Thursday, May 29, 2008

Johnnie To film series in San Francisco Bay Area

The Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley is putting together a Johnnie To film series. If you have ever wanted to check out Johnnie To's films, here's your chance. Here's the schedule for the film series over the next month.

Thursday, May 29, 2008
6:30 p.m. The Mission
Five gunmen must unite to keep a triad boss alive. A neon-lit tribute to Hawks, Mann, and Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai.

Thursday, May 29, 2008
8:15 p.m. Fulltime Killer
Two killers battle for supremacy in this comic-book montage of film tributes and pulp-novel conceits that makes Tarantino look like Bresson.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008
7:30 p.m. Running on Karma
Andy Lau is a Buddhist monk turned male stripper who can see past lives and predict the future in To’s crazed superhero genre mash-up. Like Spider-Man rewritten by the Dalai Lama.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
7:30 p.m. Throw Down
Aaron Kwon seeks judo guidance from ex-champion, now-drunkard Louis Koo in To’s sweet-natured remake of Kurosawa’s Sanshiro Sugata. “The absolute best neo-samurai judo farce in town.”—Village Voice

Thursday, June 12, 2008
7:00 p.m. Breaking News
A police-versus-gunmen showdown turns into media warfare in this Cannes-selected thriller, a Dog Day Afternoon on the streets of Hong Kong.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008
6:30 p.m. Election
Two gangsters campaign (and kill) to win a triad election in this gunless thriller with “a Shakespearean hue, and a rich political and moral subtext.”—N.Y. Times

Wednesday, June 18, 2008
8:30 p.m. Triad Election
An over-educated, money-obsessed hoodlum gets sucked into triad (and governmental) deceits in this Darwinian-capitalist satire and “exemplary gangster thriller.”—N.Y. Times

Saturday, June 21, 2008
8:45 p.m. Exiled
Nattily attired hitmen square off in scenic Macao in this “enjoyable action thriller with a bracing touch of political satire.”—Manchester Guardian

Friday, June 27, 2008
8:40 p.m. Mad Detective
Lau Ching-wan is a cop who can sense the paranormal in a “wild, hilarious, and thoroughly disturbing entertainment.”—Vancouver Film Festival