Subway Cinema's last SUNDAYS ON FIRE film on November 13th

 Subway Cinema

Presents 

SUNDAYS ON FIRE: : SECRET HONG KONG 35MM FEATURE
When: Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY

 

Sundays on Fire started 9 movies ago in February, and now it ends with month and movie number 10 on Sunday, November 13. The series began with Michelle Yeoh starring in her second movie, and now we come full circle and end with one of the most brutal Girls with Guns pictures ever made. Shot in the ‘80s, this truly apocalyptic blast of action struts down a runway named Death, wearing big shoulder pads made of corpses, its hair full of mousse, holding a smoking hogleg pistol in each lace-gloved hand.

Hong Kong’s Girls with Guns movies were always shot fast, cheap, and barely under control, their stunts teetering on the verge of doing permanent damage to the actors, plots constantly threatening to spin off into insanity, their bloody hearts pinned to their sleeves, their leads actors turning on the afterburners to deliver level 11 intensity despite the sheer exhaustion etched into their faces by the grinding shooting schedule and the grueling stunts they had to perform.

In this movie, two hardcore action actresses go toe-to-toe in a high caliber deathmatch that features some of the most brutal beatdowns every put on the big screen, choreography courtesy of one of Hong Kong’s most famous action dynasties. The core of this movie is a pentagram of three Hong Kong bruisers, one Japanese power lifter, and one Japanese superhero going at each others’ throats, and God help any supporting character, pane of glass, fashion show, innocent bystander, or city that gets in their way. If you think girls can’t fight, allow this movie to punch you in the throat. Hard.

This is how Sundays on Fire is going out — with blood on its knuckles and glass in its hair.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.

Subway Cinema's next SUNDAYS ON FIRE screening will be on Sunday, October 9th

Subway Cinema
Presents 

Sundays On Fire: Secret Hong Kong 35mm Feature
When: Sunday, October 9, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY

 

The second Sunday of every month sees Subway Cinema take over the Nitehawk Cinema to unleash an action classic from the golden days of Hong Kong cinema but this time they're jumping to the year 2000 and going maximum Y2K by emptying a full clip of Millennial Mayhem directly into your face. The title will not be revealed until it appears onscreen because it’s more fun that way, but know that this is one of Hong Kong’s most pioneering directors delivering a modern day action classic that rewrote the rules of cinema in a movie that stands as a monument to what might have been if anyone else had been brave enough to make the same warp speed jump so many light years ahead.

If that makes it sound like a sci-fi flick, you’re not far off. Even though it’s set in contemporary Hong Kong the city is shot like an alien landscape, there is so much running up walls, across ceilings, and down the sides of buildings the rules of physics seem to be suspended, and the cast are a multi-culti, polyglot crew of miraculous mutants whose luminous faces will get burned into your brains. No one ever screens this movie anymore, so this 35mm, subtitled print is our Halloween treat to you.

Subway Cinema's next SUNDAYS ON FIRE screening will be on Sunday, September 11th

Subway Cinema
Presents 

Sundays On Fire: Secret Hong Kong 35mm Feature
When: Sunday, September 11, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY

Tickets

On Sunday, September 11th, Subway Cinema will present a brand new SUNDAY ON FIRE, an amazing 35mm print of a Wong Jing movie. If you don't know Wong Jing, this is your chance to meet Hong Kong's evil genius of bad taste, the director who's been serving up slapdash, surreal, bizarre blockbusters since the '80s. Wong has his finger on the pulse of the Hong Kong audience and his movies are exuberantly over-the-top, cranked out fast, full of dumb jokes, bloody carnage, and surplus explosions, and this one's no different.

An action-packed takedown of one of the biggest action stars in the world, starring one of the biggest action stars in the world, this flick is like Die Hard turned up to 11, featuring top-notch action choreography, super-stupid slapstick, oblique in-jokes, a bunch of stars, and plenty of bisected bystanders. No child is left uncharred in this anything-goes lunatic tour of Wong Jing’s brain that feels a lot like sticking your face in a blender.

NOTE: This movie is dubbed into English because, as the wonderful folk at Subway Cinema say, it's dumber that way!

Subway Cinema's next SUNDAYS ON FIRE screening on Sunday, July 10th

Subway Cinema
Presents 

Sundays On Fire: Secret Hong Kong 35mm Feature
When: Sunday, July 10, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY

Tickets

The second Sunday of every month sees Subway Cinema take over the Nitehawk to unleash an action classic from the golden days of Hong Kong movies and this month they're REALLY bringing their A-game. The title will not be revealed until it appears onscreen because it’s more fun that way but be assured it will celebrating the biggest stars of the ‘80s and ‘90s in their best movies, all presented in glorious 35mm. This is one you won’t want to miss.

In the mid-‘80s, one of Hong Kong’s biggest action stars split from his former partners and forged a new solo path that saw him deliver one stone cold classic after another. Every movie got bigger — more stunts! more brushes with death! more action! more jaw-dropping insanity! — until finally he almost died. After he recovered, he wanted to show the world he was still ready to rumble and so he made this movie which is probably his most dazzling showcase of all time. It’s not just the action that stuns in this award-winning flick, but the intricately choreographed comedy, the massive sprawling period sets, the hairpin plot twists, and the turn-on-a-dime reversals. Sometimes a filmmaker delivers a movie that’s truly a gift to an audience, so consider this one Christmas in July.

 

Subway Cinema's next SUNDAYS ON FIRE screening on Sunday, June 12th

Subway Cinema
Presents 

Sundays On Fire
When: Sunday, June 12, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY

Tickets

The second Sunday of every month sees Subway Cinema take over the Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn to unleash an action classic from the golden days of Hong Kong movies. The titles are not revealed until they appear onscreen because it’s more fun that way but, believe that you'll be celebrating the biggest stars of the ‘80s and ‘90s in their best movies, all presented in glorious 35mm.

This Sunday's movie is an action-comedy with the emphasis on comedy. It’s a period parody that pairs Hong Kong’s greatest comic genius with China’s greatest dramatic actress for a double-barreled blast of satire sending up ancient Chinese dramas. Full of super-stupid slapstick action, surreal set pieces, and very weird running jokes it also features three of Hong Kong’s biggest action stars of the Seventies in supporting roles and it’s bursting with musical numbers, dumb contests, and crackerjack kung foolery. If you like your comedy on the wild side, bring your funny pants!

 

Subway Cinema's next SUNDAYS ON FIRE screening this Sunday, May 8th

Subway Cinema
Presents

Sundays On Fire
When: Sunday, May 8, 2022 at 12:00 pm
Where: Nitehawk Cinema
188 Prospect Park West, Brooklyn, NY

Tickets

The second Sunday of every month sees Subway Cinema take over the Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn to unleash an action classic from the golden days of Hong Kong movies. The titles are not revealed until they appear onscreen because it’s more fun that way but, believe that you'll be celebrating the biggest stars of the ‘80s and ‘90s in their best movies, all presented in glorious 35mm.

This Sunday’s movie redefines “celebrate.” Every Chinese New Year, Hong Kong’s biggest and most badass turn in their greatest movies and this is one of the most insane Chinese New Year movies ever made, a tornado of absolutely all the action stars, comedians, and stunt wizards in Hong Kong cinema rampaging through a movie from one of HK’s greatest action directors. It’s a bit of a western, a bit of an action movie, a bit of a comedy, but most of all it’s a delirious spectacle where the stunts and the fight scenes keep getting bigger…and bigger…and bigger until there isn’t a building left standing onscreen. If you ever wanted to be astonished, this is the movie that’ll astonish you until you explode.

Subway Cinema's SUNDAYS ON FIRE begins tomorrow Sunday, February 13

Subway Cinema
Presents

The very first of Subway Cinema's SUNDAYS ON FIRE will occur tomorrow, Sunday, February 13th at noon at the Nitehawk Prospect Park. It's a 35mm screening of a rare, golden age Hong Kong action classic that hasn't been seen on the big screen in decades. This one's got a female lead and you won't regret it. Future screenings in this series will be on the second Sunday of every month through June!

Get tickets here.

Subway Cinema's THE HONG-KONG-A-THON PART III: HONG KONG NEVER DIES! coming to Anthology Film Archives on January 8, 2022

SUBWAY CINEMA PRESENTS:
THE HONG-KONG-A-THON PART III: HONG KONG NEVER DIES!
When: Saturday, January 8, 2022
Screenings begin at 12:30 p.m.
Where: Anthology Film Archives, NYC
32 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003

They said it was over. They said it couldn’t happen again. But just when you thought it was safe to go back into movie theaters…the Hong-Kong-a-Thon returns! Six movies! All on 35mm! Almost 12 hours of some of the gnarliest, scariest, weirdest, wildest movies from Hong Kong, flying through your eyes and giving your brain a deep tissue massage…with their fists! The titles won't be announced until they appear on screen because it’s more fun that way.

The wonderful folk at Subway Cinema dug deep and found prints for some lost classics that never made it onto DVD or Blu-ray. In fact, some of these movies are only available on VHS, and it seems that three of them haven't been projected since their release dates. Made between 1987 and 1993, these movies are out to hurt you, and you’re going to love every second of it! More info at www.subwaycinema.com.

All tickets will be $30.

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS NOW!

9th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Joseph Kuo Edition coming December 6-13

Museum of the Moving Image and Subway Cinema

In association with
Taipei Cultural Center in New York, Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan)
Present

9th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Joseph Kuo Edition!
December 6-13, 2021

The Old School Kung Fu Fest is back, and this time Museum of the Moving Image and Subway Cinema will co-present eight newly restored films and one fan favorite classic by Kuo on glorious 35mm — four titles available exclusively online, December 6–13, and another five films for in-person big-screen viewing at MoMI, December 10–12.

Whether you know his name or not, when someone says “Old School Kung Fu” the first image that flashes across your brain is probably from a Joseph Kuo movie. Taiwan’s ultimate independent filmmaker, Kuo put his stamp on the Seventies as his own boss, writing, producing, and directing dozens of movies through his production company, Hong Hwa International Films, which he founded in 1973.

Kuo’s credo was simple: “I cannot let down the person who buys my works.” He learned to deliver maximum impact on minimum budgets, taking the latest trends of the day and turning them into hard-hitting spectacles boasting unlimited mayhem. To make his movies rock the hardest on the smallest of budgets he assembled a rotating cast of charismatic action stars that included Wen Chiang-lung (who looks like Bruce Lee after a Cantopop makeover), the musclebound Carter Huang, the puckish Li Yi-Min, the underrated female fighter, Jeanie Chang, the versatile Jack Long and Mark Long. Working with action choreographers like Corey Yuen, one of the Seven Little Fortunes, and Yuen Cheung-yan, brother of Yuen Wo-ping, his flicks feature wall-to-wall fight scenes, and in an attempt to please every single audience member these fight scenes go on, and on, and on, continually changing location and upping the stakes, so that just when you think you’ve seen every possible variation on two guys standing in a field kicking the stuffing out of each other, Kuo takes it to another level.

Full of funky editing tricks that momentarily turn his movies into experimental flicks, Kuo hooks eyeballs with convoluted storytelling structures packed with frenetic flashbacks that force viewers to pay close attention. Everyone is related to everyone else, everyone has a secret identity, there’s almost always a last minute revelation popping up out of nowhere, usually with evil laughter on its lips, and every movie single revolves around revenge. While the first half hour of any Joseph Kuo film takes some patience while he clears his throat and gets down to business, once things kick off it’s a non-stop roller coaster ride that ends in an apocalyptic beatdown that leaves the main characters doling out a galaxy-shattering finishing movie before confronting the futility of vengeance. Delivering martial arts mayhem and a moving moral message in 90 minutes or less, Joseph Kuo gets in, delivers the goods, makes his point, then gets out, leaving you hungry for more. And in this year’s Old School Kung Fu Fest we’re offering plenty more.

For complete information about the 9th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Joseph Kuo EditionI, click here.

Subway Cinema's new website is up; past write-ups being added

Subway Cinema Inc. is a New York-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit volunteer-run organization dedicated to the exhibition and appreciation of Asian popular cinema and preservation of America’s Asian film exhibition heritage

Founded in 1999 in New York City as a labor of love for five film fans (Paul Kazee, Grady Hendrix, Brian Naas, Nat Olson, and Goran Topalovic), the organization has played a key role in nurturing the growth of Asian film culture in the U.S. by championing the works of Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Takashi Miike, Kim Jee-woon, Ryoo Seung-wan, Seijin Suzuki, Sion Sono, and other notable directors.

The organization recently got its new website up and running and is gradually adding all of its past write-ups. Check out the website, including information about the organization's 9th Old School Kung Fu Fest: Joseph Kuo Edition! (December 6-13, 2021)  at https://www.subwaycinema.com/.

"Relentless Invention: New Korean Cinema, 1996–2003" playing at Lincoln Center Nov 22 - Dec 4

Film at Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema

In collaboration with the Korean Cultural Center New York

Present

Relentless Invention: New Korean Cinema, 1996–2003

When: November 22 - December 4, 2019
Where: Walter Reade Theater
165 W 65th Street, NYC
Map

The South Korean film industry has been in the midst of a remarkable, decades-long creative explosion, with Bong Joon Ho, Hong Sang-soo, and Park Chan-wook jolting new life into art-house and genre cinema alike. With the end of the nation’s military rule and the relaxing of government censorship, Korean film experienced the kind of renaissance that hadn’t been seen since its golden age in the 1950s. This new generation of filmmakers took more than political and social issues as their inspiration: they re-energized national cinema in the late 1990s and early 2000s with homegrown blockbusters that imbued the pleasures of pop cinema with a subversive, gleefully inventive approach to genre and a sharp sociopolitical edge. From heart-rending romances to supernatural shockers, ultra-stylish thrillers to offbeat comedies, this survey celebrates a vital movement that’s as audaciously innovative as it is unabashedly entertaining.

Early films by recent Palme d’Or–winner Bong Joon Ho (Parasite, now playing at FLC) will be showcased in the series, including his debut feature Barking Dogs Never Bite and a 4K restoration of Memories of Murder, a gonzo police procedural based on the recently solved true story of South Korea’s first serial killer, as well as work from master Park Chan-wook, including the Rashomon-esque murder mystery Joint Security Area and the first two entries in Park’s Vengeance Trilogy, the blood-splattered Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and a new 4K restoration of Oldboy. Additional 4K restorations featured in the series include the North American premiere of the restoration of Ryoo Seung-wan’s debut Die Bad; Lee Myung-se’s hallucinatory thriller Nowhere to Hide, visually influenced by film noir, silent cinema, slapstick comedy, and Hong Kong action cinema; Kwak Jae-yong’s irresistible romantic comedy My Sassy Girl; Song Neung-han’s subversive, wildly inventive crime drama satire No. 3; and Save the Green Planet!, a genre-bending, whiplash-inducing mash-up of sci-fi, horror, and psychological drama from director Jang Joon-hwan.

Other highlights include The Day a Pig Fell into the Well, the debut feature from frequent NYFF filmmaker Hong Sang-soo; Jeong Jae-eun’s Take Care of My Cat, a coming-of-age portrait of five young millennial women that explores issues of friendship, alienation, and economic anxiety; Kang Je-gyu’s strangely poignant The Gingko Bed, a surreal tale of obsessive love that became one of the first homegrown blockbuster hits produced by the modern Korean film industry; Kim Jee-woon’s jet-black comic thriller The Quiet Family; Hur Jin-ho’s modern Korean classic Christmas in August, an effective tear-jerker about the romance between a traffic cop and a terminally ill photographer; Resurrection of the Little Match Girl, which finds director Jang Sung-woo blurring the lines between cinema, virtual reality, and choose-your-own-adventure thrill ride; Park Jong-won’s rarely seen gem Rainbow Trout, a compelling genre take on backwoods horror; and E J-yong’s Untold Scandal, which transposes the French classic Les Liaisons dangereuses to late 18th-century Korea in a deliciously entertaining study of cruelty and pleasure.

The series, which runs  November 22 - December 04, 2019, was organized by Goran Topalovic, Dennis Lim, and Tyler Wilson.

Tickets are $ 15 General Public, $ 12 Students, Seniors, and Persons with Disabilities, and $ 10 Members. A 3+ Film Package and an All-Access Pass are also available.

For full information about the films, the schedule, and to buy ticket, click here.

Full Lineup Announced for the 17th Annual New York Asian Film Festival

The Film Society of Lincoln Center

and

Subway Cinema

present

The 17th Annual New York Asian Film Festival

When: June 29 - July 15, 2018

Where: Film Society of Lincoln Center

& SVA (School of Visual Arts) Theatre

The full lineup for the 17th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) has been announced by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema, joint presenters of the event. The festival begins this coming Friday, June 29th and continues through July 15th. Films, Q&As, and award presentations will take place at two venues: the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the SVA (School of Visual Arts) Theatre.

The announcement is here.

An alphabetical listing of the films, including dates, times, and location can be found here.

Complete lineup for 15th New York Asian Film Festival announced

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema have announced the full lineup for THE 15th New York Asian Film Festival, which will run June 22 – July 9, 2016.

The Opening Gala will be the World Premiere of Kazuya Shiraishi’s Japanese crime epic Twisted Justice; the Centerpiece Gala is the North American Premiere of Ralston Jover's Hamog (Haze); and the Closing Gala is the International Premiere of Adam Tsuei’s The Tenants Downstairs from Taiwan.

The 51-film festival features spotlights on the cinemas of Hong Kong, South Korean, and Southeast Asia.

Festival honorees include Lifetime Achievement awardee Iwai Shunji, Screen International Rising Stars Go Ayano, Jelly Lin, and Teri Malvar, and Star Asia Award recipients Miriam Yeung, Lee Byung-hun, and John Lloyd Cruz.

Complete information about the full lineup and guests can be found here.

You can keep up to date with information at www.subwaycinema.com and www.filmlinc.org. Subway Cinema can be followed on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nyaff and Twitter at www.twitter.com/subwaycinema.

New York Asian Film Festival 2016

Here's the recent press release from Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema concerning the first fifteen titles that have been announced. AsianCineFest has covered NYAFF since 2006 and once again looks forward to covering this year's festival. 

Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema

announce initial details for

THE 15th NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL

June 22 – July 9, 2016

15 FOR 15: THE COOL, THE CRAZY, THE CORRUPT

This summer’s New York Asian Film Festival (June 22 – July 9) has its most cutting-edge lineup yet, with a cast of Asia’s hottest stars, some receiving our significantly expanded Star Asia and Screen International Rising Star Awards. Today, we give our first glimpse at this year’s offerings, revealing the 15 key titles that shape the themes of our 15th anniversary edition.

From the Philippines we present three genre-defying films that explore fatherhood, and what it means to be an adult: Erik Matti’s religious crime drama Honor Thy Father, Ralston Jover’s noir youth drama Hamog (Haze), and Mario Cornejo’s sensual surfing film Apocalypse Child, which posits that Francis Ford Coppola left behind an illegitimate son as well as a surfboard after shooting Apocalypse Now in the Philippines.

We cling to the company of lost souls to explore the little known territory of Tamil-language Malaysian cinema and the plight of the local Indian community in the 1990s. First-time director Shanjhey Kumar Perumal’s Jagat (Brutal) follows the hardships of a 12-year-old boy as he gets drawn into the criminal lifestyle of his uncle, a henchman for a local Malaysian gang. Channeling the spirit of Satyajit Ray, this raw coming-of-age story receives its North American premiere at NYAFF.

From South Korea come films about people selling their souls, both figuratively and literally. In E J-yong’s The Bacchus Lady, an elderly prostitute plies her trade in city parks. The bittersweet tale reflects the national scandal of a generation facing abject poverty and abandonment. Kim Jin-hwang’s The Boys Who Cried Wolf follows an unemployed actor paid to be a false witness to a child’s murder, while Jang Jae-hyun’s modern exorcist thriller The Priests will have heads spinning with its hair-raising car chases, piglets as demonic vessels, and the antichrist.

In explorations of innocence corrupted, we put the spotlight on first-time female directors with China’s What’s in the Darkness (dir. Wang Yichun), about a curious teenage girl who is seduced into her cop father’s investigation of a serial killer; Hong Kong’s Lazy Hazy Crazy (dir. Jody Luk), in which schoolgirls explore the city’s heart of greed by charging for sex; and Thailand’s Grace (dir. Ornusa Donsawai & Pun Homchuen), a merciless attack on social-media idolatry.

We next descend into Japanese madness with Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s unnerving Creepy, about a maniac who infiltrates and corrupts the nuclear-family unit; Sakaki Hideo’s shocking Kiyamachi Daruma, featuring a manipulative yakuza boss who lacks not only digits but also his arms and legs; and the loony Hentai Kamen 2, the hotly anticipated sequel to our 2013 Audience Award winner about a fetishistic superhero who wears his crime-busting underwear on his head.

We round out our 15 key films with two thrillers that explore institutionalized corruption—in the police, in the courts, in the media, and on the political stage—with Woo Min-ho’s Inside Men from South Korea and Cheng Wen-tang’s Maverick from Taiwan. Both films are razor-sharp dissections of the corruption at the heart of the two fragile democracies at a moment when both are swinging pendulums of political turmoil.

The festival’s executive director, Samuel Jamier, says, “To celebrate our 15th edition, we made the difficult and deliberate decision to have a lean selection of approximately 50 features. Bigger isn’t better; better is better. While maintaining a focus on quality, we’re putting our energies into promoting each film, so that they have a life after the festival. We have a larger lineup of exciting guests booked, including Asian stars who are joining us for our anniversary celebration.”

The festival will announce its opening film and the Screen International Rising Star Award recipients in mid-May from Cannes, followed by the full-lineup reveal at the end of May.

15 for 15
1. Apocalypse Child; dir. Mario Cornejo [Philippines], North American Premiere
2. The Bacchus Lady 죽여주는 여자; dir. E J-yong [South Korea], New York Premiere
3. The Boys Who Cried Wolf 양치기들; dir. Kim Jin-hwang [South Korea], North American Premiere
4. Creepy クリーピー　偽りの隣人; dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa [Japan], New York Premiere
5. Grace อวสานโลกสวย; dirs. Ornusa Donsawai & Pun Homchuen [Thailand], International Premiere
6. Hamog (Haze); dir. Ralston Jover [Philippines], North American Premiere
7. Hentai Kamen 2 HK 変態仮面 アブノーマル・クライシス; dir. Yuichi Fukuda [Japan], North American Premiere
8. Honor Thy Father; dir. Erik Matti [Philippines], New York Premiere
9. Inside Men 내부자들; dir. Woo Min-ho [South Korea], New York Premiere
10. Jagat (Brutal); dir. Shanjey Kumar Perumal [Malaysia], North American Premiere
11. Kiyamachi Daruma 木屋町DARUMA; dir. Hideo Sakaki [Japan], International Premiere
12. Lazy Hazy Crazy 同班同學; dir. Jody Luk [Hong Kong], North American Premiere
13. Maverick 菜鳥; dir. Cheng Wen-tang [Taiwan], North American Premiere
14. The Priests 검은 사제들; dir. Jang Jae-hyun [South Korea]
15. What’s in the Darkness 黑处有什么; dir. Wang Yichun [China] North American Premiere

The New York Asian Film Festival is co-presented by Subway Cinema and the Film Society of Lincoln Center and takes place from June 22 to July 5 at the Film Society’s Walter Reade Theater, and July 6 to 9 at SVA Theatre. Keep up to date with information at www.subwaycinema.com and www.filmlinc.org.

6th Annual OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU FEST coming to NYC April 8-10

OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU FEST

April 8th - 10th at Metrograph

Subway Cinema is teaming up with the brand spanking new Metrograph to unleash the 6th edition of the annual Old School Kung Fu Fest (OSKFF), celebrating the rarest, wildest, and most incredible martial arts and action cinema from the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s. This year, it's all about Golden Harvest, which took Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan from Shaw Brothers then put Shaw out of business. Rocking the free world with talent like Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Tsui Hark, GH invented modern day action. The 2016 OSKFF will be screening super rare 35mm prints of films including PEDICAB DRIVER, THE MAN FROM HONG KONG, RUMBLE IN THE BRONX and more.

For further information visit the Subway Cinema website, and check back here at AsianCineFest for future updates.

The 2016 OSKFF is being co-presented with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York.

13th Annual New York Korean Film Festival to run November 6-11, 2015

The 13th Annual New York Korean Film Festival Announces Upcoming Program

for November 6th to November 11th, 2015 at the Museum of the Moving Image

Festival highlights award-winning films of love, crime, and erotica.

More premieres, filmmakers, and celebrity guests than ever

The 13th Annual New York Korean Film Festival showcases Korea doing what it does best: the crime thriller, the romantic fantasy, and feverish erotica. The Peninsula’s filmmakers bend genre cinema to a uniquely Korean pulse and purpose, making the country’s national film industry the most vibrant in East Asia. The thrilling complications of love and crime steal the show in this year’s lineup, as partnerships go south and fickle passions lead to betrayal. Resistance fighters navigate the intrigue of colonial-era Korea, love affairs are smothered as quickly as they are kindled, and hard-boiled cops dig at the ugly truth in a collection of both massive blockbusters and favorites from the international festival circuit, with five New York premieres and one international premiere.

The 13th Annual New York Korean Festival will run from November 6-November 11, 2015, at the Museum of the Moving Image. This will be the first year Museum of the Moving Image will serve as a partner and the venue for the New York Korean Film Festival, building on past collaborations with the Korea Society and Subway Cinema.

The Korea Society has also invited an exceptional group of Korean guests, including star director Ryoo Seung-Wan and producers Kang Hye-jung and Park Jung (Veteran); directors Shin Suwon (Madonna), Lee Do-yun (Confession), Kang Hyo-jin (Wonderful Nightmare), Oh Seung-uk (The Shameless), and Hong Won-chan (Office); and actress Koh Ah-Sung. The New York Korean Film Festival is a program of The Korea Society, the Museum of the Moving Image, and Subway Cinema. Major support is provided by the Korea Foundation.

Read about the nine film lineup here.

All screenings will be held at the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI), which is located at 36-01 35 Ave, Astoria, Queens, NY, 11106. Map

Opening Night tickets: $20 ($12 for TKS members, MOMI Film Lover and Dual members / free for Silver Screen members and above).

All other NYKFF tickets are $12 ($7 for TKS members, MOMI Film Lover and Dual members / free for Silver Screen members and above).

Advance tickets will be available online at movingimage.us beginning today, October 21.

Initial details for 14th New York Asian Film Festival have been announced!!!

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER and SUBWAY CINEMA

Announce initial details for

THE 14th NEW YORK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL

June 26 – July 11, 2015

Director Ringo Lam will be presented with the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award, superstar Aaron Kwok with the 2015 Star Asia Award, and Japanese actor Shota Sometani with the 2015 Screen International Rising Star Award

Film lineup to include the North American premieres of Nobuhiro Yamashita's La La La at Rock Bottom and Yim Soon-rye's The Whistleblower and the international premiere of Namewee’s Banglasia, which was banned in Malaysia

A spotlight on Myung Films and Korean women filmmakers and a joint film tribute to Japanese legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara are among the notable sidebars

The New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), North America’s leading festival of popular Asian Cinema, is back for its 14th edition. Co-presented with Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema, the festival will run from June 26 to July 11. The festival takes place from June 26 to July 8 at the Film Society and July 9 to 11 at SVA Theatre (333 W. 23rd Street). Initial details include notable awards to be presented to director Ringo Lam, superstar Aaron Kwok, and actor Shota Sometani. The festival will also host a slew of North American film premieres, as well as spotlight the works of Korean female directors and honor the memory of Japanese legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara with a joint tribute.

Hong Kong’s legendary director Ringo Lam (City on Fire) will receive the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award. One of Hong Kong’s most influential directors, Lam was directing comedies when City on Fire was released in 1987, fusing the social-protest movie with kinetic action filmmaking. It was followed by the massive hit Prison on Fire later that year, and then School on Fire, a movie so unblinking that nervous Hong Kong censors sliced it to ribbons. Lam became one of the city’s best action filmmakers, and one of the few local directors to be so deeply concerned with the price of progress, the corrosive influence of money on human relationships, and the lives of the little people crushed beneath the wheels of change. In 2003, he directed what was to be his final feature and went into semi-retirement, only to be lured out again in 2015 with Wild City, in which Lam’s tooth-and-claw vision of modern urban living remains untamed.

Hong Kong’s superstar actor-singer Aaron Kwok (Divergence, After This Our Exile, Cold War) will receive the festival’s 2015 Star Asia Award on June 26. One of Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop, Kwok has won dozens of awards for his chart-topping albums. For over 30 years, he has performed steadily both on television and in movies and is respected for his box-office star power as well as his outstanding acting chops. Kwok has worked with some of Hong Kong’s finest directors, like Johnnie To, Jacob Cheung, Andrew Lau, and Patrick Tam. His self-described Method acting was rewarded in 2005 and 2006 when he won back-to-back Golden Horse awards for Best Actor, a feat previously achieved only by Jackie Chan. Kwok was awarded his first Best Actor prize was for his performance in 2005’s Divergence, but it was his work in the 2006 After This Our Exile, for which he won his second award, that blew audiences away. In that film, Kwok’s fearless portrayal of a gambling addict exhibited a serious commitment to his craft as well as a complete lack of vanity. He then went on to give a series of startling performances in films like Yim Ho’s Floating City, the blockbuster Cold War, as well as his upcoming tour de force, Port of Call.

Japanese actor Shota Sometani will attend the festival on July 4, on the occasion of the New York premiere of Kabukicho Love Hotel, to receive the Screen International Rising Star Award. Director Ryuichi Hiroki will also be in attendance. This marks the second year of a partnership with Screen International, with whom the NYAFF will honor an emerging talent in the East Asian film world each year. At age 22, Sometani is already a leading man in both blockbusters and indie gems and has earned critical acclaim on the international film festival circuit. In 2011, he received the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Himizu, along with his co-star Fumi Nikaido (last year’s recipient of the Screen International Rising Star Award).

Notable NYAFF titles this year will include the North American premieres of Nobuhiro Yamashita's La La La at Rock Bottom and Yim Soon-rye's The Whistleblower and the international premiere of Namewee’s Banglasia, which was banned in Malaysia, its home country.

The festival will also feature a section on Korea’s production company Myung Films, highlighting a few of their major works—Cart, The President’s Last Bang, The Isle, and Waikiki Brothers—as part of a greater focus on women who work behind the camera. Producer Shim Jae-myung and directors Yim Soon-rye (The Whistleblower) and Boo Ji-young (Cart) will be in attendance.

Japanese film legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara, both of whom passed away last November, will be the subject of the first joint tribute outside of Japan, which will feature the brand-new digital remaster of the 1973 classic Battles Without Honor and Humanity—screened for the time in North America—among others.

Keep up with the latest festival news at:
www.facebook.com/NYAFF, www.subwaycinema.com, twitter: @subwaycinema (#NYAFF15)

Tickets will go on sale on June 9 for Film Society Members and June 11 for general public, both at the box office and online. Discounts are available for Film Society members. Read more about the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Screenings will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th Street, between Amsterdam and Broadway), and SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues).

Four day OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU FEST: ENTER THE NINJAS! starts tomorrow in New York

Poster by Jerry Ma

The Old School Kung Fu Fest, a four-day celebration of the rarest, wildest, and most incredible martial arts and action cinema from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s is back at the Anthology Film Archives for its 5th edition, which is dedicated to the deadliest fighter of them all...the ninja!

Since the dawn of time, man’s natural predator has been the ninja. Hiding in your shower, crouching behind your laptop, clinging to your back — the ninja is everywhere. What killed the dinosaurs? Ninja. What battles great white shark? Ninja. Who is buying flowers for your mom? Probably ninja. But ninja is not vampire! Ninja can be filmed! This year’s Old School Kung Fu Fest examines this crazy natural phenomena of ninja with 14 movies that show you this sneaky fighter in the only place where he cannot shoot throwing stars into your eyes: on the movie screen!

There are serious black-and-white ninjas in the original ninja films Shinobi No Mono Parts 1 & 2 (1962 and 1963), super-noir ninjas in 1965’s Samurai Spy, party-colored crazy ninjas from the go-go 80s like American Ninja 1 & 2 and then be entered, revenged, and dominated by Cannon’s essential ninja trilogy: Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III: The Domination. Watch brave Chinese people fight ninjas with their guts in Shaw Brothers movies like Five Element Ninjas! See ninjas fly on kites in Duel to the Death! You must see all the ninjas! Because to fight ninja, first you must understand ninja.

The Old School Kung Fu Fest 2015: Enter the Ninjas! is curated by Subway Cinema’s programming team, consisting of Samuel Jamier, Rufus de Rham, and Goran Topalovic.

Complete information about this year's Old School Kung Fu Fest at Anthology Film Archives can be found here.

12th New York Korean Film Festival

The 12th New York Korean Film Festival

When: November 20 - 23, 2014

Where: BAM Rose Cinema

30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn NY

Map

Tickets

The New York Korean film festival is back in business! That's right. What Subway Cinema started in 2001 with When Korean Cinema Attacks! – New York Korean Film Festival, and what has known many incarnations and iterations since then, is back in the funky and freaky curatorial hands of the festival's original creators, now joining forces with BAMCinematek and the Korea Society to bring you the freshest crop of the record-breaking blockbusters and the must-see recent works of the peninsula's internationally celebrated auteurs and mavericks. The new New York Korean Film Festival wants to serve as your road map for the best in contemporary Korean cinema.

All films in Korean with English subtitles.

Thursday, November 20
- 7:15 PM GYEONGJU with Q&A with director Zhang Lu
Friday, November 21
- 7:00 PM THE ATTORNEY
- 9:30 PM A HARD DAY
Saturday, November 22
- 7:00 PM THE ADMIRAL: ROARING CURRENTS
- 9:30 PM MAN ON HIGH HEELS
Sunday, November 23
- 5:00 PM THE PIRATES
- 8:00 PM FUTURELESS THINGS 

For film descriptions and to order tickets, click here.

An Evening With JIMMY WONG YU at Lincoln Center on November 11

THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER and SUBWAY CINEMA

in association with

Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York

announce

WONG-YU (Photo courtesy Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival; photographer: Liang Su)

AN EVENING WITH JIMMY WONG YU

on November 11 with the presentation of the

New York Asian Film Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award

and screening of Wong Yu’s grindhouse masterpiece

MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE in 35mm

The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema, in association with Taipei Cultural Center of TECO in New York, announce An Evening with Jimmy Wong Yu on November 11 at the Walter Reade Theater. The legendary Taiwanese actor will be presented with the New York Asian Film Festival’s esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award and participate in an on-stage conversation prior to the screening of his 1977 grindhouse masterpiece Master of the Flying Guillotine, in glorious 35mm!

In the 1960s the Shaw Brothers were looking to expand from their more traditional dramas and romances to martial-arts films, and one of their hires was a former water polo champion, horse rider, and car racer: Jimmy Wong Yu. Appearing in films like Temple of the Red Lotus, Twin Swords, Magnificent Trio, and Tiger Boy at the beginning of his career, his true breakthrough came in Chang Chen’s landmark The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), the film that launched Wong Yu’s career as well as the martial-arts sword-fighting movie (wuxia pian) craze. With all the fury and intensity exploding from the screen, Jimmy Wong Yu became the prototype for the tough stoic masculine characters that this new wave of sword-fighting films brought to the screen.

WONG YU Tribute Poster by Jerry Ma

If The One-Armed Swordsman launched Wong Yu into stardom, it was The Chinese Boxer (1970) that cemented his legendary status by igniting the kung-fu fever that was to become a global phenomenon. Written and directed by and starring Wong Yu, The Chinese Boxer was the first major movie to devote itself entirely to the art of kung fu. It established the basic conventions, such as revenge as a motive, Chinese martial arts versus Japanese martial arts, and strong nationalistic feeling, all of which later found their way into the films of Bruce Lee. Following this movie, Wong Yu broke his contract with Shaw Brothers and started making films in Taiwan with Golden Harvest, including his masterpiece Beach of the War Gods (1973), described by scholar Stephen Teo as “the sword-fighting movie to end all sword-fighting movies.”

Wong Yu is currently enjoying an Indian Summer in his long career, with juicy roles in Peter Chan’s Wu Xia (aka Dragon, 2011), and Andrew Lau’s The Guillotines (2012). Most recently, he starred in Chung Mong-hong’s arty slasher Soul (2013), turning it into a showcase for his acting talent—with hardly a change in facial expression, he’s able to summon up a whole range of emotions (sadness, paternal love, madness).

With a career spanning over five decades, he has acted in over 80 films, directed 12, and left an indelible mark on the history of martial-arts cinema.

An Evening with Jimmy Wong Yu will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater (located at 165 West 65th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway).

Tickets will go on sale this Thursday, October 23rd. Admission is $25; $20 for students, seniors, and Film Society members. For more information visit www.filmlinc.com.

Schedule
5:30pm Reception - open to all ticket holders
7:00pm Master of the Flying Guillotine, preceded by Lifetime Achievement Award presentation and an on-stage conversation with Wong Yu

Master of the Flying Guillotine (Image courtesy-Pathfinder-Pictures)

MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE

aka THE ONE-ARMED BOXER VS. THE FLYING GUILLOTINE

1976, 93min, 35mm, in Mandarin with English subtitles

Wong Yu writes, directs, and stars in this massively entertaining grindhouse masterpiece. A blind lama assassin employed by the Qing Emperor goes after the righteous “One-Armed Boxer” (Wong Yu). Intent on avenging his two disciples, whom Wong Yu killed, the imperial assassin packs his monk robes, his unbeatable flying guillotine, and soon he’s keeping the clashes coming, the blood flowing, and the heads rolling. His killer quest ends at a kung-fu tournament full of freaky martial artists who employ ponytail-strangling, yoga-magic-stretching, and kickboxing, but they’re no match for the killer lama and his one-armed foe! Featuring extravagant choreography by brothers Lau Kar-leung and Lau Kar-wing, Master of the Flying Guillotine set the ultimate template for martial-arts video games, and the fireworks of its final showdown (set in a booby-trapped coffin shop) have yet to be equaled.