A boxer finds himself in a precarious position after travelling to Korea in search of the father who abandoned him in Park Hoon-jung’s bloody thriller.
Aug 19, 2023 • Subscribe
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The Witch: Part 2. The Other One (마녀 2, Park Hoon-jung, 2022) [Fantasia 2022]
A “perfect model” of transhumanism takes refuge in a remote farmhouse in Park’s sequel to The Witch: Part One. The subversion.
Night in Paradise (낙원의 밤, Park Hoon-jung, 2020)
A fugitive gangster encounters a terminally ill young woman in idyllic Jeju in Park Hoon-jung’s melancholy gangster noir.
Devils (악마들, Kim Jae-hoon, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
A detective consumed by thoughts of vengeance suddenly wakes up in the body of the serial killer he’s hunting in Kim Jae-hoon’s twisty thriller.
Tinker Ticker (들개, Kim Jung-hoon, 2013)
A jaded young man finds himself torn between continuing to fight the system and a total capitulation to it in Kim Jung-hoon’s explosive debut feature.
Collectors (도굴, Park Jung-bae, 2020)
An intrepid tomb raider becomes embroiled in an elaborate plot to steal a precious sword from a tomb in Gangnam in Park’s hugely enjoyable crime caper
Next Sohee (다음 소희, July Jung, 2022) [Fantasia 2022]
A policewoman investigating the suicide of a teenage girl uncovers a dark web of corporate exploitation in July Jung’s hard hitting drama.
Seire (세이레, Park Kang, 2021) [Fantasia 2022]
A new father finds himself haunted by paternal anxiety and old transgressions in Park Kang’s eerie folk horror.
Hopeless (화란, Kim Chang-hoon, 2023)
An alienated young man dreaming of an idyllic life in Holland has his illusions slowly crushed by the world around him in Kim Chang-hoon’s gritty drama.
The Killer (더 킬러: 죽어도 되는 아이, Choi Jae-hoon, 2022) [Fantasia 2022]
A cynical hitman stumbles on a dark conspiracy when the teenager he’s supposed to be babysitting is kidnapped in Choi Jae-hoon’s retro action thriller.
Mother Land (엄마의 땅: 그리샤와 숲의 주인, Park Jae-beom, 2022) [Fantasia 2023]
A little girl becomes the spiritual defender of her traditional culture in her quest to cure her mother’s mysterious illness in Park Jae-beom’s stop motion fairytale.
Our recommendations: Fantasia 2023
Any cinephile should watch these 5 Japanese movies at the Fantasia Film Festival.
Not in This World (이 세상에 없는, Park Jung-bum, 2019)
A dejected young woman finds a kindred soul in a forest-dwelling holy fool but is eventually pushed towards the dark side in Park Jung-bum’s epic of human misery
River (2023) review [Fantasia Film Fest 2023]
If you like low-key humour and some time-twisting fun, you should not miss Yamaguchi’s latest.
Mad Cats (Reiki Tsuno, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
The captive felines of Japan are mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it anymore in Reiki Tsuno’s absurd action comedy.
The Fifth Thoracic Vertebra (다섯 번째 흉추, Park Sye-young, 2022) [Fantasia 2022]
A mouldy mattress gradually becomes sentient while traversing vistas of human loneliness in Park Sye-young’s experimental feature.
Shin Kamer Rider (2023) review [Fantasia Fest 2023]
Anno delivers an action-hero experience that is both incredibly fun and emotionally touching.
Deep Sea (深海, Tian Xiaopeng, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
A young girl finds herself in a whimsical fantasy world of colour and light in TIan Xiaopeng’s stupendous animation.
Insomniacs After School (2023) review [Fantasia Film Fest 2023]
Ikeda’s narrative contains all the right ingredients, but the final mixture is not able to give the narrative the emotional impact it looks for.
Flowers of Mold (너를 줍다, Shim Hye-jung, 2023)
A cripplingly shy woman finds herself trawling her neighbours’ trash in a frustrated bid for connection in Shim Hye-jung’s offbeat romance.
Drive (드라이브, Park Dong-hee, 2023)
Forced to livestream her own kidnapping, an influencer must confront her authentic self in Park Dong-hee’s tense kidnap thriller.
The Swordsman (검객, Choi Jae-hoon, 2020)
A master swordsman is dragged back into the world of courtly intrigue years after renouncing the code of violence when his daughter is taken by slavers in Choi’s…
Killing Romance (킬링 로맨스, Lee Won-suk, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
A once famous actress sets out to reclaim her autonomy from an abusive, controlling, billionaire husband in Lee Won-suk’s hilariously off the wall comedy.
Bear Man (웅남이, Park Sung-kwang, 2023)
A pair of bare cubs decide to become human with entirely different results in Park Sung-kwang’s zany comedy.
Small Fry (잔챙이, Park Joong-ha, 2023)
A dejected actor begins to feel like a fish caught on a hook only to be cast back in Park Joong-ha’s tense chamber drama.
Fantasia Confirms First Wave of Titles for 2023
Runs in Montreal July 20 to Aug. 9
Fantasia International Film Festival Confirms Complete 2023 Programme
In Montreal July 20 to Aug. 9.
Fantasia Confirms Second Wave of Titles for 2023
In Montreal July 20 to Aug. 9
The Beast (비스트, Lee Jung-ho, 2019)
Internal police politics frustrate the hunt for a potential serial killer in Lee Jung-ho’s dark social thriller.
Sinkhole (싱크홀, Kim Ji-hoon, 2021)
A new homeowner sees his investment in the future crumble beneath his feet in Kim Ji-hoon’s harrowing disaster dramedy
Fantasia 2010
Tuesday, Fantasia announced the highlights of its programming and posted all the details on its website . The 14th edition of the Fant...
Bleach, Naruto, King of Thorn, Metropolis, Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror
Golden Fantasia
detective fiction, 推理小説、games,
Girl from Phantasia, When They Cry, Umineko: When They Cry, When the Seagulls Cry Specials
As Long As We Both Shall Live (2023) review [Fantasia Fest 2023]
An over-the-top and highly powerful romance narrative.
Episode 77 - The Park
This was an episode that we planned to do a while back, but terrible sound quality caused it to never be released. Now that we have time to…
●SIGNATURE● R.I.P. Kim Jung Gi
Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira, Bibliography, Otomo, Animation, Manga, Steamboy, Japanimation,
River (リバー、流れないでよ, Junta Yamaguchi, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
The staff of a hotel along with its guests find themselves trapped in an infinite two minute loop in Junta Yamaguchi’s strangely poignant farce.
Insomniacs After School (君は放課後インソムニア, Chihiro Ikeda, 2023) [Fantasia 2023]
Two teens begin to overcome their fears and anxieties after bonding over their shared insomnia in Chihiro Ikeda’s adaptation of the Makoto Ojiro manga.
Hunt (헌트, Lee Jung-jae, 2022)
Two men circle each other in search of an elusive double agent in Lee Jung-jae’s intensely paranoid political thriller.
White Day by Hyun-Jung Gu
I was wrong about when White Day occurs! Women have to wait a whole month after Valentine’s Day to get a return gift–March 14! There are not a…
Alienoid (외계+인 1부, Choi Dong-hoon, 2022)
Alien cyborgs and feudal magicians battle cosmic disorder in the opening instalment of Choi Dong-hoon’s epic science fiction fantasy.
Amagi Brilliant Park: A Fantastically Flawed Theme Park
I think you guys know a lot my tastes in media from my posts, right? For instance, Full Metal Panic. For the past few years, Mecha March has…
Bear Man 웅남이 (2023) Director: Park Sung-kwang [New York Asian Film Festival 2023]
Bear Man 웅남이 (2023), by director Park Sung-kwang, is a solid comedy/action/crime film about bears that turn into men. It makes good on its premise and offers an…
Amagi Brilliant Park
Amagi Brilliant Park is a comedy/drama (dramedy?) anime series about a failing, magical amusement park by the same name.
Amagi Brilliant Park
Episodes: 13 + OVA Summary: When new transfer student Isuzu asks Seiya Kanie out on a date at gunpoint, he knows something odd is going on. Especially since…
Mystery of the Fun Park Phantom
detective fiction, 推理小説、games, mystery, murder, locked room, Japanese, translations,
Snowball (최선의 삶, Lee Woo-jung, 2020)
The previously close friendship between three teenage girls is disrupted by shame and societal repression in Lee Woo-jung’s cruel story of youth
Not Out (낫아웃, Lee Jung-gon, 2021)
A young man goes to drastic lengths to make his baseball dreams come true in Lee Jung-gon’s unexpectedly dark character study
Search Out (서치 아웃, Kwak Jung, 2020)
A trio of dejected youngsters fight back against a sense of despair by chasing an internet serial killer in Kwak’s dark cyber thriller
In the Name of the Son (아들의 이름으로, Lee Jung-gook, 2021)
A mild-mannered designated driver finds himself torn apart by the unresolved trauma of the buried past Lee Jung-gook’s intense character study
41. The Imperial Fantasia of Ghost in the Shell
I’m not here to defend Ghost in the Shell in any of its manifestations, for as regular readers of this blog already know, I find it mostly to…
Mother’s Place (엄마의 자리, Ryu Hee-jung, 2022)
A young woman finds herself questioning the nature of family when her parents die suddenly but the relatives won’t let them be buried together in Ryu Hee-jung’s raw…