San Francisco, CA 94115 For directions, see VISIT page
Tel: 415-525-8600
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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.
Happy Valentine’s! This month VIZ Cinema features two love stories both directed by an up and coming director Isshin Inudo. Don’t miss the super rare West Coast premiere of these masterpieces. How far would you go in the name of LOVE?
FEATURED ARTIST: Director ISSHIN INUDO
Born in 1960 in Tokyo, Isshin Inudo started his career as a TV commercial director. While receiving numerous awards in the commercial industry, his first feature film Two, Talking (1994) won the grand prix at Sundance Film Festival in Tokyo and the Best New Director award from the Japanese Film Director’s Association. In 2003, Josee, The Tiger, and The Fish won numerous awards including the Best New Director award from The Japanese Minister of Education. He is known to be a big fan of the bestselling Shojo Manga Author, Yumiko Oshima and has taken three of her manga titles and adapted them into films including Across a Gold Prairie (2000) and Goo Goo, The Cat (2008). He also shows a great interest in directing horror films and experimented by putting some horror elements in Josee, The Tiger and The Fish even though it’s a love story.
Friday, 2/5 – Thursday, 2/18, 2010
Josee, The Tiger, and The Fish [ Regional Premiere ]
(2003, Digital, 116min, With English Subtitles, Directed by Isshin Inudo)
Cast: Satoshi Tsumabuki, Chizuru Ikewaki
College student Tsuneo meets Kumiko aka “Josee” who rides around in a baby buggy on her daily outings with her grandmother. Kumiko cannot walk due to a disability, but she is very smart, humorous, and has her own place in this world. Kumiko’s uniqueness draws Tsuneo closer to her. Isshin Inudo adapts a short story by author Seiko Tanabe into a feature film. Chizuru Ikewaki, starring as Kumiko, delicately reveals the woman inside of the awkward girl. Josee, The Tiger and The Fish is a masterpiece that has successfully captured the happiness of love and the dispair of not seeing eye to eye.
♥ VALENTINE’s SPECIAL at VIZ Cinema ♥
Bring a date to Isshin Inudo’s movies and your date gets in for half price!
2/5 (Fri) 5:00pm, 7:30pm
2/6 (Sat) & 2/7 (Sun) 12:00pm, 2:30pm, 5:00pm, 7:30pm
2/8 (Mon) 5:00pm, 7:30pm
2/9 (Tue) 5:00pm only
2/10 (Wed) 5:00pm, 7:30pm
2/11 (Thu) 5:00pm only
2/12 (Fri) 5:00pm, 7:30pm
2/13 (Sat) & 2/14 (Sun) 12:00pm, 2:30pm, 5:00pm, 7:30pm
2/15 (Mon) – 2/18 (Thu) 5:00pm, 7:30pm
Friday, 2/19 – Thursday, 3/4
La Maison de HIMIKO
(2005, Digital, 131min, With English Subtitles, Directed by Isshin Inudo)
Cast: Joe Odagiri, Kou Shibasaki
A father and daughter who can’t understand each other. A man and a woman who can’t love each other. Their odd and beautiful love stories are brought to life by the same staff as Inudo’s Josee, The Tiger and The Fish. Saori despises her father, who chose to leave her mother to live his gay life. One day, her father’s young and beautiful lover comes and relays the message that her father’s days are numbered by cancer. Saori finds her father at a gay retirement facility called “Maison De Himiko”. A strange dynamic forms between Saori and the beautiful man who loves her dying father.
♥ VALENTINE’s SPECIAL at VIZ Cinema ♥
Bring a date to Isshin Inudo’s movies and your date gets in for half price!
2/19 (Fri) 5:00pm, 7:40pm
2/ 20 (Sat) 11:40am, 2:20pm, 5:00pm, 7:40pm
2/21 (Sun) 11:40am, 2:20pm
2/22 (Mon) – 2/24 (Wed) 5:00pm, 7:40pm
2/25 (Thu) 5:00pm only
2/26 (Fri) 5:00pm, 7:40pm
2/27 (Sat) & 2/28 (Sun) 11:40am, 2:20pm, 5:00pm, 7:40pm
3/1 (Mon) – 3/4 (Thu) 5:00pm, 7:40pm
Tuesday, 2/9 – 1 night only! 7:30 p.m. DVD Release Special!
20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope
(2009, 35mm, 140min, With English Subtitles, Directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi)
Cast: Toshiaki Karasawa, Takako Tokiwa, Etsuji Toyokawa
7:30pm Ticket + DVD = $25
Tickets – $25: The event ticket is $10 only for the screening, or $25.00 for a movie ticket, the brand new DVD, a poster, and a pin!
Don’t miss the exclusive event preceding the long-awaited DVD release of 20th Century Boys 2! It is now 2015, and Friend rules a disturbing new world. Kenji’s niece Kanna is now in high school and her textbook contains a fabricated story about Kenji being the terrorist behind the horrific events of 2000. Kanna, knowing the truth, openly resents this, and as a result she is marked as a problem child and sent to Friend Land, a facility where people with rebellious anti-Friend behavior are re-educated. There Kanna learns a crucial secret about Friend…
Sunday, 2/21 – 1 night only! 5:00pm & 7:30pm
Gurren Lagann The Movie 1 & 2 Special Event
[ENCORE! ]
Gurren Lagann: The Movie ~ Childhood’s End
(2008, 113min., With English Subtitles, Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi)
Gurren Lagann: The Movie 2 ~ The Lights In The Sky Are Stars (7:30)
(2009, 130min., With English Subtitles, Directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi)
Back again by super popular demand for the very loyal Gurren Lagann fans! We are excited to announce the encore of both movies back at VIZ Cinema for a Gurren Lagann night! If you missed this opportunity the first time around, this is your chance to make it up!!
Gurren Lagann: The Movie ~ Childhood’s End
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.
Gurren Lagann: The Movie 2 ~ The Lights In The Sky Are Stars
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 humans begin developing beyond their world into outer space and encounter an unknown enemy.
$15 special COMBO tickets so you can watch both movies on both days!
Watch both GL 1 + GL2 click here
* All programming is subject to change. * Showtimes in ( ) indicates matinee price.
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