Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2012

Girls just wanna have fun in Sunny, the surprise hit film that sparked ‘80s nostalgia in its native Korea, and is currently screening at Shinjuku Musashinokan (3-27-10 Shinjuku; http://shinjuku.musashino-k.jp). The retro drama weaves together the story of a group of middle age women with flashbacks of them as high school friends, at a time when Korea was going through political upheaval…Fans of choreographed street gangs will have a lot of options this month. Tokyu Theatre Orb opens in Shibuya with the Broadway musical West Side Story. Those who prefer the 1961 movie version take on the star-crossed lovers can head to the other side of Hachiko, where Natalie Wood and company can be seen at Bunkamura’s Le Cinema (2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku; www.bunkamura.co.jp), July 14-20… The French-language Canadian drama Monsieur Lazhar will screen from July 14 Ginza’s Cine Switch (4-4-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku ; www.cineswitch.com). The coming of age tale, which won a Canadian Genie for best film, tells the story of an Algerian immigrant who consoles a grade school class after the tragic death of their previous teacher.