Sweltering heat, long lines, free pizza, and cases of Tiger beer... oh, not to mention some kick ass movies.
Local film fests bring out some of my obsessive-compulsive tendencies. New York's seemingly endless bounty of events is one reason why I can't imagine moving away. In this vein, the folks over at Subway Cinema do a great service by highlighting Asian films and events in the local area, whether it's individual film releases Shaolin Soccer, other film fests like BAM Rose Cinema's Yasujiro Ozu retrospective, or putting together their own series of events.
This is the third consecutive year that Subway Cinema has put together their annual Asian Film Fest. At the end of the fest this year they announced that they finally broke even on the event, so hopefully this means they'll be back next year! I had no idea they were running the event at a loss - it's just a few guys who organize everything on their own dollar and time. Kudos to them.
Anyway, about that obsessive-compulsive behavior - I bought tickets for 13 of the movies across the fest's 10 day span and made it to all but two. I admit it was a bit nutty, but it was also cheaper than trying to locate each film on DVD/VHS, not to mention being able to see it on the big screen with a helping of Paul Kazee's enthusiastic pre-show introduction and prize giveaways.
Answering my gripe about last year's fest, NYAFF 2K4 featured online ticketing, which proved to be an invaluable time saver. However, my gripe for this year is that many of the films started later and ran longer than expected, causing some excruciating waits in the fickle June weather. At one point I put a towel on top of my head in a vain effort to stop the sweat streaming down my face while standing on line in an airless stairwell. Luckily, super-cheap refreshments and a decent air conditioning system were on hand to resucitate me.
Below is the list of films I watched, with a few personal notes. Click the links for synopses.
Hero: It will remind you of Crouching Tiger but there's much more ass kicking, color coded scenes and Zhang Ziyi! What more could you ask for? Probably the single most striking film of the bunch.
Juon and Juon 2: Embarrassingly, I haven't seen Ringu yet. However, I did see the last few minutes of The Ring and damn, I had trouble falling asleep for at least a week. Unlike American horror movies, Juon and Juon 2 are lacking musical cues to build tension and heighten shock. Instead, you're left to discover the horror at the same time as the unwitting victims, which is creepy in a very different way. I enjoyed the first story in Juon 2 the most. It was sort of like an urban twist on a campfire ghost story.
Vibrator: One of those quiet, contemplative movies that makes you think about life, happiness, and human interaction.
Dance with the Wind: This was the original Korean release, not the edited international release version. Yes, it's a dance movie, but damn if it wasn't toe-tapping.
Please Teach Me English: I wasn't sure what the love interest was at first and then the moment of realization seemed a bit improbable, but it's not often that you see a movie about geeky girls, so this was a pleasant surprise.
Running on Karma: Damn, that was one hell of a rubber muscle suit. I didn't get all of the karmic logic being discussed, but I still enjoyed it.
Like Asura: It wasn't a bad movie, but it was long and sort of a chick flick. It's interesting as a social commentary on Japanese cultural norms.
Marronier: Director Hideyuki Kobayashi was present with some of the dolls from the movie. In the Q&A session after the movie, Kobayashi was surprised to find the audience laughing at some the scenes he thought were the most frightening. Some of the scary scenes were a bit too low-budget to be frightening, but he did the entire film by himself on his own time and money, and the audience gave him props for it. The first half of the movie really did look a bit like a karaoke video gone awry.
Drive: A quirky story about a bank robbery gone awry and everyone eventually finding their purpose in life. You just have to see it.
Azumi: Appropriate frame of reference: manga-based samurai movie. Good, gory fun to enjoy while munching on snacks from Aji Ichiban.
