Goings-On in Asian Film: Nippon Connection, Tsai Ming-Liang and Shinsedai!

Hello all. I just wanted to gather together a few of the exciting things I've been involved with recently in the Asian film community. First of all, Chris MaGee of the J-Film Pow-Wow and I recently returned from our annual trip out to Frankfurt, Germany, for the Nippon Connection Japanese film festival. While Chris had his hands full as one of the jurors for the Nippon Visions program, I took up press coverage duties. My report on my festival experience is now posted over at the Pow-Wow, along with links to individual film reviews for some of the works that were shown.

Shortly before I left for that trip, I took some time to once again pop up as a guest host on the VCinema Show. Concluding the three-part mini-series of podcasts focusing on Taiwanese filmmakers, I spoke with Jon Jung (AKA Coffin Jon), Josh Samford and Dr. Stan Glick about the divisive and (in my eyes) mesmerizing Tsai Ming-Liang film Goodbye, Dragon Inn. Click on the picture below to access the episode, or get it through VCinema's subscription channel on iTunes.

Finally, things are really gearing up here in Toronto for the 4th annual Shinsedai Cinema Festival, which will be happening from July 12th-15th at the Revue Cinema. The full lineup of independent Japanese films has been revealed; click here to check it out and follow the above link for further details on the festival. There is a lot of fascinating stuff lined up for that week that should amount to a great time for Toronto film-goers and fans of Asian cinema.

Have a look at the festival trailer below, edited together by Pow-Wow writer Matthew Hardstaff, for a peek at the films that will be shown in July:

Edmund Yeo's "Last Fragments of Winter" - VCinema Review

Hello all! A few days ago, I popped up once more at VCinema, that great online/podcasting hotspot for Asian cinema lovers everywhere. I wrote up something very special for them: a review of the latest short film from accomplished Malaysian filmmaker Edmund Yeo. The film, Last Fragments of Winter, is a beautifully crafted piece of work that was shot in Japan and Malaysia and recently had its world premiere at the 8th Dubai International Film Festival. Check out my review for it here, and if you ever have the chance, make sure to catch this fantastic gem!

My Guest Spot on the VCinema Podcast Discussion of Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Café Lumière

Hello all. Not too long ago, I made an appearance on the VCinema Podcast, which specializes in Asian cinema, to discuss Edward Yang's masterpiece, Yi Yi (2000). That episode, available here, was the first of three planned ones in which I'll be talking with hosts Coffin Jon, Josh and Rufus about Taiwanese cinema and some of its most esteemed directors - namely Yang, Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming-Liang. And now...the second episode is now available! This time around, we tackle the Japan-based Ozu tribute-of-sorts Café Lumière (2003). All in all, I think we wound up having a pretty good discussion that touches upon a number of interesting topics. To listen for yourself, click on the icon below to access the show, be it through iTunes or manual download. Thank you for listening and enjoy!

My Recent VCinema Guest Spots - Review of Park Chan-Wook's "Thirst"; Podcast Discussion of Edward Yang's "Yi Yi"

Hello all! I know I'm a little on the late side with a few of these items, but better late than never, as they say!

Anywho, not too long ago I made a few contributions to the VCinema Podcast and Blog, the earliest of which being a review written for the Korean Cinema Blogathon 2011. The online event, organized by newkoreancinema.com and cineAWESOME!, was quite the success, as it resulted in 150 pieces from 50 web sites, each one focusing in some way on Korean cinema. You can check out the complete archive of pieces right here, and read my VCinema review of Park Chan-Wook's vampire flick Thirst (2009) here. Next year, when the Blogathon swings around once more, I hope to a) have seen a lot more Korean films and b) submit more pieces.

Shortly after that, I returned to VCinema, this time as a guest on their podcast for a discussion of New Taiwan Cinema; the late, great filmmaker Edward Yang and his masterpiece Yi Yi (2000). This will be one of three episodes in which I and the VCinema boys talk about certain films from the "big three" of contemporary Taiwanese cinema, consisting of Yang, Tsai Ming-Liang and Hou Hsiao-Hsien. You can access the Yang episode by clicking on the image below or looking it up on iTunes under "The VCinema Podcast."

And hey, what do you know! I took so long posting this episode up on here that the VCinema guys have already come out with their new one! In it, they embark on a discussion of the insane, wonderful, Indonesian actioner that is 1986's Rambu AKA The Intruder. Check out the episode by clicking on the image below.

VCinema Goodness!

Hello all. Happy New Year! I am once more back in the GTA, refreshed and ready to get a start on 2011. This year will hopefully bring about a few more posts and reviews here as well as other projects and pursuits elsewhere.

Speaking of, there are a few interesting things going on over at the website for the VCinema Podcast and Blog, which specializes in news, reviews and podcast episodes on Asian cinema. Recently, they posted a series of three articles in which a variety of writers, scholars and all-around Asian cinema fans spoke up about their favorite Asian film experiences in 2010, revealing a broad variety of tastes and experiences. I was one of those contributors, as was my editor and compadre John Berra, who was a guest on Episode 13 of the podcast and regularly writes reviews for VCinema. You can check out our entries here; the other two articles in the series can be found here and here.

The VCinema podcast will soon be celebrating its first anniversary on January 31st, 2011. In order to celebrate the special event, they are currently holding a special contest that I'm sure will be worth taking part in - if your knowledge of Asian cinema is up to snuff. Here is editor and producer Coffin Jon's blurb on the contest:

Episode 22 of our podcast, scheduled for release on January 31st, 2011, will mark the VCinema podcast’s first anniversary. Can you believe it?! We can’t either. Anyway, in this episode, we will have our first discussion of an entire film trilogy (we normally only discuss one film per episode) and this is where the contest comes in. Email us at vcinema@variedcelluloid.net with the name of the director whose trilogy we will discuss and you will earn a chance to win a prize, the winner of which we will determined by random draw during episode 22.


Now, that’s leaving you all sort of high and dry because there must be a million Asian directors who have directed a million film trilogies, so how would you know which we chose unless you could read our minds (and you can’t, CAN YOU?!) Well, here’s a hint:


This director, who shares the last name with another famous Japanese director, got his start in Japanese pinku and direct-to-video yakuza films before later becoming popular during the “J-Horror” film boom in the late ’90s to mid 2000′s.


OK, got it?! Only one entry per person and all entries must be in by Sunday, January 16th at midnight PST to be considered for the prize, so get your entry in as soon as possible.


Also, be sure to listen to episode 21, out on January 17, 2011, for a second chance at an entry into this contest!


*VCinema will not use your email address for marketing or spam. We will only contact you if you are the winner or you have a question about the contest.

There ya have it. Be sure to bookmark the VCinema website and check it regularly for your fill of everything Asian cinema.

Finally, it's worth mentioning that Jon was recently interviewed by the San Francisco-based website SF360 regarding the history of the VCinema podcast and what he and his co-hosts (Josh Samford of Varied Celluloid and Rufus de Rham of CineAWESOME!) hope to accomplish with their discussions of Asian films and filmmakers. Check it out here!

Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow and VCinema Podcast Unite!

Hello all. I wanted to squeeze in one last post before August comes to an end. A little over a month ago, I attended and saw many excellent Japanese independent films at the second Shinsedai Cinema Festival, which was put together by co-programmers Chris MaGee of the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow and Midnight Eye's Jasper Sharp. Also in attendance was Jon Jung, who co-hosts the VCinema Podcast, which delves into Asian cinema on a regular basis. It was great to actually meet and hang out with Jon over the course of the festival - as well as record a few podcast episodes with him that cover the various films shown at this year's Shinsedai Festival. While these episodes went into the wee hours of the morning, sometimes run a bit on the lengthy side and were more than a little, erm, enhanced by a fair share of beverages, they were a great deal of fun to make and (I hope) give a fairly comprehensive summary of what the fest had to offer.

Click the links below to download the special VCinema Podcast episodes. Two of them also feature interviews Jon conducted with two of the filmmakers who were in attendance: Momoko Ando (Kakera: A Piece of Our Life) and Yasunobu Takahashi (Locked Out).

Shinsedai Special Podcast Report #1: Director's Spotlight: Momoko Ando

Shinsedai Special Podcast Report #2: The First Half

Shinsedai Special Podcast Report #3: Director's Spotlight: Yasunobu Takahashi

Shinsedai Special Podcast Report #4: The Second Half

Also, click here and here to check out my summaries of the Shinsedai Cinema Festival over at the Pow-Wow.

Enjoy!