The Asian Film Festival of Dallas wrapped up last week with actor/action choreographer Tak Sakaguchi (Versus) in attendance to screen his directing debut, Be a Man! Samurai School. Unfortunately, I missed that night, but two films that screened earlier in the fest stood out for their unique visions.

Indonesian movies are hard to come by in the US, so I confess my total ignorance about the country and its cinema. Is Kala (AKA Dead Time) representative in any way? I don't know, but I very much liked its mix of dramatic mystery and supernatural lore. Director Joko Anwar has a great eye for composition -- he's really good with looming shadows -- and harbors no fear of traveling down well-trodden paths before adding his own odd twists. The film doesn't completely hang together in the narrative sense, and the ending is probably too apocalyptic for its own good, but any movie that features a narcoleptic journalist, a world-weary cop, and a serial-killing spirit deserves attention.

When I describe Muay Thai Chaiya as "insane," it is with all due respect for a movie that begins as a straightforward tale of three ambitious boxing buddies before nearly drowning in soapy melodramatics. What rescues it from terminal dampness is writer / director Kongkiat Khomsiri's complete embrace of a go-for-broke, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink aesthetic that's reminiscent of trashily enjoyable, "C"-level, late 80s Hong Kong action pictures. Toss in sincere regret, romantic betrayal, and more self-sacrifice than you can shake a stick at, and Muay Thai Chaiya edges into "very watchable, never boring" territory.

Unfortunately, neither film is available right now on Region 1 DVD. Muay Thai Chaiya will be playing at Fantastic Fest next month. Both Kala and Muay Thai Chaiya also have official sites.

At the age of 83, Tony Curtis is getting some film festival love. Jam! reports that the legendary actor will receive a lifetime achievement tribute at the Montreal Film Festival, which runs from August 21 to September 1. In honor of that, I thought it would be nice to go back some years and see old-school Tony. Since we're in the throes of summer, Don't Make Waves seemed most appropriate. It's a tale of possessions up in flames and saucy forays with sexy swimmers.

Don't Make Waves was the first Sharon Tate film to hit theaters, and in the scene above, she meets Mr. Curtis. Tony wakes up to a beach wonderland of surfers, gymnastics, and more, and he foolishly decides to take a swim amongst the surfers. While out there, he gets knocked out by a surfboard, and gets dragged to shore by the epic Tate and given mouth to mouth.

There's no poll this time around, but here's a bit of trivia. While the film didn't do so well, it was the inspiration for Malibu Barbie, based on Tate's character in the film, Malibu.

The 26th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, which is also known as Outfest 2008, is wrapping up today, but the cinematic winners of this year's fest have already been announced during an awards ceremony last night in Hollywood. In the list of winners, there are some familiar names, plus some other films that might be worth keeping an eye out for.

The awards were led by Were the World Mine, which won Outstanding US Dramatic Feature. The film focuses on an all-boys school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (and for those Twin Peaks fans out there, the crazy Nadine, Wendy Robie, pops up). On the international side of things is the excellent XXY, which I reviewed from TIFF last year. It is no surprise that this film nabbed the Best International Dramatic Feature prize, to add to its ever-growing list of nominations and wins. It's really, really worth your time.

Other winners include Hamlet 2, Sex Positive, Dream Boy, and Countertransference. To check out more of the winners, head to The Hollywood Reporter for a run-down.

Well, assuming you live in New York, L.A., or Fort Lauderdale, that is. Those are the cities that will get TLA Releasing's mini-fest this summer, with six gay-themed features playing for one week in each location. You can see a somewhat NSFW trailer for the fest at TLA's YouTube page, but here's a brief rundown of what's happening:

First you got your Bangkok Love Story, a thriller about a hitman who falls for his victim. Then there's Chuecatown (Boystown), a comedy involving bathhouses and murders (I'm thinking of that scene in Eastern Promises, but gayer). Next: I Dreamt Under Water, which TLA's press release describes as "graphically sexual" and involving a young man's search for love. Dog Tags is a romantic drama about a soldier who does a bit of asking and telling, if you know what I mean; 3-Day Weekend has eight fellas bonding and bed-hopping over a getaway weekend; and Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon is a documentary about 1970s porn icon Jack Wrangler.

Though all six films are about gay men and their sex lives, there is some notable diversity as well, in that three of them are foreign (Thai, Spanish, and French), and one's a documentary. So you can feel like you're being cultured, too, while watching the randy movies about pretty people.

Forget about Kung Fu Panda. Wash the memory of Forbidden Kingdom out of your brain. Ignore the trailer for The Mummy: We Love China, Yes We Do! (or whatever it's called). The real deal is on view this weekend as the New York Asian Film Festival opens for business.

The 7th edition of the festival kicks off tomorrow afternoon at the IFC Center in Manhattan with the North American premiere of Masato Harada's The Shadow Spirit. The first evening presentation features the world premiere of Ryo Iwamatsu's Then Summer Came, with the director in attendance.

This year the festival will show 43 movies, plus two short film programs, their most ambitious outing yet. Organized and presented by Subway Cinema, a "New York-based film programming, exhibition and marketing collective," as they describe themselves, the selections lean toward the pop side of Asian film culture, which happens to be my favorite kind; in fact, I've already written about The Butcher and Public Enemy Returns.

If you're a New Yorker, this should be etched on your viewing calendar, but even if you're an outsider looking in, like me, the program notes are very much worth reading. To give you a further taste, check out our gallery, and then visit the NYAFF site to read and see more about one of the very best festivals in the world.

The incredible who? M. Night what? This is The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar, a weekly round-up of cool movie events taking place beyond the multiplexes. We cover things like festivals, retrospectives, and special screenings -- and if you know of something coming up that ought to be on the calendar, let me know! Just point your e-mail thingy at Eric.Snider (at) Weblogsinc (dot) com.

Today: You can see Incredible Hulk, which is a biopic of the Jolly Green Giant; or you can see The Happening, which is based on the '70s sitcom What's Happening!!! -- or you can ignore those blatant mistruths and check out some of these...

INDIE THEATRICAL RELEASES

• Baghead is proof that the Mumblecore movement has arrived, because it's a spoof of it. Well, a spoof, and a thriller, and a straightforward Mumblecore, and -- well, just watch it. I reviewed it at Sundance earlier this year and liked it quite a bit. It opens today in Austin and will expand in the coming weeks.

• My Winnipeg comes from Guy Maddin, Canada's weirdest filmmaker, and it's sure to be a treat. Created in the style of a documentary about the snowy title city, it was described by Cinematical's Monika Bartyzel as hilarious when it debuted at Toronto last year. It opens today in New York, next week in L.A., and so on until it conquers the world.

After the jump, more indie theatrical releases, and a rundown of events happening all over the country....

A few international film festivals have announced their jury heads today, so here's a roundup, plus other fest circuit news:

• Chinese auteur Wong Kar-Wai (2046) will be replacing the late Anthony Minghella as the head of the jury at this month's Shanghai International Film Festival. Minghella, who died in March, will be honored by the fest, which runs June 14-22. Other jury members include filmmaker Bille August and Joan Chen, who once starred in a film co-written by Wong (1986's E nan).
• Actor Danny Huston (Children of Men) will head the Michael Powell jury at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, which runs June 18-29. He and others, including actress Joely Richardson and filmmaker Iain Softley, will be voting for the winner of the prestigious Michael Powell award. Last year's winner was Anton Corbijn's Control.
• Italian film critic Gian Luigi Rondi has been invited to be the new president of the three-year-old Rome Film Festival following a political shakeup that caused the resignation of former president Goffredo Bettini. Rondi was the artistic director of the Venice Film Festival between 1983 to 1986 and currently heads Italy's version of the Academy Awards, the David di Donatello Awards. He has so far declined that he will accept. The 2008 festival will run October 21-31.
• Jean-Luc Godard may be boycotting the Tel Aviv Student Film Festival, but other French filmmakers are set to attend another event, the Tel Aviv French Film Festival, which begins June 10. Those scheduled to appear include Alexandre Arcady, Diane Kurys and Laetitia Masson. Popular films set to screen include The Secret of the Grain and Love Songs, my review for which you can read here.

Good news, indie fans! With The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar, our weekly round-up of screenings and events taking place beyond the multiplex, it doesn't matter whether you mess with the Zohan. Forget those complicated rules regarding what you can and can't mess with, and come bask in the glow of festivals, retrospectives, and special showings. And if you know of something coming up that should be on this list, send me an e-mail at Eric.Snider (at) Weblogsinc (dot) com.

Today, you can watch Adam Sandler do a funny voice and make funny faces (he's really stretching as an actor!) on 3,000 screens. Or, in just a few locations, you can check out these...

INDIE THEATRICAL RELEASES

• The Promotion. It's here it's here it's here! You guys, it's finally here! A bunch of us saw this at South By Southwest in March, and since then we've been raving about it pretty much every chance we get. And now it's finally in theaters! And everyone we raved about it to will see it with too-high expectations and be disappointed! So, um, forget everything we said and just see it. It's, you know, kinda funny or whatever. No big deal. Opens today in New York, L.A., and Chicago; expands next week.

• Mongol is an Oscar-nominated biopic covering the early life of the world's most famous Mongol, a fellow by the name of Genghis Khan. (I believe the sequel will be called Mongol II: The Wrath of Khan.) Cinematical's me gave it a very positive review at the Portland International Film Festival a few months back. It opens today in New York and L.A.

After the jump, more indie theatrical releases, plus our city-by-city breakdown of special events.

I'm excited to return to the glittering Nevada desert for the 11th annual CineVegas Film Festival, which kicks off June 12 with Rainn Wilson's The Rocker. One of the ways that the up-and-coming fest has sought to distinguish itself is to bring in as much star power as it can, thus providing some of the glitz and glamor that people expect from Sin City. And what better way to get celebrities to show up than to give them awards?

This year's top honor, the Marquee Award, will go to Anjelica Huston, the festival has announced, "for her accomplishments in the film industry throughout her esteemed career." By some stunning coincidence, Huston also has a film playing at the festival, the Chuck Palahniuk adaptation Choke.

With the murder of Jam-Master Jay in Queens on October 30, 2002, one excellent part of Run-DMC was taken from us. There was word last year that a biopic was in the works, and now we're getting a musical documentary, one that will open the Hollywood Black Film Festival on June 3, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

2 Turntables and a Microphone, which was directed by Guy Logan, follows Jam-Master Jay's life and death, and contains information that the HBFF website says could help solve his murder. The doc features the likes of Russell Simmons, Reverend Run, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Method Man, 50 Cent and even more names in the hip-hop world, with the story following not only the rise of DMC and death of Jay, but also the world of hip-hop and mainstream rap.

If you're a fan of DMC and located in California, this will be a pretty cool night out -- and not just because you can check out the film. After the screening, there will be the usual Q&A, but along with the director and producers, "some of the cast" will be there. I would hope that means at least a few of the names mentioned above. The flick will screen on June 3, 8 PM, at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills, with a hip-hop-themed party to follow.