February 2 - 9, 2007

Coming Soon
FILM COMMENT SELECTS (February 14 - 27)
This year's festival brings over Johnnie To's EXILED, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's RETRIBUTION and Luo Ye's SUMMER PALACE. Yay!
read more:
http://filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/fcs07.html

AN AFTERNOON WITH RON VAN CLIEF (February 18)
The Museum of the Moving Image celebrates Black History month with an afternoon with Ron van Clief, one of the first African-American martial arts stars who will show clips from his movies and talk about his career. Expect to see bits and pieces of BLACK DRAGON, WAY OF THE BLACK DRAGON and KUNG FU FEVEZ.
more info:
http://www.movingimage.us/site/screenings/index.html

A TASTE OF TEA (February 23)
2005's landslide winner of the New York Asian Film Festival's Audience Award hits the ImaginAsian and it's about time. This amazing movie will blow your mind and electrify your heart with its tale of a family in rural Japan. Trains emerge from heads, a poo ghost appears, 50ft doppelgangers skulk and stare and a sunflower eats the world in a movie Time Out New York calls "a masterpiece". And look for BABEL's Rinko Kikuchi in a small role. Opening at the ImaginAsian.
read a review:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/nyaff05-tasteoftea.htm

THE WAYWARD CLOUD (February 23)
Tsai Ming-liang's porn opus is a great movie and it ends with a shot that make THE BROWN BUNNY look positively genteel. See it!
read a review:
http://www.kaijushakedown.com/2005/09/the_wayward_clo.html

BONG JOON-HO MINI-FESTIVAL (February 26 & 27)
The IFC Center and the Korea Society bring Korea's most successful director's complete filmography to NYC: his short films, the transcendent BARKING DOGS NEVER BITE and MEMORIES OF MURDER, and a screening of his monster blockbuster THE HOST, with the director in attendance.
more info:
http://www.koreasociety.org/content/view/308/62/

PIMPS, PROSTITUTES AND PIGS: SHOHEI IMAMURA'S JAPAN (March 2 - 29)
BAM brings over a retro of one of Japan's greatest directors, the bawdy, burly, dirty Shoehei Imamura. Some of his movies get too wiggy for comfort (THE PORNOGRAPHERS, I'm looking at you), but his early films like STOLEN DESIRE and ENDLESS DESIRE are downright perfect.

PING PONG (Japan, 2002, 114 minutes) (April, 2007)
New York Asian Film Festival Audience Award winner, PING PONG may be the greatest sports movie ever made. It's certainly the deepest. And it's about the manly man sport of...ping pong? Darn tootin'. It gets a very limited theatrical release in 07.
read more:
http://www.subwaycinema.com/frames/archives/nyaff03/pingpong.htm

NOW PLAYING ALL OVER TOWN

CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER (2006, China)
Zhang Yimou's epic wraps Chow Yun-fat and Gong Li in miles of crackling gold decor and sets them at each others' throat as the world's most dysfunctional Imperial family. The reviews are mixed, but the cleveage is plentiful, as evidenced by the fact that Chinese audiences have dubbed it "Curse of the Golden Corset".
read more:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/curseofthegoldenflower?q=curse%20of%20the%20golden%20flower

THE PAINTED VEIL (2006, USA)
An adaptation of Somerset Maughm's novel, this flick was shot in China and stars Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. But come on, the real reason you want to see it is because it also features Hong Kong stalwart, Anthony Wong.
read more:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/paintedveil?q=painted%20veil

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (2006, USA)
Now screening all over town, it's part two of Clint Eastwood's World War II Iwo Jima pics, this time concentrating on the Japanese side of the battle. Starring Ken Watanabe (MEMORIES OF TOMORROW) and Shido Nakamura (PING PONG, FEARLESS) it's already earning critical raves out the ears.
read reviews:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/lettersfromiwojima?q=letters%20from%20iwo%20jima

NOW PLAYING

The ImaginAsian
TAZZA: THE HIGH ROLLERS
Starts February 2
The number 2 movie in Korea last year - beating out M:i:III, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2, THE DA VINCI CODE - coming in just after THE HOST, was TAZZA. It's a low down, gritty Korean version of GOD OF GAMBLERS only much, much meaner, much bloodier, and extremely hardcore. A very long, very twisty movie but it's one of the more entertaining crime films to come out in a while. Opening at the ImaginAsian.
read a review:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931904.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

YEAR ONE IN THE NORTH (2006, Japan)
Tuesday, January 30 @ 6:30pm
The massive samurai movie from Isao Yukisada (who directed the terrific GO and the romance CRYING OUT LOVE IN THE CENTER OF THE WORLD) starring Ken Watanabe comes to the ImaginAsian courtesy of New York-Tokyo. The flick follows an exiled samurai clan as they're abandoned to a harsh winter and an attempt to live off the land in their remote natural prison.
Admission is free, just RSVP to ana@newyork-tokyo.com
read a review:
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/year-one-in-the-north.shtml

The Korea Society (950 Third Avenue, 8th Floor.)
CLASSIC MOVIE NIGHT
On the Third Thursday of every month, the Korea Society will host video projections of classic films from Korea. January 18, February 15 and March 15 are the dates in question and here's a line-up of what's showing:

The Hand of Destiny (1954)
Director: Han Hyeong-Mo
Casting: Park Am, Kim Jeong-Rim, Yang Mi-Hee, Lee Min

Madame Freedom (1956)
Director: Han Hyeong-Mo
Casting: Park Am, Kim Jeong-Rim, Yang Mi-Hee, Lee Min

Flower in Hell (1958)
Director: Shin Sang-Ok
Casting: Kim Hak, Choi Eun-Hee, Cho Hae-Won

Sam-Ryong the Mute (1964)
Director: Shin Sang-Ok
Casting: Kim Jin-Gyu, Choi Eun-Hee, Park No-Shik

A Seashore Village (1965)
Director: Shin Sang-Ok
Casting: Kim Jin-Gyu, Choi Eun-Hee, Park No-Shik

A Road to Return (1967)
Director: Lee Man-Hee
Casting: Kim Jin-Gyu, Mun Jeong-Suk, Jeon Gye-Hyeon

Ticket price is $5(members) & $10(non-members) and refreshments will be served. If you want to register all six month programs in advance, we can offer discount $25 (members) & $35 (non-members).