Masters
Fresh from Cannes, Berlin, and other prestigious international film festivals, these are premieres and rediscoveries of works by the world’s best directors.
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AFTER THE STORM
Hirokazu Kore-eda / Masters / Japan / 2016 / Comedy, Drama / 117 mins
A novelist temps as an infidelity detective, partly for research, but mostly to pay alimony so he can see the young son who no longer lives with him. With a typhoon incoming, his hope for reconciliation blows harder than ever. Kore-eda directs a bruised heart with a light and utterly charming touch.AFTER THE STORM
UltraStar Mission Valley
Friday, November 4, 2016 6:30 pmAFTER THE STORM
UltraStar Mission Valley
Saturday, November 5, 2016 6:05 pmAFTER THE STORM
UltraStar Mission Valley
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 8:45 pm
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AFTERNOON
Tsai Ming-liang / Masters / Taiwan / 2015 / Documentary, Experimental / 137 mins
Every film by director Tsai Ming-liang has starred the laconic, enigmatic Lee Kang-sheng. In this touching documentary, Tsai sits down with his muse in the abandoned Taiwan house they bought together, and they share an afternoon of reminiscence, unprecedented reflection, and a creative bond that is nothing short of love.AFTERNOON
Digital Gym Cinema
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 8:10 pm
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ANTI-PORNO
Sion Sono / Masters / Japan / 2016 / Experimental, Pink Film / 76 mins
Sion Sono takes on the roman porno genre with the glee of a sadist and the turns of a post-modern fantasist. Reality and fiction bleed and power and submission do back-flips in this Lynchian snapshot of an actress whose life is a nightmare film set with no exit in sight.ANTI-PORNO
UltraStar Mission Valley
Saturday, November 5, 2016 10:40 pmANTI-PORNO
UltraStar Mission Valley
Thursday, November 10, 2016 8:55 pm
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BEAUTIFUL 2016
Jia Zhang-ke, Nakata Hideo, Alec Su, Stanley Kwan / Masters / China, Hong Kong, Japan / 2016 / Drama / 95 mins
The Hong Kong International Film Festival’s annual collection of commissioned shorts includes a story of an 80-year-old in search of her first love, a documentary about middle-aged women in Beijing, a musical comedy about a diva in a recording studio, and a satire about unemployed coal miners trying on new roles.BEAUTIFUL 2016
UltraStar Mission Valley
Thursday, November 10, 2016 6:20 pmBEAUTIFUL 2016
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sherwood Auditorium
Friday, November 11, 2016 4:15 pm
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A BRIDE FOR RIP VAN WINKLE
Shunji Iwai / Masters / Japan / 2016 / Drama, Mystery, Romance / 179 mins
A junior high school teacher finds love or something like it through an online service and soon finds herself married and as alone as ever. Quickly, layers of deception unfold with a gothic touch and a dizzying dose of soft-focus romanticism as only a Shunji Iwai epic could deliver.A BRIDE FOR RIP VAN WINKLE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Thursday, November 10, 2016 7:05 pm
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CHEERFUL WIND
Hou Hsiao-hsien / Masters / Taiwan / 1981 / Comedy, Music, Romance / 91 mins
Pop stars Feng Fei-fei and Kenny Bee meet-cute on the Penghu set of a detergent commercial: she a photographer hanging out with her uncool fiancé, he the bumbling local enlisted to swill for soap. Sparks and songs fly, all composed with the gentle, inchoate rigor of a young director named Hou Hsiao-hsien.CHEERFUL WIND
UCSD Calit2 Atkinson Hall Auditorium
Saturday, November 5, 2016 1:00 pm
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CREEPY
Kiyoshi Kurosawa / Masters / Japan / 2016 / Thriller / 130 mins
A disgraced Japanese detective tries to forget his traumatic past by changing professions, but an unsolved cold case that may involve his suspicious next-door neighbor pulls him back into the cop game. Kiyoshi Kurosawa's gripping, macabre serial killer yarn lives up to its title and then some.CREEPY
UltraStar Mission Valley
Sunday, November 6, 2016 8:25 pmCREEPY
UltraStar Mission Valley
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 7:55 pm
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THE MERMAID
Stephen Chow / Masters / China, Hong Kong / 2016 / Comedy, Fantasy, Romance / 94 mins
When big business develops on a seaside wildlife refuge, the merpeople will revolt. Specifically, they will send their most beautiful mermaid to seduce, then assassinate, the playboy tycoon behind it all. Director Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer) does it again, skewering chicken, tentacles, and billionaires with harpoon-in-gut hilarity.THE MERMAID
UltraStar Mission Valley
Friday, November 4, 2016 6:15 pmTHE MERMAID
UltraStar Mission Valley
Saturday, November 5, 2016 12:35 pm
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OVER THE FENCE
Nobuhiro Yamashita / Masters / Japan / 2016 / Drama, Romance / 112 mins
After his divorce, Shiraiwa (Joe Odagiri) limps back to his hometown, where he signs up for carpentry school, plays softball to pass the time, and ends up meeting a hostess (Yu Aoi) with as deep a thirst for connection, but about as much baggage, and as he does.OVER THE FENCE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Sunday, November 6, 2016 7:30 pmOVER THE FENCE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 4:10 pm
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TA’ANG
Wang Bing / Masters / China, France / 2016 / Documentary / 147 mins
Civil war in Myanmar has forced the Ta'ang people to journey across the border into China's Yunnan Province. The singular, epic documentarian Wang Bing follows the refugees, mostly women and children, as they trek the mountainous forest terrain by day and gather by the campfire at night.TA’ANG
Digital Gym Cinema
Monday, November 7, 2016 7:50 pm
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THREE
Johnnie To / Masters / Hong Kong / 2016 / Thriller / 88 mins
The cramped confines of a Hong Kong hospital play host to war of attrition between tenacious cops and philosophical robbers. Caught in the middle is a stressed out M.D. whose actions prove that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Let the bullet ballet commence.THREE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Monday, November 7, 2016 6:20 pmTHREE
UltraStar Mission Valley
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 6:35 pm
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THE WOMAN WHO LEFT
Lav Diaz / Masters / Philippines / 2016 / Drama / 228 mins
A woman is released from prison after serving 30 years for a crime she did not commit. Now released, she wanders through a small town with a detachment that could imply either spiritual peace or the patient calculations of vengeance. Lav Diaz’s Venice-winner is a brutally quiet epic of redemption.THE WOMAN WHO LEFT
UltraStar Mission Valley
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 2:00 pmTHE WOMAN WHO LEFT
Digital Gym Cinema
Friday, November 11, 2016 12:30 pm
