More quickie updates, on the last day of CAAMFest.
CRUSH THE SKULL was a cool, funny horror flick. A team of thieves have a chance at a big score, a mansion up in the hills, secluded, and with the owner away of vacation. But...it's not what it seems. Okay, I'll spoil it, it's a trap set by a SAW-style serial killer (just minus the bullshit philosophizing, he just does it 'cuz he likes to torture and kill.) So bumbling crooks against a psychotic madman and his lair of traps. Good times!
GOOD OL' BOY is the story of Indian-American child Smith Bhatnagar (named because his father wanted him to have a typical American name, and he didn't understand Smith was the most common surname, not first name.) Smith loves America, is obsessed with Star Wars and Saturday Night Fever. But his family makes it pretty tough to fit in, especially with the constant threats to send him to India if he misbehaves. Well, add a pretty next-door daughter and her cool father (Jason Lee, in a token "good white guy" role) and you've got a great little misfit comedy that truly pleases. Excellent fun.
PAINTED NAILS is a documentary about nail salons in San Francisco. The struggle to make a living in a rapidly gentrifying area, and the health problems of breathing in the toxic fumes of salon products all day. And the difficulty in finding non-toxic products (or convincing customers to pay a little more for them.) It's a world I knew nothing about, neither working in nor patronizing nail salons. But I can empathize with people struggling to make a living, and hope that sharing these stories might make it easier. And it's a very well made movie.
And finally, I ended CAAMFest with RIGHT FOOTED, and excellent, engaging documentary about Jessica Cox. Jessica was born without arms, so she learned to do everything with her feet. Dressing herself, eating, driving a car, etc. Or becoming a martial arts expert, or flying an airplane, or all sorts of things I can't do with my two perfectly good arms. And most importantly, being a mentor, role model, and inspirational speaker for others with disabilities. An excellent and inspiring way to end the day, and the festival. And it really helps the movie that Jessica is such an engaging, enjoyable person to spend tie with (and sorry guys, she's married. The wedding is part of the movie.)
Total Running Time: 323 minutes
My Total Minutes: 425,463
Showing posts with label asianfest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asianfest. Show all posts
Friday, April 22, 2016
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Thursday, March 17th
Continuing with quickie updates.
THE NAME OF THE WHALE is an odd hybrid "drama-mentary" about a young student and his love for whales and finding whale fossils. It's also a look at a modern Japanese fishing village, and that was kind of fascinating. But mostly it was a slow-moving (read: boring) little exercise.
And then FRANCE IS OUR MOTHER COUNTRY was a clever and profound look at the French occupation and control of Cambodia, told through the archives of home movies made by the French occupiers. Casual racism about "The White race is the only creative race." The cheerfully, casually racist home movies give way to war that occupation inevitably engenders, and the movie takes us through that too. It's a meditation not just on Cambodian history, but world history.
Total Running Time: 165 minutes
My Total Minutes: 425,140
THE NAME OF THE WHALE is an odd hybrid "drama-mentary" about a young student and his love for whales and finding whale fossils. It's also a look at a modern Japanese fishing village, and that was kind of fascinating. But mostly it was a slow-moving (read: boring) little exercise.
And then FRANCE IS OUR MOTHER COUNTRY was a clever and profound look at the French occupation and control of Cambodia, told through the archives of home movies made by the French occupiers. Casual racism about "The White race is the only creative race." The cheerfully, casually racist home movies give way to war that occupation inevitably engenders, and the movie takes us through that too. It's a meditation not just on Cambodian history, but world history.
Total Running Time: 165 minutes
My Total Minutes: 425,140
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Wednesday, Mar 16th
I've fallen way far behind, so time for some quickie updates, starting with some Shorts - Portraits From The Schoolyard. Here we go.
AMERICA 1979: An Iranian-American family deals with the Iranian hostage crisis, and the racist bullying that results at school.
STUDY ABROAD 2: THE DAYDREAMING BUNNY: A Chinese art student in New York deals with her mother not believing in her and the difficulty of living in New York. But she gets by, with help.
FROM TONGA: Euless Texas, home to many Polynesian immigrants, and--of course, since it's Texas--high school football. A short documentary about the Tongan students who dominate on the field.
BORN WITH IT: An African boy in Japan lives with some horrible racist bullying. Like that all Africans have AIDS. But he at least breaks through with one friend.
HOROSCOPE: Two friends ride the bus, and meet an unusual man.
PIONEER HIGH: A Palestinian American girl, with little English, accidentally leads a revolution in clothing choices, overturning the school's longtime ban on girls wearing pants.
And then the documentary NO LAND'S SONG. I should have a lot more to say about this excellent documentary about Sara Najafi (the diretor's sister) and her efforts to put on a all-female concert in Iran, confronting the ban on women singing solo. Which...is a pretty unbelievable ban. Anyway, like I said I should have a lot more to say. But I also said I'm way behind and this has to be a quickie update. So I'll just say it was an excellent documentary (which I've already said.)
Total Running Time: 184 minutes
My Total Minutes: 424,975
AMERICA 1979: An Iranian-American family deals with the Iranian hostage crisis, and the racist bullying that results at school.
STUDY ABROAD 2: THE DAYDREAMING BUNNY: A Chinese art student in New York deals with her mother not believing in her and the difficulty of living in New York. But she gets by, with help.
FROM TONGA: Euless Texas, home to many Polynesian immigrants, and--of course, since it's Texas--high school football. A short documentary about the Tongan students who dominate on the field.
BORN WITH IT: An African boy in Japan lives with some horrible racist bullying. Like that all Africans have AIDS. But he at least breaks through with one friend.
HOROSCOPE: Two friends ride the bus, and meet an unusual man.
PIONEER HIGH: A Palestinian American girl, with little English, accidentally leads a revolution in clothing choices, overturning the school's longtime ban on girls wearing pants.
And then the documentary NO LAND'S SONG. I should have a lot more to say about this excellent documentary about Sara Najafi (the diretor's sister) and her efforts to put on a all-female concert in Iran, confronting the ban on women singing solo. Which...is a pretty unbelievable ban. Anyway, like I said I should have a lot more to say. But I also said I'm way behind and this has to be a quickie update. So I'll just say it was an excellent documentary (which I've already said.)
Total Running Time: 184 minutes
My Total Minutes: 424,975
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Tuesday, Mar. 15th
Two shows last Tuesday, starting with a very special event:
The Super Story Behind SANJAY'S SUPER TEAM. I had already seen the Oscar-nominated short before THE GOOD DINOSAUR (although I could've sworn I had seen it at another festival, too...but checking my records I guess I didn't?) I freakin' love this movie.
So after playing the film, we got a special presentation from director Sanjay Patel and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle. And it was pretty great, going from the original idea, to the work behind the style, bringing in a traditional Indian dancer to inform the movement, etc. There are a lot of incredibly subtle ways this movie is influenced, and it was really cool to learn about it. Personally, my favorite moment was during the explanation of the sound design, when they showed how they made a fire sound by lighting a gas in a big jug. and they made a joke about this being evidence for an OSHA investigation. And (this will only register with a few of my friends) I thought...well, I know a great environmental healthy and safety person who you fired about a year ago...
Anyway, the second best moment was when they were talking about it not being played on the big screen again, someone asked if they could then play it again. And checking with the house managers, they had plenty of time so we watched it again. Awesome!
And then the second film of the night, the feature THE ROYAL TAILOR, and it was excellent. Starting with the conceit that a museum has discovered the most important tailor in the history of China, the audience is treated to the story of a local tailor named Kong-jin, who is renowned not just for making great clothes, but for getting ladies out of them. He becomes both a friend and a rival of the royal tailor, in a wildly exciting story of palace intrigue that both showcases his cleverness at clothes design and the deadly silliness of social climbing. A cool costume drama with a ton of anachronistic winks and solid belly laughs, building up to some serious social commentary. Plus, the hero gets to romance the queen, who among you can say that!?
Total Running Time: 141 minutes
My Total Minutes: 424,791
The Super Story Behind SANJAY'S SUPER TEAM. I had already seen the Oscar-nominated short before THE GOOD DINOSAUR (although I could've sworn I had seen it at another festival, too...but checking my records I guess I didn't?) I freakin' love this movie.
So after playing the film, we got a special presentation from director Sanjay Patel and producer Nicole Paradis Grindle. And it was pretty great, going from the original idea, to the work behind the style, bringing in a traditional Indian dancer to inform the movement, etc. There are a lot of incredibly subtle ways this movie is influenced, and it was really cool to learn about it. Personally, my favorite moment was during the explanation of the sound design, when they showed how they made a fire sound by lighting a gas in a big jug. and they made a joke about this being evidence for an OSHA investigation. And (this will only register with a few of my friends) I thought...well, I know a great environmental healthy and safety person who you fired about a year ago...
Anyway, the second best moment was when they were talking about it not being played on the big screen again, someone asked if they could then play it again. And checking with the house managers, they had plenty of time so we watched it again. Awesome!
And then the second film of the night, the feature THE ROYAL TAILOR, and it was excellent. Starting with the conceit that a museum has discovered the most important tailor in the history of China, the audience is treated to the story of a local tailor named Kong-jin, who is renowned not just for making great clothes, but for getting ladies out of them. He becomes both a friend and a rival of the royal tailor, in a wildly exciting story of palace intrigue that both showcases his cleverness at clothes design and the deadly silliness of social climbing. A cool costume drama with a ton of anachronistic winks and solid belly laughs, building up to some serious social commentary. Plus, the hero gets to romance the queen, who among you can say that!?
Total Running Time: 141 minutes
My Total Minutes: 424,791
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Monday, Mar. 14
I missed the first half due to overlapping with Cinequest, but the very next night, I was up at the Alamo Drafthouse for some Asian American films. First thing I learned--after Cinequest made their festival theme "Unite" the theme for CAAM this year is...Stories That Unite. I love it!
So, my first CAAMFest film this year was JASMINE. It's a cool psychological thriller set in Hong Kong. Jason Tobin stars as Leonard To, a Hong Kong businessman whose wife was brutally murdered in a knife attack one year earlier. He's been away, but now he's back and trying to rebuild his life. He's finding a new job, he's reconnecting with old friends. And he's still calling the detective hoping they found new clues to his wife's unsolved murder. When he goes to lay a flower on her grave, he sees a stranger at her grave. He chases him, but no luck. He becomes obsessed with this stranger. Is he the killer? At least he's suspicious and needs some answers. Interspersed with scenes from a support group for people with murdered loved ones, Leonard conducts his investigation, tailing the strange man everywhere. I've never been to Hong Kong, but in a way I feel like I've traveled the streets through this movie. And there's an ending that I won't give away, other than to say it was a genuinely effective surprise.
And that's how I started my 2016 CAAMFest.
Running Time: 80 minutes
My Total Minutes: 424,651
So, my first CAAMFest film this year was JASMINE. It's a cool psychological thriller set in Hong Kong. Jason Tobin stars as Leonard To, a Hong Kong businessman whose wife was brutally murdered in a knife attack one year earlier. He's been away, but now he's back and trying to rebuild his life. He's finding a new job, he's reconnecting with old friends. And he's still calling the detective hoping they found new clues to his wife's unsolved murder. When he goes to lay a flower on her grave, he sees a stranger at her grave. He chases him, but no luck. He becomes obsessed with this stranger. Is he the killer? At least he's suspicious and needs some answers. Interspersed with scenes from a support group for people with murdered loved ones, Leonard conducts his investigation, tailing the strange man everywhere. I've never been to Hong Kong, but in a way I feel like I've traveled the streets through this movie. And there's an ending that I won't give away, other than to say it was a genuinely effective surprise.
And that's how I started my 2016 CAAMFest.
Running Time: 80 minutes
My Total Minutes: 424,651
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Day 10
I skipped Day 9 (Friday) but was at the New Parkway for a full day on Saturday, my final day of CAAMFest 2015 (at least the SF version. I might make it to the San Jose festival later this year, assuming they do it again.)
VERSES IN EXILE (EP 1 and 2): Kosal Khiev was a child refugee. Got involved in gang violence, and was deported back to Cambodia, the land his parents fled. And there he has become a renowned poet, with some unique insights on life, crime, and violence. This was the first two episodes of a 4-part web series.
TASHI'S TURBINE: In the Himalayan mountains, Tashi Bista and Jeevan are teaming up to build a small windmill and provide power to the little village of Namdok. At least, to the ones who live close enough to run a wire to it. It's a funny, engaging, sometimes uplifting, sometimes frustrating story of friendship, hope, and engineering challenges. But it's absolutely clear that these people are doing great work, improving Nepal one wind turbine at a time. Ironically, the biggest problem is it's too windy for their little turbine.
MAN UP: Then this funny, silly buddy comedy about a couple of teenage slackers nearing twenty and trying to become adults. Or, more often, trying not to become adults. Martin is ready for the summer after high school, relaxing at the beach and playing video games until...well, until he can't anymore. He certainly doesn't have plans for college. All his plans go out the window when his girlfriend announces she's pregnant. And when it's clear he's not father material she leaves him. So Martin and his best friend Randall decide to learn all about fatherhood (including taking childbirth classes together) so he'll be a great dad. It does not work. With all their enthusiasm, they're still total slacker deadbeat goofballs who can't--and probably shouldn't--grow up. At least not right now. Which is good, because they're so fun to watch as idiot goofballs.
ALL EYES AND EARS: And finally, I ended my festival with this fascinating documentary about U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman and his family. Especially his adopted daughter Gracie Mei, returning to the land of her birth for the first time since her adoption. Woven into their story is the story of Chen Guangcheng, an activist and legal advocate who was placed under house arrest. He escaped with the help of local villagers and with the help of the U.S. embassy emigrated to the U.S. Oh, and he's blind. The movie explores the complicated diplomatic relations, and especially how Chen Guangcheng's case strained those relations at just the time Huntsman was trying to strengthen them. There are many facets to this documentary--family, human rights, activism, diplomacy, culture...it's a beautiful, powerful movie that is definitely worth an extra look.
And finally, my 2015 CAAMfest is over!
Total Running Time: 238 minutes
My Total Minutes: 392,083
VERSES IN EXILE (EP 1 and 2): Kosal Khiev was a child refugee. Got involved in gang violence, and was deported back to Cambodia, the land his parents fled. And there he has become a renowned poet, with some unique insights on life, crime, and violence. This was the first two episodes of a 4-part web series.
TASHI'S TURBINE: In the Himalayan mountains, Tashi Bista and Jeevan are teaming up to build a small windmill and provide power to the little village of Namdok. At least, to the ones who live close enough to run a wire to it. It's a funny, engaging, sometimes uplifting, sometimes frustrating story of friendship, hope, and engineering challenges. But it's absolutely clear that these people are doing great work, improving Nepal one wind turbine at a time. Ironically, the biggest problem is it's too windy for their little turbine.
MAN UP: Then this funny, silly buddy comedy about a couple of teenage slackers nearing twenty and trying to become adults. Or, more often, trying not to become adults. Martin is ready for the summer after high school, relaxing at the beach and playing video games until...well, until he can't anymore. He certainly doesn't have plans for college. All his plans go out the window when his girlfriend announces she's pregnant. And when it's clear he's not father material she leaves him. So Martin and his best friend Randall decide to learn all about fatherhood (including taking childbirth classes together) so he'll be a great dad. It does not work. With all their enthusiasm, they're still total slacker deadbeat goofballs who can't--and probably shouldn't--grow up. At least not right now. Which is good, because they're so fun to watch as idiot goofballs.
ALL EYES AND EARS: And finally, I ended my festival with this fascinating documentary about U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman and his family. Especially his adopted daughter Gracie Mei, returning to the land of her birth for the first time since her adoption. Woven into their story is the story of Chen Guangcheng, an activist and legal advocate who was placed under house arrest. He escaped with the help of local villagers and with the help of the U.S. embassy emigrated to the U.S. Oh, and he's blind. The movie explores the complicated diplomatic relations, and especially how Chen Guangcheng's case strained those relations at just the time Huntsman was trying to strengthen them. There are many facets to this documentary--family, human rights, activism, diplomacy, culture...it's a beautiful, powerful movie that is definitely worth an extra look.
And finally, my 2015 CAAMfest is over!
Total Running Time: 238 minutes
My Total Minutes: 392,083
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Day 8
Dammit, I've fallen well over a month behind on my stupid blog. Okay, prepare for a review dump.
FLOWING STORIES: This is a meditative documentary about family, place, and changing times for the Ho-Chung Village. Set during their 400 year old decadal festival, we see several generations of a family. Grandma reminisces about growing up in poverty, while the younger generations have moved to Europe and are trying to make a living there. But they come back for the festival. And for the place. It's really a movie about place, and what keeps drawing us back to...whatever place is special for us (usually where we grew up.)
RIVER OF EXPLODING DURIANS: And then this film, which at least has the best title in the festival. A factory upstream is poisoning all the fish--at least, that's the suspicion. It's simultaneously a story about teenage love and violent political activism, as students--and one idealistic young teacher--start protesting the plant. And then it goes further, gets a bit more violent, and it turns out that the teacher is the most radical of them all. A cool story, well told, and engaging. And apparently loosely inspired by a true story.
Total Running Time: 225 minutes
My Total Minutes: 391,845
FLOWING STORIES: This is a meditative documentary about family, place, and changing times for the Ho-Chung Village. Set during their 400 year old decadal festival, we see several generations of a family. Grandma reminisces about growing up in poverty, while the younger generations have moved to Europe and are trying to make a living there. But they come back for the festival. And for the place. It's really a movie about place, and what keeps drawing us back to...whatever place is special for us (usually where we grew up.)
RIVER OF EXPLODING DURIANS: And then this film, which at least has the best title in the festival. A factory upstream is poisoning all the fish--at least, that's the suspicion. It's simultaneously a story about teenage love and violent political activism, as students--and one idealistic young teacher--start protesting the plant. And then it goes further, gets a bit more violent, and it turns out that the teacher is the most radical of them all. A cool story, well told, and engaging. And apparently loosely inspired by a true story.
Total Running Time: 225 minutes
My Total Minutes: 391,845
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Day 7
Damn, I'm now two weeks behind on my blog. Too busy with other things.
Okay, on...whatever day this was I first saw CICADA, which is a charming and thoughtful story about a little boy's birthday party and how it affects...everyone but him. The boy is almost invisible in the movie. Instead the story is mostly about his uncle Jumpei, a teacher who likes children but is disappointed to find out he's infertile. Anyway, his nephew is being bullied in school and his mother and father (who's a gambling addict) decide to throw him a big birthday party to make him popular. The cast is rounded out by other odd adults who haven't quite grown up--my favorite being the old man who builds shadow-box stories with endings and morals that, while realistic, are not necessarily appropriate for kids (at least, that's what everyone else says, I think they're great.) As the day of the party approaches, the adults get sillier and sillier, and Jumpei develops a psychic ability to find cicada shells, which...actually becomes important. A quiet and meditative look at being a child of any age in Japan today.
And then I saw DOT2DOT. Set in fast-paced, ever-changing Hong Kong, it's a story of deliberate slow-living, noticing the things around you, and remembering the past. Oh yeah, and it's about graffiti, a crime that's actually punished fairly heavily in Hong Kong. Chung has moved back to Hong Kong after living abroad for a while in Canada. And instead of getting into the fast-paced Hong Kong life, he sets about leaving mysterious dot graffiti all over town. Like a connect-the-dots without the numbers, his dots actually do make pictures. It's just impossible for anyone to tell what they are (or even that the dots were deliberately placed there.) Enter a teacher from the mainland. She's alone in the big, bustling city. And she discovers the dots and actually solves them. And then starts leaving dot puzzles of her own. A romance where the leads don't actually meets starts to unfold, and it's a charming story of finding your place and your place in the world.
Total Running Time: 189
My Total Minutes: 391,620
Okay, on...whatever day this was I first saw CICADA, which is a charming and thoughtful story about a little boy's birthday party and how it affects...everyone but him. The boy is almost invisible in the movie. Instead the story is mostly about his uncle Jumpei, a teacher who likes children but is disappointed to find out he's infertile. Anyway, his nephew is being bullied in school and his mother and father (who's a gambling addict) decide to throw him a big birthday party to make him popular. The cast is rounded out by other odd adults who haven't quite grown up--my favorite being the old man who builds shadow-box stories with endings and morals that, while realistic, are not necessarily appropriate for kids (at least, that's what everyone else says, I think they're great.) As the day of the party approaches, the adults get sillier and sillier, and Jumpei develops a psychic ability to find cicada shells, which...actually becomes important. A quiet and meditative look at being a child of any age in Japan today.
And then I saw DOT2DOT. Set in fast-paced, ever-changing Hong Kong, it's a story of deliberate slow-living, noticing the things around you, and remembering the past. Oh yeah, and it's about graffiti, a crime that's actually punished fairly heavily in Hong Kong. Chung has moved back to Hong Kong after living abroad for a while in Canada. And instead of getting into the fast-paced Hong Kong life, he sets about leaving mysterious dot graffiti all over town. Like a connect-the-dots without the numbers, his dots actually do make pictures. It's just impossible for anyone to tell what they are (or even that the dots were deliberately placed there.) Enter a teacher from the mainland. She's alone in the big, bustling city. And she discovers the dots and actually solves them. And then starts leaving dot puzzles of her own. A romance where the leads don't actually meets starts to unfold, and it's a charming story of finding your place and your place in the world.
Total Running Time: 189
My Total Minutes: 391,620
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Day 6
Just one film last week Tuesday, but it was a doozy and my favorite of the festival, Lav Diaz's STORM CHILDREN: BOOK ONE. For Lav Diaz, this was practically a short, clocking in at under 2.5 hours. Now, I have no idea how to convince anyone that the black and white, mostly wordless documentary about about survivors of super-typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines is the best movie ever. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned that it was almost all in long, static shots. I know, it sounds boring, and I've talked to other people since then who thought it was boring. But they're wrong, it's brilliant. Children walking around, playing in the garbage, picking out plastic bottles, while the world around them rebuilds from the devastation. But the long, static shots and the way he frames them create a sort of...I don't know what to call it, but it's an opportunity to be keenly aware of the act of watching a film...truly watching, not just waiting for what will happen next. There are layers in his composition, and for a while you'll watch the kids...then the cars on the street...then the ripples in the water...then the windows on the house in the background...then the tree swaying in the breeze behind that. And after he spends about 2 hours creating this, he breaks it. He has the kids talk (about how their homes and families were destroyed by the storm,) and he even follows them on a walk along the beach (a moving camera in a Lav Diaz film! Shocking!) And it ends with an amazing tableau of kids climbing all over abandoned ships to jump into the water. Yeah, I don't know how to convince anyone that this movie is freaking brilliant. And I'm not sure I want to, since so many will probably disagree. But I loved it. I've only ever seen his 4.5 hour NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY before, but now I want to see his really long films, like the 11 hour EVOLUTION OF A FILIPINO family.
Running Time: 142 minutes
My Total Minutes: 391,431
Running Time: 142 minutes
My Total Minutes: 391,431
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Day 5
Dangit, I've fallen way behind on my blog...again. This is from last week Monday.
First up was SHE LIGHTS UP WELL, Joyce Wu's feature length follow-up to SCREAMING IN ASIAN. She directs and stars as Sophie, a struggling actress in New York who takes a temporary hiatus to return home to Detroit and live with her parents. While there, and thanks to her grandmother (Tsai Chin) she gets involved in the local amateur theater group and their production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado (full disclosure, I followed this project and contributed on Indiegogo when it's working title was THE REAL MIKADO.) And gets involved in local politics surrounding shutting down the community theater due to budget cuts. We meet an odd and charming cast of local actors (played mostly by local community theater actors) and see Sophie go from a partially defeated failed New York actress to a take-charge, successful community theater director and star...sort of. There are comic mishaps along the way, of course. And I realize I wrote that really badly, like it sounds like a big step down. But the end result is she discovers that fulfillment can be found in unlikely places of community, and that's pretty damn cool. And the movie is funny and charming.
Then I saw PARTNERS IN CRIME, a beautifully shot schoolkid murder mystery drama. Huang, Yeh and Lin are schoolmates but not really friends. They discover the body of a schoolmate, and things take off from there. While officially ruled a suicide, the boys start investigating it themselves as a murder. Well, they each start investigating it on their own, but sure enough the effort brings them together as unlikely allies. A smart crime drama, and an interesting look at school culture in Taiwan (especially the bullying aspect.) But most of all, I remember how beautifully it was shot.
Total Running Time: 169 minutes
My Total Minutes: 391,289
First up was SHE LIGHTS UP WELL, Joyce Wu's feature length follow-up to SCREAMING IN ASIAN. She directs and stars as Sophie, a struggling actress in New York who takes a temporary hiatus to return home to Detroit and live with her parents. While there, and thanks to her grandmother (Tsai Chin) she gets involved in the local amateur theater group and their production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado (full disclosure, I followed this project and contributed on Indiegogo when it's working title was THE REAL MIKADO.) And gets involved in local politics surrounding shutting down the community theater due to budget cuts. We meet an odd and charming cast of local actors (played mostly by local community theater actors) and see Sophie go from a partially defeated failed New York actress to a take-charge, successful community theater director and star...sort of. There are comic mishaps along the way, of course. And I realize I wrote that really badly, like it sounds like a big step down. But the end result is she discovers that fulfillment can be found in unlikely places of community, and that's pretty damn cool. And the movie is funny and charming.
Then I saw PARTNERS IN CRIME, a beautifully shot schoolkid murder mystery drama. Huang, Yeh and Lin are schoolmates but not really friends. They discover the body of a schoolmate, and things take off from there. While officially ruled a suicide, the boys start investigating it themselves as a murder. Well, they each start investigating it on their own, but sure enough the effort brings them together as unlikely allies. A smart crime drama, and an interesting look at school culture in Taiwan (especially the bullying aspect.) But most of all, I remember how beautifully it was shot.
Total Running Time: 169 minutes
My Total Minutes: 391,289
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Day 4
4 more movies last Sunday.
First up was OFF THE MENU: ASIAN AMERICA, by festival favorite Grace Lee (THE GRACE LEE PROJECT, AMERICAN ZOMBIE, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS.) This time she's taking on Asian American identity through food. From the sushi king of Texas--who does a lot more than sushi...and a lot more than Japanese food, but at least it's Asian! To the tofu king, also in Texas. Or kimchi burgers. Or a Sikh temple that serves food for anyone who comes by (it's a Sikh tradition, and it's kind of killing me that I forgot what it's called.) Or new fusion restaurants in New York. It presents food both as a way to connect to your culture but also to express your individuality. And here in America there's a strange tension between traditional dishes and the fusion of the great melting pot. Personally, I'm all about fusion. One of my favorite things I used to get at the Indian grocery store I used to live near was jalapeno and nacho cheese samosas. They're exactly as good as they sound, and to me they taste like America.
Then a more sobering documentary, with THE KILLING FIELDS OF DR. HAING S. NGOR. Dr. Ngor is most known here for winning the Oscar for best supporting actor in THE KILLING FIELDS. But before that, he was a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust, and saw horrors that make the movie pale in comparison. He was killed in 1996 outside his Los Angeles apartment. Officially it was a robbery and he was shot when he refused to give up a locket with a picture of his late wife My-Huoy (who had died under the Khmer Rouge.) But there are still conspiracy theories that he was assassinated by Khmer Rouge sympathizers. Anyway, this movie covers pretty much the entirety of his life, based on his own memoirs. From being a wealthy doctor in Phnom Penh (where both he and his wife had their own Mercedes and driver.) To the underpinnings of corruption in Cambodia that led to the Khmer Rouge taking control. The first few days of excitement that at least they can't be worse than the previous regime. To that all falling apart, and the years of abject horror in the jungle. No food, frequent beatings. Even a crucifixion (yeah, the guy was literally crucified, and survived it.) To the escape and 20 miles of mine fields to the Thai border (out of ~200 that joined him on the journey, 17 survived.) His was truly a harrowing life, but one he survived to make a life for himself in America, work with refugees, and sort of randomly be cast in a movie for fun. And the rest, as they say, is history. But history that will live for hundreds of years, and should never be forgotten.
And then the centerpiece program, MARGARITA WITH A STRAW. Laila is a student at Delhi University. She has friends, is a lyricist for a school rock band, and she has sever cerebral palsy. She goes to study in New York, where she meets and befriends a blind Pakistani girl. Oh, and they become lovers. Although she also has sex with a boy. Oh yeah, and her mom has cancer. Yeah, trying to describe it makes it sound like the movie is trying to set a record for the most dramatic buttons it can push--disabled rights, bisexuality, intolerant parents, India-Pakistan conflict (although the politics isn't featured,) cancer...but it doesn't feel like that when you're watching it. Anchored by excellent performances by Sayani Gupta (who I was surprised to learn is not actually blind) and especially Kalki Koechlin (who I was surprised to learn is not actually disabled) and a smart script, this transcends all the emotional hot buttons to be a sweet, tender, and smart story about people. Just...people.
And finally, the night (and the weekend) ended with MY FAIR WEDDING. Specifically the wedding of film director Gwang-Soo and his producer and long time love, Dave. Ah, yeah, gay marriage in Korea. Nope, it's not legal. But it's a huge media circus and spectacle. And that's intentional...and kinda puts a strain on their relationship at times. But it's all fun as the gay community comes together to throw them an amazing public party. At times the editing leading up to the festival is choppy and head-spinning (probably evoking how they felt at the time) but when they get to the actual wedding, the crowd and spectacle is fabulous. And just a couple of protesters who actually break in and try to disrupt things. So...hundreds (thousands?) come out to celebrate and only two object? Not bad, now if the laws can just catch up. I would have liked to stay for the Q&A, as the two lovebirds were there in person. But it was late and I had to catch the BART home.
And that was the first weekend at CAAMFest. I'm slowly catching up...
Total Running Time: 337 minutes
My Total Minutes: 391,121
First up was OFF THE MENU: ASIAN AMERICA, by festival favorite Grace Lee (THE GRACE LEE PROJECT, AMERICAN ZOMBIE, AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGGS.) This time she's taking on Asian American identity through food. From the sushi king of Texas--who does a lot more than sushi...and a lot more than Japanese food, but at least it's Asian! To the tofu king, also in Texas. Or kimchi burgers. Or a Sikh temple that serves food for anyone who comes by (it's a Sikh tradition, and it's kind of killing me that I forgot what it's called.) Or new fusion restaurants in New York. It presents food both as a way to connect to your culture but also to express your individuality. And here in America there's a strange tension between traditional dishes and the fusion of the great melting pot. Personally, I'm all about fusion. One of my favorite things I used to get at the Indian grocery store I used to live near was jalapeno and nacho cheese samosas. They're exactly as good as they sound, and to me they taste like America.
Then a more sobering documentary, with THE KILLING FIELDS OF DR. HAING S. NGOR. Dr. Ngor is most known here for winning the Oscar for best supporting actor in THE KILLING FIELDS. But before that, he was a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust, and saw horrors that make the movie pale in comparison. He was killed in 1996 outside his Los Angeles apartment. Officially it was a robbery and he was shot when he refused to give up a locket with a picture of his late wife My-Huoy (who had died under the Khmer Rouge.) But there are still conspiracy theories that he was assassinated by Khmer Rouge sympathizers. Anyway, this movie covers pretty much the entirety of his life, based on his own memoirs. From being a wealthy doctor in Phnom Penh (where both he and his wife had their own Mercedes and driver.) To the underpinnings of corruption in Cambodia that led to the Khmer Rouge taking control. The first few days of excitement that at least they can't be worse than the previous regime. To that all falling apart, and the years of abject horror in the jungle. No food, frequent beatings. Even a crucifixion (yeah, the guy was literally crucified, and survived it.) To the escape and 20 miles of mine fields to the Thai border (out of ~200 that joined him on the journey, 17 survived.) His was truly a harrowing life, but one he survived to make a life for himself in America, work with refugees, and sort of randomly be cast in a movie for fun. And the rest, as they say, is history. But history that will live for hundreds of years, and should never be forgotten.
And then the centerpiece program, MARGARITA WITH A STRAW. Laila is a student at Delhi University. She has friends, is a lyricist for a school rock band, and she has sever cerebral palsy. She goes to study in New York, where she meets and befriends a blind Pakistani girl. Oh, and they become lovers. Although she also has sex with a boy. Oh yeah, and her mom has cancer. Yeah, trying to describe it makes it sound like the movie is trying to set a record for the most dramatic buttons it can push--disabled rights, bisexuality, intolerant parents, India-Pakistan conflict (although the politics isn't featured,) cancer...but it doesn't feel like that when you're watching it. Anchored by excellent performances by Sayani Gupta (who I was surprised to learn is not actually blind) and especially Kalki Koechlin (who I was surprised to learn is not actually disabled) and a smart script, this transcends all the emotional hot buttons to be a sweet, tender, and smart story about people. Just...people.
And finally, the night (and the weekend) ended with MY FAIR WEDDING. Specifically the wedding of film director Gwang-Soo and his producer and long time love, Dave. Ah, yeah, gay marriage in Korea. Nope, it's not legal. But it's a huge media circus and spectacle. And that's intentional...and kinda puts a strain on their relationship at times. But it's all fun as the gay community comes together to throw them an amazing public party. At times the editing leading up to the festival is choppy and head-spinning (probably evoking how they felt at the time) but when they get to the actual wedding, the crowd and spectacle is fabulous. And just a couple of protesters who actually break in and try to disrupt things. So...hundreds (thousands?) come out to celebrate and only two object? Not bad, now if the laws can just catch up. I would have liked to stay for the Q&A, as the two lovebirds were there in person. But it was late and I had to catch the BART home.
And that was the first weekend at CAAMFest. I'm slowly catching up...
Total Running Time: 337 minutes
My Total Minutes: 391,121
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Day 3
After skipping opening night and day 2, I was up in Japantown for a day off films, mostly shorts.
The first program was Flipside, films that show a different perspective.
D. ASIAN: The perspective of a little boy in 1986 who wants to identify as Asian although he looks white. Turns out he has a pretty compelling case.
DANDEKAR MAKES A SANDWICH: The perspective of a man in a supermarket who makes the most of the free samples. Turns out he has a good reason.
GIVE IT UP: The perspective of a stand-up comedian who jokes about being bad at relationships, drinking a lot, and having a small penis. Turns out he's at least telling the truth about the drinking.
HYPEBEASTS: The perspective of teenagers waiting overnight for the hottest new sneakers to go on sale. Turns out black and Asians don't get along, especially when cutting in line is involved. Things escalate quickly.
MY HOT MOM GANDHI: The perspective of a couple deciding what to wear for Halloween. Like should they do something political like white-face? Turns out they decide it's a bad idea even though it got the best laughs in the movie.
N. KING: The perspective of a couple of Hawaiian youth plotting to rob a store. Turns out at least one had some moral qualms and makes an important decision.
THE OTHER SIDE: The perspective of the hero cop (white guy) taking on a gang of bad guys (all Asians.) Turns out, when you get a glimpse of the other side, thinks aren't so black and white (or yellow and white.)
WOMAN IN FRAGMENTS: The perspective of a dancer who is technically talented but not expressive enough on stage. Turns out it takes a little vulnerability to be a better dancer.
D. ASIAN: The perspective of a little boy in 1986 who wants to identify as Asian although he looks white. Turns out he has a pretty compelling case.
DANDEKAR MAKES A SANDWICH: The perspective of a man in a supermarket who makes the most of the free samples. Turns out he has a good reason.
GIVE IT UP: The perspective of a stand-up comedian who jokes about being bad at relationships, drinking a lot, and having a small penis. Turns out he's at least telling the truth about the drinking.
HYPEBEASTS: The perspective of teenagers waiting overnight for the hottest new sneakers to go on sale. Turns out black and Asians don't get along, especially when cutting in line is involved. Things escalate quickly.
MY HOT MOM GANDHI: The perspective of a couple deciding what to wear for Halloween. Like should they do something political like white-face? Turns out they decide it's a bad idea even though it got the best laughs in the movie.
N. KING: The perspective of a couple of Hawaiian youth plotting to rob a store. Turns out at least one had some moral qualms and makes an important decision.
THE OTHER SIDE: The perspective of the hero cop (white guy) taking on a gang of bad guys (all Asians.) Turns out, when you get a glimpse of the other side, thinks aren't so black and white (or yellow and white.)
WOMAN IN FRAGMENTS: The perspective of a dancer who is technically talented but not expressive enough on stage. Turns out it takes a little vulnerability to be a better dancer.
The next program was Family Ties, shorts about family.
COLD SPRING: A father learns his estranged daughter is getting married, and tries to get back into her life and get invited to the wedding.
GIAP'S LAST DAY AT THE IRONING BOARD FACTORY: A loving tribute to the filmmaker's mom, a Vietnamese refugee who settled in the American midwest and made it her home, working for decades in an ironing board factory.
JAYA: Inspired by a true story. A young Indian street girl, posing as a boy to avoid being raped and forced into prostitution. She and her friends run pick-pocketing schemes while she searches for her real father.
MAMA TANG: An old woman in San Francisco tries to hold on to her Chinese way of life while her Americanized son is too busy for her.
MY FATHER, FRANCIS: A documentary about filmmaker Casey Mecija's father who works in a factory but has some time during breaks to make stuff--chairs, toothbrush holders, etc.--with recycled material in the factory. A sweet look at a couple of makers making stuff together.
TO SIT WITH HER: Without being able to speak the same language, a trans-male and his Vietnamese grandmother still share a sweet bond.
COLD SPRING: A father learns his estranged daughter is getting married, and tries to get back into her life and get invited to the wedding.
GIAP'S LAST DAY AT THE IRONING BOARD FACTORY: A loving tribute to the filmmaker's mom, a Vietnamese refugee who settled in the American midwest and made it her home, working for decades in an ironing board factory.
JAYA: Inspired by a true story. A young Indian street girl, posing as a boy to avoid being raped and forced into prostitution. She and her friends run pick-pocketing schemes while she searches for her real father.
MAMA TANG: An old woman in San Francisco tries to hold on to her Chinese way of life while her Americanized son is too busy for her.
MY FATHER, FRANCIS: A documentary about filmmaker Casey Mecija's father who works in a factory but has some time during breaks to make stuff--chairs, toothbrush holders, etc.--with recycled material in the factory. A sweet look at a couple of makers making stuff together.
TO SIT WITH HER: Without being able to speak the same language, a trans-male and his Vietnamese grandmother still share a sweet bond.
Then the next program was Short Shorts, shorts that were programmed by the Short Shorts Film Festival in Japan, and they brought their best here to CAAMFest. I don't want this to sound like a criticism against the CAAMFest shorts programming team, but this was easily my favorite of the shorts programs I saw. So...take that as a compliment to the Short Shorts programming team instead.
IN THE TREE HOUSE: The story of a family where everyone has their own agenda and their own little world. And then it's all disrupted when mom decides to take an unannounced trip, leaving them enough food for a few days. By the time she's back, they're much closer as a family.
AN INNOCENT BEAT: In a world where children aren't allowed outside except to go to school, one girl travels to the forbidden zone, with dangerous levels of radiation. And there she finds something amazing about stopped clocks and heartbeats. Mind...blown.
A SOCCER STORY: Kids playing soccer on Kozu Island (technically part of Tokyo.) When one player on the opponent's team gets injured, a benchwarmer switches sides and gets his time to shine. But friendship and team loyalty get tested.
STROBOSCOPE: A guy just trying to return a briefcase to a police station gets roped into pretending he's a movie director taking people on a location scouting tour of Ibaraki Prefecture. A clever story with a lot of twists and humor.
TWO JULIETS OF VERONA: When the Verona (formerly girls-only) school of culinary arts and nursing gets its first male student, their annual musical gala is set as Romeo and Juliet, and it becomes a crazy competition with surprising results.
IN THE TREE HOUSE: The story of a family where everyone has their own agenda and their own little world. And then it's all disrupted when mom decides to take an unannounced trip, leaving them enough food for a few days. By the time she's back, they're much closer as a family.
AN INNOCENT BEAT: In a world where children aren't allowed outside except to go to school, one girl travels to the forbidden zone, with dangerous levels of radiation. And there she finds something amazing about stopped clocks and heartbeats. Mind...blown.
A SOCCER STORY: Kids playing soccer on Kozu Island (technically part of Tokyo.) When one player on the opponent's team gets injured, a benchwarmer switches sides and gets his time to shine. But friendship and team loyalty get tested.
STROBOSCOPE: A guy just trying to return a briefcase to a police station gets roped into pretending he's a movie director taking people on a location scouting tour of Ibaraki Prefecture. A clever story with a lot of twists and humor.
TWO JULIETS OF VERONA: When the Verona (formerly girls-only) school of culinary arts and nursing gets its first male student, their annual musical gala is set as Romeo and Juliet, and it becomes a crazy competition with surprising results.
Then I took a brief break from shorts to see a feature documentary, TOP SPIN. It follows the path to the 2012 Olympics for three young American athletes--ping pong players (okay, "table tennis" if you wanna get technical.) Ariel and Lily are both from the Bay Area (if I recall correctly, Ariel is from Fremont/San Jose, and Lily is from Palo Alto.) Michael is from New York, and the youngest U.S. champion ever. They're all ping pong prodigies...by American standards. That's the thing, Table Tennis is one of the few Olympic sports the U.S. has never even won a medal in (along with badminton and handball) and one that China absolutely dominates. So...I guess no surprise that Lily and Ariel are both Chinese-American (Mike, on the other hand, is about as white as you can get.) Cool, whatever, they were born here, live here, play for America...they're as American as I am, and I probably wouldn't even mention it if it wasn't in an Asian-American film festival (well, that and one throw-off laugh line in the film about Mike being white.) Anyway, back to the film. It shows the difficulties of balancing training, school, and a social life. And it shows how they put absolutely everything into being the best. As for the Olympic trials...well, you could watch the movie and have the experience I did of watching it unfold as if it was happening right then...or you could look up the results online somewhere. It doesn't really matter, what's important is this was a fun, engaging movie with some very likable young people and a positive outlook about the future of U.S. Table Tennis.
And then back to shorts, with Falling, shorts about love, for good or for bad.
AFTER US: After a breakup, a woman's inner voice talks her through the pain, recovery, and ice cream until she's ready to go out there again.
COMFORT GIRLS: This music video uses comedy to explore the harsh realities of Korean "comfort girls" in WWII, and the harsh realities for women today trying to make men happy (like plastic surgery and a submissive demeanor.)
IF YOU LIVED HERE, YOU'D BE HOME ALREADY: A question of love, home, and marriage as a long time marriage that has fallen into a routine is shaken up when the wife goes to a open house.
MISS GUIDANCE - EP. 4: PERSEVERING: An episdoe of the webseries. In this one, part-time guidance counselor Nilly resists a mandatory social event. Things are awkward until she meets a guy. To be continued?
NEXT LIKE: A funny short using social media to describe different types of women, while a guy gets over his breakup with the help of his soon-to-be brother-in-law.
NO NO, HOMO: Two guys out at the movies...the matinee. They're the only ones in the theater. But is it a date or just a couple of guys watching a movie. The only way to find out is to reach for something other than the popcorn.
SEED OF NEED: A woman has traveled the world, had adventures and romance. But she hasn't found herself. Not until she lets go of everything.
TOUCH OF ESSENCE: And old couple, both with health issues, near the end of their lives. Each makes a last attempt to do something for the other. A beautiful, tender look at the tail end of a life of love.
TRAMP: A beggar in the Seoul subway gets a big surprise from a visitor from his past.
Total Running Time: 469 minutes
My Total Minutes: 390,784
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Saturday, March 22
This was my last day at CAAMFest, as I was busy Sunday and didn't attend closing. It was also the only day I went all out, seeing 4 movies in one day. And it was awesome.
First up was the compilation project BEAUTIFUL 2013. Much like last year's BEAUTIFUL 2012, the Hong Kong Film Festival commissioned well-known Asian filmmakers to make ~20 minute shorts.
BEAUTIFUL NEW BAY AREA PROJECT: Kurosawa Kiyoshi's piece is an exciting story of an eclectic heir to a development company who tries to romance a beautiful dockworker but ends up unleashing a ton of kung-fu and revealing a strange conspiracy.
A NEW YEAR, THE SAME DAYS: Wu Nien-jen created this comi-tragic short about a beleaguered father who wants to leave his family and finally spend some time living for himself.
1 DIMENSION: Lu Yue presents a silhouette-animated story of a young prince and his teacher who go on a long journey to teach him to recognize good and evil. It's a test he must pass before he can rule.
INDIGO: And finally, Mabel Cheung delivers a touching story of a struggling mother (Elaine Jin) who sings in a nightclub to support her autistic son and daughter who is frustrated that he gets all the attention.
Next up was the father/son romantic comedy (that just sounds wrong) BRAHMIN BULLS. Sid is a young architect who hates his wife's cat. But that's the least of his problems. He and his wife are estranged. While he has creative ideas he has trouble at work and is demoted. And then his father shows up. They haven't spoken in years, and he wasn't supposed to come to town for a conference, but he saw his old flame (and former grad student) is speaking at the conference and wanted to get back in touch. Sid hasn't even told his dad that he and his wife have separated. So wacky hijinx ensue as Sid struggles with his father's surprises, and old wounds (that originally led to them not speaking anymore) resurface. Very funny, and a cast of excellent actors including Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, and Mary Steenburgen.
Then a real treat, the audience award winner at both Cinequest and CAAMFest, EAST SIDE SUSHI. I actually specifically missed it at Cinequest so I could see it here. Juana Martinez is an excellent cook at home and works hard to provide for her father and daughter. She clearly cares about the quality of her food, as evidenced in the care she takes with her little fruit cart in Oakland. Too bad a couple of thugs knock her out and rob her. Looking for something else, she answers a "help wanted" sign at a local Japanese restaurant. So begins a fish-out-of-water cross-cultural comedy, as she proves she has the skill and drive to learn to become a sushi chef (and romance the head sushi chef Aki.) Of course, the technical skill is easy, it's the overturning old traditions that's hard. For that true Japanese authenticity, only men can be sushi chefs. Plus the fact that she's not Japanese (not even Asian, as in one scene she humorously points out that their other sushi chefs are Chinese and Korean.) A fun and funny celebration of anyone who wants to break down cultural barriers and follow their dreams. I can see why it won the audience award at its first two festivals, and can predict that it will win many more.
And finally, INNOCENT BLOOD. Retired detective/college professor James Park (Jun-seong Kim) gets a horrible shock when his son is kidnapped. It's all about vengeance for a mishandled case years ago that sent an innocent man to jail (well, not entirely innocent, he was a vicious gangster, he just didn't commit the murder they pinned on him.) So the wronged man's brother Vincent (C.S. Lee) is on a path of revenge against anyone and everyone involved in the miscarriage of justice. And Vincent foolishly decides to pursue him alone rather than just going straight to the authorities. Which is pretty dumb, because his evasiveness gets the FBI suspecting him. It's a gripping, well-shot thriller but I get impatient when the hero makes baffling decisions like that. I know this is 20/20 hindsight, but ultimately just fessing up to the original mishandled case would have been far less painful.
And that, finally (only about 3 1/2 weeks later,) was the end of my CAAMFest 2014.
Total Running Time: 386 minutes
My Total Minutes: 359,234
First up was the compilation project BEAUTIFUL 2013. Much like last year's BEAUTIFUL 2012, the Hong Kong Film Festival commissioned well-known Asian filmmakers to make ~20 minute shorts.
BEAUTIFUL NEW BAY AREA PROJECT: Kurosawa Kiyoshi's piece is an exciting story of an eclectic heir to a development company who tries to romance a beautiful dockworker but ends up unleashing a ton of kung-fu and revealing a strange conspiracy.
A NEW YEAR, THE SAME DAYS: Wu Nien-jen created this comi-tragic short about a beleaguered father who wants to leave his family and finally spend some time living for himself.
1 DIMENSION: Lu Yue presents a silhouette-animated story of a young prince and his teacher who go on a long journey to teach him to recognize good and evil. It's a test he must pass before he can rule.
INDIGO: And finally, Mabel Cheung delivers a touching story of a struggling mother (Elaine Jin) who sings in a nightclub to support her autistic son and daughter who is frustrated that he gets all the attention.
Next up was the father/son romantic comedy (that just sounds wrong) BRAHMIN BULLS. Sid is a young architect who hates his wife's cat. But that's the least of his problems. He and his wife are estranged. While he has creative ideas he has trouble at work and is demoted. And then his father shows up. They haven't spoken in years, and he wasn't supposed to come to town for a conference, but he saw his old flame (and former grad student) is speaking at the conference and wanted to get back in touch. Sid hasn't even told his dad that he and his wife have separated. So wacky hijinx ensue as Sid struggles with his father's surprises, and old wounds (that originally led to them not speaking anymore) resurface. Very funny, and a cast of excellent actors including Sendhil Ramamurthy, Roshan Seth, and Mary Steenburgen.
Then a real treat, the audience award winner at both Cinequest and CAAMFest, EAST SIDE SUSHI. I actually specifically missed it at Cinequest so I could see it here. Juana Martinez is an excellent cook at home and works hard to provide for her father and daughter. She clearly cares about the quality of her food, as evidenced in the care she takes with her little fruit cart in Oakland. Too bad a couple of thugs knock her out and rob her. Looking for something else, she answers a "help wanted" sign at a local Japanese restaurant. So begins a fish-out-of-water cross-cultural comedy, as she proves she has the skill and drive to learn to become a sushi chef (and romance the head sushi chef Aki.) Of course, the technical skill is easy, it's the overturning old traditions that's hard. For that true Japanese authenticity, only men can be sushi chefs. Plus the fact that she's not Japanese (not even Asian, as in one scene she humorously points out that their other sushi chefs are Chinese and Korean.) A fun and funny celebration of anyone who wants to break down cultural barriers and follow their dreams. I can see why it won the audience award at its first two festivals, and can predict that it will win many more.
And finally, INNOCENT BLOOD. Retired detective/college professor James Park (Jun-seong Kim) gets a horrible shock when his son is kidnapped. It's all about vengeance for a mishandled case years ago that sent an innocent man to jail (well, not entirely innocent, he was a vicious gangster, he just didn't commit the murder they pinned on him.) So the wronged man's brother Vincent (C.S. Lee) is on a path of revenge against anyone and everyone involved in the miscarriage of justice. And Vincent foolishly decides to pursue him alone rather than just going straight to the authorities. Which is pretty dumb, because his evasiveness gets the FBI suspecting him. It's a gripping, well-shot thriller but I get impatient when the hero makes baffling decisions like that. I know this is 20/20 hindsight, but ultimately just fessing up to the original mishandled case would have been far less painful.
And that, finally (only about 3 1/2 weeks later,) was the end of my CAAMFest 2014.
Total Running Time: 386 minutes
My Total Minutes: 359,234
Monday, March 31, 2014
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Friday, March 21
Just one show last week Friday, and it was a shorts program Provocateurs. I think the name says it all.
H7N3: C. S. Lee (the pervy colleague on DEXTER) is a travelling field doctor trying to take a mouth swab from a sick little girl. Perhaps it's just knowing him from DEXTER but I thought it got a little creepy when he talked about "just the tip" and I got a real rape culture vibe from it. Which made the ending pretty cool.
THE HOLE: A recently released convict witnesses a grisly murder of a little girl. So he digs a grave and buries her. And then digs her up, then buries her again. He appears to be torn between doing the right thing and being afraid that he'll be blamed for her death.
KILL OF THE NIGHT: When a cop pulls over a beautiful young woman, he hears noises in her trunk and is about to arrest her for a serious crime. But it turns out it's just a kinky game, so the most he has is a traffic violation--driving without a seat belt. Or not.
MILKYBOY: A child commercial star is all grown up, and now works in advertising. But he can't escape his Milkyboy past, no matter how much he wants to. But then, every once in a while it helps to have a bit of a superhero in you.
SEWING WOMAN: A creepy, grisly animated look at one theory of what happens after you die.
SUKIYAKI WITH LOVE: A young husband is so beaten down by his nagging wife that he has already had an affair and is now considering asking for divorce. But when he comes home, his wife is all sweetness and love. She even made him his favorite--Sukiyaki...with a special ingredient.
THINKING ABOUT THINKING: Experimental, black and white exploration of people's varying opinions about mortality.
WHAT REMAINS: Bad memories leave ghosts in a woman's old childhood home.
And that was that. A really cool shorts program.
Running Time: 84 minutes
My Total Minutes: 358,848
H7N3: C. S. Lee (the pervy colleague on DEXTER) is a travelling field doctor trying to take a mouth swab from a sick little girl. Perhaps it's just knowing him from DEXTER but I thought it got a little creepy when he talked about "just the tip" and I got a real rape culture vibe from it. Which made the ending pretty cool.
THE HOLE: A recently released convict witnesses a grisly murder of a little girl. So he digs a grave and buries her. And then digs her up, then buries her again. He appears to be torn between doing the right thing and being afraid that he'll be blamed for her death.
KILL OF THE NIGHT: When a cop pulls over a beautiful young woman, he hears noises in her trunk and is about to arrest her for a serious crime. But it turns out it's just a kinky game, so the most he has is a traffic violation--driving without a seat belt. Or not.
MILKYBOY: A child commercial star is all grown up, and now works in advertising. But he can't escape his Milkyboy past, no matter how much he wants to. But then, every once in a while it helps to have a bit of a superhero in you.
SEWING WOMAN: A creepy, grisly animated look at one theory of what happens after you die.
SUKIYAKI WITH LOVE: A young husband is so beaten down by his nagging wife that he has already had an affair and is now considering asking for divorce. But when he comes home, his wife is all sweetness and love. She even made him his favorite--Sukiyaki...with a special ingredient.
THINKING ABOUT THINKING: Experimental, black and white exploration of people's varying opinions about mortality.
WHAT REMAINS: Bad memories leave ghosts in a woman's old childhood home.
And that was that. A really cool shorts program.
Running Time: 84 minutes
My Total Minutes: 358,848
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Thursday, March 20
Just one film a week ago Thursday. But it was an awesome one. It even says so in the title--AWESOME ASIAN BAD GUYS. Made as a web series by the National Film Society (Patrick Epino & Stephen Dypiangco) as a parody and loving homage to all the awesome Asian bad guys of the 80's. Tamlyn Tomita (Kumiko from KARATE KID II) comes to the NFS for help both protecting herself and avenging the murder of her sister Pamlyn. So they assemble the heroes of their youth--first and foremost Al Leong, who cannot be killed. Then they try to find Jet Li, only to find out that George Cheung daughter was named after his ex-wife's favorite Asian actor--Jet Li. Luckily, she still kicks butt. Yuji Okumoto (Chozen in KARATE KID II) still has some moves, and for some reason comedian Randall Park rounds out the cast. And they all go do what they do best--kick butt, take names, and get laughs. That was lots of fun.
Running Time: 52 minutes
My Total Minutes: 358,764
Running Time: 52 minutes
My Total Minutes: 358,764
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Wednesday March 19
Just one show last week Wednesday, one of the few movies I actually missed at Indiefest.
But first, the short GRACE. A ballet dancer and a prostitute, in parallel action. Set to the sound of Amazing Grace.
And that was the lead-in to KARAOKE GIRL, a semi-documentary about Sa Sittijun. With flashbacks to her parents meager subsistence in rural Thailand, Sa works in the nightclubs of Bangkok. It's not hard to figure out that she does more than sing for a living. She's a sex worker, and it's not the least bit glamorous. Nor is it all that compelling. At least not to me, not in my state of exhaustion. I spent most of the movie struggling to stay awake. I'd apologize, but all my friends who saw it at Indiefest told me the same thing. So that's that.
Running Time: 85 minutes
My Total Minutes: 358,713
But first, the short GRACE. A ballet dancer and a prostitute, in parallel action. Set to the sound of Amazing Grace.
And that was the lead-in to KARAOKE GIRL, a semi-documentary about Sa Sittijun. With flashbacks to her parents meager subsistence in rural Thailand, Sa works in the nightclubs of Bangkok. It's not hard to figure out that she does more than sing for a living. She's a sex worker, and it's not the least bit glamorous. Nor is it all that compelling. At least not to me, not in my state of exhaustion. I spent most of the movie struggling to stay awake. I'd apologize, but all my friends who saw it at Indiefest told me the same thing. So that's that.
Running Time: 85 minutes
My Total Minutes: 358,713
Jason goes to CAAMFest--Tuesday, March 18
I gave myself one day of rest after Cinequest, and I was back in festival mode with CAAMFest (formerly SFIAAFF, what I always called Asianfest.) It actually started on Thursday, so I missed all of the big first weekend. This seems to happen every other year or so, so hopefully next year they won't overlap. And now, over a week later, I finally have a little time to write about it.
Anyway, I was up in Japantown for two shows a week ago Tuesday (I guess that would be day 6 of the festival.)
First up was AMERICAN ARAB, a personal and political documentary by Arab-American director Usama Alshaibi. He opens with the death of his own brother--overdosed on heroin, leading to an exploration of the phenomenon of "too much freedom" in America. He then explores many other examples of the Arab American experience, from his own life and the lives of others. A woman in a hijab attacked in a grocery store. He has his own racially-motivated attack. And the more benign incidents...like the Arab-American kids asked to explain what they thought of 9/11, or just the average every day racial epithets. In a scant 60 minutes, he explores a lot of complexity of identity. Oddly, none cut through the complexity more clearly than the Arab American punk rock band, who rebel against both establishment America and Islam, forming an identity that's neither American, nor Arab, but totally individual. And that's really what everyone is looking for--to be treated as an individual. Very cool.
Then I caught the shorts program A Modern Family. Shorts about family, in all its straightforward complexity.
GRAND CANAL: Canal sailors in China, as director Johnny Ma remembers his father.
HAPPY DANCE: Experimental animated dancing toys, inspired by director Crisanta Deguzman's autistic son.
HER PRIZE: A rubber ducky, and a funny father. Very cute.
MAKATO: OR, HONESTY: The last days of director Christopher Makoto Yogi's father, as remembered by his mother and grandmother.
MALAYSIAN MEMORIES: Director Celeste Chan’s father remembers growing up in Malaysia in poverty and desperation.
MANDEVILLA: In Koreatown, a young man can hear fighting in the apartment next to him. And he struggles with what to do about it.
MEI: Memories of Hong Kong, and director Margaret To's old caretaker. A clever, partly animated short.
SWEET CORN: Corn rots on the stalks while father and son fight over the direction of the farm.
Total Running Time: 142 minutes
My Total Minutes: 358,628
Anyway, I was up in Japantown for two shows a week ago Tuesday (I guess that would be day 6 of the festival.)
First up was AMERICAN ARAB, a personal and political documentary by Arab-American director Usama Alshaibi. He opens with the death of his own brother--overdosed on heroin, leading to an exploration of the phenomenon of "too much freedom" in America. He then explores many other examples of the Arab American experience, from his own life and the lives of others. A woman in a hijab attacked in a grocery store. He has his own racially-motivated attack. And the more benign incidents...like the Arab-American kids asked to explain what they thought of 9/11, or just the average every day racial epithets. In a scant 60 minutes, he explores a lot of complexity of identity. Oddly, none cut through the complexity more clearly than the Arab American punk rock band, who rebel against both establishment America and Islam, forming an identity that's neither American, nor Arab, but totally individual. And that's really what everyone is looking for--to be treated as an individual. Very cool.
Then I caught the shorts program A Modern Family. Shorts about family, in all its straightforward complexity.
GRAND CANAL: Canal sailors in China, as director Johnny Ma remembers his father.
HAPPY DANCE: Experimental animated dancing toys, inspired by director Crisanta Deguzman's autistic son.
HER PRIZE: A rubber ducky, and a funny father. Very cute.
MAKATO: OR, HONESTY: The last days of director Christopher Makoto Yogi's father, as remembered by his mother and grandmother.
MALAYSIAN MEMORIES: Director Celeste Chan’s father remembers growing up in Malaysia in poverty and desperation.
MANDEVILLA: In Koreatown, a young man can hear fighting in the apartment next to him. And he struggles with what to do about it.
MEI: Memories of Hong Kong, and director Margaret To's old caretaker. A clever, partly animated short.
SWEET CORN: Corn rots on the stalks while father and son fight over the direction of the farm.
Total Running Time: 142 minutes
My Total Minutes: 358,628
Friday, March 29, 2013
Jason goes to Asianfest--Closing Night
So I skipped the penultimate Day 10, because I just had to watch my Quakes beat the Seattle Sounders (with Wondo nabbing the Goal of the Week.) But I was back for the final hurrah on Sunday. A full day with 4 movies at the New People Center screw it, for me it's still The Viz.
First up, a comedic drama about death and family, DEAD DAD. Russell Sawtelle is a struggling drummer living in L.A. and taking care of his dad, until he finds him dead. So he calls his sibling back to help take care of the funeral arrangements. Sister Jane (aka, Chainsaw--get it, Jane Sawtelle becomes Chainsaw) and adopted Asian brother Alex (although they don't get to the adoption until much later, leaving me wondering for a while if their dad had a previous marriage to an Asian lady and he's really a half-brother.) They all had issues with dad, who became something of an asshole for the last decade after their mother passed away. Jane had gone away to school in San Diego, and I know from personal experience how easy it can be to convince yourself not to come up and visit family in L.A. when you're living in San Diego, even though it's just a few hours away. Alex, meanwhile, had traveled the world and settled in the east coast, ostensibly for his career but there was clearly a 'get away from dad' aspect to this. In any case, when they get together they fight, they joke, they love each other, they're frustrated, they fight, they try to deal with dad's ashes (which was his wish, despite the fact that there is a plot waiting for him to be buried with his wife.)
Y'know, fuck it. I can't continue thinking about this movie. It had just the right balance of comedy, drama, and pathos, despite some details being off (e.g., cremated ashes aren't that fine, and aren't given in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box. Even if you don't get an urn, they put it in a more sturdy canister.) But mostly it just reminded me of my grandfather's funeral last year, and the whole family getting together. I'm one of six kids, scattered across the country (well, up and down the western part of the country) and I'm happy to say that we know we're always there for each other. We might not be as tragically funny as the siblings in this movie, but we got each other's back (and, in my humble opinion, we're pretty funny, too.)
Then from one tragedy to another, I saw the documentary WHEN HARI GOT MARRIED. Just kidding, it's not really a tragedy, but there is quite a bit of trepidation involved. Hari is a taxi driver on the Indian side of the Himalayas. He has seen his bride-to-be, Suman, only once, but has talked to her on the phone every day for months. Hari is a fun, chatty, gregarious character. He loves talking about his work, his taxi, the people he meets, his hopes for a family, his fear, his excitement, anything. Suman, on the other hand, is very shy, and only says a few things about her fear and her excitement. I kind of wish they had more balance showing her point of view, but as the title says it's his story, and honestly I suspect if they had started out trying to show both points of view, Hari is just a more camera-ready personality so the narrative would naturally gravitate to him. I will confess that exhaustion got the better of me and I slipped in and out of consciousness a bit in the middle. But it was still interesting to watch the intersection of traditional customs and modern technology. And [SPOILER ALERT!] It was nice to see the epilogue, showing 9 months later when they have a beautiful newborn baby girl and they are obviously happy with their marriage and love each other. I think this marriage will last. [END SPOILER.]
Then the closing gala was a mixed-media presentation of MEMORIES TO LIGHT. This is a new project by CAAM to showcase a particular time in Asian American history (and perhaps eventually all ethnicities of American history) through the use of home movies. More information will be available here. This was sort of the kick-off event, explaining the project (e.g., they're only looking for home movies on film, VHS and later would just be too much and also was a little too easy to use and so has a different feeling than the more deliberate action of loading a super-8 camera, shooting film, sending it to the lab to be processed, threading the returned film through a projector, etc.) And the kickoff featured a selection assembled and narrated live by filmmaker Mark Decena, which he called THE WAR WITHIN. He used his family's home movies as well as others that were donated to tell his family's story. How his Filipino father and Japanese mother met, how despite the horrific WWII history between the two countries they fell in love and got married, leading to good times, bad times, divorce, confusion, animosity. Decena choked up a few times during the presentation, which although kind of awkward it added to the power of the presentation. It was a pretty remarkable project, and I'm excited to see what comes out of it next.
And finally, while most everyone else left for the closing night after party, I stayed for one last movie, the documentary XMAS WITHOUT CHINA. Chinese-American filmmaker Tom Xia explores the recent spate of paranoia surrounding unsafe products from China (lead in toys, etc.) He looks for anyone who is willing to spend most of the month--from December 1 through December 25, without using any product from China (including, of course, not buying any Christmas presents that were made in China.) Of course, this could get a little tricky as even "Made in the U.S.A." products might have Chinese components. But the standard is if China shows up anywhere on the label, it's not legal. So he finds a willing couple--The Joneses, a good, red-blooded American family with a son and daughter--and out go most of their lamps, their toaster, their coffee maker, all their light bulbs. They're making toast in the oven and reading by candlelight. And, of course, checking the labels on everything they buy. One of the most extreme things they do is when they decide they absolutely need a string of Christmas lights but can't find any that aren't made in China. So the father decides to make his own. He finds little bulbs made in Mexico, gets wire and all the necessary tools, and makes one string of Christmas lights--final cost (excluding labor) is around $160. Contrasting all of this is Tom's own family, Chinese Americans in southern California who have "made it"--they're wealthy enough to own a two-story house, and they want to decorate like crazy and celebrate the heck out of Christmas (even though they aren't actually Christians.) So while the Joneses struggle with making one string of lights the Xia's are struggling with the logistics of hanging many strings of lights from their ~100 foot tall tree in their front yard (and, of course, hiring a Latino worker to do it. There's something oddly American about seeing an Chinese man hire a Mexican to do difficult and dangerous manual labor.) They whole project is pretty funny, and while it could've dug deeper into the issues of international industry and commerce it still made it's point pretty well. In fact, the best line came from the Joneses, who said they didn't blame China for dangerous products, they blamed the greedy international (often America) companies who move manufacturing there and then don't monitor the safety at their plants. That got a bit of an applause from the San Francisco audience.
Total Running Time: 243 minutes
My Total Minutes: 323,189
First up, a comedic drama about death and family, DEAD DAD. Russell Sawtelle is a struggling drummer living in L.A. and taking care of his dad, until he finds him dead. So he calls his sibling back to help take care of the funeral arrangements. Sister Jane (aka, Chainsaw--get it, Jane Sawtelle becomes Chainsaw) and adopted Asian brother Alex (although they don't get to the adoption until much later, leaving me wondering for a while if their dad had a previous marriage to an Asian lady and he's really a half-brother.) They all had issues with dad, who became something of an asshole for the last decade after their mother passed away. Jane had gone away to school in San Diego, and I know from personal experience how easy it can be to convince yourself not to come up and visit family in L.A. when you're living in San Diego, even though it's just a few hours away. Alex, meanwhile, had traveled the world and settled in the east coast, ostensibly for his career but there was clearly a 'get away from dad' aspect to this. In any case, when they get together they fight, they joke, they love each other, they're frustrated, they fight, they try to deal with dad's ashes (which was his wish, despite the fact that there is a plot waiting for him to be buried with his wife.)
Y'know, fuck it. I can't continue thinking about this movie. It had just the right balance of comedy, drama, and pathos, despite some details being off (e.g., cremated ashes aren't that fine, and aren't given in a plastic bag inside a cardboard box. Even if you don't get an urn, they put it in a more sturdy canister.) But mostly it just reminded me of my grandfather's funeral last year, and the whole family getting together. I'm one of six kids, scattered across the country (well, up and down the western part of the country) and I'm happy to say that we know we're always there for each other. We might not be as tragically funny as the siblings in this movie, but we got each other's back (and, in my humble opinion, we're pretty funny, too.)
Then from one tragedy to another, I saw the documentary WHEN HARI GOT MARRIED. Just kidding, it's not really a tragedy, but there is quite a bit of trepidation involved. Hari is a taxi driver on the Indian side of the Himalayas. He has seen his bride-to-be, Suman, only once, but has talked to her on the phone every day for months. Hari is a fun, chatty, gregarious character. He loves talking about his work, his taxi, the people he meets, his hopes for a family, his fear, his excitement, anything. Suman, on the other hand, is very shy, and only says a few things about her fear and her excitement. I kind of wish they had more balance showing her point of view, but as the title says it's his story, and honestly I suspect if they had started out trying to show both points of view, Hari is just a more camera-ready personality so the narrative would naturally gravitate to him. I will confess that exhaustion got the better of me and I slipped in and out of consciousness a bit in the middle. But it was still interesting to watch the intersection of traditional customs and modern technology. And [SPOILER ALERT!] It was nice to see the epilogue, showing 9 months later when they have a beautiful newborn baby girl and they are obviously happy with their marriage and love each other. I think this marriage will last. [END SPOILER.]
Then the closing gala was a mixed-media presentation of MEMORIES TO LIGHT. This is a new project by CAAM to showcase a particular time in Asian American history (and perhaps eventually all ethnicities of American history) through the use of home movies. More information will be available here. This was sort of the kick-off event, explaining the project (e.g., they're only looking for home movies on film, VHS and later would just be too much and also was a little too easy to use and so has a different feeling than the more deliberate action of loading a super-8 camera, shooting film, sending it to the lab to be processed, threading the returned film through a projector, etc.) And the kickoff featured a selection assembled and narrated live by filmmaker Mark Decena, which he called THE WAR WITHIN. He used his family's home movies as well as others that were donated to tell his family's story. How his Filipino father and Japanese mother met, how despite the horrific WWII history between the two countries they fell in love and got married, leading to good times, bad times, divorce, confusion, animosity. Decena choked up a few times during the presentation, which although kind of awkward it added to the power of the presentation. It was a pretty remarkable project, and I'm excited to see what comes out of it next.
And finally, while most everyone else left for the closing night after party, I stayed for one last movie, the documentary XMAS WITHOUT CHINA. Chinese-American filmmaker Tom Xia explores the recent spate of paranoia surrounding unsafe products from China (lead in toys, etc.) He looks for anyone who is willing to spend most of the month--from December 1 through December 25, without using any product from China (including, of course, not buying any Christmas presents that were made in China.) Of course, this could get a little tricky as even "Made in the U.S.A." products might have Chinese components. But the standard is if China shows up anywhere on the label, it's not legal. So he finds a willing couple--The Joneses, a good, red-blooded American family with a son and daughter--and out go most of their lamps, their toaster, their coffee maker, all their light bulbs. They're making toast in the oven and reading by candlelight. And, of course, checking the labels on everything they buy. One of the most extreme things they do is when they decide they absolutely need a string of Christmas lights but can't find any that aren't made in China. So the father decides to make his own. He finds little bulbs made in Mexico, gets wire and all the necessary tools, and makes one string of Christmas lights--final cost (excluding labor) is around $160. Contrasting all of this is Tom's own family, Chinese Americans in southern California who have "made it"--they're wealthy enough to own a two-story house, and they want to decorate like crazy and celebrate the heck out of Christmas (even though they aren't actually Christians.) So while the Joneses struggle with making one string of lights the Xia's are struggling with the logistics of hanging many strings of lights from their ~100 foot tall tree in their front yard (and, of course, hiring a Latino worker to do it. There's something oddly American about seeing an Chinese man hire a Mexican to do difficult and dangerous manual labor.) They whole project is pretty funny, and while it could've dug deeper into the issues of international industry and commerce it still made it's point pretty well. In fact, the best line came from the Joneses, who said they didn't blame China for dangerous products, they blamed the greedy international (often America) companies who move manufacturing there and then don't monitor the safety at their plants. That got a bit of an applause from the San Francisco audience.
Total Running Time: 243 minutes
My Total Minutes: 323,189
Jason goes to Asianfest--Day 9
Okay, my updates are a week late, but CAAMFest ended last Sunday, I've gotten some sleep, and today is a holiday (Good Friday) so it's time for me to finally update my blog.
Last Friday I was delayed at work for way too long and so missed ASTROBOY, but I was there in plenty of time for NICE GIRLS CREW: SEASON 2. I hadn't seen the first season, but it didn't really matter. It's pretty easy to find on Youtube, and pretty easy to get into. Three longtime friends start a book club. They drink, they make fun of each other, they plan their careers, they try to men broken hearts, the...I guess maybe they sometimes read books, but that never really becomes part of the plot. Pretty ridiculous, and very funny.
Last Friday I was delayed at work for way too long and so missed ASTROBOY, but I was there in plenty of time for NICE GIRLS CREW: SEASON 2. I hadn't seen the first season, but it didn't really matter. It's pretty easy to find on Youtube, and pretty easy to get into. Three longtime friends start a book club. They drink, they make fun of each other, they plan their careers, they try to men broken hearts, the...I guess maybe they sometimes read books, but that never really becomes part of the plot. Pretty ridiculous, and very funny.
And then I stayed up for the late show, GRACELAND. Actually, that's not really true, I fell asleep during the late show, GRACELAND. I was awake for enough of the beginning to meet our hero, a chauffeur, and his employer, a corrupt Congressman in the Philippines. And I was awake long enough to see both his daughter and the Congressman's daughter get kidnapped from his car. And then...there's a long blank area with flashes I can't really put together, and an ending which indicated that the hero had been put through the physical and--more importantly--moral wringer. I trust that the parts I missed were well done, tense, dramatic, and exciting. But this is one I need to watch again when I'm well rested.
Total Running Time: 134
My Total Minutes: 322,946
Friday, March 22, 2013
Jason goes to Asianfest--Day 8
Just...need...to...make it through the weekend. Man, this non-stop festival after festival after festival action is kinda killing me. Living off too little sleep and a new, more powerful source of caffeine. Only a few days ago I noticed the warning to limit the use to no more than 10 pieces a day (which I've held to) and no more than 2 pieces in a three hour period (which...I actually looked up the symptoms for caffeine toxicity today and...I need sleep.) This was easier last year when I didn't have that day job getting in my way.
Anyway, my problems aren't yours, let's get back to the movies.
First up I made my way to the Asian Art Museum for DOSA HUNT and the accompanying party. The movie was very funny and might just be the start of a series of culinary adventures (there were rumors of a possible DOSA HUNT 2 set in San Francisco.) First time filmmaker and long time music blogger Amrit Singh gathers his friends--who are all "brown" musical luminaries (Vijay Iyer, members of Das Racist, Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer, Neon Indian, etc. Yeah, I'm kinda cribbing from the program notes and IMDb page, I'm not actually all that up on the music scene these days) and takes them on a quick journey to find the best Dosa in New York (spoiler alert: Dosa Hutt in Queens wins.) But it's not just about the tasty south Indian crepe, it's about the camaraderie and comedy from all these highly charismatic people. As rock stars, it took about a year to get them all in the same place with a free day on their schedule, but once that happened the magic was palpable. I especially liked the joking about rating the dosas on a scale of how many "Bobby Jindals." For the record, the fewer Bobby Jindals the better. At one point there's a debate about the scale--if Bobby Jindals are bad, then shouldn't something good be scored as negative Bobby Jindals? In any case, the winner was scored negative Jindals, 5/5 Ghandis, and I don't remember how many mangoes, etc. But it was funny, I swear.
The event included a reception, admission to the museum (including the Terra Cotta Warriors, which I skipped because I saw them opening night and didn't want to deal with the crowds again), one ticket for a free Sapporo (more beer, wine, or vodka was available for purchase. I stopped myself at the Sapporo and one glass of Merlot), a DJ set before the movie, a performance by Indian Bastards from Hell (former members of Das Racist) and food trucks serving dosa and frozen custard.
It was a lot of fun, and I hope they keep up this mix of movie, music, and food in future years. But it needs to be better organized, managed, and communicated to the fans. Example: the schedule said 6:00, so I busted my ass to get there by 5:45, thinking the movie was starting at 6:00 (and all the other party stuff--music, food, drinks, touring the museum) was after. In fact, the movie didn't start until 7:00 (I don't know if that was the original plan, or if logistics of setting up the equipment just pushed it back.) When I got there, I was given conflicting information about where to get my will-call ticket, and once I got it I got conflicting information on where the screening actually was (I was first told downstairs around the side, then upstairs at the top of the grand staircase.) If I had known that the movie wasn't going to start until 7:00, I would have gotten a dosa at the food truck first. By the time I got to the food--after the movie and chatting with people for about 20 minutes--they were out of potato and I settled for a "dosaritto" wrap instead of an authentic dosa. In fact, I went to the dosa truck right as Indian Bastards from Hell were starting their set, and the line was long enough I pretty much missed them, once I got my food I had to run off to Japantown for another movie there. While in line, I actually talked to the DJ who did the set before the movie, and he remarked how odd it was that everyone was just sitting there like a recital. I told him I think that's because most people thought the movie was supposed to start at 6:00 and they were patiently waiting for that rather than really getting into his music.
Maybe I can't blame CAAM too much for the confusion, but I feel like if I knew when and in what order things were happening (especially movie at 7:00, not 6:00), I would've done it differently. Got a dosa first. Maybe have time to tour the Terra Cotta Warriors again. I certainly wouldn't have been so impatient getting my ticket. Have a leisurely drink and some chocolate (oh yeah, free treats from Jade Chocolates! Yummy!), watch the movie, and actually see some of Indian Bastards set before heading off to Japantown. That would've been the right way to do it, if I knew then what I know know.
Anyway, I made it to the New People cinema in Japantown in plenty of time, in no small part because the show that was originally (in the printed mini-guide) scheduled for 9:20 was actually moved back to 9:45. Made getting there easy, but getting to BART and eventually home afterwards was more stressful, as it didn't get out until about 11:45. Anyway, for this show I will state in advance that I struggled to stay awake, even though it might have been my favorite program of the festival (might have been. Maybe all the parts when I dozed off kinda sucked)
First up was the short SHANGHAI STRANGERS, directed by Joan Chen. Christmas Eve, Shanghai. A brief power outage, a British man and a Chinese woman get to talking. He compliments her child, she reveals something to him that she's never told anyone. But somehow this stranger is just the right person to take her confession.
And then the feature, BEIJING FLICKERS, a funny, violent, sad, and thrilling look at down-and-out young adults in Beijing. San Bao opens the movie by saying his first word in 127 days--"Me." Before that, he hadn't spoken since his girlfriend left him for a rich guy, his dog ran away, he was nearly arrested for punching a guy on a bike who got in the way of his pursuit of his dog, he lost his job, and he lost his home. Yeah, he's not having a very good life. He even tries to end it all, by drinking a lot and then eating the glass he was drinking from. He wakes up in a hospital with a bandaged mouth and a new friend. And he, and more friends, become a new sort of impromptu family that...well, if they don't cheer up San Bao, they at least help him through life until he gets to a non-suicidal point. This is where exhaustion caught up with me, so I don't remember all the details exactly, but most every time I snapped back to consciousness something weird and funny was going on. I really need to watch this again when I'm well rested. Oh yeah, and SPOILER ALERT! his dog eventually comes back to him, so there is a happy ending.
Total Running Time: 139
My Total Minutes: 322,813
Anyway, my problems aren't yours, let's get back to the movies.
First up I made my way to the Asian Art Museum for DOSA HUNT and the accompanying party. The movie was very funny and might just be the start of a series of culinary adventures (there were rumors of a possible DOSA HUNT 2 set in San Francisco.) First time filmmaker and long time music blogger Amrit Singh gathers his friends--who are all "brown" musical luminaries (Vijay Iyer, members of Das Racist, Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer, Neon Indian, etc. Yeah, I'm kinda cribbing from the program notes and IMDb page, I'm not actually all that up on the music scene these days) and takes them on a quick journey to find the best Dosa in New York (spoiler alert: Dosa Hutt in Queens wins.) But it's not just about the tasty south Indian crepe, it's about the camaraderie and comedy from all these highly charismatic people. As rock stars, it took about a year to get them all in the same place with a free day on their schedule, but once that happened the magic was palpable. I especially liked the joking about rating the dosas on a scale of how many "Bobby Jindals." For the record, the fewer Bobby Jindals the better. At one point there's a debate about the scale--if Bobby Jindals are bad, then shouldn't something good be scored as negative Bobby Jindals? In any case, the winner was scored negative Jindals, 5/5 Ghandis, and I don't remember how many mangoes, etc. But it was funny, I swear.
The event included a reception, admission to the museum (including the Terra Cotta Warriors, which I skipped because I saw them opening night and didn't want to deal with the crowds again), one ticket for a free Sapporo (more beer, wine, or vodka was available for purchase. I stopped myself at the Sapporo and one glass of Merlot), a DJ set before the movie, a performance by Indian Bastards from Hell (former members of Das Racist) and food trucks serving dosa and frozen custard.
It was a lot of fun, and I hope they keep up this mix of movie, music, and food in future years. But it needs to be better organized, managed, and communicated to the fans. Example: the schedule said 6:00, so I busted my ass to get there by 5:45, thinking the movie was starting at 6:00 (and all the other party stuff--music, food, drinks, touring the museum) was after. In fact, the movie didn't start until 7:00 (I don't know if that was the original plan, or if logistics of setting up the equipment just pushed it back.) When I got there, I was given conflicting information about where to get my will-call ticket, and once I got it I got conflicting information on where the screening actually was (I was first told downstairs around the side, then upstairs at the top of the grand staircase.) If I had known that the movie wasn't going to start until 7:00, I would have gotten a dosa at the food truck first. By the time I got to the food--after the movie and chatting with people for about 20 minutes--they were out of potato and I settled for a "dosaritto" wrap instead of an authentic dosa. In fact, I went to the dosa truck right as Indian Bastards from Hell were starting their set, and the line was long enough I pretty much missed them, once I got my food I had to run off to Japantown for another movie there. While in line, I actually talked to the DJ who did the set before the movie, and he remarked how odd it was that everyone was just sitting there like a recital. I told him I think that's because most people thought the movie was supposed to start at 6:00 and they were patiently waiting for that rather than really getting into his music.
Maybe I can't blame CAAM too much for the confusion, but I feel like if I knew when and in what order things were happening (especially movie at 7:00, not 6:00), I would've done it differently. Got a dosa first. Maybe have time to tour the Terra Cotta Warriors again. I certainly wouldn't have been so impatient getting my ticket. Have a leisurely drink and some chocolate (oh yeah, free treats from Jade Chocolates! Yummy!), watch the movie, and actually see some of Indian Bastards set before heading off to Japantown. That would've been the right way to do it, if I knew then what I know know.
Anyway, I made it to the New People cinema in Japantown in plenty of time, in no small part because the show that was originally (in the printed mini-guide) scheduled for 9:20 was actually moved back to 9:45. Made getting there easy, but getting to BART and eventually home afterwards was more stressful, as it didn't get out until about 11:45. Anyway, for this show I will state in advance that I struggled to stay awake, even though it might have been my favorite program of the festival (might have been. Maybe all the parts when I dozed off kinda sucked)
First up was the short SHANGHAI STRANGERS, directed by Joan Chen. Christmas Eve, Shanghai. A brief power outage, a British man and a Chinese woman get to talking. He compliments her child, she reveals something to him that she's never told anyone. But somehow this stranger is just the right person to take her confession.
And then the feature, BEIJING FLICKERS, a funny, violent, sad, and thrilling look at down-and-out young adults in Beijing. San Bao opens the movie by saying his first word in 127 days--"Me." Before that, he hadn't spoken since his girlfriend left him for a rich guy, his dog ran away, he was nearly arrested for punching a guy on a bike who got in the way of his pursuit of his dog, he lost his job, and he lost his home. Yeah, he's not having a very good life. He even tries to end it all, by drinking a lot and then eating the glass he was drinking from. He wakes up in a hospital with a bandaged mouth and a new friend. And he, and more friends, become a new sort of impromptu family that...well, if they don't cheer up San Bao, they at least help him through life until he gets to a non-suicidal point. This is where exhaustion caught up with me, so I don't remember all the details exactly, but most every time I snapped back to consciousness something weird and funny was going on. I really need to watch this again when I'm well rested. Oh yeah, and SPOILER ALERT! his dog eventually comes back to him, so there is a happy ending.
Total Running Time: 139
My Total Minutes: 322,813
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