VIZ Cinema is a 143-seat underground cinema inside NEW PEOPLE in San Francisco, owned and operated by VIZ Pictures. Equipped with a cutting-edge HD digital projection and THX®-certified sound system, VIZ Cinema’s programming focuses on the latest and hottest films from Japan, as well as an incredible legacy of classics, favorites, documentaries and anime – making it the only venue of its kind in the United States.
Families come in different forms but the ultimate bond is love. November’s cinema program focuses on three unusual sets of relationships that prevail hardship with love! Come relate to the characters and their struggle, and explore the deeper meaning of “family”.
Fri, 11/6 – Thu, 11/19
Sad Vacation [ Regional Premiere ]
(2009, 136min., 35mm, With English Subtitles, Directed by Shinji Aoyama)
Cast: Tadanobu Asano (The Taste of Tea), Eri Ishida, Yuka Itaya, Aoi Miyazaki (NANA), Joe Odagiri
Reviewed as“a work of pristine beauty in which every shot counts in the emotive and structural development of the Japanese auteur’s humane vision.” by Hollywood Reporter. Award-winning director Shinji Aoyama, known for “EUREKA” (2000), completes his trilogy set in his hometown, Kitakyushu, with this powerful tale of family karma. Kenji (Tadanobu Asano) who makes his living coordinating smuggling from China, happens to come across his mother who abandoned him for her lover when he was a child. Although he was initially sparked to revenge his mother, they instead started living together and Kenji gradually becomes impressed by the strength of his mother’s love.
11/6 (Fri) 7:30pm
11/7 (Sat) & 11/8 (Sun) (1:30pm), 4:30pm, 7:30pm
11/9 (Mon) – 11/13 (Fri) 4:30pm, 7:30pm
11/14 (Sat) & 11/15 (Sun) (1:30pm), 4:30pm, 7:30pm
11/16 (Mon) 4:30pm, 7:30pm
11/17 (Tue) 2:00pm
Tue, 11/17 & Wed, 11/18 – 2 nights only! 5:00pm 
Gurren Lagann The Movie: Childhood’s End
[ENCORE! ]
(2008, 113min., With English Subtitles, Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi)
Watch the first film and get ready for the U.S. Premiere of Gurren Lagann: The Movie 2! Based on the anime television series, Gurren Lagann, the film takes place in a fictional future in which human beings have been forced to live in closed-off underground villages. Kamina and Simon are constrained by the limits imposed by the village elder. Yet, all this will change when Simon stumbles across a fantastic device – just as the village’s peace is broken by a violent intrusion.
11/17 (Tue) & 11/18 (Wed) 5:00pm
$15 special COMBO tickets so you can watch both movies on both days!
Watch both GL 1 + 2 on November 17 click here
Watch both GL 1 + 2 on November 18 click here
Tue, 11/17 & Wed, 11/18 – 2 nights only! 7:30pm
Gurren Lagann The Movie 2:
The Lights In The Sky Are Stars [ U.S. Premiere }
(2009, 130min., With English Subtitles, Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi)
Watch both 1 & 2 and get a special discount! Overcoming a big loss of loved ones, Simon survived in mortal combat with the Beastmen leader Lordgenome. Seven years later, humans return to the surface to build a flourishing civilization. However, the peaceful time does not last forever as the humans begin developing beyond their world into outer space and encounter an unknown enemy.
11/17 (Tue) & 11/18 (Wed) 7:30pm
$15 special COMBO tickets so you can watch both movies on both days!
Watch both GL 1 + 2 on November 17 click here
Watch both GL 1 + 2 on November 18 click here
Fri, 11/20 – Thu, 11/25
Happily Ever After
(2007, 115min., With English Subtitles, Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi)
Cast: Miki Nakatani (Train Man: Densha Otoko) and Hiroshi Abe (Godzilla 2000).
Based on a smash hit comic strip series by Yoshiie Gouda, Happily Ever After is a visually striking, dark comedy that follows Yukie Morita, a devoted wife, and Isao Hayama, her boorish, unemployed ex-gangster husband. While Yukie works hard at a noodle shop and struggles to make ends meet, Isao hangs around all day gambling and getting into trouble. Everyone advises Yukie to leave Isao, but her love for him is unconditional because he was the one who initially saved her from her misery.
11/20 (Fri) 8:15 pm
11/21 (Sat) & 11/22 (Sun) (12:00pm), 2:30pm, 5:00pm, 7:30pm
11/23 (Mon) & 11/24 (Tue) 5:00pm, 7:30pm
11/25 (Wed) 5:00pm
Fri, 11/27 – Thu, 12/3
Fine, Totally Fine [ENCORE! ]
(2008, 110min., With English Subtitles, Directed by Yosuke Fujita)
Cast: Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Yoshino Kimura, Yoshinori Okada
Coming back to VIZ Cinema by popular demand! Yosuke Fujita’s directorial debut that won the New York Asian Film Festival’s Audience Award, is a surreal comedy charting a lazy love triangle. Teruo, the eldest son of a used bookstore owner has a dream to build the world’s scariest haunted house. When Teruo’s father leaves home for a retreat to relieve his depression, Teruo’s childhood friend Hisanobu introduces him to Akari, a pretty but extremely clumsy painter, to work for him at his father’s bookstore. Things get complicated as both men develop a crush on her.
11/27 (Fri) – 11/29 (Sun) (12:00pm), 2:30pm, 5:00pm, 7:30pm
11/30 (Mon) – 12/3 (Thu) 5:00pm, 7:30pm
* All programming is subject to change. * Showtimes in ( ) indicates matinee price.
