Subway Cinema and the Film Society of Lincoln Center are co-presenting the biggest Takashi Miike retrospective ever to hit NYC, culminating in the premiere of his new movie 13 ASSASSINS. Here are a few picks from the programmers at Subway Cinema:

AUDITION — is a straight-ahead romantic drama whose familiar chuckles die out as it turns into a symphony of horror scored for the high-pitched whine of the bonesaw and the crunch of a brass needle piercing cartilage. A feminist gore-ifesto, a slap in the face to middle-aged men who think the world revolves around them, a sexual abuse scenario that would leave Oprah Winfrey bent over the toilet heaving up her guts, AUDITION inspired mass walkouts at the Rotterdam Film Festival where several audience members passed out and the walkouts continued when it had its enormously successful run at Film Forum. Eyewitnesses even saw Lou Reed hit the lobby when things got intense.

THE BIRD PEOPLE IN CHINA – a 1998, magical realist movie about a salaryman who gets lost in China and winds up encountering a village of people who claim they can fly. Really astonishing entry from Miike and completely underrated.

CROWS ZERO II – the 2009 follow-up to CROWS ZERO, Miike’s fighting high school yakuza blockbuster. The first film is summed-up and dispensed with in the opening moments of CROWS ZERO II which pretty much rocks harder than the first film.

THE GREAT YOKAI WAR – one of the best childhood fantasy movies ever made, Miike really goes wild in this kiddie flick with a broken heart. It features a massively epic war, 100’s of bizarro yokai and one of the saddest endings of any movie ever. 

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The Great Yokai War…it’s great!

See the full line-up here.

UPDATE: Due to the catastrophic events in Japan, Takashi Miike is no longer able to attend the upcoming series. He sends his sincere regrets. The Film Society of Lincoln Center and Subway Cinema are partnering with The Japan Society to donate 10% of the ticket sales to all screenings in the Takashi Miike retrospective, Shinjuku Outlaw: 13 From Takashi Miike, to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, to support relief and recovery for the 2011 Tohoku – Pacific Ocean Earthquake.