Subway Cinema News

It’s about time someone validated the sheer awesomeness of Subway Cinema by hacking our site. If you head on over to the main page (helpful link!) you’ll see what I’m talking about. Let us all bow down to the incredible hacking abilities of Oaddah who has managed to take a site with absolutely zero security hostage. I know that people often criticize those of us who love Asian movies as nerds and anti-social dorks of the lowest order, but thanks to kindly Oaddah we now know that there is a level even beneath this one. A level of unwashed, poorly-socialized mouth-breathers  with bad skin, their bodies nothing more than thin-skinned meat balloons holding in enormous quantities of partially digested junk food. Oaddah, thank you for letting us into your own private world of warcraft. It is a beautiful place.

Also, as a quick note, Subway Cinema does not believe that Israelis are “Super Terrorists.” Because here at Subway, we know that THIS is the real Super Terrorist:

Welcome to this week’s Subway Cinema News. It’s the Asian movies playing in NYC that you want to see.

What’s up with the ImaginAsian theater? Their website hasn’t been updated with new movies since August 21, and according to the site, there’s nothing playing today. So don’t go there, I guess? Who knows….but it’d be sad if the best Bollywood theater in Manhattan was closed, even temporarily.

(UPDATE: Al informs us that the ImaginAsian theater site is no longer being updated, but ticket sales are now being handled on Movieweb.com. The current movie playing at the newly renamed Phoenix Adlabs - The ImaginAsian Theater is Bollywood flick HIJACK! More info)

Indian-shot film about a pool cleaner in Goa, THE POOL, from the director of AMERICAN MOVIE, is still playing at Film Forum until September 16. (More info)

Takashi Miike’s gobsmacking SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO is still playing at the Landmark Sunshine. Yay! It was the number one indie film for its opening weekend so let’s all wish it a long, lucrative run. (Read a review)

At the Angelika, YEAR OF THE FISH is a Chinatown Cinderella story that slips between fantasy and reality, using animation to apply some magic to everyday grit as it tells the story of Ye Xian, a young girl working in a seedy massage parlor in NYC. (More info)

Big things happening at MOMA as well. The film exhibit “Looking at Music” is screening several flicks to pique the interest of Asian film fans.

THE STRANGE MUSIC OF NAM JUN PAIK, follows the titular video artist through their origins as a composer and classical pianist. You’ll see the influence of John Cage on Paik’s sprawling installations and Paik’s own musical passions are revealed. It’s screening September 6 @ 4:15pm and September 14 @ 2pm. (More info)

In NAM JUN PAIK - A TRIBUTE TO JOHN CAGE, Paik directs a documentary that cuts together interviews, performances and stories that reflect Cage’s influence on Paik’s work. (More info)

As part of the “Jazz Score” exhibit, Shohei Imamura’s DR AKAGI (KANZO SENSEI) will screen on September 6 @ 8:30pm and September 8 @ 6:15pm. This flick is set in a Japanese fishing village at the end of WW II. Japanese nationalism and Western admiration merge and clash while swing and jazz offsets the scenic Japanese coastline. (More info)

On November 25, TWO TIGERS will be released on DVD from Lionsgate.

And I have a passion for linguine! Beyond the obvious question of “Why?” Lionsgate has given us a new game to play!

Here’s their plot description of TWO TIGERS:

“In Shanghai, China, Gilda works as a professional killer.  A stunning blonde “femme Nikita,” she is a harmonious balance of bombshell beauty and martial arts expertise making her as skillful in the art of seduction as she is with a weapon.  When she is commissioned to take out an important Lebanese official, she goes undercover as the new manager of an information technology company, taking up residence in a beautiful condo.   In a fortuitous series of events, she becomes friends with a questionable neighbor, Lin, a beautiful Chinese girl who turns out to be a high-class call girl.  The dubious pair share many commonalities including a fierce independence, a guarded heart and dangerous careers which are perceived to be cold-blooded and materialistic.  The women’s lives are woven together in a fatal collision of love in the face of betrayal, and the ‘two tigers’ must struggle to overcome their individual obstacles in order to find their true happiness.”

This is like Mad Libs! Why don’t you try it?

“In (name of Chinese city), China, Gilda works as a (level of expertise) killer.  A stunning (hair color) “femme Nikita,” she is a (ancient Chinese adjective) balance of bombshell beauty and martial arts expertise making her as skillful in the art of (favorite hobby) as she is with a weapon.  When she is commissioned to take out an important (name of country found in recent issue of Newsweek) official, she goes undercover as the new manager of an (something the kids are doing on the internet you can’t understand) company, taking up residence in a beautiful condo.   In a (big word you don’t quite understand) series of events, she becomes friends with a questionable neighbor, Lin, a (”beautiful,” “free-spirited,” “slutty” - pick one) Chinese girl who turns out to be a high-class call girl.  The (another big word you don’t understand completely, preferably an adjective) pair share many commonalities including a (two words from the cover of this month’s Cosmo), a (something emo) and dangerous careers which are perceived to be cold-blooded and materialistic.  The women’s lives are woven together in a (your favorite kind of deadly vehicular accident) of love in the face of betrayal, and the two (favorite animal) must struggle to overcome their individual obstacles in order to find their true happiness.”

It’s a bit far afield of New York City, but Austin’s Fantastic Fest thunders like a herd of longhorns into the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in two weeks, and we’d feel like sad little cowpokes if we didn’t give our friends down there a shout-out. Besides, there are more than a few connections between FF and NYAFF.

For starters, they’re going to be screening the splatterific TOKYO GORE POLICE, which we hosted the North American premiere of back in June. Madman director Yoshihiro Nishimura is due in Austin for the screening, and based on his bad behavior at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival in July, it sounds like a can’t-miss screening. Bring a raincoat.

Fantastic Fest is also going to be screening a bunch of highly-recommended new Asian films that we really wanted to show, but for various reasons weren’t able to book. FF, since it takes place in the highly-enviable spot immediately after the behemoth Toronto Film Festival, had better access to these tentpole titles, and as a result will be presenting the US premieres of many of them, like the acclaimed (and extremely violent) Korean serial killer thriller THE CHASER (picked up not long ago by IFC for US release); the Thai RAIN MAN-with-martial-arts-and-a-girl action-fest CHOCOLATE; Japanese heartwarming pro wresting comedy GACHI BOY (aka WRESTLING WITH A MEMORY); A BITTERSWEET LIFE director Kim Ji-woon’s all-star, big-budget, Italian western / martial arts homage THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE WEIRD (also picked up by IFC for US release); and the anthology film TOKYO!, 1/3 of which is truly Asian and directed by THE HOST’s Bong Joon-ho.

But those aren’t the only Asian titles in their lineup. They’ll also be screening a couple of films NYAFF programmers liked, but decided not to show, like the is-it-the-third-part-of-a-trilogy-or-only-a-sequel? gore flick ART OF THE DEVIL 3 and the well-made, but overly familiar Thai boxing-versus-friendship epic MUAY THAI CHAIYA.

We’re also very excited to see that the Alamo guys aren’t averse to throwing some challenging titles into their lineup, like a movie we screened back in 2005 and continue to shower our love on, Go Shibata’s handicapped serial killer art film LATE BLOOMER, a movie that took years to find distribution in Japan and deserves all the adventurous viewers it can find. And they’re going retro with a rare 35mm screening of the Australia / Hong Kong co-production THE MAN FROM HONG KONG, which features beautiful scenery, awesome action (including Sammo Hung in a fight scene atop Ayers Rock), a killer theme song, Jimmy Wang Yu, and George Lazenby sporting a killer moustache and flared pants.

Last but not least, FF is presenting a four-film retrospective of Japanese pink films, in conjunction with the launch of the new FAB Press book BEHIND THE PINK CURTAIN: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF JAPANESE SEX CINEMA, by Midnight Eye founder and Raindance programmer Jasper Sharp. All four films are difficult to see, with two of them being given their international premieres via newly-struck, English-subtitled 35mm prints. But since one of the Subway members also helped to organize this retro, we’ll point you to his blog for the full details.

Good luck, defenders of the Alamo, and enjoy the BBQ!   - mw