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This article contains Miami Connection spoilers

Friends through eternity. Loyalty. Honesty. These are the core tenants of Dragon Sound, a rock and roll band made up of black belts in Tae Kwon Do who also happen to all be orphans. Ridiculous? Yes. But it’s that sort of excessive cheese that makes Miami Connection such a wonderful movie, and not in an ironic way.

If you know anything about Miami Connection, you probably learned about it from a lover of “so bad, it’s good” movies. Filmed in 1987, Miami Connection was created by Tae Kwon Do Grandmaster Y.K. Kim as a way to raise attention to the martial art he loved. A beloved member of the community of 1980s Orlando, Kim had no problem earning money from investors or getting the mayor to issue permits for the movie to film on city streets. Even easier for Kim was finding actors,...

The May 2022 lineup at Mubi here in the United States has been unveiled, most notably featuring a Cannes Takeover timed with the 75th edition of the festival. At long last, Arnaud Desplechin’s Philip Roth adaptation Deception will arrive stateside alongside Karim Ainouz’s documentary Mariner of the Mountains. Reaching further back into the festival’s history, Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure and The Square, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible, and Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank will also come to the service.

Their Franz Rogowski series will also continue with Great Freedom and Love Steaks, while works from Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Gia Coppola, Joachim Trier, Jeff Nichols, Satyajit Ray, Takashi Miike, and more will also arrive.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

5/1/2022 | Everybody Street | Cheryl Dunn

5/2/2022 | Love Steaks | Jakob Lass

5/3/2022 | Our Lady of the Nile | Atiq Rahimi

5/4/2022 | Time Piece | Jim Henson

5/5/2022 | R100 | Hitoshi Matsumoto...

The story behind Miami Connection isn't a new one. Y.K. Kim, the movie's co-star, writer, producer and co-director was discovered by a director while Kim was shelling a book about taekwondo. Director Richard Park later met with Kim and pitched him the idea of a movie. Kim saw it as his big break opportunity, his chance to make a really great action movie and so he did what anyone with a dream and a possible way into the system would do: he put it all on the line using up his savings, mortgaging his school and borrowing heavily to finance his dream project and oh, what a project. [Continued ...]...

Drafthouse Films have shown some impressive curating muscle with their growing slate of cult and indie films old and new, and Toronto-based Films We Like has picked up their latest for theatrical release in the great white north, beginning with this T-Dot double-header of raging machismo with Ted "Rambo" Kotcheff's Aussie outback terror Wake In Fright (1971)- a seminal film in kicking off the Ozploitation explosion and bizarre Wtf musical actioner Miami Connection (1987) from co-director/star Y.K. Kim.

While both films celebrate the bizarre rituals of manliness in their own way Wake In Fright through drunken hooliganism, kangaroo hunts (animal lovers beware), a creepily shirtless Donald Pleasence and the "aggressive hospitality" of the sun-soaked outback, and Miami Connection through nonsensical martial arts misadventures, moustaches and musical interludes by rock band Dragon Sound in other ways they couldn't be more different. Wake In Fright is likely the best film Ted Kotcheff ever made,...

Drafthouse Films have shown some impressive curating muscle with their growing slate of cult and indie films old and new, and Toronto-based Films We Like has picked up their latest for theatrical release in the great white north, beginning with this T-Dot double-header of raging machismo with Ted "Rambo" Kotcheff's Aussie outback terror Wake In Fright (1971)- a seminal film in kicking off the Ozploitation explosion and bizarre Wtf musical actioner Miami Connection (1987) from co-director/star Y.K. Kim.

While both films celebrate the bizarre rituals of manliness in their own way Wake In Fright through drunken hooliganism, kangaroo hunts (animal lovers beware), a creepily shirtless Donald Pleasence and the "aggressive hospitality" of the sun-soaked outback, and Miami Connection through nonsensical martial arts misadventures, moustaches and musical interludes by rock band Dragon Sound in other ways they couldn't be more different. Wake In Fright is likely the best film Ted Kotcheff ever made,...

Drafthouse Films have shown some impressive curating muscle with their growing slate of cult and indie films old and new, and Toronto-based Films We Like has picked up their latest for theatrical release in the great white north, beginning with this T-Dot double-header of raging machismo with Ted "Rambo" Kotcheff's Aussie outback terror Wake In Fright (1971)- a seminal film in kicking off the Ozploitation explosion and bizarre Wtf musical actioner Miami Connection (1987) from co-director/star Y.K. Kim.

While both films celebrate the bizarre rituals of manliness in their own way Wake In Fright through drunken hooliganism, kangaroo hunts (animal lovers beware), a creepily shirtless Donald Pleasence and the "aggressive hospitality" of the sun-soaked outback, and Miami Connection through nonsensical martial arts misadventures, moustaches and musical interludes by rock band Dragon Sound in other ways they couldn't be more different. Wake In Fright is likely the best film Ted Kotcheff ever made,...

Drafthouse Films have shown some impressive curating muscle with their growing slate of cult and indie films old and new, and Toronto-based Films We Like has picked up their latest for theatrical release in the great white north, beginning with this T-Dot double-header of raging machismo with Ted "Rambo" Kotcheff's Aussie outback terror Wake In Fright (1971)- a seminal film in kicking off the Ozploitation explosion and bizarre Wtf musical actioner Miami Connection (1987) from co-director/star Y.K. Kim.

While both films celebrate the bizarre rituals of manliness in their own way Wake In Fright through drunken hooliganism, kangaroo hunts (animal lovers beware), a creepily shirtless Donald Pleasence and the "aggressive hospitality" of the sun-soaked outback, and Miami Connection through nonsensical martial arts misadventures, moustaches and musical interludes by rock band Dragon Sound in other ways they couldn't be more different. Wake In Fright is likely the best film Ted Kotcheff ever made,...

Drafthouse Films have shown some impressive curating muscle with their growing slate of cult and indie films old and new, and Toronto-based Films We Like has picked up their latest for theatrical release in the great white north, beginning with this T-Dot double-header of raging machismo with Ted "Rambo" Kotcheff's Aussie outback terror Wake In Fright (1971)- a seminal film in kicking off the Ozploitation explosion and bizarre Wtf musical actioner Miami Connection (1987) from co-director/star Y.K. Kim.

While both films celebrate the bizarre rituals of manliness in their own way Wake In Fright through drunken hooliganism, kangaroo hunts (animal lovers beware), a creepily shirtless Donald Pleasence and the "aggressive hospitality" of the sun-soaked outback, and Miami Connection through nonsensical martial arts misadventures, moustaches and musical interludes by rock band Dragon Sound in other ways they couldn't be more different. Wake In Fright is likely the best film Ted Kotcheff ever made,...

Drafthouse Films have shown some impressive curating muscle with their growing slate of cult and indie films old and new, and Toronto-based Films We Like has picked up their latest for theatrical release in the great white north, beginning with this T-Dot double-header of raging machismo with Ted "Rambo" Kotcheff's Aussie outback terror Wake In Fright (1971)- a seminal film in kicking off the Ozploitation explosion and bizarre Wtf musical actioner Miami Connection (1987) from co-director/star Y.K. Kim.

While both films celebrate the bizarre rituals of manliness in their own way Wake In Fright through drunken hooliganism, kangaroo hunts (animal lovers beware), a creepily shirtless Donald Pleasence and the "aggressive hospitality" of the sun-soaked outback, and Miami Connection through nonsensical martial arts misadventures, moustaches and musical interludes by rock band Dragon Sound in other ways they couldn't be more different. Wake In Fright is likely the best film Ted Kotcheff ever made,...

This month, Drafthouse Films is rereleasing an obscure ’80s martial-arts action film called Miami Connection in the hope of turning it into a midnight-movie-style cult phenomenon. But when one of the film’s stars, a tae kwon do guru named Y.K. Kim, met Drafthouse Films creative director Evan Husney before a screening at the New York Asian Film Festival this past July, he seemed pessimistic about the film’s chances of success. Says Kim, “I asked him, first thing, ‘Why did you buy this trash?’”

Miami Connection has long been a source of shame for Kim, who — in addition to his acting duties — cowrote,...

This month, Drafthouse Films is releasing a desperately obscure but engagingly nuts 1987 martial arts film called Miami Connection in the hope of turning this slice of chop-socky mayhem into a midnight movie-style cult success. In the magazine we recently ran a story on the twisted history and revival of the movie, which was financed by, produced by, codirected by, cowritten by, and starred a Florida-based tae kwon do guru named Grandmaster Y.K. Kim (and we’ll be posting a longer version of the article later in the week). But mere words cannot fully convey the lunatic nature of this film,...

To understand the hyperbole being tossed around when so-bad-it’s-good obsessive talk about “The Miami Connection,” it’s vital to acknowledge that the best “bad” movies have a great making-of story. The current reigning champ of the lot remains Tommy Wiseau’s incomparable “The Room” (sorry “Birdemic” fans, the film is possibly too inept to remain consistently entertaining during its two hour runtime) but here comes Grandmaster Y.K. Kim and his baby, ostensibly the story of a martial-arts themed rock band that takes on drug-running, motorcycle gang ninjas. Let’s pause for a moment – yes, that does sound like a childhood dream come true, provided you grew up digesting schlock fare and dreaming of crossovers that were not to be. Yet, for all the hints of notorious greatness that the film racks up over the course of ninety occasionally glorious minutes, it’s not about to dethrone the established...

Watch the awards trailer for Miami Connection, starring Y.K. Kim, Vincent Hirsch and Joseph Diamand The classic 1987 film distributed by Drafthouse Films found re-release on November 2nd and is expected to be a dark horse contender in this year's awards race. The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida's narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song "Against the Ninja," Mark (Tae Kwon Do master/inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim) and the boys are kicking and chopping at the drug world's smelliest underbelly. It'll take every ounce...

Watch the awards trailer for Miami Connection, starring Y.K. Kim, Vincent Hirsch and Joseph Diamand The classic 1987 film distributed by Drafthouse Films found re-release on November 2nd and is expected to be a dark horse contender in this year's awards race. The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida's narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song "Against the Ninja," Mark (Tae Kwon Do master/inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim) and the boys are kicking and chopping at the drug world's smelliest underbelly. It'll take every ounce...

Every once in a while, there's a classic movie re-released by the studios that we here at ComingSoon.net, a site whose very name is dedicated to forthcoming releases, feel worthy of revisiting. Even less often, there's a movie from the past that's so unbelievably bad that it's the funniest and most entertaining movie you're likely to see in theaters. The latter is the case with Miami Connection , Richard Park's 1987 martial arts action thriller that introduced most of the world--or rather the five people who saw the movie--to Florida's Grandmaster Y.K. Kim, a Korean-born taekwondo master and teacher whose schools had flourished in the '80s, allowing him to fund the movie in which he would play a key role as the member of a rock group who just happened to be trained in martial arts....

Not only is Miami Connection the first retro film the guys at Destroy the Brain.com have shown at their monthly Late Night Grindhouse series that I haven.t seen, it.s one I.d never even heard of! I.ve only seen the trailer of this lost 1987 gem and it looks like every action film I rented on VHS in the late .80s tossed into a blender because nothing screams 1980s more than a synth rock kung fu band all dressed like Don Johnson battling a cocaine-dealing ninja motorcycle gang! I.m so there! I.ve heard is that Miami Connection is one serious deliciously demented slice of cinematic cheese and I cannot wait to see it this weekend at St. Louis. fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater.

The Miami Connection website describes the plot thus:

The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida.s narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone...

In 1987, an entrepreneur and martial arts expert named Grandmaster Y.K. Kim co-directed "Miami Connection," a film about "a martial arts rock band" whose members fight "a band of motorcycle ninjas who have tightened their grip on Florida's narcotics trade." This is real. There's a trailer and everything.

"Miami Connection" was released in an Orlando, Fla. movie theater and promptly booed off the screen.

Twenty-two years later, in 2009, an Alamo Drafthouse programmer named Zack Carlson found a 35mm print of "Miami Connection" on eBay and purchased it for $50. For the theater, it was money well spent: When "Miami Connection" was shown to audiences during a weekly Drafthouse series called "Weird Wednesday," it was immediately embraced. After securing distribution rights, Drafthouse films (the distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse) screened the film at the 2012 New York Asian Film Festival with Kim in attendance.

"From beginning to end, the audience cheered and laughed.

One of my favorite films from Fantastic Fest this year was Miami Connection. The film encompasses a unique blend of 80′s martial arts cheese along with some of the most awkwardly constructed scenes on film. However, when it is all combined, it is one of the best times you will have in the theater! Miami Connection is the psychotronic answer to The Room. Featuring some great fight sequences and super quotable scenes, Miami Connection is not one to miss. We are proud to bring it to St. Louis for the first time.

Synopsis

The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song “Against the Ninja,” Mark (taekwondo...

During my recent interview with Alamo Drafthouse programmer Zack Carlson, we spoke about the American Film Genre Archive (Afga) and some of the found films that  volunteers that support this nonprofit have saved. One of those titles is the zany 1987 martial-arts film Miami Connection, directed by ninth-degree black belt/philosopher/author/inspirational speaker Grandmaster Y.K. Kim, seen above demonstrating his skills before the movie screened during Fantastic Fest. The story's plot revolves around the members of the synth-rock band Dragon Sound, adult orphans and martial artists who fight criminals -- especially hated ninjas -- in the streets and back alleys of Orlando, Florida.

The special screening at Fantastic Fest 2012 included demonstrations by Grandmaster Kim as well as a reunion of the band Dragon Sound. Attendees at the afterparty pumped their fists and chanted with the band, many of them wearing sleeveless Dragon Sound t-shirts. See more photos after the jump.

Austin -- Not very many people have seen "Miami Connection," but it basically represents why people come to Fantastic Fest every year. The B-movie -- picked up by Drafthouse films for a 25th anniversary re-release -- is a clunky, hilarious and surprisingly moving film by the end. In it is an inexplicably successful band Dragon Sound, led by the film's writer, director and lead actor Y.K. Kim. This band plays only two songs, and they both are melodically alike, and one is called "Against the Ninja." This gives you some idea what you're up, er, against: the looks, feels and sounds...

Definitely one of the more talked-about moments at this year's Fantastic Fest so far came during the annual Fantastic Debates, where various movie geeks of all shapes and sizes square off in a verbal debate before throwing on gloves and finishing it with their fists inside a boxing ring. While this year featured fun battles between the American Mary twin-sister filmmakers (in full Mortal Kombat outfits), as well as Fantastic Fest cofounder Tim League vs. Tae Kwan Do Grandmaster (and star of Miami Connection) Y.K. Kim, the night belonged to the debate/fight between filmmaker Joe Swanberg (Hannah Takes the Stairs, Nights and Weekends) and Badass Digest editor Devin Faraci. With bad blood already brewing between the two (thanks, in part, to a couple of posts Faraci wrote about...

Read More...

Just a couple of weeks ago, what is arguably the best-loved movie from the ’80s, Raiders of the Lost Ark, enjoyed a good deal of success getting re-released into IMAX theaters. Seeing that the market is hot for 8’0s revivals, Drafthouse Films, the distributing arm of the Alamo Drafthouse, has decided to take it upon themselves to ready what is probably the second biggest movie of the ’80s, Miami Connection, for a theatrical run of its own. What is Miami Connection? How fortunate that you should ask now, because Hobo With a Shotgun director Jason Eisener has just cut together a new trailer for the film that will answer all of your questions. To put it simply, Miami Connection is probably the best realized interpretation of the war between Miami’s motorcycle ninja drug gangs and its martial arts vigilante rock band, Dragon Sound, that’s ever been put on film. It...

As the ne'erdowells of cinematic geekdom descend upon Austin this weekend at the start of Fantastic Fest Drafthouse Films have released a freshly cut trailer for their unearthed martial arts epic Miami Connection. Drafthouse Films has released a new trailer for Miami Connection, which can be viewed below.  Edited by Hobo With A Shotgun Director Jason Eisner for Drafthouse Films, the trailer for this '80s martial arts gem packs quite a punch.   Miami Connection, directed by 9th degree black belt philosopher/author/inspirational speaker Grandmaster Y.K. Kim, tells the story of fearless synth rock band Dragon Sound as they embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice in the streets of Orlando.  After vanishing into obscurity 25 years ago, Drafthouse Films is proud to bring Miami Connection back to...

Drafthouse Films has released a new trailer for Y.K. KIm's Miami Connection, edited by Jason Eisner, director of Hobo with a Shotgun. 9th degree black belt philosopher/author/inspirational speaker Grandmaster Y.K. Kim directs the film which tells the story of fearless synth rock band Dragon Sound as they embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice in the streets of Orlando. The film is set to air at the upcoming Fantastic Fest on Friday, September 21. The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida's narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martialarts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song "Against the Ninja,"...

Drafthouse Films has released a new trailer for Y.K. KIm's Miami Connection, edited by Jason Eisner, director of Hobo with a Shotgun. 9th degree black belt philosopher/author/inspirational speaker Grandmaster Y.K. Kim directs the film which tells the story of fearless synth rock band Dragon Sound as they embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice in the streets of Orlando. The film is set to air at the upcoming Fantastic Fest on Friday, September 21. The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida's narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martialarts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song "Against the Ninja,"...

If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times: Why doesn’t someone make a movie which features a beheading, an arm-severing, lashings of chop sockey action, motorbike-riding ninjas, and a Pat Benatar-ish rock band called Dragon Sound whose membership is made up of commune-dwelling, adult orphans?

Well, it turns out someone did.

Below, you can check out a new trailer for 1987′s Miami Connection, an amazing, cheese-tastic tale of cocaine-dealing and — literally — battling bands produced by, co-directed by, and starring taekwondo guru and motivational speaker Y.K. Kim. This slice of retro mayhem was initially...

Austin, TX-Wednesday, September 12, 2012- Fantastic Fest is thrilled to announce the final installment of programming for Fantastic Fest 2012, including the world premiere screening of The Collection. Fantastic Fest will take place September 20-27 in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar.

American Mary (2011)

Us Premiere

Directors – Jen and Sylvia Soska, 95 mins

Disillusioned with her chosen profession and perpetually broke, medical student Mary Mason finds herself drawn into a shady world of underground surgery and body modification.

Antiviral (2012)

Us Premiere

Director – Brandon Cronenberg, 110 mins

Syd March makes people sick, infecting them with viruses harvested to order from celebrities, but gets more than he bargained for when his most famous source dies from a virus Syd has just infected himself with.

Berberian Sound Studio (2012)

Us Premiere

Director – Peter Strickland, 92 mins

Strange things occur after a British audio technician is summoned to Italy to work on a gory giallo film.

Besties (2012)

World Premiere

Director – Rebecca Perry Cutter,...

Wow! I literally just jumped up for joy hearing this final wave. I think that this might be my favorite selection of films since I have been attending. Films like American Mary, Antiviral, Berberian Sound Studio, the remake of Who Can Kill A Child? – Come Out and Play and the World Premiere of the sequel to The Collector! These films plus a few others just caps off what I’m sure will be my favorite Fantastic Fest yet!

Also, for those keeping score, Michael picked 7 movies that are definitely showing while I picked 6. However, this could change once the secret screenings show. Again, Fantastic Fest starts next Thursday and we plan to have reviews, interviews and possibly video & audio blogs. Anyway, here’s the announcement:

From the Press Release:

Fantastic Fest is thrilled to announce the final installment of programming for Fantastic Fest 2012, including the world premiere screening of The Collection.

If the films announced so far weren't enough to get you to travel to Austin later this month, this last wave of programming should have you packing your bags immediately! Read on for details.

From the Press Release:

Fantastic Fest is thrilled to announce the final installment of programming for Fantastic Fest 2012, including the world premiere screening of The Collection. Fantastic Fest (official site here) will take place September 20-27 in Austin, Texas, at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar.

Related Story: Fantastic Fest 2012: First Wave of Films Announced

Related Story: Fantastic Fest 2012: Second Wave of Films Announced

Related Story: Fantastic Fest 2012: Short Films Announced

American Mary (2011)

Us Premiere

Directors - Jen and Sylvia Soska, 95 mins

Disillusioned with her chosen profession and perpetually broke, medical student Mary Mason finds herself drawn into a shady world of underground surgery and body modification.

Antiviral (2012)

Us Premiere

Director - Brandon Cronenberg,...

Chicago – “Cinemapocalypse”! In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 100 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the Music Box Theatre’s white-hot exploitation film series “Cinemapocalypse”!

The exploitation series is curated by two of the film programmers for Austin’s original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema: Lars Nilsen and Zack Carlson! They’re taking their popular exploitation movie series on the road for two huge nights of sleazy Music Box fun all presented in vintage, 35-millimeter prints from Alamo’s sister organization: the American Genre Film Archive (Agfa).

Our “Cinemapocalypse” winners can choose either “Tourist Trap” this Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the Music Box or “Miami Connection” this Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 9 p.m.!

To win your free passes to either “Cinemapocalypse” showing courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our unique Hookup technology below. That’s it! The more social actions you complete below,...

The Fantasia Film Festival held their press conference today to unveil their 2012 line-up and honestly we are still processing the information dump. Mitch Davis said during the press conference that the only way to properly describe the festival would be “to tie you to chairs, force feed you caffeine and sugar and talk to you for 17 days.” As usual, Mitch is simultaneously completely insane and completely accurate.

Last year, we published over 100 reviews/articles about/from Fantasia and recorded six podcasts. We intend to at least equal those numbers this year. Expect articles about our most anticipated films from several of us in the next few days, once we have time to study the 2012 Fantasia program book. (At 396 pages, you could use the damn thing to do wrist curls and I think that it has already been declared a Weapon of Mass Destruction by bugs everywhere.)

While you are waiting,...

Act fast, New York! The New York Asian Film Festival is screening Grandmaster Y.K. Kim and Park Woo-sung's Miami Connection tomorrow night and you could be there to see it for free! We've got two pairs of tickets to give away to this lost cult gem and all you need to do to win is email me here and say "I want the Miami Connection." Winners will be drawn at random.What's the film about? I leave it to the brilliant festival notes and trailer below to sum up.What? Ninja? Where? Oh no! I am dead! Dead from ninja. Yes, and you will be dead from ninja, too, once you gaze upon the crown jewel of American cinema, The Miami Connection. You will look at...

Courtesy of Variety, we have learned that Sundance Selects has acquired the North American rights to Lucy Mulloy‘s Una Noche, which had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival and its Us premiere at Tiff this year. It won three awards at the latter — Best New Narrative Director, Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film as well as Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film.

The film, of which was also scripted by Mulloy, stars Dariel Arrechaga, Anailin de la Rua de la Toree and Javier Nunez Florian. She also served as a producer alongside Daniel Mulloy, Maite Artieda, Sandy Perez and Yunior Santiago. The film “follows a day in the lives of two Cuban teens faced with the stark contrast between the tourists’ lives and their own struggle with poverty.”

In some similar North American distribution news, Variety also reports that Drafthouse Films have acquired the rights...

It's got ninjas and New Wave and Drafthouse Films are bringing it back to the big screen. The good folks at Drafthouse are just as dedicated to bringing cult titles back to the big screen as they are to picking up new films from around the world and they've just added a doozy in 1987 oddity Miami Connection.The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida's narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song "Against the Ninja," Mark (kung-fu master/inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim) and the boys are kicking and...

I was never hip enough to dig Y.K. Kim’s “Miami Connection” when it landed way back in 1987 (that’s the right word, right? “hip”?), but man, this thing looks wacky as all get-out. For fans of Y.K. Kim and “Miami Connection”, which apparently had a “very limited theatrical and scarce VHS release in 1987″ before it “vanished into obscurity”, you’re in luck, because Drafthouse Films is bringing it back in style. Now boasting “HD from elements sourced by the America Genre Film Archive (Agfa)” (whatever that means; I’m assuming it’s a good thing), “Miami Connection” will be re-launched at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival on Saturday, July 7th (with Kim in attendance, natch) and will officially return to cinemas, home video and debut on digital platforms in late 2012. The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone...

Drafthouse Films has acquired North American rights to the long forgotten '80s martial arts action film "Miami Connection," directed by 9th degree black belt philosopher Grandmaster Y.K. Kim. The film was initially released theatrically back in 1987 but failed to catch on with audiences. It was resurrected some twenty years later when Alamo Drafthouse programmer Zack Carlson purchased a 35mm print for $50 via eBay, and began test screening it as part of the Drafthouse's exploitation series. "'Miami Connetion' has repeatedly destroyed our audience in a more powerful way than anything else in the 15 years of the theater's existence," Carlson said. The enthusiastic reception caused Drafthouse Films to take action. The film, which tells the story of a fearless synth rock band who take to the streets of Orlando to rid the city of its criminals, will have its official re-launch screening at this year's New York Asian Film Festival on.