Happy Turkey Day with Kimchee on top!

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NOW PLAYING

At Anthology Film Archives on November 20, Lee Myung-Se’s M mesmerizes and hypnotizes with its heady imagery and deep, dark sound design. It’s the story of a blocked writer on a deadline, haunted by a woman who may be a ghost, a stalker, a dream or a memory. Truly psychedelic and it needs a big screen to be appreciated. (Showtime info) (Read more) (See the trailer)

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On November 20 @ 6:30pm, screening at the Korea Society as part of their monthly series “A Tradition of Critical Realism,” Kim Hong-Joon’s LA VIE EN ROSE.  Set in the dreary 1980’s, an all night comic store becomes a refuge for three men running from the law and from life.  The shopkeeper is a sexy lady, known as Madam, and she rapidly forms the center of their tangled up lives. (More info)

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At the Asia Society on November 21 @ 7pm, Li Yu’s DAM STREET will be screening. This film is a stunning visual investigation of the life of a young woman, Xiao Yun, who has never played by the rules.  As her community, family, and society continue to shun her for living outside of the box (read: she got pregnant as a teenager), she tries to find real allies in this movie that’s been compared to the work of Zhang Yimou.  Winner of the Grand Prize at the Deauville Asian Film Festival and winner of the Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival?. (More info & tickets)

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At the Japan Society as part of their monthly series “Best of Tora-san,” Yoji Yamada’s TORA-SAN MEETS THE SONGSTRESS AGAIN screens on November 21 @ 7:30pm. Tora-san travels with Hyodo to Hokkaido and runs into his high school sweetheart, Lily, who is now divorced and ripe for love.  Will he be able to win back her heart for good? Well, it’s a Tora-san film, so probably not. (More info & tickets)

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At the IFC on November 21, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath’s THE BETRAYAL uses decades of recorded footage to present this profound film about a family torn apart by the United States’ clandestine bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War. Kuras is a cinematographer for directors like Martin Scorsese and Michel Gondry, while Phrasavath is a Laotian-American activist. (More info & tickets)

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At the MoMA, on November 23 and November 24, thrill to the Saturday morning matinee adventurism of Sergei Bodrov’s Academy Award winning film MONGOL. Cheer for Genghis Khan Jr. (played by stone cold awesome Tadanobu Asano) as he grows from a misunderstood twerp to the guy who ruled the world. A hit when it was released, this is a throwback to the blood and thunder action adventure bio-pics that were once a staple of Hollywood. (More info)

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At ImaginAsian, Tarun Mansukhani’s DOSTANA heats it up for your viewing pleasure with a Bollywood remake of I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY set in Miami. Two male buddies (superstar Abhishek Bachchan, son of icon Amitabh Bachchan) and John Abraham pretend to be lovers to attain a sweet apartment, but things get shaken up when they start vying for the same bikini-wearing woman (Priyanka Chopra). It’s another Yash Raj family entertainer with slick production values, directed by Tarun Mansukhani, mega-director Karan Johar’s assistant director on several of his blockbusters. (Tickets) (Official site)

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Still only playing at the Angelika and the Lincoln Plaza, Danny Boyke’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, winner of the People’s Choice Award at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival.  A teen orphan from the ghetto of Mumbai is on the verge of winning big on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” when he is arrested for cheating on a game show.  The flashback of his hard luck life is revealed as he tries to prove his innocence. Starring Bollywood mega-star Anil Kapoor, whose career hasn’t been the hottest of late, as the gameshow host. (More info)

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