Subway Cinema News

This week saw the release of a pair of 1970s Nikkatsu Roman Porno films from specialty DVD label Mondo Macabro.

The two films really couldn’t be more different, and taken together give a pretty good portrait of the subgenre that lasted from 1971 until the early 80s, producing hundreds of films and making careers for many actresses, screenwriters and directors, quite a number of whom transitioned into more mainstream films after the genre folded.

We helped to broker the deal that allowed Mondo to release these two films, and assisted with title selection—four more great films are on the way, next up being Masaru Konuma’s 1983 Joshu Ori, aka Female Prisoner: Cage, a sleazy women-in-prison epic with some jaw-dropping sequences. Look for it in early 2009.

But back to the titles you can actually buy now.

My favorite of the two, and the only title that has seen previous subtitled DVD release (way back in the early days of the format, as a PAL format disc from a UK label called Pagan Films, also run by the guys behind Mondo Macabro) is Noboru Tanaka’s glossy and respectable 1976 adapation of several Edogawa Rampo stories, The Watcher in the Attic (aka Yaneura no sanpo-sha, which actually translates to “The Walker in the Attic”). Starring Roman Porno starlet Junko Miyashita and future Takashi Miike company actor Renji Ishibashi, the story takes place in Rampo’s favorite Taisho era (the 1920’s), and follows a warder in a boarding house (Ishibashi) who secretly spies on the other tenants from above, through peepholes in the attic floor. One day, he catches sight of a beautiful woman (Miyashita) having sex with a man in a clown suit (no, really). Wanting to learn more about her, he eventually witnesses her commit a murder, but realizes that she knows she’s being watched. He eventually reveals his identity to her and the two begin a destructive love affair that also ends in murder.

Tanaka creates a beautiful period atmosphere on what must have been a shoestring budget, capturing not only the distinctive and opposite impulses of early 20th century Japan - to modernize and become a democracy, yet remain true to its feudal roots - but also the feel of the specific era, the last time before the buildup to World War II when decadence was really permitted in the country, just prior to the military build-up of the early Showa period. (The same era was depicted, with less success, I think, in Oshima’s lauded In the Realm of the Senses. And of course, Tanaka did his own earlier version of the same story in the much-better A Woman Called Sada Abe.)

The horror elements in the film are subdued, but definitely present. It’s a slow-moving film, one that concentrates much more on building its atmosphere and exploring the dark crannies of its characters’ psyches than presenting much action onscreen. Being a Roman Porno, there are the requisite four or five sex scenes, many of them quite sexy, but it’s clear watching the film that Tanaka was reaching for something greater with Watcher, and I think he succeded in creating it, a classic erotic film that not only transcends its genre but is also one of the best of its kind.

Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, let’s examine the other new Mondo Roman Porno, director Yasuharu Hasebe’s inflammatory Assault! Jack the Ripper (aka Boko kirisaki Jakku). Also made in 1976, the film was Hasebe’s second Roman Porno (after Rape!) after returning to the Nikkatsu fold following his departure in the early 70s, when Nikkatsu transitioned from making action films to making softcore porn. Hasebe was a fixture during late-period Nikkatsu action, making everything from Black Tight Killers to Roughneck to a few of the Stray Cat Rock series entries. In-between, he even made the fourth Female Convict Scorpion film - quite a prolific guy, and still going strong today.

Hasebe’s Roman Porno films are known for their violent and shocking content, and Jack, the first one I’ve had the chance to see, didn’t disappoint in that regard. It’s as sleazy as they come, taking the true story behind films like The Honeymoon Killers—about a couple who lure young women into sexual situations, and then murder them—and giving it a sadistic twist, filled with blood and nudity. Filled with murder sequences where women are stabbed repeatedly in their private parts with a pastry knife, it’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s also surprisingly humorous, featuring enough oddball situations and bizarre character quirks to almost lighten its dark and nasty mood.

Definitely more of a “graduate level” Roman Porno title, it’ll definitely please the audience open to its particular kind of entertainment, but it won’t win any new converts who don’t already appreciate the genre. In fact, it’s just the kind of film people like to refer to when they condemn Japanese softcore cinema as nothing but violent porn. They’re wrong, but it’s an easy argument to make on the surface.

Both discs present the films fully remastered and featuring well-scripted English subtitles. The discs look great, too—these are the same remastered versions previously released in Japan by Geneon, but without English subtitles. All the subsequent Mondo Roman Porno titles will feature similarly polished transfers.

Extras include a Mondo Macabro documentary on Nikkatsu and the Roman Porno genre, originally produced a number of years ago but updated now with new interviews and clips. Featured in the doc are Nikkatsu actress Kozuko Shirakawa, director Seijun Suzuki (who never made a Roman Porno film!), film critic Toshiyuki Matsushima, artist Romain Slocombe, and critic / author Jasper Sharp. Sharp also turns up on both discs in a separate introduction to each film, which covers the overall genre, the director’s career, and notes on the actresses and the reception each film has received. Also included are trailers for both films, plus three others forthcoming in the collection. The only one missing is Akio Jissoji’s bizarre Marquis de Sade romp The Prosperity of Vice (aka Akutoku no sakae), which is one definitely worth waiting for!  —MW

Another week, another film festival.

Following my trip to Austin for Fanastic Fest, I made the yearly pilgrimage to the International Film Festival of Catalunya, aka the Sitges Film Festival of Fantasy and Horror. Set in a small seaside town south of Barcelona (which has been featured in horror films itself, from DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS to THE STRANGE VICE OF SIGNORA WARDH), it’s always a blast with great guests, good films (and lots of them) and screenings from 8am in the morning until 5am the next morning! Here’s what I saw.

THE LAST PRINCESS – another big-budget Akira Kurosawa remake, this time of THE HIDDEN FORTRESS and from the director of LORELEI and SINKING OF JAPAN (the remake), Shinji Higuchi. Surprisingly watchable, it’s light but rousing entertainment (like the original) that only falters in the third act, when the former spfx designer feels compelled to throw in too much CGI, resulting in gargantuan explosions and INDIANA JONES-style impossible stunts.

ICHI – Fumihiko Sori, director of PING-PONG, goes chanbara with a remake / reboot of the ZATOICHI franchise, except that this time out the main character is a blind young woman. And it doesn’t work at all. Overall the film feels like a TV drama, lacking exciting swordplay scenes or any dramatic tension. Changing Ichi to a woman works fine, but the actresses’s age and inexperience works against the character, particularly when the plot depends on her having a heavy, dark past. Furthermore, like the Takeshi Kitano version, this film is more concerned with side characters than with Zatoichi him/herself. While that was fine in the Kitano film, which more than made up for the lack of Ichi with crazy dance sequences and innovative stylistic touches, this film is left with nothing as an alternative to its missing main character.

THE MOSS – HK noirish action with Shawn Yue and directed by THE PYE DOG’s Derek Kwok. Starts off great with a stylish and gritty raid on a whorehouse in Shan Sui Po, one of the sleazier districts of HK, with rogue and on-the-take cop Jan tipping off the house owner, then trying to get a little free service in exchange. A young orphan and helpless hooker wind up in possession of a Macguffin which drives the plot only so far. Cliches abound in the second half, with a resolution that’s completely unsatisfactory. Big-time missed opportunity for all involved.

MONSTER X STRIKES BACK: ATTACK ON THE G8 SUMMIT – the latest cinematic crime from Japanese director Minoru Kawasaki, the madman behind CALAMARI WRESTLER, THE WORLD SINKS EXCEPT JAPAN and EXECUTIVE KOALA. He seems to be working with his biggest budget yet—and a major Japanese studio—in this remake / sequel to one of the worst giant monster movies of all time, THE X FROM OUTER SPACE. The laughs are intermittent and the heavily foreign cast is wildly uneven, but like most of Kawasaki’s films, this one (mostly) succeeds on charm alone, and goofy makeup f/x. Kawasaki’s a huge fan of sci-fi and monster films, and it shows in his treatment of this genre send-up.

THE SKY CRAWLERS – new Mamoru Oshii anime, which I couldn’t make it all the way through. Looks great, but the story about a private group of fliers and their soap opera-y adventures just didn’t get its hooks in deeply enough.

DACHIMAWA LEE – CRYING FIST and CITY OF VIOLENCE director Ryu Seung-wan goes retro with this madcap action comedy spoofing 1960s South Korean spy films. Unfortunately, it goes a little overboard in recreating their poor quality, broad acting, lame comedy and ridiculous scenarios. Screened in the 1:00 am timeslot at Sitges, it was a poor choice for such a late hour despite its loud and colorful presentation. Without the background knowledge about the films it was spoofing, it just comes off as overly broad and desperate. Maybe it’ll play better at an earlier hour some other time…

THRILLING BLOODY SWORD – thanks to Toronto Film Festival programmer and HK film collector Colin Geddes, we were able to catch a midnight screening of this brain-addled Taiwanese fantasy flick from the early 1980s. Basically a magic swordplay version of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES (no, really!), it’s best summed up as “crack addled” and is everything a midnight movie audience could wish for. Let’s hope the DVD label Mondo Macabro winds up releasing it someday.

ENCANAÇAO DO DEMONIO / EMBODIMENT OF EVIL – Brazilian horror legend Jose Mojica Marins is back as evil gravedigger Coffin Joe, and it was well worth the 25+ year wait since his last film as the character. This one completely blew away the midnight audience who caught it at Sitges, many of whom were expecting a lame retread of familiar elements from his 1960s and 70s films (ahem…like Dario Argento’s MOTHER OF TEARS). But all such thoughts were soon banished during the screening, as this one opens with a bang and never lets up. Mojica is in fine form as the theatrically evil lead character / villain, and his direction is strong, ably supported by newcomer Dennison Ramalho, whose short film “Love from Mother Only” channels the Coffin Joe style without the camp—his influence is clear in many parts of the film. Truly shocking in parts (a fetish model gets her lips sewn shut on camera, for real) and with the right tough of moustache-twisting evil and revenge, the audience I saw it with cheered at the end, and I was on my feet soon after. Coffin Joe, we love you!

EDEN LAKE – British survival horror that pits a yuppie couple against a group of rural white trash teens led by a sadistic thug. The violence is shocking and the overall mood is stomach-upsetting (like Haneke’s FUNNY GAMES, maybe), but too many plot holes and contrivances crop up in the second half and the film never recovers from the stumble.

LONG WEEKEND (2008) – a new Australian remake of the 1970s classic, yet little-known Aussie “nature strikes back” film. Directed by STORM WARNING’s Jamie Blanks, it’s technically competent but lacking in emotion or thrills. Jim Caveziel, as an American transplanted to the Outback, brings a bit of anti-US subtext into the film, but not enough to make it substantially different from its much better (and grittier) predecessor.

DOROTHY – multiple-personality disorder meets CARNIVAL OF SOULS meets THE EXORCIST meets THE SIXTH SENSE a whole raft of other inspirations. A young girl in a remote island village seems to have a psychological disorder, but she can really channel the voices of the dead. And wouldn’t you know that the citified psychologist sent to town to investigate her case just recently lost her son in a drowning accident? If an asteroid-sized cliché like that doesn’t bother you, then maybe you’ll be able to sit through the whole film without smacking your forehead. I wasn’t.

VIRUS UNDEAD – produced by German filmmakers, but in English, this tedious low-budget production barely qualifies as direct-to-DVD fodder. Cliched and poorly acted (since the actors aren’t even speaking their native language), give it a miss.

EDEN LOG – French sci-fi about a mud-covered guy exploring a gargantuan subterranean chamber. Gorgeous but dull and uninvolving.

DANTE 01 – more French sci-fi, but this time from veteran f/x specialist Marc Caro (ex-partner of Jean-Pierre Jeunet of AMELIE and ALIEN 4). While most of the time it feels like an alternate-world version of ALIEN 3 (prison satellite, bald guys walking around mechanical corridors in their own criminal society, etc), the introduction of a Jesus-surrogate plot elevates the film and, of course, the f/x are top-notch. Worth seeking out.

100 FEET – the return to feature filmmaking of famous 80s screenwriter Eric Red (THE HITCHER, NEAR DARK), who made a suicide attempt after a car crash that resulted in the deaths of several people. It’s nice to be able to say that the film, while it has some missteps, is an involving and scary ghost story in the old-school style (THE HAUNTING, BURNT OFFERINGS, THE CHANGELING). Famke Janssen is a battered wife who returns home to her Park Slope house after serving jail time for killing her abusive, cop husband. But she’s under house arrest and can’t leave the edifice without setting off her ankle collar alarm. So when hubby’s vengeful ghost comes back (played by Michael Pare in unfortunately overused CGI), she has to get creative about how she’s going to deal with it. Clever, entertaining, and featuring a great central performance, it’s perhaps unlikely to get much theatrical play, but is definitely worth watching.

ABLE – artsy horror from Germany (but like VIRUS UNDEAD, shot in English), about zombies and angst-ridden people. Nicely shot on a miniscule budget and very existential, but not for everybody.

MUM & DAD – an English PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS, minus the stairs. A cute, young immigrant girl working at Heathrow Airport goes home with a co-worker, only to find herself drugged and tortured by her insane “parents”. Nothing new here, but the plot is generally involving and disturbing, even though there are some missteps in the screenplay (like making the parents alternately puritan and porn-addicted).

HOME MOVIE – the unofficial theme at Sitges this year seemed to be evil kids or evil parents. This is the flip-side of MUM & DAD, done in the style of something like CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS. A married couple living in a rural home videotape all their holidays and significant events, and we the viewer see only the results of those tapings. But it’s soon obvious that something is wrong with the children, who display no emotion and soon move from mischievous disobedience to torturing small animals, and worse. Creepy as hell and never overstaying its welcome, it’s a real treat that uses suggestion, performance, sound f/x and unique ideas to make its point, rather than gory makeup f/x.

SURVEILLANCE – Jennifer Lynch creates a thriller that plays like SEVEN wedded to the TV show RENO 911! Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond are FBI officers investigating a pair of serial murderers wreaking havoc in a rural town. Told through flashbacks via witness interviews (captured on a video system by the agents, hence the title), it pulls a twist toward the end that’s as easy to see as a truck coming down an empty highway. Coupled with some bizarre character comedy involving redneck cops and their patrol antics, it doesn’t add up to much.

THE COTTAGE – fairly high-profile English horror comedy with Andy Serkis and THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMAN’s Reece Shearsmith as a pair of brothers who kidnap a mobster’s big-boobed daughter and take her out to the country to hold her for ransom. Little do they know that a deformed slasher-killer lives nearby, complicating matters. Intermittently funny and super-gory, this one achieves its modest success based mainly on the performances of its leads, who are both great. It’s already out on DVD in the US, so it’s worth a rental.

TRICK ‘R TREAT – long-delayed American anthology horror film from director Michael Dougherty (writer of SUPERMAN RETURNS and X-MEN 2), unfairly bumped from a late 2007 date to…well, nobody knows where. And it’s a shame, as this modest black comedy with some decent acting power in it (Brian Cox, William H. Macy) is terrific, macabre in the rights places but funny where it needs to be. Like a modern-day EC comic book, it channels both the 1970s portmanteau films of Amicus studios and George Romero’s CREEPSHOW, with a bloody flair and witty assembly of familiar elements. With the right promotion, this could have been a decent hit during Halloween time.

SEXYKILLER – hot tamale Macarena Gomez (from Stuart Gordon’s DAGON and others) is the headliner in this great-looking but tiresome horror comedy from Spanish director Miguel Marti. Given a big premiere at Sitges due to local interest, it won’t play much overseas though it’s got a few neat setpieces. But when a horror flick starts off with a lame parody of SCREAM (does anybody in the US care about that movie anymore?), you know you’re in trouble.

VINYAN – impressive sophomore feature from Belgian filmmaker Fabrice du Welz, director of the fantastic survival horror / DELIVERANCE hybrid CALVAIRE (aka THE ORDEAL). Du Welz graduates to the big time here, putting international stars Rufus Sewell (DARK CITY) and Emmanuelle Beart (MANON OF THE SPRING) into harm’s way as bereaved parents of a missing child, lost during the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Beart is a lost soul, refusing to believe that the boy is dead, while Sewell does the best he can to appease his wife’s fruitless quest. When they catch glimpse of a photograph that may or may not be their boy in a remote Burmese village, the descent into Hell begins. Beautifully photographed—and under extremely debilitating conditions for the cast & crew—it’s a slow-burning tale that may suffer if viewers expect another bizarre festival of cruelty like CALVAIRE. But once you find the film’s wavelength, it really delivers; Beart in particular is astonishing in a deglamorizing role that looks like it took its toll on her sanity. Transgressive but ultimately uplifting in a horrifying way.

CHELSEA ON THE ROCKS – speaking of New York, notorious director Abel Ferrara is back, but this time with a documentary about the (in)famous Chelsea Hotel, located on 23rd Street and home to many famous people over the year, from the lunatic to the legendary, as well as the place where Janis Joplin died and Sid Vicious killed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. Combining interviews with everyone from artists to filmmakers to poets and ordinary working people with re-created scenes of the Sid & Nancy and Janis stories (which don’t quite work), the movie is a microcosmic story about what’s currently happening in New York on a greater scale: the replacement of long-standing institutions that had a personal touch, flair, and individual style with corporate cut-out, soulless recreations.

LOS BASTARDOS – an assistant director of Carlos Reygadas makes his feature debut with this slow-burn portrait of two Mexican day laborers who do a home invasion job on a suburban white lady that turns bad. Competently done, though its political and social criticism is pretty obvious and its molasses-slow pacing will turn of many viewers.

NOT YOUR TYPICAL BIGFOOT MOVIE – an hour-long documentary about two hillbilly losers who believe that their nightly visits to the woods with a cheap video camera constitute “Bigfoot research”. Alternately mocking the pair and holding them up as some kind of blessed simpletons, the film’s tone is uneven but the subjects are fascinating, as the movie delves deeper into their failed lives and the reasons why they pursue such a bizarre dream. And when a more “legitimate” Bigfoot researcher comes into the picture, only to dismiss the rural pair because he doesn’t want to potentially share any fame or fortune with them, should they be able to capture a Sasquatch, I found myself really rooting for them, despite one guy’s claims that he’s got sheep DNA inside his body.

BLACK CAESAR – a vintage print of possibly the best blaxploitation movie (that isn’t really a blaxploitation movie!) ever made, starring Fred Williamson (who was a guest at the screening) as a James Cagney surrogate who works his way up and down the crime ladder in New York City, to the beat of James Brown’s legendary soundtrack. Still one of the best movies about New York, as well as one of the best films ever shot there.     — MW

Now Playing

Still playing at the Angelika and the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Wong Kar-wai’s new and improved epic sword fight and vision quest, ASHES OF TIME REDUX. Is pretty.

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(Angelika info)

(Lincoln Plaza info)

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On October 15 and 16, Fathom Entertainment and Viz will be hosting a two-night-only screening of DEATH NOTE 2: THE LAST NAME at several hundred theaters across the US. (Full list here). Unfortunately, they say the movie will be dubbed in English (no subs! boo hiss!) but the screening will also feature behind-the-scenes info and a video interview with director Shusuke Kaneko.

(More info)

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At ImaginAsian, Sanjay Gadhvi’s KIDNAP (starring middle-aged, unkillable action icon Sanjay Dutt) is a sexy, fast-paced film that takes you on a treasure hunt in the midst of a kidnapping. Existential questions arise despite the influx of sexual innuendo and bikinis. Here’s an excerpt from the India Times review:

“KIDNAP has a smart storyline with well-etched plot-points giving ample scope to both its key players to take precedence in the game without overshadowing the other at any instance…Also what sounds ludicrous is that the organized captor takes literal liberties in keeping his hostage unbound in the house and furthermore takes her to the beach for a bath. That’s an absolutely accommodating abductor!!! The hostage also seems to have access to a designer wardrobe with a spanking new outfit in every other scene.”

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(More info)

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On October 17 @ 7:30pm, at the Japan Society, the monthly series “Best of Tora-san,” kicks off with a screening of Yoji Yamada’s OUR LOVEABLE TRAMP followed by a live, projected Q&A with Yamada (who will be participating remotely from Japan). The character of Tora-san was an iconic anti-hero whose humorous narratives captured the modernization of Japan. Tora-san’s film series is a tribute to longevity and good cinematic craftsmanship - with a new film out pretty much every year, all 48 of them (except a handful) were directed by Yoji Yamada and starred Kiyoshi Atsumi.

(More info)

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At MOMA as part of the ContemporAsian series, TIRADOR (SLINGSHOT) will play on Thursday, October 23. Directed by Brillante Mendoza (whose SERBIS played Cannes this year), this flick takes you into the Manila slums and let’s you watch a compelling, kinetic version of COPS in the Philippines. Overlapping stories of junkies, hustlers, hookers, hitmen, teen gangs and low life crooks form a tapestry of modern Manila life that will rock your socks off. Highly recommended.

(More info)

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Also on October 17 @ 7:30pm Barbet Schroeder’s INJU, THE BEAST IN THE SHADOWS will screen at BAM followed by a Q&A with Schroeder. Bleding ero-guro imagery, bits from the books of Edogawa Rampo and full of film noir stylistics, this film follows a French writer who falls in love with a geisha and stumbles into an underworld of…bondage!

(More info)

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At Anthology Film Archives, Lee Myung-Se’s NOWHERE TO HIDE plays October 23. In a dramatic portrayal of a good cop versus a hitman, the film becomes a dizzying, violent game of tag until the final showdown in a mining town. This is Director Lee’s greatest film, a big hit on its release, and a film whose North American DVD was unfortunately re-edited against his will. Now’s your chance to see the original in all its eye-popping glory.

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(More info on the screening)

(More info on the film)

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RED ART directed by Hu Jie & Ai Xiaoming plays at the Asia Society on October 18 as part of the series, “Under Mao’s Red Sun: China’s Cultural Revolution on Film.”

(More info)

Down at HERE, a performance piece about the life of Bruce Lee opens today and continues through October 31. Here’s the info from the website for the show, called LEE/gendary (groan):

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When Bruce Lee was born, his mother gave him a girl’s name to disguise him from evil spirits. When actor/performing artist Soomi Kim learned this surprising fact, she felt destined to create a theatre performance inhabiting the incomparable martial arts superstar.  Set in the inner landscape of Bruce Lee’s mind the moment he died in 1973, Lee/gendary is a theatrical deconstruction of an icon; a spiritual and psychological examination of Lee’s life from birth to death. This unique gender-bending theatre performance fluidly integrates text, live original music, video and an explosive hybrid of martial arts and dance.

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Punny title aside, this actually looks like an interesting take on Bruce Lee, and considering that every other version of his life has to be approved by the Lee family who usually prefer to have his mythology polished rather than deconstructed, this may be one of the few radical takes on Lee’s life and career that you’ll be legally allowed to see. Besides, of course, BRUCE LEE & I.

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Ticket info is here.

More about the show at its official website.

Welcome to Subway Cinema – Don those heels and clack your way to these newsworthy Asian events in New York City.

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Now Playing

At ImaginAsian Goldie Behl’s DRONA, a modern narrative intertwined with Indian mythology and mysticism is still flitting across the screen. Very Harry Potter meets Bollywood. (More info, I mean, a trailer)

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Opening at the Angelika and at the Lincoln Plaza Cinema on October 10, Wong Kar Wai’s new and improved epic sword fight and vision quest in ASHES OF TIME REDUX. Yo-Yo Ma ’s haunting melodies unfold with the story of a tragic swordsman and his rise to fame. (Watch the trailer)

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As part of the series “Under Mao’s Red Sun: China’s Cultural Revolution on Film” at the Asia Society, Michelangelo Antonioni’s CHUNG KUO CHINA will be featured on October 11. The film presents an Italian perspective on communist China. The series continues until October 18^th. Complete listings and schedule. (More info)

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Screening now until October 12, the 46^th New York Film Festival presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. (More info)

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Playing until October 14 as a sidebar to the New York Film Festival, a long look at the films of Nagisa Oshima. (More info)

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At Film Forum, Caroline Suh’s FRONTRUNNERS delves into the big personalities of the youth at Stuyvesant, NYC’s high school for talented and overachieving students. Follow their class president elections that elevate the stakes beyond hallway posters. Showing Oct 15- October 21 with the filmmaker present October 15. (More info)

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At the Korean Society, on October 16, Park Kwang-su’s BLACK REPUBLIC portrays the life of an idealistic demonstrator on the run after a civil rights protest goes awry. Based on the real events of the1980 “Gwangju Uprising” in South Korea. (More info)

Now Playing

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On Wednesday, October 1 at 7pm as part of BAM’s “Ann Arbor Film Festival International Tour Program,” be sure and check out May Lin Au Yong’s BULLET PROOF VEST, a provocative piece about children in Richmond, California who feel the need to dodge bullets in their everyday lives. (More info) (Even more info)

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At ImaginAsian opening October 2, Goldie Behl’s DRONA, a modern narrative intertwined with Indian mythology and mysticism. Very Harry Potter meets Bollywood.

(Watch the trailer)

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On October 4, The Asia Society and the Sikh Art & Film Foundation a series of films, shorts, and forums. Learn more about the artistic contributions and influence of Sikh culture and traditions. (More info)

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The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents the 46^th New York Film Festival with 28 films from all over the world that features award winning as well as newbie filmmakers. Festival continues until October 12. Get your tickets now for Jia Zhangke’s 24 CITY, a film that looks at the modern luxuries and sordid underbelly of China’s progressive development. (More info)

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As a sidebar to the New York Film Festival, a long look at the films of Nagisa Oshima, Japan’s last truly radical filmmaker. The series “In the Realm of Oshima” continues until October 14, 2008. This is one of the biggest and most comprehensive looks at a filmmaker who never met a rule he didn’t immediately want to break and who worked with talents as diverse as David Bowie and Takeshi Kitano. (More info)

There’s also a great piece on the retrospective in the Village Voice today.

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Opening at the Angelika on October 10, Wong Kar Wai’s new and improved epic sword fight and vision quest in ASHES OF TIME REDUX. Yo-Yo Ma ’s haunting melodies unfold with the story of a tragic swordsman and his rise to fame. This is a re-working, rescoring and re-editing of Wong Kar-wai’s legendary puzzlement object from 1994.

(More info)