Piracy is getting a pretty bad rap these days. But to the hundreds of thousands of X-Men fans who downloaded X-Men Origins: Wolverine after it was leaked onto the Internet in early April, riding the high seas of stolen property is great. Hollywood disagrees. “Piracy is really a dagger in the heart,” said the head of the Motion Picture Association of America. The MPAA is pushing President Obama to create a White House czar on intellectual property, but let’s be honest, a swift dagger to the heart of Hollywood be soundin’ like it might ne’er not be a bad idea, yarrr. 

Another film worth checking out – if you haven’t already – is Wong Kar-wai’s Ashes of Time Redux, a re-release of what was considered the original “spaghetti Eastern.” (It was during the grueling shooting of this epic in 1992 that Wong took a short break to make Chungking Express.) Ashes of Time has long been considered one of his most underappreciated films, something this re-release is sure to change. Watch it and then chase it down with The Eagle-Shooting Heroes, in which the star-studded cast of Ashes play the same characters. The latter film, which was produced (but not directed) by Wong Kar-wai, is a hilarious wire-fu send-up of both Ashes and the beloved martial arts novel that inspired both movies.

Towards the end of the month, documentary film company CNEX will be holding a film festival of both their own Chinese films and several foreign films. CNEX (short for China Next) is a non-profit organization with a goal of creating a library of 100 documentaries over the next decade that collectively stand to represent the new China. Each year, they select a broad theme related to modern China, and give funding to the top filmmaker candidates to go and make themselves a movie. Go check out this year’s films, which fall under the theme of “Hopes and Dreams” (the photo above is from A Map for Saturday, one of the 20 other documentaries that will be screened at the festival). From May 22-31, screenings will take place every afternoon and evening; each will be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers. See www.cnex.org.cn for schedule and details.

On May 10, Electric Shadows – a group that draws together music and film in an experimental, avant-garde fashion – is putting on an afternoon of shorts that promises to be a lot of fun. It’ll include a documentary about the Tooth Fairy, so bring your kids if they’re clamoring for cold hard facts about the elusive dentophile. The French Cultural Center is celebrating the advent of the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-24) with a selection of previous years’ winners – definitely worth checking out, along with several films about hip-hop around the world they’ll be showing later in the month.