ACF 321: K-20: The Fiend With Twenty Faces

VIZ PICTURES LICENSES SUPER ACTION MYSTERY FILM
K-20: THE FIEND WITH TWENTY FACES
AND PRESENTS IT AT
NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2009

Director Shimako Sato Combines A Top Cast With Stunning Visual Effects To Depict A Story Of A Ninja-Like Thief Who Lives In A Very Different Version Of Feudal Japan Where World War II Never Happened

The New York Asian Film Festival starts today, and I'm sure it's going to be outstanding. I've already put up some reviews about films that will be showing and will continue to do more. Hope to see several in person.

Here's some info from VIZ about K-20 which will be shown tomorrow, Saturday, and again on Tuesday, June 30th.

San Francisco, CA, June 19, 2009 – VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media, LLC that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has licensed the new action film, K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces, and announced two special theatrical screenings at the New York Asian Film Festival 2009, which takes place June 19-July 2 at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, at West 4^th Street, New York, NY.

The New York premiere of K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces (The Japanese title: K-20: Legend of the Mask) will take place on Saturday June 20, at 8:15pm, with a second showing scheduled for 1:45pm on Tuesday, June 30. More information on this film and the New York Asian Film Festival is available at www.subwaycinema.com. VIZ Pictures will be releasing the DVD of K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces in 2010 through their distributor, VIZ Media.

Director Shimako Sato brought together a strong cast and cutting edge special effects to bring K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces to life. Set in the fictional city of Teito in the late 1940s, it is a world where World War II never happened and the nobility system established in the Meiji Era still exists. An extreme divide exists between the upper and lower classes, with 90 percent of the country’s wealth being held by the upper class. The capital of Teito is in crisis with the emergence of a menacing phantom thief known as "The Fiend (Kaijin) with Twenty Faces" or simply "K-20." The film is based on The Story of Nijyumenso, a novel written by Soh Kitamura, and also features the mesmerizing rock theme song, Shock of the Lightning, by the British band OASIS.

Heikichi Endo (played by Japanese leading man Takeshi Kaneshiro) is a circus acrobat who is deceived by K-20 and is framed to take the fall for the phantom thief. Using his incredible physical dexterity, Heikichi wages war against K-20 in order to clear his name and fights alongside K-20's next wealthy target, Duchess Yoko Hashiba (Takako Matsu) and her fiancée, the brilliant detective Kogoro Akechi (Toru Nakamura). But what is the ultimate decision Heikichi has to make?

Actor Takeshi Kaneshiro is internationally renowned and made his screen debut in the film Executioners (1993) followed by the critically acclaimed Wong Kar-Wai film Chungking Express (1994). More recently he has starred in films including House of Flying Daggers (2004) and The Battle of Red Cliff (2008).

“There is great familiarity and love in Japan for the story of K-20,” says Seiji Horibuchi, President and CEO of VIZ Pictures. “The character of K-20 originated in the best-selling 26-volume Boy Detectives series written by Japanese literary master Rampo Edogawa in the 1930s and has been read by more than 100 million people. The film, which we are proud to present at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, is filled with breakneck action and speed as Director Shimako Sato uses extreme camera angles, computerized effects. For fans of historical drama as well as action cinema, K-20: The Fiend with Twenty Faces is a definite must-see on this year’s festival roster!”

ACF 320: Yoroi Samurai Zombie - another NYAFF 2009 preview review

Yoroi Samurai Zombie
Directed by Tak Sakaguchi

Starring: Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Issei Ishida, Tak Sakaguchi,

Airi Nakajima, and Shintaro Matsubara
Japan, 2008 , 90 min

Horror of horrors! A nuclear family - pa, ma, sis, and younger brother - get kidnapped in a remote rural area by a pair of gun-weilding criminals. Their van breaks down, natch, and papa goes off to get help at a nearby village. Instead he encounters the dreaded Samurai Zombie. Pretty soon heads are flyin' way up in the air and blood's a-gushi' somethin' fierce!

I'm not the biggest fan of horror films, but I enjoyed watching the DVD screener I got in advance of the upcominng New York Asian Film Festival. I'm pretty damnn sure the film'll be even more fun to watch on a big screen and with a live audience of Asiancinemaniacs present.

The film will be shown twice at NYAFF 2009: on Friday June 19th and Friday, June 26th at the IFC Center. On the 26th, writer/director/actor Tak Sakaguchi and stuntman Isao Karasawa will be in attendance.

For more info and to order tickets, click here.

ACF 318: Latest NYAFF 2009 News!

The 8th annual New York Asian Film Festival will be upon us in just over a week!

The NYAFF 2009 site is now online here.

Info about purchasing tickets online or at the box offices of the IFC Center and Japan Society (for joint NYAFF/Japan Society screenings only), the Subway Ten Ticket Pack and the Matinee Screening Pass available here.

ACF 315: NYAFF schedule and guests announced!

Scene from Yoroi Samurai Zombie

Subway Cinema has just released the schedule for this years New York Asian Film Festival. Included are planned guest appearances and those films being co-presented with Japan Society's JAPAN CUTS film series, which dove-tails with NYAFF.

IFC Center:

Friday 6/1912:00

Empress & the Warriors (95)2:00

Eye in the Sky (90)3:45

Gehara / Monster X (115)

- followed by a presentation by Tokyo Shock about their upcoming kaiju production, DEATH KAPPA

6:30 Warlords (110)

9:00 Written By (89)
- Lau Ching-wan and Wai Ka-fai in attendance

11:30 Pink Film Program 1 (126)

12:00 Yoroi Samurai Zombie (90)

Saturday 6/20
11:30 Dream (97)

1:30 Comrades in Arms (91)

3:30 Plastic City (92)

5:30 The Longest Nite (85)
- Lau Ching-wan and Wai Ka-fai in attendance

8:15 K-20 (138)

11:15 When the Full Moon Rises (108)

12:00 Samurai Princess (83)

Sunday 6/21
11:30 20th Century Boys (143)

2:15 20th Century Boys 2 (141)

5:00 Magazine Gap Road (89)
- director Nick Chin in attendance

7:20 Written By (89)
- Wai Ka-fai and Lau Ching-wan in attendance

9:45 Dachimawa Lee (99)

Monday 6/22
11:00 Cape No. 7 (129)

1:25 Antique (112)

3:35 Eye in the Sky (90)

5:20 Comrades in Arms (91)

7:15 Ip Man (106)

9:30 The Clone Returns Home (111)

Tuesday 6/23
11:00 Old Fish (108)

1:05 High Noon (106)

3:10 Equation of Love & Death (93)

5:10 Quick Gun Murugan (97)

7:15 Warlords (110)

9:30 Rough Cut (114)
- actor So Ji-Seob in attendance

Wednesday 6/24
1:25 Children of the Dark (138)

4:00 If You Are the One (125)

6:30 Rough Cut (114)
- actor So Ji-Seob in attendance (and Rising Star of Asia award presentation)

9:15 Crush and Blush (102)
- actress Kong Hyo-Jin in attendance

Thursday 6/25
11:00 Plastic City (92)

1:00 Old Fish (108)

3:10 Magazine Gap Road (89)
- director Nick Chin in attendance

5:00 Crush and Blush (102)
- actress Kong Hyo-Jin in attendance

7:15 Breathless (131)

10:00 House (88)
- Yoshihiro Nishimura & Noboru Iguchi introduction, and video message from the director (and his daughter)

Friday 6/26
11:00 Rainbow Troops (120)

1:15 Snakes & Earrings (124)

3:40 MSFF short Program 1 (89)

5:30 Dachimawa Lee (99) + intro by actress

7:30 Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (85)
- Yoshihiro Nishimura and Tak Sakaguchi in attendance, followed by a party for the audience

9:45 Yoroi Samurai Zombie (90)
- Tak Sakaguchi in attendance

11:55 Pink Film Program 2 (132)
- director Daisuke Goto in attendance

12:15 Hard Revenge Milly (120)
- Yoshihiro Nishimura in attendance

Saturday 6/27
11:00 Exodus (95)

1:00 Fish Story (113)

3:15 MSFF Short Program 2 (95)
- director Lee Su-Jin in attendance

5:40 Antique (112)

8:00 Be a Man! Samurai School (111)
- director Tak Sakaguchi in attendance

11:00 Tokyo Gore Night (170)
- almost every Japanese guest in attendance, plus director Noboru Iguchi’s 40th birthday party

12:00 The Forbidden Door (111)

Sunday 6/28
11:00 Gehara / Monster X Strikes Back(115)

1:15 Five Deadly Venoms (99)

3:20 Pride (127)5:50 The Forbidden Door (111)

8:10 Rainbow Troops (120)

10:30 Lalapipo (119)

Monday 6/29
11:00 Written By (89)

12:50 Exodus (95)

2:50 Ip Man (106)

5:00 Be a Man! Samurai School (111)
- Tak Sakaguchi in attendance

7:40 Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (85)
- Yoshihiro Nishimura and Tak Sakaguchi in attendance

9:40 Children of the Dark (138)

Tuesday 6/30
11:30 Go Go 70’s (118)

1:45 K-20: Legend of the Mask (138)

4:30 Samurai Princess (83)
- Yoshihiro Nishimura in attendance

6:30 Hard Revenge Milly (120)
- Yoshihiro Nishimura in attendance

9:15 Climbers High (145)

Wednesday 7/11
1:00 The Clone Returns Home (111)

1:15 The Equation of Love & Death (95)

3:15 When the Full Moon Rises (108)

5:30 Quick Gun Murugan (97)

7:30 Dream (97)

9:30 If You Are the One (125)

Thursday 7/21
1:15 Climbers High (145)

2:00 Breathless (131)4:30 Cape No. 7 (129)

7:00 Snakes and Earrings (124)

9:30 Go Go 70s (118)

Scene from Love Exposure

JAPAN SOCIETY:
Wednesday 7/1
6:30 Vacation (112)

9:00 The Magic Hour (136)

Thursday 7/2
6:15 Fish Story (112)

8:45 All Around Us (140)

Friday 7/3
4:00 Vacation (112)

6:15 Love Exposure (237)
- Sion Sono in attendance, followed by a party for the audience

Saturday 7/4
11:45 20th Century Boys (142)

2:30 20th Century Boys 2 (139)

Sunday 7/5
12:00 The Magic Hour (136)

2:45 All Around Us (140)

5:30 Pride (126)

8:15 Be Sure to Share (109)
- director Sion Sono and actor Eiji Okuda in attendance

NYAFF Schedule @ Subway Cinema News, click here.

NYAFF Guest List @ Sbway Cinema News, click here.

For Subway Cinema News post on If you Are The One!!! from director Feng Xiaogang and starring Shu Qui, click here.

For info about the New York City Air Sex Finals this Friday, June 12th, 2009, which is co-sponsored by Subway Cinema/NYAFF and organized by the folks behind the Alamo Drafthouse and Austin's Fantastic Fest, click here.

ACF 313: Ip Man - a NYAFF preview review

Ip Man
Directed by Wilson Yip
Starring Donnie Yen, Simon Yam
Hong Kong, 2008 , 106 min

North American Premiere

Got a screener of this very fine, old school martial arts actioner that'll be shown at the New York Asian Film Festival, which starts in just two weeks. (Yeah!!!)

Director Yip (SLP, Flashpoint) does a fine job telling the story of Ip Man (played with great dignity by action vet Donnie Yen). Ip Man was a master of Wing Chun and is probably best known for being Bruce Lee's teacher.

The movie opens in 1935 in the town of Fushan where Ip Man is happily married with one young son, obviously is financially secure, and is far and away the greatest martial arts master around. He demonstrates his skill against both an honorable teacher and a crude dude from the sticks who wants to set up shop in Fushan, but gets his come-uppance instead.

Then the Japanese move in , and life in Fushan goes all to hell. Ip Man ultimately has to perform menial labor so that he and his family can survive. And of course, there's the inevitable face-off with a Japanese officer.

Sammo Hung served as action director and Tony Leung Siu Hung was the martial arts coodinator. Both did terrific jobs. Kenneth Mak did the art direction, and I can only assume that he deserves the credit for the magnificent set designs and decoration. If not him, kudos to whoever was responsible.

Ip Man is not quite as virulently anti-Japanese as Bruce Lee's Jing wu men (Fist of Fury is its Hong Kong English title, although it was released in the U.S. as The Chinese Connection) or Jet Li's Jing wu ying xiong (Fist of Legend). The ranking Japanese officer,for example, is not particularly vilified, although the same cannot be said for his second-in-command or for the despicable way the Japanese occupiers treated the Chinese.

The bottom line is that Ip Man is a terrific action movie, one of Hong Kong's best in some time. It's definitely one you should see at the festival if you can. Check back here or at the Subway Cinema website for info about the festival schedule.

And if you can't see it at the NYAFF, keep the title in mind. Hopefully, someone will at least pick it up for distribution on DVD, if not wider theatrical release.

ACF 309: Four more films announced for 8th annual NY Asian Film Festival!!!

The 8th annual New York Asian Film Festival will be upon us in just over three weeks!!!

And those wonderful, hard-workin' folks at Subway Cinema have just announced the addition of four more titles.

For the skinny on them , click here.

ACF 305: NYAFF 2009 approaches!!!

Subway Cinema's New York Asian Film Festival 2009 festival will start in just five weeks and will run from June 19th thru July 5th. Here's a look at one of the many fine films that will be screened.

CRUSH AND BLUSH

Directed by Lee Kyeong-Mi

South Korea, 2008

New York Premiere

This hysteria-fueled comedy from Korea has already acquired a cult following and it’s easy to see why.

Produced by Park Chan-Wook (OLDBOY, and he also has a cameo – as does HOST director Bong Joon-Ho) it’s from first time female director Lee Kyeong-Mi and stars actress Kong Hyo-Jin as a high school Russian teacher demoted to teaching English, a language she barely understands. Her solution? All-out war with the teacher she views as the source of her misery.

The kind of movie that’s very, very funny until it goes too far and starts making the audience very, very uncomfortable.

For more info about the festival, check out Subway Cinema's website.

LATEST NEWS ABOUT NYAFF 2009 WORLD PREMIERES @ Subway Cinema News.

ACF 302: 12 films confirmed so far for JAPAN CUTS 2009

Image © 2008 "Crime or Punishment?!?" Production Committee

JAPAN CUTS Festival of New Japanese Film

Japan Society Confirms 12 of Nearly 20 Films for 3rd Annual Summer Festival
June 30-July 12, 2009

The one-two punch of Subway Cinema's New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Society's JAPAN CUTS film series will again soon be upon us lovers of Asian films in and around The Big Apple. As has been the case the past couple of years, JAPAN CUTS will dove-tail with the NYAFF, co-presenting several films, then going it solo for the remainder. Here's the latest news about the films confirmed for JAPAN CUTS to date:

New York, NY -- Japan Society announces its third annual JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Films, the only large-scale annual film festival in North America celebrating the latest films from Japan.

With the full schedule to be announced Tuesday, May 26, the Society's Film Program has confirmed 12 of nearly 20 titles, including the final installment of Takeshi Kitano’s trilogy about an artist’s dilemma, Achilles and the Tortoise; the much-anticipated 4-hour hentai (pervert) epic Love Exposure (dir. Sion Sono); the controversial cop-crime-action flick Confessions of a Dog (dir. Gen Takahashi); Halfway (dir. Eriko Kitagawa), produced by coming-of-age film master Shunji Iwai; and the sci-fi, time travel love story Cyborg She (dir. Kwak Jae-Young).

JAPAN CUTS presents films ranging from blockbusters and art-house hits to cutting-edge independents and innovative animations, with exclusive filmmaker Q&A's, parties and other special events. Made by both established and emerging directors and starring today’s hottest actors and festival winners, all JAPAN CUTS films are world, U.S., or New York premieres. As in previous years, JAPAN CUTS launches at the tail end of the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), with Japan Society and NYAFF co-presenting several of the major Japanese titles featured in both festivals. Confirmed films for 2009 include:

*20th Century Boys (dir. Yukihiko Tsutsumi)

*20th Century Boys: Chapter Two – The Last Hope (dir. Yukihiko Tsutsumi)

Achilles and the Tortoise (dir.Takeshi Kitano)

*All Around Us (dir. Ryosuke Hashiguchi)

Buy a Suit (dir. Jun Ichikawa)

Confessions of a Dog (dir. Gen Takahashi), with special appearance by Takahashi

Crime or Punishment?!? (dir. Keralino Sandorovich)

Cyborg She (dir. Kwak Jae-Young)

Halfway (dir. Eriko Kitagawa, produced by Shunji Iwai)

*Love Exposure (dir. Sion Sono), with special appearance by Sono

*The Magic Hour (dir. Koki Mitani)

Non-ko (dir. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri)

* co-presented with NYAFF

This year JAPAN CUTS spotlights UrumaDelvi, the artistic duo behind the hugely popular animated music video Bottom Biting Bug. UrumaDelvi Collected Shorts presents dozens of the duos' short animations, including world premiere English versions of Bottom Biting Bug and Sumiko. In addition, UrumaDelvi will create the JAPAN CUTS 2009 festival trailer.

Japanese cinema today is reaching new heights of critical and popular success, in one of the most dynamic and thriving film industries outside of Hollywood. Since 2006 over 400 Japanese films have been released theatrically in Japan every year (as reported by The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan), with domestic films taking in 50% of Japan's box office revenues. JAPAN CUTS promises U.S. audiences their first taste of the most talked about Japanese films from 2008 and 2009.

Launched in Summer 2007 to celebrate Japan Society's centennial, the first annual JAPAN CUTS: Festival of New Japanese Film was one of the most successful single events in Japan Society's 2007-08 centennial celebration. Noted for its "rich and varied selection of recent Japanese films” (David Kehr, The New York Times), the festival grew to attract nearly 6,000 audience members in 2008. In previous years, films premiered at JAPAN CUTS that have gone on to international acclaim have included The Mourning Forest, Yasukuni, Sukiyaki Western Django, United Red Army, Sway, Death Note, and Kamome Diner. Past festivals have included appearances by directors Shusuke Kaneko, Naomi Kawase, Miwa Nishikawa, Naoko Ogigami, Sion Sono, and Koji Wakamatsu.

The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), North America's leading festival of popular Asian films, runs June 19-July 5, 2009. Films are co-presented with Japan Society's JAPAN CUTS from July 1-5, during the opening weekend of JAPAN CUTS. To learn more, visit www.subwaycinema.com. Contact Grady Hendrix at 917-405-7477 or grady@subwaycinema.com for further details about the NYAFF.

The Japan Society Film Program offers a diverse selection of Japanese films, from classics to contemporary independent productions. Its aim is to entertain, educate and support activities in the Society's arts & culture programs. The Film Program has included retrospectives of great directors, thematic series and many U.S. premieres. Some original film series curated by the Japan Society have traveled to other U.S. venues in tours organized by the Film Program.

Established in 1907, Japan Society has evolved into North America's major producer of high-quality content on Japan for an English-speaking audience. Presenting over 100 events annually through well established Corporate, Education, Film, Gallery, Language, Lectures, Performing Arts and Innovators Network programs, the Society is an internationally recognized nonprofit, nonpolitical organization that provides access to information on Japan, offers opportunities to experience Japanese culture, and fosters sustained and open dialogue on issues important to the U.S., Japan, and East Asia.

Japan Society is located at 333 East 47th Street between First and Second avenues (accessible by the 4/5/6 and 7 subway at Grand Central or the E and V subway at Lexington Avenue). For more information, call 212-832-1155 or visit www.japansociety.org.

JAPAN CUTS is supported by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Endowment Fund, The Japan Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency. Additional support is provided by Sapporo. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines.

ACF 295: Latest on NYAFF 2009

The folks at Subway Cinema have put out some more news about the gonna-be-incredible-and-ya-better-not-miss-it New York Asian Film Festival 2009. The festival will start in just six weeks, running from June 19th thru July 5th. More titles and guest appearances have just been announced and you can read about it all here.

ACF 276: 8th annual NYAFF in 2 months!

This year's festival is certain to feature many terrific films. Find out about it by checking back here at AsianCineFest and at subwaycinema.com.