Just found out that the China Institute is having a free screening tonight (Thursday, Feb. 25) of the film MAO’S LAST DANCER. Here’s what they say:

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MAO’S LAST DANCER is based on Li Cunxin’s best-selling autobiography, chronicling his journey from a grueling apprenticeship as a classical dancer in communist China to the glory of creative freedom and international stardom.  MAO’S LAST DANCER captures the intoxicating effects of first love, celebrity and the triumph of individual endeavor.
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Thursday, February 25th
7:00 PM
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AMC Loews Village 7
66 Third Avenue at 11th Street
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To RSVP for you and up to 4 guests, simply send your name, zip code and date of birth to MaosLastDancer@gmail.com.

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Comments (0) Feb 25 2010

The big news this week is that on Tuesday, February 9 @ 7pm the Korean Cultural Service will be holding a free screening of the intense Korean thriller, BEAUTIFUL, with its director, Jun Jai-Hong, in attendance. The movie is based on a script by Kim Ki-Duk (THE ISLE) and Jun is one of his assistant directors making his directorial debut with this story of a beautiful woman who is sick of being hassled by guys because she’s good looking. Her solution? Destroy her own beauty by any means necessary - and it all ends very, very, very badly. Sexual politics tinged with plenty of body horror, it’s intense psychological horror like you’ve never seen. (read a review) To attend the screening, just rsvp to the Korean Cultural Service: rsvp underscore cine at koreanculture dot org. It’ll be held at the Tribeca Cinemas (down on the corner of Varick and Canal).

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Also opening this weekend on Feb. 5 is the new Jackie Chan movie, THE SHINJUKU INCIDENT. A so-so thriller, it’s a visually rich morality tale about the rise and fall of a Chinese gangster (Chan) in Japan. No stunts, and the action is of the big brawl variety, it’s a tamped-down, very reserved performance for Chan and it’s playing in Manhattan at the Loews Village Seven on the corner of Third Avenue and 11th Street. (read a review) (showtimes)

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Incredibly, HOUSE, the 1977 psychedelic masterpiece from Japan, is still playing at the IFC Center. It’s a runaway hit that came from nowhere and is making big bank. (read a review) (tickets and showtimes)

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3 IDIOTS is still the biggest Bollywood box office hit of all time and it’s still playing all over the five boroughs. (showtimes)

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Ram Gopal Varma’s news media thriller, RANN, is still playing in the city. (showtimes)

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Up at the ImaginAsian the Bollywood film ISHQIYA is playing. This romance/thriller flick is getting rave reviews (you can read one of them here, and another of them here) and being called “…explosively raw, ribald, gritty, grimy, and, most of all, real.” (tickets and showtimes)

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Film Forum’s 100th birthday party for Akira Kurosawa wraps up this week with a run of Kurosawa’s last acknowledged masterpiece, RAN. (showtimes and tickets)

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Comments (0) Feb 02 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

Welcome to this week’s Subway Cinema News.

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The big news this week? Celebrate Halloween with a special screening of the Japanese cult classic HOUSE on Halloween, October 31 at 2pm, 4:30pm, 6:50pm and 9:15pm. This flick had two sold-out screenings to two crazed audiences at this summer’s New York Asian Film Festival and it will blow your mind. Read all about it here. Then go to the BAM site and buy tickets here.

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This HOUSE is made of bonkers.

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Also, this week the South Asian International Film Festival is running. Movies of note are:

- THE LAST THAKUR: not the most pulse-pounding western you’ll ever see but it’s a pretty fascinating film noir western set in Bangladesh.

- RED ALERT: a thrashing flick about a farmer drafted into the modern-day Maoist revolutionary Draxalite movement. Lots of guns, lots of shouting, lots of Maoist theory.

- BUBONIC FILMS GONZO TRAILER EXTRAVAGANZA - if you’ve never been treated to Omar “Hell’s Ground” Khan’s package of freaked-out Pakistani exploitation film clips and trailers then you haven’t lived. A can’t miss screening.

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One dude. Two lions. Two knives.

Stabbing their brains. Pakistani

exploitation FTW!!!!

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More info on the festival can be found here.

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Thursday, October 29th, the best film in the Korean Cultural Service’s “Sisterly Ties” series will be playing, SISTERS ON THE ROAD, starring Shin Min-Ah (from GO GO 70’s, BITTERSWEET LIFE and VOLCANO HIGH) and Kong Hyo-Jin (recipient of the first ever NYAFF Rising Star of Asia award). (More info on the film) (More info on the series)

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Sistahs on the Road!

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On Sunday, November 1 at 3pm and 7pm, BAM is screening Hou Hsiao-hsien’s masterpiece (well, I prefer THE PUPPETMASTER, but there you go) CITY OF SADNESS starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai. (More info)

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ONG BAK 2, Tony Jaa’s monster-sized crazy epic of punching and kicking is still screening only at the Village East Cinemas. (See showtimes) (Read a review)

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ONG BAK 2 will hurt your face.

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And don’t miss the last day (Thursday!) of Hong Sang-Soo’s NIGHT & DAY at the Anthology Film Archives. It’s a great film from one of Korea’s greatest directors, set in France. Plus, the Anthology deserves your support. (More info)

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Comments (0) Oct 28 2009

Just in case anyone cares, here’s a review of ONG BAK 2 written for Slate by Subway Cinema’s very own Grady Hendrix.

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Enjoy!

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Comments (0) Oct 23 2009

This Sunday, October 18th, Kinokuniya Bookstore is holding an all-day Tezuka day celebration. That’s right, the god of Japanese manga is being feted with events running all afternoon.

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Astro Boy Screening - 12 PM
Spend an hour with the original Astro Boy cartoon courtesy of Right Stuf!
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Vertical, Inc. 1 PM
Vertical publishes Black Jack, Dororo, and a whole world of Tezuka manga. Learn firsthand about how to find Tezuka manga in America!
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The Art of Osamu Tezuka 2 PM
Abrams Books is publishing the definitive look at Osamu Tezuka’s career The Art of Osamu Tezuka by Author Helen McCarthy. See it here first!
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Samurai Beat Radio 3 PM
Samurai Beat Radio broadcasts from NYC to Japan, and they’re coming to talk with fans about Astro Boy featuring celebrity guest Miho Hatori (formerly from the band Cibo Matto) as well as Tezuka World in Japan with friends at Continental Airlines and JTB.
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Raffle 4:30 PM
Enter all day at Kinokuniya, and be here at 4:30 PM for your chance to win a selection of Tezuka anime and manga!

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Kinokuniya Bookstore is at 1073 Ave of The Americas (6th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets).

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(More on Osamu Tezuka)

Comments (0) Oct 16 2009

Welcome to this week’s Subway Cinema News. The big news this week…the New York Film Festival is in town with tons of new Asian movies and retro goodness.

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In terms of new movies, they’re screening Bong Joon-Ho’s unmissable MOTHER, Sabu’s much-acclaimed CRAB CANNERY SHIP (going by the Japanese title KANIKOSEN and one of the Village Voice’s top five picks of the fest - watch the trailer here) and the other big movie that’s getting a lot of press, Zhao Dayong’s three-hour documentary GHOST TOWN about the few remaining residents of a tiny little town in the middle of Nowheresville, China. (tickets and more info)

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Bong Joon-Ho’s unmissable MOTHER.

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The New York Film Festival is going all-out for Asian retrospectives this year. From September 26 - October 6 they’ll be presenting the academically-titled (Re)inventing China: A New Cinema for a New Society 1949 - 1966 which is a massive, twenty-film retrospective of movies from early Communist China. (Full info)

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Then, from October 7 - 11 they’ll be doing a Guru Dutt retrospective, A Heart as (Big) as the World: the Films of Guru Dutt. Although black-and-white Indian movies may not be your cup of tea, give something by Guru Dutt a chance. Like Hollywood’s golden age studio slaves, he created a personal cinema inside a massive commercial moviemaking system. (Full info)

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October 3, the Korea Society and the Film Society of Lincoln Center present CROSSROADS OF YOUTH, a very special screening for the Keaton’s in which Alex learns that kindly, fun-loving Uncle Ned may have a problem with…alcoholism. Just kidding! It’s actually a very special screening of Korea’s oldest surviving silent film, with live musical accompaniment and a narrator. Much more information here. This is part of the New York Film Festival.

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Hayao Miyazaki’s PONY is still playing all over town, including screenings at the Landmark Sunshine. Still! Unbelievable! And great! (showtimes)

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Comments (0) Sep 24 2009

Subway Cinema News: your weekly guide to Asian movies in NYC! And this week it’s stuff but there’s also news about upcoming stuff that’s pretty exciting.

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Have you ever heard of the Sikh International Film Festival (SIFF!)? Neither have we, but it’s true and it’s happening. September 18 - 19, at the Asia Society and their guest of honor is Mira Nair (that’s funny, she doesn’t look like a sikh). They’ve got a party, shorts, documentaries and three feature films, MY MOTHER INDIA, FLYING SIKHS (about Sikh fighter pilots) and NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR AND THE VIA DOLOROSA PROJECT, described as a “semi-autobiographical art documentary” which spells “party!” to me. (more info)

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EVANGELION 1.0: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE sounds like the title of a really bad song about a break-up in Kansas that you find on a cassette tape on the floor of your car but it’s not. It’s the latest blossoming of the EVENGELION franchise, the first in a four-part series of animated features that reboots the franchise, directed by its creator, Hideaki Anno. I say “latest” but it’s from 2007. Still, it hasn’t had a US release yet and now it’s playing at Cinema Village. (more info) (the trailer)

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Speaking of Japanese animation, Hayao Miyazaki’s PONYO is still playing at Manhattan’s Landmark Sunshine as well as a ton of other theaters around the city (full list here).

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UPCOMING STUFF:

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October 3, the Korea Society and the Film Society of Lincoln Center present CROSSROADS OF YOUTH, a very special screening for the Keaton’s in which Alex learns that kindly, fun-loving Uncle Ned may have a problem with…alcoholism. Just kidding! It’s actually a very special screening of Korea’s oldest surviving silent film, with live musical accompaniment and a narrator. Much more information here. This is part of the New York Film Festival.

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This is the CROSSROADS OF YOUTH!

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The New York Film Festival is going all-out for Asian retrospectives this year. Along the same lines as EVANGELION 1.0: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE, From September 26 - October 6 they’ll be presenting (Re)inventing China: A New Cinema for a New Society 1949 - 1966 which is a massive, twenty-film retrospective of movies from early Communist China. (Full info)

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“We’ve got our tickets!”

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Then, from October 7 - 11 they’ll be doing a Guru Dutt retrospective, A Heart as (Big) as the World: the Films of Guru Dutt. Although black-and-white Indian movies may not be your cup of tea, give something by Guru Dutt a chance. Like Hollywood’s golden age studio slaves, he created a personal cinema inside a massive commercial moviemaking system. (Full info)

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Guru Dutt will cry if you don’t see his movies.

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And speaking of the New York Film Festival, there are plenty of contemporary Asian films in their line-up, including the much-anticipated, supposedly incredible CRAB CANNERY SHIP by Sabu and Bong Joon-Ho’s MOTHER, a return to form after the massive special effects of THE HOST. (Full festival info)

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Comments (0) Sep 16 2009

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The big news of the week: opening tomorrow, Kore-eda’s STILL WALKING at the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. Love him or hate him, Kore-eda is becoming the heir to Japan’s humanist tradition, best exemplified by folks like Yasujiro Ozu and Mikio Naruse, and he’s made some great films in his time (NOBODY KNOWS is pretty darn amazing). STILL WALKING has been getting raves and it’s about time it landed in NYC. (read a Variety review) (and more about the film)

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And that Kore-eda retrospective is still running out at BAM, giving those late to the party a chance to catch up on his films like AFTER LIFE and lesser-seen flicks like WITHOUT MEMORY (which screens for free on Wednesday, August 31 at 9:15pm). (more info)

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If that’s not enough Japanese classic film, warm n’fuzzies for you, then head over to the IFC Center, which is screening Yasujiro Ozu’s TOKYO STORY this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11AM. (showtimes and tickets)

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And to cap it all off, up at Symphony Space, this Sunday at 7pm, there’s a double feature of Polanski’s KNIFE IN THE WATER at 7pm, followed by Kurosawa’s HIGH AND LOW.

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More tasteful Japanese movies? Alright, Miyazaki’s animated PONYO is still playing all over the place. Downtown hipsters can catch it at the Landmark Sunshine. Normal people can see it at the Kip’s Bay Loews, the AMC Empire 25, the Lincoln Square Loews, the 72nd Street Loews, the Orpheum 7 or even at the Regal in Brooklyn, the Cinemart Cinemas in Queens and the Regal Staten Island Stadium 16 in Staten Island. That’s a lot of PONYO! (read lots of PONYO reviews)

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“I’m a classic Japanese movie!”

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Comments (1) Aug 27 2009

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Welcome back! We’ve been on holiday for a while, but now Subway Cinema News is back in action, to bring you news on what Asian movies are playing in NYC each and every month.

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Hayao Miyazaki’s PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA is still playing all over town, most notably at the Landmark Sunshine. Unfortunately, from what I understand, it’s only playing dubbed into English.

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BAM is doing a Kore-eda retrospective through September 1st and you should try to see something. This line-up includes his amazing NOBODY KNOWS but, more importantly, HANA, which barely got a US release. It’s his samurai film and it’s sweet, unexpected and good natured, the total opposite of a grim, Kurosawan stab fest. (More info)

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Symphony Space is screening Kurosawa’s SEVEN SAMURAI this Sunday at 3pm.

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Also, this is very early, but if you liked HOUSE at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, you can see it again out at BAM on October 31st. It’s never too early to get in line.

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Comments (0) Aug 20 2009