The restored, 35mm print of HOUSE has been extended again over at the IFC Center. So this lost, psychedelic, Japanese masterpiece from 1977 is still playing. (tickets and showtimes) (read a review)

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3 IDIOTS, the Bollywood comedy, has become the biggest grossing Bollywood movie of all time and it’s playing all over the five boroughs, including two theaters in Manhattan. This…is surprising. Because the movie looks super-dumb. But still: highest-grossing Bollywood movie of all time. (tickets and showtimes) (read a review)

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Film Forum is still holding Akira Kurosawa’s 100th birthday. This week’s highlights: THE BAD SLEEP WELL, SEVEN SAMURAI and DREAMS. Among others. (tickets and showtimes)

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This weekend, the ImaginAsian premieres the latest Ram Gopal Varma film, RANN. It’s no secret that those of us at Subway Cinema are huge fans of Varma’s gritty crime films and we even held a retrospective of his movies that we’re still proud of doing (and you can find them all on region free, English subtitled DVDs). But Varma has been making some terrible movies lately and RANN looks like it’s not going to change the course of his career. A media expose’ set in the world of broadcast news, it’s getting mixed reviews – but it does star Bollywood icon, Amitabh Bachchan in a classy role that’s getting lots of praise. (read a review) (tickets and showtimes)

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The Global Lens series is still running at MOMA. A few Asian movies scattered about in there. (tickets and showtimes)

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Comments (0) Jan 27 2010

This Friday, January 22 @ 7:30pm the Japan Society is having a screening of ZATOICHI THE FUGITIVE, the 1963 installment in the long-running Zatoichi series. It’s the fourth film in the series and it’s widely considered to be one of the best, especially the final fight scene. Don’t believe me? Here’s one review that praises the action, and another review. (showtimes and tickets)

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And on Tuesday, January 26 @ 8pm at the IFC Center, the “Stranger than Fiction” documentary series will be screening THE BIGGEST CHINESE RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD with the editor, Jean Tsien, present. It’s a documentary about, natch, the biggest Chinese restaurant in the world, and it played the Toronto International Film Festival this year and by all accounts it’s pretty great. You can read reviews here or here. (showtimes and tickets)

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Comments (0) Jan 20 2010

Lots of news this week.

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To start with…the 35mm print of HOUSE arrived at the IFC yesterday and so HOUSE is in the house! This lost Japanese masterpiece is one part psychedelia, one part fairy tale and one part exploitation movie and you need to see it. Now playing at the IFC Center in a brand new 35mm print. (tickets and showtimes)

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Also, this Friday, January 22 @ 7pm at the Walter Reade up at Lincoln Center, Kim Ji-Won’s amazing, humungous spaghetti western his the screen: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD. This flick is massive and this is probably the biggest screen you’re going to see it on, so come see this summer blockbuster in the middle of winter. (tickets and showtimes)

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Global Lens is doing its series up at MOMA. There are several Asian films and while you’ve already missed a few screenings of the Vietnamese film ADRIFT, there’s still one left on Wednesday, January 20 @ 7pm. The art films THE SHAFT from China and OCEAN OF AN OLD MAN from India are coming up later this week and also playing over the weekend.

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Film Forum is still screening Kurosawa movies to celebrate the guy’s 100th birthday. (info and tickets)

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The poorly-reviewed Bollywood film, CHANCE PE DANCE, is playing at the ImaginAsian and the AMC Empire 25 in Manhattan, and several other theaters throughout the five boroughs. (complete showtimes)

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Comments (0) Jan 19 2010

The big news this week? Two big news! First, HOUSE. Second, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD.

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HOUSE is arguably one of the greatest movies ever made, but no matter how you feel you can’t argue that it’s not one of the most fun. We screened this lost, 1977 Japanese classic at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival and now it’s opening for a run at the IFC Center in a brand new 35mm print from Janus Films. If you see one movie this January, make it HOUSE! Some reviewers are taking the “look at this wacky Japanese movie” angle with their write-ups but there are also some great, more engaging reviews out there. Try Time Out New York or L Magazine. Or read the original 1977 Variety review over at Outcast Cinema and hear the writer’s neurons popping like popcorn as he tries to figure it out. (showtimes and more)

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The other big piece of news is Kim Ji-Won’s long-delayed THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD is coming to America! IFC plans to do more with it this spring, but first up they’re doing a screening at the Walter Reade Theater up at Lincoln Center on Friday, January 22 @ 7pm. Don’t know the film? Then try these facts on for size:

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FACT! Kim Ji-Won is probably one of the best directors in Korea right now and he brings an eye-warping visual sensibility to everything from horror (A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) to action (the criminally unseen in America A BITTERSWEET LIFE).

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FACT! This is his homage to Sergio Leone westerns starring three of Korea’s biggest actors: Lee Byun-Hun (JSA), Song Kang-Ho (THE HOST) and Jung Woo-Sung (MUSA).

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FACT! The action setpieces in this movie took weeks to film and are jaw-dropping.

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FACT! This is a film that demands to be seen on the big screen and it may not ever play on a screen this big again. So this is your one chance to see it the way it was meant to be seen.

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Go see THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD! It’s a summer blockbuster smack in the middle of winter! Friday, January 22 @ 7pm. And if you’re a student the tickets are only $7! (read reviews) (tickets and showtimes)

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What else is going on this week? Well, Film Forum is still celebrating the 100th birthday of dead Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. The next major film in their four week series is the visually ravishing THRONE OF BLOOD. (more info)

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The former ImaginAsian theater is now showing two Bollywood movies (showtimes are here): CHANCE PE DANCE and DULHA MIL GAYA. The first of these, CHANCE PE DANCE, is a rags to riches showbiz story that’s been getting lousy reviews. And DULHA MIL GAYA has been called a throwback to mid-90’s Bollywood filmmaking. Whether that means it’s a fun pastiche or a lousy cliche’ is hard to tell. Here’s a review. (it’s also showing at other theaters in NYC)

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Comments (4) Jan 14 2010

On Tuesday, January 12 the Korean Cultural Service kicks off their year-long series of free screenings of Korean movies every other Tuesday at 7pm down at the Tribeca Cinemas. First up, DAYTIME DRINKING (Tuesday, January 12 @ 7pm). There’s no better way to get through this winter than watching this flick, a low budget deadpan comedy about a guy trapped in an off-season resort town that he can’t escape because a gallery of weirdos keep getting him drunk. See Korea at its coldest, and drinking at its funniest.

(The Tribeca Cinemas are at 54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train at their Canal Street stops.)

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Admission is free and seats are on a first come, first served basis. If you want to make sure you have a seat reserved, then just RSVP to the Korean Cultural Service, info at koreanculturedotorg. (some more info) (read reviews)

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Also, Film Forum is celebrating the 100th anniversary of Akira Kurosawa with a four week 28-film retrospective of his movies. You can check out the whole schedule here, but his pulp flick STRAY DOG is first up (playing through January 14). And if you haven’t by now seen at least a few of his classics (SEVEN SAMURAI, HIGH & LOW, THRONE OF BLOOD, IKIRU) then you should make sure you do. After all, the guy’s 100. And maybe after this people might give Kurosawa a break and start screening some other Japanese directors from time to time. (more info)

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The IFC Center is still screening hard-hitting Korean thriller THE CHASER on Friday and Saturdays at Midnight. If you want to see a ticking clock suspense film that starts with an ex-cop pimp looking for one of his girls who has been abducted by a serial killer, and ends with a hammer to the face, then this one’s for you. (more info) (read reviews)

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The Bollywood comedy, 3 IDIOTS, is still playing at the ImaginAsian as well as at the Loews Village 7 and a bunch of other NYC theaters. It even gets a shout-out on Boing Boing, which reminded me that, yes, the first time you see a Bollywood movie it is a deeply weird, mind-expanding experience.

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Comments (0) Jan 07 2010