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The latest from Kim Ji-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters, The Quiet Family), a slick tale of that revenge resounds with amazing style and wit, but ultimately do we really care?… (more…)

It’s no accident this has been causing such a stir! Intelligent with a fantastic premise, surely this one of the finest Hong Kong films of the last decade… (more…)

A great thriller by Johnnie To and wry look at how 21st century news is broadcast all rolled into one – Hong Kong filmmaking at it’s best… (more…)

This year at Cannes sees the real heavy hitters come out to play, as the world’s greatest auteur directors gather to compete for the coverted Palme d’Or. As well as the latest films from Pedro Almodóvar, Ken Loach, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Jane Campion, Lars von Trier, Michael Haneke, and Terry Gilliam, there’s a strong Asian presence. Highlights include Park Chan-wook’s new vampire flick Thirst; Lou Ye’s Tiananmen Square-themed Summer Palace, which has incensed authorities to the point of them slapping a five-year ban on him; Tsai Ming-Liang’s film within a film Face; Johnnie To’s Vengeance; and Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock. Other films screening include Kore-eda Hirokaz’s Air Doll; the latest from The Host and Memories Of Murder director Bong Joon-Ho, Mother; and Petiton by Zhao Liang.

See the Guardian’s gallery guide to directors vying for the Palme d’Or »

Johnnie To and Wong Ka-fai’s Mad Detective, starring Lau Ching Wan, is on a limited theatrical release around the UK from 18 July, beginning at the ICA, London.

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

INSPIRED BY JOHNNIE TO’S CELEBRATED HONG KONG ACTION-THRILLER, ‘BREAKING NEWS’

One of Europe’s hottest up and coming young filmmakers, Swedish director Anders Banke (director of the award winning vampire movie ‘Frostbite’) gives Johnnie To’s hit 2004 Hong Kong action-thriller ‘Breaking News’ a spectacular Russian makeover in Newsmakers, coming to DVD in May 2010.

Russia’s key cities are being terrorized by a series of brutal armed robberies perpetrated by a lethally trained gang with no concerns about who gets caught up in the crossfire during their ballistic assaults on the nation’s banks. Whether the casualties include the authorities or innocent members of the public is all the same to them so long as they get the money. On the run from every law enforcement agency in the country, the gang’s latest escapade sees them gaining the upper hand in a devastating shoot-out with the Moscow police department that turns the city centre into a virtual war zone. Initially making good their escape, they soon find themselves holed up in a vast apartment complex on the outskirts of the city.

Part of the shoot-out and the gang’s escape are, by chance, caught on film by a TV news crew covering a minor car accident involving a prominent pop star and subsequently broadcast to a public already embittered by the authorities’ lack of effectiveness in the fight against crime. To counter the effect of the news and to restore public support and faith in the police force, the young and ambitious head of its PR department comes up with an unusual solution to problem: the restoration of the force’s reputation by turning the capture of the infamous criminals into a live reality TV show that can be viewed by the entire nation. However, the gang quickly becomes aware of the ploy and, now trapped in a small apartment with a taxi driver and his young son and daughter as hostages, develops a series of deadly countermeasures. Meanwhile, a rogue cop with his own score to settle is also on the case and he has no time for playing a public relations game.

Opening with an extended, brutal and unflinching gunfight worthy of Sam Peckinpah, Newsmakers piles on the explosive tension from the very start with a story that topically parodies both the public’s and the media’s hunger for increasingly violent and exploitative reality TV.

Newsmakers (cert. tbc) will be released on DVD (£17.99) and Blu-ray (£24.99) by Showbox Home Entertainment on 3rd May 2010. Special Features include: Russian language Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 audio options with English subtitles; Russian language DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 (Blu-ray only); original trailer.

The English language debut from acclaimed director Johnnie To (Election, Exiled, Breaking News, Triangle), neo-noir Vengeance begins with French assassin-turned-chef, Francois Costello (Johnny Halladay, The Man on The Train), seeking revenge for the massacre of his daughter’s family, gunned down by a group of triads. Arriving in Hong Kong a chance encounter leads to him meeting three assassins, Kwai, Chu and Lok (played by To regulars Anthony Wong, Lam Suet and Lam Ka-Tung) who he hires to help him find the men responsible. Vengeance is a sleekly executed revenge thriller that was nominated for the Palme d’Or in Cannes 2009.

Extras: trailer / making of

Johnnie To and Wong Ka-Fai’s latest collaboration Mad Detective is released on DVD and Blu Ray by Eureka on 3 November.

Read our review of Mad Detective here »

Three undisputed masters of contemporary Hong Kong cinema – Tsui Hark (Seven Swords; Zu Warriors; Once Upon A Time In China), Ringo Lam (Full Contact; City On Fire) and Johnny To (Mad Detective; PTU) – join forces for the first time ever to apply their directorial skills ‘exquisite corpse’ style to Triangle, an “inventive, and darkly comic” (Mail on Sunday) crime thriller starring Louis Koo (Flashpoint), Simon Yam (SPL; Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life), Honglei Sun (Mongol; Seven Swords), Lam Ka Tung (Mad Detective; Infernal Affairs) and Kelly Lin (Mad Detective; Zu Warriors).

Read our review of Triangle here »