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I had to watch Revelations twice before I could bring myself to write anything on the movie. It’s a soulless thriller that tries desperately to live up to the reputation of its makers, and in doing so, overdoes a lot of things. But by no means is Revelations a hit-and-miss affair. When you have Train to Busan (2016) director Yeon Sang-ho helming a movie executive produced by Roma (2018) director Alfonso Cuaron, you expect nothing less than pure cinematic bliss. And when you add masterful screenwriter and graphic novelist Choi Gyu-seok to the mix, the bar is set really high. Sadly, Revelations falls short of expectations by some margin.

Based on Sang-ho and Gyu-seok’s eponymous webtoon, Revelations is surprisingly incongruous. Sure, it has its high points, like the muddy scuffle between Pastor Min-chan and ex-convict Yang-rae on a forested mountain ledge or the former’s slow descent into madness accentuated...

Yeon Sang-ho, the acclaimed Korean director of Train To Busan, has began shooting zombie thriller Gunche, which will mark the big screen return of actress Gianna Jun.

The story centres on the spread of an unidentified virus that leads to the lockdown of a building, while the infected evolve in unpredictable ways.

The cast includes Jun – also known as Jun Ji-hyun – who made her last feature film appearance in 2015 action thriller Assassination. She is also known for My Sassy Girl, for which she won best actress at the Grand Bell Awards, and 2012 action thriller The Thieves.

Further cast includes Ji Chang-wook of Revolver,...

Arrow has revealed an electrifying new slate of films for March, delivering a mix of cult horror, psychological terror, and classic genre cinema. Films include chilling haunted house tales to a remastered giallo masterpiece, this month’s collection promises an unmissable selection for horror and cult film devotees.

The month kicks off on 3 March with Play It Cool, a long-lost Japanese drama that delves into the seedy underworld of Tokyo’s nightclub culture. Directed by Yasuz? Masumura, the film is a bold and stylish exploration of power, gender, and survival in a world dominated by men.

Following that, on 10 March, I Will Never Leave You Alone makes its exclusive debut on Arrow. This eerie, psychological horror from Dw Medoff offers a fresh take on the haunted house formula, weaving supernatural terror with a deeply unsettling sense of psychological unease. A descent into trauma and paranoia, the film has been described...

Picture: Ryu Jun Yeol (left) and Shin Hyun Been (right)

Yeon-Sang Ho, the mind behind Train to Busan, is teaming up with Hellbound screenwriter Choi Gyu Seok for a brand-new thriller mystery film, Revelations. We’re keeping track of everything you need to know about Revelations, including the plot, cast news, production updates, and more.

Revelations is an upcoming South Korean Netflix Original thriller film directed by Yeon Sang-Ho and written by Choi Gyu Seok. The pair previously worked together on both seasons of Hellbound. However, Yeon Sang-Ho is most well-known as the creator and director of the zombie horror Train to Busan.

Wow Point, who previously worked on The Bequeathed and Parasyte: The Grey, is producing the film. Hailey Yoomin Yang is an executive producer on Revelations, and the Academy Award-winning director Alfonso Cuarón is also an executive producer.

Seoul, South Korea – January 12: Director Yeon Sang-Ho attends Netflix...

South Korea’s Plus M Entertainment arrives at the 2025 Berlin European Film Market (EFM) with a star-studded lineup led by “Squid Game 2” actor Kang Ha-neul in crime thriller “Yadang: The Snitch” and an international cast including Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and “Squid Game” actor Hoyeon in Na Hong-jin’s “Hope.”

“Yadang: The Snitch,” from the producers behind record-breaking hit “12:12 The Day” and “Inside Men,” follows professional informants called “yadang” who provide covert information about the drug world to prosecutors and police. When a drug bust at a party attended by high-profile second-generation VIPs leads to a dangerous conspiracy, a seasoned yadang must fight to survive. The film pairs Kang with “Exhuma” star Yoo Hai-jin and “The World of the Married” actor Park Hae-joon.

“Train to Busan” director Yeon Sang-ho returns with “The Ugly,” a mystery thriller starring “Harbin” lead Park Jeong-min and “Parasyte: The Grey” actor Kwon Hae-hyo,...

‘The Tyrant’ director Park Hoon-jung is behind ‘The Witch’ films.

South Korea’s Acemaker movieworks has sealed deals on Park Hoon-jung’s upcoming action film The Tyrant (working title) and actor Jung Woo-sung’s directorial debut A Man Of Reason to a slew of territories.

The Tyrant has pre-sold to Germany (Splendid), Taiwan (MovieCloud), Southeast Asia (Purple Plan), Thailand (Neramitnung Film), Cis (Paradise Group) and inflight (Eagle).

Director Park is the filmmaker behind hit features The Witch: Part 1 and Part 2 and Venice title Night In Paradise as well as upcoming action feature The Childe, which is in post-production.

The Tyrant...

The biography and the filmmaking career path of the American auteur Lee Isaac Chung is a bit peculiar. Born to first-generation Korean immigrant parents, he grew up in rural Arkansas, studied ecology at Yale and planned to go to a medical school before giving it up for his filmmaking dream. After a number of shorts realized during his studies at the University of Utah, his shot his first feature “Munyurangabo” (2007) in Rwanda and in Kinyarwanda language (as the first ever narrative feature film). It premiered at Cannes to a great critical reception, signalling a significant talent on the rise. His next two features, “Lucky Life” (2010) and “Abigail Harm” (2012) were more to the typical American indie side, while he went back to Rwanda to co-direct a documentary called “I Have Seen My Last Born” (2015).

“Minari” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema

For his last one, “Minari”, premiering...

Within the Korean film industry, Jeon Do-yeon is both a big star and a deeply respected actor’s actor. In over 25 years on-screen, she has appeared in scores of K-dramas and over 20 films, including numerous titles now considered modern Korean classics. Now, she’s poised for greater global exposure as the star of Netflix’s forthcoming action drama Kill Boksoon, a film that blends everything international audiences have come to love about Korean cinema: wit, genre invention, powerful performances, slick production values and a bit of the old ultra-violence.

Soon after her breakthrough on the small screen in the 1990s, Jeon quickly earned a reputation as a uniquely chameleonic film actress, inhabiting a diverse range of characters — from a doctor (A Promise, 1998) to a school girl (The Harmonium in My Memory, 1999), an adulterous wife (Happy End, 1999), a dreamy bank teller (I Wish I Had a Wife, 2001), a time traveler (My Mother,...

Joston “El Rey” Theney’s SinningWorks recently acquired the rights to the Lucky Strike horror film Killer Connection, directed by Romane Simon.

Written for the screen by novelist Rhonnie Fordham whose recent work includes the acclaimed “Last Serial Killer” series, Killer Connection follows ambitious news reporter Sarah Lee (Jenna Willis) as she and her news team find themselves in the clutches of evil when they agree to interview an infamous serial killer. The film also stars Sadie Katz (Wrong Turn 6), Quinton Aaron (The Blindside), Lilian Lev and Deanna Pak.

An ambitious news reporter Sarah Lee (Jenna Willis) and her plucky news team find themselves in the clutches of evil when they agree to interview an infamous serial killer.

Killer Connection is available now on Amazon Prime. Check out the trailer and poster below:...

Kino Lorber And Giant Pictures Melt Minds With New Free Streaming AVOD Channel “Kino Cult” Bringing The Midnight Movie Experience Home: "Kino Lorber is excited to announce that they have partnered with Giant Pictures to launch Kino Cult, the new free ad-supported streaming destination for genre lovers of horror and cult films. Featuring hundreds of hours of curated, theatrically released films all in High Definition, with new titles added monthly, Kino Cult launches widely in the U.S. and Canada on October 1, 2021 across web, mobile devices and connected TVs, with VOD apps on all major devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Google TV, iOS, Android, and more. From the art house to the haunted house, the channel will dive deep into unapologetically weird genre cinema, blending recent art house discoveries fresh from cinemas with high quality restorations of notorious grindhouse gems.

Kino Lorber brings 40 years of experience as...

Kino Lorber, the New York-based independent film distributor, is launching a free streaming channel dedicated to all things horror.

The platform, titled Kino Cult, will be ad-supported and will featured hundreds of hours of curated films, with new titles added monthly. It bows in the U.S. and Canada on Oct. 1, right in time for spooky season.

The channel will be available on web, mobile devices and connected TVs that have access to Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV and other video-on-demand apps. Kino Cult is being developed in partnership with Giant Pictures, which is responsible for the device apps, channel distribution and ad-tech in the new venture.

From arthouse fare to haunted horror films, Kino Cult is offering a mix of recent releases and classic gems, including Ana Lily Amirpour’s black-and-white vampire film “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” the Yorgos Lanthimos absurdist comedy “Dogtooth” (pictured above), South...

Film Society of Ahmedabad (Fsa) are back for the second time this month and the film they will be screening on August 29th is last year’s well-received Korean thriller “Beasts Clawing at Straws” by first-time director Kim Yong-hoon, featuring a dream star-cast including, but not limited to, Jung Woo-sung, Jeon Do-yeon, Bae Sung-woo and Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-jung.

Date: Sunday, 29th August, 2021.

Venue: Veronica, Club O7, Shela Road, Shela.

Time: 3:00pm

Entry is limited, so be sure to get in touch with Fsa on their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and reserve your seat!

Synopsis:

Different desires of these lowlifes slowly gather around the money bag.

The destinies of hard-luck lowlifes slowly converge and come crashing down: Joong-man barely gets by working at a sauna and taking care of his sick mother until he finds a bag full of cash in the locker room; Tae-yeong is in trouble...

Korean cinema’s recent obsession with disaster movies continues and the latest to join the already released productions in the genre is probably the most high profile of them all. Featuring a blinding superstar-cast, “Emergency Declaration” also features a terrorist angle and is all set to premiere Out of Competition at Cannes Film Festival this month.

Synopsis

‘Emergency Declaration’: If an aircraft faces a potential disaster, and normal flight can no longer be maintained, the pilot calls for an unconditional landing.

Veteran chief police detective In-ho receives a tip about a man threatening a terrorist attack against a plane. While investigating, he discovers that the sus- pect has actually boarded flight no. KI501.

Despite his phobia of flying, Jae-hyuk decides to go to Hawaii for the sake of his daughter’s health. At the airport, he is distracted by a strange man who hangs around, speaking to them in a menacing way.

South Korean director Chang (pseudonym of Yoon Hong-seung) after two thriller/action films, tries his hand here in “Canola”, a classic Korean melodrama that brings together a multitude of challenging and dramatic themes.

Buy This Title

The original title translates as “Grandma Gye-choon” and it’s perhaps more appropriate than the poetic “Canola” which recalls the visual impact of the bright yellow fields of rapeseed (canola) in bloom. The story and the characters all gravitate around Gye-choon (Youn Yuh-Jung), a “single grandmother” who takes care of her granddaughter Hye-Ji (Kim Go-Eun in the grown-up version). The prologue that sets and introduces the story shows us that Gye-choon is a “Haenyeo”, one f the spear-fishers from the community living on the island / province of Jeju. It is the same community that is depicted in the beautiful Koh Heeyoung’s documentary “Breathing Underwater”.

Hye-Ji is has lost her father (the son of...

Irish features and world cinema to run alongside Diff’s industry platform of events.

Dublin International Film Festival (Diff) is preparing to launch its first online-only edition with a line-up that aims to reflect the strength and diversity of contemporary Irish filmmaking alongside the best of world cinema.

“One of the aims every year is to try and find the key Irish films you want to include, because that is a very important aspect to the festival, providing a platform for new work,” says Diff festival director Gráinne Humphreys.

The 19th edition of the festival, which runs March 3-14, stays...

The biography and the filmmaking career path of the American auteur Lee Isaac Chung is a bit peculiar. Born to first-generation Korean immigrant parents, he grew up in rural Arkansas, studied ecology at Yale and planned to go to a medical school before giving it up for his filmmaking dream. After a number of shorts realized during his studies at the University of Utah, his shot his first feature “Munyurangabo” (2007) in Rwanda and in Kinyarwanda language (as the first ever narrative feature film). It premiered at Cannes to a great critical reception, signalling a significant talent on the rise. His next two features, “Lucky Life” (2010) and “Abigail Harm” (2012) were more to the typical American indie side, while he went back to Rwanda to co-direct a documentary called “I Have Seen My Last Born” (2015).

For his last one, “Minari”, premiering cum laudae at last year’s Sundance, he went back to his personal history.

“Beasts Clawing at Straws” is a film of different perspectives and different personalities. Kim Yong-Hoon starts his feature film debut strong with this thrilling ride through what could only be explained as some kind of a mix between a thriller, a mystery and a black comedy, not conforming to just one genre.

“Beasts Clawing at Straws” is Screening at Black Movie

Adapted from a Japanese novel by Keisuke Sone, the film is, in its simplest form, about a very recognizable Louis Vuitton bag of money. Several people are after it throughout the movie, some for more sinister reasons than others. The film starts off broad, separated, and every character having their own set-up, storyline, and motivations. You’d say this could become boring, but it sets the film up nicely without losing the plot, and the humor throughout really helps set the pace for what is quite a serious movie later on.

Of this year’s 49 selections at the Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva, 12 — that is, roughly 25% — of them hail from Asia. The net is as wide as it is expansive: films range from the west reaches of the Caucasus in Azerbaijan to multiple entries from S. Korea. The notable Korean presence only speaks to the increased interest in S. Korean cinema as well, as their four entries include festival hits like Kim Yong-hoon’s “Beasts Clawing at Straws” and Berlinale Silver Bear “The Woman Who Ran” (Hong Sang-soo).

Black Movie International Independent Film Festival – Geneva first emerged from a desire to showcase African films. In 1999, the Black Movie expanded to include other members of the Global South — especially focusing on Asia and Latin America. Black Movie is known for its discovery of auteur cinema, including showcases of Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, Carlos Reygadas, Wang Bing, Takashi Miike, João Pedro Rodrigues in Switzerland.

The 29th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff) wrapped on Nov. 22, 2020, but Cinema St. Louis is providing cinephiles another opportunity to view the event’s award winners in the Best of Fest, which is available virtually from Jan. 22-31, 2021.

A few of Sliff’s honorees are already or imminently out in the world — “Transhood” is available on HBO Max, and “9to5: The Story of a Movement” premieres on PBS’s “Independent Lens” on Feb. 1 — but Best of Fest reprises the other 19 winners of the festival’s juried and audience-choice awards.

Like 2020’s Sliff, the Best of Fest is an online-only event and is again presented with our virtual-festival partner, Eventive. Nine features and a program of 10 shorts will be available to stream during all 10 days of the event, and several of the films will once more include recorded Q&As with filmmakers and documentary subjects. Geographic restrictions will apply to some films.

South Korea cinema had, by several accounts, a far better year than several other countries. It began the year well, with films like “The Man Standing Next” and “Beasts Clawing at Straws” releasing early on. But the onslaught of the Coronavirus pandemic in March forced cinemas to close down promptly and several important planned releases to be postponed. Yet, South Korea was also among the first countries to throw open the doors of its cinemas back to the public and the releases began coming in slowly but steadily. Where some large productions decided to postpone their releases to next year or even indefinitely, others still cut big-money deals with the likes of Netflix, giving audiences around the world early access to some big films. This approach also benefitted the country’s indie cinema scene, which took advantage of the lack of tentpole releases in the theatres to promote and release...

New Indie

The critically-acclaimed “Aviva” (Outsider/Strand) casts both male and female dancers as both of the romantic leads, throwing out conventions of gender and sexuality in a love story that features some gorgeous choreography. Boaz Yakin’s film was programmed at the 2020 SXSW festival, and the Blu-ray features behind-the-scenes footage of dance rehearsals.

Also available: Stand-up Steve Byrne wrote and directed the comics-on-the-road saga “The Opening Act” (Rlje Films), featuring such industry vets as Jimmy O. Yang, Alex Moffat, Cedric the Entertainer, Bill Burr, and Whitney Cummings; “Buddy Games” (Saban/Paramount) stars Josh Duhamel and Dax Shepard in an ensemble comedy about estranged friends enduring a ridiculous competition for a $150,000 prize; a newly sober carpenter tries to build a home and establish a life in “Major Arcana” (Gde/Kino Lorber).

New Foreign

Melina León’s Cannes fave “Song Without a Name” (Film Movement), about an indigenous woman trying to...

2020 will go down in history for many things. The pandemic. The US elections. Rat-filled sinkholes. But 2020 will also go down in history as the year of Asian cinema: when Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” (2019) became the first non-English language film to win the coveted Academy Award for Best Picture; when Ann Hui was recognized with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award at Venice Film Festival; when Mohammad Rasoulof’s Iranian drama “There Is No Evil” (2020) won Berlinale’s Golden Bear. And this is not even to mention the stellar achievements we’ve had at Asian Movie Pulse as well – including a new partnership with Mubi, a curated arthouse streaming service, and 1000 followers on Instagram. Now, we just want to take a step back to reflect on this year.

Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah — arguably the first major event to kick off the film festival circuit — gave us a...

South Korean Crime Thriller to be Released on DVD/Blu-ray and Digital December 15th Beasts Clawing at Straws, a wildly entertaining tale of a group of desperate losers and scumbags all on a greedy, violent search for an elusive bag of money, has been getting amazing critical reception since it started its national Virtual Theatrical run a few …

The post Beasts Clawing At Straws Coming to DVD/Digital appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

The London East Asia Film Festival (Festival Director Hyejung Jeon) closed its 5th edition with acclaimed director Yonfan’s first film in a decade, an exquisite hand-painted portrait of late 1960s Hong Kong, No.7 Cherry Lane.

As a part of the Closing Gala, Leaff held the Award Ceremony for the Competition strand. This year, eight films were considered in competition including Beasts Clawing At Straws and I Weirdo as well as many other submissions.

Leaff’s Competition seeks out East Asia’s most talented emerging directors. The stellar jury included: Sabrina Baracetti of Udine Far East Film Festival, Paolo Bertolin of Venice International Film Festival and Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, Kiki Fung of Hong Kong International Film Festival and Ellen Y. D. Kim of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival.

Leaff announced the Taiwanese iPhone-shot romance, I Weirdo (Dir. Ming-Yi Liao) as the best film in Competition this year. Dir.

Beasts Clawing at Straws is a film from South Korea. Shot by first time feature film director Kim Yong-hoon, this title has released in a few countries, including: France and Taiwan. Now, this crime thriller is set to debut in the U.S. later this month, via Artsploitation Films. A preview of the film's launch, along with a few, short thoughts on the film are here. The film's story centrally focuses on a big bag of Korean cash. Various drug lords, gangsters and cleaners vie for the money as more and more characters fall to the demon of greed. Artsploitation Films will show Beasts Clawing at Straws this December 15th. This title will be available on DVD and Blu-ray. The runtime for this title is 108 minutes and is offered in Korean, with English subtitles (2:39:1). From a recent viewing, Yong-hoon's first film is a strong one. Based on a novel by Keisuke Sone,...

The London East Asia Film Festival (Leaff) celebrates its fifth edition in 2020. In keeping with the times, Leaff presents a unique approach to our programme between 10th and 13th December. Leaff 2020 opens with the gripping Korean box office hit, Beasts Clawing At Straws, directed by Kim Yong-hoon which was awarded the Special Jury Prize at Rotterdam Film Festival earlier this year. The Festival closes the Official Selection with acclaimed director Yonfan’s first film in a decade, No.7 Cherry Lane, an exquisite animation painting the portrait of late 1960s Hong Kong.

The five titles in Official Selection are cinematic offerings from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. From Japan, Director Naomi Kawase’s latest feature True Mothers was selected at Cannes Film Festival, and will be screened as a UK premiere. From China, Director Derek Tsang’s powerful adaptation of Jiu Yuexi’s novel In His Youth, In Her Beauty,...

“Beasts Clawing at Straws” is a film of different perspectives and different personalities. Kim Yong-Hoon starts his feature film debut strong with this thrilling ride through what could only be explained as some kind of a mix between a thriller, a mystery and a black comedy, not conforming to just one genre.

“Beasts Clawing at Straws” is Screening at Five Flavours Asian Film Festival

Adapted from a Japanese novel by Keisuke Sone, the film is, in its simplest form, about a very recognizable Louis Vuitton bag of money. Several people are after it throughout the movie, some for more sinister reasons than others. The film starts off broad, separated, and every character having their own set-up, storyline, and motivations. You’d say this could become boring, but it sets the film up nicely without losing the plot, and the humor throughout really helps set the pace for what is quite a serious movie later on.

Sf IndieFest is pleased to announce the complete program for the 17th Another Hole In The Head Film Festival which takes place December 11 to 27 via Eventive.org and Zoom.us. The festival will once again bring the freshest new independent genre films from around the world to San Francisco audiences. The festival will include over forty feature films, and over 250 short films – all available on demand through Eventive. Selected content will also screen live on Zoom during special weekend shows, featuring audience Q&As with the filmmakers.

Tickets are $10; a full pass is $125, ten film pass is $75 and five film pass is $40. There are also numerous free programs. For all festival information, visit https://ahith2020.eventive.org/welcome.

Feature Films

An Unquiet Grave – A year after losing his wife in a car crash, Jamie convinces her sister to return with him to the site of the accident and help him perform a strange ritual.

The 29th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival concluded its epic 18 day run last night, culminating with their annual awards presentation.

And here are some of the winners:

Best Film Award: Asia, directed by Ruthy Pribar

TV5Monde Award for Best International Film: Beasts Clawing at Straws, directed by Kim Yong-Hoon (read Jim Batts‘ Wamg review Here)

Leon Award for Best Documentary: God Save the Wings, directed by Adam Knapp & Kenneth Linn

Spotlight on Inspiration Award This juried competition awards a $5,000 prize to a feature documentary that focuses on people working to make the world a better place and that inspires audience members and leaves them with a sense of hope for the future. Sponsored by The Albrecht Family: The Road Up, directed by Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel

Nff Emerging Director Award: The Bobbie

The New Filmmakers Forum (Nff) annually presents the Emerging Director Award. Five works by...

Upcoming genre thriller feature “Beasts Clawing at Straws” currently playing throughout the country in virtual cinemas and streaming everywhere on December 15. Similar in style to the Oscar winning “Parasite”, the South Korean film won the jury award at this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival, and has a steady 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. Title – Beasts Clawing …

The post Award-winning thriller Beasts Clawing At Straws streams everywhere on December 15 appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Aacta has unveiled the final set of nominees for its upcoming awards, including the craft categories in television and documentary, as well as those up for the VFX, casting and the Best Asian Film awards.

Leading the charge in television is Matchbox Pictures/Dirty Films’ Stateless, which notched another 11 nominations today, taking its overall tally to 18.

Fellow ABC series Mystery Road, produced by Bunya Productions, follows with a total of 14 nominations.

Stateless helmers Emma Freeman and Jocelyn Moorhouse are both nominated for Best Direction in A Television Drama or Comedy. They will vie against Mystery Road‘s Wayne Blair and Warwick Thornton, and Simon Francis, who shot Anne Edmond’s Amazon stand-up special.

Thornton is a double nominee, also garnering recognition for his cinematography on Mystery Road, up against Marden Dean for The Commons; Martin McGrath for Operation Buffalo, and Bonnie Elliott for Stateless.

Nominated in the TV screenplay category...

Beasts Clawing At Straws screens as part of this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival November 5th – 22nd.Ticket information for the virtual screening can be found Here

A wild, fast-paced crime thriller that deftly crosses the Coen Bros. with “The Grifters,” “Beasts Clawing at Straws” is a pitch-black neo-noir. When a cash-stuffed Louis Vuitton bag is left in a sauna, it sends a group of hard-luck lowlifes on a desperate chase for a fortune. Fish-mongering gangsters, a greasy cop, an “innocent” gym cleaner, and a prostitute and her trio of men all violently scheme to get their hands on the elusive bag. Starring Jung Woo-sung (“Asura: City of Madness”) and Jeon Do-yeon (award winner in Cannes for her lead role in “Secret Sunshine”), first-time director Kim Yong-hoon’s film is a beautifully constructed puzzle whose pieces snap perfectly into place with each double-cross. Screen Daily writes: “Stridently over...

Choi Min-sik last appeared on the small screen 24 years ago in Mbc’s “Love and Separation”. Since then, he has gone on to establish himself as one of the greatest actors of all time in Korean cinema, after working in films like “Shiri“, “Oldboy“, “I Saw The Devil” and “The Admiral: Roaring Currents“, among several others.

Reports today are suggesting that the actor is “positively considering” a comeback to the television drama format with “Casino” which will be written and directed by “The Outlaws” director Kang Yoon-sung. While not much is known about the story of the project yet, it is said to be revolving around the turbulent life of a man with a casino as a backdrop to the story.

Choi has previously shown enthusiasm to return to the small screen in various interviews.

It will be the first tv production of B.A. Entertainment, who previously produced the smash hit “The Gangster,...

Five Flavours Asian Film Festival invite you for a journey through taste, colors, and sounds of the Asian continent, hoping they can provide food for your thoughts and solace for your spirits.

The Programme of this year’s Festival comprises more than forty titles representing the extreme variety of Asian cinemas – from horror cinema to sweet melodramas, from grasping auteur cinema to relaxing journeys around the continent.

All the films will be presented online between November 25 and December 6.

Preparing this year’s edition forced the organisers to face up to completely new challenges – from the matters of logistics to finding new ways of thinking about their mission, priorities, building bridges between filmmakers and audiences outside the screening rooms. The online edition of the Festival is not a compromise, but a different way to reach the, perhaps even wider, audiences, discover the rich variety of Asian cultures, and explore the contemporary...

The award-winning crime thriller Beasts Clawing at Straws opens up theatrically via Virtual screenings in select cinemas nationwide. A wild crime thriller about a bag of money left in a sauna and the eight strangers who, spurred by blinding greed, become intricately and dangerously involved with each. A fast-paced Coen-meets-The Grifters tale. A Luis Vuitton bag stuffed full …

The post Beasts Clawing At Straws Begins Theatrical Run Today appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

It’s a week of high-profile sequels and remakes, all of which are easier to see at home than in theaters.

The splashiest of the bunch is Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” follow-up, in which the gotcha comedian parodies right-wing values not only by attempting to embarrass Mike Pence and Rudy Giuliani, but also in getting American conservatives to react to the character’s medieval values. Although Amazon Prime subscribers can watch the movie via the service, it’s also available in select drive-ins around the country.

Another hybrid release, available in theaters and on demand, has already done big business abroad, rivaling “Tenet” on a per-screen basis in limited U.K. release: “After We Collided” continues the steamy fan-fiction romance inspired by Harry Styles of One Direction, and by all reports, the only thing worse than the movie is the news that it’s part two of a planned four-film franchise.

South Korea has selected political thriller “The Man Standing Next” as its national contender for the Oscars’ best international film award. The cast is headed by Lee Byung-hun, who is familiar to North American audiences for his previous roles in “R.E.D. 2” and the “G.I. Joe” franchise movies.

The film tells a previously little-known story of political maneuvering by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency in the 1970s, a time of military rule under President Park Chung-hee. Focus is placed on Park’s aides in the 40 days before one of them assassinates him in 1979.

Directed by Woo Min-ho, the film was released in January and became one of the top performers in the pre-coronavirus period, earning $36.6 million. Production was by Hive Media and Showbox.

The selection announcement was made by the Korean Film Council (Kofic), which had previously revealed that 13 films had put themselves forward. Others had included: “Deliver Us From Evil,...

"Bite, before you get bitten." Artsploitation Films has debuted a US trailer for a Korean crime thriller titled Beasts Clawing at Straws, marking the feature directorial debut of Kim Yong-hoon, who used to work in development at Cj Entertainment before getting into filmmaking. The film premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival earlier this year, where it won a Special Jury Award. A struggling restaurant owner, caring for his sick mom, finds a bag full of cash in a sauna locker, while a customs officer gets into trouble when his girlfriend runs off with money he borrowed from a loan shark. A group of people violently scheme to get their hands on the elusive Luis Vuitton bag stuffed full of cash. Described as a "witty thriller is a beautifully constructed puzzle that with each double-cross, the pieces fall into place." Starring Jung Woo-sung from Asura: City of Madness and Jeon Do-yeon,...

The place Korean cinema now holds in the international film circuit owes much to this particular category, since it was the films back in the beginning of the century that kickstarted the new Golden Era of the country’s movie industry,. Titles like “Old Boy“, “Memories of Murder“, “The Chaser“, “I Saw the Devil” and a plethora of others are still mentioned frequently in Best oF lists of movies from the country or the category, and actually remain the most renowned among western viewers, along, of course, “Parasite“. Evidently, the industry rode this wave a bit too far during the 2010s, with crime thrillers coming out from every side, to the point that a number of them seem like they were produced on an “assembly line” due to how similar they look like and function. However, even in this maze of mediocrity, there are still a number that stand out,...

Exclusive first look image revealed for The Devil’s Deal.

South Korean investor-distributor Megabox Plus M is launching an international sales arm and has unveiled an initial slate led by The Devil’s Deal, directed by Lee Won-tae.

Lee’s last film was the 2019 Cannes midnight screenings title The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil starring Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok from Train To Busan). Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions picked up the crime action film for English-language remake last year before its world premiere.

The Devil’s Deal is a political drama starring Cho Jin-woong, Lee Sung-min (The Man Standing Next) and Kim Moo-yul.

Translation by Grace Han

Though “Beasts Clawing at Straws” is his debut feature, Kim Yong-hoon is no stranger to the film industry. After working for about a decade with Cj E&m, where he actively progressed investment in hit projects like “The Berlin File”, “Miss Granny” and “C’est Si Bon”. Filmmaking, however, had always been the end-goal for the salaryman and, after producing his first short film “Do You Wish to Delete?” and several failed attempts at getting a feature-length script off the ground, the 38-year-old was finally able to take the leap to directing with “Beasts Clawing at Straws”.

On the occasion of “Beasts Clawing at Straws” screening at New York Asian Film Festival, we spoke to him about the film, the source novel, the crime thriller genre, the casting of Jeon Do-yeon and Jung Woo-sung and more.

How did you come across the original book by Keisuke Sone...

The 25th edition of the Busan International Film Festival will shrink by a third and be presented in a hybrid in-person and offline format, due to the challenges posed by the coronavirus.

Running with newly announced dates of Oct. 21-30, the festival will present foreign titles as both opening and closing films.

It will open with “Septet: The Story of Hong Kong,” an omnibus film by filmmakers from Hong Kong: Sammo Hung, Ann Hui, Patrick Tam, Yuen Wo Ping, Johnnie To, Ringo Lam, and Hark Tsui, which was previously official selection of the Cannes Film Festival. The festival will close with animated Japanese film “Josee, the Tiger and the Fish,” directed by Tamaru Kotaro.

The reduced format means that most events involving human contact have been canceled. These include the opening and closing ceremonies, red carpet, receptions, and parties. On-stage greetings, the ‘Open Talk’ fan meetings and other guest meetings...

Jean-Luc Godard reportedly said that for a film to be successful, its filmmaker needs just two things: a woman and a gun. Kim Yong-hoon’s filmmaking debut “Beasts Clawing at Straws” features a number of women, and although it is not that high on guns which are replaced with blades, it is still an enjoyable viewing experience. A bag full of money and a bunch of people desperate enough to do everything in order to get it certainly helps to achieve it.

“Beast Clawing at Straws” premiered earlier this year at Iffr, winning the Special Jury Award and further contributing to the present visibility and popularity of the Korean cinema on the festival circuit. Its expected festival tour and box office performance was impacted by the pandemic conditions, but we finally got the chance to see it at the online edition of Sarajevo Film Festival in its non-competitive Kinoscope programme.

Stylish sword-fighting actions scenes and lush production values populate the trailer for “The Swordsman” starring Jang Hyuk, which also sees Indonesian action star Joe Taslim make his first appearance in a Korean film.

Synopsis

After the dethronement of Gwanghaegun, the country’s best swordsman Tae-yool vanishes. Joseon itself is in chaos due to the conflict between Qing and Ming Dynasty. Gurutai is a member of the imperial family of Qing. He makes unreasonable demands upon Joseon. Under this situation, Tae-yool’s daughter Tae-ok is taken by Gurutai’s subordinates. Tae-yool picks up his sword again to save his daughter.

Jang Hyuk (“The Flu”) stars as Tae-yool while Joe Taslim (“The Night Comes for Us”) takes up the role of Gurutai. Accompanying them are Kim Hyun-soo (“Silenced”) and Jung Man-sik (“Beasts Clawing at Straws”). It is pencilled in for a September 23rd, 2020 release in South Korea.

Selection includes Sundance, Berlinale and Rotterdam award-winners.

The Sarajevo Film Festival (August 14-21) has revealed the 15 features selected for its Kinoscope strand, including award-winners from Sundance, the Berlinale and Rotterdam.

Scroll down for full lineup

Titles include South Korea’s The Woman Who Ran, which won the Silver Bear in Berlin for director Hong Sangsoo, and Shirley, starring Elisabeth Moss, which won the Auteur Filmmaking award at Sundance for director Josephine Decker.

Cannes 2020 label title Garagine, which proved one of the buzziest arthouse titles at the virtual Marche du Film, has also been selected as well as South Korea’s Beasts Clawing At Straws,...

As cinemas begin to reopen again in many territories, Screen is tracking which films are released across the globe each week.

As cinemas begin to reopen again in many territories, Screen is tracking which films are being released in key territories each week.

France, opening Wednesday July 8

The French box office, which runs Wednesday to Wednesday, entered its third full week of activity on July 8, following the reopening of cinemas on June 22 after their 14-week Covid-19 hiatus. Programming for the first 10 days of reopening consisted mainly of re-released films, the theatrical careers of which were put on hold mid-March due to the lockdown,...

Virtual edition of the festival drew 3,000 accredited pass-holders from 45 countries.

Derek Tsang’s China-set youth drama Better Days won the top prize, the Golden Mulberry, at the conclusion of Italy’s Far East Film Festival (Feff) in Udine, which took place as a virtual event (June 26-July 4).

The film, which also won eight prizes including best film at this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, also won Feff’s Black Mulberry Award, selected by Shogun pass-holders.

Feff’s Silver Mulberry went to Malaysian director Layla Ji’s debut film Victim(s), while the Crystal Mulberry went to Taiwanese filmmaker Liao Ming-yi’s I-Weirdo,...

Wild Bunch Ag, the pan-European film and TV group co-founded by Vincent Grimond, Brahim Chioua and Vincent Maraval, has secured a €35 million ($40 million) credit line from Germany’s Commerzbank.

The company told Variety that the new credit line will be used by the banner to continue ramping up its production activities, increase its investment in TV series and support its digital distribution business. The credit will mature in October 2022.

While the outfit is no longer directly involved in international sales of movies, Wild Bunch is still handling distribution in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Austria. Its next few releases planned in France include “Beasts Clawing At Straws,” a feature debut by South Korean helmer Kim Young-hoon on July 8, and Keith Thomas’s “The Vigil,” a horror film produced by Blumhouse on Aug.5.

“This loan is the result of the excellent cooperation with the film specialists of the Commerzbank media team.

European film, TV and media group Wild Bunch Ag and Frankfurt-based financial institution Commerzbank have agreed a loan financing of up to 35M euros ($40M). Wild Bunch, which is headquartered in Paris and Berlin, will use the credit line to refinance an existing bank loan and “to reinforce the group’s capacity to deploy strategic measures,” the company said today. The loan comes due in October 2022.

Vincent Grimond, President of Wild Bunch Ag, said, “This loan is the result of the remarkable cooperation with the film specialists of the Commerzbank media team. We are delighted with the confidence shown in us by Commerzbank as one of the largest film and media financiers in Europe — a financial partner of choice for the future.”

In 2018, Wild Bunch previously struck a $130M financial restructuring plan with its creditors. Then late last year, the company expanded operations with the formation of Bim Production in...

Exclusive: Looking at the international box office over the past few weekends, if there’s one trend that’s beginning to emerge from the smattering of cinemas back in operation, it’s that audiences are responding to new product — and fresh re-releases. Exhibitors are getting the job done with what’s available to them, but it’s still slim pickings out there. A clear success story this past session, however, was Korea where a subsidy offered by local body Kofic, which sharply discounted tickets, resulted in a huge boost in receipts, from $1.2M last frame to $3.17M this session across the Top 10 titles. Play was led by new local thriller Intruder, which accounted for the bulk of takings at $2.2M (see market snapshots below).

Elsewhere in Asia, some were up, some were down. Japan saw a nice hike thanks to the return of a trio of Avengers movies while Hong Kong and Taiwan dipped.