Mafioso - In 1962, a decade before The Godfather, Alberto Lattuada came out with this crime drama starring Alberto Sordi as a factory foreman who returns to his hometown of Sicily and is unwittingly pressed into service as a hitman for the local Don. Considered by many to be the first Italian movie to portray the modern Mafia, the film is noted for its faithful and darkly funny depiction of mob life. Breaking and......

Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower, which closed out last November’s AFI Festival, is now in release. Curse takes place on the eve of the Chrysanthemum Festival in the year 928 A.D. at the end of the Tang Dynasty, as the emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) arrives unexpectedly to find that the empress (Gong Li) is unwell, despite the herbal medicine that he personally prescribes. The palace setting—the crazy psychedelic colors of its jade walls,......

The arrival of “Memoirs of a Geisha” this holiday season earned its spot, in LAist’s eyes, as a film worthy of your well earned dollars. The buzz has been building around town for weeks as screenings and sneak previews have been popping up, including this lovely tale of a celeb date night. Directed by Rob Marshall of Chicago fame and starring Ziyi Zhang (who just snagged a Golden Globe nomination), Michelle Yeoh, Gong Li......