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Ashes Of Time Redux

Monday, March 30th, 2009

Wong Kar-wai returns to his 1994 classic to produce a definite version – but is it really any better…? (more…)

Posted in Action / Thrillers, Cinema Club – The finest in Asian film, Drama, Films, Hong Kong, Hong Kong classics, Reviews, UK, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »

Bruce’s Legacy

Wednesday, March 15th, 2006

More than 30 years after his death, the ‘Little Dragon’ has never been more popular – but isn’t it time we left his memory alone? (more…)

Posted in Actors, Editorials, Features, Hong Kong | No Comments »

Butterfly & Sword

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

Just another early 80s wire-fu movie – or at least it would be if not for the performances of leads Tony Leung and Michelle Yeoh and some fine action from Ching Siu-tung… (more…)

Posted in Films, Hong Kong, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »

Cinema: The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Kim Jee-woon’s fun-packed The Good, The Bad, The Weird – starring Song Kang-Ho, Lee Byung-Hun, Jung Woo-Sung and Uhm Ji-won – will be released in UK cinema’s on 6 February 2009.

You can read our review here »

Posted in Calendar, News, Releases, South Korea, UK, _Clips and trailers | No Comments »

Come Drink With Me

Wednesday, December 1st, 2004

If you ever wanted to know where Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon came from you only need to know one name, King Hu. This ground breaking film, possibly one of the greatest of the martial chivalry genre, started it all… (more…)

Posted in Cinema Club – The finest in Asian film, Directors, Filmmakers, Hong Kong, Hong Kong classics, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »

DVD: Triangle

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

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 »

Posted in Calendar, News, Releases | No Comments »

Golden Swallow

Wednesday, December 1st, 2004

Not the sequel to Come Drink with Me you might be expecting, but a damn fine tale of heroic chivalry from Zhang Che… (more…)

Posted in Films, Hong Kong, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »

House Of Flying Daggers

Monday, October 18th, 2004

A beautiful tale of romance and bitter betrayal, Zhang Yimou’s follow-up to Hero is even better… (more…)

Posted in China, Chinese classics, Cinema Club – The finest in Asian film, Films, Hong Kong, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »

I Am Jackie Chan: My Life In Action

Wednesday, December 1st, 2004

An insightful look into the life of Asia’s biggest superstar, as likable and endearing as the man himself… (more…)

Posted in Biographies, Books, Hong Kong, Reviews | 1 Comment »

King Boxer

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Better known under its deliriously exploitative US title Five Fingers Of Death, another kung fu bona fide classic finally makes its way onto UK DVD – bring it on…! (more…)

Posted in Films, Hong Kong, Martial arts, Reviews | No Comments »

Learning to see again: an interview with Tsai Ming-liang

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

easternKicks talks Tsai Ming-liang about the retrospective of his work at the BFI Southbank, London and the release of his two most recent films around the UK… (more…)

Posted in Directors, Features, Filmmakers, Interviews, Taiwan | No Comments »

LFF: The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Monday, November 3rd, 2008

Sergio Leone meets The Wacky Races in Kim Jee-woon’s Asian Western – it’s a real blast!… (more…)

Posted in Action / Thrillers, Festivals, Films, Releases, Reviews, South Korea | No Comments »

News round-up: Bitter taste for Chocolate in Taiwan

Friday, October 3rd, 2008

Wise Kwai reports that Chocolate has bombed on it’s release in Taiwan in comparison with the previous success of Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong (Warrior King) – mind you, could that have something to do with the now widely available DVD releases, including the UK release next month? Also to be released in the UK soon, Chukiat Sakweerakul’s bloody psychological thriller 13 Beloved.

Wu-Jing.org reports on the release of Gordon Chan’s take on Painted Skin, starring Donnie Yen. Very much of the Chinese Ghost Story ilk, it’s a story that’s previously been interpreted by Pao Feng (1966) and King Hu (1992).

Twitch reports on new Korean cable TV drama, Fight Master, as well as the sad passing of Korean actress Choi Jin-Shil, star of Partisans of South Korea and Roses & Beansprouts.

Meanwhile beyondhollwood.com talks about the official announcement of a Kung Fu Panda sequel, and the new poster for the latest Asian horror to be remade in Hollywood, The Uninvited – a remake of Kim Ji-woon’s A Tale of Two Sisters. (Thankfully not out till January 09 now!)

Posted in Actors, General, News, Releases | No Comments »

One-Armed Swordsman

Wednesday, December 1st, 2004

Zhang Che directs Jimmy Wang Yu in the Shaw Brothers classic that made both their careers… (more…)

Posted in Cinema Club – The finest in Asian film, Films, Hong Kong, Hong Kong classics, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »

Shinobi

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

A nicely played and well-directed swordplay film – but haven’t we seen it all before? (more…)

Posted in Films, Japan, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | 1 Comment »

The Butterfly Murders

Thursday, August 3rd, 2006

The impressive feature debut from Tsui Hark (Seven Swords, Zu: Warriors from Magic Mountain) that kick started the Hong Kong ‘new wave’ of the 80s… (more…)

Posted in Action / Thrillers, Films, Hong Kong, Horror, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »

The Good, The Bad, The Weird: UK Cinema dates announced

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

Icon Films, the distribution company for Kim Jee-woon’s The Good, The Bad, The Weird, have announced the UK release dates as 6 February 2009. An old-fashioned adventure yarn the way Indiana Jones movies used to be, this Sergio Leone homage is fantastic big screen entertainment! You can read our review here »

Stay tuned for our exclusive interview with Jee-woon and lead Lee Byung-hun, coming soon…!

Posted in News, Releases, South Korea, UK, _Clips and trailers | No Comments »

The Knight Of Knights

Wednesday, December 1st, 2004

An early Zhang Che script with a typically macho bent – well what else would you expect?… (more…)

Posted in Films, Hong Kong, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »

Triangle

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

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…)

Posted in Action / Thrillers, Films, Hong Kong, Reviews | 1 Comment »

Young at heart

Sunday, January 8th, 2006

Hong Kong directors are ditching young stars for old veterans who’ve hardly been on screen in twenty years or more, but the real surprise is they’re giving them the best roles (more…)

Posted in Actors, Editorials, Features, Hong Kong | No Comments »

Zatoichi

Wednesday, December 1st, 2004

‘Beat’ Takeshi’s (Violent Cop, Battle Royale) reinvention of the popular 60s samurai b-movie character for the 21st century, the blind, gambling masseur who also happens to be a master swordsman… (more…)

Posted in Action / Thrillers, Cinema Club – The finest in Asian film, Films, Japan, Japanese classics, Martial arts, Reviews, Wuxia / Swordplay | No Comments »
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