Well, sort of, anyway ...

We've been very outspoken about our love for Japanese writer-director Koki Mitani in these pages and equally outpsoken in our frustration over the fact that smart, funny film makers such as Mitani are largely neglected outside of Japan because they don't fit in to the whole 'extreme' film thing. Good film is good film, people, and this guy makes great films.

Anyway ... The Magic Hour, Mitani's latest effort revolving around a gangster who hires an actor to impersonate a hitman, opened huge in Japan and is holding strong at the top of the box office chart and producers Fuji TV are determined to get this guy out into the world at large. And so they're bringing the film to New York and LA for private industry screenings on July 8th (NY) and July 11th (LA). If you're an industry sort in either of these cities you need to get out and take a look at this one, it's quite good. If you are in the industry - these are very definitely not open to the public, so don't bother trying - you can {encode="sakoda@ponycanyon.co.jp" title="contact the film's representatives here"} for more times and locations of the screenings.