Starring James Van Der Beek (Dawson!) as an FBI agent investigating the murder of a Taiwanese activist, this American film stars a fair amount of Chinese talent (Kenneth Tsang, Tzi Ma) and features a pro-independence message. It opens this weekend at the Village East (on Second Avenue around 12th Street) and the UA Midway Cinemas (108-22 Queens Blvd) where it’ll have Chinese subtitles.
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Feb 25 2010
Posted: under Uncategorized.
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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Feb 25 2010
Posted: under Subway Cinema News.
There’s a lot going on this week, so let’s get right down to it.
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The Korean American Film Festival starts on Feb. 28 and runs for one weekend at the SVA theater on West 23rd Street. But just because it’s short that doesn’t mean it’s weak. The stand-outs are an encore presentation of Park Chan-Wook’s THIRST which was seriously underrated when it was released and well worth seeing. Also very worthy is MUNYURANGBO, a feature film about the Rwandan genocide (directed by a Korean American director), which has earned extreme praise from no less than Roger Ebert. (full info)
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This weekend also sees the Bong Joon-Ho retrospective over at BAM, and don’t let some of the haters writing about it bring you down. BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE is one of the best movie’s Bong’s ever made, MEMORIES OF MURDER is a far better film than David Fincher’s ZODIAC and THE HOST is the best giant monster movie to come along since the 90’s. Bong has found a way to smuggle arthouse concerns into mainstream movies in a way that hasn’t been seen since directors like Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin back in the 70’s. (full info)
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Film Comment Selects is well into its second week and the recommended films playing this weekend are Kore-eda’s flick with Korean actress Bae Do-Na, AIR DOLL, an ultra-rare screening this weekend of Edward Yang’s masterpiece, A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY, Brillante Mendoza’s Philippino horror show, THE EXECUTION OF P and Hong Sang-Soo’s cutting comedy, LIKE YOU KNOW IT ALL. (full info)
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The China Institute will have a digital screening of the lost, 1940 classic Chinese film, CONFUCIUS, this weekend. (full info)
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Bollywood blockbuster, MY NAME IS KHAN, is still playing in Manhattan. (showtimes)
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HOUSE is still playing late night shows at the IFC Center (tickets and showtimes)
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Feb 25 2010
Thank god it’s not the Chow Yun-fat CONFUCIUS. This Saturday, February 27 @ 5pm and 7pm the China Institute will screen Fei Mu’s lost 1940 classic film, CONFUCIUS. The 7pm screening will also feature a talk by Weihong Bao, assistant professor of Chinese Film and Media Culture at Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.
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The China Institute is located at 125 East 65th Street.
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Fei Mu’s CONFUCIUS is a gorgeous, black-and-white film about the legendary philosopher that was produced to raise morale during the Sino-Japanese war in 1940. It was revived in 1948 and then thought lost. But in 2001 a copy of the negative was donated to the Hong Kong Film Archive who then meticulously restored the film and released it again in 2009. This screening will be from a digital source. Tickets are $20 for non-members.
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Feb 25 2010
Posted: under Subway Cinema News.
There’s big stuff afoot all over the place!
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DESTINY’S SON!
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This Friday, 2/19 @ 7:30pm, the Japan Society hosts the psychedelic, 1962 samurai film, DESTINY’S SON. If you liked HOUSE, then this stylish sword-slashing freak-out is for you. Note: this movie is not nearly as goofy as HOUSE, but it does share its obsession with surreal visuals. (tickets and showtimes) (read a review) (read another review) (watch the trailer)
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THE ACCIDENT at Film Comment Selects!
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Film Comment Selects shoots off like an Asian-friendly fireworks festival this Friday at the Walter Reade theater up at Lincoln Center. Screening this weekend: Soi Cheang’s Hong Kong thriller, THE ACCIDENT; Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s two tough cop flicks from early in his career THE REVENGE: A VISIT FROM FATE and THE REVENGE: THE SCAR THAT NEVER HEALS, they’re a double feature this Sunday. And more coming up. (full info) (tickets and showtimes)
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A free screening of BREATHLESS!
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On Tuesday, Feb 23 @ 7pm there will be a free screening of the much-loved Korean film, BREATHLESS, at the Tribeca Cinemas (corner of Canal and Varick Streets) with director/star/writer/producer, Yang Ik-June, present to do a Q&A. No RSVPs are accepted – all you need to do is show up and you’ll be let in on a first-come, first-served basis. We suggest arriving between 6 and 6:15 to get in line. There are about 130 seats so a LOT of people should be able to get in. (more info)
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Next weekend, BAM unleashes a Bong Joon-Ho retrospective. Bong is the director of THE HOST, but his best film (in our humble opinion) is BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE which will be screened. So see it when you can! Director Bong will be present and doing Q&A’s. (full info) (tickets and showtimes)
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The Korean American Film Festival starts on Feb. 28 and runs for one weekend. But just because it’s short that doesn’t mean it’s weak. Lots of shorts and films are screening with the stand-outs being an encore presentation of Park Chan-Wook’s THIRST which was seriously underrated when it was released. Also very worthy is MUNYURANGBO, a feature film about the Rwandan genocide (directed by a Korean American director), which has earned extreme praise from no less than Roger Ebert. (full info) (tickets and showtimes)
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MY NAME IS KHAN!
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One of the big indie hits of the year is the Bollywood blockbuster, MY NAME IS KHAN, which hit the box office like a lion over the weekend, making it one of the biggest non-studio openings of the year. It’s Shah Rukh Khan’s 9/11, asperger’s musical so take that for what it’s worth, and it’s playing pretty much everywhere. (showtimes)
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Holy Cow! HOUSE is still playing at the IFC Center. There’s no stopping this freaky masterpiece…and it’s from 1977!!! (tickets and showtimes)
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Feb 17 2010
From March 3 – 9, new films from this year’s Rotterdam Film Festival are playing at BAM.
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AUTUMN ADAGIO (2009, Japan) – Tsuki Inoue directs this flick about a middle-aged nun who meets three different men. And it’s not a porno. (Read a review)
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Miyoko
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MIYOKO (2009, Japan) – a lush biopic about a manga artist, his mostly-naked model/muse and the boho 70’s lifestyle they lead. (Read a review)
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Mundane History…lookin’, well, mundane.
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MUNDANE HISTORY (2009, Thailand) – the director of the first Thai short film to be an official selection of Cannes makes her feature debut in this “metaphysical family drama about an elusive father, a paralyzed son and the male nurse hired to take care of him.” Huh. The reviews make it sound no less perplexing, but sort of interesting, too. (Read a review)
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MY DAUGHTER (2009, Malaysia) – a mother/daughter story. Mom is a hairdresser with a complicated love life. Her daughter is a teenager. Complications ensue.
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SUN SPOTS (2009, Hong Kong) – an HD feature described as “stylistically daring.” That sometimes means “incomprehensible.” But sometimes it means “really good.”
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Feb 17 2010
Posted: under Subway Cinema News.
Next week Film Comment Selects kicks off at the Walter Reade with a bunch of Asian movies in its line-up, most importantly a screening of Edward Yang’s 1991 A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY which hasn’t been screened in years and which is almost totally unavailable on video. (Full info)
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It looks like IFC’s run of HOUSE is wrapping up on 2/15, so get on over to see it if you haven’t. I just rewatched it over there recently and HOUSE never disappoints. (tickets & showtimes)
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Jackie Chan’s earnest but disappointing crime film, THE SHINJUKU INCIDENT, is still screening at the Loew’s on 3rd Avenue and 11th Street (showtimes).
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On Friday, February 19 @ 7:30pm the Japan Society is screening the psychedelic samurai film, DESTINY’S SON. How psychedelic is it? Here’s a bit of the write-up:
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“DESTINY’S SON is a film filled with stylistic highlights: the one-take dolly shot of Ichikawa’s running battle with a battalion of swordsmen under an inky sky, the labyrinth of empty castle chambers through which he attempts to find his ambushed master, the scene in which the unarmed hero defends himself with a twig of cherry blossom, and especially the recurring flashback to his mother’s execution at the hands of her own lover, in a barren landscape beside a single, ancient tree.”
– Tom Mes, Midnight Eye
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Today’s the last day for the Bollywood film ISHQIYA to be screened at the old ImaginAsian, now Big Cinemas. What starts tomorrow? The mega-huge Shah Rukh Khan film MY NAME IS KHAN. Directed by reliable crowdpleaser, Karan Johar, it’s SRK’s musical about 9/11 and living in America as a South Asian. Everyone expects this to be huge! (more info)
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A few upcoming events: the Korean American Film Festival has a great line-up, including an encore presentation of Park Chan-Wook’s THIRST and a screening of the widely acclaimed (even by Roger Ebert) film MUNYURANGBO. (more info)
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On Tuesday, February 23 @ 7pm there’s a free screening of the amazing Korean film, BREATHLESS, with director/writer/star/producer, Yang Ik-June, present for a Q&A. (more info)
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Starting February 25, BAM is holding a Bong Joon-Ho (THE HOST) retrospective, including a sneak peak at his new film, MOTHER, which opens theatrically on March 12. Most urgent: a rare screening of his first and best film, BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (more info).
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Feb 11 2010
Film Comment Selects is the annual, slightly less geriatric version of the New York Film Festival that takes place up at the Walter Reade and it’s programmed by Gavin Smith who is a lot more welcoming of Asian film. This year’s program includes the following:
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THE ACCIDENT (Friday, Feb. 19 & Saturday, Feb. 20) – everyone wondered what Hong Kong director, Soi Cheang, would do after his brutal DOG BITE DOG (and everyone sort of dismissed his hair metal SHAMO) and the answer is THE ACCIDENT. A locked-down, chilly thriller about a group of hitmen in Hong Kong who make each death look like a Rube Goldberg-style, one-of-a-kind accident, this movie has set pieces galore and features a mondo freako performance from Louis Koo. It loses its energy towards the end, but most of Soi Cheang’s movies do that. Well worth seeing this little beauty on the big screen. (tickets and showtimes)
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AIR DOLL (Tuesday, Feb. 23 & Saturday, Feb. 27) – Kore-eda shocked the simple-minded puritans when he decided not to make yet another mellow exploration of life and love and instead shot this punky little flick about an inflatable sex doll who comes to life when her owner is away at work. It’s like a porno version of The Velveteen Rabbit and it stars Bae Doo-Na (THE HOST, LINDA LINDA LINDA) one of Korea’s best actresses. No surprise it’s showing up on lots of Japanese top ten lists.
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A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY (Sunday, Feb. 28) – this is the can’t miss item in this year’s line-up. Edward Yang’s 1991 masterpiece about unrest in Taipei reinvented Taiwanese cinema and gave first jobs to a host of its biggest future stars, cameramen, production designers and actors. Almost totally unavailable on video, it’s also a stunning movie that stands with the best of world cinema.
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THE EXECUTION OF P (Friday, Feb. 26 & Sunday, Feb. 28) – Brillante Mendoza likes his crime movies, and this one (also known as KINATAY), repulsed audiences at Cannes. A slice of kitchen sink realism about a young man recruited to assist in the execution of a hooker, it’s pure intensity times 1000.
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LIKE YOU KNOW IT ALL (Tuesday, Mar. 2 & Wednesday, Mar. 3) – everyone loves Hong Sang-Soo, Korea’s arthouse comedian. If Woody Allen was Korean and had continued to mature and grow rather than stagnate and fester, he would have wound up like Hong, a director who knows how to tell a joke. In this flick, a director is invited to serve on a film festival jury and things quickly fall apart.
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PERFECT LIFE (Saturday, Feb. 20) – if you like Jia Zhangke then you’ll love this movie he produced all about hotel maids and troubled wives and capitalism and China.
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THE REVENGE: A VISIT FROM FATE (Sunday, Feb. 21)
THE REVENGE: THE SCAR THAT NEVER HEALS (Sunday, Feb. 21) – before Kiyoshi Kurosawa was Kiyoshi Kurosawa he was the director of a lot of low budget crime films, and these two have rarely been seen in theaters before. Shot in 1997, these quickies take the Dirty Harry concept and turn it inside out, Kurosawa-style.
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Comments (1)
Feb 11 2010
One of the major finds of this year’s New York Asian Film Festival was BREATHLESS, a movie about a violence-for-hire, gutter trash thug who is totally addicted to the rough stuff. Rather than being yet another Korean movie full of people smashing each other over the head with soju bottles, it quickly morphs into a sharp meditation on violence, both emotional, familial and physical, when our foul mouthed hero runs into a schoolgirl who can take whatever he can dish out.
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The movie was a labor of love for its star and director, Yang Ik-June, a no-name actor who sold his house to produce his movie which went on to win awards and accolades around the world. Now, thanks to the Korean Cultural Service, he’s coming to NYC along with BREATHLESS for a free screening on February 23 @ 7pm at the Tribeca Cinemas down on the corner of Varick and Canal. Yang Ik-June will be there and he’ll do a Q&A after the film.
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To reserve a place at the screening, just RSVP to
rsvp_cine at koreanculturedotorg
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Even if you RSVP-ed already, it’s a good idea to do it again because I think they’re restarting the RSVP list.
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Feb 11 2010
This year’s Korean American Film Fest runs from February 27 – 28th at the massive SVA Theater down on 333 West 23rd street. Tickets are already on sale, and this year they’ve got some features well worth paying attention to.
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Park Chan-Wook’s THIRST is an under-rated vampire picture and while the reviews were mixed and it did poorly when it received a theatrical release, it’s a movie that deserves a second chance. Taking a lot of risks, it’s sexy and has a grim sense of humor that just keeps getting wetter and bloodier. Starring Song Kang-Ho (THE HOST) and Kim Ok-Bin (DASEPO NAUGHTY GIRLS). (more on the film) (watch the trailer)
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Other features of note are MUNYURANGBO a feature film about the Rwandan genocide told entirely through the POV of two teenaged boys. It’s received nothing but raves, most notably from Roger Ebert. (It’s in this fest because the director is Korean American).
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There are tons of shorts, Song Hye-Kyo’s American indie feature debut, MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME, and much more.
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Feb 10 2010
