Tag: 2015

Ard's Dozen Of Musings About 2015

While I saw more films in 2015 than I had in 2014, I can almost use the same text here that I wrote for my "dozen of musings" article of last year. For again I have a big backlog of...

New York 2015 Review: MIA MADRE Is An Elegant And Deeply Personal Film

Nanni Moretti's latest film, Mia Madre, is elegant, understated, and discreetly moving. A personal, if not autobiographical film, Mia Madre chronicles the slow death of a filmmaker's mother as the director struggles to complete her movie. Moretti experienced the hospitalization...

New York 2015 Review: LES COWBOYS, Wild West Tensions In Modern France

Thomas Bidegain's film, Les Cowboys, begins in a strange key, with a nuclear French family spending the day at an American Western-themed rodeo (not that there's any other real kind). It's clearly no casual affair for them, but a practiced...

Screen Anarchy's Top 10 Movies Of The First Half Of 2015

As mentioned before, the year 2015 is moving on with breakneck speed, it seems. Currently we're already at the halfway point, and can look back at what's been a pretty surprising cinematic six months. So we asked ourselves what we...

Melbourne 2015: A Relief But No Surprises; MIFF's Cannes Line-Up

The Melbourne International Film Festival Cannes line-up was announced recently. It has become a tradition now that the films MIFF has acquired from La Croisette are announced a month before the full line-up is unveiled.The list contains many films we...

Melbourne 2015: First Glance Posits New York And The U.S As Central Narratives

First Glace has arrived. Not a program section per-say but a taster of things to come across the broad spectrum of nigh 300 films that comprise MIFF. The spill of new program reveals highlight more information about the Premiere Fund...

Melbourne 2015: Next Gen Program Offers Thoughtful, Hopeful And Diverse Learning Experiences

Details have emerged regarding the full slate of films from the Melbourne International Film Festival's progressive Next Gen program. This film selection is aimed at varying youth groups and encourages teacher participation and curriculum. Each film has specific learning objectives about...

Melbourne 2015: Premiere Fund Renewed, Plus: World Debut Titles

An exciting development has emerged from this year's upcoming Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). In an era of arts funding being cut to ribbons, it is a huge relief that the always excellent Premiere Fund has been renewed! According to an...

Udine 2015 Review: THE END OF THE WORLD AND THE CAT'S DISAPPEARANCE, A Quirky Little Sci-Fi Film

Takeuchi Michihiro's The End of the World and the Cat's Disappearance, a zany, modestly packaged apocalyptic sci-fi film revolving around Itsuko (Izukoneko aka Mari), a vlogger-cum-J-pop-idol who attempts to singlehandedly save the world from a gigantic meteor, but ends up...

Udine 2015 Review: FORGET ME NOT, A Touching Mixture Of Fantasy, Mystery, And Teen Romance

One of the most affecting and enigmatic teen-targeted Japanese films of the last few years, Horie Kei's Forget Me Not (not to be mistaken with Hirayama Hideyuki's 2010 drama that bears the same English title) defies easy categorization, veering confidently...

Udine 2015 Review: PORT OF CALL Proves Philip Yung's Most Ambitious And Polished Film To Date

A decidedly bleak yet surprisingly meditative exploration of the lower depths of contemporary Hong Kong, Philip Yung's Port of Call clearly articulates its genre-bending aspirations and effectively taps into the generational anxieties of youth today. Based on a case that...

Udine 2015 Review: THE WICKED, An Effectively Thrilling Exercise In Low-Budget Filmmaking

Bolstered and braced by a wonderfully sinister performance from the relatively unknown young South Korean actress Park Ju-hui, Yoo Young-sun's The Wicked is a slow-paced but nicely modulated and effectively gripping exercise in low-budget indie filmmaking. Shot in a mere...

Udine 2015 Review: MAKEUP ROOM Makes Perfect Use Of Its Very Limited Location

Genuinely funny, touching, and cleverly realized, Morikawa Kei's Makeup Room (メイクルーム) plays like a modest but deft combination between a chamber-like dramedy and well-observed ensemble piece that derives most of its energy from a wealth of enthusiastic performances and witty...

Udine 2015: ScreenAnarchy's Most Anticipated Picks

We've been waiting for this moment for a whole year now: Thursday, April 23rd marks the grand opening of the 17th Udine Far East Film Festival, without a doubt one of the world's most important cultural events dedicated exclusively to...

Check Out The First Teaser For Ishii Takashi's Violent Crime Thriller GONIN SAGA

A riveting piece of cinema that plays like a superb combination of Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Kitano 'Beat' Takeshi films circa 1993, Ishii Takashi's unrelentingly violent, socially conscious 1995 neo-noir thriller Gonin (sometimes translated as The Five) undeniably served as...

Check Out The New Trailer And Poster For Miike's YAKUZA APOCALYPSE: THE GREAT WAR OF THE UNDERWORLD

A new one-minute trailer for Miike Takashi's batshit-crazy-sounding action-thriller Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld (極道大戦争) has gone online today. With plenty of fresh footage and a peek at some of the wild set pieces, the action-heavy trailer serves as...

THAT'S IT Trailer Marks Ishii Gakuryu's Return To His Punk Roots

A precursor of the Japanese underground cyberpunk movement of the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Ishii Gakuryū, formerly known as Ishii Sōgo, established a strong position at home and gained widespread recognition abroad with Burst City (爆裂都市, 1982). It's an...

Udine Far East Film Festival Announces 2015 Lineup

The Udine Far East Film Festival, one of Europe's biggest showcases for contemporary Asian cinema and also one of ScreenAnarchy's favorite international festivals, has officially unveiled its lineup during a press conference which took place earlier today.Covering a wide variety...

Spring Film Festival 2015 Preview: ScreenAnarchy's Top Picks

Now in its 21st edition, Spring Film Festival (Wiosna Filmów), traditionally known as Summer Film Festival, marks the beginning of the festival season in Poland. One of the country's oldest and most celebrated events dedicated to promoting awareness of international...

Check Out The Full Trailer For Sono Sion's SHINJUKU SWAN

Well, it was only a matter of time before Sony Pictures Japan would reveal the first full Shinjuku Swan trailer. They've done so by unleashing a truly badass trailer for Sono Sion's highly anticipated live-action crime drama. The trailer comes...