December 8 - 15, 2005

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: Have yourself a merry Geisha weekend with Memoirs of a Geisha which is getting generally drilled as emptyheaded but gorgeous and then go down to the Japan Society on Sunday for the sizzling Seventies slink of "World of Geisha". Then go home and play pretend to be a Geisha for your honey. And don't come out till Monday morning.

NOW PLAYING

BAM
HARDBOILED AND IN THE MOOD: TONY LEUNG RETROSPECTIVE
December 1 - 18 at BAM
Little Tony (Tony Leung Chiu-wai) gets a retro in Brooklyn of all places. The line-up is pretty extensive, from his artsy movies (CITY OF SADNESS, FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI and CYCLO) to his rarities (MAGIC CRANE, TOKYO RAIDERS) and the stuff that made him a super-stud like HARDBOILED, and a Wong Kar-wai triple feature with HAPPY TOGETHER, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and 2046 all in one day).
more info:
http://www.bam.org/film/series.aspx?id=52

This weekend: Three flavors of Tony.

THE MAGIC CRANE
Friday, December 8 @ 4:30, 6:50 and 9:15
Funny fantasy Tony!
http://www.brns.com/pages/fantsy3.html
HARD BOILED
Saturday, December 10 @ 3, 6 and 9
Action Tony!
http://brns.com/pages/cyf14.html

CITY OF SADNESS
Sunday, December 11 @ 2, 5:15 and 8:30
Arthouse Tony!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/city_of_sadness/

IFC Center
PULSE (2001, Japan)
Closes this weekThis is Kiyoshi Kurosawa's most accessible flick, and my personal favorite horror movie of his. It also happens to be 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. It's all about how using the internet is exactly the wrong thing to do if you’re worried about accidentally opening up a hole into hell and letting all the ghosts of lonely dead people out to invade the world of the living and spark an apocalyptic wave of mass suicides.
read a review:
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/kairo.shtml

ImaginAsian Theater
(239 East 59th Street, btwn 2nd and 3rd Ave)
HOUSE OF FURY (2005, Hong Kong, 102 minutes)
Daily at 3:30pm
You could do a lot worse than to check out this hi-tech, super-sassy, hardcore action pic from Hong Kong. Fan favorite, Anthony Wong, plays a lame dad who turns out to be a secret kung fu agent. Starring The Twins, Nic Tse, the oddly appealing Michael Wong, this is like SPY KIDS meets ENTER THE DRAGON. Turn off your brain, sit back, open your head and say "Ah!"
read a review:
http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews_2/house_of_fury.htm

EK AJNABEE (India, 2005)
Opens Dec. 9 (shows at 7pm)
One of Bollywood's last big movies of the year looks like a doozy: starring Amitabh Bachchan in a riff on MAN ON FIRE (burnt-out bodyguard kills thousands while protecting innocence of little girl), shot in Bangkok and with action by Seng, a Thai stunt choreographer who did the tuk tuk chase in ONG BAK and did stunts in BORN TO FIGHT, the eye popping action flick from Panna Ritthikria, Tony Jaa’s mentor.
See the trailer:
http://www.ekajnabee.com/flash.htm

ELECTRIC SHADOWS
Starts December 16
This lush, multi-generational saga from China about loving movies is a lot better than it sounds.
Read a review:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/nyaff05-electric.htm

INITIAL D
Starts December 30
This summer's biggest comic book hit all over Asia is a car racing movie that sucked money out of pockets faster than a speeding Mazda.
Read a review:
http://www.kaijushakedown.com/2005/08/initial_d_revie.html

Japan Society
HIROSHI SUGIMOTO FILM SERIES (Nov. 11 - Dec. 11)
Japanese visual artist Hiroshi Sugimoto lands at the Japan Society and programs any old thing that grabs his fancy. But what grabs his fancy are visually dazzling flicks like Suzuki Seijun's TOKYO DRIFTER, the S&M-esque odyssey BLIND BEAST, and Kenji Mizoguchi's silent THE WATER MAGICIAN.
more info:
http://www.japansociety.org/events/category.cfm?id_category=1

This week:
THE WORLD OF GEISHA (1973, Japan, 72 minutes)
Sunday, December 11 @ 4pm
Directed by Tatsumi Kumashiro, the king of the Roman-porno genre, this is a sense-shattering slice of sizzling Seventies slink. Come into their slinky, sleazy, sense-shattering WORLD.
read more:
http://www.japansociety.org/events/event_detail.cfm?id_event=711186158&id_performance=1554880725

TEN DARK WOMEN (1961, Japan, 105 minutes)
Sunday, December 11 @ 2pm
Ten women in a fast-paced TV station (back when all programming was live) fight over one Romeo. Visually sharp and head-spinningly fast.
read more:
http://www.japansociety.org/events/event_detail.cfm?id_event=1893222935&id_performance=1300057824

Korean Cultural Service
The Korean Cultural Service presents monthly video projections of independent and mainstream movies.

INNOCENT STEPS (2005, Korea)
Thursday, December 15 @ 6:30pm
A Chinese-Korean ballet dancer with no experience competes in Seoul!
more info:
http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.aspx/pid-1004031708/code-k/section-videos/

A TALE OF CINEMA (2005, Korea)
Thursday, December 29 @ 6:30PM
Hong Sang-Soo's art film has gotten good reviews all over the place. If you're a fan, you'll be there.
Read a review:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001221699

Landmark Sunshine
MAREBITO (2004, Japan, 102 minutes)
Between JU-ON and THE GRUDGE, Japanese horror savant, Takashi Shimizu, tossed off this H.P. Lovecraft meets J-horror doodle starring Shinya Tsukamoto as the freelance cameraman who finds his way into the secret cities underneath Tokyo and steals a naked vampire-ette.
At this year's festival the audience was split between people who loathed this flick and people who loved it. read more:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/nyaff05-marebito.htm
read reviews:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/marebito

Loew's State
APAHARAN (India, 2005)
Ajay Devgan stars in this flick about the kidnapping business in Bihar, and critics have been quick to dismiss it as dark, grim and immoral. Which means that you need to see it.
read more:
http://www.kaijushakedown.com/2005/12/bollywood_crime.html

HOME DELIVERY (2005, India)
Vivek Oberoi (COMPANY) stars as an advice columnist whose hobby is scamming delivery men in this sugar-coated Bollywood flick.
read a review:
http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20051203-3.html

DEEWANE HUNE PAAGAL (2005, India)
A comedy starring Akshay Kumar, and the word on this one is...enh. But still, it's doing okay at the box office.
read a mean review:
http://www.naachgaana.com/index.php?itemid=1021

Museum of Modern Art
EARLY AUTUMN: MASTERWORKS OF JAPANESE CINEMA FROM THE NATIONAL FILM CENTER, TOKYO
September 14 - January, 2006
Japan's National Film Center opens its archives and releases 53 prints of some of Japan's classic must-see films.
Full listings: http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_media/2005/japanese_cinema.html

BRIGHT STARS, BIG CITY: Chinese Cinema’s First Golden Era 1922-1937
December 2 - 22
A shockingly complete retro of early Chinese silent and sound cinema, mostly from Shanghai, the cradle of Chinese film. I can't say much more about it, except go check out what they're showing. It’s pretty intense:
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_media/2005/Chinese_cinema.html