January 6 - January 12, 2006
COMING SOON

BREAKING NEWS
(January 27)
Johnnie To's high caliber balancing act comes to the US, supposedly.

THE FILMS OF JOSEPHINE BAKER and ANNA MAY WONG
(February 18 - March 26, 2006)
A retrospective of two of Hollywood's first non-white stars out at the Museum of the Moving Image.

WITHOUT MAPS: DISCOVERING HIROSHI TESHIGAHARA
(Feb 24 - March 19)
One of Japan's leading avante garde filmmakers, and the son of Japan's no. 1 Ikebana (flower-arranging) expert, Hiroshi is getting a big BAM retro with all his major films; THE FACE OF ANOTHER, WOMAN IN THE DUNES, SUMMER SOLDIERS and PITFALL.

THE WORLD OF JIA ZHANGKE
(March 16 - 19)
The Anthology Film Archives presents a retrospective of the Chinese director Jia Zhangke who has inspired more critical drooling than any other Chinese director in recent history. From his first film, THE PICKPOCKET, to his most recent, THE WORLD, all four of his movies are here.

AGAINST THE TIDE: REBELS AND MAVERICKS IN CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE FILM
(April 2006)
No details yet, but sure to be a kooky treasure chest full of face-scorching, mind-bending Japanese films.

AZUMI
(Sometime in Spring, 2006)
Everyone's favorite female samurai in a micro-mini and cape hacks n'slashes her way onto US screens this Spring.
read more:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/nyaff04-azumi.htm

NOW PLAYING
ImaginAsian Theater
(239 East 59th Street, btwn 2nd and 3rd Ave)
INITIAL D (Hong Kong, 2005)
Daily at 1:10, 3:20, 5:30, 7:40 and 9:50
The smash hit, manga-based car racing flick that tore up the box office all summer all over Asia finally comes to the US. It's a summer blockbuster just in time for New Year's.
read a review:
http://www.kaijushakedown.com/2005/08/initial_d_revie.html

WOMAN DEMON HUMAN (1987, China, 115 minutes)
Thursday, January 5 @ 1PM
A modern day epic about a female Chinese opera performer.

A SOUL HAUNTED BY PAINTING (1993, China, 130 minutes)
Friday, January 6 @ 1PM
Gong Li plays a Chinese painter working in France.
read more:
http://www.theimaginasian.com/nowplaying/index.php?cid=900&date=20060106

WOMAN SESAME OIL MAKER (1993, China)
Saturday, January 7 @ 1PM
It won the Golden Bear and Film Critic's award in Berlin and, yes, it is about a woman sesame oil maker with a hard life.
read more:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002JP0LS/002-5158769-7490413?v=glance&n=130

OUTCAST (1986, China, 110 minutes)
Sunday, January 8 @ 1PM
A young girl gets totally stomped on by the Cultural Revolution.
read more:
http://www.theimaginasian.com/comingsoon/index.php

EARLY SPRING (1962, China, 110 minutes)
Monday, January 9 @ 1PM
High melodrama as a teacher falls in love with a landlord's daughter, then makes the more politically expedient choice of marrying a poor widow. This decision leads to suicide, madness... and death!
read more:
http://www.theimaginasian.com/comingsoon/index.php

Loew's State
DOSTI: FRIENDS FOREVER (India, 2005)
Starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Lara Dutta, and Bobby Deol in a warm-hearted tale of friendship that the reviewers are calling "mushy", "overly-sentimental" and "old fashioned".
read a review:
http://www.apunkachoice.com/movies/mov603/dosti___friends_forever-review.html

SHIKARI (India, ???)
I'm not sure what this movie is, but the only SHIKARI I could find (besides a 1962 Bolly version of KING KONG) was this one with Govinda and Karisma Kapoor. It's a crime thriller that, apparently, features a cheetah and a dog getting the axe early on (fake of course - our heroes are possibly hunters?). Apparently Govinda falls for the wife of the guy he murders?
read a review:
http://in.rediff.com/movies/2000/oct/06govin.htm

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.
For the historically-minded, there's rare, early classics on hand like MR. THANK YOU, RICKSHAW MAN, WHERE CHIMNEYS ARE SEEN and INO AND MON.
If you're looking for early work by major directors, there's Mizoguchi's SISTERS OF THE GION and Kurosawa's SUGATA SANSHIRO.
And if you like your movies pulpy, don't miss MATANGO (ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE), GHOST STORY OF YOTSUYA and the first ZATOICHI movie, here called: THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF MASSEUR ICHI.
Full listings: http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_media/2005/japanese_cinema.html

INCENSE (2003, China, 98 minutes)
Monday, January 9 @ 6:00 and Wednesday, January 11 @ 8:30
Part of Asian Cinevisions new monthly series at MOMA. Apparently it's a "darkly comic morality tale" about a monk trying to raise funds to replace the broken statue of Buddha in his village temple.
more details:
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_media/2006/Asian_Cinevisions.html