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Separate But Equal (1991)
'John, if this case goes before the Supreme Court. . . I'm gonna need you'
It's the early 1950's, in America. The governor of South Carolina (James Francis Byrnes), in his 70's at the time, pays a visit to his friend, the famous John W. Davis. Davis had argued 138 cases in front of the Supreme Court. Byrnes was turning to him for help.
Byrnes was determined to show that discrimination and segregation of public schools were not the same thing. He wanted black school children to have equal schools. He was ashamed of the terrible condition the black schools were in, in his state of South Carolina. He even levied a three percent sales tax to fund the improvement of black schools. He was prepared to spend 75 million dollars to improve the public schools for black children in his state.
But he knew, that the small case that a few courageous people (Harry Briggs, Reverand J. A. Delaine) had started in Clarendon county, SC, was too big of an issue for his efforts alone. The case was on it's way to the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the NAACP), had become involved. Their head lawyer, Thurgood Marshall had combined this case and 4 other similar cases (from Delaware, Kansas, DC and Virginia) into one called 'Brown v. Board of Education', and made it his mission to strike down segregation in public schools in America.
The great thing about this movie is how it makes each side look respectable. The movie does not make this a 'bad evil white men against poor suffering black people' type of story. But rather, the film, portrays the white men as being highly respected, educated and willing to do the right thing. But at the same time, very concerned and perhaps even afraid of the consequences of their decisions.
I also loved the humor in this film. For example when Byrnes is conversing with Davis and says 'I admit to past sins, our colored schools are a disgrace'. Or when one of the lawyers at the NAACP legal defense fund says about the South Carolina case "If we win this one, we'll only have 11,172 school districts left"
The heart of this film is the uncommon courage of the people. Courage among so many involved. Of course, first from the blacks from those small towns, who risked their jobs and safety, and faced the hate of the Ku Klux Klan, by taking these complaints to their local lawyers. Then, to the NAACP, for climbing this long and expensive uphill battle. But also, to the judges on the Supreme Court, and in particular the Chief Judge Earl Warren.
Warren was quoted as saying 'Everything that I did in life that was worthwhile, I caught hell for'. What a difficult decision, but what a remarkable effort on his part to unite the nine members of the Supreme Court to conclude the case with a unanimous decision to end segregation in public schools in America.
It took a lot of brave people on both sides, to end separation of black and white school children in public schools. Perhaps Thurgood Marshall summed it up best, when he mocked the thinking of people in the south by saying 'you can have them attending the same State Universities and Graduate schools, but if they attend the same elementary and high schools together, the world would fall apart.'
A wonderful treasured movie. Must see for all.
Dream Scenario (2023)
Worse than Leaving Las Vegas
I always thought that Nicholas Cage was highly over-rated and just a product of nepotism (Coppola family).
Also I always felt that his Oscar win for Leaving Las Vegas was because of nepotism since that move was just terrible.
Well . . .
Leaving Las Vegas is a masterpiece compared to this ridiculous nonsense called 'Dream Scenario'.
Hollywood is making the worst movies these past few years, and I am confused as to why?
What happened?
Usually it is because of affirmative action, diversity, political correctness etc.
But this movie does not have any of that, so then what was the reason this project was even made?
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Hollywood is finished
I am Asian, I live in Asia and this is my honest review. My first movie review.
In 2022, AMPAS (the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences) made Janet Yang their new president. A Chinese-American woman with big pull in the Asian cinema market.
In discussion with the thirty (30) member executive committee of AMPAS, she decided to have a big Asian diversity year for AMPAS at the 2023 Oscars. Yes folks, it is these thirty people who basically decide who will get Oscar nominations.
They searched and found one American made movie with a large Asian cast, a movie called 'Everything, Everywhere, All At Once'. They immediately jumped on it and nominated it for a record eleven Academy Awards. Basically everyone in the film, (except the janitor) is nominated. All nominations are solely to promote this Asian affirmative action agenda. In addition, AMPAS (and Hollywood) are desperately trying push the gay/lesbian lifestyle onto Asian families. I promise you that this will never work and will backfire drastically.
The Cast:
Michelle Yeoh - a 60 year old Malaysian actress who was in the movie 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' back in 1999 and since then has done almost nothing. She was essentially handed an Academy Award this year.
Ke Huy Quan - A Vietnamese-American who was in one movie about 35 years ago, back in this disaster. He has been given virtually every award under the sun for this role.
Stephanie Hsu - A Chinese-American in her first movie, plays the role of an overweight lesbian and for it has been handed every award under the sun.
Jamie Lee Curtis - remember her from 'Trading Places' and 'A Fish Called Wanda' etc? Well she plays the role of an overweight lesbian and has received every nomination under the sun.
None of the above four do anything in the film that is deserving of recognition. Nothing.
The Film:
A thoroughly confusing, badly acted, terribly scripted set of scenes, that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. The movie is like watching a video game that you can't follow.
It is basically about an Asian couple and their lesbian daughter, who work in a dry cleaning store and . . . There is some martial arts . . . And well, that is about it. Oh yeah there is some martial arts again.
The movie was the worst I have ever seen with an Asian cast and to be honest it is actually quite insulting that AMPAS would choose this garbage to disingenuously praise Asians. We are not that stupid and we are also not that desperate.
For those of you who are interested in Asian movies and Asian culture, here are a few great movies I recommend:
Not One Less (1999), China
Lust, Caution (2007), China
Audition (1999), Japan
Three Idiots (2009), India
There are many others, but sadly EEAAO is not one of them.
In conclusion, this was a tragic case of affirmative action gone wrong. Asians make great films in Asia, but putting them in some ridiculous Hollywood nonsense, giving them one thousand awards and fake praise all over the internet is not the way to open doors of opportunity for anyone. It just causes embarrassment for us, resentment for others and makes us Asians look like we are a charity case. Which we definitely are not.
Destination Wedding (2018)
North Korea style torture.
If you want to painfully torture someone to the point where they age for mercy, make them watch this film.
The screenplay is non-existent. The acting is embarrassingly bad.
They spent 5 (five) million dollars to make this film. Really? It could have been made with an iPhone and a crew of four people.
It is one of those films that is so bad, that it is actually worth watching. Just to see how bad a movie can be.
The Pianist (2002)
One of my all time favourite movies
My girlfriend recently asked me to give her. List of my favourite 15 movies of all time. So I did, this film was one of them.
It is a true story about a Jewish pianist who struggles to survive over a six year period (1939-1945) during the Holocaust in Poland.
Three of those years he forced to live in a ghetto, then the final two years has goes into hiding as the remaining Jewish population is being forced to go to extermination camps.
He survives because of the generosity of some trusted non-Jewish friends as they bring him food and medical care.
When I look at my list, it is filled with stories about absolute tragedies such as Room with Brie Larson, Theory of Everything with Eddie Redmayne, La Vie en Rose with Marion Cotillard. Perhaps those stories inspire me the most.
Regardless, this is a great film, it deserves your attention.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
OMG the most boring movie of all time.
I saw the Academy Award nominations and I like to watch as many of the nominated movies as I can, so I watched this film. I also read on rotten tomatoes that this film has a 95% rating / approval rate.
Well, I patiently watched for 46 minutes and then I couldn't take it anymore. My girlfriend fell asleep and I don't blame her.
I then forced myself to finish the movie and it was the most boring, painful and confusing and disappointing experience I have had in my entire life and I have seen 700 movies since I was a boy.
The world has simply gone crazy with these ridiculous nominations and critic reviews. It reminds me of a few years ago when that horrible movie 'Moonlight' was praised and awarded endlessly . . . All because of political correctness.
There are some excellent movies released in recent years like: King Richard, I Care A Lot, Knives Out, CODA (wonderful movie), Sound of Metal.
. . . sadly this is not one of them.
Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Inaccurate nonsense
People in Asia are poor! I know because I live here.
This movie is about one man who lives in Singapore. Who (interestingly) they never show. They just show his wife and adult son.
So the movie should have been called Crazy Rich Singaporean Man.
The other 4.5 billion people who live in Asia are dirt poor.
Horrible film with a useless screenplay, embarrassing bad acting and completely inaccurate representation on life in Asia.
The Irishman (2019)
Shot in the head 6 times in 1980 . . .
This is a difficult movie to review.
On one hand, actors like Robert Deniro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino are legends and it was wonderful to see them again, this time together in a film.
On the other hand the movie has no real plot and we are left to wonder and guess as to what exactly is going on?
The movie is very long, I had to watch it over two days (2 hours the first day, 1.5 hours the next day).
So to summarize it: when you finish the movie, it is hard to give a detailed explanation regarding what exactly the movie was about.
. . . and that is the fundamental flaw in the film.
Not to mention that Frank Sheeran, in real life, did not kill Jimmy Hoffa.
Knives Out (2019)
Oscar nomination for Ana de Armas, please.
Wether it is for leading role or supporting role, please give an Oscar nomination to Ana de Armas.
I have seen her before in films, like War Dogs and this is the performance of her career.
The Golden Globe voting is happening right now, so there is a good chance for her. Also considering that there is a strong push for diversity among the nominations, her Cuban background should help.
Excellent screenplay, producing and directing by Rian Johnson. Silver Spring, Maryland has produced some great people.
Excellent acting by al truly all-star cast: Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette and others.
But . . . please give some consideration to Ana de Armas for a well deserved nomination. it is my humble request.
Se, jie (2007)
A Masterpiece
I have a poster of this film, framed in my condo. I am not Chinese and I don't live in China. I also don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese.
But this film is so memorable that I wanted to have it on my wall.
The film was inspired by the true story of a Chinese spy named Zheng Pingru, who attempted to assassinate a Japanese man named Ding Mocun. During the Japanese occupation of China, he was a member of the secret police.
In the film Tang Wei plays the lead role remarkably well. It is a very intelligent screenplay and will take some careful focus to understand. But well worth seeing for sure.
Wine Country (2019)
Legendary in its badness
Once in a while I will see a film that is so bad, so boring and so poorly made, that it actually is legendary in its badness. This is such a film.
It will surely end up in the worst movies of the decade list along with 'Saw 3D', 'Mall Cop 2', 'The Last Airbender', 'Jack and Jill', 'Movie 43' and some others that resulted in hours of torture for me.
But because it was only released on Netflix, not in the theatres, most of you will be saved from wasting your money on this disaster.