2½ days of FUN!

Pacific Media Expo 2007
Veterans' Day
Holiday Weekend
November 9 to 11, 2007
Hilton Los Angeles Airport

Home Events Asian Cinema Asian Cinema The Asian film program at Pacific Media Expo is organized and sponsored by Cine-East. Catch the latest and greatest in Asian cinema in PMX's video rooms. 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 PMX07. Please check room locations for times. Jackie Chan’s Police Story Genre: Action / 100 min / 1987 Distributor: Dragon Dynasty Police Story breaks new ground with its breathtaking fights and incredible stunt sequences. Featuring a top-notch cast, which includes multi-award winning actresses Brigitte Lin & Maggie Cheung, director Chan combines a compelling storyline of an honest cop on the run from a false murder charge with dynamic visuals and full-blooded fight action which is electrified with emotional underscoring. In the case of this particular project the price of excellence was high, with many of Jackie's elite stunt team being seriously injured during the course of principal photography. Nana Genre: Drama / 114 min / 2005 Distributor: Toho Films Theatrical film version of the popular comic "Nana" by Ai Yazawa. Two girls with the same name - Nana the punk vocalist and Nana the completely boy crazy meet kicking off a tale of pathos and jubilance. On a train to Tokyo, Komatsu (Aoi Miyazaki) sits next to NANA (Mika Nakashima), a budding vocalist of rock band, BLACK STONES. They part at Tokyo Station, but they cross paths again as they compete for the same apartment. They decide to move in together and despite their differences, introspective NANA and outgoing nana become firm friends. The recently lovelorn nana wins a pair of tickets to see her favorite band, TRAPNEST, in concert and invites NANA along. NANA has reservations about seeing the band play live due to her unresolved feelings towards TRAPNEST's guitarist, Ren, her ex-boyfriend and ex-BLACK STONES bassist. The concert begins and Ren steps onto the stage. NANA sits below in the front row and her eyes are filled with tears as memories come flooding back. Will NANA and Ren be reunited...? Train Man Densha Otoko Genre: Comedy / 102 min / 2005 Distributor: Viz Pictures Computer engineer Otaku (the Japanese term for "geek") is an average young man, dressed in unstylish clothes and dorky glasses. But as luck would have it, he encounters a pretty young woman on a commuter train and saves her from a lecherous molester, falling in love with her at first sight. A few days later he receives a thank-you message from the woman along with a set of Hermes teacups. Having never had a girlfriend or received a gift from a girl in his life, Otaku seeks out his pals on his BBS website for advice using his codename Train_Man (Densha Otoko): "How should I ask her out?" Deeply interested in Train Man's first love, his BBS pals eagerly supply him with advice. Encouraged by their support, Train_Man undergoes a total makeover for his first-ever date with "Hermess". Little does he know that he is about to ignite an Internet phenomenon... Chinese Tall Story Genre: Fantasy / 103 min / 2005 Distributor: Tai Seng Video A loose adaptation of the classic novel "Journey to the West." Taking place in the younger days of the famous monk, Tripitaka (known for bringing the sacred Bhuddist sutras from India to China), the film tells a fantastical adventure of the monk and his three disciples. Dorm Genre: Horror / 107 min / 2006 Distributor: Tartan Films Twelve-year-old Chatree has been reluctantly transferred to an all boys boarding school, where life for him becomes days of misery and loneliness. He is bullied by his peers with tales of drowned boys and hanged girls; his teacher, Ms. Pranee, does little to make him feel welcome, and he has no friends or family to confide in. Despite being a social outcast and recluse, he befriends another student, Wichien. They become fast friends and soon things look bright, until one day he finds that his new friend has a deep dark secret. Moonchild Genre: Drama / 119 min / 2003 Distributor: TLA Releasing Japanese pop stars Gackt and HYDE star in this wild hybrid of futuristic science fiction, John Woo-style gunplay, and Gothic vampire horror. MOON CHILD follows a group of childhood friends as they advance in a futuristic criminal underworld. Sho (Gackt) feels he is doomed to walk in his idol Kei's (HYDE) footsteps as a vampire with the gift of eternal life and the curse of blood thirst. Over time, their tight friendship becomes corrupted because of their rivalry and love for the same woman. Filmmaker Takahisa Zeze brings a stylized sting to the blood draining and hyper violent proceedings. Nana 2 Genre: Drama / 130 min / 2006 Distributor: Toho Films Continuing the story from the first film, punk rock singer Osaki Nana (Nakashima Mika) and Komatsu Nana (Ichikawa Yui), sometimes called Hachi, have been sharing an apartment for a while. To cheer up Hachi who has just broken up with her boyfriend, Nana introduces her to Hachi's idol, Takumi (Tamayama Tetsuji), the leader of the band Trapnest. But Nana never expects this will bring Hachi an unstable romance. Meanwhile, Nana's relationship with her ex-boyfriend Ren (Kyo Nobuo), the guitarist of Trapnest, appears as a hot topic on the tabloids. DOA: Dead or Alive Genre: Action / 86 min / 2007 Distributor: Dragon Dynasty DOA scores high with a dynamite combination of sexy girls and death defying martial arts, the movie adaptation of the best selling video game series Dead or Alive is rock-em sock-em entertainment. A number of fighters are invited to DOA, an invitational martial arts contest. They travel to the tournament island by plane, until they have to jump out mid-flight with parachutes, and then have until sundown to reach the main island to be entered into the tournament. Fighters are then pooled against one another in a knockout style tournament, with the loser of a battle sent home, and the winner progressing to the subsequent round. The plot revolves around four female fighters who begin as rivals, but subsequently find themselves teaming up against another force. Kamikaze Girls Genre: Comedy / 103 min / 2004 Distributor: Viz Pictures 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. Death Trance Genre: Fantasy / 89 min / 2005 Distributor: Media Blasters 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? Battle Royale: Director’s Cut Genre: Action / 122 min / 2000 Distributor: Winson Film Company 42 delinquent students. 3 days. One deserted Island. Welcome to Battle Royale. A group of delinquent students from a Japanese high school have been forced by a legislation to compete in a new forum of reality television.The students are given a bag with a randomly selected weapon and a few rations of food and water and sent off to kill each other in a no bars hold (with a few minor rules) game to the death. This means that the students have 3 days to kill each other until 1 survives or they all die. The movie focuses on a few of the students and how they cope. Some decide to play the game like the psychotic Kiriyama or the Sexual Mistuko whilst others like the heroes of the movie Shuya, Noriko and Kawada are trying to find a way to get off the Island without violence. However as the numbers dwell down lower and lower on an hourly basis is there anyway for Shuuya and classmates to survive? The City of Violence Genre: Action / 95 min / 2006 Distributor: Dragon Dynasty Tae-su, a detective fighting organized crime returns to his hometown for his high school friend Wang-jae's funeral. At the funeral, he meets his old friends Pil-ho, Dong-hwan and Seok-hwan and they reminisce. Suspecting something fishy about Wang-jae's death, Tae-su and Seok-hwan start investigating it each in his own way. Both of their investigations lead to a land development project that Pil-ho is directing and the two embark on a difficult battle. Restless Sword Dororo Genre: Action / 138 min / 2007 Distributor: CJ Entertainment With the land torn by feudal war, a vanquished samurai warlord Daigo Kagemitsu (Nakai Kiichi) makes a desperate deal with the demons - victory in exchange for his unborn son. His wishes granted and Daigo triumphs on the battlefield, but his son is born barely human, his body having been separated into forty-eight parts and spread amongst the demons. Abandoned in a basket in a river, the infant is picked up by kind-hearted doctor Jukai (Harada Yoshio) who raises the boy like a son and builds him a new body, Frankenstein style. Impervious to pain and injury, the boy possesses unnatural powers and an uncommon will to live, but in order to become truly human, he must recover his body parts. And thus begins the quest of Hyakkimaru (Tsumabuki Satoshi), as he roams the land hunting down the forty-eight demons. With each demon slayed, a part of him is restored, or rather regrown. During his journey, he befriends a female warrior-turned-scrappy street thief named Dororo (Shibasaki Kou), who joins him in his epic adventure - an adventure that leads them to Daigo. The Great Yokai War Genre: Action / 124 min / 2005 Distributor: Media Blasters A young boy with a troubled home life becomes "chosen," and he stumbles into the middle of a great spirit war, where he meets a group of friendly spirits who become his companions through his journey. Now he must fight to protect his friends and free the world of the spirits from oppression. The creatures and ghosts are taken directly from Japanese folklore and range from the cute and silly to the disturbing. Lady Vengeance Genre: Drama / 112 min / 2005 Distributor: Tartan Films After thirteen and half years in prison for kidnapping and murdering the boy Park Won-mo, Geum-ja Lee is released and tries to fix her life. She finds a job in a bakery; she orders the manufacturing of a special weapon; she reunites with her daughter, who was adopted by an Australian family; and she plots revenge against the real killer of Won-mo, the English teacher Mr. Baek. With the support of former inmates from prison, Geum-ja seeks an unattained redemption with her vengeance. The Protector Genre: Action / 194 min / 2005 Distributor: Dragon Dynasty Kham grew up with elephants in Thailand. Elephants are majestic creatures, bred for peace, but prepared for war. When an evil Asian gang kidnapped the bull and the baby elephant during a festival and smuggled them to Sydney Australia, Kham must travel to a foreign land, and unravel a conspiracy that will reach into the highest strata of Australian law and business circles. With only his Muy Thai fighting techniques, and a disgraced Thai-descent police sergeant, he must reclaim his elephants, and his heritage... Against almost impossible odds... The Asian Cinema Track is sponsored by:   < Prev   Next > [ Back ]