Win tickets to opening night in SF of “BIG MAN JAPAN,” a Japanese superhero comedy!

By jozjozjoz | Tuesday, May 26, 2009 | 10 Comments

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UPDATE: Our winners have been selected! Congrats to Sunny and Peter Wu! who correctly answered a) “Eat Drink Man Woman” was NOT on Roger Fan’s list of Top 5 Movies. Sunny will be seeing Big Man Japan and Peter will be receiving an 8Asians.com Prize Pack which includes an 8Asians.com t-shirt and other goodies. Thanks to everyone for playing!

There’s been lots of talk about Asian American superheroes lately, but here’s something a little different — Big Man Japan brings a comedic spin to life as a Japanese superhero.

Our friends at Landmark Theatres have kindly offered up a pair of tickets to Opening Night in SF or Berkeley for Big Man Japan, but you don’t have to be in SF to enter and win! (Details below)

A middle-aged slacker living in a rundown, graffiti-ridden slum, Daisato’s job involves being shocked by bolts of electricity that transform him into a stocky, stick-wielding giant several stories high who is entrusted with defending Japan from a host of bizarre monsters. But while his predecessors were national heroes, he is a pariah among the citizens he protects, who bitterly complain about the noise and destruction of property he causes.

And Daisato (director/co-writer Hitoshi Matsumoto, a popular Japanese stand-up comic) has his own problems—an agent insistent on branding him with sponsor advertisements, an Alzheimer-afflicted grandfather who transforms into a giant in dirty underwear, and a family who is embarrassed by his often cowardly exploits.

A wickedly deadpan spin on the giant Japanese superhero, BIG MAN JAPAN is an outrageous portrait of a pathetic but truly unique hero. (Japan, 2007). Official Selection at 2007 Austin Fantastic Fest, 2007 Cannes Director’s Fortnight, 2007 Toronto Midnight Madness. BIG MAN JAPAN was featured in the Festival Forum in the 2009 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

Big Man Japan is written by, directed by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto (松本人志) and if you don’t recognize Matsumoto by name, then maybe you’ll recognize his face — he’s best known in the U.S. as half of the Japanese comedy duo “Downtown” or one of the guys from those “Silent Library” clips you’ve seen on YouTube. (I would embed, but these videos are constantly getting taken down for copyright infringement, but they’re there!) I think Matsumoto is really hilarious and I love it when I get my hands on something that he’s in which has subtitles (so I can understand it)!

BIG MAN JAPAN opens May 29, 2009 at Landmark Theatres Engagements at:

Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinemas, 601 Van Ness, San Francisco (415) 267-4893
Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas 2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley (510) 644-2992

TICKET GIVEAWAY FOR SAN FRANCISCO OPENING OF BIG MAN JAPAN -OR- AN 8ASIANS.COM PRIZE PACK!
Courtesy of Landmark Theatres, 8Asians is giving away a free pair of tickets for Opening Night 5/29 in SF (Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinemas) or Berkeley (Landmark’s Shattuck Theatre)!

To have a chance of winning the tickets, all you have to do is answer this easy multiple choice question found on The Director’s Chair, a website celebrating Asian American cinema sponsored by the Toyota Matrix:

Roger Fan (Better Luck Tomorrow) was recently asked his Top 5 Movies. Which movie was NOT on his list?

a) EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN
b) A BETTER TOMORROW
c) THE REBEL
d) SHALL WE DANCE?
e) THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT

To enter the contest, just comment to the blog post and state what you’d like to win — pair of tix to SF opening, pair of tix to Berkeley opening, or 8Asians.com Prize Pack! We will select TWO of the correct answers at random (one winner of tix, one winner of a prize pack)!

(Contest will be closed at 12:00 NOON Pacific Time on Thursday, 5/28; comments will be hidden until winners are announced.)

More play dates/locations below!

BIG MAN JAPAN play dates

On Screen
New York, NY: Cinema Village

Opening
5/29/2009
Berkeley, CA: Shattuck Cinemas 10
San Francisco, CA: Lumiere Theatre 3
Seattle, WA: Grand Illusion Cinema

6/12/2009
Denver, CO: Esquire Theatre
Rochester, NY: Dryden Theatre

6/26/2009
Atlanta, GA: The Plaza Theatre
Hilo, HI: Palace Theatre
Chicago, IL: Facets Multimedia Theater**
Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Art

7/7/2009
Honokaa, HI: Honokaa Peoples Theatre

7/10/2009
Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Art

7/17/2009
Tucson, AZ: The Loft Cinema
Salem, MA: Cinema Salem 3

7/24/2009
Mobile, AL: Crescent Theatre

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