As part of Korean Movie Night, tomorrow, Tuesday, March 9 @ 7pm, there will be a free screening of Ryoo Seung-Wan’s debut feature, DIE BAD. The screening will be at the Tribeca Cinemas (on the corner of Varick and Canal Streets) and tickets are free and given on a first-come, first-serve basis. The doors open at 6:30pm and there are about 130 seats, so there should be room for everyone who wants to come.

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This is part of the Korean Cultural Service’s Korean Movie Night series and while the first four screenings were dedicated to Indie films from Korea, this series will be all about remakes (next up is SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, slated for a remake by the team that make GI JOE and TRANSFORMERS 2; then THE PHONE, slated for a remake by the original director). DIE BAD is supposed to be remade by Marc Forster, director of MONSTER’S BALL and QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

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The original movie sees Ryoo weave together four storylines (each originally shot as its own short film) into a heavy metal action flick that allows he and his friends to go stunt crazy as they show the world how to make a fight film, Korean-style. Budgeted at just $55,000 it’s fast, it’s furious and it’s as brash and sudden as a fist to the face.

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Read a review. Or, read another review. And you can go here to read an interview with director Ryoo Seung-Wan.

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Comments (0) Mar 08 2010

Starring James Van Der Beek (Dawson!) as an FBI agent investigating the murder of a Taiwanese activist, this American film stars a fair amount of Chinese talent (Kenneth Tsang, Tzi Ma) and features a pro-independence message. It opens this weekend at the Village East (on Second Avenue around 12th Street) and the UA Midway Cinemas (108-22 Queens Blvd) where it’ll have Chinese subtitles.

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(read reviews)

(theaters playing the film)

(watch the trailer)

(official website)

Comments (0) Feb 25 2010

Thank god it’s not the Chow Yun-fat CONFUCIUS. This Saturday, February 27 @ 5pm and 7pm the China Institute will screen Fei Mu’s lost 1940 classic film, CONFUCIUS. The 7pm screening will also feature a talk by Weihong Bao, assistant professor of Chinese Film and Media Culture at Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.

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The China Institute is located at 125 East 65th Street.

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Fei Mu’s CONFUCIUS is a gorgeous, black-and-white film about the legendary philosopher that was produced to raise morale during the Sino-Japanese war in 1940. It was revived in 1948 and then thought lost. But in 2001 a copy of the negative was donated to the Hong Kong Film Archive who then meticulously restored the film and released it again in 2009. This screening will be from a digital source. Tickets are $20 for non-members.

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(more info and tickets)

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Comments (0) Feb 25 2010

From March 3 - 9, new films from this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival are playing at BAM.

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AUTUMN ADAGIO (2009, Japan) - Tsuki Inoue directs this flick about a middle-aged nun who meets three different men. And it’s not a porno. (Read a review)

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Miyoko

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MIYOKO (2009, Japan) - a lush biopic about a manga artist, his mostly-naked model/muse and the boho 70’s lifestyle they lead. (Read a review)

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Mundane History…lookin’, well, mundane.

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MUNDANE HISTORY (2009, Thailand) - the director of the first Thai short film to be an official selection of Cannes makes her feature debut in this “metaphysical family drama about an elusive father, a paralyzed son and the male nurse hired to take care of him.” Huh. The reviews make it sound no less perplexing, but sort of interesting, too. (Read a review)

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MY DAUGHTER (2009, Malaysia) - a mother/daughter story. Mom is a hairdresser with a complicated love life. Her daughter is a teenager. Complications ensue.

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SUN SPOTS (2009, Hong Kong) - an HD feature described as “stylistically daring.” That sometimes means “incomprehensible.” But sometimes it means “really good.”

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Tickets and showtimes.

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Comments (0) Feb 17 2010

Film Comment Selects is the annual, slightly less geriatric version of the New York Film Festival that takes place up at the Walter Reade and it’s programmed by Gavin Smith who is a lot more welcoming of Asian film. This year’s program includes the following:

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THE ACCIDENT (Friday, Feb. 19 & Saturday, Feb. 20) - everyone wondered what Hong Kong director, Soi Cheang, would do after his brutal DOG BITE DOG (and everyone sort of dismissed his hair metal SHAMO) and the answer is THE ACCIDENT. A locked-down, chilly thriller about a group of hitmen in Hong Kong who make each death look like a Rube Goldberg-style, one-of-a-kind accident, this movie has set pieces galore and features a mondo freako performance from Louis Koo. It loses its energy towards the end, but most of Soi Cheang’s movies do that. Well worth seeing this little beauty on the big screen. (tickets and showtimes)

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AIR DOLL (Tuesday, Feb. 23 & Saturday, Feb. 27) - Kore-eda shocked the simple-minded puritans when he decided not to make yet another mellow exploration of life and love and instead shot this punky little flick about an inflatable sex doll who comes to life when her owner is away at work. It’s like a porno version of The Velveteen Rabbit and it stars Bae Doo-Na (THE HOST, LINDA LINDA LINDA) one of Korea’s best actresses. No surprise it’s showing up on lots of Japanese top ten lists.

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A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY (Sunday, Feb. 28) - this is the can’t miss item in this year’s line-up. Edward Yang’s 1991 masterpiece about unrest in Taipei reinvented Taiwanese cinema and gave first jobs to a host of its biggest future stars, cameramen, production designers and actors. Almost totally unavailable on video, it’s also a stunning movie that stands with the best of world cinema.

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THE EXECUTION OF P (Friday, Feb. 26 & Sunday, Feb. 28) - Brillante Mendoza likes his crime movies, and this one (also known as KINATAY), repulsed audiences at Cannes. A slice of kitchen sink realism about a young man recruited to assist in the execution of a hooker, it’s pure intensity times 1000.

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LIKE YOU KNOW IT ALL (Tuesday, Mar. 2 & Wednesday, Mar. 3) - everyone loves Hong Sang-Soo, Korea’s arthouse comedian. If Woody Allen was Korean and had continued to mature and grow rather than stagnate and fester, he would have wound up like Hong, a director who knows how to tell a joke. In this flick, a director is invited to serve on a film festival jury and things quickly fall apart.

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PERFECT LIFE (Saturday, Feb. 20) - if you like Jia Zhangke then you’ll love this movie he produced all about hotel maids and troubled wives and capitalism and China.

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THE REVENGE: A VISIT FROM FATE (Sunday, Feb. 21)

THE REVENGE: THE SCAR THAT NEVER HEALS (Sunday, Feb. 21) - before Kiyoshi Kurosawa was Kiyoshi Kurosawa he was the director of a lot of low budget crime films, and these two have rarely been seen in theaters before. Shot in 1997, these quickies take the Dirty Harry concept and turn it inside out, Kurosawa-style.

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Tickets and schedule.

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Comments (0) Feb 11 2010

One of the major finds of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival was BREATHLESS, a movie about a violence-for-hire, gutter trash thug who is totally addicted to the rough stuff. Rather than being yet another Korean movie full of people smashing each other over the head with soju bottles, it quickly morphs into a sharp meditation on violence, both emotional, familial and physical, when our foul mouthed hero runs into a schoolgirl who can take whatever he can dish out.

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The movie was a labor of love for its star and director, Yang Ik-June, a no-name actor who sold his house to produce his movie which went on to win awards and accolades around the world. Now, thanks to the Korean Cultural Service, he’s coming to NYC along with BREATHLESS for a free screening on February 23 @ 7pm at the Tribeca Cinemas down on the corner of Varick and Canal. Yang Ik-June will be there and he’ll do a Q&A after the film.

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To reserve a place at the screening, just RSVP to

rsvp_cine at koreanculturedotorg

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Even if you RSVP-ed already, it’s a good idea to do it again because I think they’re restarting the RSVP list.

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BREATHLESS

Free screening

Tuesday, February 23 @ 7pm

At the Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal and Varick, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops)

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Comments (0) Feb 11 2010

This year’s Korean American Film Fest runs from February 27 - 28th at the massive SVA Theater down on 333 West 23rd street. Tickets are already on sale, and this year they’ve got some features well worth paying attention to.

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Park Chan-Wook’s THIRST is an under-rated vampire picture and while the reviews were mixed and it did poorly when it received a theatrical release, it’s a movie that deserves a second chance. Taking a lot of risks, it’s sexy and has a grim sense of humor that just keeps getting wetter and bloodier. Starring Song Kang-Ho (THE HOST) and Kim Ok-Bin (DASEPO NAUGHTY GIRLS). (more on the film) (watch the trailer)

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Other features of note are MUNYURANGBO a feature film about the Rwandan genocide told entirely through the POV of two teenaged boys. It’s received nothing but raves, most notably from Roger Ebert. (It’s in this fest because the director is Korean American).

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There are tons of shorts, Song Hye-Kyo’s American indie feature debut, MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME, and much more.

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Tickets and showtimes.

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Comments (0) Feb 10 2010

Best known in the US of A for THE HOST, Bong Joon-Ho is probably my favorite Korean director and he’s named Bong for Christ’s sake. From February 25 - March 1, BAM will be hosting a full retrospective of his films with him present. Here’s the line-up:

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MEMORIES OF MURDER (Feb. 25 @ 7:30pm) - I couldn’t like David Fincher’s ZODIAC after seeing BJH’s MEMORIES OF MURDER. Based on Korea’s first real-life serial killings that took place in the tiny town of Hwaseong back in the 80’s, Bong mixes cop thriller with a sense of slow-burning outrage and the kind of painful, immediate emotional intensity that I felt was missing from ZODIAC. Whereas ZODIAC is a superior account of what happened (This happened, then this, then this) it always felt to me like an assemblage of facts with a cool, detached directorial presence behind it. MEMORIES OF MURDER, on the other hand, is a story and it’s one where you can feel the director fumbling in the dark until he finds his voice and lets out a long, outraged howl. Starring Song Kang-Ho, this was a massive hit when it was released and it’s the one movie that’ll make you rethink all those cliched serial killer conventions. (read some reviews) (watch the trailer)

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MOTHER (Feb. 26 @ 7pm) - Bong’s latest is the story of a mother in a rural town whose mentally disabled son is accused of the murder of a local schoolgirl. Believing, despite all evidence to the contrary, that her son is innocent, the mother (played by Kim Hye-Ja) sets out to prove that her boy didn’t do it and in doing so she unravels a dark, gothic web of sin. Kim Hye-Ja is regarded as the face of motherhood in Korea, having played more mothers on TV and in movies than you would think is humanly possible and MOTHER is her finest hour, a tour de force for this 69-year-old actress. Magnolia will be releasing the film theatrically on March 12. (read a review) (watch the trailer) (see a list of theaters for the national release of MOTHER)

With director Bong Joon-Ho present.

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THE HOST (Feb. 27 @ 6:30pm & 9:30pm) - the movie that put Director Bong on the map overseas, THE HOST is the monster movie you always wanted to see: smart, funny and with a kick ass monster in the starring role. Song Kang-Ho, Bae Doo-Na and Byeon Hee-Bong star as the poor, lame, uninspired monster killers. They’re a dysfunctional family who has to get it together to rescue their daughter from the snorky beast. A monster-sized hit in Korea it’ll please everyone from genre enthusiasts to arthouse poseurs. (read a review) (watch the trailer)

With director Bong Joon-Ho present.

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BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (Feb. 28 @ 6:50pm & 9:15pm) - this is it! The one movie in this series that you HAVE to see. Bong Joon-Ho’s first movie is virtually unseen and it’s his best film by a country mile. Bae Doo-Na stars as a maintenance worker in a suburban housing estate investigating the murders of a a bunch of yappy lap dogs. One of Korea’s best actors, Lee Seong-Jae, stars as an out-of-work college lecturer desperate to get back onto the lecture circuit by any means necessary. Deeply funny and acquiring a surprising depth towards the end, this may be your only chance to see this movie on the big screen and you should leap on it with both feet. (read more) (watch the trailer)

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BONG JOON-HO SHORTS (March 1 @ 7pm) - three short films by BJH will play: SINK AND RISE, INFLUENZA and SHAKING TOKYO.

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Tickets and showtimes.

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Comments (0) Feb 10 2010

We’ve always said that our relationship with the films screened at the New York Asian Film Festival every year continues long after the festival proper ends. So here’s a report on some recent (and some not-so-recent) DVD releases of titles that screened at NYAFF this and last year.

Most recently, Los Angeles-based company Pink Eiga released BLIND LOVE and GROPER TRAIN: SEARCH FOR THE BLACK PEARL in DVD special editions. Screened this summer at the festival as part of the Pink Power! midnight series, the discs were released late last month and are available for sale at the Pink Eiga site and at Amazon and other retailers. GROPER TRAIN (directed by DEPARTURES Oscar winner Yojiro Takita) doesn’t have any special content specifically related to the fest (though it does include a cool interview with director Yutaka “Mr. Pink” Ikejima), but the BLIND LOVE disc is full of stuff related to us. Our intro and Q&A from the midnight screening is on there, plus newly-shot interviews with director Daisuke Goto and cinematographer Masahide Iioka from their NY trip. There’s also a commentary featuring the pair. Both are terrific discs and worth picking up—the perfect Christmas gift for open-minded friends and family!

Coming up next from Pink Eiga are the other pair of films that screened as part of our midnight double features: Takita’s comedic GROPER TRAIN: WEDDING CAPRICCIO and the gloriously filthy JAPANESE WIFE NEXT DOOR. Both come out officially on 1/24, but will be available for sale later this month directly from the Pink Eiga website.

Also out on DVD fairly recently are some titles from festival sponsor Media Blasters: NYAFF 2008 entries CHANBARA BEAUTY (released in August) and X-CROSS (released in October), and from this year’s festival, Tak Sakaguchi’s BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL (released in July), and giant monster parody MONSTER X STRIKES BACK (released in late June), which features the voice of “Beat” Takeshi Kitano!

Another longtime festival sponsor, Dragon Dynasty, released a pair of titles that screened at this summer’s festival: AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS and FIVE DEADLY VENOMS (in July and August, respectively).

Asian film newcomer Well Go USA released this summer’s SAMURAI PRINCESS on DVD last month, and have the HARD REVENGE MILLY pair of splatter action films lined up for release on 1/26.  Tai Seng put out DVD editions of 2009 festival entry IF YOU ARE THE ONE and 2008 audience favorite ASSEMBLY this past June, and Magnolia finally released an eagerly-awaited DVD of Hitoshi Matsumoto’s giant monster comedy DAINIPPONJIN, aka BIG MAN JAPAN (screened at NYAFF 2008) in July.

The newly-reformed Palisades-Tartan streeted 2008 discovery THE BUTCHER in October, and finally, fest sponsor Viz puts out the DVD of Japanese comic book sensation 20TH CENTURY BOYS next week, on 12/15, with Part 2 of the trilogy due on 2/16. Viz also released 2008 festival film L: CHANGE THE WORLD (part of the DEATH NOTE series) on DVD in August.

Comments (0) Dec 14 2009

One of Taiwan’s biggest directors, Tsai Ming-liang, will not only be getting a retrospective of his films at the Asia Society (The Faces of Tsai Ming-liang, Nov. 13 - 21) but he’s also going to be here to introduce a screening of his latest film, FACE (Nov. 15 @ 2pm - more info) and with him will be his longtime onscreen alter ego, Lee Kang-sheng. It’s an extreme bummer that the series doesn’t include THE WAYWARD CLOUD, Tsai’s most controversial and best movie (it’s an anti-porn musical) but it does include a rare screening of his first film, REBELS OF THE NEON GOD, so that’s something.

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Pretentious still from WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?

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(More info on the series)

Comments (0) Nov 06 2009