LIFF 2011: BREATHING review

A young man desperately in need of a purpose ends up taking a job dealing with the recently deceased, collecting the dead and making them look the best they can for their final journey - in the course of which... More »

By Matthew Lee

ETRANGE 2011: DEAD BALL review

So is Yudai Yamaguchi's micro-budget horror-comedy Dead Ball a good film? The temptation is to say technically no... but you have to remember most people don't make the effort to watch a film where physical FX maestro Yoshihiro Nishimura is... More »

By Matthew Lee

PIFAN 2011: RABIES Review

The first thing to clarify regarding RABIES, the debut feature film from Israeli writer-directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, is that this is not a viral outbreak film, nor in any way related to that particularly nasty contagion forever associated... More »

By James Marsh

PIFAN 2011: BLOODY FIGHT IN IRON-ROCK VALLEY Review

As its title might suggest, BLOODY FIGHT IN IRON-ROCK VALLEY is a stripped-down, low budget Korean revenge thriller that resembles a sand blown spaghetti western more closely than the ultra stylish heroic bloodshed epics for which the country has become... More »

By James Marsh

PIFAN 2011: BLOODY FIGHT IN IRON-ROCK VALLEY and RUBBER take top awards

By James Marsh

An Interview With YAKUZA WEAPON Star And Co-director, Tak Sakaguchi

[And as promised, Diva Velez's interview with YAKUZA WEAPON star/co-writer/co-director, Tak Sakaguchi, which is being cross-published at The Diva Review.] The Lady Miz Diva: Welcome back to the New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts. You're returning with the... More »

By Diva Vélez

An Interview with YAKUZA WEAPON Co-Director, Yudai Yamaguchi

[Yakuza Weapon, the latest from Versus writer and Battlefield Baseball director Yudai Yamaguchi and Sushi Typhoon madman Tak Sakaguchi screened two weekends back as a part of Japan Cuts and NYAFF and just last night at Fantasia. We now present... More »

By Diva Vélez

PIFAN 2011: UNDERWATER LOVE - A PINK MUSICAL Review

The only reason Imaoka Shinji's latest pinku film, UNDERWATER LOVE: A PINK MUSICAL, is on the radars of international filmgoers at all is because of the involvement of praised cinematographer Chris Doyle. While the result of this bizarre attention-grabbing... More »

By James Marsh

PIFAN 2011: GANTZ: PERFECT ANSWER Review

Both films recently adapted from the mammoth manga series are playing Pifan, so here's my earlier review of part two. Hot on the heels of the first film, GANTZ: PERFECT ANSWER arrives within three months of its predecessor, boasting the... More »

By James Marsh

PIFAN 2011: BULLHEAD Review

With his first feature, Michael Roskam has delivered an assured and attention-grabbing debut that sits comfortably alongside Matteo Garrone's GOMORRAH and Daniel Espinosa's SNABBA CASH as one of the most original crime films in recent memory. Roskam exposes the... More »

By James Marsh

LIFF 2010: ALL THAT I LOVE review

Jacek Borcuch's All That I Love is definitely a fantastic little film: just bear in mind you've almost certainly seen a great deal of it before. The story of a teenager growing up in 1980s Poland, set against the... More »

By Matthew Lee

TEARS review

An ageing detective stares retirement in the face, but he's not about to go quietly. He heaps scorn on the naivete his juniors display (he even waterboards one to demonstrate how pointless torture is); he chases petty criminals and... More »

By Matthew Lee

Sitges 09: COLD SOULS Review

[Yes, Cold Souls' time has come and gone in North America but with the film screening here at the Sitges Festival now seems a good time to revisit one of the years quiet gems.] A darkly absurd, surreal high concept... More »

By Todd Brown

Sitges 09: MACABRE Review

[This review originally ran when Indonesian slasher Macabre premiered at PiFan. We're republishing it now with the film having just had its European premiere at Sitges.] The premise is familiar: A van full of friends traveling through the remote countryside... More »

By Todd Brown

Sitges 09: MUSASHI, THE DREAM OF THE LAST SAMURAI Review

To all of those out there who began to have visions of a full on samurai epic when the heard Ghost In The Shell director Mamoru Oshii had scripted a new animated feature based on the life of legendary swordsman... More »

By Todd Brown

Fantastic Fest 09: PRIVATE EYE Review

[This review originally appeared as part of our PiFan 2009 coverage and re-appears now with the film screening at Fantastic Fest.] it is the early 1900s and Jin-Ho is master of his own destiny. Ignoring the social unrest around... More »

By Todd Brown

TIFF 09: UNDER THE MOUNTAIN Review

Those bemoaning the somewhat overly-sanitary monopoly the folks at Walden currently hold on the world of child and tween oriented fantasy, take heart. Black Sheep director Jonathan King has arrived with his adaptation of popular New Zealand novel - adapted... More »

By Todd Brown

Fantastic Fest 09: MERANTAU Review

[In honor of the North American premiere of Indonesian martial arts film Merantau I'm pulling forward my review of the film from its world premiere at PiFan. The version screened at Fantastic Fest is significantly different from that screened in... More »

By Todd Brown

PiFan Award Winners Announced!

Though festival screenings will continue for a couple more days last night marked the last film to premiere at the 2009 edition of PiFan and, along with that, the official awards selection and distribution of awards. And it's pretty... More »

By Todd Brown

PiFan 09 Review: THE NEIGHBOR ZOMBIE

A huge audience favorite here in PiFan - where it had its world premiere and currently holds an audience rating better than 9 out of 10 - anthology horror film The Neighbor Zombie features a series of short films from... More »

By Todd Brown

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Page 3 of 4

Leading Voices in Global Cinema

Todd Brown, Founder & Editor Toronto
Peter Martin, Managing Editor Dallas
Ryland Aldrich, Festivals Editor Los Angeles
James Marsh, Asian Editor Hong Kong
Brian Clark, European Editor Paris

FEAR & LOATHING AT CANNES, PART 3: EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL AND I'M TRIPPING BALLS

CHAPTER 6: THERE'S NOTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN A PURPLE BEACH SMOTHERED IN MELTING TROMMETTES DURING A CRIMSON TINGED SUNSET ON THE FRENCH RIVERIA, HOLY SHIT I'M TRIPPING MY FUCKING FACE OFF.It's night. When the fuck did it become night? I'm naked. Where the fuck did my clothes go? I'm on... More »

Destroy All Monsters: I Think We've Been This Way Before, Mr. Spock

They can remember it for you wholesale, and they do. At some point, we licensed our pop cultural nostalgia to a handful of multinational conglomerates (well, to be fair, they always owned the licenses) and now they're selling them back to us - though, I guess, not at wholesale, but... More »

Interview: Twitch Talks to HANGOVER III's Ken Jeong

Ken Jeong may often play a lunatic on both big and small screen, but in person it's quite disarming to see just how calm and considerate he comes across. While he got his big screen start in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up, Jeong's real breakthrough was taking a small-on-paper role... More »

Hollywood Beat: Notes On Cutting The Cord And NBC's Genre Programs

I cut the cable cord last year, but I'm not always happy about it. I had to wait a year before seeing Season 2 of Game of Thrones, for example, and will have to wait to see Season 3 until next year. I only have to wait to see Mad... More »

Twitchvision: Talking STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS, MUD and THE ICEMAN

Another Twitchvision chat with Scott Laurie, this time me gushing about J.J.'s latest Star Trek film, which I unabashedly loved.Also talked about he fabbo Mud, and the less fabbo The Iceman, both with Michael Shannon doing his thing.Video embedded below.Update: Was asked to come in today and pick a few... More »