August 11 - August 18, 2005

COMING SOON

8/19
LEGEND OF ZU
Miramax dusts off 2003's Tsui Hark action/special effects spectacular and unleashes it on unsuspecting audiences. Word is that it is heavily cut like a sheared sheep.

PULSE
Coming out in the fall, this is Kiyoshi Kurosawa's most accessible flick, and one of the best Japanese horror movies ever made. If you're tired of dead wet girls with long black hair then this one's for you.

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/

And for a little non-movie news:

PUFFI AMI YUMI at Irving Plaza Thursday, August 18, 9pm (doors: 8pm)

http://www.irvingplaza.com http://www.puffyamiyumi.com/

Puffy Ami Yumi after-party August 18th Beauty Bar- 231 East 14th Street, NYC $5 or FREE with ticket stub or rsvp
RSVP: leonenightstand@yahoo.com
Puffy Ami Yumi gift bags to the first 150 guests courtesy of Epic Records and BUST magazine

Go Go Girls + DJs spinning international pop + rock n'roll: Tim Ellis (Cibo Matto, Sean Lennon) Sheila B. (Cha Cha Charming + MTV Japan) Melody Nelson (Atomique + Vicious) Amylu (Le One Night Stand)

After NYC, Puffy Ami Yumi East Coast Tour continues:
8/20 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts(8pm)
8/22 - Washington, D.C. @ 9:30 Club(8pm)
8/24 - Boston, MA @ Somerville Theatre(8pm)
8/27 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre(8:30pm)


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

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.

BAM
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.

THE EMPRESS DOWAGER (1975, Hong Kong)
Friday, August 12 @ 6:50PM, 9:15PM
A sumptuous period flick.
Read a brief description:
http://www.filmlinc.com/nyff/nyfffilm2004shaw.htm

INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN (1972, Hong Kong)
Saturday, August 13 @ 6:50PM, 9:15PM
If you only see one of these movies, make it ICOACC. It provided the template for Hong Kong's cult classic, NAKED KILLER, and it's the only martial arts movie you'll ever see with killer lesbians attacking each other.
read a review:
http://brns.com/pages4/drama249.html

GOLDEN SWALLOW (1968, Hong Kong)
Sunday, August 14 @ 6:50PM, 9:15PM
A Chang Cheh martial arts film with a female lead.
read a review:
http://brns.com/pages3/femftl82.html


FILM FORUM

A STATE OF MIND (2005, UK/FRANCE/KOREA)
August 10 - August 16
This documentary is one of the first to go to North Korea, and it's an
amazing flick tracking two young girls preparing to participate in one of
those massive propaganda mass rallies. Go to the site to see a
jaw-droppingly good trailer that gives an idea of what you're in for:

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

IFC Center
GOOD MORNING (1959, Japan)
Saturday and Sunday at Noon
Another quiet classic from Ozu, this time a comedy that sends up consumer culture.
Read a review:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053134/usercomments

ImaginAsian Theater
(239 East 59th Street, btwn 2nd and 3rd Ave)
OLDBOY (2003, Korea)
Daily at midnight
read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/oldboy

THE RISING (2005, India)
Starts August 12
Aamir Khan whose last mighty hit was LAGAAN, returns to tell the epic tale of the Indian Mutiny under British colonial rule and the life of Mangal Pandey. All singing! All dancing! One of the most anticipated Bollywood movies of the year.
read all about it:
http://news.sawf.org/Bollywood/1054.aspx

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY FILM FESTIVAL
August 19 - 25
The ImaginAsia has hung around for a year and they're celebrating by doing $5 screenings of: HERO, GODZILLA (subbed and uncut), SHALL WE DANCE?, PRINCESS MONONOKE, AKIRA, FALLEN ANGELS, OLDBOY, THE KILLER, AUDITION, HAPPY TOGETHER and SHAOLIN SOCCER.

Landmark Sunshine
2046 (2005, Hong Kong)
Wong Kar-wai's latest features Tony Leung Chiu-wai flirting with and seducing Faye Wong, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung, Carina Lau and, most memorably, Zhang Ziyi. A spiritual successor to IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, this WKW movie represents the end of the road for the DAYS OF BEING WILD crowd.
read reviews:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/2046

Lincoln Plaza Cinema
2046 (2005, Hong Kong)

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/

THE RISING (2005 India)

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

Museum of the Moving Image
HOUSE OF FURY (2005, Hong Kong, 102 minutes)
Friday, August 26 @ 7:30PM
Non-stop, big stupid head action fun from Hong Kong with Anthony Wong, the TWINS, Daniel Wu and Ekin Cheng turning in the kind of performances you'd expect. And, Hong Kong's hardest working white man, Michael Wong, plays a paralyzed villain and he's STILL unconvincing.

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

Quad Cinemas
TONY TAKITANI (2005, Japan, 75 minutes)
Read a review:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/tonytakitani