Love! Passion! and much more at SF International Film Festival

I love movies. And being a huge fan of foreign films, I naturally had to check out this year's San Francisco International Film Festival selections. With over 100 entries, I really had to narrow it down and choose a couple great entries from Asia that are worth a gander.

The opening night film, "Perhaps Love," was one of the most highly anticipated musicals from Hong Kong director Peter Chan (My favorite cinematographer Christopher Doyle also worked on this ambitious project, so that's always a BIG plus). With Bollywood choreography, it's sure to entertain even the most skeptical moviegoer. Frankly, I'm just proud of the fact that this is the first HK film to be chosen for this year's festival opening night.

Set in Shanghai and Beijing, the story is your basic doomed love triangle plot, but with the stellar international cast (Takeshi Kaneshiro (so cute), Zhou Xun, Jacky Cheung and Ji Jin-Hee) and the strong vocals of HK pop megastar Jacky Cheung, you can't help but be enthralled by the whole performance.

Already garnering a few awards, this will attract every hopeless romantic out there, and then some. Be forewarned - while many folks will compare this to "Moulin Rouge," this is more of a realistic portrayal of the many facets and emotions of love, especially the complicated, bittersweet and nasty parts.

Another festival favorite, "House of Himiko," is a dramedy by Isshin Inudo. A young Saori (Kou Shibasaki) is forced to come to terms with her past after a handsome Haruhiko (Joe Odagiri) offers her a high-paying job at a seaside gay retirement home.

Run by her dying estranged gay father (Min Tanaka), a former Ginza transvetite bar owner, she quickly falls into the zany lifestyles of the aging queens. Struggling to resolve her abandoment issues with her stoic father and overcoming her homophobia, Saori soon learns to accept and love each resident's eccentric personalities.

With Ruby the pink-haired queen leading the pack, the residents are the gems that shine throughout the entire film. Presented with a quirky comedic touch, it's an interesting look at Japan's aging gay community and how this resilient culture deals with this societal reality.