina Takeda, real teenage Karate Champion (star of High Kick Girl!), Japan

• Petty Romance (UK Premiere) – starring Lee Sun-kyun (Oki’s Movie), Choi Kang-hee, directed by Kim Joung-hoon, South Korea.

• Revenge: A Love Story (UK Premiere) – starring and written by Juno Mak, directed Wong Ching Po (Jiang Hu) and co-starring Sola Aoi (Big Tits Zombie), Hong Kong.

• Gallants (UK Premiere) – directed by Clement Cheng, Hong Kong.

• Yakuza Weapon (European Premiere) – directed by Tak Sakaguchi, Japan.

• Lost Bladesman (European Premiere) – starring Donnie Yen (Ip Man), directed by Alan Mak and Felix Chong (Infernal Affairs), China.

Confirmed guests already include Rina Takeda, Clement Cheng and Tak Sakaguchi, with hopefully more on the way.

Terracotta Festival will also tie up with the heavyweight SCI-FI-LONDON, a festival of sci-fi, manga, anime and genre/ fanboy films. Terracotta Festival will present Gantz (based on a smash hit Manga) at SCI-FI-LONDON in April, and to reciprocate, SCI-FI-LONDON will presentYakuza Weapon at Terracotta Festival in May.

Once again the festival will be Prince Charles Cinema, with tickets available from today as a Festival Pass, or for single screenings (and a discount if you order before 15 April). The full line-up and further guests will be announced next week.

» Find out more on the official Terracotta Festival website

The 53rd London Film festival runs from 14 to 29 October, with plenty of Asian premieres on offer…

One definite highlight of the festival must be Lu Chuan’s film remarkable film on the ‘rape of Nanking’, City of Life and Death. Almost exactly three years ago the director talked enthusiastically about the project to easternKicks whilst promoting his fantastic Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, and it’s great to see this project has come to fruition.

Bong Joon-Ho’s Mother debuts at the festival too, about a herbalist and acupuncturist turns ‘detective’ to prove her son’s innocence when he’s charged with murder. With such great films as The Host and Memories Of Murder under his belt, one can only look forward to what he has in store for us this time.

Other films to arouse our curiosity are Hirokazu Kore-eda’s live-action adaptation of Yoshie Gouda’s avant-garde manga The Pneumatic Figure of a Girl, Air Doll – starring Korean star Bae Doo-Na, it tells of an inflatable sex-doll suddenly finds herself with a soul; and Kamui from Korean-Japanese director Yoichi Sai – again another live-action adaption from a manga – which BFI critic Tony Ryans declares is ‘probably the best ninja movie ever made’.

Also watch out for include Pan Jianlin’s Feast of Villians, Joko Anwar’s Forbidden Door and Ho Yuhang’s multinational production At the End of Daybreak. We’ll probably do another round-up soon, once we’ve had a chance to digest the programme fully – but is it just me or is there a lack of real Asian, if you’ll pardon the phrase, ‘crowd pleasers’ this year?

» Find out more on the official LFF website

Director John H. Lee (A Moment To Remember) turns from romantic melodrama to explosive war drama with surprising aplomb… (more…)

Okay, maybe not yet… but who knows? I (and several other lovely people!) chat to E J-yong, director of Untold Scandal, Actresses, An Affair and Dasepo Naughty Girls… (more…)

We chat to Denden about his career and success in the wake of Cold Fish, and working with Sion Sono again on Himizu… (more…)

easternKicks attends a Q&A with director Gareth Evans and star Iko Uwais for The Raid: The best action film of the last 20 years(?)… (more…)