- This week sees a flood of excellent DVD releases from throughout Asia, starting with the Criterion treatment for two of Kon Ichikawa‘s finest anti-war features, The Burmese Harp and Fires on the Plain (the latter based on one of my favorite novels, written by Shohei Ooka). IVL releases a comprehensive retrospective of the late great Leslie Cheung‘s work with TV studio RTHK, an invaluable resource for fans of an actor more commonly associated with blockbuster films and rock and roll superstardom (for more info, check out the profile at The Asian DVD Guide). Rounding out the must-haves is another Jackie Chan remaster from Fortune Star: his sophomore directorial effort Dragon Lord – if you think you know Chan from his American slapstick roles, you owe it to yourself to watch the master in any of the early works Fortune Star has released thus far!
- Korea’s My Wife is a Gangster films have all been breezy and innocuous actioners, and judging by Variety’s review it seems Part 3 is more of the same. Though it’s a shame to see that Shin Eun-Kyung is no longer playing the titular role, replacing her with Shu Qi (of Three Times, recently screened at The Walker) has my interest piqued!
- Nobuhiro Yamashita follows up the massive success of Linda Linda Linda with his latest, The Matsugane Potshot Affair. Midnight Eye has a great interview with Yamashita, and Mark Schilling delivers a review at The Japan Times.
- Rounding out the week are two articles from Twitch. First up, my jaw is still on the floor after discovering that The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai will see theatrical release in the US! Though not one of my favorite releases of 2006, its high-concept is beyond reproach: It’s a softcore porn film starring George W. Bush’s telepathic severed finger as the primary love interest. It’s sure to push a few buttons (zing!) on its April 13th release. On the extreme opposite end of the filmic spectrum we find an update on Taiwanese wunderkind Tsai Ming-Liang‘s first Malaysian film, I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone. The Malaysian censorship board banned the film outright, and upon appeal has been persuaded to conditionally release the film if 5 more scenes are cut and the film doesn’t open wide. It’s a tough blow for Tsai, who is Malaysian by birth but has lived and worked in Taiwan for decades.