Movie Reviews - General
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November 13, 2005 at 4:46 am #3838
Rob_Hugo@PortNW
KeymasterSaving Face
This comical, yet insightful movie is currently (11/05) a new release and, therefore, pertinent to modern culture. It made for an entertaining evening, while still packing a punch with issues that face not only Asian Americans but heterogeneous Americans at large.
Saving Face tackles the issue of a 48 year old, who is already a mother of a surgeon, becoming pregnant while unmarried. But, that's not all! It also addresses some of the tensions between older generations of Asian immigrants and their children and grandchildren (1st & 2nd generation American born Asians). Some issues include: the expectation of marriage at a certain age, children at a certain age, the betrothal to someone of caliber (i.e. a doctor), the priority of finding a good man to be a provider over finding true love, the importance of marrying within the culture and maintaining traditions.
And, if this isn't enough, they also throw in the precarious issue of being gay in America and in an ethnic group. While the amount of issues this movie tries to address is border-line Spike Lee, it actually succeeds on a level that some of Lee's do not (I recognize this is arguable). Saving Face is actually a sweet and entertaining narrative that elicits your engagement in the characters and leaves you pondering the differences and sameness within us all.
November 13, 2005 at 4:57 am #21573Anonymous
GuestMargaret Cho-Assassin
Ok, ok, this video is DEFINITELY not for the classroom. But, I grabbed it as a fun view... even if it's not exactly Asian oriented.
If you don't know Margaret Cho, I'd recommend viewing one of her previous shows. "I'm the One That I Want" is hilarious. This video, "Assassins," isn't as funny as her former comedy sketches. True to form, she's politically and culturally incindiary - and that's by admission, but I feel that her previous shows are actually more insightful as social commentaries.
If you DO know Margaret Cho, then you know what to expect with her newest release. She doesn't tie in many multi-ethnic insights/differences in this show. What she focuses on are current political, feminist, and social issues. She wonders why the day after pill has been so restricted while viagra is running rampant. She compares it to dodging bullets instead of keeping the bullets out of the gun. She discusses fear as a motivator, especially in the media and advertising industries. And, she takes high and low punches - of course - at the current political administration.
That's my review... take it or leave it!
February 26, 2006 at 10:20 am #21574GuestDear Movie Reviewers,
Does anyone know abut the Japanese original "Seven Samurai?" It happens to be one of my favorite movies. I'm just wondering if it is an appropriate movie to show in my 7th grade class. I know that the rating should be OK, but I'm not certain if the students would understand the context of the samurai era in Japan, and if they would connect themselves with the setting and the plot. If they would, I truly love to introduce it to my classes. Thanks for reading. S.P
March 6, 2006 at 3:28 pm #21575GuestI watched an unusual Japanese movie (on DVD) that would be appropriate to show in the classroom. The Twilight Samurai (director: Yoji Yamada; actor: Hiroyuki Sanada) is about a member of the Samurai warrior class who is married, has two daughters, and prefers to take care of his family rather than fight. All the other men make fun of him -- he goes home directly after work and doesn't go to the bars, thus they nick-name hime "Twilight."
The story takes place in the mid 1800's, so you see much of the culture and history of the period. Other Samurai tell him about the unattached samurai running loose in Edo, they talk about the end of the samurai warrior, and his leader dies which causes fighting amongst the clans for power.
On the family front, you see the normal workings of a home, the way the young show respect to their elders, the position of women in society, and the treatment of the main character's mother who is suffering from Alzheimers. And, since the main character is on a fixed income as a clerk in the clan's warehouse, you see how difficult it was to subsist during this period. It was interesting to see that everyone knew how much each worker made, and that the challenges of raising a family never change. One of my favorite "moments" was when the older sister (age 8-10) gave the 5 -year-old money and told her to go buy tofu. The village was small, everyone knew each other, and the community was evidentally safe enough to send a child to a market. Some things have changed!
There are only two brief fighting scenes, and the main character gets involved against his will. In fact, in both fights he tries to convince his combatant to walk away peacefully. The movie could have been called The Reluctant Samurai.
The movie is very well done, the acting is strong, and the main character is a appealing, moral character. I recommend this movie.
CourtneyMarch 8, 2006 at 12:15 pm #21576GuestI watched the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha." While it is visually beautiful, I felt the story lacked an insider's view of the life of a real Geisha. The main characters training montage seemed only a matter of months, and very limited in information. The film seemed to be a generic romance which could fit into most genre; this just happened to use the geisha vehicle. The story plot fit the novel, but did not delve into the intensive study and training of the arts a geisha must become an expert at. The film characters repeatedly mentioned the sacrafices a geisha must make, yet the film did not make it clear as to what those heavy responsibilities and sacrafices were. The only insight the viewer had into the true life of a geisha was in the very brief and fleeting training montage, otherwise the film was the run of the mill romance/drama.
March 24, 2006 at 10:47 am #21577GuestCourtney,
Thank you for the suggestion as well as the review about "The Twilight Samurai." I got curious about it and would like to view before I introduce it to my class. Where do you suggest for me to find the video? I know that Hollywood video and the Blockbuster hardly have good foreign videos.
S. PadillaMay 11, 2006 at 11:20 am #21578GuestI recently went to the movies and saw the Chinese fable titled, The Promise. I don't know if this is a real Chinese fable. The review I read said it was. If it is or isn't is beside the point. I don't know if middle school classroom could use it, but high school definitely could.
It was reminiscent of the Hero and Crouching Tiger visual effects. The movie itself was probably produced on a cheaper budget, some of the visual effects looked a little cheap, but the ideas and images were beautiful.
The movie begins with a young girl looking for food amongst an army of dead soldiers. The girl steals food from a dead man only to be caught by a young prince. In exchange for the food the girl promises that she will be his slave forever. The girl runs and meets the Goddess Manchen(I think) who tells the girl that she can choose beauty and power in exchange for giving up love. She agrees.
I won't tell anymore of the movie. I will say however, it is a heartwrenching tale of mistaken identity, destiny, and the hand of fate. How much control over our fate do we really have? Do we accept our fate, or like the slave Hunlun, do we traverse the very fabric of time in order to find the one we love and find out our past? I recommend it. Some of the fight scenes were a little campy, but the fantasy element was very enjoyable. It had many of the elements of a fairy tale/fable so you could use it in Lang Arts when you cover the elements of fiction. The archetypes in the movie match those in most fairy tales.
June 27, 2007 at 1:36 am #21579GuestSee attachment
July 9, 2007 at 10:35 am #21580GuestIn response to "Seven Samurai" posted by vbautista -
I have watched the movie and it is - as you said - rather long but it does lay out the relations between the samurais and the peasants. A good parallel to this film is the Hollywood film 'The Magnificent Seven' and an appropriate lesson plan can be a comparision (or a venn diagram) between the two movies. Kurosawa's "Seven Samurais' gives a far deeper potrayal of the relationship between the warriors and the peasant class.
I have not shown the whole movie to my class; I prefer to show 'Chusingura' (with English sub-titles) instead as it is based on a true story. 'Chusingura' is in color and depicts the power struggles and conspiracies that took place in Japan, authentic costumes of the period, in addition to bringing forward the idea of 'aware' (awaray) in Japanese culture. Toshiro Mifune (Kikuchiyo in 'Seven Samurais) has a cameo appearance in this movie.December 27, 2007 at 8:09 am #21581GuestYou might consider using this film in comparison/contrast with "The Magnificent Seven", the classic version starring a host of well known stars. The cultural differences would be good discussion points as the plot remains the same in both versions. 😀
December 29, 2007 at 11:38 am #21582GuestThe Seven Samurai is one of my all-time favorite Japanese samurai movies. I grew up watching that and many others like it. A few years ago, I tried to get my two teenage sons to watch the movie but after watching it for a short while, they were not interested. It was a black and white version (I don't know if it has been made into color) but they are too spoiled with all the high tech special effects that they are so used to in movies these days. I'm not sure about showing it to a young audience: the Japanese samurai movies are pretty violent (heads sliced off; blood squirting from arms that are cut off) and some of the scenes with women are pretty risque (although I don't think the Seven Samurai has those scenes--can't remember). I know that the Magnificent Seven was based on the Seven Samurai (or was it the other way around), so if anything, maybe a comparison of the two by more mature students.
December 29, 2007 at 11:47 am #21583GuestI haven't seen the movie, but I know that the person who was a consultant for the Japanese dancing made suggestions and recommendations that were not considered because the director wanted a more Hollywoodized version that would appeal to the general public. Too authentic wouldn't cut it. Even the way the actress was dressed in her kimono was not authentic. She was dressed to have more sex appeal (the collar of the kimono was too lose around her neck, etc.). Her dance movements were appalling when viewed by Japanese dance teachers, but they were certainly sensual. So, when you see the movie, take these into consideration.
December 30, 2007 at 8:50 am #21584Guestanother film that shows women as heroes is
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS:The first actress is Zhang Ziyi. In the fil she is "Mei", a young woman who pretends to be blind, although she impresses people by dancing and fighting even better than the men, many still believed she was blind. In the movie she is able to trick everyone, but little by little she falls in love with the “enemy”.
The images that are shown during her dance at the beginning of the film, along with the special effects and slow motion, are breathtaking, as well as it is when she fights and the daggers travel though the air never missing the targets. There is a scene in which you can see what a real bamboo jungle looks like. I saw the movie a while ago, I need to see it again.
There are some cool images of the film at
http://csc.ziyi.org/filmography/flyingdaggers/to hear some music from the film go to:
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=827969356128&z=yalso
December 31, 2007 at 11:28 am #21585GuestHave you shown this movie to your students? It is a rather long movie - if you did show it to your students, did you show all of it or just clips? Did you assign any video questins based on the movie?
January 2, 2008 at 1:55 pm #21586GuestKung Fu Hustle
Okay, I might be really off topic here, but this comedy set in 1940's China is about a young man who wants to join a notorious gang of mobsters but ends up facing unlikely opponents in a housing project. It is not for the classroom, but is good for laugh. Steven Chow wrote, directed and stared in the movie. Look for Kung Fu Hustle 2 later this year! I can't wait! -
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