August 5 - August11, 2005

We are in the dog days of summer and some of us are off on vacation and others are just feeling too lazy and overheated to put much effort into this week's blog. There is one big opening though that we should bring to your attention.

2046 - Wong Kar-wai's latest entry into his obsession with broken hearts and painful melancholy opens at two theaters - the Sunshine and Lincoln Plaza. This is largely a sequel to his IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE but also has connections to his 1991 film DAYS OF BEING WILD (showing at the Anthology 0n 8/11). Seeing both of those films first helps in appreciating 2046 though it can still be seen on its own. Then if you haven't had enough of 1960's Hong Kong and unrequited love, check out his short film THE HAND that is one third of the film EROS - its available on DVD and stars Gong Li and is an emotional shot to the stomach. Here is a review of 2046:

http://www.dighkmovies.com/v5/274/274.html

The Shaw Brothers retro at BAM begins today!!!!

8/5 - 8/21
EVERYBODY WAS KUNG FU FIGHTING: THE SHAW BROTHERS
Restored Shaw Brothers films come back to NYC. Nothing here hasn't already been shown, but these flicks are always worth seeing again. Go and worship. Highly recommended are COME DRINK WITH ME, INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN, ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN and 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN.

http://www.bam.org/film/series.aspx?id=20

The other two big things to be on the look out for this summer is the Samurai Festival at Film Forum beginning 8/19 and running for four weeks with a bunch of classics and rare films included. The link is:

http://www.filmforum.org/films/samurai.html


Then beginning in September is the Korean Film Festival. Here is a look at their schedule. Ones I can recommend are SPIDER FOREST, THE PRESIDENT'S BARBER and THE BIG SWINDLE.

http://www.koreanfilmfestival.org/



COMING SOON

8/19
LEGEND OF ZU
Miramax dusts off 2003's Tsui Hark action/special effects spectacular and unleashes it on unsuspecting audiences.

NOW PLAYING

Angelika Film Center
TONY TAKITANI (2005, Japan, 75 minutes)
Japanese arthouse legend, Jun Ichikawa, has crafted a slow, subdued, quiet chamber movie from a Haruki Murakami short story. If you don't like art films it's not for you, but if you love the arthouse movies then this is one of the better ones.
Read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/tonytakitani

Anthology Film Archive
A TRIBUTE TO KINO INTERNATIONAL
NYC's little house of art distributor gets its annual retrospective with lots of Wong Kar-wai and a little John Woo.

DERSU UZALA (1975, Japan, 137 minutes)
Monday, August 8 @ 9:15PM
Akira Kurosawa's comeback project after his suicide attempt in 1971 about good ol' Dersu Uzala, the mystical Russian guide.

THE KILLER (1990, Hong Kong, 119 minutes)
Thursday, August 11 @ 9PM
John Woo's ground-breaking romantic bloodshed flick that opened up the eyes of the West to Hong Kong's considerable charms. Danny Lee and the cha-cha Chow Yun-fat star as a cop and a hitman who don't know whether they want to kill or kiss each other.

DAYS OF BEING WILD (1991, Hong Kong, 94 minutes)
Thursday, August 11 @ 7PM
Wong Kar-wai turned into Wong Kar-wai with his second film that only runs 94 minutes but feels like an eternity of romantic swoons, dripping sweat and sexual torment. Come and get lost in it again in this big purty new print.

FALLEN ANGELS (1995, Hong Kong, 90 minutes)
Friday, August 12 @ 7PM
Wong Kar-wai's pop explosion is every idea he ever had wrapped up in a chewable, neon-streaked package and set to excite every neuron in your brain. Gorgeous to watch, hard to forget.

HAPPY TOGETHER (1997, Hong Kong, 97 minutes)
Friday, August 12 @ 9PM
One of the best romances ever made, HT is more like a scrapbook to all those faded loves of yesterday, giving you a shot of woo with a chaser of loss and longing. Leslie Cheung (RIP) and Tony Leung Chiu-wai go at it, hammer and tongs, whether they're screaming or screwing.

IFC Center

The IFC continues its weekly exploration of Ozu films with showings of EQUINOX FLOWER at noon on Saturday and Sunday - 08/6 &08/07

ImaginAsian Theater
(239 East 59th Street, btwn 2nd and 3rd Ave)

OLDBOY (2003, Korea)
Daily at midnight
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


THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS (2004, Japan, 91 minutes)
This Japanese anime takes place in a world in which Japan was split in two after WWII and one part is ruled by the USA.

Korean Cultural Center

Thursday, August 11, 6:30 pm - Marathon
Film screening. Running time: 117 min. In Korean with English subtitles.
Directed by: Yun-cheol Jeong.
Seung-Woo Cho stars as an autistic man who finds purpose in training for a marathon.

Thursday, August 25, 6:30 pm – Another Public Enemy (Gonggongui jeog 2)
Film screening with introduction and discussion led by Ms. Hyun-Ock Im.
Running time: 148 minutes. In Korean with English subtitles.
Directed by: Woo-suk Kang
In this thematic sequel to the hugely successful Public Enemy (2002), an unorthodox public prosecutor suspects a former classmate of a series of crimes.

Thursday, September 15, 6:30 pm – Crying Fist (Joo-meok-ee oon-da)
Film screening. Running time: 134 minutes. In Korean with English subtitles.
Directed by: Seung-wan Ryoo.
Winner of the Cannes FIPRESCI Jury Award, Crying Fist turns the boxing movie genre on its head and paints a gritty picutre of a world in which protagonist and antagonist roles are not clear-cut.

Thursday, September 29, 6:30 pm – This Charming Girl (Yeoja, Jeong-hye)
Film screening with introduction and discussion led by Ms. Hyun-Ock Im.
Running time: 95 minutes. In Korean with English subtitles.
Directed by: Yoon-ki Lee.
Honored at the Berlin and Sundance film festivals, This Charming Girl uses flashback to trace the history of a reserved postal clerk as she goes along her everyday routine.

Location: Korean Cultural Service New York
Korean Consulate General
460 Park Ave., (at 57th St.), Sixth FloorNew York, NY 10022
Subway: E, V to Fifth Ave. & 53rd St. or 4 5 6 N R Q W to Lexington Ave. & 59th St.
More Information: Korean Cultural Service New York - (212) 759-9550 or visit http://www.koreanculture.org/

Landmark Sunshine
HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE (2004, Japan, 119 minutes)
Daily, 11:15AM, 1:30PM, 4:30PM (Dubbed); 7:15PM, 9:45PM (Subbed)
This is Miyazaki's most surreal, ethereal, and strange movies. It's like watching a dream...a wet one. Literally, since it's filled with flowing rivers of slime, sweat, oil, mud and just plain old goop.
Read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/howlsmovingcastle

Loew's State Theater

VIRUDDH (2005, India, 133 minutes)
A tear-jerker about Amitabh Bachchan trying to get over the death of his son and move on with his life.
read a review:
http://www.apunkachoice.com/movies/mov388/viruddh-review.html


MAINE PYAAR KYUN KIYA (2005, India)
Everyone's been waiting for the new Salman Khan film, especially since he's now being sought for questioning for allegedly threatening the life of his ex, Aishwarya Rai. This fast-paced comedy is getting raves for its slick production and lunatic pacing. The plot? Who cares? Identity confusion, role reversals and comic misunderstandings punctuated by musical numbers.
Read a review:
http://planetbollywood.com/Film/MainePyaarKyunKiya/

Museum of Modern Art
ANIME!! (July 10 - September)
A three month celebration of anime, including screenings of the big screen blockbusters like AKIRA, GHOST IN THE SHELL and MIND GAME as well as tv episodes like the great FLCL, HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES and the mind-blowing EVANGELION: END OF EVANGELION.
More info:
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_media/2005/anime.html

Paris Theater (4 West 58th Street)
BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS (2003, China/Paris, 111 minutes)
This French/Chinese film, directed by Chinese director Dai Sijie and based on his best-selling novel of the same title, is a lot better than you'd think. Combining his memories of being sent down to the countryside for re-education, his love for Western literature, and the Three Gorges Dam Project into a gorgeous, well-acted, occasionally gruesome love letter to his youth this flick is worth your time if you're into this sort of thing.
read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/balzacandthelittlechineseseamstress