NYAFF08 - Day One

Day one involved me getting from DC to NY. I usually take the Chinatown bus (picks up in DC's Chinatown and drops off in NY's Chinatown), which is the cheapest way to make the trip, especially considering the price of gasoline in the States these days. I've taken the Chinatown bus many times before with no problem, but today's journey turned out to be something of a nightmare. Not even n hour outside of Baltimore (less than halfway there), the bus's front right tire blew out, and we were stranded on the side of the road for over 2 hours while we waited for a repair truck to come change the tire. (Don't they keep a spare on board?!?) Ugh...

What's usually a 4 hour trip ended up being closer to 8, and so I actually missed the opening film of the fest, "Then Summer Came" starring Jo Odagiri. Bummer, but I was told later that the movie was kind of sappy, and that the audience was comprised of about 70% middle aged Japanese women crying and swooning over Jo Odagiri, with the other 30% just waiting for it to end! There was a great after party at nearby Belgian beer bar Vol de Nuit, where I finally got a chance to meet the guys from Subway Cinema, who curate and organize the event every year. Much geeking out ensued, as it's all too rare to talk with people as obsessed with Asian cinema as myself (You should have been there, Raul, you would have loved it!)

So, no reviews from today, but tomorrow I'm planning on seeing the Death Note spinoff L: Change the World as well as the exploitation-fest Tokyo Gore Police. More to come...!