News

Korean Action

Korean action drama “A Shop For Killers” has become the most viewed local original on Disney+ in the Asia Pacific region so far in 2024, the streamer has revealed.

Set in contemporary Korea, the eight-part series follows college student Jeong Jian who dives for cover in her childhood home after a series of highly skilled assassins come after her. Fighting to survive, Jian begins to remember invaluable lessons her uncle taught her before his apparent suicide, drawing on them to help her stay alive. Jian now has to uncover her uncle’s hidden past and figure out why so many people are desperate to gain access to her house and the extensive arsenal hidden inside.

The cast includes Lee Dongwook (“Guardian: The Lonely”) and Kim Hyejun (“Connect”). “A Shop For Killers” is based on the popular novel by Kang Jiyoung, written by Ji Hojin and Lee Kwon, and directed...

George Clooney's return to scripted television in Catch-22 is set to land in China and Australia after Paramount Television racked up additional international sales.

The six-episode series, based on Joseph Heller's seminal novel and set for a May 17 airdate on Hulu in the U.S., is also headed to the Chinese streaming platform iQiyi and Australian streamer Stan after licensing deals were inked, THR has confirmed.

"iQIYI is proud to have exclusive rights to bring George Clooney's seminal limited series Catch-22  to the Chinese market,"  iQIYI vp Michael Chen said Tuesday in a statement. "...

Stars: Kodi Smit-Mcphee, Ben Kingsley, Katie Chang, Alex Wolff, Michael Chen, James Le Gros, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Briana Marin, Ethan Cohn, Adam Barrie, Stephen Kunken, Daniela Lavender | Written by Luke Matheny, Rob Meyer | Directed by Rob Meyer

A teenage bird fanatic called David Portnoy (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) thinks he has seen a duck which was previously thought to be extinct. With guidance from birding legend, Lawrence Conrad (Ben Kingsley) David and his friends set off on an adventure to find it and solidify their place in bird watching history by making the discovery of a lifetime. Little do his friends know, David is also using the adventure to escape his troubles. At the same time, David’s Father is preparing to marry his new wife, the nurse of David’s mother who passed away a few years before.

A Birder’s Guide to Everything is a coming of age tale. Directed by Rob Meyer,...

Title: A Birder’s Guide to Everything Director: Rob Meyer Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alex Wolff, Katie Chang, Ben Kingsley, Michael Chen, James Le Gros, Daniela Lavender Films that honestly and entertainingly assay the early teenage experience removed from lowest-common-denominator gross-out shtick and other emotional cattle-prodding are few and far between, which is a big part of the reason that the altogether charming “A Birder’s Guide to Everything” feels like such a breath of fresh air. Instead of pandering to one and only one sentiment, this offering — poised pleasantly between quaint and quirky — does entirely right by adolescent feeling, while also leading viewers on an adventure that puts just enough spin [ Read More ]

The post A Birder’s Guide to Everything Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

In general, teenage obsessions are generally fairly obvious—music, comics, movies, clothes—but there are always a few teens whose interests, at least at the time, seem completely inexplicable, to everyone except themselves. So, it's not quite a surprise that the high school birdwatching club in "A Birder's Guide To Everything" consists solely of David (Kodi Smit-McPhee), Timmy (Alex Wolff) and Peter (Michael Chen), three best friends surviving adolescence by sticking with each other, and keeping an eye on the sky. But feathered distractions can't keep the changes from coming in David's life, and one weekend will see him give chase to a rare bird, and making peace with both his past and future. As you might surmise from that opening, co-writer and director Rob Meyer's film doesn't reinvent the indie movie wheel by any stretch of the imagination. But it's also comfortably aware of its modest scope and ambition,...

Bird is the Word: Meyer’s Debut a Well Meaning But Slight Observation

Bird watching seems to be something of a recent cinematic inspiration, though has yet to show much potential in the narrative realm thus far, with David Frankel’s 2011 comedic misfire The Big Year now joined by Rob Meyer’s directorial debut, A Birder’s Guide to Everything. Grappling with loss, strained familial relationships, and coming of age essence, various dilemmas congeal into a mostly light-hearted effort that seems to feel genuinely about its cluster of characters, even though, beyond the crux of its protagonists’ snazzy and oft unexplored hobby, Meyer and his cast can never mold the narrative into anything more than a standard affair. A few acute observations aside, it’s a slight film that feels most effective when utilizing the heavy hitters in its supporting cast.

David Portnoy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a 15 year old birding...

David (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a shy high school boy who is unable to accept the fact that his father (James Le Gros) is going to remarry, a mere year-and-a-half after his mother’s death. To make matters worse, his father is marrying the nurse (Daniela Lavender) who cared for his mother; so, not only does he believe that his father is moving on way too quickly, David is justifiably suspicious that his father may have been cheating on his ailing mother. Obviously a mama's boy, David does not seem to have developed any sort of relationship with his relatively clueless father. Still grieving from her passing, David has chosen to follow in his mother's footsteps -- as we later hear from a world-renowned birder (Ben Kingsley), David’s mother was an unsung hero of birding. David spends all of his free time birding, whether it be by himself or with...

After teaming for a pair of Sundance titles The Lifeguard and C.O.G., the partnership of Focus World & Screen Media now turn towards unpurchased Tribeca Film Festival U.S. indie leftovers acquiring the rights to Rob Meyer’s A Birder’s Guide to Everything. They’ve pegged it with an eventual spring release in ’14.

Gist: Scripted by Luke Matheny and starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alex Wolff, Michael Chen, Katie Chang (The Bling Ring), Ben Kingsley, James LeGros and Daniela Lavender, on the eve of his widower father’s second wedding, fifteen-year-old David Portnoy spots what may just be the extinct Labrador duck. Now he and the two other stalwart members of the local Young Birders Society, joined by their headstrong photographer classmate Ellen, take off on a rollicking, interstate road trip in search of a rare bird and elusive answers to teenage questions large and small.

Worth Noting: The film...

Writer-director Rob Meyer and co-writer Luke Matheny’s “A Birder’s Guider to Everything” likely won’t incite a mainstream birding craze, but the pair does deliver a charming coming-of-age tale that’ll at least let you enjoy it vicariously through the film’s Young Birders Society. Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alex Wolff and Michael Chen are David, Timmy, and Peter, the only members of their high school’s Young Birders Society. When David is convinced he spotted an extinct Labrador duck, the Ybs vows to track it down before it flies off for good. With their classmate Ellen (Katie Chang) and her powerful camera lens in tow, the boys “borrow” Timmy’s cousin’s car and head off to [ Read More ]

The post Tribeca 2013 Interview: A Birder’s Guide to Everything’s Rob Meyer & Luke Matheny appeared first on Shockya.com.

Want a good taste of what to expect from Rob Meyer’s Tribeca Film Festival entry “A Birder’s Guide to Everything?” Just check out this interview of Alex Wolff hamming it up, Michael Chen geeking out about his birding knowhow, and Katie Chang trying to keep them under control. The film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as David Portnoy. While he’s still feeling the effects of his mother’s passing, his father is preparing for his second wedding. David’s only outlet is his passion for birding so when he suspects he spotted an extinct Labrador duck, he and his Young Birders Society friends, Timmy and Peter (Alex Wolff and Michael Chen), take off on [ Read More ]

The post Tribeca 2013 Interview: A Birder’s Guide To Everything’s Alex Wolff, Katie Chang And Michael Chen appeared first on Shockya.com.

Tribeca’s 12th annual festival, running from April 17-28, is now underway and we have a wide variety of films to look forward to. Below lists some of the selections we are most looking forward to and will be covering throughout the festival. For a full list of our coverage, please check it out here. Cheers to a great year at Tribeca!

Adult World

Directed by:

Scott Coffey

Starring:

Emma Roberts, Evan Peters, John Cusack, Armando Riesco, Cloris Leachman, Shannon Woodward

Synopsis:

Amy is naïve, awkward and anxious to get her poetry career off of the ground in a post-grad existence that is going nowhere. Living with her parents in a seemingly bland upstate New York town and desperate for income, she begrudgingly accepts a job at Adult World, the local, wood-paneled sex shop. Owned by a frisky elderly couple and staffed by diva transvestite Rubio and sweet local boy Alex,...

Monday's premiere episode kicked off another dynamic season of MasterChef! Fellow judges Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and I are psyched to be back in the MasterChef kitchen. Seasons 1 and 2 set the bar high, and each year's contestants seem to inspire more and more homecooks to come out for the castings. Once again we searched through thousands of hopefuls from all over the country, bringing the top 100 to Los Angeles for a chance to really show us what they've got. This year brings a new and more intense energy than before - it was truly thrilling to be standing amongst the...

The Palm Springs International ShortFest, billed as the largest short film festival in North America, has announced its Festival award winners! 331 short films were screened, but in the end, only 18 categories were awarded.

I love and totally support the Palm Springs International ShortFest, many winners move on to nab an Oscar! According to Festival Director, Darry Macdonald, "It.s been a remarkable year for ShortFest, with record attendance and a rapturous response to the programming by audiences, industry and filmmakers alike. The Film Market and industry programs were particulary active, adding hugely to the Festival.s success. I.m confident a number of major future filmmakers emerged here this year and will go on to enliven the feature film world."

And the winners of the 2011 Palm Springs International ShortFest are:

Jury Awards

Best Of Festival Award - $2,000 cash and Software Package courtesy of The Showbiz Café & Store; Ultimate Stock Footage...

As definite favorites emerged from an incredibly strong selection of shorts, the winning list well-represented the demographics of the overall line-up. From 32 Australian short films in the festival, a few were sure to rise to the top – Elizabeth Tadic’s “Umoja: No Men Allowed” receiving the Grand Jury Award (while Christopher Stollery’s very funny “dik” was by far the most recommended film in the marketplace); and, with many well-known directors, there were always going to be some that ascended (Terry George – writer/director of “Hotel Rwanda” and “Reservation Road” – picked up $500 for his second place effort).

For the full list of winners, see below.

Jury Awards

Best Of Festival Award - The winner of this award is eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration.

Bahiya & Mahmoud (Jordan/USA), Zaid Abu Hamdan

Aging couple Bahiya and Mahmoud have fallen into...

As definite favorites emerged from an incredibly strong selection of shorts, the winning list well-represented the demographics of the overall line-up. From 32 Australian short films in the festival, a few were sure to rise to the top – Elizabeth Tadic’s “Umoja: No Men Allowed” receiving the Grand Jury Award (while Christopher Stollery’s very funny “dik” was by far the most recommended film in the marketplace); and, with many well-known directors, there were always going to be some that ascended (Terry George – writer/director of “Hotel Rwanda” and “Reservation Road” – picked up $500 for his second place effort).

For the full list of winners, see below.

Jury Awards

Best Of Festival Award - The winner of this award is eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration.

Bahiya & Mahmoud (Jordan/USA), Zaid Abu Hamdan

Aging couple Bahiya and Mahmoud have fallen into...

Tze Chun wrote and directed Children of Invention and it's a decent movie, particularly for a first-time filmmaker. But I didn't care for it. It's on Netflix Instant, and of all the new releases, it was the highest recommended to me, although I'm beginning to doubt Netflix's recommendation service. It assumes that because I watch mostly foreign flicks and documentaries on Netflix that a slow-moving, aimless movie about not much of anything must be in my wheelhouse. (Seriously: Anyone else have any pet peeves about the Netflix Recommendations?)

The film is as the synopsis describes: A semi-autobiographical tale about a family that's evicted from their home and forced to squat in a model apartment in an unfinished Boston building. When the mother, Elaine (Cindy Cheung), is arrested for her accidental involvement in a pyramid scheme, the children, Raymond (Michael Chen) and Tina (Crystal Chiu) are left to fend for themselves,...

Tze Chun's "Children of Invention" took home the grand jury prize for outstanding fiction film and also picked up acting awards for Michael Chen and Crystal Chiu at the 2009 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, which concluded Thursday with a screening of Yojiro Takita's "Departures" at the Aratani/Japan America Theater in Los Angeles.

The outstanding director award went to So Yong Kim for "Treeless Mountain," which also picked up acting awards for Hee Yeon Kim and Song Hee Kim.

David Boyle's "White on Rice" received the outstanding screenplay prize and an acting award for Justin Kwong.

First-time filmmaker Mark Tran received the outstanding first film award for his feature "All About Dad."

Christopher Wong's "Whatever It Takes" received the grand jury prize for outstanding nonfiction film, while Alexander Lee's "The Real Shaolin" was recognized with a special jury prize.

The audience awards went to Sarba Das' "Karma Kalling,...

Note perfect in its depiction of a family slowly edging toward disaster, Tze Chun’s Children of Invention balances precariously between horror story and children’s fantasy. Yet it’s rooted in such unassailable reality that it feels like it’s taking place right under your nose.

Elaine (Cindy Cheung) tries hard to be a good mother to her two young children, Raymond (Michael Chen) and Tina (Crystal Chiu). As a single mother, she’s constantly torn between the requirements of making a living and the need to give her little ones the time and emotional support they crave. She’s tried to shield them from the desperate straits they’ve fallen into, but Raymond is old enough and sufficiently observant to know that Mom’s in trouble. She sharply tells Raymond that he has to be more responsible, that he has to help her out by looking out for Tina.

(With Sundance rapidly wrapping up and an intimidating backlog of films to write about, I'll be publishing a number of brief capsule reviews over the next few days. If a specific title piques your interest and you'd like to see a more substantial review, let me know in the comments.) Tze Chun's micro-budget Sundance Spectrum entry Children of Invention sneaks up on you. Inspired by the filmmaker's own childhood experiences, the film follows Raymond (Michael Chen) and Tina (Crystal Chiu), two first generation Chinese kids growing up in Boston with Elaine (Cindy Cheung), their overworked, illegal immigrant single mom. After Elaine's savings vanish in a vitamin sales pyramid scheme, the family loses their home and moves into a model condo unit in an unfinished building. With her estranged husband slacking on child suppo ...

(With Sundance rapidly wrapping up and an intimidating backlog of films to write about, I'll be publishing a number of brief capsule reviews over the next few days. If a specific title piques your interest and you'd like to see a more substantial review, let me know in the comments.) Tze Chun's micro-budget Sundance Spectrum entry Children of Invention sneaks up on you. Inspired by the filmmaker's own childhood experiences, the film follows Raymond (Michael Chen) and Tina (Crystal Chiu), two first generation Chinese kids growing up in Boston with Elaine (Cindy Cheung), their overworked, illegal immigrant single mom. After Elaine's savings vanish in a vitamin sales pyramid scheme, the family loses their home and moves into a model condo unit in an unfinished building. With her estranged husband slacking on child suppo ...

Premieres

To showcase the diversity of contemporary independent cinema, this section offers the latest work from American and international directors and world premieres of highly anticipated films.

Adventureland / U.S. (Director-screenwriter: Greg Mottola)

In 1987, a recent college graduate takes a nowhere job at his local amusement park and discovers the job is perfect preparation for the real world. Cast: Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Bill Hader. World premiere

Brooklyn's Finest / U.S. (Director: Antoine Fuqua; screenwriter: Michael C. Martin)

After enduring vastly different career paths, three unconnected Brooklyn cops wind up at the same deadly location. Cast: Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Don Cheadle, Ellen Barkin. World premiere

Earth Days / U.S. (Director: Robert Stone)

The history of our environmental undoing through the eyes of nine Americans whose work and actions launched the modern environmental movement. World premiere, closing-night film

Endgame / U.K. (Director: Pete Travis; screenwriter: Paula Milne)

A...

• Because the Dramatic Main Competition category can only hold so many titles, the Spectrum becomes a second option for Sundance staff to include so more dramatic fair. 12 of the 16 selected are world premieres (I caught Johnny Mad Dog at Cannes and missed out on Lymelife at Tiff) from returnee directors such as Sterlin Harjo, Jeff Lipsky and Bobcat Goldthwait. Dramatic films screening in Spectrum are: Against the Current / USA (Director and Screenwriter: Peter Callahan)—Facing the anniversary of his pregnant wife's tragic death, thirty-five-year old Paul Thompson enlists the help of two friends to help him swim the length of the Hudson River. Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Justin Kirk, Elizabeth Reaser, Mary Tyler Moore, Michelle Trachtenberg. World Premiere The Anarchist's Wife (La Mujer del Anarquista) / Germany/Spain (Directors: Marie Noelle and Peter Sehr; Screenwriters: Marie Noelle and Ray Loriga)—During the Spanish Civil War an idealistic young lawyer combating Franco's

...