Now Playing
Still playing at the Angelika and the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Wong Kar-wai’s new and improved epic sword fight and vision quest, ASHES OF TIME REDUX. Is pretty.
.
.
.
On October 15 and 16, Fathom Entertainment and Viz will be hosting a two-night-only screening of DEATH NOTE 2: THE LAST NAME at several hundred theaters across the US. (Full list here). Unfortunately, they say the movie will be dubbed in English (no subs! boo hiss!) but the screening will also feature behind-the-scenes info and a video interview with director Shusuke Kaneko.
.
At ImaginAsian, Sanjay Gadhvi’s KIDNAP (starring middle-aged, unkillable action icon Sanjay Dutt) is a sexy, fast-paced film that takes you on a treasure hunt in the midst of a kidnapping. Existential questions arise despite the influx of sexual innuendo and bikinis. Here’s an excerpt from the India Times review:
“KIDNAP has a smart storyline with well-etched plot-points giving ample scope to both its key players to take precedence in the game without overshadowing the other at any instance…Also what sounds ludicrous is that the organized captor takes literal liberties in keeping his hostage unbound in the house and furthermore takes her to the beach for a bath. That’s an absolutely accommodating abductor!!! The hostage also seems to have access to a designer wardrobe with a spanking new outfit in every other scene.”
.
.
On October 17 @ 7:30pm, at the Japan Society, the monthly series “Best of Tora-san,” kicks off with a screening of Yoji Yamada’s OUR LOVEABLE TRAMP followed by a live, projected Q&A with Yamada (who will be participating remotely from Japan). The character of Tora-san was an iconic anti-hero whose humorous narratives captured the modernization of Japan. Tora-san’s film series is a tribute to longevity and good cinematic craftsmanship – with a new film out pretty much every year, all 48 of them (except a handful) were directed by Yoji Yamada and starred Kiyoshi Atsumi.
.
At MOMA as part of the ContemporAsian series, TIRADOR (SLINGSHOT) will play on Thursday, October 23. Directed by Brillante Mendoza (whose SERBIS played Cannes this year), this flick takes you into the Manila slums and let’s you watch a compelling, kinetic version of COPS in the Philippines. Overlapping stories of junkies, hustlers, hookers, hitmen, teen gangs and low life crooks form a tapestry of modern Manila life that will rock your socks off. Highly recommended.
.
.
Also on October 17 @ 7:30pm Barbet Schroeder’s INJU, THE BEAST IN THE SHADOWS will screen at BAM followed by a Q&A with Schroeder. Bleding ero-guro imagery, bits from the books of Edogawa Rampo and full of film noir stylistics, this film follows a French writer who falls in love with a geisha and stumbles into an underworld of…bondage!
.
At Anthology Film Archives, Lee Myung-Se’s NOWHERE TO HIDE plays October 23. In a dramatic portrayal of a good cop versus a hitman, the film becomes a dizzying, violent game of tag until the final showdown in a mining town. This is Director Lee’s greatest film, a big hit on its release, and a film whose North American DVD was unfortunately re-edited against his will. Now’s your chance to see the original in all its eye-popping glory.
.
.
.
RED ART directed by Hu Jie & Ai Xiaoming plays at the Asia Society on October 18 as part of the series, “Under Mao’s Red Sun: China’s Cultural Revolution on Film.”
No comments yet.