Year: 2016

Director: Karyn Kusama
Writer: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi

Cinematographer: Bobby Shore

Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, John Carroll Lynch, Michiel Huisman, Tammy Blanchard

Country of Origin: USA

Time: 100 min.

Crome Yellow and I went to Beyond Fest and one of our favorite films was Karyn Kusama's The Invitation! While attending a dinner party and his former home, Will (Marshall-Green) thinks his ex-wife Eden (Blanchard) and her new husband (Huisman) have other sinister intentions for him and the guests. I have been a huge fan of Kusama's earlier works like Girlfight and Jennifer's Body but The Invitation is by far her most masterful work yet! She crafts this suffocatingly tense thriller with such precision and  artistry, the results will make you completely rethink dinner parties for good! Drafthouse Films is releasing the film next April which cannot come soon enough! 

- Trailer & Poster -

This post was originally posted 12/9/15

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Year: 2015

Director: Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Writer: Ah Cheng, Chu T'ien-wen, Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Hsieh Hai-Meng, Pei Xing (short story)

Cinematographer: Lee Ping Bin

Cast: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Tsumabuki Satoshi

Country of Origin: China/France

Time: 105 min.

Sal from Crome Yellow and I got to witness one of the most beautiful films of this year at Beyond Fest which is Hou Hsiao-Hsien's The Assassin. In ninth-century China, an exiled assassin must choose between love and her duty when she is ordered to kill a man from her past. This is unlike any other martial arts film you have ever seen! The film showcases the most stunning and breathtaking cinematography that will transport you through time and space to witness a story truly visionary and masterful. Any fan of Hou knows the steady pace he utilizes and to some it may be too slow, but with these kind of rich visuals, who cares!

The Assassin is China's official entry to the Oscars for Best Foreign Language film. It might have some serious competition with Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Mustang from France but regardless, you should experience these two singularly powerful films for themselves. I had a chance to go to a q&a with Hou a day after where he went over his filmography and filmmaking style. All I can say is that he is such a wacky cat! I need to definitely to check out his previous works because if they are anything like The Assassin, I am in for a real treat! 

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Year: 2015

Director: Takashi Miike
Writer: Yoshitaka Yamaguchi

Cinematographer: Hajime Kanda

Cast: Hayato Ichihara, Lily Franky,  Yayan Ruhian, Reiko Takashima

Country of Origin: Japan

Rating: R

Time: 125 min.

Sal from Crome Yellow and I went to Beyond Fest, the biggest and baddest genre film festival in Los Angeles! We had the privilege of witnessing Takashi Miike's latest genre-bending and mind-blowing film, Yakuza Apocalypse and we were not disappointed! The story follows Kageyama, a young yakuza who is ridiculed by his peoples for not being able to get tattooed. His bossman, the notorious and revered Kamiura is in secret, a vampire. After getting defeated by rival gangs, Kamiura passes his powers to Kageyama, forcing him to seek revenge on the syndicate. Sal and I get down on all the deets and why we'll be forever Miike fans!

With blood-sucking Yakuza vampires, super-strong fighting Keroppies, and all around madness, Yakuza Apocalypse may be one of the craziest films you will see this year! Miike is no newbie when it comes to controversial subjects in his work and while his previous films have pushed the boundaries of terror with Audition and Ichi the Killer, it's pleasant to see a bit of a more wackier side to his film palette like seen in his kid's film, Ninja Kids!!! Sure, this film wasn't perfect but it was 100% Miike and that's what we wanted to see. Fans across the globe will be excited to see another work from this auteur and guaranteed, they will be roaring in ecstasy that they did!

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