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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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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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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).

.

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)

.

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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(read reviews)

(theaters playing the film)

(watch the trailer)

(official website)

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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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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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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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(more info and tickets)

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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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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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Tickets and showtimes.

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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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(tickets & more info)

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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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