June 3 - June 10
The New York Asian Film Festival is fast upon us, and there's lots and lots of news. Some of this news will make you cry, so if you might need a tissue why don't you get them now? Do you have your tissues? Okay, good. The bad news is that after months and months, Stephen Chiau's SHAOLIN SOCCER is no longer playing anywhere. Woe!
All done? Now let's get on to the good news:

COMING SOON:
Subway Cinema's New York Asian Film Festival kicks off June 18. Advanced tickets are on sale! Go to:
www.subwaycinema.com
Or call SmartTix at:
212-868-4444
These shows sell out, so don't be caught without a ticket. You can go paperless, and just bring your ID to the box office on the day of the screening, or you can get tickets mailed to you for a small fee. And remember:
Advanced sale tickets are $8 + $1.50 handling charge from Smart Tix
Tickets at the Anthology Box office are $9

Check out the films right here.



NOW PLAYING

But first a word from our sponsor! Subway Cinema would like to thank one of our sponsors for this year's New York Asian Film Festival. It is getting near summer and that means beer tastes better than ever and especially one from Singapore. Tiger Beer!
Now back to your regular programming.



Angelika Film Center
SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER...AND SPRING (2003, Korea, 103 minutes)
Korea's bad boy director, Kim Ki-Duk (THE ISLE) returns with an atypically quiet film, shimmering with Buddhist calm. Highly acclaimed, the flick shows the passing of the four seasons at a floating Buddhist monastery. Sony Pictures Classics is releasing the film at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas (Broadway, between 62 and 63 Streets) and the Angelika Film Center.
Read reviews at:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?spring+summer+fall+winter+and+spring

Brooklyn Academy of Music
"Village Voice Best Films of 2003"
Are you a super-evolved being from the future? Is your head swollen like an enormous lightbulb sitting on top of your shoulders? Is it this way because it had to expand to accommodate your gigantic, advanced brain? If so, then here's a film festival for all you smarties out there. Three very intelligent, very beautiful, very artsy movies that will be enjoyed for centuries by brainiacs. Attend this festival and between screenings you and your kind can commune telepathically in the lobby.

GOODBYE, DRAGON INN (2003, Taiwan, 82 minutes)
Saturday, June 5 @ 6:45PM
Acclaimed director Tsai Ming-liang makes a flick about the last day of a movie house in Taiwan. It happens to be showing King Hu's great DRAGON INN. And, you know, if BAM were closing, then someone could make a movie about YOU watching GOODBYE, DRAGON INN and then it would be a movie, inside a movie, inside a movie. Chew on that, stoner.
Read a review:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?goodbye+dragon+inn



UNKNOWN PLEASURES (2002, China, 113 minutes)
Tuesday, June 8 @ 4:30PM, 6:45PM, 9PM
The director of PLATFORM weighs in on disaffected youth. We all know that China has lots of disaffected youth. Now, see evidence of this on film.
Read a review at:
http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/unknownpleasures/

BLISSFULLY YOURS (2002, Thailand, 145 minutes)
June 12 & 13
A Thai film about a picnic on the border, immigrants, love and ants. Lots of ants.
Read a review at:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?blissfully+yours



Broadway Theater (Broadway and 53rd)
The hit British musical, BOMBAY DREAMS is now open. But even a score by A.R. Rahman (including "Chaiya Chaiya" from DIL SE, and "Shakalaka Baby" from NAYAK), a role for Madhur Jaffrey, the biggest Indian cookbook writer in the West, and inflatable Ganesh statues (plus a big fountain) haven't saved it from almost unanimous critical slams. Yikes! I liked it, but I like Bollywood, and if you don't know Bollywood you probably won't like it, and who in the US knows much about Bollywood? Bolly-bummer.
Ticket info:
212-239-6200



China Institute
SONS (1996, China, 95 minutes)
Tuesday, June 8 @ 6:30PM (followed by a discussion)
Part of "The Documentary Impulse"
A program running through the next few weeks, "The Documentary Impulse" looks at the modern documentary tradition in China. SONS is the story of a family of four, played by a family of four who are all playing themselves, trying to "relate to one another in an alienating and overwhelming world." That says it all. Directed by Zhang Yuan, the acclaimed Chinese art film director, what isn't revealed in the above blurb is that the family problems are caused by...alcoholism. It's like a Lifetime movie disguised as a Chinese docu-drama.
Tickets: $5 member / $7 non-member
read reviews at:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?erzi

Cinema Village
TWILIGHT SAMURAI (2003, Japan, 130 minutes)
in general release (check theater listings for showtimes)
It's ended its run at the Landmark Sunshine, but someone thinks it's not over yet, so TWILIGHT SAMURAI moves to Cinema Village for more screenings. Japan's revamp of the samurai genre became a big hit back home, and it exudes a corroded, corrupt, genre atmosphere. It does for samurais what Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN did for cowboys. Don't miss it.
read a review at:
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/twilsamu.shtml



SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN (2002, China)
in general release (check theater listings for showtimes)
Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang's moving and beautiful tale of a love triangle in a Chinese village after World War II is a remake of a 1940's melodrama, but Tian manages to turn this unpromising premise into a gorgeously shot, psychologically-riveting film that exerts a hold on viewers far beyond what you'd expect. Widely lauded at film festivals, it won "Best Film" at the 2002 Venice Film Festival.
more info:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?springtime+in+a+small+town

GODZILLA (1954, Japan, original running time...plus 40 more minutes!)
special encore engagement starts May 21
It's Godzilla's 50th birthday, and not only is Ryuhei Kitamura (see AZUMI at this year's NYAFF) shooting the latest (and supposedly last) Godzilla flick in NYC this summer, but the original GODZILLA movie (minus the Raymond Burr footage) was screening at Film Forum... and it was so popular that when its engagement closed it moved to Cinema Village. Hooray! Let's face it, folks, there's no one out there like Godzilla. See it before it goes away.
more info:
www.rialtopictures.com/godzilla

Film Forum
IMELDA (2003, USA, 103 minutes)
June 9 - 22 @ 1:00PM, 3:15PM, 5:45PM, 7:50PM, 10:00PM
Director Ramon Diaz will be present at the June 9, 7:50PM screening! See his shoe collection!
The butt of more jokes in the 80's than I've had hot dinners, Imelda Marcos is the Tammy Faye Baker of the international dictator set, only without the third-act redemption and with more torture. Her gaudy outward appearance made her something of a lovable mascot for gauche excess and capitalist insanity, which served to soften the fact that for every "Imelda and her shoes" crack there were thousands of Philippinos living in outrageous poverty, and hundreds of political prisoners languishing in solitary confinement and (allegedly) being tortured. Oh, and then there was the suspected murder of a political rival. But what the heck - she had a lot of shoes! Take in this documentary and try to adjust to the moral vertigo.
More info:
http://www.filmforum.com/films/imelda.html

Lincoln Center - Walter Reade Theater
"Human Rights Watch International Film Festival"
Spinach in film festival form, the Human Rights Watch Film Festival is actually one of the only places in New York that showcases international cinema on a regular basis.

REPATRIATION (2003, Korea, 149 minutes)
Saturday, June 19 @ 1PM
Monday, June 21 @ 1PM
Tuesday, June 22 @ 8PM
A documentary about the unconverted North Koreans who were arrested by South Korean authorities and kept in prison for decades. These guys were held for 30 years, and director Kim Dong-Won filmed them for ten years as they were released and went home. This story is also told in the fiction film from Korea, THE ROAD TAKEN, playing at this year's New York Asian Film Festival. Both the feature, and the documentary, have been widely acclaimed. Variety calls REPATRIATION "powerful" and "extraordinary" and the doc enjoyed great success as a theatrical release in Korea last year.

Lincoln Plaza Cinemas (Broadway, between 62 and 63 Streets)
SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER...AND SPRING (2003, Korea, 103 minutes)

Loew's Cineplex 34th Street (W34th St. @ 8th Avenue)
"New Fest"
What's "New Fest"? It's the new name for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgendered Film Festival - or, LGBTFF for short.

CHEERLEADER QUEENS (2003, Thailand, 119 minutes)
Sunday, June 6 @ 1:15PM
Tuesday, June 8 @ 10:15PM
Four queer Thai kids are rejected by the world around them and unite to form...a cheerleading squad. Could be good, could be bad. Interestingly, Thailand has created a film genre around transgender characters and a few of their more popular films from the past few years - "Beautiful Boxer", "Saving Private Tootsie" and "Iron Ladies" have involved transsexuals as the main character - could you imagine that in this country?
Look at pictures and read a synopsis at:
http://www.cinemathai.com/stills/2003/CheerleaderQueens-2003/index.en.shtml



COLONEL JIN XING (2001, France, 52 minutes)
Sunday, June 13 @ 3:15PM
A documentary about one of China's first out transsexuals: Colonel Jin Xing. A decorated military officer, and ballet dancer who started one of the most acclaimed dance companies in China, and who has a great role as Lara, the lesbian hitwoman, in RESURRECTION OF THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL at last year's NYAFF. She's now a mother and pretty fricking rad.

CORNER'S (2001, Taiwan, 66 minutes)
Saturday, June 12 @ 3:45PM
An impressionistic ode to a famous gay bar in Taipei that was closed by a police raid. Narrated in French (with English subs) this video production is from Zero Chou and Hoho Liu, who are billed as Taiwan's most active and celebrated lesbian filmmakers...which is pretty dim praise since Taiwan isn't known for its film industry or its gay and lesbian scene. This documentary is paired with WITH 3R: IDENTITY BEHIND THE MIRROR a 20 minute short video from Malaysia that examines homophobia.

INTER.M@TES (2004, Philippines, unknown)
Monday, June 7 @ 10:15PM
Yes, it's another movie that puts symbols in its title and thus renders it impossible to pronounce. But come on, cut it some slack, how many gay films do you know about from the Philippines. Popular Philippino writer, Dinno Erece, did the script, and the film centers on the lives and loves of a movie star who gets outed and kills himself. Or is it murder? It's a world premiere, so stay up late and skip FEAR FACTOR for once.

THE IRON LADIES 2 (2003, Thailand, 100 minutes)
Saturday, June 5 @ 10:15PM
The sequel to Thailand's 2001 hit film about a team of transsexual volleyball players is actually a prequel. It did really well on its release, and both movies are much praised for their take-no-prisoners comedy style.
Read a review:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?^Sa+tree+lex+2+(2003)

Loew's State Theater

Yahoo, three Bollywood movies at the State!! Life is good.

MAIN HOON NA (2004, India)
Showtimes @ 2PM, 6:15PM, 9:45PM
The first big Bollywood film of the year hits the screens, and how! It's veteran choreographer, Farah Khan's, directorial debut starring Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen and Amrita Rao. A terrorist plot somehow requires SRK to go to college and romance a gal, and the fate of Indian/Pakistani relations hangs in the balance. A big ol' masala, it's a throwback to the wonder years of Bollywood when every movie tried to appeal to every filmgoer. One of the best feel good films of the year.
read a review:
http://www.indiafm.com/reviews/04/mainhoonna/index.shtml



HUM TUM (2004, India)
Showtimes @ 2PM, 5:30PM, 9PM
Saif Ali Khan (DIL CHATA HAI) and Rani Mukherjee star in the latest offering from Yash Raj Productions. Yash Raj turns out contemporary, mainstream, romantic melodramas and comedies with slick production values and musical numbers. This is a boy meets girl film with some animation (yes, the characters occasionally appear as animated cartoons), and like almost all Yash Raj films it features the obligatory scene shot in Europe.
Read a review:
http://www.mahiram.com/movies/reviews/ht.html



YUVA (2004, India)
Showtimes @ 1:30, 5PM, 8:30PM
Mani Ratnam is one of India's great directors (he made DIL SE, and if you haven't seen it then go out and get the DVD immediately) and YUVA is one of the biggest films of his career. Abishek Bachchan plays a street thug, Vivek Oberoi (COMPANY) plays a party boy and Ajay Devgan (KHAKEE, COMPANY) plays a student political leader. The three cross paths on a bridge one day in a traumatic incident and the film follows the paths that led them there. The first 2/3's are fantastic, with a ferocious performance by Abishek. The last 1/3 falls into kitsch with scenes of happy tractor-driving farmers and marching students. However, taken as a whole, this is a pretty formidable film about electoral corruption. Great action scenes, and good music by A.R. Rahman as well as terrific female performances by Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee make it worthwhile. Given the latest round of election madness in India, the movie's practically psychic and is a great look at the on-the-ground tactics behind getting out the vote.



We would also like to thank one of our advertisers - Second on Second - a trendy Japanese-French restaurant/bar/karaoke all in one that seems to attract really good looking people by my observations tonight. A very cool place and right across from the Anthology on 2nd Ave. Please support them because they are supporting Asian film.



*Special Programs*
Iona Rozeal Brown
Through June 13th @ Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
Brown's disturbing artwork parodies the Japanese craze for African-American culture known as ganguro. How does she parody it? She does paintings that look like 17th Century Japanese woodblocks prints…but in blackface. It's kind of interesting and kind of creepy.