Godzilla Comes Home for the Holidays with El Rey's Kaiju Christmas Marathon

It's pretty awesome living in a time when the people who love the same things we do are making most of the media we crave. Case in point, a Mr. Robert Rodriguez who started his own TV network, launching with a series based on From Dusk til Dawn, a tale of bad men going up against ancient vampires. Could you imagine something like this getting a series 10 years ago??!! Now, Rodriguez uses his network to celebrate the holidays in a way that kicks so much ass, well...there will be no asses left to kick. Ditch that Christmas Story marathon. Let's start a new tradition!

The NY/Asian Film Festival is COMING!!

Last year...this happened....

This year promises..well..maybe less man ass, but more crazy Asian fun, drama, hilarity and 100% originality. DON'T MISS THIS FILM FEST!!

Co-presented for the first time with The Film Society of Lincoln Center!
All screenings at the Walter Reade Theater!
Additional screenings July 1 - 4 at Japan Society!
Special Midnight shows Fridays & Saturdays at the IFC!

Like Vandals storming the gates of Rome, the New York Asian Film Festival rampages through the Film Society's Walter Reade Theater June 25 ­ July 8, unleashing an orgy of the latest and greatest pop masterpieces Asian cinema has to offer. For nine years, the NYAFF has been North America's leading festival of popular Asian cinema but now it's teamed up with the Film Society of Lincoln Center to also become North America's fanciest!

America's art-house theaters normally show an anemic sliver of what Asian cinema has to offer but the NYAFF¹s 2010 line-up is a brawny slab of 35 blockbusters and break-out hits that audiences in Thailand, China, Korea, Hong Kong and Japan actually buy tickets to watch.

The full line-up will be announced in May, but this year's festival will have three major events, so mark them on your flesh now!

THE STAR ASIA AWARDS
The NYAFF will be presenting three Star Asia Awards to actors Western audiences should know more about. The ceremony will take place on opening night, June 25, and the recipients will all be at the festival to receive their awards.

Rising Star of Asia Award to Huang Bo One of China's most popular new actors, Huang Bo got his break in Ning Hao's 2006 comedy, CRAZY STONE, and he's gone on to specialize in earthy,
foul-mouthed characters. A leading man with a character actor's face, he won a Golden Horse for his performance in COW, and we'll be screening it as part of the NYAFF 2010, as well as his movie CRAZY RACER.

Star Asia Award to Simon Yam Starting as a character actor in the 1970's, Simon Yam has gone on to become one of Hong Kong's favorite leading men, winning Best Actor' at the 2010 Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW, an official selection of this year's New York Asian Film Festival. From his performance as the insane fashion plate, Judge, in Ringo Lam's FULL CONTACT to his turn as the dapper pickpocket, Kei, in Johnnie To's SPARROW, Simon Yam has been one of the world's best, and most debonair, actors. In this
year's festival, he appears in ECHOES OF THE RAINBOW, STORM WARRIORS and BODYGUARDS & ASSASSINS.

Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award to Sammo Hung!! A special Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award will go to the legendary actor and director, Sammo Hung, to honor his legacy of onscreen work. Jackie Chan's "older brother" at Master Yu Jim Yuen's Chinese Opera School, Sammo has worked as a producer, director, action-choreographer or stuntman in over
230 films. In this year's NYAFF, Sammo Hung choreographed the action in IP MAN, he co-stars in the festival's official opening night film, IP MAN 2, and he stars in the cracked action-cooking-comedy KUNG FU CHEFS. There will also be a special screening of his 1987 Vietnam War movie, EASTERN CONDORS, preceded by an onstage chat with the maestro about his career.

RETURN TO THE OLD SCHOOL: HONG KONG'S NEW MARTIAL ARTS CINEMA
After 2009's film, IP MAN, became a massive box office hit, savvy Hong Kong producers unleashed a wave of old school-inspired martial arts films that went back to basics: no CGI, no fancy wire work, no fakery. Instead, they were all about blazing hand-to-hand combat, hard-falling stuntmen and lightning fast kung fu. In conjunction with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, this year's NYAFF features a special focus on Hong Kong's new wave of old school kung fu.

This year's line-up will include Jackie Chan's latest movie, LITTLE BIG SOLDIER; we'll be screening GALLANTS, a rollicking action comedy starring a gallery of old school greats like Bruce Leung and Chen Kuan-tai; and two movies about Bruce Lee's teacher and Chinese folk hero, Ip Man: an encore presentation of the original IP MAN and the North American Premiere of IP MAN 2, our official Opening Night Film.

We'll also be screening the award-winning, 2009 Hong Kong blockbuster, BODYGUARDS & ASSASSINS; the insane cooking kung fu flick, KUNG FU CHEFS; and the totally mad throwback to visually bonkers Hong Kong comic books of the 70's, THE STORM WARRIORS, and much more.

UP FROM THE JAPANESE UNDERGROUND
Independent movies get a bad rap, but for the past two years some of the wildest Japanese films have been shot on video for about $1.95. Hip hop wannabes stranded in the middle-of-nowhere will be ripping up the screen in the award-winning 8000 MILES (about male rappers, dying on the vine) followed by a screening of the much-anticipated follow-up 8000 MILES 2 (about female rappers, languishing in obscurity). Director Yu Irie will be here for both screenings. We'll also be screening two films from director Tetsuaki Matsue, who will also be attending the festival. First up is his Japanese/Korean personal odyssey porno documentary, ANNYONG YUMIKA, that's a testament to the passions aroused by one Japanese skin flick actress working
in Korea. Then we're screening LIVE TAPE, one of the most ambitious concert films ever made and winner of "Best Japanese Film" at the Tokyo International Film Festival, starring Kenta Maeno, known as Japan's Bob Dylan. Kenta Maeno is expected to attend the screenings.

We may be in a new location, but the NYAFF will still be as raw and potent as moonshine. Although we're on the Upper West Side, we're still showing movies that'll mess you up and ruin you permanently for the pale, lifeless junk Hollywood has to offer. For further info, hit http://www.subwaycinema.com/

Yakuza Busting Girls Make Tarantino Drool

Not that Tarantino has anything to do with these films, but when he sees the trailers and poster, there will be drooling, I assure you. So..what's to know? Hot girls with ridiculous weapons battling slimy Japanese mobsters. Blood sprays, limbs go airborne and there are boobies. Oh yes, there are boobies. (As to say, the vids below are NOT work safe.) Check out http://www.hunters-movie.com/ for all the info, click the email button and tell Asami that she is your favorite battle cunt. Trust me, she'll love that. NipponCinema helps out with some english plot summaries:

Yakuza Busting Girls: Duel in Hell (Sukeban Hunters: Jigoku no Kettou) - Asami returns exausted after three years of intense training to become a yakuza hunter. She decides to visit her old master, Inokuma (Sakichi Sato), who runs a bar. However, she finds his place in ruins and nothing is as it was when she left. As it turns out, the local yakuza had turned it into a gambling house and laid claim to the entire area with the help of a cold-blooded killer named Akira (Hitomi Miwa). Akira is relentless, and utilizes cruel tactics when anyone dares get in her way. Inokuma decides to hide Asami with the very first yakuza hunter, Miki (Yumi Yoshiyuki). However, in her dogged pursuit of the remaining yakuza hunters, Akira brutally murders Miki’s family and burns down Inokuma’s bar. Eventually, Asami’s rage finally reaches its peak.



Yakuza Busting Girls: Yakuza Death Ride Battle (Sukeban Hunters: Soukatsu Nagurikomi Sakusen) - Asami was thought killed after being betrayed by Junko (Rena Komine), but she suddenly returns to town after a 2 years. However, a lot has changed since she was last around. Yakuza have taken over the town and the powerful Kanto Sukeban Alliance which Asami once headed had been completely decimated in the process, with former members now turning to drugs and prostitution. Under the guise of sukeban hunting, Junko had led her old friends to slaughter at the hands of yakuza boss Murakawa (Jiro Sato). Because of this, Asami has gradually been enveloped by flames of rage. Meanwhile, four yakuza hunters pledge their lives to her cause as the stage is set for a final bloody battle at Tokyo Bay.