SUBWAY CINEMA
Returns with
THE NEW YORK
ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2008

June 20 ­ July 6, 2008
at the
IFC Center (June 20 ­ July 3)
323 Sixth Avenue,
between 3rd and 4th Streets
And
Japan Society (July 3 ­ July 6)
333 East 47th Street,
between 1st and 2nd Avenues

The festival kids off with a full slate of films Friday, June 20thm 2008 with:
THE SHADOW SPIRIT, THE BODYGUARD, ADRIFT IN TOKYO, THEN SUMMER CAME – Festival Opening with a Q&A with Director Ryo Iwamatsu, and CHANBARA BEAUTY.

And what is a film festival without a party! The opening night party starts the festivities on Friday, June 20th, 2008; at 10:30 pm. VOL de Nuit at 148 W 4th Street will host the party, sponsored by Kirin and Fresh. The festival’s official launch party is Saturday, June 21st at Eden Rooftop, 780 9th Avenue, between 45th and 47th Street. DJ Tommy Virtue gets things rocking as ladies are free until 11 pm and an open bar sponsored by Kirin and Fresh,

Some of the selections that we’ve had a chance to see in advance are:

THE BUTCHER (Korea, 2007)
75 minutes, digital projection, in Korean with English subtitles
Directed by: Kim Jin-Won
Starring: Kim Sung-Il, You Dong-Hun
The Korean film industry spent last year falling apart so first-time director Kim Jin-Won made this gritty horror flick about Korean snuff film producers totally off the industry map and without a scrap of good taste. Barf bags provided.
Showtimes: SAT June 21, 12.00 Midnight / June 28, 9:50pm

CHANBARA BEAUTY (Japan, 2008)
86 minutes, digital projection, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Yohei Fukuda
Starring: Eri Otoguro, Chise Nakamura, Manami Hashimoto
Based on a video game this twitchy, itchy, finger-popping, head-lopping junk food fiesta teaches us that the solution to the coming zombie apocalypse involves bikini girls with machine guns. And swords.
Showtimes: FRI June 20, 10:45pm / WED June 25, 4:00pm

DAINIPPONJIN (aka BIG MAN JAPAN) (Japan, 2007)
103 minutes, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Hitoshi Matsumoto
Starring: Hitoshi Matsumoto, Riki Takeuchi, Ua
Why is a middle-aged loser the subject of this documentary? Because when giant monsters attack Japan he turns into a 500-foot tall superhero and beats them with a stick. The movie CLOVERFIELD should have been, starring and directed by Japan’s most famous comedian.
Showtimes: SAT June 21, 2:20pm / FRI July 4, 2:30pm

KALA (Indonesia, 2007)
102 minutes, 35mm, in Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles
Directed by: Joko Anwar
Starring: Fachry Albar, Ario Bayu, Shanty, Fahrani
A narcoleptic reporter and a gay cop are trapped in a labyrinthine conspiracy to steal the First President’s Treasure in this alternate-history sci-fi horror flick that was a massive blockbuster in Indonesia. A stylish, film noir that instills an intense sense of dread.
Showtimes: TUE June 24, 7.00pm / THU June 26, 9:15pm

LIKE A DRAGON (Japan, 2007)
110 minutes, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kazuki Kitamura, Goro Kishitani, Sho Aikawa, Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Kenichi Endo, Tomoro Taguchi
Takashi Miike’s story of one sweaty Shinjuku night slams an indestructible yakuza hero, incompetent bank robbers, and young crooks in love, Korean hitmen, masochistic gun dealers and an ultraviolent baseball fan into each other like a game of human pinball on hyperspeed. Based on a video game.
Showtimes: MON June 23, 9:30pm / THU July 3, 2:10pm

SASORI (Hong Kong/Japan, 2008)
103 minutes, 35mm, Cantonese with English subtitles
Directed by: Joe Ma
Starring: Miki Mizuno, Emme Wong, Sam Lee, Bruce Leung, Lam Suet, Simon Yam
Can you say sleazy? This women-in-prison flick starts like an art film but, suddenly: lethal mud wrestling, gang violence, metal plates ripped from skulls, an evil warden. Thrilling! Trashy! Tasteless!
Showtimes: MON June 23, 4:20pm / THU July 3, 11:55pm

MSFF KOREAN SHORT FILMS - Program 2 (Korea)
- A PUPPY, OUR FAMILY - (Korea, 2007)
30min, digital projection, in Korean with English subtitles
Directed by: Park Soo-Young and Park Jae-Young
This half-hour short is more like a long but that’s okay: we consider it one of the best Korean movies of 2007. A family moves into a building that has a “no dogs” policy, so they abandon their adorable, fluffy lapdog to fend for itself. And that fluffy lapdog takes a bloody revenge.
Showtimes: SAT June 28, 3.00pm

TAMAMI: THE BABY'S CURSE (aka AKANBO SHOJO) (Japan, 2008)
103 minutes, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Yudai Yamaguchi
Starring: Nako Mizusawa, Goro Noguchi, Takumi Saito, Itsuji Itao
Director of CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL adapts an insane Kazuo Umezu horror manga into a pitch perfect homage to kitsch Japanese 80’s iconography in a flick about a mutant, killer monster baby.
Showtimes: FRI June 27, 10:15pm / MON June 30, 4:00pm

X-CROSS (Japan, 2007)
103 minutes, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Kenta Fukasaku
Starring: Nao Matsushita, Ami Suzuki, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi
A glossy horror/action/thriller scored for two girls and two cell phones, this flick by the son of Japan’s famed genre director, Kinji Fukasaku. X-treme female bonding, two young women wander into a village where young women are ritually mutilated. This madcap, high gloss, high IQ survival horror this is a slick horror thriller that’s lowbrow enough to please fans of the SCREAM movies, but highbrow enough to tickle the pleasure centers of cineastes.
Showtimes: SAT June 28 (Midnight Screening).

Other Festival highlights not to be missed are:

SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO (Japan, 2007) - US PREMIERE
98 minutes, 35mm, in English
Directed by: Takashi Miike
Starring: Hideaki Ito, Koichi Sato, Yusuke Iseya, Masanobu Ando, Kaori Momoi, Quentin Tarantino.
Takashi Miike’s English-language spaghetti western is bigger! Louder! Faster! More! Wild shoot-outs, female gunslingers and Quentin Tarantino in a supporting role – pure maniac movie overload orgasm!
Showtimes: SAT July 5, 9.00pm

TOKYO GORE POLICE (Japan, 2008)
100 minutes, digital projection, in Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by: Yoshihiro Nishimura
Starring: Eihi Shiina, Itsuji Itao, Yukihide Benny, Jiji Bu, Keisuke Horibe
Bring a raincoat. This gleeful sci-fi destructo party is STARSHIP TROOPERS + EVIL DEAD, with some Cronenberg body horror and a waterfall of freaky gore. Plus: the return of the penis gun!!!
Showtimes: SAT June 21, 10:00pm / FRI June 27, 12:15am / July 3, 4:20pm

For a full list of films being presented at the festival, schedule and links to advance ticket sales go to: www.subwaycinema.com

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