Subway Cinema News

Welcome to Subway Cinema News, your one-stop shopping center for Asian film events in NYC.

Angelica Film Center
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS (2008, Hong Kong/USA)
Daily
Wong Kar-wai’s latest movie stars Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and a bunch of other folks and, frankly, you should save your money. Interminable and screechy it’s one of WKW’s only true misfires. It looks good, though, but you’ve seen all these visual tics and tricks in his other movies, and done better, too. Hey, look: reviews!

Wow! A lamp shaped like Natalie Portman!

IFC Center
THE FILMS OF KENJI MIZOGUCHI
Friday, Saturday and Sunday @ 11AM
Japan’s master director has been largely relegated to lurk in the shadow of Akira Kurosawa, but over the past five years a number of retrospectives have hauled him back into the light. He’s one of Japan’s best, most subtle and most heart-breaking directors, like the Lubitsch of tragedy: making gorgeous women’s pictures that are delicate, understated and poignantly softspoken.

THE LIFE OF OHARU (Japan, 1952)
May 30-Jun 1
This is the Mizoguchi movie most fans see one time only. Oharu is a lady of the court and this film is a greased pole that sends her sliding on the fast road to hell, winding up a broken-down beggar. Every inch she falls hurts, hurts, hurts. Cinematic suffering at its most acute.

SANSHO THE BAILIFF (Japan, 1954)
Jun 13-15
This is Mizoguchi’s masterpiece, and if you haven’t seen it I don’t have anything to say but, “Go!” And maybe I’ll add, “Now!” Lots of critics cite it as the movie that opened their eyes to what film is capable of, this is one of the great Japanese classic movies, based on a great Japanese classic story. Action, romance, slavery, mothers, sons, mistaken identities…if Kurosawa whispered instead of shouted he’d have made it.

The ImaginAsian
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS (2008, Hong Kong/USA)
Daily
Wong Kar-wai’s latest movie stars Norah Jones, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and a bunch of other folks and, frankly, you should save your money. Interminable and screechy it’s one of WKW’s only true misfires. It looks good, though, but you’ve seen all these visual tics and tricks in his other movies, and done better, too. Hey, look: reviews!

HOLLYWOOD CHINESE (2008, USA)
Daily
A documentary on the portrayal of Chinese people in Hollywood movies doesn’t sound like much fun, but HOLLYWOOD CHINESE has been garnering raves and returns to NYC for this encore engagement. Directed by Oscar nominee, Arthur Dong, it features Ang Lee, Joan Chen, Wayne Wang, Nancy Kwan, James Hong, Lisa Lu, B.D. Wong, Tsai Chin and writers Amy Tan and David Henry Hwang among others.

Read the NY Times review.

MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
MUKSHIN (Malaysia, 2006, 94 minutes)

Wednesday, May 28 @ 6pm
Thursday, May 29 @ 8:30pm
Friday, May 30 @ 8pm
Saturday, May 31 @ 7:30pm
Sunday, June 1 @ 2pm
Monday, June 2 @ 6pm
Yasmin Ahmad is Malaysia’s most exciting filmmaker and one of that country’s most popular, although she drives the government nuts by making their censors work overtime even though her movies are mostly romances, romantic comedies, and gently observed dramas about how people get along (or don’t) in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society like Malaysia. MUKSHIN is the story of first love, and it’s a flick people absolutely love.

Read a review

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 11:33 pm and is filed under Subway Cinema News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.