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Clarence Tsui

Paul Fonoroff

FILM

New ReleasesApocalypto (III) (Mayan)

See review this page.

Forest of Death (IIB (Cantonese)

See review this page.

I'm a Cyborg, But that's OK  (IIA) (Korean)

Rain  and Lim Su-jeong   play a quirky couple in this  romantic comedy set in a psychiatry ward.  She thinks she's a cyborg and  he's convinced of his soul-snatching powers.  Park Chan-wook  directs. Not reviewed.

Primeval (IIB)

The horror-adventure film  inspired by Gustave, a notorious crocodile which is  believed to have killed over 300 fishermen and  swimmers in Burundi.  A team of newscasters go to Africa in an attempt to capture the beast. Dominic Purcell,  Orlando Jones  and Brooke Langton  star. Not reviewed.

The Pursuit of Happyness (IIA):

Will Smith  plays Chris Gardner, a single father who fights to realise his dream to become a stockbroker after his wife (Thandie Newton)  leaves him for a new life. Also stars Smith's son Jaden Christopher Syre Smith.  Gabriele Muccino  directs.  CT

General ReleasesDororo (IIB) (Japanese)

Adapted from a  manga story, the film stars Satoshi Tsumabuki  as a swordsman hunting 48 evil deities who received his body parts in a Faustian deal with his warlord father. Akihiko Shiota  directs.   CT

Ghost Rider (IIA)

Nicolas Cage plays Ghost Rider,  a motorcycle stuntman who sells his soul to a demon to save the  life of his dad and his  sweetheart (Eva Mendes).  CT

Hannibal Rising (IIB)

Gaspard Ulliel  and Gong Li  star in this prequel to Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal about the coming-of-age of the  serial killer Hannibal Lecter. Peter Webber directs.  CT

The Haunted School (IIB) (Cantonese)

Ten years  after the dean of a school dies in a fire, his ghost returns to haunt the students.

Stars Tsui Tin-yau,  Don Li,  Steven Cheung Chi-hang.  Directed by Chin Man-kei.  Not reviewed.

Letters from Iwo Jima (IIB) (Japanese and English)

Clint Eastwood's complementary film to his Flags of Our Fathers, which is also about the battle of Iwo Jima but from the perspective of Japanese soldiers. Starring  Ken Watanabe  and Kazunari Ninomiya  as two of the Japanese troops who defended the island.  LKW

Night at the Museum (IIA):

Ben Stiller plays a night watchman at a natural history museum. The  job turns out to be a roller-coaster  ride when the exhibits come to  life after midnight. Shawn Levy directs.  CT

Pan's Labyrinth (IIB) (Spanish)

Set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, the film is a fairy tale, political drama and action adventure.  Ivana Baquero  plays a girl who seeks solace in an imaginary netherworld while her fascist stepfather launches savage attack on the republican guerillas. Guillermo Del Toro directs.

CT

The Postmodern Life of My Aunt  (I) (Putonghua)

Director Ann Hui On-wah  returns with a modern drama set in Shanghai about the comedic  but tragic life of a single elderly woman played by Siqin Gaowa. Also stars Chow Yun-fat.    PF

The Queen (IIA)

Directed by Stephen Frears,  the film is a behind-the-scenes account of the struggle between Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) following the death of Princess Diana. Also stars James Cromwell,  Sylvia Syms  and Alex Jennings.CT

Tears for You (I) (Japanese)

A young boy makes a promise to his dying mother to look after his abandoned step-sister. But as the pair grow up, the love between them becomes too strong to ignore. Masami Nagasawa  stars.  CT

300 (IIB)

Adapted from the graphic novel 300 by Frank Miller, the film stars Gerard Butler as a Spartan king who leads 300 men against more than one million Persian invaders in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. Also stars Lena Headey as the Spartan queen. Zack Snyder directs. CT

Art House

The 31st Hong Kong  International Film Festival

Hong Kong's biggest film festival with more than 300 features, digital films, documentaries, animations and shorts,  including the following seven films. HK$30-HK$55 Urbtix and  HK Ticketing. Inquiries: www.hkiff.org.hk. Ends Apr 11

Bubble Fiction: Boom or Bust

A comedy starring Hiroshi Abe  as a bureaucrat who sends a bar hostess (Ryoko Hirosue)  back to 1990 to save Japan from economic crisis. Directed by Yasuo Baba.

In Japanese with Chinese and English subtitles. Today, 7pm, HK Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai, HK$55 HK Ticketing; Apr 5, 9pm, HK Cultural Centre, 10 Salisbury Rd, TST, HK$55 Urbtix.

Tarachime / a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee

Screening of two documentaries: In Tarachime - which means mother in Japanese - directed by Naomi Kawase,  captures the birth of her son and the death of her grandmother in an exploration of her identity; in a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee, Nikki Lee travels across Europe and North America, discovering the relationship between her art and her true self. In Japanese  and English with English subtitles. Tomorrow, 9.30pm; Apr 9, 1.15pm, HK Space Museum Lecture  Hall, 10 Salisbury Road, TST,

HK$55 Urbtix.

Village People Radio Show

The documentary portrays lives of  exiled members of the Communist Party of Malaya now living in a village in southern Thailand. They recall the decade-long struggle of balancing radical communism with their Islamic faith. Directed by Amir Muhammad.  In Malay and Thai with English subtitles. Sat, 6pm, HK Space Museum Lecture Hall, 10 Salisbury Rd,  TST, HK$55 Urbtix; Apr 8, 3pm,  Agnes b. Cinema, HK Arts  Centre, 2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai,  HK$55 Urbtix.

The Basement

The visit of an intruder intensifies Jia Huo's tumultuous relationship with his girlfriend. Set in a basement and directed by Liu Hao.  In Putonghua with English subtitles. Sun, 6pm and Mar 28, 9.30pm; HK Space Museum, Lecture Hall, 10 Salisbury Rd,  TST, HK$55 Urbtix.

Don't Look Back

A story of three people who

are unable to love;  student Jung-hee refuses to love her estranged father, soldier In-ho  wonders

if he loves his wife, and avid eavesdropper and telephone engineer Keun-woo struggles  to open his heart to a woman.  Kim Young-nam  directs. In  Korean with English subtitles.  Sun, 6pm, UA Times Square,  G/F-2/F Times Square,  1 Matheson St, Causeway Bay, HK$55 Urbtix.

Refrain

In the second instalment of  Cui Zi'en's   Family Trilogy,  two abandoned brothers are downtrodden without any help from their parents or social services. One has Aids, while the other is mentally handicapped. In Putonghua with English subtitles. Mar 26, 3pm, Lecture Hall, HK Space Museum, 10 Salisbury Rd, TST, HK$55 Urbtix; and Apr 8, 5.45pm, Agnes b. Cinema, HK Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai, HK$55 Urbtix.

Eye in the Sky

Simon Yam Tat-wah  plays a cop who targets jewellery robber Tony Leung Ka-fai  in a game of cat and mouse shot around Hollywood Road. Yau Nai-hoi directs. In Cantonese with English subtitles. Mar 27, 9.45pm, HK Cultural Centre, 10 Salisbury Rd, TST, HK$55 Urbtix.

The 12th ifva Festival

The Independent Short Film and Video Awards festival showcases  Asian shorts, plus early shorts from Poland,  including the following two screenings, various venues and times, HK$50 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2824 5328.  Ends Mar 26

Finalist (Asian New Force) Showcase Programme 1

Shorts by mainland and Taiwan filmmakers, including Joe Hsieh's  dark animation Most Days, about cannibalism, Hu Jie's Tibetan reality check The Silence of Nujiang and Lin Wan-yu  and Hsu Ya-ting's  eviction tale Life With Happiness. In Putonghua with English subtitles. Sat, 2.30pm, Agnes b. Cinema, HK Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai.

Finalist (Asian New Force) Showcase Programme 2

Shorts including Craig Rosenthal's  The Trainee, about a down-and-out man's botched store holdup; Aaron Kim's  suffocating city life story Glasshouse and Madoka Kumagai's  Hakko-fermentation about renewed enthusiasm  for life through filmmaking. In various languages with English subtitles. Sat, 5pm, Agnes b. Cinema,  HK Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Rd,  Wan Chai.



Film