Nearly everything about Tachiguishi Retsuden defies easy explanation. Like the title, for starters. It literally means something like “The Legendary Masters of Eating While Standing,” while Production I.G. has apparently gone with the more spirited “Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of Fast Food Grifters.” Unlike the majority of his other films, it's a parody. It's animated, but it isn't anime. It's comprised of still photos of actors and settings that have been digitally animated into life, stop-motion style. But that being said, there isn't a whole hell of a lot of motion, either. Major portions of the film consist of long (long) stretches of narraration over grainy, colorized black and white stills. Sounds confusing? I haven't even gotten to the plot. It's like Tampopo meets Jin-Roh, a sprawling (and totally fictional) documentary chronicling dine-and-dashers in Japan's postwar era. The story opens in the tiny standing room only noodle shops that sprang up during the occupation, and ends among the hamburger stands, beef bowl joints, and curry restaurants that serve up the majority of Japan's fast food today. The various protagonists aren't cast as criminals, but as anti-heroes and springboards for social satire. Sounds simple enough on the surface, but this is Mamoru Oshii we're talking about. Their “amazing lives” unfold in an incredibly dense narrative, crammed full of trivia, pop-culture references, and Japanese urban legends, the vast majority completely unknown to foreign audiences.

Chinatown is a place where crime and betrayal are rampant. Violent crime detective Ko Jeong-hyeok (Seo Joon-yeong) can't rest a day. He tries to rid the streets of criminals but he's to busy cleaning up his own mess because of his habit of using physical violence first. Lately, he's been so desperate to capture Song, the boss of an organization that deals with smuggling drugs and human trafficking, that he ignores his girlfriend Ji-hyeon's (Ban So-yeong) request. Ji-hyeon does voluntary work for homeless people but one day notices that one or two of them have gone missing. She'd asked Jeong-hyeok to help her find them but he only has Song on his mind. Then one day, a source tells Jeong-hyeok about the location of Song; however, he fails every time to capture him because of interference from Black Society, one of the biggest Chinese gangs. It turns out the boss of Black Society and his gang were also after Song who had brought harm to their organization. Tension rises between Jeong-hyeok and Black Society who are both out to get Song. Jeong-hyeok has nothing but guts although he fights the gang who are also the best martial arts fighters in China.

Seung-Yeon (Lee Na-Ra) earnestly wants to have a baby. Pregnant So-Young (Jeon Soo-Jin) wants to have an abortion. Seung-Yeon asks So-Young to give birth and give the baby to her. The two women go to a villa located in the countryside. They live together waiting for So-Young to give birth, but they face an unexpected danger.

A love story between a detective and former pickpocket, as they meet 10 years later.

After a VIP movie premiere, Korean top movie star Jeong Min gets kidnapped by strangers. Jeong Min first thinks that someone is playing pranks, but the kidnappers' cruelty helps Jeong Min realize that the abduction is no joke. Jeong-min tries to find his way out, while the kidnappers demand him a huge amount of ransom within 24 hours.

Jeong Min encounters a real brutality that is way different and more extreme than the ones he has seen in the movies.

On a business trip to the Cannes Film Festival, Manhee is accused of being dishonest, and fired. A teacher named Claire goes around taking photos with a Polaroid camera. She gets to know Manhee and sympathizes with her. Claire is like a person who can see Manhee’s possible future or past selves, through the mysterious power of the beach tunnel. Through taking photos, Claire has acquired the ability to look slowly at things, and to transform objects. Now, Claire goes with Manhee to the café where she was fired. We look forward to seeing Claire’s power at work.

A co-production with France.

On the eve of Macau's handover to China, police officer Shing is having the worst time of his life. Suspended for suspected corruption, he tries to find solace with an elfin creature by the name of Yan, whom he just picks up. As he tries to smooth-talk her to bed, she suddenly snaps back with the biggest turn-off imaginable: that she is the daughter he never knew existed!While Shing desperately tries to hold himself together, his bachelor life inevitably falls apart as Yan insists on living under his roof. Together the two of them start roaming through exotic Macau, tracking down Yan's missing puppy and striving to acquaint with each other. No sooner has Shing grown into his new role as a father than he finds his hands full: when Yan is not fighting with his girlfriend Kate, she is being bothered by her dorky classmate Fai

Asia the invincible (Brigitte Lin) comes back to kill all her impostors and to restore the order in the world of martial arts.