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A question for you: how do you deal with contradictions in a director's filmography? The question becomes more complicated when talking about "workman" filmmakers like Japanese maverick Takashi Miike or Johnnie To (or, going back, of course, Howard Hawks, Raoul Walsh, William Wellman, and the lesser known)—with such prodigious output, how do audiences, critics, and the artist-workers themselves understand the instances of one film project contradicting another?

How, in the case of To, do we talk about Election and Triad Election (a.k.a. Triad Election)—critical indictments of violent genre cinema—when those films are followed up by Exiled, which proceeds to indulge those very same conventions? Or, in the case of the director of the subject of this piece, how does one look at 2004's withering time traveling anti-violence treatise Izo, and then see, several films later, 13 Assassins—as classical or old fashioned a samurai film as there ever was?...

As the time ticks on towards this year’s fest, the official Cannes Film Festival website has just sent me a Newsletter informing me of the Avengers style band of filmy people who will make up this year’s Grand Jury- lead in Captain America style (albeit a grumpy and grizzly version now) by Robert DeNiro. Among the list of eight are stellar actors Uma Thurman and Jude Law (stellar provided we forget the other Avengers movie, and the remake of Sleuth), writer/director Oliver Assayas (Carlos) and director Johnnie To (Election). The full list is as follows: Martina Gusman (actress and producer, Argentina) Nansun Shi (producer, Hong Kong/China) Uma Thurman (actress, scriptwriter, producer, USA) Linn Ullmann (writer,literary critic, Norway Olivier Assayas (director, France) Jude Law (actor, producer, UK) Mahamat Saleh Haroun (director, Chad) Johnnie To (director, producer, Hong Kong/China) What the names mean to the likely winners isn’t clear yet, but...

Uma Thurman is the second American on the feature film jury of the Cannes Film Festival, joining jury chairman Robert De Niro, the festival announced Tuesday. The other members, all announced Tuesday, include British actor Jude Law, Argentinian actress/producer Martina Gusman ("Carancho") and French director Olivier Assayas ("Carlos"). Other jurors: producer Nansun Shi ("Late Autumn") from China, director Mahamat Saleh Haroun ("A Screaming Man") from Chad and director-producer Johnny To ("Election") from Hong Kong. Norwegian critic-writer Linn Ullmann, the daughter of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman, completes the panel. The jury's selections, including the...

The reputation of Hong Kong director Johnnie To rests on such stylish gangster films as Election (2005), a dark study of the contest for the leadership of a long-established triad. Sparrow, which has taken three years to reach this country, is a beautifully made, deliberately puzzling thriller in which a team of Hong Kong pickpockets (led by the handsome Simon Yam) are taken for a painful ride by a beautiful femme fatale working for an ageing big-time criminal. It's a film of considerable style but little substance. A sparrow apparently is a harbinger of bad luck as well as Chinese underworld slang for pickpocket.

ThrillerPhilip French

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Johnnie To's pickpocket comedy is unexpectedly entertaining – and has the strangest imaginable influence

Johnnie To is the multi-talented Hong Kong director with a reputation here for hard-hitting crime and action: his Election (2005), about a fratricidal war for gangland primacy has many admirers; I found it clotted and self-conscious. This movie is lighter, easier and more likeable: it's a sprightly comedy caper about a pickpocket gang that pays eccentric homage to French cinema. But it's not Bresson. The movie on which it's modelled is, of all things, Jacques Demy's The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Veteran tough guy Simon Yam plays Kei, the leader of a light-fingered gang roaming the Hong Kong streets, pinching purses and wallets and palming them quickly on to each other. Chung Chun Lei, played by Kelly Lin, is a beautiful, mysterious woman spying on Kei on behalf of ageing gang boss Mr Fu (Lo Hoi Pang...

Acclaimed Hong Kong director and industry veteran Ann Hui returns with “All About Love”, a film considerably lighter in tone than her last outing, the depressing, Tin Shui Wai-set “Night and Fog”. Needless to say, although the film’s premise does suggest light romantic comedy, with a script by author and screenwriter Yang Yee Shan (responsible for the hard hitting “Whispers and Moans” and “True Women for Sale”), it also tackles a number of serious societal concerns. The film is headlined by a couple of top acting talents in Sandra Ng (currently enjoying a career renaissance thanks to the likes of “Echoes of the Rainbow”) and 1990s pop star Vivian Chow (making her first film appearance for 14 years), with support from Eddie Cheung (“Election”) and William Chan (“Beauty on Duty!”). The film revolves around two urbanite lesbians and former lovers, Macy (Sandra Ng) and Anita (Vivian Chow), who meet again...

<p><img src="http://www.justpressplay.net/images/stories/newstream.jpg" alt="newstream" width="590" height="175" /></p> <p>Today's new additions to Netflix Instant Watch that are worth watching features works by great Asian directors Johnnie To and Kim Ki-duk. Oh, and there's a Viking movie, too.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">• • •</p> <p> </p> <p><strong><img class="Image-Right" src="http://cdn-8.nflximg.com/en_US/boxshots/gsd/70120168.jpg" alt="" width="150" />Valhalla Rising</strong></p> <blockquote> <p>After years of slavery, Viking warrior One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) escapes from his captors and seeks refuge on a Norse ship bound for his homeland. When a storm throws them off course, the crew lands at a mysterious realm inhabited by invisible demons. As the bloodthirsty creatures claim one sailor after another, One-Eye rediscovers his fighting spirit but begins to wonder if they have arrived in Jerusalem or someplace much more sinister.</p> </blockquote> <p>We don't get a lot of Viking movies, and when we do, too often it's played for schlock. This Danish film mixes a moody arthouse aesthetic with bursts of hyperviolence to an entertaining degree. Our own Rob Young wrote <a href="http://www.justpressplay.net/movie-reviews/40-reviews/6799-valhalla-rising.html" target="_self">this favorable review</a> for the theatrical release.</p> <p><a href="http://movies.netflix.com/Movie/Valhalla-Rising/70120168" target="_blank">Watch!</a></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><img class="Image-Right" src="http://cdn-6.nflximg.com/en_US/boxshots/gsd/70118406.jpg" alt="" width="150" />Vengeance</strong></p> <blockquote> <p>Today,...

Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2010.

"Outrage" may be Takeshi Kitano's return to the yakuza movie on which his international reputation as a filmmaker was built, but it's not a return to the elegiac, melancholy tone those movies embraced. When the killing starts, and there is a lot of killing, it arrives with a shrug of inevitability -- what, did anyone really expect these duplicitous, aggressive, violent men to get along? "Outrage" may come up empty in the end, but it's an entertaining ride to nowhere that pokes fun at the ritual and rules that its characters pretend to abide by even as they ruthlessly stab each other in the back.

The first domino falls when Ikemoto (Kunimura Jun), the head of a gang that's part of the Sanno-kai, a larger crime syndicate, is taken to task by the chairman (Kitamura Soichiro) because he's been partnering up with another gang, headed...

Chicago – With the last days of August remaining, the dreaded days of post-summer dreck are upon us, with studios dumping some of their least promising products into theaters, while making way for the approaching Oscar season. During a decidedly dull weekend such as this, cinephiles are on the lookout for films that offer an exotic escape from humdrum mainstream fare.

Luckily, Chicagoans have a great deal of art house venues to choose from, including the Siskel Film Center, which is currently screening the latest work from several of the world’s most fascinating and innovative filmmakers. Here are three highlights fresh off the film center’s calendar that are well worth marking in yours. The first is from one of the great yet under-appreciated founders of the French New Wave, the second is from a filmmaker who emerged during the Hong Kong New Wave, and the third is by a...

We love a good, nasty revenge tale, especially when they come from Asia like Chan-wook Park’s notorious Vengeance trilogy. We also love the work of cerebral Hong Kong action auteur Johnnie To, whose Election 1 & 2, Exiled, Mad Detective, Ptu, Fulltime Killer and A Hero Never Dies garnered To a major international fan base. So Fangoria just had to share these exclusive pix (see below the jump) from To’s own Vengeance, a gripping new thriller that Roger Ebert called “an elegant genre exercise.” The film, which premiered to great acclaim in competition at Cannes in 2009, is currently available nationwide on demand via IFC Midnight.

"In a city without laws, there's nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing to lose."

Ugh.

Taglines like that are movie-killers, if you ask me. It's so painfully trite and derivative that it makes film buffs shy away from the theaters. It certainly turned me off.

What am I talking about? Below is the trailer for Vengeance, directed by Johnny To (Exiled, Election), the Hong Kong director's first English-language film. At first glance, it looks like yet another Death Wish knock-off: An ordinary man's family is killed, he hunts down the killers. However, it apparently played extremely well at Cannes and even drew some parallels to Eastwood's Unforgiven. It's apparently an unflinching revenge flick, with the added dynamic of the professional hitmen that he hires to help him out.

Of course, the rest of the world has already seen it, but it's due out in "selected theaters" later this year in the U.

[Once again thanks goes to the incomparable Diva Velez, for the following interview - one which was edited down from an hour long conversation... oh, to have been there, fan boys...]

The Lady Miz Diva:  Mr. Yam, you started your acting career under contract with the Hong Kong television network Tvb...   Simon Yam:  Ah, it was a long time ago!     Lmd:  Yes, but so many well-known actors like yourself have come from Tvb.   Sy:  Yes, right, including many famous directors and actors and actresses all come from Tvb.     Lmd:  What did you take away from your time there?  What did you learn then that you use today?   Sy:  Being on time!  Actually, I didn't, I learned being on time from my father, who was a policeman.  They're always on time.  I learned manners from Tvb.  And how to be energetic; cos in the old days we'd shoot today and then we're dubbing and then we're editing and then the third day, we do this again.  This was the routine of before.  This was horrible.  So when you are sick, you need to do the work.

"Gallants", which opens in Hong Kong today and China tomorrow, is probably the most enjoyable kung-fu comedy made in Hong Kong since "Shaolin Soccer". First movie produced by actor Gordon Lam Ka-tung ("Infernal Affairs", "Election", "Vengeance") for Focus Films Limited (a film production, investment, acquisition, and distribution company founded in 2002 by superstar Andy Lau), "Gallants" stars veteran actors from the 70's such as Chen Kuan-tai ("Boxer From Shangtung"), Michael Chai Wai-man  ("The Club"), Bruce Leung ("Kung-fu Hustle"), Teddy Robin Kwan ("Mad Mission"), Susan Shaw ("Big Bad Sis") and Lo Meng ("5 Deadly Venoms").

It also stars younger talents like  Wong Yau-Nam ("Just One Look", "Ip Man"), Jj Jia ("Isabella") and the rapper Mc Jin. Third movie directed by Derek Kwok after "The Pye-Dog" and "The Moss", "Gallants" is also the first movie that he co-directed with his long-time friend Clement Cheng, who makes his director debut with "Gallants". Enjoy the first...

What you are listening to:

A little medley from some of the films playing for free in our festival of Cannes selected favorites.  Go here to see what films are viewable for free in your area.

"Titoli: Atmosfera Tensiva" by Giovanni Fusco. From Michelangelo Antonioni's L'avventura (1960).

 

"Cucurrucucu Paloma (Live)" by Caetano Veloso. From Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together (1997).

 

"Ti ricordi di siboney" by Nino Rota. From Federico Fellini's Amacord (1974).

 

"Mesecina (Moonight)" by Goran Bregovic. From Emir Kusturica's Underground (1995).

 

"My Favorite Things (Rehearsal)" by Björk. From Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (2000).

 

"Eternal Smile" by Chow Hsuan. From Johnnie To's Election (2005).

"Notturno II" by Giovanni Fusco. From Michelangelo Antonioni's L'avventura (1960).

 

"Not Human" by Javier Navarette. From Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (2006).

 

"Siegfried's Funeral March" by Richard Wagner. From Aleksandr Sokurov's Moloch (1999).

 

"Harakiri" by Toru Takemitsu. From Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri (1962).

 

"Chunga's Revenge" by Frank Zappa.

Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage, which continues to be pitched and described as his “comeback” film, reveals why the filmmaker hadn’t previously returned to the genre that made his name—its conventions, the setting, the people are all a dead end, a fatalistic, self-destructive cinema. Outrage is a minimal but forceful answer to fans and the desires of the international market who clearly desire for Kitano to kill more that the lives of the yakuza are exercises in the art of nihilistic violence, a film world the director clearly wants to take to the extreme, bury, and move on from.

Kitano simply, efficiently sets to work in the Outrage’s first half charting with great detail the hierarchy of chief, bosses, underbosses, and their minions in a yakuza organization, to then spend the remainder of the film killing nearly each and every one off. The rules are set and then the game is played out,...

Along with their partnership with The Criterion Collection, it looks like IFC Films is set to jump into an even bigger portion of the video-on-demand world, with a brand new, genre friendly brand, IFC Midnight.

The brand will bring horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic films, action and any other film of that ilk to televisions nationwide. Midnight itself also has a special distribution deal with Mpi Media Group, so it is more than likely that these films will have little to no chance of making the jump to the Criterion Collection (sorry for all those Human Centipede fans craving a “C” to appear on the corner of the film’s DVD cover art, it just isn’t going to happen).

If there is one thing that IFC has been able to do since its inception is bring some of the best and most envelope pushing films to the mainstream, or at...

IFC Films, one of the leading foreign and independent film distributors, today launches a new genre label called IFC Midnight. IFC Midnight will offer the very best in international genre cinema, including horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more. Four new IFC midnight films will premiere each month on video-on-demand; select titles will also be released in theaters at the same time as their VOD premiere. In addition, an IFC Midnight branded line of Blu-ray and DVD product will be released via a distribution arrangement with Mpi Media Group

President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step. While we...

IFC Films has just announced its slate for this summer's IFC Midnight, and as expected, it's packing quite a punch for fans looking for some badass off-the-grid type horror!

Information on how, when, and where you can dig on these movies appears below along with the synopsis for each entry. Considering the crap we have shoveled into theatres on a weekly basis, we're a lot more open to paying for these flicks to see them in the comfort of our own homes via VOD. Expect your cable bill to go up soon, as some of these movies are total winners whose titles you should be more than familiar with!

From the Press Release:

The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

Written and directed by Tom Six, the film is a truly one-of-a kind horror film about a mad scientist who achieves his sick lifetime fantasy of creating a human centipede. Entertainment Weekly...

HollywoodNews.com: IFC Films, one of the leading foreign and independent film distributors, today launches a new genre label called IFC Midnight. IFC Midnight will offer the very best in international genre cinema, including horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more. Four new IFC midnight films will premiere each month on video-on-demand; select titles will also be released in theaters at the same time as their VOD premiere. In addition, an IFC Midnight branded line of Blu-ray and DVD product will be released via a distribution arrangement with Mpi Media Group

President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: “Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label – not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy – so officially creating IFC Midnight was the logical next step.

IFC Films sets up new genre label IFC Midnight IFC Films, one of the leading foreign and independent film distributors, today launches a new genre label called IFC Midnight. IFC Midnight will offer the very best in international genre cinema, including horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more. Four new IFC midnight films will premiere each month on video-on-demand; select titles will also be released in theaters at the same time as their VOD premiere. In addition, an IFC Midnight branded line of Blu-ray and DVD product will be released via a distribution arrangement with Mpi Media Group

President of IFC Entertainment Jonathan Sehring said: "Many of our most successful VOD titles are those that might fall under the Midnight label - not just films that are straight up horror, erotic arthouse or genre films but also ones that shock audiences, push boundaries and stir up controversy - so...

Oh, this is a smart move ... IFC Films have just announced that they will be running their limited theatrical run of UK true crime trilogy Red Riding is what they're calling a 'roadshow' format.  Which means?  All three films, no trailers, two intermissions, all credits run at the conclusion of the third film.  I've seen this format employed twice before - the Toronto International Film Festival present Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher trilogy and Johnnie To's Election films this way - and when the material is good it's a potent way to experience film.  And these films are very good indeed.

New York (NY) (January 15, 2009) - IFC Films, one of the leading American distributors of independent and foreign films, announced today that it will release Red Riding:  Special Roadshow Edition for one week only beginning Friday, February 5th exclusively at the IFC Center in New York City.  The...

We are leaving Kubrick behind and fast approaching Hyams. If you get that reference, go grab yourself a cookie. It is time for us to reflect back on the decade that was. On January 1st, 2000, Disney released Fantasia 2000. On Wednesday, December 30th, 2009, The White Ribbon is set to bow. Between the release of these two films, thousands of films came and went, and some of them were far more memorable than others. It was a long trek getting this list together, but here are our collective top 100 films of the past decade.

Quick Year-to-Year by the Numbers:

2009 – 11

2008 – 11

2007 – 7

2006 – 14

2005 – 12

2004 – 8

2003 – 7

2002 – 12

2001 – 10

2000 – 8

100. Million Dollar Baby (2004) – Clint Eastwood

99. Juno (2007) – Jason Reitman

98. An Education (2009) – Lone Scherfig

97. Spider-man 2 (2004) – Sam Raimi

96. Munich (2005) – Steven Spielberg

95. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) – Wes Anderson

94. The King Of Kong (2007) – Seth Gordon

93. Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’S Stone (2001) – Chris Columbus

92. Clerks 2 (2006) – Kevin Smith

91. Femme Fatale (2002) – Brian De Palma

90. Tasogare Seibei...

Accident is the latest film from director Pou-Soi Cheang (Shamo, Dog Bit Dog, and Love Battlefield) and producer Johnnie To (Mad Detective, Election, Ptu) via To’s Milkyway Images production. It tells the story of a crack team of assassins led by Brains (Louis Koo) who instead of forcefully killing their foe, instead come up with elaborate plans to make the murders look like every day accidents. Each ‘accident’ is painstakingly put together with every minor detail taking care of. It’s this attention to detail which quickly grabs the viewers’ attention from the very opening scene.

Netflix has added an impressive list of new films to their InstantWatch feature again this week. Quite a number of them are great titles from various Asian countries that I'm glad to see made accessible to Us viewers. Some of them are modern classics that need no introduction to cineastes, but others are pleasant surprises.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man

One of my favorite movies of all time, Tetsuo is Japanese cyberpunk at its most definitive. The first feature film by the great Shinya Tsukamoto, Tetsuo is the highly allegorical—and illogical—story of a businessman whose body slowly morphs into machine against his will, after he accidentally runs over a metal fetishist. Perverse, daring and brimming with energy, Tetsuo is one of the coolest things Japanese cult cinema has to offer.

Watch it now

Tokyo!

An anthology series, Tokyo! stands out for being directed by three famous directors (Michel Gondry,...

The DVD cover for Triangle says “Three Masters. One Masterpiece.” Triangle does not in fact live up to the hype its cover hopes to generate, but I understand the desire to make a little-known (to Americans anyway) film’s cover eye-catching. This Hong Kong import did pique my interest with its distinction of bringing together three innovative and influential Hk directors: Tsui Hark (Zu Warriors, Once Upon a Time in China), Ringo Lam (City on Fire, which inspired Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, the underrated twin Jackie Chan comedy Twin Dragons, and Chow Yun Fat vehicle Full Contact), Johnnie To (Ptu, Election, and Breaking News).

The primary cinematic appeal of Triangle is invested in the collaboration between these three “masters.” Each director takes the reins on one 30-minute section of this 90-minute film. The trio maintains the same editor and cinematography to ensure continuity but bring their own stylistic choices and cinematic flair to their third.

It’s time again for that most uniquely Hong Kong of genres, the ghost comedy romance, with the re-release of the 1991 outing “Pretty Ghost”. The film, which apparently also went under the bizarrely inaccurate title of “Alien Wife” (the film features no aliens, and no wives), marked the directorial debut of Teddy Chan, who went on the helm the likes of “Purple Storm”, the Jackie Chan vehicle “The Accidental Spy”, and the forthcoming “Bodyguards and Assassins”. Offering the usual mix of slapstick gags, ghostly goings on and improbable human-spirit relations, the film handed Tony Leung Ka Fai (“Election”) an early, if not particularly dignified leading role, and boasted a couple of gorgeous leading ladies in the shapely forms of Rosamund Kwan (best known for her roles in the Jet Li “Once Upon a Time in China” films) and Ellen Chan (a popular actress at the time, who also featured in...

I'm coming a bit late to the table on this one, but as a fan of all things awesome and Asian I feel compelled to alert you about something happening over at the Sundance Channel this month. And yes, "this month" is August, and yes, August only has a week left... I did say I was late to the table didn't I? Sundance Channel has a long-standing affection for Asian cinema and demonstrates it on a weekly basis with Asia Extreme, which is their series of some of the best genre films Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand have to offer. They run the gamut from horror, crime, drama, and just plain crazy-ass flicks, and have included excellent titles like Audition, Breaking News, Save the Green Planet, and The Bow. They're doing something a bit different this month though, and it involves premiering their new season of several brand new titles on Pay-Per-View for free. I...

[Our thanks to Christopher Bourne for the following review.]

From Johnnie To’s mighty Milkyway Image film factory comes Eye in the Sky, Yau Nai Hoi’s tense and visually dynamic cat-and-mouse thriller which often gives the viewer a Big Brother view of the characters. Yau, a screenwriter of many of Johnnie To’s best films (Running Out of Time, The Mission, Ptu, Running On Karma, Throw Down, the Election films), makes his debut as a director with this film. While Yau’s set pieces lack the visual flair of To’s films, as a whole Eye in the Sky is a lean, limber piece of entertainment that is a worthy addition to the impressive films emerging from this great production house.

Chinese entertainment portal Sina has released some concept artwork from director Tsui Hark’s historical thriller Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame. Reason enough for me to finally write an article on the project.

The film takes place in the Tang Dynasty and tells the story of the detective Di Ren Jie (or Dee) who gets called back from exile by the Chinese empress Wu Zetian to solve a series of mysterious deaths of high court officials. During his investigations Dee gains support from the bustling commander Bei and a master of disguise names Ghost Doctor.

Next to Hong Kong’s darling Andy Lau, Carina Lau (Ashes of Time), Li Bing Bing (Forbidden Kingdom), Tony Leung Kar Fai (Election) and Lau Ching Wan (Mad Detective) will star in this 13 million Us$ production. Sammo Hung will be responsible for choreographing the action scenes. Shootings have begun in May, Detective...

Johnnie To continues to expand his leading position as Hong Kong’s director with the most films released on Blu-ray Disc.

Today Panorama Distributions announced to release Election and Election 2 in Hong Kong on May 27, 2009. DDDHouse lists English subtitles for both titles and so far two of four releases by Panorama Distribution have been confirmed to be region free by friendly readers of the Asian Blu-ray Guide.

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The line up for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival has been announced, and it promises to be a rather interesting year on the Croissette. Quite a few Cannes-favourite directors return to the fold - Almodovar, Tarantino, Von Trier, To and Campion - but there are interesting films in the line-up from the likes of Terry Gilliam and Sam Raimi too.Tarantino's bringing Inglourious Basterds to town, in news long anticipated and planned but now confirmed. Almodovar's latest Penelope Cruz-starrer, Broken Embraces, will also play (if you really can't wait, that's already out in Spain), while Von Trier will bring his intriguing Antichrist to the Festival too (check out the trailer).Johnny To is back at the Festival (following a storming performance in 2005 for Election) with Vengeance, and Michael Haneke is bringing The White Ribbon, a black-and-white film about fascism in a German school in 1913.The opening film is Pixar's Up, which was already announced,...

From Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To comes Vengeance, a brutal tale about a French assassin-turned-chef who travels to Hong Kong in order to avenge the murder of his daughter. I owe my thanks to Twitch for first digging up this glorious trailer. Its got somewhat of an old school John Woo feel to it, although that might not be accurate, because Johnnie To has been making films since 1986, almost as long as Woo has. Anyway, if you're a fan of Hong Kong cinema or Johnnie To or just want to see a badass trailer, then watch this. Although, since this is international, it may contain violence - you've been warned! Watch the first trailer for Johnnie To's Vengeance: [flv:http://media2.firstshowing.net/firstshowing/Vengeance-French-trailer.flv http://media2.firstshowing.net/firstshowing/Vengeance-French-trailer.jpg 580 438] For more info on Vengeance, head over to the official website: vengeance-lefilm.com Vengeance is directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To, of films like The Mission, Running Out of Time,...

Hong Kong -- Cinema Popular is set to announce the star-studded cast of 150 million yuan ($22 million) "Bodyguards and Assassins," the debut film of the Beijing-based joint venture production outfit formed by director-producer Peter Chan and producer Huang Jin-xin's We Pictures with China's Polybona International.

Donnie Yen ("Ip Man"), Leon Lai ("Forever Enthralled"), Wang Xue-qi ("Forever Enthralled"), Nicholas Tse ("Dragon Tiger Gate"), Tony Leung Ka-fai ("The Lover"), Hu Jun ("Red Cliff"), Eric Tsang ("Infernal Affairs"), Simon Yam ("Election"), Fan Bing-bing ("Shinjuku Incident"), Wang Po-chieh and Zhou Yun ("The Sun Also Rises) rounds out the galaxy of stars in the cast of "Bodyguards and Assassins." Teddy Chen will direct the film, which was previously titled "Dark October" and is a fictional retelling of the dangerous circumstances surrounding Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the kung-fu masters who protected him before the Chinese Revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty.

Cinema Popular, which...

“Tactical Unit – the Code” is likely to be an enticing prospect for fans of Hong Kong action cinema, being the first in a series of follow ups to Johnnie To’s seminal 2003 police thriller “Ptu”, a film which still stands as one of the best of the genre. Here, To serves as producer, passing the directorial reins to Law Wing Cheong, a member of the Milkyway stable previously responsible for “Hooked on You” and the comedy “2 Become 1”, and who recently starred in “Sparrow”. The film was written by Yip Tin Shing, another frequent To collaborator, who scripted “Election”, “Exiled”, “Throw Down” and others, and boasts a great cast of familiar faces including Simon Yam, Maggie Siu and Lam Suet. Thankfully, the film lives up to its impressive pedigree, proving itself worthy of the Milkyway brand, and manages to transcend its low-budget roots. The film revolves around an incident in which...

As a Twitch-o-Meter, this post will remain up on top of the page for one day (or, being a “Mr. deMille” article, until it gets guessed). There might be newer posts below this, so don’t forget to take a look!

It took me a while to warm towards Simon Yam because he always seemed to be playing the same character and his face was distinctive enough to say: “Ah, him again”.

But a string of knock-out roles changed that completely, most of all the truly excellent work he did in both “Election” movies.

Whether he plays a meek businessman or a ruthless Triad leader, a smooth player or an awkward policeman, Simon Yam always brings intelligence to the table. It’s hard to think of him playing a character that is totally dumb.

Also, I have to think really hard to recall a recent Johnnie To movie without Yam in it,...

No doubt about it, director Dennis Law can be one frustratingly inconsistent man. His work as a producer is generally solid - and, in the case of Election, occasionally spectacular - but when he steps behind the camera himself the results can vary wildly. Wu Jing star vehicle Fatal Contact, for instance, is one solid piece of pulp entertainment. The follow up, Fatal Move, however, is almost unbearably bad. And what’s next for Law? Well, let’s just say he aint about to win any ‘feel good movie of the year’ awards with A Very Short Life ...

The film is a Cat III drama that delves into the world of child abuse and from the trailer I’m honestly not sure whether this is going to be a serious treatment of the topic or veer into exploitation territory. There are definitely some moments in there that could go either way.

Director Benny Chan's (Invisible Target) action thriller Connected (an adaptation of the 2004 Hollywood film 'Cellular') is up for pre-order on DVD. The pic, a big hit with Asian audiences stars Hong Kong's Louis Koo (Rob-b-Hood) as the everyman hero - while as the film's black-clad villain, Liu Ye (Blood Brothers) exudes over-the-top entertaining menace. Rounding out the cast are Nick Cheung (Exiled) as a stalwart traffic cop, with Louis Fan (The Moss), Eddie Cheung (Election), Tvb actor Wong Cho Lam and model Ankie Beilke. This is Chan back at his very best.

Director Benny Chan's (Invisible Target) action thriller Connected (an adaptation of the 2004 Hollywood film 'Cellular') is up for pre-order on DVD. The pic, a big hit with Asian audiences stars Hong Kong's Louis Koo (Rob-b-Hood) as the everyman hero - while as the film's black-clad villain, Liu Ye (Blood Brothers) exudes over-the-top entertaining menace. Rounding out the cast are Nick Cheung (Exiled) as a stalwart traffic cop, with Louis Fan (The Moss), Eddie Cheung (Election), Tvb actor Wong Cho Lam and model Ankie Beilke. This is Chan back at his very best.

Tony Leung has not been in the news a lot lately, in fact the one thing that keeps popping up is his role in “Red Cliff”. Always the gentleman, he helped director John Woo out of a prickly situation when star Chow Yun Fat suddenly left. And now some people say he doesn’t really shine in this role. Hm...pity, if that’s true.

When I saw Wong Kar Wai’s “2046” at the 2005 edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, one of the impressions I got was that Tony Leung must be one of the smoothest actors in the world. And a handsome devil too…

His rogue-with-a-lost-soul just oozed charm, and his performance worked on so many levels (not to mention layers) that I was instantly won over.

Discussing this with friends afterwards I said that I couldn’t recall having seen him before, and of course I was...

Shanghai -- Chinese online game developer Shanda Interactive Entertainment is working with filmmakers including Hong Kong producer-director Johnnie To to turn at least three online novels into feature films.

The move is part of the Nasdaq-listed company's strategy to branch out from China's increasingly crowded online gaming space to tap the growing niche of online novels and make them into movies, a Shanda spokesman said Thursday at the sixth annual China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference.

On July 3, Shanghai-based Shanda formed a new business unit, Shanda Literature Ltd., which already has purchased film rights to three other online novels.

Shanda and To, best known in the West for his "Election" films, are in the early stages of turning the popular online novel and game "Gui Chui Deng" (Ghost Lantern) into a movie with the Shanghai Hua Ying Film Co., to which Shanda sold the film rights in 2007. They hope for a 2009 release.

In February, Shanda reported record full-year 2007 revenue up 49% to $337.8 million and has predicted that revenue will continue to grow 6%-9% per quarter in 2008.

And the hot streak continues for Johnnie To. While the latest from the prolific action auteur lacks the blistering intensity of the Election films and the extreme high style of Exiled it reunites him with a pair of favored collaborators - screenwriter and co-director Wai Ka Fai and star Lau Ching Wan - and the result is an entertaining, surprising piece of work anchored by a powerhouse performance from Lau.

• Way back in the early ‘90s Hong Kong cinema was known for three things: Jackie Chan’s acrobatics, Jet Li’s bone-crushing , and John Woo’s bullet ballets. True to form, Hollywood made it a priority to poach these icons and bring them to America at large. While all three found great success in the transition, only Woo totally crossed over without looking back. As a consequence, Hk cinema was left scrambling to find someone to take up the mantle. Many tried to make their mark, from hacks like Joe Ma to the highly competent like Corey Yuen, but it wasn’t until Johnny To stepped up to the plate did the industry finally have a new action maestro. With an astounding 25 films to his credit in the last 8 years alone (and that’s just as a director!), few can boast his prolific output and sheer quality. Best known

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• Unless you have a multi-region DVD player and seek out obscure foreign imports, Johnnie To films usually come late to North American audiences. As was the case with low-budget thrillers Exiled and Election, To's films have no problems finding takers - its just that there is the hassle of finding the highest bid among low bidders. Variety reports that the folks over at IFC have picked up a Johnnie To/Wai Ka-fai title that played out at recent fall fests at Venice and Toronto but had yet to find a North American buyer. Mad Detective sees Lau Ching-wan play the title character, a loopy police inspector who solves cases by seeing a suspect's inner "ghosts." After a long absence from the force for mental-health reasons, he is brought back to track down a missing officer.This will be released via the profitable IFC First Take label and fans can

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NEW YORK -- IFC Entertainment is picking up the offbeat cop thriller Mad Detective from Hong Kong directors Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai.

Lau Ching-wan plays the title character, a loopy police inspector who solves cases by seeing a suspect's inner "ghosts." After a long absence from the force for mental-health reasons, he is brought back to track down a missing officer.

Detective premiered in September at the Venice and Toronto film festivals. To, who has directed dozens of films since the early 1980s, has seen some of his greatest successes with the recent gangster films Election, Triad Election and Exiled. He most recently teamed with co-director Wai on the 2003 film Running on Karma.

IFC will release Detective in theaters and via VOD through its First Take day-and-date program. An IFC spokesperson declined comment on the deal, which is now in final negotiations.

Friday's acquisition added to a high-profile week for IFC, which received four Spirit Award nominations (for Paranoid Park and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) and a Gotham Award tribute for president Jonathan Sehring.

• Prolific Hong Kong director Johnnie To recently secured two Us theatrical distribution deals after a working for almost twenty years within the industry. Getting his start at the famous Shaw Brothers studios he would continue work as a producer and director until forming his own production company, MilkyWay Image, with collaborator Wai Ka-Fa.Exiled takes place in 1998 in Macau, Portugal just before it came under Chinese rule and concerns four close hit men who are starting to feel the heat from this new government.Exiled was a mainstream film by Hong Kong’s standards and was filled with humor, action and drama. It’s a tight, fun film. I was able to ask Mr. To about some of his experiences working in the Hong Kong film industry. Benjamin Crossley-Marra: What were some important early lessons you learned coming up through the Shaw studios?Johnnie To: I came to Shaw Bros.

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• There is a deep enough pocket of Johnnie To fans in the U.S (our own Richard Lally counts as one of them – read his interview with To here) to merit theatrical and DVD release on each Hong Kong tale the filmmaker roles out. So far it’s been quite the treat this year for Johnnie To fans – some have managed to see the combo (delayed) release of Election and Triad Election (part 2) and will have the chance to get a helping of seconds Exiled via Magnolia Pictures. Today we featured the one sheet (a morphed version of the French poster). ...

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• Getting a NYC release this weekend is Hong Kong director Johnnie To’s Triad Election. The Film Forum in NYC are doubling up, also showing the prequel Election. Distributed by Tartan Films, this sees an overeducated racketeer Jimmy (pop star Louis Koo) only wants to go legit, but in Michael Corleone fashion, his past haunts his future. He’s running for Chairman of Hk’s oldest, most fearsome triad (criminal organization) and is the favored candidate of the mainland Chinese who align themselves with stability and affluence for Hong Kong, whatever the cost. The filmmaker brings a subtle, classical sheen to even the movie’s most outrageous scenes – as when Jimmy’s opponents find themselves, literally, going to the dogs. Here is a first look at the poster below and we’ve also included the synopsis and French poster to the prequel as well. The first part tells the

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HONG KONG -- French film distributor ARP Selection bought all French-speaking rights to Eye in the Sky, the Hong Kong International Film Festival opener by first-time director Yau Nai Hoi, from Fortissimo Films.

The deal for the Sundream Motion Pictures title, concluded late Tuesday at the Festival's parallel Hong Kong Filmart, was signed by Fortissimo's co-chairman Wouter Barendrecht and ARP's Michele Halberstadt.

Financial details were not disclosed.

Halberstadt said ARP was "blown away" by Eye. "It's a fast-paced and intense thriller, wonderfully acted, beautifully framed, which manages to capture the hectic pulse of Hong Kong," Halberstadt said.

Fortissimo's Barendrecht said "ARP's passion for Asian cinema is intense," adding that he was "delighted" to have worked with ARP on Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai's Shanghai Dreams (2005).

"Eye" director Yau also is a writer whose script for Hong Kong director Johnnie To's Election won him the Taiwan Golden Horse award for best screenplay in 2005. He also won two screenwriting prizes at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

"Eye" premiered to critical acclaim at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.

• Quick Links > Exiled > Magnolia > Johnnie To > Triad Election > Election > Breaking News > Toronto film festival Prolific (understatement) director Johnnie To is back, again. The actioneer's latest film, Exiled, has been picked up Magnolia Pictures for distribution in North American. The film debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it received high marks and standing O's. Expected to be a major hit in Asia, the film showcases To's trademark skills at making gangster films with an action glean. 'Exiled' tells the epic tale of bad guy vs. bad guy but with complexities and interconnectivity not often found in the common gangster genre film. Criminals double cross each other, seek revenge, look for the 'big score' and dream about a life far removed from the underworld. The film features the beautiful cinematography of Cheng Sui-keung and features star Simon Yam, who is the Mifune to To's Kurosawa. Those who

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Tartan USA has acquired all U.S. rights to Jonnie To's Election and Election 2 from Celluloid Dreams. Both films, thrillers set in the underworld of Hong Kong gangsters, played as official selection at the Festival de Cannes -- the first in 2005 and its sequel at this year's fest. The deal was brokered by Charlotte Mickie for Celluloid Dreams and Tartan USA acquisitions consultant Marie-Therese Guirgis.