The Asian film program at Pacific Media Expo is organized and sponsored by Cine-East.
Martial arts films have been revitalized by computer effects but gripping thrillers like the American remakes of Dark Water, The Grudge, and The Ring are opening doors to a whole new world of innovative filmmaking from Asian producers.
Hugely successful cult films like The Audition, Ichi the Killer, and Battle Royale keep pushing boundaries. See a mix of the hottest new films and modern genre classics.
See a list of films screening at PMX06.
Please check room locations for times.
Title: Azumi 2: Death or Love - U.S. PREMIERE
Genre: Action / 112 mins / 2005
Summary:
Azumi 2: Death or Love picks up soon after where Azumi leaves off. Azumi and Nagara are the only two left of the original five assassins who set out to eliminate the warlords that would force their country into a civil war. The beautiful Ueto Aya returns for more blood-spurting ninja violence in Azumi 2: Death or Love, the much-anticipated sequel to director Kitamura Ryuhei's action-packed 2003 original. While Kitamura-san chose to bow out for the 2005 follow-up, the directorial reins have been passed on to the capable hands of one Kaneko Shuzuke, a veteran filmmaker who definitely knows a thing or two about helming sequels - the man has no less than three Gamera movies and one Godzilla film under his belt as a director! Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Asia Vision / Urban Vision
Title: Cromartie High
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy / 85 mins / 2005
Summary:
Despite being a normal student, Kamiyama finds himself in the most delinquent high school in Tokyo. He soon becomes the leader of the thugs and morons that populate the school and tries to improve the school. Loaded with sketches, in-jokes, parodies and run-ins with all sorts of tough types who eventually are defeated through the sheer laziness and weirdness of the students. CROMARTIE HIGH began as a successful absurdist manga by Eiji Nonaka and then a 26-episode anime from Production I.G (Otogi Zoshi, Kill Bill). Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Media Blasters
Title: Death Trance
Genre: Martial Arts/Fantasy / 90 mins / 2006
Summary:
In an unknown place and unknown time, a lone Samurai known only as Grave (Tak Sakaguchi) thirsts for the ultimate battle. Grave has stolen a mysterious coffin from the holy Tougan Temple — a coffin said to contain a great power. Trapped inside the sealed coffin is the Goddess of Destruction, confined and held at bay from laying waste to this world. Grave fearlessly travels the land dragging the coffin behind him, aware that what lies within is what he seeks — if only he can open it. Unknown to Grave, a young temple monk has embarked on a quest to return this relic to its proper home before anyone can unleash an unstoppable cataclysm. So begins the race to claim the coffin...but who will get there first? Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Media Blasters
Title: Electric Dragon 80,000 Volt
Genre: Science-Fiction/Music / 55 mins / 2001
Summary:
A young boy gets jolted with electricity as he's climbing a tall cable pylon. As he gets older, he experiences intense fits of violence in which bolts of electricity burt from his fists. Elsewhere in Tokyo, there is an electronics wizard who also happens to be a vigilante with a taste for electric weapons. When the pair catch each other's attention, the result is a battle that will light up the city. Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Discotek Media
Title: Great Yokai War
Genre: Fantasy/Science-Fiction / 124 mins / 2005
Summary:
A young boy becomes an unlikely hero when he is chosen as the "Kirin Rider" and must lead Japan’s ancient Yokai spirits in their apocalyptic war against the evil monsters. A lavish remake of the 1968 film "Yokai Daisenso" from acclaimed director Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER, AUDITION).
Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Geneon Entertainment
Title: Kamikaze Girls
Genre: Comedy / 100 mins / 2005
Summary:
Momoko is an ordinary girl, living an ordinary life. Ordinary, that is, if you define ordinary as wearing elaborate lolita dresses from the Rococo period in 18th Century France. A complete fish out of water in her rural and sleepy Japanese town, where everyone buys their clothes (and everything else) at the same store and no one understands her, Momoko's life is one of sugared sweets and frilly treats. Desperate to make some money to pay for her expensive indulgence, Momoko tries selling bootleg Ver*ace and Uni*ersal Studios clothes left over from her Dad's yakuza (gangster) days. However, when punk girl and self-styled 'Yanki' Ichiko comes calling, her days as 'ordinary' are most certainly numbered... Road movie, buddy comedy, deeply insightful and surprisingly touching, the surreal world only further highlights the all too real friendship that brings these two unlikely girls together. Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Viz Communications
Title: Lady Vengeance
Genre: Thriller / 112 mins / 2004
Summary:
Lee Geum-Ja, at the age of 19, goes to prison for the murder and abduction of a child on behalf of her accomplice Mr. Baek, only to find out that she is betrayed. While in prison, she carefully prepares for her revenge by winning the hearts of her fellow inmates with her kindness, thus earning herself the nickname 'kind Ms. Geum-Ja'. Upon her release from prison after 13 years, she finally sets out to seek revenge on Baek, with the help of her former prison mates. Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Korean
Tartan
Title: Natural City
Genre: Science-Fiction / 113 mins / 2004
Summary:
Rebuilt after a devastating war, the world of 2080 has given rise to advanced technologies including the creation of cyborgs. Created with artificial intelligence (AI), human-like emotions and great strength, they serve one master for their entire lifespan. When the cyborgs revolt, R (Yoo Ji-tae) and Noma (Yoon Chan), Rs best friend and commander, lead an elite military squad ordered to eliminate the rebellion. Unbeknownst to anyone, R has fallen in love with Ria (Seo Rin), his cyborg, and is illegally harvesting AI chips from dead cyborgs in order to save her life. Torn between his love for Ria and the battle to save mankind, humanitys fate hangs in the balance. Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Chinese
Tai-Seng
Title: Pray
Genre: Thriller / 78 mins / 2005
Summary:
Down on their luck and desperate for money to buy drugs, Mitsuru (Tetsuji Tamayama) and Maki (Asami Mizukawa) have the perfect plan. They kidnap a young girl and hide out in an abandoned school, awaiting acceptance of their demands. Everything is a going according to plan, except for one gross miscalculation. Their hostage died a year ago today. Now it's their turn. Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Tartan
Title: Samurai Chicks
Genre: Action / 72 mins / 2004
Summary:
On of the southernmost islands of Japan, there's a dance school 'Orion Dancers Academy'. Hiding its public identity as a training school of singers and dancers, it actually operates as a girl-warrior training school, in order to win independence of the island. The secretly trained agents watch the music video of charismatic idol Cocoe (R-NA) on a huge TV monitor, and unlock codes from her dancing to complete their missions. However, the dark shadow of a rival organization slowly sneaks up on the girls and the training school on the island.Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Media Blasters
Title: Sars Wars: Bangkok Zombie Crisis
Genre: Comedy/Action / 95 mins / 2005
Summary:
The fourth generation of the virus SARS is found in Africa! It's more dangerous and causes the patients to transform into bloodthirsty zombies. The virus quickly lands to Thailand, Dr. Bryan Thompson (Andrew Biggs) who creates the anti-virus, ends up getting infected while doing his experiment and soon the virus is spreading to all the residents of his same building. At that time, Khun (Supakorn Kitsuwan) is trying to help a young girl who's being kidnapped in the building.....He ends up trapped in the building with only his precious sword as a weapon. Surrounded by the zombies, he has to find the girl and escape from the building before the government drops a bomb to destroy the virus and the building.Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Thai
Discotek Media
Title: Shinobi - U.S PREMIERE
Genre: Action / 101 mins / 2005
Summary:
Set in 17th Century Japan, SHINOBI tells the story of two warring Ninja tribes, each with special fighting abilities and techniques. The tribes are forced to fight each other in order to keep their existence. The young leaders of each tribe are in love, but are inevitably torn apart in the conflict. SHINOBI is fast pacing ninja action meets Romeo and Juliet. The SHINOBI storyline was adapted from the Kouga Ninja Scrolls, a best selling novel in Japan. The popularity of this novel also served as the inspiration for an anime series called Basilisk, which FUNimation has also acquired. Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Title: Survive Style 5+ - U.S PREMIERE
Genre: Comedy/Musical / 115 mins / 2005
Summary:
Ad-planner Tada Taku, whose innovative ideas have swept virtually every advertising award available, and ad-director Sekiguchi Gen, who has a silver prize from the Cannes International Advertising Festival, are the men behind the visually exciting SURVIVE STYLE 5+. The film unfolds in a visual chain reaction of cinematic elements, including MTV-style montage, rapid-fire machine-gun dialogue, and a bold palette of colors that resemble an oil painting - an effect unheard of in Japanese Cinema (at least until now). The all-star cast, including Asano Tadanobu, Hashimoto Reika, Koizumi Kyoko, Abe Hiroshi, Kishibe Ittoku, Aso Yumi, Sonny Chiba, and Vinnie Jones from Snatch do a superb job breathing life into their weird and otherworldly characters. Full of hitmen and hypnotists, murdered spouses who spring back to life, and a trio of oddball thieves, SURVIVE STYLE 5+ is a seemingly disjointed comedy-drama-mystery that uses brilliant twists and oddball turns to reach an undreamed of climax!Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Tohokushinsha Film Corp
Title: Tokyo Zombie - U.S PREMIERE
Genre: Horror-Comedy / 103 mins / 1982
Summary:
Over in a forgotten corner of a near-future Tokyo sits Black Fuji, a mountain of junk, garbage and unwanted stuff, from discarded appliances to the bodies of whining mothers-in-law and pubescent sex-crime victims. Something dark is happening up on Black Fuji, though – a combination of toxic waste and the souls of rejected household objects is resurrecting the corpses that litter the mountain, and infusing them with an insatiable hunger for living human flesh! Meanwhile, at a fire-extinguisher factory at the foot of Black Fuji, a pair of employees are capitalizing on their boss’s absence to practice their jujitsu. The older of the two none-to-bright buddies is convinced that he can make a true champion out of his younger pal. He’s also convinced that he’s dying, so passing along his wrestling wisdom must be done quickly. Indeed it must – pretty soon, the pair will have their hands full, fighting off the hordes of the living dead! Color; English Subtitled; Original Language - Japanese
Discotek Media The Asian Cinema Track is sponsored by:
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