Highlights and Guest Filmmakers at the 5th Terracotta Festival 2013

With 2 days to go to the Opening Night, it's time to reveal the guests of the 5th annual Terracotta Far East Film Festival and the Festival organisers are delighted to make a series of other announcements.

Highlights of this edition are the guest talent from Asia who will be attending the festival, the talent Masterclasses, the winner of the inaugural Terracotta Short-Film Competition, unveiling of the Official Trailer and the festival parties.

Hong Kong director Gilitte Leung joins the festival to introduce her independently produced film, LOVE ME NOT. Gilitte is also a guest jury member for the Short-Film Competition.

South Korean Director Ryoo Seung-wan, the master of action films such as THE CITY OF VIOLENCE, will be here to present the UK Premiere of his latest blockbuster, THE BERLIN FILE.

Week two of the festival sees Indonesian directors Ifa Isfansyah and Edwin at the festival for THE DANCER and POSTCARDS FROM THE ZOO respectively.

Gilitte Leung will hold a Masterclass at 11.30am on Friday 7 June; Ryoo Seung-wan’s Masterclass will be held at 11am Saturday 8 June. The free Masterclasses will take place at the upstairs screen of the Prince Charles Cinema and are open to all Terracotta Festival ticket holders, with priority entry for Festival Pass holders.

The winner of the Terracotta Short-Film Competition is Marcos Villaseñor with his fast-paced thriller entry PHONE BOX. The three minute short will have its World Premiere screening at the Opening Night of Terracotta Festival where the prize of a trip to Hong Kong will be presented. The prize includes flight and accommodation courtesy of the competition sponsors Cathay Pacific Airways and The Mira Hong Kong. The competition judges were impressed by the standard of entries.

The Terracotta Festival homepage now features the Official Trailer for Terracotta Festival 2013, created by Design Agency Sponsors of the festival, What is Bobo.

Last but not least, Terracotta Festival has also expanded the number of party and receptions.
There will be an East Street Party, Saturday 8 June 11pm - 1.30am (East Street, Rathbone Place) which is open to all Terracotta Festival ticket holders. Drinks and food can be purchased till 1am.

Japan Underground and Terracotta Festival team up to bring a Japan Night Party from 7pm Monday 10 June at The Pipeline, Middlesex street. Featuring four live Japanese music acts, tickets can be purchased via the Terracotta Festival website.

Ticket holders for any of the SPOTLIGHT ON: Indonesia films are invited to an Indonesian Reception at the Indonesian Embassy, Grosvenor Square at 6pm Tuesday 11 June (striclty reserved to ticket holders)

Following films will play at Prince Charles Cinema, 7 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BY / Box Office: 020 7494 3654
The following times are door opening times.
In memory of: Leslie Cheung &Anita Mui:
Days of Being Wild (Hong Kong) wed 29 May 2013, 20:45
Rouge (Hong Kong) thurs 06 June 2013, 17:50
Happy Together (Hong Kong) fri 07 June 2013, 12:30
Current Asian cinema:
Cold War (Hong Kong) Opening film thurs 06 June 2013, 19:50
Love Me Not (Hong Kong) fri 07 June 2013, 14:30 + q&a with dir.Gilitte Leung
When A Wolf Falls In Love With A Sheep (Taiwan) fri 07June 2013, 16:35
Young Gun In The Time (South Korea) fri 07June 2013, 18:35
Karaoke Girl (Thailand) fri 07June 2013, 20:30
The Assassins (China) sat 08 June 2013, 12:00
The Story of Yonosuke (Japan) sat 08 June 2013, 14:20
Drug War (Hong Kong) sat 08 June 2013, 17:30
The Berlin File (South Korea) sat 08 June 2013, 19:45 + q&a with dir. Ryoo Seung-wan
See You Tomorrow, Everyone (Japan) sun 09 June 2013, 12:25
A Werewolf Boy (South Korea) sun 09 June 2013, 15:30
The Bullet Vanishes (Hong Kong) sun 09 June 2013, 18:00
The Land Of Hope (Japan) sun 09 June 2013, 20:05
Terror cotta horror all-nighter:
Countdown (Thailand) fri 07 June, 23:15- 07:10
Belenggu (Indonesia) fri 07 June, 23:15- 07:10
Henge (Japan) – fri 07 June, 23:15- 07:10
The Ghost Story Of Yotsuya (Japan) fri 07 June, 23:15- 07:10
Zomvideo (Japan) fri 07 June, 23:15- 07:10

Tickets at Prince Charles Cinema: £8.50 non members, no concessions/ £6.00 (PCC Members)

(Friday afternoon: £6.50/ £4.00)
Festival Pass: £59.50 non members/ £48 members

Terror-Cotta Horror All-nighter: £22 non members/ £19.50 members

SPOTLIGHT ON: INDONESIA will play at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA): The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH / Box Office: 020 7930 3647
The Dancer - tue 11 June, 20:15 + q&a with dir.Ifa Isfansyah
Lovely Man - wed 12 June, 18:15
What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love - thurs 13 June, 18:15
Postcards From The Zoo - fri 14 June, 20:15 + q&a with dir.Edwin
Opera Jawa - sat 15 June, 15:15
The Blindfold - sat 15 June, 20:15

Tickets at ICA: £10 / £8 Concessions / £7 ICA Members

Watch SXSW Prize Winning Trailer For Short Term 12 Starring Brie Larsson

Whilst to many cinephile's who don't dare to go beyond the popcorn munching blockbusters Summer is also when the great independent films from early film festivals are released like  Destin Daniel Cretton's Short Term 12. Grabbing the Grand Jury as well as Audience awards at SXSW starring Brie Larsson (21 Jump Street), John Gallagher Jr (The Newsroom)in a tale of a a gifted but troubled teenage girl arrives at the facility, Grace is forced to confront her own difficult past and unexpected future.

From those who have been fortunate to have seen this film have had nothing but praise for the film delivering a dose of every form of emotion you can think off. It looks charming, delicate, funny but most of all true to life. The trailer looks wonderful but for anyone who has doubts on Short Term 12, watch the trailer and check out the reviews and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

No word on an UK&Irish release date and if it does get a release expect it to be shown via arthouse cinemas rather than mainstream cinema. Short Term 12 does have an American release date which is 23rd August, the film also stars Rami Malek (The Master). Check out the trailer now....

Synopsis

SHORT TERM 12 is told through the eyes of Grace (Brie Larson), a twenty- something supervisor at a foster-care facility for at-risk teenagers. Passionate and tough, Grace is a formidable caretaker of the kids in her charge – and in love with her long-term boyfriend and co-worker, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.)
But Grace’s own difficult past – and the surprising future that suddenly presents itself – throw her into unforeseen confusion, made all the sharper with the arrival of a new intake at the facility – Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever), a gifted but troubled teenage girl with whom Grace has a charged connection.
She and Mason also struggle to help Marcus (Keith Stanfield) – an intense, quiet kid who is about to turn 18 – manage through the difficulty of having to leave the facility.
Grace comes to find – in both her work and the new teenager in her care – surprising sources of redemption. And while the subject matter is complex and often dark, this lovingly realized film finds truth – and humor – in unexpected places.

source:Yahoo

The Long Riders (1980) Blu Ray Review

The Long Riders is a film by Walter Hill, who is perhaps one of the more under appreciated directors of the “New Hollywood” generation. He started out writing screenplays for Sam Peckinpah (The Getaway) and John Huston (The Machintosh Man) and eventually starting directing films starting with Hard Times. His next film was The Driver (which shared many similarities with the modern classic Drive) and the bonafide classic The Warriors. He has also been involved with the Alien franchise from the beginning. He also wanted to make a western and finally got his chance with The Long Riders and since it’s release he has many some more and he was involved with the tv show Deadwood.

The Long Riders is in a long lineage of films about Jesse-Younger Gang. There have been many better films made about Jesse James such as The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford and I Shot Jesse James. Both of those films however deal more with the difficult relationship between Jesse and his assassinator Robert Ford and because of this it’s interesting to see a film about his and his gang’s exploits. The film features real life brothers as the 4 groups of brothers… The Keaches play the James, The Carradines play the Youngers, The Quaids play the Millers and lastly The Guests play The Ford (yes…. Christopher Guest of Spinal Tap fame). This gives the film a extra authenticity other films on the subject lack and all them give very fine performances with David Carradine and Stacy Keach being the standouts.

Walter Hill has said, “Every film I've done has been a Western" and there is certainly some truth in that and he has elaborated "The Western is ultimately a stripped down moral universe that is, whatever the dramatic problems are, beyond the normal avenues of social control and social alleviation of the problem, and I like to do that even within contemporary stories.". It’s interesting to see him tackle a “real western” and his take is very much influenced to his mentor Sam Peckinpah despites his claims he wasn’t with this film. The slow motion scenes certainly recall Peckinpah’s masterpiece The Wild Bunch. It’s a very romanticized version of the west which Peckinpah dealt with often in his western but the difference is Peckinpah was much more cynical.

Overall it’s a very fine western by one of 70s/80s more underrated autuers with beautiful cinematography and very fine acting. Second Sight has released it blu-ray and marks their second release of a Walter Hill film, the first being the superior Southern Comfort. They are planning to release his later film Streets of Fire later in the year.

★★★★☆

Ian Schultz

Rating: 15
BD Release Date: 3rd June 2013 (UK)
Director: Walter Hill
Cast: David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Stacy Keach

Buy: The Long Riders On Blu-Ray

Watch UK Trailer For Kenji Kamiyama's 009 Re:Cyborg Anime

Rarely these days in British cinema does any new anime film get any form of cinematic release in the UK however this Friday Kenji Kamiyama's 009 Re:Cyborg will get that unique opportunity and we have the film's UK Trailer. 009 RE:CYBORG, is a mature and thought-provoking approach to Shotaro Ishinomori’s classic manga, Cyborg 009 from the director of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

The animation in 009 RE:CYBORG is fully computer-generated but treated with cel-shader, a program designed to keep the look of traditional Japanese 2D animation.Music by Kenji Kawai (Apocalypse, Avalon, Ghost in the Shell, The Sky Crawlers). Sound design by Tom Myers at Skywalker Sound (WALL-E, Toy Story 3).

009 RE:CYBORG will launch on Distrify on 7th June. A 2D version of the film will be available for £2.99 per stream. Streaming will be available via www.alltheanime.com/cyborg. The animation may not be getting a full distribution but its still an unique opportunity to watch a film outside the usual festival parameters and you can catch the film from June 7th at one of the following cinemas:

Edinburgh Filmhouse from 7 June 2013
Hackney Picturehouse from 7 June 2013
Ritzy Picturehouse from 7 June 2013
Stratford East Picturehouse from 15 June 2013
FACT Liverpool from 22 June 2013
Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre from TBC
Glasgow Film Theatre from July
009 RE:CYBORG will be available on FilmFlex Movies and iTunes from 7th July

009 RE:CYBORG UK Trailer from paull devine on Vimeo.

Synopsis

1964: Nine regular humans from different parts of the world are abducted and transformed into cyborgs with astounding powers for the purpose of being used as weapons. The nine cyborgs rebel and start to fight against their creators in the name of justice. But as their struggle finally restored world peace, they eventually disappeared from the pages of history and from people's memory.
2013: Skyscrapers across the world are hit by suicide bombers with no apparent connection. The nine heroes gather once again after 27 years to fight against this faceless menace. They appear untouched by time, but society around them has changed dramatically, as it has the very idea of "justice": they used to believe in... What is their role in the world now?

Apartment 1303 3D Blu Ray Review

Like the dire American remakes of J-Horror features One Missed Call and Dark Water, Apartment 1303 3D joins the club of truly disastrous Japanese to American adaptations.

After escaping her domineering mother (Rebecca De Mornay), Janet (Julianne Michelle) signs the lease on her dream apartment. However shortly after experiencing some ghostly goings on, Janet falls out of her 13th floor window. Her sister Lara (Mischa Barton) begins to investigate and her chief suspect is Janet's boyfriend (Corey Seiver).

The main issue with Apartment 1303 3D is simply how unbelievably amateur it is. It lacks any scares and relies on completed outdated genre clichés to carry its narrative. The team behind the feature seem to think that the presence of a pale schoolgirl is enough to have audiences cowering in fear - but unfortunately they fail to craft any sense of tension or suspense, resulting in these attempted scares feeling utterly flat, uninspired, and downright forgettable. This is a problem that hinders all the attempted horror scenes in the feature - all lacking any originality, tension, or any distinct style.

There is nothing remotely scary about Apartment 1303 3D - apart from the lead acting and bland production. It feels cruel to say this when the leading cast are given such uninspired characters and dialogue to work with. Mischa Barton, Julianne Michelle and Corey Seiver fail to bring any life to these bland one-dimensional characters.

Whilst the most part of the narrative is truly abominable, Apartment 1303 3D does slip away on a bizarre subplot involving Rebecca De Mornay as a heavy-drinking country singer/controlling Mommie Dearest type figure. Whilst this lacks any inherent relevance to the narrative, De Mornay does provide the most engagement of the film. The actress slips into the role of a trashy, self-obsessed country-singer with complete ease - but this is a far cry from her best work.

You may feel a slight trashy thrill at De Mornay's hammy performance, but this really isn't enough to justify spending ninety minutes of your life watching this tired, lazy and ultimately bland piece of cinema. Avoid.

★☆☆☆☆

Andrew McArthur

Stars: Mischa Barton, Corey Seiver, Rebecca De Mornay
Director: Michael Taverna
Release: 03/06/13
Rating: 15 (UK)

Buy Apartment 1303:  Limited Edition Lenticular Artwork DVD / Limited Edition Lenticular Artwork (3D + 2D) Blu-ray

Watch the Trailer For Jamie Cheung's Sex Slavery Drama Eden

Directed by Megan Griffiths (The Off Hours, producer of My Sister's Sister) EDEN is based on the chilling yet inspirational true story of human-trafficking survivor Chong Kim and stars an award-winning performance from the beautiful Jamie Chung (The Hangover II & III), rising star Matt O'Leary (Disney's The Lone Ranger) and the legendary Beau Bridges (The Descendants).

The year is 1994. Korean-American teenager, Hyun Jae (Jamie Chung;The Hangover Part II &; III, Sucker Punch, The Man with the Iron Fists), goes to a bar in New Mexico where a handsome young man buys her drinks and offers her a ride home. But she never reaches home and is instead abducted and forced into prostitution by a domestic human and drug trafficking ring located outside the
bright lights of Las Vegas, Nevada.
​
Hyun Jae is initiated into her new life by Bob Gault (Beau Bridges; The Descendants, Stargate SG-1), the corrupt Federal Marshall who runs the organisation and troubled Vaughan (Matt O’Leary;Spy Kids, Fat Kid Rules the World, Disney’s The Lone Ranger).Through a haze of morphine, Hyun Jae (soon renamed Eden, by her captors) learns what her future holds: sex with strangers and life in a 10x10 storage unit. Throughout the two years she is held, Eden reluctantly ensures her own survival by carving out power and influence within the very organization that has imprisoned her.

Eden will arrive in UK cinemas on 19th July put aside any reservations of Jamie Chung's previous film, Eden proves she does posses some acting chops just some critics wish she would show a little more often.

Horror Writers Wanted - Join Us At Cinehouse & The People's Movies

Creatures of the night Cinehouse & The People's Movies wants you! We're looking for passionate individuals  'dying' (pardon the pun, sorry!) to share their skills as writers and show their love for all things Horror. Contemporary, trashy, hollywood, cult, Asian, world cinema, Classic, good or bad  if it's Horror we want you .

Share that passion through reviewing some of the latest films, relive classic films through retrospectives  or simply create exciting fresh original articles, features or lists. Horror fans want news watch the latest trailers so you'll know where to look to get those, it can be in separate posts or combine weekly, fortnightly posts the format, timescale we'll discuss nearer the time. We will consider other forms like podcasts, youtube reviews too as we want to give you that platform to shine!

Due to the nature of the genre most film reviews most will be on DVD or BluRay however there will be times cinema previews online previews possibly the odd festival press passes too! This is not a review only position though it will take up most of the position but once your in there will be opportunities to write and review in other parts of Cinehouse and The People's Movies too.

Sadly this is not a paying position we would love too but what we can offer is chance to watch films before their release dates, freebies, etc... Ideal for someone attempting to break into the industry or just a fan of film like us wanting to share their love for all things film!

To apply to join us we need some details  and here's what we need:

• Name and town 
• Age
• 2 samples of your previous work (web links to reviews, pieces you have written)
• A paragraph on why we should pick you to be a horror writer (max 500 words)

Send the above to cinehouseuk@gmail.com  label email 'horror writers'
Freelancers are welcome.

Step Into The Cult Arena With Arrow Video This June With The Vineyard

Arrow Video is pleased to confirm that James Hong's intoxicating cult-horror classic The Vineyard will be released on DVD on Monday 10th June via their ArrowDrome imprint.

We’ve all heard that wine has its health benefits. But what if it could help prolong your life… indefinitely?!

Crackpot scientist and celebrated winemaker Dr. Elson Po has made the ultimate discovery: the secret to everlasting life. As with all good things, however, there’s an inevitable downside; and a bunch of good-looking and horny youngsters, invited to Dr Po’s island under the premise of an "audition", are about to find out the hard way. As the vineyard starts to give up its dark secrets, these doomed teens will have to contend not only with Dr. Po and his kung-fu fighting henchmen but also with a rotting gang of marauding zombies!

A startlingly tongue-in-cheek mix of action, body-horror and undead terror, The Vineyard comes courtesy of writer/director/actor James Hong – character actor extraordinaire and star of such genre favourites as Big Trouble in Little China and Blade Runner.

Hailed as "the man of a thousand faces", James Hong is one of the world’s best loved Asian-American actors and cult stars. He is also, arguably, the most prolific. In an illustrious acting career spanning 50+ years, he has starred in over 450 film, television and video game roles and, at the tender age of 84, he shows no sign of stopping just yet.

Originally hitting the silver screen back in 1989, The Vineyard has aged gracefully, only now maturing into the bona-fide cult snifter that warrants the ArrowDrome treatment.

The newly re-vamped DVD release of The Vineyard comes complete with brand new artwork, a collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Calum Wadell, and the original theatrical trailer.

Pre-order Buy:The Vineyard [DVD]

Tinto Brass' All Ladies Do It / The Key Blu-Ray Review

Watching the films of Tinto Brass is an ultimately disappointing experience. All Ladies Do It (1992) starring Claudia Koll and Paolo Lanza and The Key (1983) with Frank Finlay and Stefania Sandrelli, both recently released by Arrow Films on special dual format Blu-ray and dvd, showcase perfectly what was wrong with his work. Clearly a gifted filmmaker (his artistic inclinations come from the influence of his grandfather, renowned Gorizian painter Italico Brass), his talent was wasted on pornography - though he likes to class his films as erotic which he sees as different, but which really amount to one and the same.

In All Ladies Do It, loosely based on Mozart's opera Così fan tutti (of which the film's title is a direct translation), Diana (Koll) is happily married to Paolo (Lanza). Unfortunately Diana's sexual appetites are stronger than those of Paolo and unable to get satisfaction from him, she sets out on a voyage of self discovery and fulfilment much to her husband's anger and humiliation.

The Key, Brass's first film since his notorious masterpiece Caligula (1979), follows Nino (Finlay) as a man who fears loosing the love of his wife, the beautiful Teresa (Sandrelli), because of his inability to satisfy her sexually. To 'spice' things up he takes erotic photographs of Teresa then arranges for her to have an affair with the young man Laszlo (Franco Branciaroli) who develops the images. In the meantime Nino follows the progress of Teresa and Laszlo's blossoming relationship by reading her diary, fully aware that she in turn is reading his ......

Pornography is a strange subject. What turns on one person sexually may leave another positively frigid, and vice versa. There is a fine line between what can be seen as artistic (i.e. erotic) and simple, straightforward pornography, which is more or less sex for the sake of it. A naked woman in a top shelf 'lad's mag' is seen as degrading and pornographic. Take the same naked woman, a celebrity photographer and a decadent setting, publish the resulting photograph in a high-end fashion magazine and hey-presto you have art.

Which is in actual fact a good summation of Brass's work, where stunning Venetian locations, dreamy artisan interiors and melodic scores by composers like Ennio Morricone, strive to lend his films an air of bohemian acceptability. All Ladies Do It in particular has scenes which look like they were lifted straight from the pages of a late 1980's issue of British Vogue, with the character of Diana running through the rain lashed alleyways of Venice in sharply cut suits and jauntily angled, picture hats.

However any in-depth study of the deeper content and meaning of these films is, on the whole, unnecessary as, when stripped bare, their story-lines clearly exist purely to link various scenes centring around the often sordid sexual proclivities of the individuals involved. Instead, if you really feel the need to watch the films of Brass (purely as an academic exercise in order to broaden your experience of the overall, cinematic oeuvre), then they should be taken purely on their visual merits and quickly crossed off the your 'to experience' list. The interiors for the films evocatively capture the eras in which they are both set - a heavy 1940's wartime mustiness for The Key, highlighted by the complete opposite in the austere, almost clinical late 1980's / early 90's air of All Ladies Do It. These, along with the otherworldliness of the Venice exteriors, form a perfect backdrop against which to show the sexual shenanigans of a group of characters with whom the audience feel little connection, neither sympathetic or otherwise - one can't escape the sense that the cast are there simply to perform a sexual function with, despite their best efforts, little emotion involved.

Ultimately, if you feel the need to watch Brass's films, they should be approached in the same way as most pornographic material - briefly 'stimulating' when they last, but providing little in the way of a deep or meaningful experience.

★★☆☆☆

Cleaver Patterson

All Ladies Do it
Rating: 18
DVD/BD Release Date: 20th May 2013 (UK)
Director:Tinto Brass
Cast: Claudia Koll,Paolo Lanza, Franco Branciaroli, Ornella Marcucci

Buy: All Ladies Do It [Blu-ray]



The Key
Rating: 18
DVD/BD Release Date: 20th May 2013 (UK)
Director:Tinto Brass
Cast: Stefania Sandrelli, Frank Finlay,Franco Branciaroli, Barbara Cupisti
Buy:The Key [Blu-ray]

Anime Writers Wanted, Join Us At Cinehouse & The People’s Movies

Kwonicha ! We’re recruiting again and we want you and that’s the Anime Writers! We’re looking for lovers who have a passion for all things Japanese, are you that person?

Do you want to review the latest reviews from Manga Entertainment and MVM but it’s not all about the reviews. Post the latest news from the world of anime, the latest trailers, create fresh original but most of all entertaining articles and features help create The People’s Movies & Cinehouse into a hub for Anime fans? If you your passion also lies in Asian cinema in general we can help you out there too and we’ll do our best to give you a platform to share your passion?

We’re looking for a couple of writers who have written for sites before or someone really eager to get first steps, so do you have what it takes? Remember this isn’t just for reviews they are probably most important part of working with us. So can you work on your own initiative know where to look for the latest Anime news, trailers to create your posts?

Unfortunately we can’t offer any money however you will be able to keep those MVM and Manga Entertainment releases you will review, we can provide you with the Anime films to review, maybe occasionally the odd cinema screening, passes for festivals. What are you waiting for then? Get in touch now, Freelancers are welcomed

So how do you sign up?

1. Your Name &Age
2. Location (what is your home town name)
3. 2 sample links to previous posts
4. Reasons on why we should pick you (500 words maximum)
5. If your freelancer let us know

Where do I send the above too? label your email 'Anime Writer' and email the info we need to cinehouseuk@gmail.com

Please Note The Peoples Movies And Cinehouse are UK based websites so if you live outside UK we cannot provide anime to review, however if you are keen to help using your own sources please do get in touch.