Indian-American Girl meets Swedish Boy: A SF Love Story

The heartwarming comedy features an international cast of renowned Indian, European and American actors including Andreas Wilson (Swedish Star-Academy Award Nominated film The Evil), Melanie Kannokada, Jessica Kitchens, Shruti Tewari, and Rajiv Nema.

“With its theme of independence with a multicultural landscape as a backdrop, “Bicycle Bride” seems a perfect embodiment of the evolution of VIZ Cinema” – SF Chronicle read full review

“a colorful, warm-hearted tale of true love” – SF Weekly read full review

Showtimes from Saturday, June 26th – Sunday July 4th

Saturday, June 26th : 11:30am, 2:00pm, 4:30pm, 7:00pm

Sunday, June 27th : 11:30am, 2:00pm, 4:30pm, 7:00pm

Monday, June 28th – Thursday, July 1st: 4:30pm, 7:00pm

Friday, July 2nd : 4:30pm

Saturday July 3rd & Sunday July4th : 11:20 am

Bay Area Filmmakers Series Vol.1

VIZ Cinema expands its commitment to innovative filmmaking with the launch of the Bay Area Film Series, an new showcase for the region’s burgeoning community of multicultural independent filmmakers. The first movie of this series is Bicycle Bride, which opens at VIZ Cinema for a week-long run beginning Friday, June 25th until Sunday July 4th.

Directed by Pakistani filmmaker Hassan Zee, Bicycle Bride is a witty story about a rebellious young Indian-American woman named Beena, whose family still clings to old school beliefs about gender roles and marriage for women. Beena pursues her dreams of freedom – but her stern mother has other ideas, including arranging a marriage for her daughter. Beena also has a best friend named Mary Jane, a Caucasian girl who supports her in every way. When Beena meets a man from Sweden named James Dean (played by renowned Swedish actor Andreas Wilson) she is immediately smitten by his European charm, Mary Jane is all for it; she knows James is the boy of Beena’s dreams. But Beena’s mother has imported Bubba, a naive bachelor straight from India. Bubba thinks dollars grow on trees in America, and he must find those trees and marry Beena. Will Beena give in to what her cultural heritage says is right? Or will she follow her heart and possibly lose her family instead?

Get more info at http://www.bicyclebride.com/

Battle League Horumo DVD Release Event
VIZ Pictures presents the DVD release of the mystic nerdy comedy Battle League HORUMO! Get sucked into the underground college league of Kyoto!

Ticket price: $25 including movie ticket, DVD, postcard & more!
Regular Admission: $10. No discounts apply.

Based on a novel by Manabu Makime, this film is a combat action comedy that will take you into a world with the breathtaking backdrop of Kyoto and bizarre legend of “Horumo.” Directed by Katsuhide Motoki (Kitaro and the Millennium Curse, 10 Promises to My Dog), and starring Takayuki Yamada (Train Man, Crows Episode 0) and Chiaki Kuriyama (Battle Royale, Kill Bill Vol. 1).

Back by popular demand and then some! VIZ Cinema is proud to present the killer marathon of one GITS after another! If you are a fan of the phenomena you are in for a treat!

★GHOST IN THE SHELL (Original Version )
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 1995, 85min., Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the acclaimed sci-fi action masterpiece that proclaimed a new era of anime and helped to define the cyber-punk genre.
Saturday, 7/3 @1:40 pm & Monday, 7/5 @5:00 pm

★GHOST IN THE SHELL 2.0 (CGI Version )
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 2008, 85min., Digital, English Subtitles)
This is a new, visually enhanced version of the classic original movie. ***The 3D CGI version is not in 3D. Not the second movie.
Saturday, 7/3 @5:35 pm & Monday, 7/5 @7:00 pm

★GHOST IN THE SHELL 2 : Innocence
(Directed by Mamoru Oshii, 2004, 100min., Digital, English Subtitles)
This is the gripping sequel to the original classic Ghost in the Shell film.
Saturday, 7/3 @3:30 pm & 7:00 pm

★GHOST IN THE SHELL : The Laughing Man
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2005, 106 min., Digital, English Subtitles)
The feature film adaptation of the Stand Alone Complex series, re-cut to tell the story of a police battle with an evil computer hacker.
Sunday, 7/4 @1:45 pm & Tuesday, 7/6 @4:30 & 7:00 pm

★GHOST IN THE SHELL : Individual Eleven
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2006, 161 min., Digital, English Subtitles)
A feature-length OAV feature, adapted from Stand Alone Complex: Second Gig, the second season of the Ghost in the Shell broadcast series.
Sunday, 7/4 @3:50 pm & Wednesday, 7/7 @4:00 & 7:00 pm

★GHOST IN THE SHELL : Solid State Society
(Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, 2006, 108 min., Digital, English Subtitles)
A film adaptation of the popular Solid State Society animated TV series.
Sunday, 7/4 @7:00 pm & Thursday, 7/8 @4:30 & 7:00 pm

Hosted by Patrick Macias, August Ragone, and Tomohiro Machiyama

Ultraman! Kamen Rider! The Power Rangers! These and many other
colorful crusaders of justice are now recognized the world over as
essential icons of Japanese pop culture. But where did they come from?
Who created them? And what is it really like battling rubber monsters
and the forces of evil on a regular basis?

Join hosts Patrick Macias (editor, Otaku USA magazine), August Ragone
(author, Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters), and Tomohiro Machiyama
(founding editor, Movie Treasures magazine) as they explore the
fascinating history and origins of Japanese superheroes using rare
film clips and images from numerous tokusatsu, sentai, and henshin
hero productions including Ultra Seven, Kikaida, Space Sheriff Gavan,
and many others.

Admission $10

RAFFLE CLOSED

7/10 Sat　11:20, 4:50
7/11 Sun　2:00, 7:30

In this pitch-black action comedy by Kihachi Okamoto, a pair of down-on-their-luck swordsmen arrive in a dusty, windblown town, where they become involved in a local clan dispute. One, previously a farmer, longs to become a noble samurai. The other, a former samurai haunted by his past, prefers living anonymously with gangsters. But when both men discover the wrongdoings of the nefarious clan leader, they side with a band of rebels who are under siege at a remote mountain cabin. Based on the same source novel as Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro, Kill! playfully tweaks samurai film convention, borrowing elements from established chanbara classics and seasoning them with a little Italian western.

7/10 Sat　2:00, 7:30
7/12 Mon 7:00
7/13 Tue 4:30

Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshiro Mifune star in the story of a wandering samurai who exists in a maelstrom of violence. A gifted swordsman—plying his trade during the turbulent final days of Shogunate rule—Ryunosuke (Nakadai) kills without remorse, without mercy. It is a way of life that ultimately leads to madness.

7/11 Sun　11:20, 4:50
7/12 Mon 4:15
7/13 Tue 7:00

Following the collapse of his clan, unemployed samurai Hanshiro Tsugumo (Tatsuya Nakadai) arrives at the manor of Lord Iyi, begging to commit ritual suicide on his property. Iyi’s clansmen, believing the desperate ronin is merely angling for charity, try to force him to eviscerate himself—but they have underestimated his honor and his past. Winner of the 1963 Cannes Film Festival’s Special Jury Prize, Masaki Kobayashi’s Harakiri is a scathing denouncement of feudal authority and hypocrisy.

7/14 Wed 4:30
7/16 Fri 4:15
7/17 Sat 7:00

Toshiro Mifune stars as Isaburo Sasahara, an aging swordsman living a quiet life until his clan lord orders that his son marry the lord’s mistress, who has recently displeased the ruler. Reluctantly, father and son take in the woman, and, to the family’s surprise, the young couple fall in love. But the lord soon reverses his decision and demands the mistress’s return. Against all expectations, Isaburo and his son refuse, risking the destruction of their entire family. Director Masaki Kobayashi’s Samurai Rebellion is the gripping story of a peaceful man who finally decides to take a stand against injustice.

7/14 Wed 7:00
7/15 Thu 7:00
7/17 Sat 3:15

Based on the bestselling novel by Shotaro Ikenami
. The story involves a former samurai who abandons his class to become the leader of a gang of bandits. He leads his outlaws in an attempt to rob the castle of his former clan to avenge the destruction of his own family by the official they served.

7/15 Thu 4:45
7/16 Fri 7:00
7/17 Sat 1:00

Shiba, a wandering ronin, encounters a band of peasants who have kidnapped the daughter of their dictatorial magistrate, in hopes of coercing from him a reduction in taxes. Shiba takes up their fight, joined by two renegades from the magistrate’s guard, Sakura and Kikyo. The three outlaws find themselves in a battle to the death.

7/18 Sun, 11:20
7/22 Thu, 4:30 , 7:00

The first of the Shuhei Fujisawa Trilogy by Yoji Yamada. Set in mid-19th century Japan, a few years before the Meiji Restoration, it follows the life of Seibei Iguchi, a low-ranking samurai employed as a bureaucrat. The Twilight Samurai was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 76th Academy Awards, and also won an unprecedented 12 Japanese Academy Awards. Starring Hiroyuki Sanada (The Last Samurai).

7/18 Sun 1:50
7/20 Tue 7:00
7/21 Wed 4:15

The second of the Shuhei Fujisawa Trilogy by Yoji Yamada. Set in the 1860s, this is an epic tale of Munezo, a samurai being displaced in a rapidly changing Japan. After a failed political coup he is ordered to prove his innocence by finding and killing Yaichiro, a former samurai friend and brilliant swordsman. Munezo enlists the help of their old teacher, who entrusts him with a secret technique. Directed by Academy Award® nominee Yoji Yamada and starring Masatoshi Nagase (Mystery Train).

7/18 Sun 4:20
7/19 Mon 7:00
7/20 Tue 4:30

The final film of the Shuhei Fujisawa Trilogy by Yoji Yamada. An award winning masterpiece of sacrifice and devotion, Love and Honor weaves a timeless tale set in the waning days of feudal Japan. Directed by Academy Award® nominee Yoji Yamada and starring Takuya Kimura (2046), Love and Honor depicts the emotional intensity of an age when respect was more valuable than riches and love cut more truly than any sword.

7/18 Sun 7:00
7/19 Mon 4:50
7/21 Wed 7:00

A poetic love story about a samurai and a young widow in the late Edo period. Noe (Lena Tanaka), the eldest daughter of the samurai family with class, had lost her first husband and she was never able to admire her second husband as a Samurai. On the way home from visiting her aunt’s grave, Noe encounters a samurai, Yaichiro Tezuka (Noriyuki Higashiyama), who aspired to marry Noe in the past but was in vain due to family matters.