My NYAFF13 ticket stub collection thus far.
Because we’re a bit past the halfway point for this year’s New York Asian Film Festival… even though my own coverage isn’t at that point quite yet… figured a recap of what’s been highlighted thus far would not be such a bad idea:
- “The Bullet Vanishes” & “The Lady Avenger”
- “Helter Skelter” & “Behind The Camera: Why Mr. E Went To Hollywood”
- https://fort90.com/nyaff-2013-ip-man-the-legend-is-born-ip-man-the-final-fight/
- “Aberya” & “The Challenge of the Lady Ninja”
- “Confession of Murder” & “Countdown”
- “The Last Tycoon” & “Comrade Kim Goes Flying”
- “The Warped Forest” & “Lesson Of The Evil”
As noted several times already, the majority of movies this year were screened only once, which really sucks. Thankfully, Japan Society is where you can find repeat performances of the Japanese flicks (surprise). Helter Skelter was pretty neat, The Warped Forest was weird but very much enjoyable, and Lesson of the Evil is an absolute must see for all Takashi Miike diehards out there, period.
I actually was given the chance to watch many of the films in advance, courtesy of generously provided screeners, but didn’t get the chance to touch most of them, due to being so insanely busy these days (more on that in a second). Whereas the movies I did watch in time, and do a review in time for their screenings, were not published in a timely manner due to a mishap that occurred when trying to upgrade WordPress. Oy vey.
Though, the fact that there’s also 60 movies is what’s made coverage this year so tricky. BTW, anything I’ve seen that I refuse to give a proper review? Yes; Taiwan Black Movie, a documentary covering its namesake. Supposedly the director found a bag full of VHS copies of movies that had been banned and destroyed by the government, then decided to detail the genre’s rise and fall, plus interview the people that made it all happen.
Sounded great in the description, but Taiwan Black Movie ended up being one of the worst documentaries I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Never before has such a rich and fascinating subject matter been handled so poorly. Never-mind how there’s barely any actual footage, absolutely NOTHING is explained, period. Not only does it completely neglect to go into why the movies were banned in the first place, it’s not even mentioned!
Not helping was the piss poor translation, though I’m pretty sure the one so-called film expert blow hard was simply bullsh*tting. And adding insult to injury is how the director was live in attendance, and when audience members asked totally valid questions, instead of letting the translator lend a hand, he’d try to do it himself and clearly had no idea what was asked, and thusly how to answer. Such a train wreck.
OTHERWISE, the festival has been it usual awesome self! Even the audience has been generally well behaved, thank goodness. Well, there’s the usual assortment of crazies that are simply going to be there no matter what; I had a tough time concentrating on “The Lady Avenger” because a woman two rows ahead of me kept pulling her hair and eating it, for example.
You also have the fat bald guy who I guess is a journalist or something, because he has access to all the screeners also, and loves telling the entire theater in the most obvious and shameless manner possible. Like when he talks about all the other movies he’s already seen, often giving away key plot details and even the ending. Am getting so close to just going off on the guy.
BTW, I know many people have a hard time enjoying video games because of other gamers, and trust me, it’s way, way worse when it comes to Asian cinema. And as much as people complain about the lack of diversity in gaming, at least not every single person writing about them is an old white dude (again, often fat and bald). Why I am saying all this? No idea! Just had to get if off my chest.
BUT ANYWAY, a few other odds and ends real quick:
- Back to the subject of movies real quick, and not Asian movies, but Transformers: The Movie! I recently participated in the Saturday Supercast, in which myself, my good buddy Dave Roman, Dave’s good buddy Jerzy Drozd (they both do Kids’ Comics Revolution, plus Jerzy himself does about 8 billion other podcasts as well), and Jerzy’s good buddy Shawn Robare (who’s also pals with Joe Simko as it turns out, due to the fact that Wax-Eye is totally up Shawn’s alley) all talked about what might be the single most significant cornerstone in our childhoods (and maybe yours), for CLOSE TO THREE HOURS.
Thankfully it’s been split up into two, slightly more manageable doses. First we have part one…
And part two…
FYI, before the Transformers: The Movie episode(s), myself, Dave, Jerzy, and Jerzy’s wife Anne all got together to discuss the old Saturday morning ALF cartoons (ALF and ALF Tales). They’re all worth a listen if you were raised on cartoons in the 80s!
- Also just got a brand new job; am now a part of MTV Multiplayer. Just started yesterday, though this isn’t the first time I’ve been on that end. Over six years ago, when Steve Totilo was running the show, I was profiled, thanks to my top ten worst games of all time list that made me a real hit at convent. Life sure is funny sometimes.
- Been asked a few times already if I’m going to be doing another art show later this summer in Seattle, like last year. All I can say is, stay tuned!
- Work on that game that I might have mentioned once or two already is coming along quite well, for those wondering. Actually made a really big breakthrough the other day, the kind that can magically turn a not so fun game into something that is! Hopefully.
Which is why I should really wrap things up, though one last thing: I’m delighted to announce that my New York City Cable Access Tumblr should finally see regular updates from this point forward! Mostly because I finally figured a use for Vine…
