It took us a while, but the New York Asian Film Festival website is finally live! It’s got links to all ticket purchasing systems, trailers, film write-ups and more!

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Our web development team. Take a bow, guys!

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This is the easiest way to buy tickets. If you want a ticket to MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD, just click on “Films” and either find them in the schedule or in the alphabetical listing. Then you can click on the showtime you want and it’ll send you to the correct ticketing system (one screening is at Japan Society and one is at the Walter Reade).

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Here it is in all its glory!

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Spread the word!

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Comments (0) Jun 17 2010

The official 2010 New York Asian Film festival trailer makes its debut online. Enjoy, humans.

And there’s also a short version out there.

Comments (3) Jun 05 2010

We got nothing. This week is seriously dead as far as Asian film is concerned.

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Up at Big Cinemas (the old ImaginAsian) new Bollywood flick RAAJNEETI is playing. It’s a big, epic family drama about the crimes of a political family that aroused some controversy for apparently being based on real life figures. (read a review) (showtimes and tickets)

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Amazingly, HOUSE ended its run at the IFC Center. Bye bye, Hausu. You’ll be missed.

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HOUSE says, “Bye bye, humans.”

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Japan Cuts: Festival of Contemporary Japanese Film runs from July 1 – July 16 and they’ve already got their full line-up and schedule online. Lots of amazing films, including screenings of MEMORIES OF MATSUKO and the terrific and largely unseen HANGING GARDEN. (full line-up and schedule for Japan Cuts)

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On Tuesday, June 7 @ 7pm, Korean movie night is free at the Tribeca Cinemas. This week, a screening of the over-the-top, truly gorgeous, based-on-a-true-story, swordplay epic, THE SWORD WITH NO NAME. It was a big hit in Korea last year, and it’s here for free to help you beat this crushing heat. (more info) (watch the trailer)

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We are stoopid because we is brain hurt from working on festival. Korean Movie Night is June 15, not 7. Sawrry.

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“Subway Cinema News,

you are made of 100% idiot.”

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And keep your eyes on this page for New York Asian Film Festival (June 25 – July 8 ) info next week: on Tuesday, June 7 the full schedule goes up and on Friday, June 10 tickets go on sale. And this year the tickets are cheaper than they’ve ever been before! We’re practically giving these movies away!

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Comments (0) Jun 04 2010

Three big events this week.

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Frozen Flower is fabulous!

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First off, coming up at 7pm on Tuesday, May 11 there’s a free screening (sponsored by the Korean Cultural Service) at the Tribeca Cinemas of FROZEN FLOWER. We wanted to screen this flick in last year’s New York Asian Film Festival but we couldn’t book it in time, and it’s a bloody, swoony, sexy ball of fun. The King is in love with his bodyguard and the two dudes are doing just fine, but someone has to sire an heir with the Queen. Naturally, everyone makes all the wrong decisions and decapitations, castrations, torture, battles, secret love affairs, betrayals and palace invasions ensue. (more info) (read a review)

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RoboGeisha is dangerous!

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Tickets are still available for the ROBOGEISHA party and screening on Tuesday, May 18 at 7:30pm up at Japan Society. A special, pre-New York Asian Film Festival event, tickets are only $12 and you’ll get: ROBOGEISHA, the world’s weirdest movie, a party afterwards, special screenings of never-before-seen shorts and, hopefully, a live Skype Q&A with the director, Noboru Iguchi. Also, the New York Asian Film Festival Japanese line-up and guests will be revealed! There aren’t too many tickets available, and this is on its way to selling out, so if you want to go, you should buy now. (more info) (the amazing ROBOGEISHA trailer) (buy tickets)

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Yasmin Ahmad’s MUKHSIN

will break your heart.

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As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one Malay filmmaker who matters: Yasmin Ahmad. Sadly, she passed away in 2009. One of my biggest regrets is that we were never able to get any of her movies into the New York Asian Film Festival. Ahmad made deceptively simple family dramas that were full of heart, silver bullets of sincerity in a world that’s gradually being choked to death by irony.  The government gave her a hard time on a regular basis since many of her films involved relationships between Muslim and non-Muslim Malays, and they did their best to keep her movies out of theaters. But her fans, and Malays in general, had an enormous amount of love for her – all the more remarkable when you realize that it was widely known that she was transgendered. Most people in Malaysia? They just didn’t care. She was a national treasure, much-loved for her humility and compassion and you can catch a full retrospective of her films at MOMA from May 5 – 12, and all of them are worth your time. (full info)

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This Saturday and Sunday, the IFC Center is screening Hayao Miyazaki’s SPIRITED AWAY, what a lot of fans think is his last truly great movie. (buy tickets) Kim Ji-Woon’s THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD, a massive, popcorn-munching western, is still playing at the IFC (buy tickets) and, incredibly, HOUSE, the 1977 Japanese cult hit, is still playing midnight shows, months after it was first released! (buy tickets to HOUSE)

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Comments (0) May 07 2010

Subway Cinema, Funimation, Giant Robot and Japan Society bring you…
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ROBOGEISHA

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Tuesday, May 18, 7:30 PM
at Japan Society

Buy tickets now!

$12 general admission

$8 seniors, students and Japan Society members

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A special event to herald the coming of Japan Cuts: Festival of New Japanese Film (July 1 – 16) and the New York Asian Film Festival (June 25 – July 8 )
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Films will be announced! Prizes will be given! There will be a party after the screening! Two Iguchi/Nishimura shorts will be shown in the US for the first time! Possible Q&A via the internets! Your pants will explode!

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Geisha Chainsaw!

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Watch the amazing ROBOGEISHA trailer. It will make you levitate.

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From the demented imagination of director Noboru Iguchi, the man who brought the world the cult sensation MACHINE GIRL, comes the latest installment of outrageous genre-stomping cinema from Japan: ROBOGEISHA!
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Kikue and Yoshie, two sisters in geisha training, are kidnapped and forced into the shadowy world of the Kageno Corporation, a steel company that’s actually the front for a terrorist organization bent on returning Japan to more traditional values. Using their massive Geisha Army and a pair of seemingly supernatural, bikini-clad female assassins, Kageno’s maniacal president and his handsome son plot to assassinate business and political leaders throughout the country, then drop an atomic device directly onto Mt. Fuji, in order to disrupt the economy so that their puppet government can take over. Central to their plan are the two sisters, who will be converted into mechanical geisha in order to lead the army to victory. But before that can happen, Yoshie begins to question the deadly work they’ve been assigned, and ask herself: “Is there is more to life than being a kimono-clad, robotic killing machine?”
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Geisha Mini-Tank!

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Over-the-top doesn’t even begin to describe the work of director Iguchi and his collaborators, including makeup effects supervisor Yoshihiro Nishimura, (TOKYO GORE POLICE and VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL). Acid breast milk, fried shrimp used as weapons, butt-swords, a giant castle robot, and geisha that transform into dune buggies make up just 1/10th of this wild mix of crazy action, splatter, peek-a-boo sexiness, bizarre movie references, and inappropriate comedy.
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This is the antidote to overblown, bloated, mega-budgeted American action films that have lots of money but no creativity. ROBO-GEISHA has so many insane ideas that you’ll either end up with your jaw on the floor or your head in your hands.
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This screening will be followed by a party of epic proportions, special announcements will be made revealing top secret titles in this year’s festivals, prizes will be given away and two short films by director Iguchi and Nishimura will be screened for the first time with English subtitles:
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SCARY GEISHA ARMY: WELCOME TO HELL!
(16:50, directed by Noboru Iguchi, starring Yui Murata, Asami, Masaki Suzumura)
A spin-off from ROBOGEISHA, a young girl joins the Geisha Army with a secret mission: to discover what happened to her missing brother. The truth, it turns out, is far more ridiculous than anything she could have imagined.

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Geisha Aerobics…in 3D?!?

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VAMPIRE FRANKENSTEIN GIRL
(15:30, directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura, starring Tsugumi Nagasawa, Maki Mizui, Yoshiki Takahashi, Cay Izumi)
Set in the VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL universe, it follows Monami as she becomes a vigilante avenger, tracking down a red-haired, serial killer who’s targeted the infamous Ganguro Girls and Wrist-Cutter champion from the original film. If you thought the original VG vs. FG was politically incorrect, you won’t believe the follow-up.

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And, if the internet gods cooperate, there will be a one-of-a-kind, sure-to-be-ridiculous Q&A with the makers of the film afterward, live from Tokyo. If you value your fanboy cred, and if IRON MAN 2 didn’t quite satisfy your jones for weapon-encrusted, battle-suit action, don’t miss this show!
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Tickets on sale now!
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And here’s the Japan Society write-up!

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Comments (0) Apr 27 2010

From March 31 (tomorrow!) until April 18, the Japan Society is hosting an incredible series of films, “Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know: Three Untamed Beauties.” This features rare and amazing films from three of Japan’s most hardcore actresses, Meiko Kaji, Ayako Wakao and Mariko Okada. Starring in some of the most outrageous, stylish and over-the-top movies in Japanese cinema, these three women are some of the greatest actresses you’ve never heard of, and this is your chance to finally welcome them into your life.

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First up is TATTOO (aka THE SPIDER TATTOO) on Wednesday, March 31 @ 7:30pm starring Ayako Wakao. The program notes say:

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“A dark erotic tale from the director of Blind Beast, Tattoo (Irezumi) follows the descent of a woman whose extreme beauty and ferocious nature bring her to the abyss. Otsuya, the daughter of a wealthy pawnbroker, charms her weak-willed lover into eloping with her. As they try to escape, she is abducted and sold to a geisha house by unscrupulous ruffians. Soon, she catches the eye of a tattoo master who uses her body as a living surface for his unholy art: he engraves into her flawless ivory flesh a large and monstrous spider tattoo. As if under the invisible influence of its evil force, Otsuya grows ever more wicked as she excels in the trade she has been forced into, eventually consuming the lives of the unwitting men she holds in her thrall. Did the tattoo artist transform her into the creature she has become, irredeemably spoiling her soul and skin, or in fact unleash the beast within?”

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There’s an after-party with DJ Miho Hatori (of Cibo Matto fame) and tickets are only $15. Free beer! Free food! Awesome movie!

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Full program info.

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Comments (0) Mar 30 2010

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