Asian Cinema

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A more down-to-earth Douglas Adams is still a pretty way-out Douglas Adams, as we find when the wildly imaginative author applies his skewed sensibilities to the private detective genre in DIRK GENTLY.Based on Adams' "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" books, this one-season British TV series follows the adventures of the incorrigibly eccentric Gently (Stephen Mangan) as he applies his theories on the cosmic interconnectedness of all things in the universe to such relatively mundane pursuits as investigating possible marital infidelity or locating a little old lady's lost cat. With Dirk Gently on the case, however, things have a tendency to get weird, like when an attractive woman enlists him to track down her stalker--who, it turns out, is Dirk--or when a paranoid conspiracy nut who tells Dirk he's being watched by the Pentagon is, in fact, being watched by the Pentagon. Dead bodies crop up at every turn, with Dirk possessing an amazing talent for stumbling upon crime scenes and looking as guilty as possible in the eyes of his nemesis, Detective Inspector Gilks (Jason Watkins). After using hypnosis to persuade erstwhile college chum Richard MacDuff (Darren Boyd, who was an excellent John Cleese in the Monty Python biopic HOLY FLYING CIRCUS) to invest $20,000 in the "Dirk Gently Holistic Detective Agency" and act as his assistant, the two operate out of the most derelict-looking office in detective fiction while their hostile, unpaid secretary Janice ( Lisa Jackson) continues to show up for work only to harangue her employers.Gently's methods don't make a lot of sense at first until you start getting used to the seemingly nonsensical way he pieces ostensibly unrelated bits of information together to come up with solutions that can ultimately be rather astonishing--or at least seem so if you don't think them through too carefully. Stories straddle the line between everyday realism and comical farce so adeptly that there's never a jarring transition from one to the other--just when a scene appears to be getting uncomfortably sentimental or emotional, something rather delightfully irreverent punctures the mood.I like the constant hostility that exists between the two leads--Gently and MacDuff are like the anti-Holmes and Watson--and the fact that Gently resolutely refuses to display any positive traits designed to make us "like" him more. He's a likable character despite all the evidence we're given to the contrary, or perhaps because he's so craven, self-centered, vain, greedy, and overwhelmingly irresponsible, in addition to being refreshingly unconventional. Lack of sentimentality is a strong point with this series.Season one--and with the show's apparent cancellation, the only one--begins with a pilot episode that introduces us to the characters and shows how Dirk and MacDuff manage to become partners. This is the one where Dirk is hired to find the old lady's cat, but with Douglas Adams at the helm, the story comes to include such fanciful elements as time travel. How the two are interconnected gives the story a delightful twist. Next, Episode 1 is a frenetic mish-mash of (interconnected) loose ends such as the aforementioned Pentagon surveillance, mysterious computer programs, and whether or not astrology really controls our lives. (Dirk is skeptical.)In Episode 2, Dirk returns to St Cedd's Institute of Science and Technology, Cambridge, where he first learned his holistic methods but was later expelled for cheating. As a security consultant, he's in charge of guarding a lifelike robot named Elaine, who naturally disappears along with an artificial intelligence program that has just achieved sentience. My favorite of the series, Episode 2 veers into deliciously dark "X-Files" territory with some of Adams' trademark scintillating sci-fi elements and a surprisingly resonant emotional core as Dirk meets and falls in love with the mysterious Jane (Lydia Wilson, "Midsomer Murders: Master Class"), who is involved in it all

A new trailer has been released for Hiroyuki Nakao’s upcoming science fiction/historical drama film Time Scoop Hunter. Time Scoop Hunter is a TV drama which has aired on NHK since 2009. The program uses the theme of time travel to present fictionalized documentaries on lesser-know historical figures. In this film version, “space-time journalist” Yuichi Sawajima (Jun Kaname) is sent back through time to unravel the mystery of Azuchi Castle, which was built by famous shogun Oda Nobunaga and...

Jukkalan Petchtai Wongkamlao - 2011 Magnolia Home Entertainment Region 1 DVD One of the more fun films I saw in Thailand was Bodyguard 2, written, directed and starring Petchtai Wongkamlao, better known as Mum Jokmok by his Thai fans. I'm not sure how well Mum's new film is going to play for most North American viewers, but I had a good time here. Hollywood could probably learn something here, with some imaginative action scenes, truly tasteless and simultaneously hilarious jokes, and kickboxing midgets, all in one modestly budgeted movie! And who needs special effects when you have a crew of gifted stuntmen and women riding bicycles, leaping about, and taking and receiving body blows. And then there's Jeeja. Don't bother telling me about the Hollywood actress of the day who took a few months to train for an action role. Jeeja Yanin trained for years before her debut in Chocolate. Mum crafted the film especially for her, so Jeeja has the opportunity to have a leading role. The original Thai title is the name of Jeeja's character. If you've seen Jeeja previously, you know what she's capable of as a martial artist. Here she does stunts with a bicycle including using it as a weapon against a gang of bad guys. There is some kind of story here, with Jeeja as a bicycle courier, doing deliveries for two rival gangs. She lives with her "uncle", played by Mum, and has a crush on the handsome musician next door. All of this is besides the point, which is to allow a series of goofy situations with even goofier characters. There's one gangster who sings his own theme song upon entering a room, the sartorially challenged owner of the bicycle courier service, and a would-be suitor who, as one joker would put it, has a face for radio; Almost nothing is sacred here with the exception of Mum's character, a video store owner, pointing out that everything in his store is legal. And if you think the boast of the guy who proclaims that he'll be selling DVDs of movies released in theaters earlier in the day is some kind of exaggeration, I can tell you about seeing DVDs of Hollywood movies even before they hit U.S. theaters. Some of the humor here is aimed at cliches about life in Thailand. That suitor gets the worst of Mum's verbal barbs, being called "Dog phlegm", among other niceties. There are even a couple inquiries as to whether he's the placenta and the actual baby is somewhere else. Yes, Mum's sense of humor is unfiltered, and some of us like it that way. One of the funnier sight gags involves a hood pulling a knife out of his leg, flinging it away, only to have it ricochet against a warehouse pillar and plunge into his arm. Yeah, it's rude and crude, but also truly entertaining.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} ‘I want to be a director’, the title, speaks the spirit of Colin Huang’s earnest attempt at making a straight-talking, street-level humour short film. While the film was not nominated for any awards at the 4thSingapore Short Film Awards, it succeeds in entertaining the child in us that want to see some mindless action on the screen. The film opens with a class in session in the classroom and the teacher gives a final warning to a boy who seems to be daydreaming. His daydream then becomes the film’s story – one about a dream to be a filmmaker and the kind of kick-ass films he wants to make – slasher-gore, zombies, gangsters, explosions etc, The film lifts itself beyond fan-boyism through its cute and clever touches that gives the word ‘skit’ a good name. It is a collection of skits no doubt, but the actors in it are natural comic talents, wide in their dramatic range and yet never trying too hard. Polished, this film is not, but it serves as a bright reminder that sometimes, the key to entertaining others is to entertain oneself first.Review by Jeremy SingWatch the film here:Everyone's favourite: bloopers

Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Ric Aw’s recent short film ‘Villain’, like his previous short films never fails to stylize the Singapore landscape, offering a quiet ‘art-house’ version of Singapore that does not look too different from the uncluttered style prevalent in many of Michaelangelo Antonioni’s films. It is at once, both distancing yet disarming. ‘Villian’ tells the story of an errant father who loathes the daily grind of a working class life and wants an easier, though unscrupulous, way out of it. And it starts with a bang – literally on his leg, a pre-meditated plan to be injured and be compensated for it. He has a daughter who also gives in to the same ‘stealing’ instincts as him and loots items from a supermarket like a seasoned thief.With the help of a mostly stationary and composed shooting style and objective camera framing of the characters, coupled with long moments of nothing but ambient sound, we are presented with an almost clinical study of the two characters in this film, and through them, a study of poverty and marginalization. What results is an understated yet thoughtful film where we, the audience complete the thoughts. The characters don’t say too much (like in Ric’s previous films) but the message is well-delivered through crisp and succinct storytelling and editing. Interesting to note that all other characters other than the two leads are unflinchingly one-dimensional.Despite the arms-length treatment of marginalization, the films succeeds in presenting dilemmas and conflicts in both of them. The girl struggles with her current daily stealing routines as she yearns to go back to a normal schooling life. Her father professes to be irresponsible but yet his desire to provide for his daughter is discernible. Which makes the ending both perplexing and heartbreaking at the same time – his abandonment of his daughter en-route to escaping. Guess that’s when the surrealism kicks in – the idea that one can actually escape to somewhere in Singapore. Mmmm…..One more comments: this film needs a better and more fluent Mandarin narrator.This film was nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Fiction at the 4th Singapore Short Film Awards.Review by Jeremy Sing

The 2013 JAPAN FILM FESTIVAL OF SAN FRANCISCOPARTNERS WITH J-POP SUMMIT FESTIVALTO PRESENT AN EXCITING LINE-UP OF ANIME FEATUREFILM PREMIERES AT NEW PEOPLE CINEMAThe First-Ever Dedicated Japanese Film Festival For The S.F. Bay AreaOpens In Late July At NEW PEOPLE Cinema Featuring Exciting PremieresOf Hunter X Hunter, Naruto Shippuden, Resident Evil: Damnation, Tiger & Bunny,And Director Mamoru Hosoda’s Wolf ChildrenThe 2013 J-POP Summit Festival, the popular annual San Francisco summertime Japanese Pop Culture celebration, has just announced an exciting anime program to complement the launch of the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco, the first dedicated annual Japanese film festival for Northern California and the S.F. Bay Area.The week-long series of film screenings also includes 9 acclaimed live-action titles and will take place at the NEW PEOPLE Cinema beginning Saturday July 27th and running through Sunday August 4th.The Japan Film Festival of San Francisco’s slate of anime premieres and exclusive screenings at the NEW PEOPLE Cinema will include Wolf Children, the poignant new drama from director Mamoru Hosoda, the U.S. premiere of the fantasy adventure, Hunter X Hunter: Phantom Rouge, wild ninja hijinks in Naruto Shippuden The Movie: The Lost Tower, heavy weapons CGI action in Resident Evil: Damnation, and a special encore presentation of the superhero-inspired fun of Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning. All films (except Resident Evil: Damnation) will be presented with original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles.Tickets are $13.00 per film unless otherwise indicated. NEW PEOPLE Cinema is located at 1746 Post St. (cross street is Webster St.) in the heart of San Francisco’s Japantown. A complete schedule and advance ticket information are available on www.jffsf.org.The Japan Film Festival of San Francisco is presented in conjunction with the 2013 J-POP Summit, taking place Saturday July 27th and Sunday July 28th across the city’s historic Japantown district to celebrate the phenomenon of Japanese pop culture with a colorful array of live bands and artists, panel discussions, film premieres, edgy fashion shows and DJ dance events, celebrity appearances and more. The J-POP Summit Festival is hosted and organized by NEW PEOPLE in cooperation with the Japantown Merchants Association. In 2012, the two-day event attracted nearly 65,000 attendees. More information is available at www.J-POP.com.Japan Film Festival of San Francisco Anime Program:HUNTER X HUNTER: PHANTOM ROUGE - U.S. PREMIERESaturday, August 3rd, 11:00amHunter X Hunter: Phantom Rouge is based on the mega-hit manga series by Yoshihiro Togashi, which has sold over 60 million copies worldwide. The new film reveals the early life of main characters Clapica and Gon. Once there was a small tribe of people called Cluta that lived in a lush and beautiful forest. One day, bandits known as the Phantom Brigade attacked and massacred the entire population except one. Their objective was the eyes that belong to the Cluta people, which turn scarlet with excitement. Known as the Eyes of Rouge, the color is considered one of the seven most exquisite hues in the world. The sole survivor was a boy named Clapica and he vows to avenge his people and becomes a Hunter.NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE: THE LOST TOWER - U.S. PREMIERESaturday, July 28th, 1:30pmThe Rogue Ninja Mukade is about to be caught by Naruto's team when he summons forth the power of the LeyLine - an ancient underground channel of chakra. Naruto gets caught up in the chakra and is sent back in time to the city of Loran, known for its thousand towers. There he encounters the future Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, on a top-secret mission, and the Queen of Loran, Sarah, whose rule is threatened by Mukade. Will Naruto be able to return to his own time, and can a chance encounter in the past save the future?RESIDENT EVIL: DAMNATION - U.S. PREMIERESunday, July 28th, 3:50pmResident Evil: Damnation is the sequel to Resident Evil:

Screenshot of Seijun Suzuki being interviewed in Tokyofor the Criterion DVD release of Story of a Prostitute(C) The Criterion Collection 2005Seijun Suzuki was born in Tokyo, on May 24, 1923. Though best known in the U.S. as a film director, Suzuki has also worked as a television director and as an actor.After serving in the Japanese army during World War II, Suzuki worked as an assistant director at several studios. He began working at Nikkatsu Studios in 1954 and directed his first film in 1958. From then through 1966 he directed three to four films each year. After Branded to Kill (his fortieth film, released in 1967), Hori Kyusaku, president of Nikkatsu Studios at the time, fired Suzuki, claiming he made incomprehensible movies that didn't make any money. These difficulties basically arose because of Suzuki's boredom with the same B-movie genre material he was assigned. He sought new ways to make the material interesting.Suzuki filed suit and a lengthy legal battle ensued. It was ultimately settled out of court. Although he received less compensation than he sought, Suzuki did obtain an apology from Hori. Still he went through a lengthy period during which he was blacklisted by the film studios and had to work in television. In the late '70's, he was again able to make films. His Zigeunerweisen (1980) won 17 awards and was nominated for 6 others.Suzuki as an actor. here in Milocrorze: A Love Story (2011)For me the greatest recognition of his work is the inclusion of a great many of his films in The Criterion Collection. These include Youth of the Beast (1963), Story of a Prostitute (1965), Tokyo Drifter (1966), Branded to Kill (1967). Some of his other films, including Underworld Beauty (1958), Kanto Wanderer (1963), Tattooed Life (1965), and the aforementioned Zigeunerweisen are available from other distributors.So, huge AsianCineFest thanks to Suzuki for producing a fabulous body of fascinating works, and best wishes for a "Happy 90th Birthday!"Seijun Suzuki at IMDbSeijun Suzuki at Wikipedia

‘Tum’ Warawut Poyim aka Tum the Star 9′s music video for his first single ‘‘Ja Ruk Jon Gwa Ja Roo (I will love before you know it)’ featuring Mark Prin and Bella Ranee Campen premiered today and I can’t follow the concept of the video. I thought she was a ghost. Bella  is an old lover who traveled through worlds (time) to find her love Mark in the present. The MV featured some lovely dovey scenes of Mark Prin getting close with Bella for us to enjoy. It’s a pretty video, featuring some pretty people, at a pretty place–I can settle with that.