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:

.

.

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)

.

.

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.

.

.

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.

.

.

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.

.

.

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.

.

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.

.

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.

.

Tickets and schedule.

.

Comments (0) 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.

.

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.

.

To reserve a place at the screening, just RSVP to

rsvp_cine at koreanculturedotorg

.

Even if you RSVP-ed already, it’s a good idea to do it again because I think they’re restarting the RSVP list.

.

.

BREATHLESS

Free screening

Tuesday, February 23 @ 7pm

At the Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal and Varick, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops)

.

Comments (0) 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.

.

.

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)

.
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).

.

There are tons of shorts, Song Hye-Kyo’s American indie feature debut, MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME, and much more.

.

Tickets and showtimes.

.

Comments (0) Feb 10 2010

Best known in the US of A for THE HOST, Bong Joon-Ho is probably my favorite Korean director and he’s named Bong for Christ’s sake. From February 25 - March 1, BAM will be hosting a full retrospective of his films with him present. Here’s the line-up:

.

.

MEMORIES OF MURDER (Feb. 25 @ 7:30pm) - I couldn’t like David Fincher’s ZODIAC after seeing BJH’s MEMORIES OF MURDER. Based on Korea’s first real-life serial killings that took place in the tiny town of Hwaseong back in the 80’s, Bong mixes cop thriller with a sense of slow-burning outrage and the kind of painful, immediate emotional intensity that I felt was missing from ZODIAC. Whereas ZODIAC is a superior account of what happened (This happened, then this, then this) it always felt to me like an assemblage of facts with a cool, detached directorial presence behind it. MEMORIES OF MURDER, on the other hand, is a story and it’s one where you can feel the director fumbling in the dark until he finds his voice and lets out a long, outraged howl. Starring Song Kang-Ho, this was a massive hit when it was released and it’s the one movie that’ll make you rethink all those cliched serial killer conventions. (read some reviews) (watch the trailer)

.

.

MOTHER (Feb. 26 @ 7pm) - Bong’s latest is the story of a mother in a rural town whose mentally disabled son is accused of the murder of a local schoolgirl. Believing, despite all evidence to the contrary, that her son is innocent, the mother (played by Kim Hye-Ja) sets out to prove that her boy didn’t do it and in doing so she unravels a dark, gothic web of sin. Kim Hye-Ja is regarded as the face of motherhood in Korea, having played more mothers on TV and in movies than you would think is humanly possible and MOTHER is her finest hour, a tour de force for this 69-year-old actress. Magnolia will be releasing the film theatrically on March 12. (read a review) (watch the trailer) (see a list of theaters for the national release of MOTHER)

With director Bong Joon-Ho present.

.

.

THE HOST (Feb. 27 @ 6:30pm & 9:30pm) - the movie that put Director Bong on the map overseas, THE HOST is the monster movie you always wanted to see: smart, funny and with a kick ass monster in the starring role. Song Kang-Ho, Bae Doo-Na and Byeon Hee-Bong star as the poor, lame, uninspired monster killers. They’re a dysfunctional family who has to get it together to rescue their daughter from the snorky beast. A monster-sized hit in Korea it’ll please everyone from genre enthusiasts to arthouse poseurs. (read a review) (watch the trailer)

With director Bong Joon-Ho present.

.

.

BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE (Feb. 28 @ 6:50pm & 9:15pm) - this is it! The one movie in this series that you HAVE to see. Bong Joon-Ho’s first movie is virtually unseen and it’s his best film by a country mile. Bae Doo-Na stars as a maintenance worker in a suburban housing estate investigating the murders of a a bunch of yappy lap dogs. One of Korea’s best actors, Lee Seong-Jae, stars as an out-of-work college lecturer desperate to get back onto the lecture circuit by any means necessary. Deeply funny and acquiring a surprising depth towards the end, this may be your only chance to see this movie on the big screen and you should leap on it with both feet. (read more) (watch the trailer)

.

BONG JOON-HO SHORTS (March 1 @ 7pm) - three short films by BJH will play: SINK AND RISE, INFLUENZA and SHAKING TOKYO.

.

Tickets and showtimes.

.

Comments (0) Feb 10 2010

The big news this week is that on Tuesday, February 9 @ 7pm the Korean Cultural Service will be holding a free screening of the intense Korean thriller, BEAUTIFUL, with its director, Jun Jai-Hong, in attendance. The movie is based on a script by Kim Ki-Duk (THE ISLE) and Jun is one of his assistant directors making his directorial debut with this story of a beautiful woman who is sick of being hassled by guys because she’s good looking. Her solution? Destroy her own beauty by any means necessary - and it all ends very, very, very badly. Sexual politics tinged with plenty of body horror, it’s intense psychological horror like you’ve never seen. (read a review) To attend the screening, just rsvp to the Korean Cultural Service: rsvp underscore cine at koreanculture dot org. It’ll be held at the Tribeca Cinemas (down on the corner of Varick and Canal).

.

.

Also opening this weekend on Feb. 5 is the new Jackie Chan movie, THE SHINJUKU INCIDENT. A so-so thriller, it’s a visually rich morality tale about the rise and fall of a Chinese gangster (Chan) in Japan. No stunts, and the action is of the big brawl variety, it’s a tamped-down, very reserved performance for Chan and it’s playing in Manhattan at the Loews Village Seven on the corner of Third Avenue and 11th Street. (read a review) (showtimes)

.

Incredibly, HOUSE, the 1977 psychedelic masterpiece from Japan, is still playing at the IFC Center. It’s a runaway hit that came from nowhere and is making big bank. (read a review) (tickets and showtimes)

.

.

3 IDIOTS is still the biggest Bollywood box office hit of all time and it’s still playing all over the five boroughs. (showtimes)

.

Ram Gopal Varma’s news media thriller, RANN, is still playing in the city. (showtimes)

.

Up at the ImaginAsian the Bollywood film ISHQIYA is playing. This romance/thriller flick is getting rave reviews (you can read one of them here, and another of them here) and being called “…explosively raw, ribald, gritty, grimy, and, most of all, real.” (tickets and showtimes)

.

.

Film Forum’s 100th birthday party for Akira Kurosawa wraps up this week with a run of Kurosawa’s last acknowledged masterpiece, RAN. (showtimes and tickets)

.

Comments (0) Feb 02 2010

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)

.

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)

.

.

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)

.

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)

.

.

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

.

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)

.

.

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)

.

.

Comments (0) Jan 20 2010

Lots of news this week.

.

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)

.

.

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)

.

.

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.

.

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

.

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)

.

Comments (0) Jan 19 2010

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

.

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)

.

.

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:

.

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).

.

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).

.

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

.

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.

.

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)

.

.

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)

.

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)

.

Comments (3) 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.)

.

.

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)

.

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)

.

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)

.

.

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.

.

Comments (0) Jan 07 2010