HK PICKS
Tropic Thunder
(USA) In a big-budget satire of big-budget films, Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. play three actors in a Vietnam War epic accidentally left behind to fight their way out of a jungle. Watch Hollywood’s most notorious egos get mercilessly napalmed. Directed by Ben Stiller. Opens Oct 23.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year
(USA) In the final installment of the Disney trilogy, the main characters express their hopes and fears in more delirious sing-song as they prepare to embark for university. Directed by Kenny Ortega. Opens Oct 23.

Ticket
(China) Nicholas Wu and Cecilia Yip star in this drama about a journalist on a mission to find her biological mother. Directed by Jacob Chang. Starring Zuo Xiaoqing. Opens Oct 23.

Wushu
(China) Produced by Jackie Chan and filmed in a real training school with real fighters, this ode to traditional martial arts lovingly captures its subjects without the over-choreographed effects found in too many action films today. Directed by Antony Szeto. Starring Sammo Hung, Wang Wenjie, Liu Fengchao.

Opening

Awake
(USA) Hayden Christensen (or Anakin Skywalker) wakes up during surgery to find himself conscious but still paralyzed in this debut by director Joby Harold. Critics say it’s minute-to-minute agony. Also starring Jessica Alba, Lena Olin. Opened Oct 16. BC, MCL, UA

Mirrors
(USA) Kiefer Sutherland stars in this new horror flick from “The Hills Have Eyes” director Alexandre Aja, about an alcoholic ex-cop— quite plausibly Jack Bauer a few years down the road—who starts seeing creepy reflections in the mirror. Opened Oct 16. AMC, BC,
MCL, UA

HK PICKS
Sweet Rain
(Japan) Appearing in his first Japanese role in 6 years, Takeshi Kaneshiro plays a Grim Reaper who drops in on people for a week before deciding whether to bump them off. The black dog is his sidekick, apparently. Directed by Masaya Kakei. Opened Oct 16. BC, MCL

The Vampire Who Admires Me
(Hong Kong) Another schlock-horror about ditzes getting eaten by zombies from colossus of crass Wong Jing. Starring Jo Koo, Winnie Leung, Maggie Lee. BC, MCL, UA

Continuing

Body of Lies
(USA) See review, p.32. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Butterfly Lovers
(Hong Kong) See review, above. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Connected
(Hong Kong) Director Benny Chan promises that his remake of the Hollywood thriller “Cellular” is better because it’s got more guns. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

The Duchess
(UK) Keira Knightley plays Georgiana Spencer, an 18th-century English aristocrat with a penchant for drinking, gambling and other cheerful vices in this period melodrama also starring Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Saul Dibb. PPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

The Forbidden Legend: Sex and Chopsticks
(Hong Kong) A remake of the Chinese erotic classic about infidelity. Some critics call it straight-out porn. Directed by Chin Man-kei. Starring Kaera Uehara, Hikaru Wakana. BC, MCL, UA

Lost Indulgence
(China) Up and coming mainland director Zhang Yibai’s most artsy release yet stars Karen Mok as a crippled stranger who enters the shattered lives of a grieving family. Also starring Eason Chan, Eric Tsang, Jiang Wenli, Tian Jian-ci. AMC, BC, UA

Painted Skin
(Hong Kong/China) Unimaginative adaptation of the Qing Dynasty folk tale about a freaky chick with no face. Directed by Gordon Chan. Starring Zhou Xun, Vicky Zhao, Donnie Yen, Chen Kun, Betty Sun. AMC, BC, MCL

Storm Rider Clash of Evils
(China) Richie Ren and Nicholas Tse lend their voices to some slicin’ and dicin’ swordplay scenes in this animated adaptation of Hong Kong’s number one comic book series, “Fung Wan.” Directed by Dante Lam. BC, MCL, UA

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
(USA) Starring Javier Bardem as a heartthrob painter torn between Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall, Woody Allen’s first film in Spain has been hailed as his sexiest so far. PPPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Arthouse

Asian Film Festival
The local festival gathering the best films from across the continent enters its fifth year. Oct 10-26. Tickets $45-$70 from cinemas. Full listings at www.cinema.com.hk.

Tokyo!
(Japan, 2008) Renowned filmmakers Bong Joon-hoo, Michael Gondry and Leos Carax present three different takes on life in Japan’s bustling capital. Sat, Oct 18, 7:45pm, IFC.; Fri, Oct 24, 9:45pm, Broadway Cinematheque

Cape No. 7
(Taiwan, 2008) This winner of the Taipei Film Festival revolves around a failed musician re-inspired by old love letters found in his coastal hometown. Directed by Wei Te-sheng. Sat, Oct 18, 9:50pm. Broadway Cinematheque

Dream
(South Korea, 2008) Fantasy and reality overlap in oddball director Kim Ki-duk’s story about a chonically single man who begins seeing a woman from his dreams in real life. Tue, Oct 21, 9:50pm. IFC

HK PICKS
Written
(South Korea, 2008) Independent filmmaker Kim Byung-woo delivers this surreal misadventure about a man who wakes up in a bloody bathtub to find his kidney missing, only to then discover that he’s a character in a screenplay. Sat, Oct 25, 4:05pm. IFC

Asia Society Screening
Documentary screening presented by the Asia Society Hong Kong Center. Tickets $50-$60 from the Arts Centre. See www.asiasociety.org.

My Beijing Birthday
(China/USA) This heartfelt and humorous look at a new generation in China zooms in on a group of children in 1996 and catches up with them 12 years later to see how rapidly their lives have changed. Post-screening discussion with director Howie Snyder. Thu, Oct 23, 7pm. Agnes b. Cinema

BC Sunday
Weekly Sunday films at Broadway Cinematheque. Tickets $45 from Urbtix.

Pan’s Labyrinth
(Mexico/Spain, 2008) Set during the Spanish Civil War, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s grotesue fairy tale takes place in the imaginary underworld of a young girl’s mind as she tries to escape her stepfather’s cruelty. Starring Ariadna Gil, Sergi Lopez. Sun, Oct 19, 12:15pm. Broadway Cinematheque

Chinese Film Panorama
Screenings of mainland films commemorating the 30th anniversary of China’s opening-up policy. Tickets $45 from Urbtix. Oct 16–Nov 9. Full listings at www.lcsd.gov.hk. At the Film Archive unless stated otherwise.

Dream Weavers—Beijing 2008
(2008) China’s first documentary of the arduous planning of the Olympics was shot over 2,582 days and used over 24,000 feet of film. Sat, Oct 18, 2pm. Film Archive

HK PICKS
The Longest Night in Shanghai
(2007) “Lost Indulgence” director Zhang Yibai’s tale of city dwellers adrift in the search for love features a broad cast spanning Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China. Starring Zhao Wei, Nishida Naomi, Dylan Kuo, Sam Lee. Sat, Oct 18, 7:30pm. Space Museum

Kino 2008
The Goethe-Institut presents the best new German films this year. Oct 24-Nov 2. Tickets $40-$60 from Urbtix. Full listings at www.goethe.de/hongkong

Kirschbluten–Hanami
(Germany, 2008) In director Doris Dorrie’s exploration of love and the meaning of life, a terminally ill cancer patient go to Japan after his wife suddenly dies and discovers an alternate life that she really wanted to lead. Fri, Oct 24, 7:30pm. Agnes b. Cinema