Sandy Eggos

The San Diego Asian Film Festival started last night. Crap! Last year I was invited to attend the opening banquet and moderate a panel. This year I found out about it when my friend Dustin asked me if I was going. And then our intern Janet did the same. Am I really the last person to find out?

My being used up and blown off aside, the folks at SDAFF are super cool and they have a great lineup this year. If you're in San Diego and are looking for something to do, check out these flicks:



Little Fish features Dustin Nguyen as the junkie ex-boyfriend of Cate Blanchett. Hugo Weaving and Sam Neil are also in this intense, smart drama from Australia.



Train Man is kind of like a Japanese version that Bananarama "Shy Boy" video except that it's about an otaku getting a makeover with help from his online friends instead of a nerd getting help from a trio of new-wave babes.



A Bittersweet Life may be the be most straightforward gangster movie ever. No twists or surprises--it's simply done perfectly with the right balance of cool style and intense violence. From Korea.



The Great Yokai War is Takashi Miike's equivalent of The Princess Bride or The Neverending Story. More like live-action Miyazaki or even HR Pufnstuff than Audition or Ichi the Killer.

There are way more movies, too. I just don't know them. One of the best things about film fests is that you get to see movies that you know nothing about. Take a chance and you might be surprised. Also, there's a Battlestar Galactica talk with Grace freaking Park, a celebrity panel thingy with Dustin, and news diva/Asian-American film patron/saint Lee Ann Kim... Check it all out at the festival's site.