Asian cinema at TIFF 2009

[Brian Thibodeau]

Just a few announced so far, but some of these are very tempting:

AIR DOLL (KUKI NYNGYO) (Japan; Hirokazu Kore-eda)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/airdoll

CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (NANJING NANJING) (China; Lu Chuan)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/f ... feanddeath

FACE (France/Taiwan/Belgium/The Netherlands; Tsai Ming-liang)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/face

KARAOKE (Malaysia; Chris Chong Chan-fui)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/karaoke

LIKE YOU KNOW IT ALL (Korea; Hong Sang-soo)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/f ... uknowitall

MOTHER (Korea; Bong Joon-ho)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/mother

NYMPH (Thailand; Pen-ek Ratanaruang)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/nymph

VENGEANCE (Hong Kong/France; Johnnie To)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/vengeance
(this one's going on my list for sure--dig those images!)
(and notice it's a Hong Kong/France co-production; one more reason this database needs the ability to input more than one country of origin )

[Brian Thibodeau]

Bought my 10-film pass on the weekend. Just waiting on the full list in August to make my picks.

More Asian titles announced as part of the Midnight Madness program:

ONG BAK 2 (Thailand; Tony Jaa)

SYMBOL (Japan; Hitoshi Matsumoto)

Neither jumps out at me. ONG BAK 2 has been playing on the bootlegger TVs in the Chinese malls for a good month or two now, sans subs of course because they seem to have shot it off a theatre screen . MIght be one to see on the big screen, but I've read mixed reviews.

Other MM screenings that look tasty: GEORGE ROMERO'S SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD (from right here in Toronto, I believe), SOLOMON KANE (from England); and [REC]2 from Spain. We shall see . . .

http://tiff.net/press?newsId=631


.

[Brian Thibodeau]

More announcements:

ACCIDENT (Hong Kong; Cheang Pou-soi) This is going on the list!
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/accident

BARE ESSENCE OF LIFE (Japan; Satoko Yokohama)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/f ... enceoflife

A BRAND NEW LIFE (Ye Haeng Ja) (South Korea/France; Ounie Lecomte)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/f ... andnewlife

INDEPENDENCIA (Phillipines/France/Germany/Netherlands; Raya Martin)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/f ... ependencia

KAMUI (Kamui Gaiden) (Japan; Yoichi Sai) Ninjas!!
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/kamui

A LETTER TO UNCLE BOONME (Thailand; Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/f ... cleboonmee

MAO'S LAST DANCER (Australia; Bruce Beresford)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/f ... lastdancer

SYMBOL (Shinboru) (Japan; Hitoshi Matsumoto)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/symbol

TOAD'S OIL (Gama no Abura) (Japan; Koji Yakusho)
http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/toadsoil

[Brian Thibodeau]

Noticed this one in Dennis' Daily News report recently. Early reviews seem mixed, though . . .

SHE, A CHINESE (Guo Xiaolu; United Kingdom/France/Germany)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/sheachinese

Apparently Guo directed a companion piece to this film called ONCE UPON A TIME IN PROLETARIAN: 12 TALES OF A COUNTRY. The listing for SHE says it's playing in the Real to Reel portion of the TIFF, although it's not listed on the site yet (http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/programmes/realtoreel). Might be interesting to see these two together.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Found some more. I fear I may regret trying to limit myself to ten screenings :

PRINCE OF TEARS (Yonfan; Hong Kong/China/Taiwan)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/princeoftears

SAWASDEE BANGKOK (Wisit Sasanatieng, Aditya Assarat, Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, Pen-ek Ratanaruang; Thailand)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/sawasdeebangkok

THE SEARCH (Wan Ma Cai Dan; China)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/search

SPRING FEVER (Chun Feng Chen Ziu De Ye Wan) (Lou Ye; Hong Kong/France)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/springfever

WHEAT (Mai Tian) (He Ping; China)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/wheat

AT THE END OF DAYBREAK (Ho Yuhang; Malaysia/Hong Kong) (with Kara Hui!)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films ... ofdaybreak
(trailers on this page are for an unrelated film )

CASTAWAY ON THE MOON (Lee Hey-jun; Korea)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films ... yonthemoon

ENTER THE VOID (Gaspar Noe; France) Not Asian, per se, but filmed in Tokyo . . .
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/enterthevoid

IF I KNEW WHAT YOU SAID (Mike Escareal Sandejas; The Philippines)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films ... hatyousaid

MY TOXIC BABY (Min Sook Lee; Canada)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/mytoxicbaby

PICTURE START (Chris Doyle; lecture/interview)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/picturestart

[Brian Thibodeau]

Got my tickets last weekend, and wisely purchased a package this year to avoid sold out shows (unlike in previous years - d'oh!) . Here's what I've got (so far )

SATURDAY
George A. Romero's Survival of The Dead

SUNDAY
The Men Who Stare At Goats
The Road
Capitalism: A Love Story

MONDAY
Accident
The Art of the Steal

TUESDAY
Vengeance
[REC] 2

WEDNESDAY
Bitch Slap
Mother
(geez, what a Freudian title combo! )

SATURDAY
Symbol
A Town Called Panic

Leaving Thursday/Friday open for now because this is my first proper week off in two years (and only my third in twelve), so a couple days of vegetating will probably be necessary . . . if I can resist the lure of more screenings.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

... ...WEDNESDAY
Bitch Slap
Mother
(geez, what a Freudian title combo! )
...

What would have Freud thought of these together:
The Men Who Stare At Goats
Mother

Please tell what you think of Vengeance though.

[Brian Thibodeau]

What would have Freud thought of these together:
The Men Who Stare At Goats
Mother

I suppose a real Freudian day out would be Men Who Stare At Goats, Vengeance, Bitch Slap and Mother! Maybe followed up by Symbol. Ooooohhhh, what does it all mean?!?

Please tell what you think of Vengeance though.

Will do. I do wonder if I'll share the views of some early reviewers who seemed uncomfortable with the film being mostly in the English language. It comes off a bit stilted to these ears in the trailer, but in reality English is probably the language the characters would use to communicate--the universal language of business, as it were. Of course the alternate, where everyone just spoke their own language and inherently understood each other--which has been done in a fair number of Hong Kong movies over the years--would probably be even more intrusive. Guess we'll see. The opportunity to watch any Johnnie To on the big screen is one generally only afforded to me by TIFF, so I just gotta go. I gotta!

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Brian: what is your feelings on Johnnie To's work? What is your favorite directed film(s) from him?

[Brian Thibodeau]

Brian: what is your feelings on Johnnie To's work? What is your favorite directed film(s) from him?

Boy, that's like picking a favourite child, although I never did think that red-headed one was mine . . .

Taking each in the context of its era, and To's development at the time of filming, I'd still go with THE MISSION by a thin margin, with EXILED a very close second, and MAD DETECTIVE, PTU and FULLTIME KILLER vying for a very close third. In fact, it his was a race, the winner would only win by a nose. There's just so much to savour in nearly everything he's done. Even movies I would rank further down his list--and there are some--offered moments of cinema magic. I've still got to catch up on some of his recent works, actually, so any rankings are subject to change!

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Brian: what is your feelings on Johnnie To's work? What is your favorite directed film(s) from him?

Boy, that's like picking a favourite child, although I never did think that red-headed one was mine . . .

Taking each in the context of its era, and To's development at the time of filming, I'd still go with THE MISSION by a thin margin, with EXILED a very close second, and MAD DETECTIVE, PTU and FULLTIME KILLER vying for a very close third. In fact, it his was a race, the winner would only win by a nose. There's just so much to savour in nearly everything he's done. Even movies I would rank further down his list--and there are some--offered moments of cinema magic. I've still got to catch up on some of his recent works, actually, so any rankings are subject to change!

You can check out my Johnnie To thread here http://www.criterionforums.com/forums/i ... wtopic=657 (almost all the posts are mine).

I'm a huge THE MISSION, EXILED, PTU fan (have not seen MAD DETECTIVE yet, do own it and not a big fan of FULLTIME KILLER). I've now seen 23 of his directed/co-directed films (this year I went nuts on his movies) and one of his directed with no credit (EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED). What is weird is going over his comedies (many co-directed with Wai Ka-fai) like THE EIGHTH HAPPINESS (no co-dir here ).

The ones that I would add to my favorite list would be THROWDOWN, SPARROW and RUNNING OUT OF TIME.

[Brian Thibodeau]

(have not seen MAD DETECTIVE yet, do own it and not a big fan of FULLTIME KILLER)

These two are, in small ways, of a kind, in that they both deal on some level with skewed perceptions of reality that, in turn, play with the viewer's own perceptions and expectations of the genres in which they're set. Perhaps your opinion of FK will change after you watch MD. Or maybe not. I'd put MAD DETECTIVE up near the top as well; forgot about it when I wrote my last post.