Halloween Movies: Old x New

Halloween Movies: Old x New Generation, what´s your choice?


1. Kubrick´s The Shining x Shimizo´s Reincarnation: one hotel, one crazy guy wants to chop his family.

2. Dracula x Bekmambetov´s Night Watch (RU) it´s like Trainspotting on fangs.

3. Cunningham´s Friday The 13th x Craven´s Scream, lessons on classic teen horror..and I´ll be right back.

4. Scott´s Alien x Kasdan´s Dreamcatcher, on how too give birth to an alien.

5. Seven x Zodiac: double date with David Fincher, both very good, but I´ll stay with Bong Joon-ho´s Memories of Murder.

6. John Landis´s An American Werewolf In London x Wiseman´s Underworld: what can I say?, stay with the classic!

7. Raimi´s The Evil Dead 2 x John Landis´s The Idle Hand: Naughty hands, indeed!

8. Hitchcock´s Psycho x Demmes´s Silence of the Lambs, or Anthony Perkins versus Anthony Hopkins.

9. Romero´s Night of the Living Dead x Boyle´s 28 Days Later: They stink and they´re funny.

10. Hooper´s Poltergeist x Verbinski´s The Ring: Don´t watch too much TV!

11. David Lynch´s Mulholland Drive x Andrea and Canepa´s Dead End: Lynch´s school of horror.

Takuya Kimura´s Hero, the Movie

Hero, a film starred by Japanese star Takuya Kimura, is now in its sixth week of being the top box office winner in Japan. Released on September 8, the movie has already attracted 5.5 million cinema-goers, profiting over 7 billion Japanese yen. It scored the highest out of all the Japanese movies this year, defeating another Kimura's production Bushi no ichibun.

In 2001, Kimura starred in Hero's TV drama series. Box office takings for the movie are expected to keep growing, exceeding Limit of Love: Umizaru, which recorded the highest box office in 2006.

Chinese Cinema: Still Life and Brothers

The movie Still Life by Chinese director Jia Zhangke won the top prize - best international feature film - at the Valdivia International Film Festival held in the city of Valdivia, Chile. And actor Han Sanming, the main character in the film, won the best actor award.

The Tigers Are Back - Andy Lau, Miu Kiu Wai, Felix Wong and Kent Tong, 4 of the the former "five tigers of TVB," (Hong Kong TV Channel) are together again in brotherhood tale Brothers, a typical Hong Kong crime thriller, directed by Sung Kee Chiu.

Eason Chan fills the void of Tony Leung, as the new fifth "tiger."

And also stars Chinese mainland actress Huang Yi and veteran actor Wang Zhiwen.

Andy Lau, who is also a major investor in the US$3.2 mil film, told reporters that his gang is planning to collaborate annually, and they are eager to reunite with Tony Leung on any future projects.

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16th Golden Rooster and Full Blossom Film Festival

16th Golden Rooster and Full Blossom Film Festival News
(from October 23 to 28, Suzhou, China)

Waiting Godot - Director Wong Kar-wai will take his Cannes opening film My Blueberry Nights to Suzhou, China to attend the upcoming Golden Rooster Awards. But apparently,
only the trailer will be shown at the festival. The film assembled a star-heavy cast for his first English feature, including Norah Jones, Rachel Weisz, Jude Law and Natalie Portman.

THC asks: do you want to watch My Blueberry Nights at the movies, or will you wait the DVD?

Funny Lady - Zhang Ziyi, the 2004 Golden Rooster best actress winner for the poignant film
Jasmine Women, will star in the opening short film of this year's Golden Rooster Awards, acting against Liu Ye and Ge You, both of whom are Golden Rooster best actor winners.

The three-minute comedy is directed by Chinese-American filmmaker Dayyan Eng. The China Central Television (CCTV-6) is in charge of producing the awards gala, and will air the show live on October 27.

Romantic feature The Knot grabbed eight nominations for the upcoming Golden Rooster Awards. The film's director Yin Li is in competition for the best director award with Tokyo Trial director Gao Qunshu and four other rivals.

Fireflies in the Garden

Fireflies in the Garden may be Dennis Lee's first feature film, but the Korean American director just snagged Hollywood heavyweight, Julia Roberts as one of his leading ladies. Roberts joins a cast that includes Ryan Reynolds, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Emily Watson.

Written and directed by Lee, Fireflies in the Garden is a semiautobiographical drama about a family struggling to deal with unexpected tragedy. Dennis Lee was 29 when he enrolled in the master’s course in film studies at Columbia University in New York after studying politics at Chicago University. His maternal uncle is novelist Choi In-ho.

A story of the love between family members facing an unexpected tragedy, Fireflies in the Garden is semi-autographical. Lee confesses he found it very difficult to come with the loss of his mother, who died in a traffic accident eight years ago. The film, which begins with the scene where the mother (Julia Roberts) is involved in a traffic accident, is dedicated to the memory of his mother. “It seems that the only thing that lasts forever in life is parents’ love for their children. I dedicate the film to my deceased mother,” he says.
Source: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...802110014.html

Lee has already won an Academy Award for his student short film, Jesus Henry Christ in 2003.
Source: http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/070921/article.asp?parentID=78227

 

Epitaph (South Korea)

Korean Movie News
Korean thriller Epitaph (Gidam) review at:
http://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm07.html#epitaph

12th Pusan International Film Festival

12th Pusan International Film Festival Winners
[Oct. 4 to 12]

Of the 11 films in the fest's only competitive section, New Currents, prizes of $30,000 were each awarded to Chinese-South Korean production Life Track, Malaysia's Flower in the Pocket, and Thailand's Wonderful Town.

Iranian helmer Dariush Mehrjui headed the five-member jury, which also included directors Romania's Cristian Mungiu, Serbia's Goran Paskaljevic and South Korea's Lee Chang-dong, plus mainland Chinese actress Yu Nan.

At the press conference today, Mehrjui made a point of mentioning three other movies that generated jury discussion: Filipino street-kid drama Tribe, Taiwanese criss-crosser God Man Dog and Japanese drama Asyl.

NEW CURRENTS AWARDS

Life Track (Gueh-Do)
Writer-Director: Jin Guang Hao / Producer: Jang Ryul , China-S. Korea
Life Track, a static rural drama about an armless man and a mute woman on the run from police.

Flower in the Pocket by Liew Seng-tat, Malaysia
Flower..., a slow-moving item centered on two schoolkids with speech impediments, saw many international crix bailing during the screenings.

Wonderful Town by writer director Aditya Assarat, Producer: Soros Sukhum, Thailand
A beautifully modulated, slow-burning romance, set in a post-tsunami Thai village.

Wonderful Town (Thailand)
A Pop Pictures production, Bangkok
Produced by Soros Sukhum, Jetnipith Teerakulchanyut
Directed, written by Aditya Assarat
Camera (color, HD-to-35mm): Umpornpol Yugala
Editor: Lee Chatametikool
Music: Zai Kuning and Koichi Shimizu
Production designer: Karanyapas Khamsin
Costume designer: Thanon Songsil
With: Anchalee Saisoontorn, Supphasit Kansen, Dul Yaambunying.Running time: 92 MIN.

Wonderful Town is a mix of romance and social realism set in a Thai village devastated by the last tsunami, about people struggling to rebuild their lives after the tragedy.

The Aditya Assarat's (3 Friends) solo directing debut is a touching film with powerful cathartic qualities. Ton (Supphasit Kansen) is a Bangkok architect sent to oversee the building of a new resort. The only guest at a spartan hotel, Ton is instantly attracted to its Thai-Chinese owner Na (Anchalee Saisoontorn). A reserved woman with a city education, Na appears unresponsive to Ton's polite overtures at first. But via a beautiful series of snapshots showing Na touching Ton's clothing and listening to him sing in the shower, she is able to externalize her true feelings. (...) Leading the voices of disapproval at the couple's flowering romance is Na's brother Wit (Dul Yaambunying), who heads a gang of motorbike-riding no-goods and calmly tells his sister he's a hopeless case for reform.

FIPRESCI AWARD
The Red Awn by Cai Shangjun, China
Well-mounted, professional helming debut by scripter Cai Shangjun pic generated positive response during the fest.

The Red Awn (Hongse kangbaiyin), China
Produced by Li Xudong. Executive producer: Wang Xiuling
Co-producers: Lin Nianxiu, Sun Xiaoxi
Directed by Cai Shangjun
Screenplay: Gu Xiaobai, Cai, Feng Rui
Camera: Li Chengyu, Chen Hao
Editor: Zhou Ying
Music: Huang Zhenyu, Dong Wei
Art directo: Zhang Dajun; Sound: Xia Xin, Hu Liang
With: Yao Anlian, Lu Yulai, Huang Lu, Shi Junhui, Wang Hong
Running time: 105 MIN.

Directorial debut of screenwriter Cai Shangjun (Spicy Love Soup, Shower, Sunflower), The Red Awn is a quietly affecting father-and-son drama set amid the scenic cornfields of central Gansu province.

Yao Anlian (Shanghai Dreams) is Song, a man who returns to his village after five years away working to find he’s been officially registered as dead by his 17-year-old son, Yongtao (Lu Yulai, Peacock). In Song’s absence, his wife has fallen sick and died, and Yongtao mopes around, scarcely talking to his dad. Song sets out with a friend, Yongshan (Shi Junhui), who owns a red combine harvester, to cut wheat in surrounding fields. Yongtao reluctantly joins them but remains surly, at one point almost running his dad down with the harvester. Yongtao shows interest in the attractive but slightly trashy young owner of one field (Huang Lu, Blind Mountain). Thinking she’s a hooker from the city, Song offers her money to bed Yongtao, a misunderstanding that doesn’t help the father-son relationship one bit. But as the harvesting season wears on, and a recurrent back problem plagues Song, the two slowly grow closer.

NETPAC AWARD, SHARED
Hello, Stranger (Cheum Mannan Saramdeul) by Kim Dong-hyun, Producer: Park Jin-Soo, S. Korea.
An accessible dramedy, centered on North Korean refugees in the South.
With a Girl of Black Soil by Jeon Soo-il, S. Korea

AUDIENCE AWARD
Flower in the Pocket

SONJE AWARD, BEST KOREAN SHORT, SHARED
Woong's Story by Lee Ha-song, S. Korea
A Man under the Influence by Jung July, S. Korea

WOONPA AWARD, BEST KOREAN DOCUMENTARY
Tear Drops by Mun Jeong-hyun, S. Korea 

Tea House and Cinema Music Selection

THC October Music Podcast (01)

John Water´s Hairspray

The original John Water´s Hairspray Poster

Oxide Pang´s The Detective

Hong Kong Director Oxide Pang´s new thriller The Detective, it´s about a private detective (Tam, played by Aaron Kwok), that is hired by a guy nicknamed Fatty, to find a lady who wanted to kill him. He gives Tam a portrait of the lady without any further details. Tam identifies the lady as Sum, a mahjong player. The detective starts tracking her whereabouts through her mahjong playmates, but is shocked to find each of them murdered every time he is about to be in contact with them. He discovers a half-burned photo at one of the scenes. Tam realises the suspicions behind the deaths and decides that he has to protect the next target of the invisible murderer. The photo is the only clue for Tam to uncover the case.

The Detective (Hong Kong, 2007)

Director:Oxide Pang Chun
Producer: Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang Fat
Cast: Aaron Kwok Fu-Sing, Liu Kai-Chi, Shing Fui-On, Kiki Sheung Tin-Ngor, Lau Siu-Ming, Lai Yiu-Cheung, Elle Choi, Jo Koo, Kenny Wong Tak-Bun

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