NYAFF 2015: Vengeance of an Assassin tickets given away

Thai action cinema returns to the New York Asian Film Festival this year with the North American premiere of Vengeance of an Assassin (เร็วทะลุเร็ว, Rew Talu Rew), the final feature by Panna Rittikrai, the director and visionary stunt choreographer who died last July.

I had two pairs of tickets to give away. They went to movie fans Danni and Bayda, Congratulations!

The show is at 6pm on July 10 at the SVA Theatre.

Here's what the NYAFF has to say about the movie:

There will never be another Panna Rittikrai. Vengeance of an Assassin is the final, brutal battlesong from the kinetic master of mayhem who discovered Tony Jaa and put Thai action cinema on the map. It’s a no-holds-barred all-you-can-eat action fiesta, delivering everything from badass games of soccer to high impact gun fu. It’s also the heartwarming story of two buff orphans who believe in filial piety and tearing thugs apart like warm bread. When the eldest brother (Thai stunt king Dan Chupong) leaves home in search of the truth behind their parents’ deaths, a web of secrets, carnage, and more carnage follows him wherever he goes. When he’s forced to team up with his little brother (21-year-old Nantawooti Boonrapsup, all grown up since 2010’s Power Kids), it becomes an ass-kicking family affair. The master of single-take destruction, Rittikrai delivers Buster Keaton-style train brawls, flying sledgehammers, copious gun fights and one glorious, Freudian double impalement. In the scorching, sweat-drenched dreamlife of Panna Rittikrai, family and honor are everything, and justice can only be forged from superior skill and righteous physical destruction.

Other highlights of the 14th NYAFF include a lifetime achievement award to Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, the Star Asia Award to Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok and the Screen International Rising Star Award for Japanese actor Shota Sometani. There are also focus programs, Hong Kong Panorama, Myung Films: Pioneers and Women Behind the Camera in Korean Film, New Cinema from Japan, Taiwan Cinema Now! and The Last Men in Japanese Film, in tribute to actors Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara, who died last November.

The New York Asian Film Festival runs until July 8 at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center and from July 9 to 11 at the School of Visual Arts Theater. For further details, check the Subway Cinemas website or Facebook.