by LORRAINE CARPENTER and RAF KATIGBAK

Popaganda: The Art and Crimes of Ron English

No corporation is safe from the dark satire of billboard hijacker Ron English, who has donned New York City with obese Ronald McDonalds, Joe Camels in coffins and slogans such as “Support Our CEOs.” The soundtrack for this video doc is awful, largely commissioned by English to break a record set by Saddam Hussein, but his art, and the sight of the artist and friends fleeing from outraged citizens (with a side order of genuine drama), make this a must. (LC) At Salle J.A. De Sève on Thursday, July 14, and Sunday, July 17, at 9:45 p.m.

Kamikaze Girls

I hate “chick flicks.” Ghost World is one exception, and now, so is this film, upended as it is by the eccentric, breakneck trappings of a Guy Ritchie movie. As highly stylized as its two teenage main characters, a Rococo baby doll and badass gang member straight out of Tokyo’s Harajuku subculture (though the film is set in a much smaller burg), Kamikaze Girls won the Best Art Direction award at this year’s Mainichi festival, likely destroying the competition with its rapid-fire eye candy. (LC) At the Hall Theatre on Thursday, July 14 7:30 p.m., and at Salle J.A. De Sève on Saturday, July 16 at 9:30 p.m.

Otakus in Love

Based on a manga by Hanyunyu Jun, about a pretentious “rock manga artisan” and a hyperactive commercial-manga artist (who’s also an obsessive manga fanatic, aka otaku), first-time director Matsuo Suzuki pays homage to Japan’s most popular art form with a surreal romantic comedy. Matsuda Ryuhei and Sakai Wakana play the couple in question, and the story of their budding relationship and bizarre preoccupations is as twisted (and tasty) as a pretzel. (LC) At the Hall Theatre on Sunday, July 17, at 7:35 p.m., and at Salle J.A. De Sève on Monday, July 18, at 3 p.m.

Trouble

In this dreamlike Belgian/French thriller about twin brothers, brilliantly played by Benoît Magimel, Matyas is haunted by a murky, horrifying memory from his childhood, when he and Thomas were mysteriously separated, while Thomas’s intentions (either with his own wife or his brother’s) seem to range from sex to violence to playing the perfect husband. The presence of twins and a pregnant woman (Matyas’s wife) initially unlocked a horrifying childhood memory of my own, namely watching Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers—“Not another gynaecological horror!” I thought. No, in fact, the opposite is true. (LC) With director Harry Cleven presenting at the Hall Theatre on Thursday, July 21, 9:35 p.m.

Phantom Master: Dark Hero From Ruined Empire

Maybe it’s because I live in Quebec, but an entire ghost army in jester hats just doesn’t seem that threatening to me (Mount Royal on Sundays, anyone?). Still, the sequences when wandering warrior Munsu conjures up these guys as backup on his mission to liberate people from their evil overlords is still pretty riveting—you just know some serious ass-kicking will ensue. This Japanese/Korean animation collaboration is a fine addition to the cannon of wandering fighter flicks (think Kung Fu: The Movie, Fist of the North Star, A Fistful of Dollars) and the blending of CGI and traditional cell animation is becoming seamless, with the opening sequence particularly eye-catching. Highly recommended. (RK) At the Hall Theatre on Friday, July 15, 5:15 p.m., and on Sunday, July 17, 1 p.m.

Pussycat Great Mission!

What would happen if sleaze-meister Russ Meyer had set his 1965 strippers-on-a-murderous-rampage Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! in Japan? Sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Well what if you also replaced his memorable one-liners, extended ass-whooping scenes and fast cars with some awkward dialogue, self-conscious cat fighting and a two passenger mini-cab delivery truck? You’d basically get Pussycat Great Mission! While it’s nowhere near as stylish as Meyer’s original, Ryuichi Honda’s tribute is funny enough (and short enough) to be entertaining. (RK) At the Hall Theatre on Thursday, July 21, 5:15 p.m.

Dragon Head

Earth has been rocked by a natural disaster and two surviving high school students, Teru and Ako, struggle through the post apocalyptic Japanese landscape. For two hours, the pair comes to terms with their shattered world as they escape suicidal townsfolk, trigger-happy paramilitary, drug-addled nihilists, tribal-cult-types and raining fireballs.

Beyond its car-flipping, building-blasting destruction of Bruckheimer proportions, Dragon Head is a grim study of the human condition and how we might deal with catastrophe. A compelling popcorn muncher that’s as darkly disturbing as it is action-packed. (RK) At Salle J.A. De Sève on Friday, July 15, 9:35 p.m., and at the Hall Theatre on Saturday, July 16, 2:30 p.m.

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