April 21 - 28, 2005
COMING SOON - THEATRICAL RELEASES
4/29 3-IRON
Kim Ki-Duk's latest festival favorite gets a NY/LA release, followed by a national roll-out.
4/29 - 5/1 ASIAN CINEVISION @ BAM
ACV brings a selection of recent Asian flicks to BAM, like THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED (Japan), MEN SUDDENLY IN BLACK (Hong Kong) and A PECK ON THE CHEEK (India).
5/13 UNLEASHED
Jet Li rubs shoulders with Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman in his latest English-language outing that used to be called DANNY THE DOG, which was a much more fun title.
5/20 LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Thailand's madman, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, made this beautiful film with Chris Doyle, Tadanobu Asano and Takashi Miike that played NYC a few months ago. It's worth your time.
5/20 6IXTYNIN9
Pen-ek Ratanaruang's first film, from 1999, is a fast-paced caper about a secretary who gets in trouble with the mob over a box of instant noodles.
6/2 DOLLS, BRIGHT FUTURE
Takeshi Kitano and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's latest films play the Anthology as part of a Palm Pictures weekend
6/10 CAFE LUMIERE
Taiwanese arthouse darling, Hou Hsiao-hsien, crafted this beautiful ode to Japan's master of quiet lyricism, Yasujiro Ozu, that will play a run at the Anthology Film Archives.
IN GENERAL RELEASE
BORN INTO BROTHELS (USA, 2004, 83 minutes)
Chelsea West, Village East
read reviews:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?isindex=born+into+brothels
BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2004, USA, 120 minutes)
Union Square 14, Loew's State
read a review:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?isindex=bride+and+prejudice
OLDBOY
Empire 25, Angelika Film Center, 62nd and Broadway
Park Chan-Wook's most purely cinematic, chewably pulp, comic book movie. It's got more brains and more nasty secrets and satanic perversions than your average comic book inspired flick, but its cliffhanger plot and hypnotic style are the kind of thing SPIDERMAN 3 wishes it could have a little more of. Oh Dae-Su is an ordinary schlub, abducted and imprisoned for 15 years and suddenly released with a rage-induced hard-on to mess up the guy who locked him up. Then things get really twisted.
read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/oldboy
KUNG FU HUSTLE (2005, Hong Kong)
Everywhere
Stephen Chow is god, and now you know. Sony Pictures Classic releases the King of Comedy's latest flick in 2,000 theaters nationwide and you owe it to the universe to buy a ticket. This is easily the most imaginative movie to hit US screens so far this year. Plot? You don't need to know the plot...it's Stephen Chow. Just go!
read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/kungfuhustle
NOW PLAYING
Angelika Film Center
OLDBOY
Cinema Village
ONE MISSED CALL (2003, Japan, 112 minutes)
Starts 4/20
Takashi Miike's entry into the "dead wet girls with long hair haunting electronic devices" genre, ONE MISSED CALL is a slick, good-looking relatively big budget production about a haunted cell phone number. Very mainstream, but there's some real Miike touches on hand, such as the severed arm that sends text messages, the television studio ghost call (which is pure brilliance) and the big liquefied pool of human flesh at the end. Okay, maybe it's not so mainstream after all.
Read reviews:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?isindex=one+missed+call
Columbia University
GODZILLA IN NEW YORK
April 20 - May 2
There's only three events in this Godzilla series but they're all worthwhile:
GODZILLA AND THE BRAVO SHOT: Who Created and Killed the Monster?
A lecture by Yuki Tanaka
Wednesday, April 20 at 6PM
403 Kent Hall (116th Street and Amsterdam Ave)
Prof. Tanaka will lecture on how America's Bravo Shot test of the hydrogen bomb in 1954 (which irradiated a Japanese fishing boat, the "Lucky Dragon no. 5") served as an impetus to the creation of GODZILLA. Prof. Tanaka is a researcher at the Hiroshima Peace Institute.
PULGASARI SCREENING!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, April 21 @ 8PM
Altschul Auditorium, Intl Affairs Bldg (118th St and Amsterdam Ave.)
The North Korean giant monster movie directed by the kidnapped South Korean master director Shin Sang-Ok is screening! At last! A Kim Jong-Il production. Almost never shown. Also features a lecture by Charles Armstrong, a history professor.
Read about it in the New Yorker:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/050425ta_talk_shapiro
GODZILLA SCREENING
Monday, May 2 @ 8PM
Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall (115th and Broadway)
RSVP to Donald-keene-center@columbia.org for free tickets
The original, restored print of GODZILLA, in Japanese with English subtitles and without Raymond Burr, appears at this free screening.
Film Forum
SAVE THE GREEN PLANET (Korea, 2003, 118 minutes)
Opens Wednesday, April 20th - two weeks only!!!
This movie will change your life. Completely sincere and full of a passion to save humanity from itself, this film is a UFO/conspiracy/horror/comedy/sci-fi/thriller/romance that maps the last days of planet earth, as a sad-sack loser who's convinced that aliens have infiltrated our planet and ruined his life, kidnaps his ex-boss because he JUST KNOWS that this corporate CEO is not only an alien, but also the only one who can stop the destruction of the planet
Read a review:
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0516,hoberman1,63135,20.html
or watch the trailer:
http://www.savethegreenplanetmovie.com/trailer
ImaginAsian Theater
(239 East 59th Street, btwn 2nd and 3rd Ave)
NIGHT OF HENNA (2005, USA, 95 minutes)
Starts 4/19
A cross-cultural indie romance set in San Francisco, it's all about a good Pakistani daughter who defies her parents to follow her dreams.
Read a review:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/04/DDGE0BJGHS1.DTL
(scroll to the bottom)
MUGHAL-E-AZAM (India, 1960)
Just go. Seriously. This is one of India's great movies, and it's like watching the TOUCH OF EVIL of that great nation. A story of a prince marrying a commoner, with musical numbers, gorgeously baroque chiaroscuro cinematography, a production that took ten years to complete and a choir of a couple hundred people giving back-up to some of the songs. This is the kind of movie you need to buy a ticket to, just to tell your grandkids you saw it on the big screen.
read a review:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/mughaleazam.html
ONG BAK (2003, Thailand, 108 minutes)
4/11 - 4/12 @ midnight only
4/18 - 4/24 @ 10:30PM
HIT ASIAN FILM SERIES
Starting Friday, April 29th
Popular new flicks from all over Asia in special, one-off screenings. Including, the romantic action horror flick from Hong Kong, LOVE BATTLEFIELD; Johnnie To's THROWDOWN; India's HYDERABAD BLUES 2; and Japan's squid wrestling flick, CALAMARI WRESTLER.
Japan Society
OTAKU CINEMA SLAM
March 4 - May 27, 2005
This showcase of Japan's geekiest movies has some great surprises hidden on the inside. The flicks all deal with obsessions, pop culture, and costume fetishes.
THE YIN YANG MASTER (aka Onmyoji)
Friday, April 22 @ 6:30PM
A Japanese period, ghost-busting flick. Lots of action and funky period monsters.
OTAKUS IN LOVE (Japan, 2004, 114 minutes)
Friday, May 6 @ 6:30PM
Manga artists unite! This goofy, jet propelled comedy is about struggling manga artists in Japan trying to make ends meet, fall in love, become popular, and introduce manga made of rocks to the world. Introduced by Brian Camp and one of the lightest, fluffiest, most fun comedies in this line-up.
Read a review:
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/koinomon.shtml
KIZUNA parts 1 & 2 (Japan, 1994, 60 minutes)
Friday, May 13 @ 6:30PM
Two episodes of the original KIZUNA anime, newly-subtitled. What's KIZUNA? It's yaoi anime. What's yaoi anime? It's man/man love, baby, geared for female viewers. Get on over and get educated.
A2 (Japan, 2001, 131 minutes)
Friday, May 23 @ 6:30PM
A sequel to the film (which I think is a documentary) about the struggle to survive of the new incarnation of the Aum cult, who were responsible for the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. A2 follows the ex-cult members as they try to fit in.
GAMERA 3: REVENGE OF IRIS (Japan, 1999, 110 minutes)
Friday, May 27 @ 6:30PM
If you're going to see one giant monster movie, make yours GAMERA 3. Introduced by Brian Camp, this is the ultimate kaiju eiga (giant monster movie) and it delivers on the promises made, but never fulfilled, by hundreds of monster movies over the years. GAMERA 3 finally satisfies all your expectations.
Read a review:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/archives/nyaff02/gamera.htm
Landmark Sunshine
EROS (2005, a bunch of countries)
A limited release is scheduled for this one-handed three-hander -- three short films about sex. There's one from Wong Kar-wai, one from Stephen Soderbergh and one from Michelangelo Antonioni. WKW and SS are supposed to be just fine, MA's is supposed to be a new breed of torture.
read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/eros
Loew's State
BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2004, USA, 120 minutes)
(also playing at the Union Square 14)
Museum of the Moving Image
TAI CHI 2 (1996, Hong Kong)
Friday, April 22 @ 7:30PM
Yuen Wo-ping directed this low-key, enjoyable martial arts romp that was the first film for Chinese martial artist/actor Wu Jing. Wu is in the upcoming SHA PO LANG and was in LEGEND OF ZU and he trained with Jet Li's martial arts coach in China, where he's a wu shu national champion specializing in tai chi. Also, there will be a live appearance by some guy named Jose Figueroa who says he's a martial arts choreographer too and who will show how martial arts in movies differ from martial arts in real life. Oo! Oo! I know! Pick me! In movies...hey don't they actually punch you in the face? Do I get a prize?
Village East
BORN INTO BROTHELS (USA, 2004)
And finally, a prized reader sent in this TV information:
Coming on CUNY-TV
April 23-24/29
Take Care of My Cat(2001/South Korea, 112 min., color, drama)
Director: Jae-eun Jeong. Cast: Bae Doo-na, Yu-won Lee, Ji-young Ok, Eun-shil Lee, Eun-joo Lee.
Poignant coming-of-age drama about five close-knit female friends in the South Korean port city ofIcheon who try to make their way in the world after high school but find it hard to stay together. (Discussion follows film.)
April 30, May 1, May 6
Painted Fire (2002/Korea, 116 min., color, historical drama)
Director: Im Kwon Taek.Cast:Min-sik Choi, Sung-kee Ahn, Ho-Jeong Yu, Yeo-jin Kim, Ye-jin Son.
Vignettes in the life of Ohwon, the 19th century painter revered as Korea's greatest artist,who was rescued from life in the streets and managed to achieve fame and recognition during one of Korea's most turbulent periods. (Discussion follows film.)
COMING SOON - THEATRICAL RELEASES
4/29 3-IRON
Kim Ki-Duk's latest festival favorite gets a NY/LA release, followed by a national roll-out.
4/29 - 5/1 ASIAN CINEVISION @ BAM
ACV brings a selection of recent Asian flicks to BAM, like THE HUNTER AND THE HUNTED (Japan), MEN SUDDENLY IN BLACK (Hong Kong) and A PECK ON THE CHEEK (India).
5/13 UNLEASHED
Jet Li rubs shoulders with Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman in his latest English-language outing that used to be called DANNY THE DOG, which was a much more fun title.
5/20 LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
Thailand's madman, Pen-ek Ratanaruang, made this beautiful film with Chris Doyle, Tadanobu Asano and Takashi Miike that played NYC a few months ago. It's worth your time.
5/20 6IXTYNIN9
Pen-ek Ratanaruang's first film, from 1999, is a fast-paced caper about a secretary who gets in trouble with the mob over a box of instant noodles.
6/2 DOLLS, BRIGHT FUTURE
Takeshi Kitano and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's latest films play the Anthology as part of a Palm Pictures weekend
6/10 CAFE LUMIERE
Taiwanese arthouse darling, Hou Hsiao-hsien, crafted this beautiful ode to Japan's master of quiet lyricism, Yasujiro Ozu, that will play a run at the Anthology Film Archives.
IN GENERAL RELEASE
BORN INTO BROTHELS (USA, 2004, 83 minutes)
Chelsea West, Village East
read reviews:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?isindex=born+into+brothels
BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2004, USA, 120 minutes)
Union Square 14, Loew's State
read a review:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?isindex=bride+and+prejudice
OLDBOY
Empire 25, Angelika Film Center, 62nd and Broadway
Park Chan-Wook's most purely cinematic, chewably pulp, comic book movie. It's got more brains and more nasty secrets and satanic perversions than your average comic book inspired flick, but its cliffhanger plot and hypnotic style are the kind of thing SPIDERMAN 3 wishes it could have a little more of. Oh Dae-Su is an ordinary schlub, abducted and imprisoned for 15 years and suddenly released with a rage-induced hard-on to mess up the guy who locked him up. Then things get really twisted.
read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/oldboy
KUNG FU HUSTLE (2005, Hong Kong)
Everywhere
Stephen Chow is god, and now you know. Sony Pictures Classic releases the King of Comedy's latest flick in 2,000 theaters nationwide and you owe it to the universe to buy a ticket. This is easily the most imaginative movie to hit US screens so far this year. Plot? You don't need to know the plot...it's Stephen Chow. Just go!
read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/kungfuhustle
NOW PLAYING
Angelika Film Center
OLDBOY
Cinema Village
ONE MISSED CALL (2003, Japan, 112 minutes)
Starts 4/20
Takashi Miike's entry into the "dead wet girls with long hair haunting electronic devices" genre, ONE MISSED CALL is a slick, good-looking relatively big budget production about a haunted cell phone number. Very mainstream, but there's some real Miike touches on hand, such as the severed arm that sends text messages, the television studio ghost call (which is pure brilliance) and the big liquefied pool of human flesh at the end. Okay, maybe it's not so mainstream after all.
Read reviews:
http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?isindex=one+missed+call
Columbia University
GODZILLA IN NEW YORK
April 20 - May 2
There's only three events in this Godzilla series but they're all worthwhile:
GODZILLA AND THE BRAVO SHOT: Who Created and Killed the Monster?
A lecture by Yuki Tanaka
Wednesday, April 20 at 6PM
403 Kent Hall (116th Street and Amsterdam Ave)
Prof. Tanaka will lecture on how America's Bravo Shot test of the hydrogen bomb in 1954 (which irradiated a Japanese fishing boat, the "Lucky Dragon no. 5") served as an impetus to the creation of GODZILLA. Prof. Tanaka is a researcher at the Hiroshima Peace Institute.
PULGASARI SCREENING!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, April 21 @ 8PM
Altschul Auditorium, Intl Affairs Bldg (118th St and Amsterdam Ave.)
The North Korean giant monster movie directed by the kidnapped South Korean master director Shin Sang-Ok is screening! At last! A Kim Jong-Il production. Almost never shown. Also features a lecture by Charles Armstrong, a history professor.
Read about it in the New Yorker:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/050425ta_talk_shapiro
GODZILLA SCREENING
Monday, May 2 @ 8PM
Roone Arledge Auditorium, Lerner Hall (115th and Broadway)
RSVP to Donald-keene-center@columbia.org for free tickets
The original, restored print of GODZILLA, in Japanese with English subtitles and without Raymond Burr, appears at this free screening.
Film Forum
SAVE THE GREEN PLANET (Korea, 2003, 118 minutes)
Opens Wednesday, April 20th - two weeks only!!!
This movie will change your life. Completely sincere and full of a passion to save humanity from itself, this film is a UFO/conspiracy/horror/comedy/sci-fi/thriller/romance that maps the last days of planet earth, as a sad-sack loser who's convinced that aliens have infiltrated our planet and ruined his life, kidnaps his ex-boss because he JUST KNOWS that this corporate CEO is not only an alien, but also the only one who can stop the destruction of the planet
Read a review:
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0516,hoberman1,63135,20.html
or watch the trailer:
http://www.savethegreenplanetmovie.com/trailer
ImaginAsian Theater
(239 East 59th Street, btwn 2nd and 3rd Ave)
NIGHT OF HENNA (2005, USA, 95 minutes)
Starts 4/19
A cross-cultural indie romance set in San Francisco, it's all about a good Pakistani daughter who defies her parents to follow her dreams.
Read a review:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/04/DDGE0BJGHS1.DTL
(scroll to the bottom)
MUGHAL-E-AZAM (India, 1960)
Just go. Seriously. This is one of India's great movies, and it's like watching the TOUCH OF EVIL of that great nation. A story of a prince marrying a commoner, with musical numbers, gorgeously baroque chiaroscuro cinematography, a production that took ten years to complete and a choir of a couple hundred people giving back-up to some of the songs. This is the kind of movie you need to buy a ticket to, just to tell your grandkids you saw it on the big screen.
read a review:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~incinema/mughaleazam.html
ONG BAK (2003, Thailand, 108 minutes)
4/11 - 4/12 @ midnight only
4/18 - 4/24 @ 10:30PM
HIT ASIAN FILM SERIES
Starting Friday, April 29th
Popular new flicks from all over Asia in special, one-off screenings. Including, the romantic action horror flick from Hong Kong, LOVE BATTLEFIELD; Johnnie To's THROWDOWN; India's HYDERABAD BLUES 2; and Japan's squid wrestling flick, CALAMARI WRESTLER.
Japan Society
OTAKU CINEMA SLAM
March 4 - May 27, 2005
This showcase of Japan's geekiest movies has some great surprises hidden on the inside. The flicks all deal with obsessions, pop culture, and costume fetishes.
THE YIN YANG MASTER (aka Onmyoji)
Friday, April 22 @ 6:30PM
A Japanese period, ghost-busting flick. Lots of action and funky period monsters.
OTAKUS IN LOVE (Japan, 2004, 114 minutes)
Friday, May 6 @ 6:30PM
Manga artists unite! This goofy, jet propelled comedy is about struggling manga artists in Japan trying to make ends meet, fall in love, become popular, and introduce manga made of rocks to the world. Introduced by Brian Camp and one of the lightest, fluffiest, most fun comedies in this line-up.
Read a review:
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/koinomon.shtml
KIZUNA parts 1 & 2 (Japan, 1994, 60 minutes)
Friday, May 13 @ 6:30PM
Two episodes of the original KIZUNA anime, newly-subtitled. What's KIZUNA? It's yaoi anime. What's yaoi anime? It's man/man love, baby, geared for female viewers. Get on over and get educated.
A2 (Japan, 2001, 131 minutes)
Friday, May 23 @ 6:30PM
A sequel to the film (which I think is a documentary) about the struggle to survive of the new incarnation of the Aum cult, who were responsible for the sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system. A2 follows the ex-cult members as they try to fit in.
GAMERA 3: REVENGE OF IRIS (Japan, 1999, 110 minutes)
Friday, May 27 @ 6:30PM
If you're going to see one giant monster movie, make yours GAMERA 3. Introduced by Brian Camp, this is the ultimate kaiju eiga (giant monster movie) and it delivers on the promises made, but never fulfilled, by hundreds of monster movies over the years. GAMERA 3 finally satisfies all your expectations.
Read a review:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/archives/nyaff02/gamera.htm
Landmark Sunshine
EROS (2005, a bunch of countries)
A limited release is scheduled for this one-handed three-hander -- three short films about sex. There's one from Wong Kar-wai, one from Stephen Soderbergh and one from Michelangelo Antonioni. WKW and SS are supposed to be just fine, MA's is supposed to be a new breed of torture.
read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/eros
Loew's State
BRIDE AND PREJUDICE (2004, USA, 120 minutes)
(also playing at the Union Square 14)
Museum of the Moving Image
TAI CHI 2 (1996, Hong Kong)
Friday, April 22 @ 7:30PM
Yuen Wo-ping directed this low-key, enjoyable martial arts romp that was the first film for Chinese martial artist/actor Wu Jing. Wu is in the upcoming SHA PO LANG and was in LEGEND OF ZU and he trained with Jet Li's martial arts coach in China, where he's a wu shu national champion specializing in tai chi. Also, there will be a live appearance by some guy named Jose Figueroa who says he's a martial arts choreographer too and who will show how martial arts in movies differ from martial arts in real life. Oo! Oo! I know! Pick me! In movies...hey don't they actually punch you in the face? Do I get a prize?
Village East
BORN INTO BROTHELS (USA, 2004)
And finally, a prized reader sent in this TV information:
Coming on CUNY-TV
April 23-24/29
Take Care of My Cat(2001/South Korea, 112 min., color, drama)
Director: Jae-eun Jeong. Cast: Bae Doo-na, Yu-won Lee, Ji-young Ok, Eun-shil Lee, Eun-joo Lee.
Poignant coming-of-age drama about five close-knit female friends in the South Korean port city ofIcheon who try to make their way in the world after high school but find it hard to stay together. (Discussion follows film.)
April 30, May 1, May 6
Painted Fire (2002/Korea, 116 min., color, historical drama)
Director: Im Kwon Taek.Cast:Min-sik Choi, Sung-kee Ahn, Ho-Jeong Yu, Yeo-jin Kim, Ye-jin Son.
Vignettes in the life of Ohwon, the 19th century painter revered as Korea's greatest artist,who was rescued from life in the streets and managed to achieve fame and recognition during one of Korea's most turbulent periods. (Discussion follows film.)
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