The big news this week? Two big news! First, HOUSE. Second, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD.
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HOUSE is arguably one of the greatest movies ever made, but no matter how you feel you can’t argue that it’s not one of the most fun. We screened this lost, 1977 Japanese classic at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival and now it’s opening for a run at the IFC Center in a brand new 35mm print from Janus Films. If you see one movie this January, make it HOUSE! Some reviewers are taking the “look at this wacky Japanese movie” angle with their write-ups but there are also some great, more engaging reviews out there. Try Time Out New York or L Magazine. Or read the original 1977 Variety review over at Outcast Cinema and hear the writer’s neurons popping like popcorn as he tries to figure it out. (showtimes and more)
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The other big piece of news is Kim Ji-Won’s long-delayed THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD is coming to America! IFC plans to do more with it this spring, but first up they’re doing a screening at the Walter Reade Theater up at Lincoln Center on Friday, January 22 @ 7pm. Don’t know the film? Then try these facts on for size:
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FACT! Kim Ji-Won is probably one of the best directors in Korea right now and he brings an eye-warping visual sensibility to everything from horror (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) to action (the criminally unseen in America A BITTERSWEET LIFE).
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FACT! This is his homage to Sergio Leone westerns starring three of Korea’s biggest actors: Lee Byun-Hun (JSA), Song Kang-Ho (THE HOST) and Jung Woo-Sung (MUSA).
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FACT! The action setpieces in this movie took weeks to film and are jaw-dropping.
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FACT! This is a film that demands to be seen on the big screen and it may not ever play on a screen this big again. So this is your one chance to see it the way it was meant to be seen.
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Go see THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD! It’s a summer blockbuster smack in the middle of winter! Friday, January 22 @ 7pm. And if you’re a student the tickets are only $7! (read reviews) (tickets and showtimes)
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What else is going on this week? Well, Film Forum is still celebrating the 100th birthday of dead Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. The next major film in their four week series is the visually ravishing THRONE OF BLOOD. (more info)
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The former ImaginAsian theater is now showing two Bollywood movies (showtimes are here): CHANCE PE DANCE and DULHA MIL GAYA. The first of these, CHANCE PE DANCE, is a rags to riches showbiz story that’s been getting lousy reviews. And DULHA MIL GAYA has been called a throwback to mid-90’s Bollywood filmmaking. Whether that means it’s a fun pastiche or a lousy cliche’ is hard to tell. Here’s a review. (it’s also showing at other theaters in NYC)
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Is The Good The Bad and The Weird anything like Sukiyaki Western Django? I’m intrigued but man SWD was a big letdown (and I do adore Miike)!
Sorry to take so long to get back to you.
GBW is missing the goofy humor of SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO and it’s got a much bigger budget. It’s also in Korean, not English. However it operates like a summer blockbuster: the story is thin and nothing new, the characters are super-stylized archetypes but the action setpieces and the overall scale of the movie are what really pays off.
If I had to pick an American movie to compare it to I’d say it’s like STAR TREK (big, glitzy blockbuster that delivers exactly what you expect it to deliver). It’s not as subversive as Bong Joon-Ho’s THE HOST but it’s a much more polished and successful Eastern Western than SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO.
Does that help at all?
It does indeed! Thank you Grady! I think I’ll check this out after all. ^_^