A few of the boys here are fans of director Baltasar Kormakur who is Iceland’s most prolific director at the moment, his film White Night Wedding is screening at the Toronto Film Festival this year and he is still riding the waves that his breakout thriller Jar City made when it came out abroad. The man is insanely busy, working on the edit of his Hollywood debut Run For Her Life (having just snagged the Dark Knight’s James Newton Howard to do the music), writing the “sequel” to Jar City and a untitled Viking project and while doing this he is also producing and starring in a new film by Icelandic cult director Oskar Jonasson which is written by the author of Jar City Arnaldur Indridason. The film is Reykjavik Rotterdam, a thriller about a down on his luck ex con who decides to do one last booze smuggle job to get his finances in order. As one would expect from a story like this things don’t go as planned and start to spiral out of control.
A poster and a trailer have been released to promote the film but sadly it’s only un subtitled at the moment. The trailer is located on the Blueeyes Productions website on the left side of the screen.
Not the strongest trailer around but then Icelanders have never been able to cut together a good movie trailer for some reason.
Follow the links.

This just gets cuter by the minute. Lee Yoon-Gi! WTF?

We posted the teaser of Lee Yoon-Gi’s 멋진 하루 (My Dear Enemy) last week, and it already looked like a complete departure from anything Lee had shown in the last three years, through gems like 여자, 정혜 (This Charming Girl) and 아주 특별한 손님 (Ad-Lib Night). But the full trailer looks even more like a cute, irreverent mix of temper tantrums (by Jeon Do-Yeon) and teddy bear conman techniques (by Ha Jung-Woo). It’s also really nice to see people like Kim Hye-Ok and the criminally underrated Kim Young-Min, who did so wonderfully in Ad-Lib Night.

Story tells of Hee-Soo (Jeon), an unemployed and penniless woman who meets her ex-boyfriend after a year to get her 3.5 million won back. Since Byung-Woon (Ha) is unemployed himself (and also tends to enjoy gambling), all they can do is go around and ask all of Byung-Woon’s “girlfriends” to help out, with lies starting to flow like water in the ocean. Release is set for September 25, and you can see both teaser and trailer below the break.

Continue Reading "Full Trailer for Lee Yoon-Gi’s 멋진 하루 (My Dear Enemy)"...

Though it’s not screening here at TIFF the Canadian premiere of Bruce LaBruce’s gay zombie movie Otto; Or, Up With Dead People is just around the corner, the film slated to screen as part of the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax on September 17th with LaBruce in attendance..  And, being a good local boy, LaBruce is also about to unleash his zombie creation here at home with a special Toronto Sneak Peek on September 12th at the Skyy Cinema, 126 John St in Toronto.  There will be two screenings of the film, one at 7pm, one at 9pm, tickets are $15.  After the second screening there will also be a record release party for the film’s official soundtrack and everyone attending the screening is welcome to stick around for that ...

“Otto; or, Up with Dead People” is a melancholy zombie movie with political overtones that seeks to extend and elaborate the emerging zombie mythology.

A modern fable about the loneliness, emptiness, and alienation that results from rampant consumerism and materialism under advanced capitalism, “Otto; or, Up with Dead People” presents as its central character Otto, a young man who may or may not be a zombie, depending on your point of view. Otto is first seen walking down a deserted stretch of highway, not knowing exactly where he came from or where he’s going. He is dressed as a kind of neo-Goth dandy, but his clothes look and smell like they are rotting on his body. After hitching a ride with a clueless elderly couple that drops him off in the city, it quickly becomes apparent that there is something distinctly odd about Otto. He seems to be homeless, taking refuge in an abandoned amusement park, and he never sleeps.

He also has an eating disorder: he has an aversion to consuming human flesh. He’s a zombie with an identity crisis.

Check the trailers in the Twitch Player below the break!

Continue Reading "An Extended Trailer For Bruce LaBruce’s Gay Zombie Movie OTTO!"...

Though Marcel Sarmien and Gadi Harel are still playing coy with actual footage from their film Deadgirl - due for it’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in just a couple days, soon to be followed by an appearance at Fantastic Fest in Austin - they have been good enough to pass along a brand new Behind the Scenes teaser for the film with one of their leading ladies talking about her role in the picture.  So, no footage yet but we do at least get an insider’s view of what’s going on.

A horror/thriller about two teenagers who make a shocking discovery that not only threatens their friendship but also their lives. In a forgotten room of an abandoned asylum, they find a beautiful woman tied to a bed, and soon come to realize she is anything but dead.

Check the teaser out below the break in the Twitch Player!

Continue Reading "Behind the Scenes Teaser For DEADGIRL!"...

We just showed the teaser a few days ago, and the trailer is already out. Looks like producers of new horror 외톨이 (Loner) [lit. title] are eager to bank on the surprising popularity of 고死 (Death Bell)—which, with a 1.3 billion Won budget and its 1.7 million tickets sold is the surprise hit of 2008, and it could even do well with buyers at the TIFF—hoping for a new horror trend to build. Loner does have a very good cast, with former child actress Go Eun-Ah, the underrated Jung Yoo-Seok and Chae Min-Seo. Film is directed by Park Jae-Shik, whose sole horror-related credit was acting as producer in the 2000 disaster 찍히면 죽는다 (Record). But the trailer here looks actually pretty decent. Go plays your normal student whose life is destroyed by the suicide of a schoolmate, turning her into a case of social withdrawal, and then the blood starts spilling. Film releases in two weeks, and you can find both trailer and teaser below the break.

Continue Reading "Some More Thrills from 외톨이 (Loner)"...

...and rolls, that is.

Think of the 70s, and a few things will certainly come to mind: the Yushin? Tear gas? TV Dramas shot like theater plays, including ads shot live? Little known Chungmuro classics amid the rampant censorship? College bands? There you go. Choi Ho has had a pretty unpredictable career so far, as even trying to pinpoint any particular style throughout his first four films will be hard. But then you sit down to think about it, and music might be the answer. First it was the teen angst-drenched OST in 바이준 (Bye June) from 1998; 우아유 (Who R.U.) was like a “Hongdae sound” fanboy’s dream come true, with some of the best indie rock bands in the country; set in the IMF crisis of the late 90s and Busan, 사생결단 (Bloody Tie) went for a 70s funk feel, which strangely fits the explosive energy of the film. And now, almost as if all that music needed some kind of canvas to be painted on, director Choi is back with 고고 70 (Go Go 70s).

It’s really hard to predict box office nowadays, but it wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to predict 신기전 (The Divine Weapon) will do great. But two weeks is a long time, particularly in these days’ Chungmuro, and Go Go 70s could actually become a decent hit. It faces heavy competition, with the maligned Hollywood flick Babylon AD, Jung Ji-Woo’s promising 모던보이 (Modern Boy) and the remaining few blasts from whatever is in between - including Hellboy 2. But this trailer just looks like truckloads of fun. Good music (played live), some touches of political satire, and very likely some really good acting. Jo Seung-Woo is born for this kind of roles, and Shin Min-Ah looks surprisingly comfortable in her new clothes (or lack thereof), mixing cute with sexy in ways she’s never done before. Release is set for October 2. Now let’s rock and roll, below the break.

Continue Reading "고고70 (Go Go 70s) Trailer Rocks"...

Golly, it’s been well over a year since we first introduced that awesome trailer for Hernán Migoya’s ¡SOY UN PELELE! You know the one I am talking about, the one with the woman’s beach volleyball team in all their… ahem… natural glory. Need a reminder? Sure you do, head on over to the film’s site, but be warned, it is definitely not work safe. Capiche? The movie itself is about a man who loses his memory and forgets he is gay!

Fast forward more than a year and the filmmaker himself let us know today that there is a clip from the film posted over on YouTube. Brightcove has been a bit of a bitch recently so we’re just going to embed the clip after the break. The clip itself is the theme song, sung by comic Spanish duo Los Hermanos Calatrava. Migoya wrote us, This is the first time in more than a decade since Los Hermanos Calatrava record a song together.Also, Paco Calatrava, also known as “The ugly brother”, is one of the main stars in the film. This is a huge comeback to the big screen for him, since he quit from movies in 1983, 25 years ago! Migoya’s film will also be screened at the International Film Festival Sitges this October, where our lord and master Todd will be so you can be sure we will have a full report then.

Continue Reading "Fresh new clip for Spanish comedy ¡SOY UN PELELE! or I, The Clown"...

And.... we’re back. While you will find most important trailers for Korean films posted on the main page and through the Twitch Video Player, what you can find here is a list of all the Korean films playing in theaters, along with those still in production. We can’t obviously be as comprehensive as Film Databases in Korea because of size limit. But basic casting info, trailers, posters, International Sales info will be found for just about everything that moves at 24 frames per second in the Land of the Morning Calm. You can check for small changes every day, but we’ll be back on the main page once per week with the biggest updates.

Major Updates - September 2
외톨이 (Loner) - Teaser+Website
멋진 하루 (My Dear Enemy) - Teaser+Website
사랑과 전쟁 : 12번째 남자 (Love and War - The 12th Man) - Poster
비몽 (Dream) - Poster
Box Office (Weekly, 2008 Top 10, All Time) Updated

Continue Reading "[K-Film Databank Returns] Updated 09/02"...

Really just to be able to type Chuck Norris’ name was reason enough to bring up the news of a trailer for the sugary pop of Love Fight, a film that looks to make your eyes water as that sugar goodness invades your taste buds.

Kevin over at NipponCinema started it :::pointing accusing finger::: and is hosting the trailer for what appears to be your usual teen love story, but with boxing and kicking gags to boot! I’ll let his description play it out for you.

The movie is based on a novel by Eri Makino called “Seibo Shojo”. Izuru Narushima (Midnight Eagle) directed and Takao Osawa (also Midnight Eagle) served the dual role of supporting actor and producer. The story involves a boy named Minoru (Kento Hayashi) who’s always been a bit of a weakling. Throughout his childhood his spunky female friend Aki (Kie Kitano) watched out for him and protected him from bullies. One day he meets Osawa’s character who trains him how to box. Then when he finally gets stronger than Aki she decides to take up boxing herself, which obviously drives him crazy. Predictably, the mutual boxing obsession brings up all sorts of strong new emotions between them.

Apparently we’re in a bit of a DTV mood around here these days, first with a trailer for the newest Seagal film and now with the first teaser for a directorial effort by Ivan Drago himself, Dolph Lundgren. 

Titled Command Performance, the film is shooting now in Sofia before moving on to Moscow and stars Lundgren as an ex-biker turned metal drummer who must intervene when both a band and the Russian President - along with his entire family - are kidnapped by an armed gang during a charity concert. 

Believe it or not this is now Lundgren’s fifth directorial effort and with production company Nu Image riding the recent success of Rambo there are some rumblings of this getting at least a limited theatrical release before hitting the video world.

Teaser below the break in the Twitch Player.

Continue Reading "Dolph Lundgren Rocks The Kit In COMMAND PERFORMANCE"...

Three trailers and still not a bad thing to say about it.  It’s upcoming Russian naval epic Admiral Kolchak, starring Night Watch‘s Konstantine Khabensky.  What is there to say about it?  Large scale action?  Check.  Strong cast?  Check.  Impressive cinematography?  Check.  Time devoted to characters and environment as well as action?  Check?  Really, it looks like this thing is hitting everything you need to hit to do a large scale epic right.  You can check all three trailers below the break.

Continue Reading "Third Trailer For Russian War Epic ADMIRAL KOLCHAK"...

I’m not really sure why but the initial teaser for Aleksandr Melnik’s New Land didn’t quite work for me.  The storyline was compelling enough, there were some familiar - and welcome - faces in the cast, and the script is from the same pen as recent epic Mongol so i felt like I should like it but it just wasn’t clicking.  Well, enough of that and on to the new trailer, just passed our way by regular reader Vladimir.  This one?  Yeah, this one works.  The film is essentially an adult Lord of the Flies and this one packs the sort of tension that such a story needs.

Near future. The death penalty was abolished worldwide, prisons are overcrowded. More and more funds needed for the maintenance of convicts to life imprisonment. International organizations decide to make an experiment. Russia provides an uninhabited island in the north, where a small settlement is developed. The first prisoners from Russia come to island. They must start a new life and arrange their own society. However, the settlers begin to live by the law: “last is dead”.

You can check both trailers in the Twitch Player below the break.

Continue Reading "A Second Trailer For Russian Thriller THE NEW LAND"...

Strange but true:  Steven Seagal may be all washed up here in North America, where he’s become a bit of a side show curiosity and object of mockery.  But Japan?  Japan’s a different story.  His films still do pretty well there, a decent number of them landing theatrical releases and provoking such things as, you know, full fledged marketing campaigns. Which means trailers.  Yes, there is a Japanese trailer online now for Seagal’s latest, Pistol Whipped, which also stars Lance Henriksen in a support role, Sure, Henriksen will go pretty much anywhere and do pretty much anything for a paycheck but he’s pretty solid in everything he does and the production values in this actually look quite good.  Plus, as an added bonus, you get a super enthusiastic Japanese narrator.  Huzzah!

It’s in the Twitch Player below the break.  But be aware:  breasts be lurking within.

Continue Reading "I Could Listen To Japanese Film Announcers Say ‘Steven Seagal’ All Day."...

Yes, yes, technically Samurai Fiction director Hiroyuki Nakano officially got back into the director’s chair with his destined-for-pachinko screens remake of Seven Samurai but unless some brave DVD label takes a flyer on that one - Hey BCI!  It’s got Sonny Chiba in it!  And the trailers look great! - this is the first new Nakano film that people might actually have a chance of seeing.

Now, details from those more knowledgable than I would be gratefully accepted as I stumbled across the website purely by accident and speak not a lick of Japanese but it looks like what we’ve got here is an expansion of Nakano’s 2006 short film Iron, a film that played Critics Week at Cannes in 2006.  Beyond this and the fact that the trailer is filled with the sort of sumptuous black and white photography that made Samurai Fiction such a treat to look at, I know nothing.  Well, almost nothing.  I know you can watch the trailer at the link below.

** My thanks to Kevin from Nippon Cinema for clarifying some things on this.  Turns out that this is a new short film anthology that Nakano is heavily involved with.  The original version of Iron is included along with two newer Nakano-directed shorts.  Details below in the comments section.

Hmm, now this could be interesting.  More of a clip than an actual trailer and loaded with over-the-top, hyper-frenetic editing in the early going, we’ve just had a reader load the first trailer for Igor Voloshin’s Nirvana in the Video Player and there’s some intriguing stuff at play there.  The film is the story of a love triangle between a Russian nurse and her neighbor, a heroin junkie, and on of their boyfriends and - according to the uploader - it may well have some sort of cyberpunk angle to it.  What I do know for sure is that the cinematography on this is spectacular.  Now I’d just like to see a little bit more of it where characters are given a bit more space to breath ...

Continue Reading "First Trailer For Russian Love Triangle NIRVANA!"...