Change Your Image
victoriasong
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Nothing Is Private (2007)
Make Room for Daddy
Portrayals of Lebanese Americans are rare in film. The most recent I can think of was the old Danny Thomas show that ended in 1965. The only "ethnic" character was Danny's Uncle Tonoose (Hans Conreid) whose heavy accent and "foreignness" was played for laughs and who popularized the phrase "strong, like bull." Those were far gentler times and the stereotypes have gotten meaner in Alan Ball's retitled "Towelhead."
Rifat Maroun(Peter Macdissi) has a melodious voice and an effete manner that can't disguise the fact that he's a brute who routinely beats his thirteen year old daughter. (we know that he must be an Arab because he does this to uphold "honor") He also proves to be a bigot who openly disrespects African Americans and a Muslim hypocrite who drinks liquor with his American girlfriend.
Late in the film and this does reveal a plot point, the daughter Jasira is being protected from her maniac of a dad in the house of her New Age neighbors, played by Toni Collette and Matt Letscher. Gil (Letscher) was in the foreign service and is able to put the Lebanese Rifat in his place in Arabic. The calm and clear-headed Gil is thus revealed to be that throwback to the frontiersman, "the man who knows Indians," who can beat the savages at their own game.
Year of the Fish (2007)
Something Fishy
Remember the bad old days, before Asian American cinema, when we had to rely on Hollywood hacks to tell our stories, those bleak, desperate times? Well, they're back. (Not that Wayne Wang could've done any better with this thing) The rotoscope effect, fairly well done, is good at obscuring the parade of ridiculous stereotypes and clichés. This a rare chance for Asian American talent to flex their acting chops a bit though to what end? Tsai Chin, who used to play the Oriental sex kitten parts back in the 60's is effective as the impossibly heartless madam at the massage parlor where the lead character (An Nguyen) finds herself. This entire sequence of events seems like a direct steal from the 1950 Mexican melodrama Aventurera, also depicting a trapped innocent in the big city.
In a variation on the fairy tale, this Cinderella has a mean "me-love you-long-time" massage sister and one nice one (played by the lovely Corrine Hong Yu) who eventually helps save the day. Rounding out the cast is Ken Leung as Johnny, an assimilated Chinese American with an engaging East Coast vibe.(Sammy Fong redux?) Oh, yeah, he just happens to play the accordion like Astor Piazzolla. What's not to like?
In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007)
Let Us Now Hate Asian Women
There's a lot to like here. Overall, its a charming film, beautifully shot in black and white. Writer/director Alan Holdridge brings out the best in a talented cast. Downtown L.A., of all places, has never looked more romantic. There are plenty of nice local touches,including a look inside the old Orpheum movie palace and photos from thelostshoeproject.com.
After getting caught up in Wilson and Vivian's perilous New Year's Eve quest, I teared up a bit with relief hearing the familiar voice of KCRW's Nic Harcourt on the countdown to Midnight. It felt like we'd made it home.
My complaints involve the the supporting characters. The roommate Jacob is an overbearing Vince Vaughn type whose crude/racist humor is funny for a minute but winds up being merely annoying. I suppose the point of Jacob is to make sensitive guy Wilson look even better by comparison. There's also a dragged out subplot involving Vivian's Ex that comes across like a Coen Brother's rip-off and doesn't really fit the tone of the rest of the film.
The other roommate Min is first seen as the object of Wilson's onanistic longing in a bit that starts the film. She is later shown to be promiscuous and manipulative. What could be better than to make said object want you, then shoot her down? There's also a joke about Asians wanting to be impregnated to achieve immigration status. This seems to be part of a larger trend in the Indie film world, an unfortunate cocktail of lust and scorn regarding Asian women. There's similar going-ons in the mumblecore epic "Mutual Appreciation" where the aspiring indie rocker spends the film fending off the advances of the pretty but too aggressive Asian female dj. I suppose that whiteboy crazy Asian girls do exist in life and I wouldn't want to deprive these deserving actresses of screen time and paychecks but still?
Six Sex Scenes and a Murder (2008)
Nick at Night
As a former habitué of the San Francisco club scene, I've known a few strippers, bouncers and club owners over the years. I can attest that director Julie Rubio succeeds in capturing both the flamboyant excess and the shallowness.
Look elsewhere for the grit of "Mean Streets." This is an Underworld after a Guiliani-style clean-up. The sharp suits and slinky skirts of the noir era merge with cell phones and shiny, new cars.
The actresses, varying degrees of hot, are convincing as burlesque dancers. Richard Anthony Crenna as Nick, the conflicted hood at the center of the film, could be an inheritor of the type of role that Keith Carradine excelled at with writer/director Alan Rudolph, the decent guy battling serpentine urges.
Viewers who enjoy Abel Ferrara's "Go Go Tales," set in a New York City strip club, should investigate "Six Sex Scenes and a Murder" to see what the West Coast has to offer.
The Grand Inquisitor (2008)
Swing Out Karamazov Sisters
"No One...BUT NO ONE... Will Be Admitted After The Start of Each Performance." Viewers should take Hitchcock's "Psycho" warning to heart and see this 22 minute shocker from the beginning.
Adapted by director Eddie Muller from his short story of the same name, "The Grand Inquisitor," with its twists and turns, fits squarely in the tradition of master storytellers Poe and de Maupassant.
Jonathan Marlowe's cinematography looks like a million "technicolor-on-a-budget" bucks. From the jet black of Leah Dashe's bobbed hair, the vivid pink, white, lavender and yellow of her outfit to the blood red stripe that runs along Marsha Hunt's blouse, the colors tell a story of their own.
Our tale begins with a young woman knocking on the door of an elderly homeowner. She's the ultimate mix and match Vintage Girl: vintage hair, vintage clothes and vintage name, Lulu. The older woman, Hazel, invites her in. Empty liquor bottles are stacked everywhere. Like in a nightmare, there's incessant background noise from a TV or radio.
Hazel searches for the name of the actress who popularized Lulu's hairstyle. "That's a beautiful dress" says Hazel, the 40's style evoking other memories. Is this a long, lost granddaughter or a ghost from her past?
Recycle (2007)
Cardboard and Camel's milk
Like a bit player who never quite made the big time, Abu Ammar, a former mujahadeen, lives in the shadow of his Zarqa, Jordan homeboy, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. While the superstar terrorist is busy making international headlines, part-time Islamic scholar Ammar spends his days in an endless search for rusted parts for his barely running pick-up, cardboard for the recycling plant and camel's milk for its supposed healing properties.
A well crafted film, directed with a deft touch by Mahmoud Al Massad, it's serious in tone but filled with surprising humor. Dhafer Youseef's lyrical score gets to the heart of a reserved, complicated man.
San Francisco International Film Festival, May 2008.