On Tuesday, January 12 the Korean Cultural Service kicks off their year-long series of free screenings of Korean movies every other Tuesday at 7pm down at the Tribeca Cinemas. First up, DAYTIME DRINKING (Tuesday, January 12 @ 7pm). There’s no better way to get through this winter than watching this flick, a low budget deadpan comedy about a guy trapped in an off-season resort town that he can’t escape because a gallery of weirdos keep getting him drunk. See Korea at its coldest, and drinking at its funniest.

(The Tribeca Cinemas are at 54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train at their Canal Street stops.)

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Admission is free and seats are on a first come, first served basis. If you want to make sure you have a seat reserved, then just RSVP to the Korean Cultural Service, info at koreanculturedotorg. (some more info) (read reviews)

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Also, Film Forum is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Akira Kurosawa with a four week 28-film retrospective of his movies. You can check out the whole schedule here, but his pulp flick STRAY DOG is first up (playing through January 14). And if you haven’t by now seen at least a few of his classics (SEVEN SAMURAI, HIGH & LOW, THRONE OF BLOOD, IKIRU) then you should make sure you do. After all, the guy’s 100. And maybe after this people might give Kurosawa a break and start screening some other Japanese directors from time to time. (more info)

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The IFC Center is still screening hard-hitting Korean thriller THE CHASER on Friday and Saturdays at Midnight. If you want to see a ticking clock suspense film that starts with an ex-cop pimp looking for one of his girls who has been abducted by a serial killer, and ends with a hammer to the face, then this one’s for you. (more info) (read reviews)

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The Bollywood comedy, 3 IDIOTS, is still playing at the ImaginAsian as well as at the Loews Village 7 and a bunch of other NYC theaters. It even gets a shout-out on Boing Boing, which reminded me that, yes, the first time you see a Bollywood movie it is a deeply weird, mind-expanding experience.

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