From March 31 (tomorrow!) until April 18, the Japan Society is hosting an incredible series of films, “Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know: Three Untamed Beauties.” This features rare and amazing films from three of Japan’s most hardcore actresses, Meiko Kaji, Ayako Wakao and Mariko Okada. Starring in some of the most outrageous, stylish and over-the-top movies in Japanese cinema, these three women are some of the greatest actresses you’ve never heard of, and this is your chance to finally welcome them into your life.

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First up is TATTOO (aka THE SPIDER TATTOO) on Wednesday, March 31 @ 7:30pm starring Ayako Wakao. The program notes say:

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“A dark erotic tale from the director of Blind Beast, Tattoo (Irezumi) follows the descent of a woman whose extreme beauty and ferocious nature bring her to the abyss. Otsuya, the daughter of a wealthy pawnbroker, charms her weak-willed lover into eloping with her. As they try to escape, she is abducted and sold to a geisha house by unscrupulous ruffians. Soon, she catches the eye of a tattoo master who uses her body as a living surface for his unholy art: he engraves into her flawless ivory flesh a large and monstrous spider tattoo. As if under the invisible influence of its evil force, Otsuya grows ever more wicked as she excels in the trade she has been forced into, eventually consuming the lives of the unwitting men she holds in her thrall. Did the tattoo artist transform her into the creature she has become, irredeemably spoiling her soul and skin, or in fact unleash the beast within?”

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There’s an after-party with DJ Miho Hatori (of Cibo Matto fame) and tickets are only $15. Free beer! Free food! Awesome movie!

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Full program info.

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Comments (0) Mar 30 2010

(all images in this post are taken from the current art exhibit at Japan Society)

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Drop everything! On Tuesday, March 23, the Korean Cultural Service is holding a free screening of SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE at the Tribeca Cinemas at 7pm. Park Chan-Wook’s movie is one of the few Korean movies that can truly be called a masterpiece of world cinema. A soul-destroying look at the necessity of revenge and the price it exacts, this jaw-dropping film stars Song Kang-Ho, Bae Doo-Na and Shin Ha-Kyun – three of Korea’s best actors. Tickets are free and given on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 6:30pm. (more info) (read more about the film)

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CHILDREN OF INVENTION and FALLING FOR GRACE are both screening at the former ImaginAsian theater (now the Big Cinemas Manhattan). CHILDREN has gotten rave reviews (read one in the NY Times) and is a powerful tearjerker about a single mom raising her two children. FALLING has gotten much more mixed reviews (read some) but it does feature Margaret Cho, so that’s something. (tickets and showtimes)

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As part of their chanbara series, the Japan Society is screening the fifth Zatoichi films, ZATOICHI ON THE ROAD: FIGHTING JOURNEY (read a review). One of the darker Zatoichi movies, it’s screening on Saturday, March 20 @ 5pm – that’s a new screening time for this series, so make a note. (tickets and showtimes)

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At the Asia Society is the series “China’s Past, Present, Future on Film” from March 6 – April 16. What’s screening this week? PERFECT LIFE, produced by Chinese arthouse god, Jia Zhangke, is part documentary/part feature film, it’s a movie that tells, “the bleak stories of female migrant workers in China.” So if that’s what you’re into, head to the Asia Society on Mar 19 @ 6:45pm.

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Unbelievably, HOUSE is still playing midnights at the IFC Center. (tickets and showtimes)

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Taiwanese freedom flick starring James Van der Beek (Dawson!), FORMOSA BETRAYED, is still playing in NYC. (showtimes)

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Bollywood blockbuster about 9/11, MY NAME IS KHAN, is still playing in Kew Gardens and Edison, NJ. (showtimes)

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Comments (0) Mar 18 2010

Japan Society has just launched Graphic Heroes, Magic Monsters: Japanese Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, an exhibition of art to run from Friday, March 12 – Sunday, June 13. Utagawa Kuniyoshi is one of the most influential Japanese illustrators of all time. His freaky and bizarre paintings from 150 years ago like this…

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…have been wildly influential on anime, manga and the Japanese visual imagination. (Here’s a picture gallery of some of the 130 pieces on display) (More info)

Comments (0) Mar 18 2010

KIMJONGILIA, the documentary about North Korea’s prison camps, opens on March 19 at Cinema Village. Here’s what the filmmakers have to say about their flick:

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“KIMJONGILIA, The Flower of Kim Jong Il, is the first film to fully expose the disaster through a tapestry of defectors’stories,North Korean propaganda, and original performance. This feature documentary shows why the defectors fled, describes their hair-raising escapes, and recounts the dangers they face in China, hunted by Chinese as well as North Korean police. These refugees are from every walk of life, from child concentration camp inmates to an elite concert pianist.”

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The film’s director will be in attendance at certain opening weekend shows. Here’s the official website with trailers and all kinds of jazz, and here’s a review (that says the film “must be seen to be believed.”) and here’s a link to tickets and showtimes. Also, read some reviews.

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Comments (0) Mar 18 2010

The big news this week is the free screening of action maestro, Ryoo Seung-Wan’s, deubt feature, DIE BAD. (full info)

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At the Asia Society is the series “China’s Past, Present, Future on Film” from March 6 – April 16. First up is the Saturday, March 6 screening of XIAO JIA GOING HOME at 2:30pm. Here’s what they say:

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French-Algerian documentary filmmaker Damien Ounouri follows leading Chinese Sixth Generation film director Jia Zhangke to his small home town of Fenyang in Shanxi province after he won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival for Still Life (2006).

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Better yet, the movie is followed by a Q&A with Jia Zhangke and his muse, Zhao Tao. Live! They’re in New York! (Tickets are only $7) (more info)

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And Jia Zhangke is in town all weekend – after Asia Society he moves over to MOMA for a Jia Zhangke retrospective from March 5  – 20. It’s all of Jia’s films, from his earliest to his most recent (PICKPOCKET! PLATFORM! THE WORLD! and the amazing STILL LIFE!). Even better, on Monday, March 8 @ 7pm there’s An Evening with Jia Zhangke with clips from his latest film, SHANGHAI LEGEND, and a chit chat with Howard Feinstein. (more info)

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It’s the last days of BAM’s slice of art films fresh out of the Rotterdam Film Festival, including several Asian titles. (full info)

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Taiwanese freedom flick, FORMOSA BETRAYED, is still playing in NYC at the Village East theater. (full info)

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Amazingly, MY NAME IS KHAN (Bollywood, 9/11 film) and HOUSE (Japanese, psychedelic film) are both still playing in NYC (KHAN showtimes) (HOUSE showtimes)

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Comments (0) Mar 08 2010

As part of Korean Movie Night, tomorrow, Tuesday, March 9 @ 7pm, there will be a free screening of Ryoo Seung-Wan’s debut feature, DIE BAD. The screening will be at the Tribeca Cinemas (on the corner of Varick and Canal Streets) and tickets are free and given on a first-come, first-serve basis. The doors open at 6:30pm and there are about 130 seats, so there should be room for everyone who wants to come.

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This is part of the Korean Cultural Service’s Korean Movie Night series and while the first four screenings were dedicated to Indie films from Korea, this series will be all about remakes (next up is SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, slated for a remake by the team that make GI JOE and TRANSFORMERS 2; then THE PHONE, slated for a remake by the original director). DIE BAD is supposed to be remade by Marc Forster, director of MONSTER’S BALL and QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

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The original movie sees Ryoo weave together four storylines (each originally shot as its own short film) into a heavy metal action flick that allows he and his friends to go stunt crazy as they show the world how to make a fight film, Korean-style. Budgeted at just $55,000 it’s fast, it’s furious and it’s as brash and sudden as a fist to the face.

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Read a review. Or, read another review. And you can go here to read an interview with director Ryoo Seung-Wan.

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Comments (0) Mar 08 2010

The Bong Joon-Ho retrospective is over, Film Comment Selects is over, is there anything going on that’s worthwhile.

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Yes!

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Do not miss: a free screening! Ryu Seung-Wan’s first film, DIE BAD, is screening for free as part of the Korean Cultural Service’s Korean Movie Night. On Tuesday, March 9 @ 7pm, at the Tribeca Cinemas, Ryu Seung-Wan’s amazing first film, a $55,000 feature assembled Frankenstein-style from three short films he made, hits the screen like a punch to your jaw. It’s a no-holds-barred action flick that shows you why Ryu went on to become probably the greatest action film director in the world. Tickets are first come, first served. Doors open at 6:30pm (read a review)

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Die Bad.

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From action flicks to arthouse movies, NYC has it all. Holding up the arthouse side is the Asia Society which is holding “China’s Past, Present, Future on Film” from March 6 – April 16. First up is the Saturday, March 6 screening of XIAO JIA GOING HOME at 2:30pm. Here’s what they say:

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French-Algerian documentary filmmaker Damien Ounouri follows leading Chinese Sixth Generation film director Jia Zhangke to his small home town of Fenyang in Shanxi province after he won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival for Still Life (2006).

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Better yet, the movie is followed by a Q&A with Jia Zhangke and his muse, Zhao Tao. Live! They’re in New York! (Tickets are only $7) (more info)

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And Jia Zhangke is in town all weekend – after Asia Society he moves over to MOMA for a Jia Zhangke retrospective from March 5  – 20. It’s all of Jia’s films, from his earliest to his most recent (PICKPOCKET! PLATFORM! THE WORLD! and the amazing STILL LIFE!). Even better, on Monday, March 8 @ 7pm there’s An Evening with Jia Zhangke with clips from his latest film, SHANGHAI LEGEND, and a chit chat with Howard Feinstein. (more info)

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Jia Zhangke – don’t you want to have

an evening with this guy?

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Also up this weekend is a slice of the Rotterdam Film Festival doing its thing out at BAM. Rotterdam @ BAM brings a molten slab of Rotterdam’s artsiest Asian movies to Brooklyn. (more info)

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HOUSE, the amazing lyseric Japanese masterpiece from 1977 is still playing at the IFC Center (tickets and showtimes)

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MY NAME IS KHAN, the big Bollywood movie about 9/11 and Asperger’s starring Shah Rukh Khan is still playing all over town, too. (showtimes)

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FORMOSA BETRAYED, the James Van der Beek flick about Taiwanese independence, is still playing at Village East and the old ImaginAsian Theaters. (more info)

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Comments (0) Mar 04 2010