COMEDY

ASIAN STORIES Genre: Comedy Directors: Ronald Oda, Chris Chin Country: U.S. Cast: James Kyson Lee (TV's 'Heroes'), Kirt Kishita, Kathy Uyen

Jim is a young closefisted Chinese American living in LA who desperately finds himself with a stack of white flower themed disposable cameras, fleur-de-lis invitations, a number of champagne bottles, and a ten-thousand dollar engagement ring bill. The only thing missing is a bride. In financial debt and miserable for having his fiancé leave two weeks prior to Valentine's day, Jim tries to resurface his dignity and wash away his wretchedness by asking his best friend, a Japanese hitman whose passion for cooking fancy entrees extends far beyond his kitchen, to kill him just in time to miss the Hallmark holiday. With less than four days to live, Jim, while wearing his wedding tuxedo the entire time, treks to the mountains to find his fate, meet a pizza delivery boy with lucky charms, the funeral spot of his choice, and a girl. Stars James Kyson Lee of the hit horror film 'Shutter' and regular on TV's 'Heroes'.

AVIDA Genre: Foreign/Comedy Director: Benoit Delepine, Gustave de Kervern Country: France Cast: Gustave de Kervern, Benoit Delepine, Velvet D'Amour, Claude Chabrol DVD Release Date: April 1

Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern, co-directors of the 2005 cult favorite Aaltra, return with Avida, another eye-popping dark comedy. The loony French filmmakers appear in leading roles as two of the three men whose plan to kidnap a wealthy woman’s dog goes horribly awry. Instead of nabbing the dog, the “kidnappers” are forced to help its owner, Avida, carry out her death wish. In a cinematic universe all its own, Avida features stunning black-and-white cinematography that highlights the filmmakers’ penchant for politically incorrect, scatological tableau sequences that both offend and amuse. As Variety put it, “Somewhere between Monty Python, Jacques Tati and a slideshow of New Yorker cartoons, this critique of life’s cruel inconsistency confirms the French co-directors’ gift for reinterpreting surrealism in a humorously modern key.” Features a cameo appearance by legendary French director Claude Chabrol.

BRUCE LEE: THE KID Genre: Foreign/Comedy Director: Fung Fung Country: Hong Kong Cast: Bruce Lee, Yee Chau-Shiu, Lee Hoi Cheun DVD Release Date: December 4

Based upon the comic strip “Kiddy Cheung”, The Kid stars a 10-year old BRUCE LEE playing an orphaned child selling comics in from a stall in the slums to survive. When the local gangs move in, it’s up to ‘Bruce’ to keep the streets clean.

“A great example of early Cantonese cinema, a showcase of a little boy who grows up to become a huge star, THE KID is a movie not to be missed.” – The Illuminated Lantern

For fans of Martial Arts Classics, this early film (1950) starring the one
and only BRUCE LEE is an absolute MUST HAVE.

“Bruce Lee, at 10, is readily identifiable; when he pretends to be a teacher to make the other kids laugh, he juts out his lower jaw in exactly the way he would do in his films 20 years later to intimidate his opponents. While obviously still a kid and prone to overacting (come to think of it, the latter might be a trait he never quite got rid of), he is an entertaining figure. His real-life father, Lee Hoi-cheun, plays the rich tightwad Hung. (Excerpt from the Illuminated Lantern Review of The Kid, available to read here.)

THE NIGHTOWLS OF COVENTRY Genre: Comedy/Drama Director: Laura Paglin Country: U.S.A. Cast: Seymour Horowitz, Donna Casey, Paddy Connor, Allan Pinske DVD Release date: February 13, 2007

Cleveland. 1973. Marv, the owner of an old neighborhood Jewish deli, must stay open 24 hours to cater to a new generation of clientele, but straight-laced neighborhood do-gooders want to close him down. Meanwhile inside, hippies, bikers and crusty old Jewish men, caught in the throes of changing times and culture clash, fight over turf and yearn for a waitress to take their orders. Into this milieu drops new waitress, Susan (Donna Casey, The Bold and the Beautiful), a, wholesome small town beauty who must struggle with testy customers, a dubious romance, and a jealous head-waitress. Her future and the fate of the regulars hang by a thread as Marv takes increasingly desperate measures to save his deli.

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