Date: Fridays,
July 11, 18, 25;
August 1, 8, 15, 22
& 29, 2008
Time:
5:30PM to 8:00PM
Place: 25 West 43rd
Street, Room 1000, between
5th & 6th Avenues, Manhattan
Movie Lineup
Lust, Caution(China /
Taiwan/ USA,
2007)
Running Time:
159 Minutes
From Academy
Award-winning
director Ang Lee
(Crouching
Tiger, Hidden
Dragon,
Brokeback
Mountain) comes
this intriguing
espionage
thriller set in
World War II-era
Shanghai. Based
on the writings
of author Eileen
Chang, this
Chinese-language
tale stars Tony
Leung Chiu Wai,
Wei Tang, Joan
Chen and Lee-Hom
Wang. Lee
reteams with his
longtime
producer James
Schamus, who has
collaborated
with the
director on nine
of his films.
1942, Japanese
occupied
Shanghai. Young
drama student
Wang Jiazhi
(Tang Wei, in a
daring debut
performance) has
been given an
extraordinary
mission: to
infiltrate the
inner circle of
Mr. Yee (Tony
Leung Chiu Wai),
the head of the
Japanese puppet
government's
secret police,
and arrange for
his
assassination.
But in
attempting to
draw closer to
Mr. Yee, she
finds herself
torn between her
"real" life and
the seductive
pull of the role
she has created,
a role that
threatens to
consume her
heart and soul.
When a Japanese
mining company
announces the
closure of a
coal mine in
Iwaki, a group
of brave young
women defies
their community
by signing up to
become hula
dancers at the
company's new
Hawaiian tourist
center in this
heartwarming
dramedy. Amid
union workers'
protests and
against the
wishes of their
families, the
women
passionately
practice and
perform their
newly learned
art in hopes
that it will
lead to a
brighter future.
The Motel
(USA, 2005)
Running Time:
76 Minutes
In Michael
Kang's
compelling story
about growing
up, Ernest Chin
(Jeffrey Chyau)
is a
Chinese-American
teen who works
in a seedy motel
with his
hard-nosed
mother,
grandfather and
younger sister.
With no male
role model to
turn to, Ernest
must deal with
the trials of
adolescence on
his own. Sam Kim
(Sung Kang), a
charming Korean
American with a
dark past, sees
himself in
Ernest and
decides to
mentor the boy,
but things don't
always go
smoothly.
Chak De!
India
(India, 2007)
Running Time:
153 Minutes
Years after
facing
humiliating
defeat on the
field, former
hockey star
Kabir Khan (Shahrukh
Khan) returns to
the game as
coach of the
Indian women's
national hockey
team, striving
to shape a
ragtag bunch of
female athletes
into a playing
force to be
reckoned with.
But the team's
problem isn't a
lack of talent;
it's the fact
that the girls
have never
played with pure
passion and have
yet to embrace a
true love of the
sport.
Secret
(Taiwan, 2007)
Running Time:
90 Minutes
Lun (Jay Chou)
lives with his
father, Chiu
(Anthony Wong),
the music
teacher of
Tamkang
Secondary
School. Both of
them are very
good at music
and piano. This
is the first day
Lun admitted to
Tamkang
Secondary
School. When he
walks through
the campus with
his classmates,
a mysterious
piano solo draws
his attention.
He follows the
song and finds
that an ethereal
girl is playing
piano in the old
music room. The
piano girl is Yu
(Guey Lun-Mei),
one of Lun's
classmates. She
is always late
for school and
hence sits next
to Lun at the
back row. The
two become
intimate friends
and spend a lot
of time
together.
"What's the
melody you
played the first
day we met?"
asked Lun,
"That's my
secret." Yu
whispered in his
ear.
My Sassy Girl
(South Korea,
2001)
Running Time:
123 Minutes
One night, Kyun-woo
meets a terribly
drunken girl. He
is ashamed to
help her, but
once he does, a
deep sense of
responsibility
has been
developed within
him; he decides
to heal her
pain. Even
though she slaps
him, pushes him
into the pool,
forces him to
wear heels, he
tolerates. Will
she stay after
the pain is
healed?
The
Postmodern Life
of My Aunt (Hong
Kong, 2006)
Running Time:
110 Minutes
A
twelve-year-old
boy Kuankuan
visits his aunt
(Sequin Gowa)
who is living
alone after her
retirement in
Shanghai.
Through his eyes
his aunt appears
stingy,
out-of-date,
loud, and
ridiculous. Her
neighbor (Lu
Yan) also
appears bizarre.
But after a
series of
adventures
together they
have reached
some
understanding
before he leaves
for home.
My Blueberry
Nights (Hong
Kong/China/France, 2007)
Running Time:
90 Minutes
Elizabeth (Norah
Jones), a
restless young
woman, travels
cross-country
working a
variety of
waitressing jobs
and connecting
with an odd
assortment of
characters along
the way,
including
policeman Arnie
(David
Strathairn), his
unfaithful wife,
Sue Lynne
(Rachel Weisz),
and a flighty
young gambler
(Natalie
Portman). But
she realizes
that her
touchstone is
Jeremy (Jude
Law), the owner
of a café she
haunted back
home in New
York.
