Fruit Chan’s cinematic efforts in the 21st century have been unequal. Films like “Three Husbands” and “The Midnight After” highlight the reasons he is still considered among the most important Hk filmmakers, while others, almost the opposite. “Kill Time”, unfortunately, falls under the second category.
Based on a novel by Cai Jun, the story unfolds in three different timelines. Xiaomai is a young woman, whose policeman father died a bit before, while trying to save a woman from drowning. Xiaomai is about to get married to Shengzan, a childhood friend, but things take a rather unexpected turn when she stumbles upon Witch Zone, a website whose slogan is “Buy Anything You Want”. The girl decides to buy memories, despite Qianling, her best friend’s nudges not to deal with such shady companies, and ends up owning a purple scarf, that looks exactly the same as the...
Based on a novel by Cai Jun, the story unfolds in three different timelines. Xiaomai is a young woman, whose policeman father died a bit before, while trying to save a woman from drowning. Xiaomai is about to get married to Shengzan, a childhood friend, but things take a rather unexpected turn when she stumbles upon Witch Zone, a website whose slogan is “Buy Anything You Want”. The girl decides to buy memories, despite Qianling, her best friend’s nudges not to deal with such shady companies, and ends up owning a purple scarf, that looks exactly the same as the...
- 11/17/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Team Twitch is very sad that PiFan is over for this year as it was another terrific edition featuring a great lineup. However, not everyone could win come closing night and in the end it was the Austrian western The Dark Valley that took home the top prize. Also prevailing on the evening was Tommy Wirkola's Dead Snow 2: Red Vs. Dead. The Norwegian zombie comedy picked up gongs for Best Director and Actor (for Vegar Hoel) as well as the Nh Nonghyup Citizen's Award.Other winners in the Puchon Choice competition were the Australian horror The Babadook, which picked up Best Actress for Essie Davis, and Fruit Chan's post-apocalyptic comedy The Midnight After, which was awarded the Jury Prize.Meanwhile two Korean films were honored by the...
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- 7/29/2014
- Screen Anarchy
In Korea, the 18th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) wrapped with Andreas Prochaska’s Austria-Germany Alps cowboy co-production The Dark Valley picking up the Best of Puchon award.Scroll down for full list of awards
Tommy Wirkola’s Nazi zombie sequel from Norway, Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead, snapped up three awards – best director and actor as well as the Nh Nonghyup Citizen’s Choice award.
Best Actress went to Essie Davis for her performance in Australian horror film The Babadook, where a single mother and widow battling her son’s fears of monsters becomes possessed by an evil spirit.
Festival director Kim Young Bin said: “210 films from 48 countries have met with audiences during 11 days of the festival. As of July 24, 137 sessions out of 256 screenings were sold out successfully.
“You could say this is a significant result that we have reaped in an environment where all of society has been in a torpor.”
Puchon Choice:...
Tommy Wirkola’s Nazi zombie sequel from Norway, Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead, snapped up three awards – best director and actor as well as the Nh Nonghyup Citizen’s Choice award.
Best Actress went to Essie Davis for her performance in Australian horror film The Babadook, where a single mother and widow battling her son’s fears of monsters becomes possessed by an evil spirit.
Festival director Kim Young Bin said: “210 films from 48 countries have met with audiences during 11 days of the festival. As of July 24, 137 sessions out of 256 screenings were sold out successfully.
“You could say this is a significant result that we have reaped in an environment where all of society has been in a torpor.”
Puchon Choice:...
- 7/28/2014
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
As one of Twitch's favorite film festivals, we're alway eager to see what PiFan (Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival) holds in store for its annual genre cinema celebration. For its upcoming 18th edition, which was revealed yesterday evening, Asia's top fantastic fest didn't disappoint.Opening the doors to the program's 210 films, which span 47 countries, on the 17th of July will be the German film Stereo from director Maximilian Erlenwein, which debuted at the Berlinale earlier this year. Closing the event ten days later will be My Ordinary Love Story, the second film from Korean director Lee Kwon, who previously made Attack on the Pin-up Boys (2007).Puchon Choice, PiFan's competition section, will feature 12 titles this year, including Fruit Chan's The Midnight After and Nacho...
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- 6/20/2014
- Screen Anarchy
The 18th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) announced its line-up today with Maximilian Erlenwein’s German thriller Stereo [pictured] as the opening film.
Stereo received its world premiere in the Berlinale Panorama section in February but will recieve its Asian premiere at PiFan.
The festival’s closing film will be the world premiere of Korean director Kwon Lee’s sophomore feature My Ordinary Love Story, featuring popular stars Song Sae-byeok and Kang Ye-won.
“My Ordinary Love Story starts off as a humorous romantic comedy and later transforms into a horror mystery,” said chief programmer Jangwan Pyeon, describing it and the opening film as representative of the PiFan’s focus on more “complex genre films” this year.
The festival will screen 210 films from 47 countries with 43 world premieres and 20 international premieres. It will run July 17-27 with the closing ceremony on July 25 and encore screenings on the last two days.
Competition titles
The Puchon Choice: Feature competition section of 12 titles...
Stereo received its world premiere in the Berlinale Panorama section in February but will recieve its Asian premiere at PiFan.
The festival’s closing film will be the world premiere of Korean director Kwon Lee’s sophomore feature My Ordinary Love Story, featuring popular stars Song Sae-byeok and Kang Ye-won.
“My Ordinary Love Story starts off as a humorous romantic comedy and later transforms into a horror mystery,” said chief programmer Jangwan Pyeon, describing it and the opening film as representative of the PiFan’s focus on more “complex genre films” this year.
The festival will screen 210 films from 47 countries with 43 world premieres and 20 international premieres. It will run July 17-27 with the closing ceremony on July 25 and encore screenings on the last two days.
Competition titles
The Puchon Choice: Feature competition section of 12 titles...
- 6/19/2014
- by hjnoh2007@gmail.com (Jean Noh)
- ScreenDaily
Hong Kong—Ong Bak star Tony Jaa leads the cast in Spl II: A Time For Consequences. A prequel to the 2005 Donnie Yen-starrer Spl: Sha Po Lang, the $23 million action thriller was unveiled at a press conference on Friday. It's cast includes Louis Koo (Overheard 3), Wu Jing (Spl: Sha Po Lang), Simon Yam (The Midnight After), Zhang Jin (The Grandmaster), and Babyjohn Choi (The Way We Dance). Photos: Bruce Lee's Personal Belongings to Be Auctioned Off: Martial Arts Shield, Shin Guard Set and More The film will feature a fusion of Chinese and Thai martial arts. Co-produced
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- 6/13/2014
- by Karen Chu
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Fortissimo Films has sold recent pick-up The Great Hypnotist to several territories and continues to do brisk business on Berlin Golden Bear winner Black Coal, Thin Ice, which was gone to Broadmedia Studios for Japan.
Produced by Wanda Media, The Great Hypnotist has been sold to Hong Kong (Golden Scene), Singapore and Malaysia (Clover Films) and Taiwan (Eagle Pictures). Fox International Channels has acquired pay-tv and digital rights for South-East Asia, while worldwide airline rights went to Encore.
Golden Scene is planning a mid-June release for the film, which has grossed more than $35m in mainland China. The mystery thriller is directed by Leste Chen and stars Xu Zheng and Karen Mok.
Broadmedia is planning a theatrical release in early 2015 for Black Coal, Thin Ice, which has also gone to Belgium (Imagine Film Distribution), Netherlands and Luxembourg (Non-Stop Entertainment) and Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland (Ab). HBO Central Europe acquired first run pay-tv rights for Central...
Produced by Wanda Media, The Great Hypnotist has been sold to Hong Kong (Golden Scene), Singapore and Malaysia (Clover Films) and Taiwan (Eagle Pictures). Fox International Channels has acquired pay-tv and digital rights for South-East Asia, while worldwide airline rights went to Encore.
Golden Scene is planning a mid-June release for the film, which has grossed more than $35m in mainland China. The mystery thriller is directed by Leste Chen and stars Xu Zheng and Karen Mok.
Broadmedia is planning a theatrical release in early 2015 for Black Coal, Thin Ice, which has also gone to Belgium (Imagine Film Distribution), Netherlands and Luxembourg (Non-Stop Entertainment) and Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland (Ab). HBO Central Europe acquired first run pay-tv rights for Central...
- 5/19/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Fortissimo Films has reported its “most successful” Filmart ever and concluded sales on a raft of titles.
The sales outfit took a slate of new features to Hong Kong Filmart last month, including eight titles that participated in the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
These included Fruit Chan’s sci-fi thriller The Midnight After, which opened Hkiff and will premiere this week in Hong Kong on approximately 40 screens by local distributor/producer Golden Scene.
The film was also licensed to Magnum Films for Malaysia where it will be released in early May. Further sales were made to HBO for regional Pay TV in South and Central America, and Southeast Asian and Hong Kong Pay TV rights were licensed to Popcorn. Hong Kong DVD/video will be handled by Panorama. Negotiations for the licensing of the rights in China, Australia, Taiwan and other markets are expected to be concluded shortly, according to Fortissimo.
A number...
The sales outfit took a slate of new features to Hong Kong Filmart last month, including eight titles that participated in the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
These included Fruit Chan’s sci-fi thriller The Midnight After, which opened Hkiff and will premiere this week in Hong Kong on approximately 40 screens by local distributor/producer Golden Scene.
The film was also licensed to Magnum Films for Malaysia where it will be released in early May. Further sales were made to HBO for regional Pay TV in South and Central America, and Southeast Asian and Hong Kong Pay TV rights were licensed to Popcorn. Hong Kong DVD/video will be handled by Panorama. Negotiations for the licensing of the rights in China, Australia, Taiwan and other markets are expected to be concluded shortly, according to Fortissimo.
A number...
- 4/7/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
It’s a well worn premise, but we don’t recall Hong Kong ever having a stab at a - everyone in the world has disappeared – horror/thriller before...and director Fruit Chan’s version, The Midnight After has an intriguing new full trailer to see. The New poster also has it listed as a category III, which for Hk means its going to be pretty darn bloody. Another plus! The Midnight After opens on April 10. Synopsis: Imagine that the entire population of the planet has vanished, except for you and 16 other people. Do the moral principles and religious beliefs we live by still apply? If civilization has collapsed, how do we survive? How far would you be willing to go to get life back to normal? The Midnight After trailer...
- 3/24/2014
- 24framespersecond.net
After its world premiere in Berlin last month, Hong Kong is poised to experience Fruit Chan's post-apocalyptic thriller The Midnight After when it screens as one of the official opening films of the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival on Monday ahead of its 10 April theatrical release.Starring a host of Hong Kong's finest performers, including Simon Yam, Lam Suet, Kara Hui, Wong You Nam and Janice Man, it tells the story of a bus load of strangers who emerge from a tunnel to discover the city is totally deserted. Regrouping in an abandoned restaurant, these 16 strangers might be humanity's only hope for survival.To whet our appetites ahead of the release, Golden Scene has released a dozen character images, giving us a glimpse of...
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- 3/19/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Fruit Chan is easily one of the most interesting filmmakers working in Hong Kong today. Since he came to fame with his 1997 directorial effort Made In Hong Kong, he has made a number of films that have a very distinct Hong Kong flavor. His latest film, The Midnight After, appears to be his most ambitious project to date. It stars Wong You Nam, Simon Yam, Kara Hui, Janice Man, Lam Suet and Sam Lee in a post-apocalyptic Hong Kong. Synopsis: A night like any other in the streets of Hong Kong: in the midst of the tangle of night-owls, cars and vendors, a group of passengers climbs aboard a minibus that is to take them from Mongkok to Tai Po. The group is as diverse...
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- 3/18/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Pang Ho-cheung’s Aberdeen and Fruit Chan’s The Midnight After will open this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff), which takes place March 24-April 7.
Starring Louis Koo, Miriam Yeung and Gigi Leung, Aberdeen is a drama revolving around different members of an extended Hong Kong family. Post-apocalyptic thriller The Midnight After recently premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin film festival.
The festival will also screen the world premiere of Beautiful 2014, the third installment in the portmanteau series co-produced by Hkiff and Chinese online video platform Youku. This year, the short films have been directed by Australia’s Christopher Doyle, China’s Zhang Yuan, Hong Kong’s Shu Kei and Korea’s Kang Je-gyu.
Another omnibus film, Three Charmed Lives, will also receive its world premiere at the festival. The film comprises shorts directed by three actors: Hong Kong’s Francis Ng, Taiwan’s Chang Chen and Korea’s Jeong U-seong.
On March 30, the...
Starring Louis Koo, Miriam Yeung and Gigi Leung, Aberdeen is a drama revolving around different members of an extended Hong Kong family. Post-apocalyptic thriller The Midnight After recently premiered in the Panorama section of the Berlin film festival.
The festival will also screen the world premiere of Beautiful 2014, the third installment in the portmanteau series co-produced by Hkiff and Chinese online video platform Youku. This year, the short films have been directed by Australia’s Christopher Doyle, China’s Zhang Yuan, Hong Kong’s Shu Kei and Korea’s Kang Je-gyu.
Another omnibus film, Three Charmed Lives, will also receive its world premiere at the festival. The film comprises shorts directed by three actors: Hong Kong’s Francis Ng, Taiwan’s Chang Chen and Korea’s Jeong U-seong.
On March 30, the...
- 2/27/2014
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Hong Kong – Director Pang Ho-cheung's Aberdeen and director Fruit Chan's The Midnight After will open the 38th Hong Kong International Film Festival. Aberdeen, starring Louis Koo (The White Storm), Gigi Leung (The Monkey King), Eric Tsang (Infernal Affairs), and Miriam Yeung (Love in the Buff), will hold its world premiere at 8pm on the festival's opening night on March 24. The film sees Pang (Vulgaria) explore the difficulties faced by three generations of a Hong Kong family. Photos: China Box Office 2013: The Top 10 Movies "We choose Aberdeen because it's a film by Pang Ho-cheung, whom we
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- 2/27/2014
- by Karen Chu
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The lineup has been announced, and two films we be officially opening this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival, which runs from 24th March to 7th April. The World Premiere of Pang Ho Cheung's Aberdeen, starring Miriam Yeung, Gigi Leung, Eric Tsang and Louis Koo (who is also this year's festival ambassador) will screen at the Hk Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, while the Asian Premiere of Fruit Chan's The Midnight After (which debuted in Berlin) will play concurrently at the Hk Convention & Exhibiton Centre in Wan Chai.It has already been announced that Dante Lam's latest explosive action thriller, That Demon Within, which pits Nick Cheung against Daniel Wu, will close the festival, but in between is a mammoth line-up of prestige titles...
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- 2/27/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Below you will find our total coverage of the 64th Berlinale by our three attending critics. As our last couple pieces are published, they will be added to this index.
By Adam Cook
Impressions Parts I-iv:
Personal Programming
On Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, Dominik Graf's Beloved Sisters, Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer
Journeys
On Tsai Ming-liang's Journey to the West, Richard Linklater's Boyhood
Time as Depth and Cinema-Space
On Ken Jacobs' The Guests, Nadège Trébal's Scrap Yard, Veiko Õunpuu's Free Range, Corneliu Porumboiu's The Second Game
On the Periphery
On Fruit Chan's The Midnight After, Diao Yinan's Black Coal, Thin Ice
New Spaces: A Conversation with Denis Lavant
By Yaron Dahan
The Fantastical Heart of the Old Continent That Was But Was-Not: Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel
Sleepers, Robbers, and Superegos: An Interview with Benjamin Heisenberg
Baal, Resurrected
By Michael Pattison
Essayist,...
By Adam Cook
Impressions Parts I-iv:
Personal Programming
On Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, Dominik Graf's Beloved Sisters, Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer
Journeys
On Tsai Ming-liang's Journey to the West, Richard Linklater's Boyhood
Time as Depth and Cinema-Space
On Ken Jacobs' The Guests, Nadège Trébal's Scrap Yard, Veiko Õunpuu's Free Range, Corneliu Porumboiu's The Second Game
On the Periphery
On Fruit Chan's The Midnight After, Diao Yinan's Black Coal, Thin Ice
New Spaces: A Conversation with Denis Lavant
By Yaron Dahan
The Fantastical Heart of the Old Continent That Was But Was-Not: Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel
Sleepers, Robbers, and Superegos: An Interview with Benjamin Heisenberg
Baal, Resurrected
By Michael Pattison
Essayist,...
- 2/19/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
The tail-end of a film festival, that last stretch of endurance-testing early mornings and packed days, tends to make taking in the last bundle of films all the more difficult. Having already overdosed on the bloated selection of movies at a fest such as the Berlinale, the films begin to blend together: the ones you saw during the first few days are distant memories, and the ones happening before your eyes have to work extra hard to compete for prioritized positions in your cinema-stuffed-consciousness.
This periphery position reshapes, and, eventually, crystallizes the festival viewing experience in its varied entirety. I find that sillier, more entertaining films tend to stand out at this point, as they more easily re-spark one's (unwillingly) fading attention span. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed Fruit Chan's The Midnight After so much, despite its own unwieldy length and over-the-top tonal schizophrenia (a sort of Miike level of wacky,...
This periphery position reshapes, and, eventually, crystallizes the festival viewing experience in its varied entirety. I find that sillier, more entertaining films tend to stand out at this point, as they more easily re-spark one's (unwillingly) fading attention span. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed Fruit Chan's The Midnight After so much, despite its own unwieldy length and over-the-top tonal schizophrenia (a sort of Miike level of wacky,...
- 2/19/2014
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
It should have been clear as soon as the title, "Based on the novel by Pizza", rolled onscreen. Fruit Chan's The Midnight After was sure to be loopy, irreverent and a rare kind of crazy. And it was! But running over two hours and touching nearly every film genre there is, I had no idea how much of it there would be. In terms the author may sympathize with, sometimes too many toppings can spoil the pie. The film starts dazzlingly enough. It's 2Am, and the city of Hong Kong is positively bursting with energy. Neon lights flash, cars whizz by and huge masses of people crowd the downtown. It is Saturday night, and it seems all of Hong Kong has come out to play....
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- 2/8/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Director Fruit Chan. His film Dumplings was weird. Hell, even his name is a little weird. That's why it's fitting that his next film, an anthology called The Midnight After, be a little weird. Read on for the first stills and details.
Dig on the massive plot crunch below, and thanks to Twitch for the eye candy.
Synopsis
Imagine that the entire population of the planet has vanished, except for you and 16 other people. Do the moral principles and religious beliefs we live by still apply? If civilization has collapsed, how do we survive? How far would you be willing to go to get life back to normal?
In 2012, a novel which originated as an online serial became a publishing phenomenon in Hong Kong. Lost on a Red Minibus to Taipo by the writer pen-named “Mr. Pizza” was a huge popular success, despite being very different from any other Hong Kong novel ever written.
Dig on the massive plot crunch below, and thanks to Twitch for the eye candy.
Synopsis
Imagine that the entire population of the planet has vanished, except for you and 16 other people. Do the moral principles and religious beliefs we live by still apply? If civilization has collapsed, how do we survive? How far would you be willing to go to get life back to normal?
In 2012, a novel which originated as an online serial became a publishing phenomenon in Hong Kong. Lost on a Red Minibus to Taipo by the writer pen-named “Mr. Pizza” was a huge popular success, despite being very different from any other Hong Kong novel ever written.
- 2/7/2014
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
When director Fruit Chan last took a trip to the darker parts of his brain the result was Dumplings, one of the most disturbing horror films of recent years - so much so that I cannot imagine myself ever wanting to sit and watch it again, not despite but precisely because of how incredibly well made it is. And so the idea of Chan going dark once again with Berlin selection The Midnight After is more than a little intriguing.Imagine that the entire population of the planet has vanished, except for you and 16 other people. Do the moral principles and religious beliefs we live by still apply? If civilization has collapsed, how do we survive? How far would you be willing to go to...
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- 2/3/2014
- Screen Anarchy
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