TOKYO (AP) -- Cannes-winning Brillante Mendoza is among three directors tapped by the Tokyo International Film Festival to create "Reflections," a trilogy that depicts the intertwining of stories among Asian nations.Be it a Filipino worker in Japan or a Japanese bureaucrat in love with a Cambodian woman, the main characters are old and lonely, caught in an Asian nation other than their own, in films that reflect the real-life erasing of barriers in this region. Having premiered on Wednesday, "Re

Oct. 26, 2016

TOKYO (AFP) -- Oscar-winner Meryl Streep had to learn how to “screw around” with songs when she played a tone-deaf socialite, she told reporters in Japan on Monday.Streep, whose latest work “Florence Foster Jenkins” opens the Tokyo International Film Festival, has an enviable musical pedigree, but had to tamp down her skills when she took on the lead role.“I did try to learn how to sing these arias properly, so I got a very, very good, true opera coach and he taught me the arias correctly,” Stre

Oct. 25, 2016

TOKYO (AP) -- Time warps, half-bestial children and parallel worlds are, for Mamoru Hosoda, a natural way to pursue the universal coming-of-age story that has driven all his movies. “A child growing up is fascinating and stunning, a true wonder of the world,” the burly, friendly Japanese animation director said recently in an interview at his suburban Tokyo Chizu Studio. “There is struggle in growth and change, between that wolf, that blood, that drive within you and order or reason needed to li

Oct. 25, 2016

The second annual Asian World Film Festival is screening five films from Korea.The Los Angeles-based event kicked off Monday with the screening of British filmmaker Asif Kapadia’s “Ali and Nino,” which takes place in Azerbaijan during World War I.Five recent Korean films -- “The Age of Shadows,” “Asura,” “The Map Against the World,” “The World of Us” and “Operation Chromite” -- will be featured throughout the week as part of the newly designed Korean Film Days program in association with CJ Ente

Oct. 24, 2016

Comedy film “Luck-Key” is continuing to dominate the local box office. Over 600,000 local moviegoers flocked to theaters for the film on Saturday alone, according to data from the Korean Film Council on Sunday. It has attracted nearly 3.8 million people since its opening day on Oct. 13. A remake of the 2012 Japanese blockbuster “Key of Life” by Kenji Uchida, “Luck-Key” follows the series of events that unfold after a man loses his memory as a result of an accident at a public bathhouse. Directed

Oct. 23, 2016

“Michael Moore in TrumpLand” is not only the title of the new film by the cinematic provocateur but it is also an accurate description of what it provides.Not an investigative documentary on the order of the writer-director’s previous films like “Fahrenheit 9/ll,” “Bowling for Columbine” or “Sicko,” “TrumpLand” is rather a rambling, mildly entertaining performance film recording a stand-up appearance Moore recently made in the heart of Trump country.That would be the city of Wilmington, Ohio, th

Oct. 21, 2016

Queen of Walking(Korea)Opened Oct. 20Drama. Directed by Baek Seung-hwa Sprightly high school student Manbok (Shim Eun-kyung), suffering from chronic motion sickness and unable to stand any type of transportation, walks for four hours every day to school. Inferno(US)Opened Oct. 19Mystery, thriller. Directed by Ron HowardA madman biologist (Ben Foster) plans to annihilate half of the world’s population by unleashing a virus; famous symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) follows a trail of clues to

Oct. 21, 2016

South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook’s latest erotic thriller “The Handmaiden” will open in North America this week, the film's local distributor said Tuesday.The film will be shown at five cinemas in Los Angeles and New York starting Friday, CJ Entertainment America said, adding that negotiations are under way to bring the film to other cities in the region.Loosely based on Sarah Waters’ award-winning novel “Fingersmith,” the film starring Kim Min-hee, Cho Jin-woong, Ha Jung-woo and Kim Tae-ri re

Oct. 19, 2016

Korean comedy film “Luck-Key,” starring Yoo Hae-jin as a killer, drew more than 2 million viewers during its premiere weekend to hit No. 1 at the box office, data showed on Monday.The movie sold 1,642,824 tickets, which is 68.2 percent of all ticket sales, over the Oct. 14-16 weekend, keeping the Hollywood fantasy film “Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children” in a distant second, according to the real-time box office tally from the Korean Film Council.　Released on Thursday, “Luck-Key” surpa

Oct. 17, 2016

After four years in the making, “Pandora,” purportedly Korea’s first film dealing with nuclear disaster, will open in local theaters in December. 　Helmed by Park Jung-soo, production on the 15 billion won ($13.2 million) movie wrapped following more than a year of computer-generated imagery work and five months of filming, according to major local distributor Next Entertainment World.The movie traces a disaster at a nuclear power plant following a massive earthquake, the government’s ensuing res

Oct. 17, 2016

Director Yeon Sang-ho’s “Train to Busan” won awards for best director and best special effects at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Spain on Saturday.The zombie thriller had received the grand prize at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival in July. Opened locally in July, “Train to Busan” was a box office hit and holds the record so far as the ninth best-selling Korean film ever. A still from “Train to Busan” (Next Entertainment World) Director Yeon Sang-ho (Yonhap)Di

Oct. 16, 2016

Mixed reviews greeted Ang Lee’s long anticipated “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” at the New York Film Festival on Friday night, casting further doubts over the promise of Hollywood’s latest technological savior: high-frame rate filming. The premiere was one of the fall movie season’s most closely watched events because Lee’s drama, an adaptation of Ben Fountain’s 2012 novel, was made with a faster frame rate than any previous wide release. Aside from being in 3-D and 4K resolution, Lee shot th

Oct. 16, 2016

The 21st Busan International Film Festival, Asia’s largest, wrapped up Saturday with a closing ceremony moderated by actor-singer Kim Min-jong and actress-model Choi Yeo-jin at the Busan Cinema Center after an unremarkable, quiet 10-day run, which saw scaled-back events and a smaller audience than previous years. The New Currents Award, BIFF’s representative competition category which recognizes rookie Asian directors, went to two films by Chinese directors: Wang Xuebo’s debut feature “Knife in

Oct. 16, 2016

Director Steve McQueen, whose poetic visual style helped secure a best picture Oscar for “12 Years a Slave,” brings a sensibility to his films even when tackling harrowing subjects.The 46-year-old received the British Film Institute’s Fellowship award Saturday, its highest accolade, in recognition of his movies exploring the endurance of humanity.“He is one of the most influential and important British artists of the past 25 years,” said BFI chair Josh Berger.Whether sex addiction or slavery, Mc

Oct. 16, 2016

Writer-director Kelly Reichardt’s spare and subtle Montana drama “Certain Women” won the best-picture prize Saturday at the London Film Festival, while “12 Years a Slave” director Steve McQueen received a major career award.A jury headed by Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari praised the masterful imagery and quiet modesty of Reichardt’s film about three women -- played by Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams and Laura Dern -- struggling with life in a chilly small town.The director is known for

Oct. 16, 2016

Luck-Key(Korea)Opened Oct. 13Comedy. Directed by Lee Gye-byukA hired killer (Yoo Hae-jin) loses his memory of his day job after slipping and hitting his head at a public bath. He is left thinking he is a no-name actor. His life turns around completely. The Accountant(US)　Opened Oct. 13Action, thriller. Directed by Gavin O’ConnorChristian Wolff (Ben Affleck) uses a small-town Certified Public Accountant office as a cover to do freelance accounting work for criminal organizations. The mathematics

Oct. 14, 2016