Opening Soon

HK Picks
Deception
(USA) In this erotic thriller with an all-star cast, Hugh Jackman lures a geeky Ewan McGregor into a high-class sex ring swirling with murder, blackmail and Maggie Q. Directed by Marcel Langenegger. Also starring Michelle Williams, Charlotte Rampling. Opens Jun 26.

Ensemble, C’est Tout
(France) Another bittersweet Parisian romance starring Audrey Tautou, this time as an aspiring artist who moves in with a young aristocrat and his womanizing roommate. Directed by Claude Berri. Also starring Guillaume Canet, Laurent  Stocker. Opens Jun 26.

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars
(Sierra Leone) Documentary about the band of the same name, displaced from wartorn Freetown and entertaining fellow refugees from camp to camp in Guinea. Directed by Zach Niles, Banker White. Opens Jun 22.

Wanted
(USA) Angelina Jolie helps a young slacker become a killing machine in this balls-to-the-wall adaptation of the comic-book miniseries. Also starring Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy. Opens Jun 27.

HK Picks
Kung Fu Panda
(USA) Jackie Chan and Jack Black do the voices for this epic animation, about a lazy panda who becomes the martial arts savior of his local village in ancient China. Directed by Mark Osborne, John Stevenson. Also starring Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, James Hong. Opens Jun 28.

Opening

City Without Baseball
(Hong Kong) See review. Opened Jun 19. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Superhero Movie
(USA) The would-be wits behind “Scary Movie” give us another unfunny satire aimed at stoned teens everywhere, this time sending up the superhero genre. Opened Jun 19. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

HK Picks
The Sparrow
(Hong Kong) Johnnie To gets French New Wave on us with this stylish crime film starring Simon Yam as a master pickpocket and Kelly Lin as an equally tricky femme fatale. Opened Jun 19. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

ContinuingThe Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
(USA) The second Narnia film sees the Pevensy kids return to liberate Narnia and restore rightful heir Prince Caspian to its throne. PPPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

The Counterfeiters
(Austria/Germany) The Oscar-winning dramatization of Operation Bernhard, in which Jewish counterfeiter Salomon Sorowitsch was coerced into helping the Nazis with the biggest counterfeit money scam of all time. Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky. Starring Karl Markovics. AMC, BC

The Happening
(USA) Mark Wahlberg and his family flee an apocalyptic nightmare tearing through America in this environmentally friendly horror. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. PP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

The Incredible Hulk
(USA) See review, p.42. PPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
(USA) Forget the naysayers; this rousing throwback to the old-time adventure series proves all the shameless rip-offs over the years aren’t worth their weight in valuable artifacts by comparison. PPPPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Sex and the City
(USA) Been deprived for four years? Never fear, the bitches are back and sexier than ever. Directed by Michael Patrick King. Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon. PPPPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

The Missing
(Hong Kong) Starring Isabella, Angelica Lee and Tony Leung Ka-Fei, Tsui Hark’s new romantic thriller follows a team of deep-sea divers down to the real-life sunken city of Yonaguni. Also stars Guo Xiaodong. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Arthouse

Care For Our Community
Iconic films from the past 50 years revealing the changing face of Hong Kong communities. Tickets $21 from Urbtix. Jun 21–Jul 19. Screenings at the Film Archive. See www.lcsd.gov.hk

HK Picks
The Way We Are
(2008) Ann Hui’s mother-son drama set in Tin Shui Wai digs beneath the “city of sadness” media gloss to portray ordinary people getting by in times of difficulty. Sat, Jun 21, 2:30pm.


Mud Child
(1976) This poignant drama about a destitute couple in the 70s serves as a heavy indictment of the bureaucracy and housing policies of the colonial government. Sat, Jun 21, 5pm.

The Call Girls
(1973) Patrick Lun Kong’s volatile story of five sex workers shines a light on the prostitution industry of the 70s and how it thrived with police collusion. Sat, Jun 21, 7pm.

History Will Repeat Itself
Accompanying the German exhibition of the same name at the Arts Centre. Jun 21-23. Tickets $40 from Urbtix. Screenings at the Film Archive. See www.lcsd.gov.hk

History Will Repeat Itself
Selected works from the art exhibition, depicting “Strategies of Re-enactment in Contemporary Art.” Sat, Jun 21, 9:30pm.

Harun Farocki
Screenings of work by Germany’s prolific experimental documentary filmmaker. Sun, Jun 22, 7:45pm.

Shoah
(France, 1985) A 90-minute version of Claude Lanzmann’s marathon documentary about the Holocaust. Mon, Jun 23, 7:30pm.

HK Picks
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine
(France/Cambodia, 2003) Former inmates confront their old tormentors in this chilling documentary about Tuol Seng, the notorious prison in which the brutal former Cambodian regime carried out torture and genocide. Mon, Jun 23, 9:30pm.

bc Sunday
A Touch of Spice
(Greece, 2003) Poignant comedy following a Greek cooking enthusiast’s journey to his birthplace of Istanbul in search of his original culinary mentor, his grandfather. Directed by Tassos Boulmetis. Tickets $45 from Urbtix. Sun, Jun 22, 12:15pm. Broadway Cinematheque.

New Zealand Film Festival
Presented by the New Zealand Consulate General. Jun 13-22. Tickets $55-$75. See bc.cinema.com.hk/en.

Perfect Strangers
(2003) After a drunken girls’ night out, a young woman goes home with a stranger only to find out she’s been kidnapped by a sinister Sam Neill. Directed by Gaylene Preston. Also starring Rachael Blake. Sat, Jun 21, 6:05pm. Palace IFC

Black Sheep
(2007) Jonathan King’s crazed comedy horror in which mutant killer sheep terrorize a New Zealand farm owes plenty to Peter Jackson’s gloriously perverse early shlockers such as “Bad Taste.” Starring Nathan Meister, Peter Feeney. Fri, Jun 20, 9:50pm. Broadway Cinematheque

Rain
(New Zealand) Coming-of-age drama about a 13-year-old learning to deal with her drunken parents’ faltering marriage and her own budding sexuality. Directed by Christine Jeffs. Starring Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki. Fri, Jun 20, 7:50pm, Palace IFC; Sun, Jun 22, 2:15pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

Eagle vs Shark
(2007) Two socially awkward misfits fall for each other and plan revenge on an old high-school bully in this oddball romantic comedy that charmed audiences at Sundance. Directed by Taika Waititi. Starring Jemaine Clement, Loren Horsley. Sat, Jun 21, 7:55pm, Palace IFC; Sun, Jun 22, 4pm, Broadway Cinematheque.

Made in Taiwan/Kaikohe Demolition
(2006/2004) Two documentaries, one following two Kiwis who trace their Taiwanese ancestor’s original journey backwards, the other about a rock n’ roll demolition derby in Northland. Directed by Dan Salmon/Florian Habicht. Sat, Jun 21, 4:10pm. Broadway Cinematheque

2008 Italian Film Festival
The best of contemporary Italian film, presented by the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Consulate General. Tickets $60 ($40 for students/seniors) from the Grand Cinema. Through Jun 26.

Before You Know It
(Italy, 2006) Ivan Polidoro’s comedy about three small town Naples citizens caught up in the death of a local Mafioso revives the classic humor of Italian 50s films. Tue, Jun 24, 7:30pm.

The Wind Blows Round
(Italy, 2005) This story of a middle-aged teacher who decides to become a shepherd spotlights the small Italian Alps village of Chersogno, where inhabitants still speak the ancient language of Langue d‘Oc. Directed by Giorgio Diritti. Thu, Jun 26, 7:30pm.

Asia Society
Summer Film Series
Through Jun 20. Tickets $40-$55 from HK Ticketing. Screenings at the Grand Cinema. See www.asiasociety.org/asianfortitude.

The Betrayal
(USA, 2008) “Eternal Sunshine” cinematographer Ellen Kuras’s directorial debut chronicles the true story of a young boy’s escape from war, persecution and arrest in Laos, and his subsequent struggles on the streets of New York City. Fri, Jun 20, 7:30pm.

Repertory Cinema:
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein
Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Russian revolutionary director’s death. Ends Jun 22. Tickets $50 from Urbtix. Screenings at the Film Archive. See www.lcsd.gov.hk.

Strike
(1925) Eisenstein’s first full-length feature depicts the brutal suppression of a major factory strike in Tsarist Russia, and famously introduced the use of the montage in cinema. Sun, Jun 22, 2:30pm.

Battleship Potemkin
(1925) Eisenstein’s epic portrayal of a Russian ship crew’s rebellion against their Tsarist officers might just be powerful enough to turn your kids into card-carrying Bolsheviks. Sun, Jun 22, 6:30pm.