Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2010

World cinema fans won’t want to miss The Chinese Film Retrospective 2010 at K’s Cinema in Shinjuku on August 27 (3-35-13 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku; www.ks-cinema.com). Highlights include Beijing Bicycle (2001; pictured), about a poor boy from the countryside working as a messenger in Beijing until his bike is stolen, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival…

Cinema Vera in Shibuya (1-5 Maruyamacho, Shibuya-ku; www.cinemavera.com) presents a 30-film retrospective of Teruo “King of Cult Movies” Ishii, July 31-September 1. Ishii got his start with sci-fi flick The Steelman from Outer Space (1957), and went on to direct Horrors of Malformed Men (1969), a manic film inspired by a bizarre story by horror writer Edogawa Rampo—complete with butoh dancers and ’60s psychedelia…

Summer is the season of travel in Japan, but if you can’t afford a ticket overseas, head to Laputa in Asagaya (2-13-21 Asagaya-Kita, Suginami-ku; www.laputa-jp.com) for a series of Japanese road trip movies, through August 28. Films include Jeans Blues: No Future (1974), a Japanese take on the Bonnie and Clyde paradigm, and Arakajime Ushinawareta Koibitotachi Yo (1971), one of the first films by still-in-demand actress Kaori Momoi.

Unless noted, Japanese films screen without English subtitles. Non-English-language films are shown with Japanese subtitles only