San Francisco gets some Iron Pussy

Thailand will be represented in the upcoming San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival by the gay spy spoof, The Adventure of Iron Pussy, which had its world premiere in Berlin.

Is North America ready for this? I don't know if I'm ready for this. It has yet to appear in Thailand. However, a co-worker is close with the filmmakers and stars, and she's threatened to get me a copy of a DVD of the film. I will be careful in what I wish for.

There also will be two short films, Full Moon, by director Anocha "Mai" Suwichakornpong about two boys, a girl and a carload of secrets on a road trip to the full moon festival; and Waiting, by Aditya Assarat; a 50-year-old memory of love compels a man to journey from one rural part of Thailand to another.

Other Asian entries of note include the long-awaited US big-screen premiere of Hero.

If I were there, I would try to see Come Drink With Me, a classic 1965 sword-fighting flick from the Shaw Brothers studio. It stars Cheng Pei-Pei, better known to modern-day audiences as Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I have this on DVD and consider it one of the most watchable of the recent remastered Shaw Brothers releases. I've bought several, but Come Drink With Me has found its way back into the DVD player more often than the others for repeat viewings.

Also, Stephen Chow's hilarious Shaolin Soccer, which I have on DVD, and his God of Cookery, which I haven't seen.

Rithy Panh's S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine will be shown. As dry as I found this documentary, it's still important and makes for compelling viewing if you have any interest at all in Cambodia.

Cambodia also is featured in a short French film, Mekong Stillness. The story is about a son's frustration is set against the stillness of the Cambodian landscape as he searches for connections to his absent father and French girlfriend.