Gangster drama THE GAME CHANGER coming to Digital, Blu-ray, & DVD on October 3rd

Well Go USA

Presents

The Game Changer

Directed by Gao Xixi

Starring Peter Ho, Huang Zitao & Na Zha

China, 2017, 133 minutes

An adaptation of the TV series “Shanghai Bund” and set during the gang wars of 1930’s Shanghai, the action-packed gangster drama THE GAME CHANGER debuts on digital, Blu-ray™ and DVD October 3rd from Well Go USA Entertainment. The film stars Peter Ho (Sword Master) and Huang Zitao (Railroad Tigers) as brothers united to bring down a powerful gangster (Wang Xueqi, Iron Man 3).

Synopsis:
Two escaped prisoners join one of the most powerful gangs in Shanghai, the Green Gang, as the right-hand men of the head boss Mr. Tang. When Mr. Tang tries to gain total control over business dealings in Shanghai, he discovers his closest allies are not who they seem and turns against his own men to protect his power.

WHY DON'T YOU PLAY IN HELL? opens today, Friday, November 7th

Drafthouse Films

presents

Why Don't You Play In Hell? / Jigoku de naze warui

Directed by Sion Sono

Japan, 2013, 129 minutes

Sion Sono's Why Don't You Play In Hell? opens today, Friday, November 7th at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin Texas and VOD. It's a hilarious movie in which an aspiring film crew and two gangs of yakuza who are at war with one another manage to all come together. The film will be opening in various other cities throughout November and into January, 2015. For a complete listing of theaters, cities and opening dates, as well as VOD platforms, click here.

Hirata (Hiroki Hasegawa)

Hirata (Hiroki Hasegawa) and is an aspiring filmmaker. He wants to make Sasaki (Tak Sakaguchi) an action film star, Japan's Bruce Lee. Other members of Hirata's crew -- known as The Fuck Bombers -- are Miki, "king of the dolly shots," and Tanigawa, "queen of hand-held shots."

On the yakuza side of things are the Muto faily, headed by Boss Taizo Muto (Jun Kunimura). His wife is Shizue (actress Tomochika). Their pert young daughter is Mitsuko, who does toothpaste commercials. Following an attempt on Boss Muto by the Kitagawa yakuza clan which Shizue thwarted, she is given a ten year prison sentence.

The film then picks up approximately ten years later, when Shizue's  release date is approaching. Mitsuko, now played by Fumi Nikaidô, wants to make her film debut. The conflict between Muto and Kitagawa is about to reach a bloody climax. And who better to document the carnage than Hirata and his Fuck Bombers?!

Why Don't You Play In Hell? is awesome fun, terrifically enjoyable. There are some fun cinematic references (Bruce Lee's yellow jumpsuit and a red balloon, for example).

Mitsuko, played by Fumi Nikaidô

The film was shown at Japan Society this past July as a co-presentation of the society's JAPAN CUTS film festival and the New York Asian Film Festival. Actress Fumi Nikaidô, who also starred in two other films shown at NYAFF, was presented with the festival's first Screen International Rising Star Award.

AsianCineFest Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars; very highly recommended.

FRIEND II: THE LEGACY available tomorrow, September 16th on DVD

CJ Entertainment

presents

 
Friend II: The Legacy / Chingu 2

Directed by KWAK Kyung-taek

South Korea, 2013, 121 minutes

Korean language with English subtitles

Friend II: The Legacy, director KWAK Kyung-taek's long-awaited follow-up to his 2001 cult phenomenon Friend, will be available on a single-disc DVD tomorrow, Tuesday, September 16th from CJ Entertainment. The original was a huge hit about four close friends who grew up in the 1970s and the course their lives took under the influence of gang life. It garnered over 8 million domestic admissions, making it the most successful Korean movie to that time. The 2013 sequel had 1.06 million admissions over its first weekend in release in South Korea, topping the local box office despite its "Restricted" rating.

Also known as Friend: The Great Legacy or Friend 2, the film begins with a flashback of LEE Joon-suk (actor YOO Oh-sung reprising his role from the first film) confessing in court that he ordered the murder of HAN Dong-su, one of his childhood friends.

The film then moves into the cinematic present, set seventeen years later as Joon-suk is about to be released from prison after serving his sentence. Before he gets out, however, he's visited by YEON Hae-ji, who requests that he use his influence in the prison to protect CHOI Sung-hoon (KIM Woo-bin), her 27 year old son who is just starting to serve a brief sentence. Joon-suk agrees and thereby saves Sung-hoon, who was marked for death because he and his gang had attacked a temple that was under the control of members of Lee's gang.

YOO Oh-sung as LEE Joon-suk

Upon his release,  Joon-suk finds that he has lost status in the gang that was founded by LEE Chul-ju (JOO Jin-mo) his father. (Chul-ju's founding of the gang in 1963 is shown in one of several flashbacks to various time periods that punctuate the film.) While Joon-suk was incarcerated the Chairman of the gang had health problems, and nefarious gang member Eun-gi essentially seized the power to which Joon-suk was rightly entitled. Joon-suk becomes a mentor to Sung-hoon after he too is released from prison and enlists him and his friends in the upcoming battle with Eung-gi.

I  must admit that I have not yet seen Friend (though I hope to before long), but thatdidn't prevent me from understanding and enjoying Friend II: The Legacy. I do know that the first film was centered on the friendship between the four main characters. The sequel differs in that there is no focus on any friendship between equals or cohorts. Rather it is the relationship between Joon-suk and Sung-hoon, who are basically a generation apart in age, upon which the narrative revolves.

Joon-suk (left) and CHOI Sung-hoon (actor KIM Woo-bin)

DVD Stats:
- Audio Options
  - Korean 5.1 with English subtitles
  - Korean 2.0 with English subtitles
  - english 5.1
  - English 2.0
- Extras
  - Characters
  - Making of Friend IIL The Legacy
  - Cast and Crew Intrviews
  - Trialers (for other CJ Entrtainment offerings; there's no Friend II trailer)

Sung-hoon (left) and Joon-suk

 
Friend II: The Legacy is a crackin' good gangster flick, in the vein of Coppola's Godfather movies, which KWAK has acknowledged admiring.

ACF Rating: 3.5 out of 4 star; highly recommended.

I also highly recommend the Korean Cinema Today podcast, which is also available at iTunes. The November 22, 2013 initial episode has host Pierce Conran talking with director KWAK Kyung-taek about Friend 2.

TRIAD is available today

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Triad / Jat jik

Directed by Daniel Chan

Hong Kong, 2012, 92 minutes

Triad, the 2012 Hong Kong gangster film directed by Daniel Chan (Young and Dangerous: Reloaded), debuts today on DVD (SLP $24.98) and Digital from Well Go USA. The film centers on three young men and how their lives & friendships are affected by their membership in a triad.

The film begins in 2003 at the funeral of Brother Ming. An anonymous young triad member identifies no less than six figures attending the burial. These include Boss Mun, the triad's godfather; he's also known as the Dragon Head. Patrick (Patrick Tam, Zu Warriors) is Mun's favorite under-boss. Sister Irene (Irene Wan), who built a crime kingdom with her husband, the deceased, is at an equal level to Patrick in the hierarchy. (Note that the first names of almost every one of the main characters corresponds to the first names, in English, of the actors who are playing them. It's also interesting to note that in this introductory scene, we're not introduced to any of the three main characters.)

From the funeral, the film then jumps back in time to 1997, the year that Hong Kong was "handed off" from the British to mainland China. William (young and handsome William Chan, As the Light Goes Out) is a college student. His mother sells oranges from a cart in an open-air market. When some toughs attempt to extort protection money from her, glasses-wearing William comes to her aid and gets soundly thrashed for his trouble. Fortunately, his friend Derek sees what's happened and calls on Patrick to help out, which he does. In this sequence we also meet Edward, who's given to wearing sleeve-less shirts, the third friend of the group.

The film then follows their induction into the triad and the paths their lives take. William, who no longer wears glasses (guess he outgrew the need for them, or maybe he got contacts), specializes in debt collection for various clients, including Mr. Wong, a businessman, and Mr. Ho, a tycoon. William also becomes involved with Michelle (Michelle Wai, Golden Chickensss and Hardcore Comedy), Wong's daughter. After bringing us back up-to-date at the 2003 funeral, the film continues on to 2006, when William, like Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, aspires to have the gang's enterprises go legit.

Meanwhile there have been conflicts not only between rival gangs, but between factions within the triad to which William, Derek and Edward belong. Two of these conflicts arise over women at nightclubs. Edward comes to the aid of Kathy, who's drink has been spiked by the member of another gang; Edward and Kathy eventually marry and have a son.

William first comes to Michelle's aid when Irene bumps into her at a club. Some of Michelle's drink spills on her and she tosses the remainder at Irene. William and Michelle's romance is of the "on-again, off-again" variety, primarily because his involvement in the triad precludes a commitment to her.

There are some decent fight scenes, courtesy of action choreographer Fai Wong, in which large groups of gang members go at each other. Also a few scenes of individuals getting the crap beat and kicked out of them. But nothing that hasn't been seen before and nothing done in an exceptional way.

And that's pretty much true of the film as a whole. It never really grabbed me. It seemed to be primarily a showcase for some young, good-looking actors and actresses. Nice to look at, but not much substance or depth. Part of the problem may be attributed to the fact that the opening credits list eight (8) "screenplay by" credits. That many scribes is usually a sign of a troubled story-line, and that certainly seems to be the case here.

All-in-all, Triad is an okay film, a slight touch above mediocre, but it definitely falls short of being really good and engrossing. At IMDb, it currently carries a rating of 5.0/10 from 228 users. In this case, the IMDb rating happens to be pretty close to my opinion.

AsianCineFest Rating: 2.0 out of 4 stars; a fair, rather run-of-the-mill film.

Disc Specs:
Audio
- Cantonese 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Cantonese 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles
- English
- Off
Bonus Features
- "Making of" featurette (approximately 5 minutes)
- Trailer
- Previews (trailers of other Well Go USA offerings)

THE MOLE SONG: UNDERCOVER AGENT REIJI screening July 10th

The Mole Song - Undercover Agent Reiji

(Mogura no uta - sennyû sôsakan: Reiji)

Directed by Takashi MIIKE

Written by Kankuro KUDO

Japan, 2014, 130 minutes

When: Thursday, July 10, 2014 at 6:00pm

Where: Japan Society

333 East 47th Street, NYC

(Between 1st and 2nd Avenues)

U.S. Premiere

Buy tickets

The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji is the latest offering from Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, 13 Assassins, and about 90 other titles), Japan's enfant terrible director. Co-presented by the New York Asian Film Festival, it will be the opening film of this year's JAPAN CUTS: The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema.

Reiji Kikukawa (Toma Ikuta, The Brain Man) is a conscientious cop but totally ineffectual. This is not surprising since he graduated with the lowest score in police academy history. However, his superiors come to believe that his ineptness makes him perfect as an undercover agent, a.k.a., a mole. His assignment: get the goods on and bring down the Sukiya-kai, Japan's most nefarious criminal organization.

Reiji receives training from Kazumi Akagiri and some other police officers, part of which consists of a series of tests. After he finally passes, his instructors sing "The Mole Song" (yes, there actually is a song!).  From it Reiji learns the "Rules of a Mole": never reveal your identity, beware of female pheromones, etc.

Reiji begins his assignment by befriending Masaya Hiura, a.k.a. "Crazy Papillon" (Shinichi Tsutsumi, Why Don’t You Play in Hell?). Papillon is the boss of an illegal casino run by the Akogi-gumi, an arm of Sukiya-kai. He's also fond of butterflies and detests drugs. The bond between the two of them becomes stronger when they come in conflict with Issei Nekozawa (Takashi Okamura, The Great Yokai War).

Bald and with diamond teeth, Nekozawa is a boss of the Hachinosu-kai, the biggest yakuza clan in Kansai. A fragile peaceful co-existence between it and the Sukiya-kai is on the verge of ending because of the ambitions of Aiko, the new director and 5th generation boss of Hachinosu-kai.

Reiji's assignment to penetrate the Sukiya-kai, which has its own perils, is thus further endangered by the threat of an all out war between rival yakuza gangs. The situation could well be more than this mole is able to handle, even if he is "the ultimate non-existent undercover agent"!

The film is a combination of outrageous comedy, all-out action and garish costumes. For me, at 130 minutes, it's a tad on the long side. Some of the fight scenes, for example, might have been trimmed a bit. It's somewhat lesser Miike, but certainly still quite enjoyable.

AsianCineFest Rating: 3 out of 4 stars, recommended. It may not be a great film, but it's a good one and definitely entertaining.

Oh, be sure to stay though the credits for the film's coda.

The full schedule for NYAFF 2014 can be found here; the Japan Cuts schedule, here.

Free screening of FRIEND: THE GREAT LEGACY next Tuesday

Korean Cultural Service New York

presents

Korean Movie Night 2014

Series One

Wild Days: Coming of Age in 2014

Friend: The Great Legacy

Directed by KWAK Kyung-taek

South Korea, 2013, 124 minutes

When: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 @ 7:00 PM

Doors open: 6:30 PM

Where: Tribeca Cinemas

54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal Street, NYC

Near the A, C, E @ #1 Canal Street subway stops

Map

Admission: FREE!!!

Synopsis: With no memory of his father, Sung-Hoon (KIM Woo-Bin) was raised and surrounded by gangsters. As he grew up, he fell into a life of crime. Now imprisoned, his only hope for survival is Joon-Seok (YU Oh-Seong), an unexpected role model. Feeling both admiration and jealousy towards charismatic Joon-Seok, a seventeen-year veteran of the penitentiary, Sung-Hoon’s friendship with him blossoms. Later, they find themselves freed from prison and joining Joon-Seok's gang, where Sung-hoon discovers that his mentor is somehow connected to his father's death.

I reviewed Friend: The Great Legacy (as Friend 2: The Legacy) when it opened theatrically in the U.S. this past December. Read my review here.

ACF 2051: FRIEND 2: THE LEGACY opens this Friday in the U.S.

Trinity Entertainment and

CJ Entertainment

present

Friend 2: The Legacy / Chingu 2

Directed by KWAK Kyung-taek

South Korea, 2013, 124 minutes

Korean language with English subtitles

Director KWAK Kyung-taek's Friend (2001) was a huge hit. A tale of four close friends who grew up in the 1970s and the course their lives took under the influence of gang life, it garnered over 8 million domestic admissions, making it the most successful Korean movie to that time. Now, twelve years larter, KWAK is back with a follow-up film, Friend 2: The Legacy, which had 1.06 million admissions over its first weekend in release in South Korea, topping the local box office despite its "Restricted" rating.

This Friday, December 13th, 2013, is a lucky day for anyone looking for a great Korean action gangster film as Friend 2 opens here in the U.S. (Check IMDb, Fandango or your local listings to see if it's playing in a theater near you.)

Also known as Friend: The Great Legacy (its title on the online screener I watched for this review). the film begins with a flashback of LEE Joon-suk (actor YOO Oh-seong reprising his role from the first film) confessing in court that he ordered the murder of HAN Dong-su, one of his childhood friends.

The film then moves into the cinematic present, set seventeen years later as Joon-suk is about to be released from prison after serving his sentence. Before he gets out, however, he's visited by YEON Hae-ji, who requests that he use his influence in the prison to protect CHOI Sung-hoon (KIM Woo-bin), her 27 year old son who is just starting to serve a brief sentence. Joon-suk agrees and thereby saves Sung-hoon, who was marked for death because he and his gang had attacked a temple that was under the control of members of Lee's gang.

YOO Oh-seong as LEE Joon-suk

Upon his release,  Joon-suk finds that he has lost status in the gang that was founded by LEE Chul-ju (JOO Jin-mo) his father. (Chul-ju's founding of the gang in 1963 is shown in one of several flashbacks to various time periods that punctuate the film.) While Joon-suk was incarcerated the Chairman of the gang had health problems, and nefarious gang member Eun-gi essentially seized the power to which Joon-suk was rightly entitled. Joon-suk becomes a mentor to Sung-hoon after he too is released from prison and enlists him and his friends in the upcoming battle with Eung-gi.

I  must admit that I have not yet seen Friend (though I now really want to), but I don't think that's necessary to understand and enjoy Friend 2: The Legacy. I do know that the first film was centered on the friendship between the four main characters. The sequel differs in that there is no focus on any friendship between equals or cohorts. Rather it is the relationship between Joon-suk and Sung-hoon, who are basically a generation apart in age, upon which the narrative revolves.

Joon-suk (left) and CHOI Sung-hoon (actor KIM Woo-bin)

 
Friend 2: The Legacy is a crackin' good gangster flick, in the vein of Coppola's Godfather movies, which KWAK has acknowledged admiring. ACF Rating: 3.5 out of 4 star; highly recommended.

Also highly recommneded is the Korean Cinema Today podcast, which is also available at iTunes. The November 22, 2013 initial episode has host Pierce Conran talking with director KWAK Kyung-taek about Friend 2.

Sung-hoon (left) and Joon-suk

[A note about names: In this review I've spelled names as they appeared in the subtitles of the online screener I watched. Some of the spellings may differ on the theatrical print. I mention this because, for example, in press materials Joon-suk is spelled Joon-seok, and Sung-hoon is spelled Seong-hoon. This variation in spelling seems to occur fairly often when Korean names are anglicized.]