YNOT at the Movies

Yu Shou-heng (余守恒) is a hyper active boy who always caused trouble. His teacher pairs him with Kang Zheng-xing (康正行) hoping that he will get some positive influence from Kang Zheng-xing. They grow up together as best friends like shadow to each other, all the way through high school and into college. Gradually, Kang Zheng-xing's feeling for Yu Shou-heng goes beyond friendship, he has to hide his crush toward Yu Shou-heng. Meanwhile, Yu Shou-heng keeps his secret from Kang Zheng-xing as well for dating Hui-jia (惠嘉), a girl who used to date Kang Zheng-xing.

Confused with who is whom? Indeed. I had a hard time to remember who is Yu Shou-heng and who is Kang Zheng-xing when I was watching the film. The actors even sound similar so when a name is called, I don't even know who is calling whom. I would definitely change their names if I first read the script.

I believe many people, including myself, can identify with Kang Zheng-xing. We all fall in love with somebody at some point that we know we shouldn't. That hurts, a lot. But we can't do anything about it, except to endure the emotional torture of longing and disappointing.

Bryant Chang (张睿家) is fantastic playing the reserved Kang Zheng-xing. His expressive performance earned him the honor as the "Best New Performer" at the 43rd Golden Horse Award.

However, the real weakest link of this film is the plot. I think some changes in the adaptation from the original novel contribute to the flaws in the story and these characters.

"Eternal Summer" is directed and produced by a young Taiwanese filmmaker Chen Leste (陈正道), who will be 26 years old on March 3 this week. Hopefully this film's success at the box office will pave the road for him to maker more impressive and better work. I wish he had a better script before he shoot this one.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

Oscar nominated documentary "Jesus Camp" is probably the most disturbing horror film I have seen that is not in the horror genre.

This documentary follows children at an evangelical Christian summer camp called "Kids on Fire." The camp is run by a pastor Becky Fischer, who understands extremely well that children are best to be indoctrinated (read: messed up) when they are 6 or 7 years old. So that's exactly she and her organization is doing. They run this camp to train future Christian foot soldiers, to take over America, and to do whatever they want, all in Jesus's name.

Witness how these kids are messed up is frightening. 75% of the evangelical children are home schooled. What were they taught at home by these Christian parents? Well, statements like "science doesn't prove anything," or "only 6 degree warmer is not global warming."

What's more chilling to see how a child is brainwashed like in this film?

While watching the film, I am absolutely horrified, because I am reminded by Hilter's Youth during World War II and Red Guards (红卫兵) during the Cultural Revolution in China. Now, we see Kids on Fire.

The only funny moment during the film is when the former evangelical preacher Ted Haggard said to the camera: "I know what you did last night!"

Indeed.

I surely hope this film will win the Oscar on Sunday for best documentary. I think it will.

My rating: 9 out of 10.

"Exiled" ("放逐") is a new film from the famous Hong Kong director Johnnie To (杜琪峰) who made many blockbusters.

Set in Macau in 1998, every gangster is trying to scoop as much money as they can before Macau is returned to China. But Wo wants to settle down with his wife and his new born son. So the mafia head sends Wo's old associates to take this renegade Wo out. It won't be that easy, since Wo's other old friends also come and do everything they can to protect Wo.

Director To is a master on creating visually rich scenes even in the most ridiculous plot and in the most unusual setting. Sometimes, even it's totally unrealistic on the screen, but I am still wowed by what I am seeing and appreciate the imagination and the creativity of the director.

After a gun fight at an apartment, the place is still tidy and neat than my apartment. I still vividly remember the waving curtains during a shoot out among the gangsters. It's very operatic and poetic. I never thought I would use those two words to describe an violent act. It's really pretty.

This is an entertaining film, with many comic moments. I doubt that anybody will find any inspiration or deep thought from this film, but a good time by all is almost guaranteed.

"Exiled" will be shown at the upcoming SFIAAFF.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

I watched a Korean queer drama called "No Regret" ("후회하지 않아"). It's probably the first Korean film I have seen that exclusively focuses on gay relationship and romance. No, "The King and the Clown" ("왕의 남자") doesn't count.

However, this film doesn't hold up the hype.

In "No Regret," Su-min comes from an orphanage home and tries to survive juggling between jobs and school in Seoul. On the job, he meets a rich guy Jae-min who becomes obsessed with Su-min. But Su-min resents Jae-min's affection and took a job at a local gay brothel being a prostitute. Jae-min won't give up and follow Su-min around until they become love birds on the big screen.

Will they live happily ever after? Of course not! This is not giving you out any spoiler. Remember? This is a Korean drama! So the film goes on to add some twists and crises of their relationship to the story.

But, they just don't add up. Although the actors are quite pleasing on the (gay) eyes, the characters are all single dimensional and viewers will remember their cute faces more than their stories.

The film doesn't really explain why Su-min suddenly changes his heart and takes Jae-min in after his long stubborn refusal. Then Jae-min's behavior seems equally incomprehensible when he is under pressure from his family to get married. The characters in this film are not as innocent as in "Formula 17" ("17 歲的天空"), but just like "Formula 17," they need a dose of intelligence.

That being sad, I still enjoy the sweetness and charm of this film. It's important to see a queer themed film from South Korea to say the least. This film will be perfect for Frameline, and I bet every dollar to claim that it will be included in June at the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

At the screening of "Dark Matter," I got another screening pass for tonight at Metreon. So I decided to skip the screening of "Color Me Kubrick" that I originally planned to go, and went to the new spy movie "Breach" instead.

"Breach" is also based on a true story. Ryan Phillippe plays a junior FBI who is sent to a FBI agent Robert Hanssen's office. FBI is trying to catch Robert Hanssen (played by Chris Cooper) in the act of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia.

This film is totally engaging and brilliant, perhaps because it portraits really smart people. Everything is very believable, hence the film is thrilling from time to time. It's fascinating to see how they play psychological mind games and try to outsmart each other.

Laura Linney, Ryan Phillippe, and especially Chris Cooper all hit the right notes in this film to create memorable characters. With a great story plus the excellent performance, what do we get? A great spy film!

My rating: 9 out of 10.

I took the morning off to attend the press conference announcing the lineup of the 25th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF). From 19 countries, there will have 125 films and videos, 41 feature narratives, 14 feature documentaries, 68 shorts, 15 world premieres, and one fantabulous film festival.

I am even more excited this year besides the film lineup because I am actively involved with this year's festival as a member of the feature screening committee. I am so happy that I am able to contribute to the festival personally. It's extremely gratifying. I am really grateful for Center for Asian American Media giving me the opportunity to serve. Alright, Oscar is still a week away, so I will stop here.

After the press conference, we screened the closing night film "Dark Matter" ("流星"), staring Liu Ye (刘烨) and Meryl Streep.

Based on a true event, it tells a compelling story about a bright young graduate student Liu Xing, played by Liu Ye. Liu Xing comes to the US from China to study physics in a university. He believes that America is the land where his talent can be recognized, his dream can be realized, and his scientific ideas can be explored. However, not only he has to struggle to adapt to the reality due to culture clashes, he also has to make sense of the academic world when he conducts his research on "dark matter."

Perhaps due to the director Chen Shi-zheng (陈士爭) is an opera director, the music selections in this film really stand out to me. They are deeply moving and very effective on building up the emotion and add more layers to the story. They also bring nostalgia of the 90s for newly arrived Chinese students in the US.

Besides Meryl Streep always being terrific, the performance from those supporting actors who play Chinese students are very impressive. They vividly portrait those young student's experience living in a culture shock environment.

However, it seems to me that the writer of the film is not very familiar with the scientific subject, in this case, the physics. The dialogue on those subject is very odd. And it will never happen in any department in a university to have a professor arguing with a secretary about a student's academic study.

Also, I don't get the metaphor of the four out of the five elements (wood 木, fire 火, earth 土, metal 金, and water 水) used in the film, with fire (火) is missing. I will have to save that for the Q&A during the festival.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

This film is also very interesting to me on another personal level. I was actually just 1 hour and half away (driving) when the actual event happened in 1991 (do NOT click on that link BEFORE seeing the movie, because it will contain spoiler). Years later, that event has not been forgotten.

Staying up late, I watched the bloody action Korean flick "Shiri" ("쉬리") by director Kang Je-gyu (姜帝圭), who made "Taegukgi: The Brotherhood of War" (太極旗 휘날리며).

In "Shiri," Ryu and Lee are partners as South Korean special agents. They are hunting down the North Korea's 8th Special Forces who gets a hold of the powerful newly developed weapon called CTX, which can blew up the entire Seoul.

If there were no subtitle and if the film were cast with big American stars, this movie might have been just like a typical blockbuster Hollywood action flick. There are a lot shooting, killing, car chasing, and of course, explosions.

However, besides it's a Korean production, there is little something else that makes this film different from a typical Hollywood production: an intriguing plot.

I am not trying to outsmart director Kang Je-gyu, but at the very beginning of the film, I predicted the biggest secret of this film, which of course I am not gonna say what it is here. How? Perhaps because without strong characters, a simple plot hardly interests me any more. With a high expectation, I was hoping to have some twists in the film, and I got it just as I imagined. Not too bad at all as action is really the focal point of this film.

I definitely enjoy seeing how these characters react to the life and death situations involving their relationships, much more than how gloriously a building is blown up.

I think it's probably a human instinct to enjoy seeing something gets blew up. Don't we light up fireworks in just about every corner in this world on New Year's Eve? Isn't a big news on TV whenever an big structure is demolished? Everybody gets so excited seeing those. I can't explain.

Let's just hope that Hollywood won't remake this film someday. There are enough stuff blew up already in this movie.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Tonight, I finished a Korean film "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" ("친절한 금자씨") by director Park Chan-wook (朴贊郁) who also made the fantastic "Oldboy" (올드보이). But it becomes so insignificant in comparison with "Oldboy."

Perhaps my expectation is too high, I am very disappointed with this last installment of director's vengeance trilogy.

In "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance," Lee Guem-ja was jailed for kidnapping and killing a six years old boy. During her prison time, she becomes well liked and builds an ally with fellow inmates. Upon her release thirteen years later, she begins her revenge on the guy who is responsible for her ordeals.

In "Oldboy," I experience the rage of the character and feel sympathy during each step of his actions. But not for this lady in "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance." I absolutely feel detached emotionally to this Guem-ja character. Instead, while watching the film, I am waiting to see what other bizarre things might happen next. I feel like passing by a bad car accident on a highway. The horrible scene is quickly forgotten without making any sense. Not that I try to.

The plot is quite confusing. To me, the reason for some subplots to exist is more for shocking value rather than for building film's characters. For example, those prison lesbian comic moments are tasteless to me and I don't think they are funny.

Despite the rich visual, the story doesn't add up. And worse, it gets lost in the style.

My rating: 4 out of 10.

I went to a pre-screening of "The Situation," which will open on March 30.

As far as I can remember, this is probably the first fiction drama set in Iraq during this on-going Iraq war. However, I probably get more out of a film if I watch a documentary about Iraq, in case I don't feel like I have seen enough already.

Anna Molyneux is an American journalist working in Iraq. One night, US soldiers threw two Iraq teenagers into a river after curfew causing one of them drowned. She begins to investigate this story. Meanwhile, her American intelligent officer boyfriend tries to push his big ideas into his operation. That of course goes no where. Not enough drama yet? What about let her get her feeling somewhat involved with an Iraq photographer journalist? Now we have a war time love triangle.

That probably sets the tone for this film to fail. I am so bored by the film. These characters are so weak and fake to me. When I look at the screen, they don't even look smart enough to convey some ideas about this war in Iraq or to make a political statement. The film lacks of intelligence.

The weirdest moment of the film is when Anna is having sex with her boyfriend in an Iraq hotel, when the gunfire sounds like popcorn outside the window. I wonder if that can be classified as kinky.

My rating: 3 out of 10.

"An Unreasonable Man" takes a closer look at consumer advocate and presidential candidate Ralph Nader's life.

This film is thought provoking and incredibly engaging dealing with a very complex subject. How many Americans know Ralph Nader is instrumental for legislations including seat belts, airbags, product labeling, nuclear safety, and even free airline tickets for overbooked flights? But he probably is forever remembered as a pariah who is responsible for Bush's win over Gore in 2000 presidential election.

I thought so too. However, this film changed my view. Now I see Nader as an outstanding private citizen. He is a great American who shows dignity and integrity. He stands up firmly for what he believes in and fights for the average Americans against big corporations and giant political machines. He sets an example for what we can do to make a difference, and he has been making a tremendous difference through his life long dedicated and passionate work.

I think Nader should have been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for what has done to our society instead of Al Gore.

I wonder what an outcome would be if this film was made before the 2000 election. This film should be watched by all the Democrat presidential candidates for 2008. Hillary, I will buy you a ticket to see this film, as my contribution to your election. This film opens on March 9.

My rating: 9 out of 10.

"Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" tells a horrific prison abuse story at the Abu Ghraib prison came to light a few years ago. Through interviews and terrifying images, the film explores the roots behind these abuse.

The film made a very good point on questioning who should be punished for these war crimes. Some GIs were jailed, for taking those pictures and participating those abusive activities captured on camera.

End of the story? Apparently so.

If they had not taken these pictures, no one would have been punished. The abuse would have gone on unnoticed. That's the real problem.

If Saddam Hussein was hung because he was "convicted" for authorizing torture and killing, whom should Americans hang now for the gruesome torture of many innocent Iraq prisoners at Abu Ghraib?

My rating: 7 out of 10.

"Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" will be aired on HBO, Feb 22, after its recent run at the Sundance.

The documentary is directed by Rory Kennedy, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy. The screening followed by a lively discussion with Rory Kennedy.

In "The Astronaut Farmer," Billy Bob Thornton plays Charles Farmer (I know, a confusing name), an ex-astronaut who never made to the space but retired to a farm in Texas. To keep his dream of going to the space alive, he builds a rocket in his garage, instead of feeding the cows and his family. And who helps him? His 15 years old son. Is that possible? Well, we all know that anything is possible in a Hollywood film.

However ridiculous and laughable the plot may sound, the film does have its humorous moments and it's a feel good film, if you can believe what happens on screen for one second. Charles Farmer's obsession (I don't think it's a passion) to enter the space is almost absurd, but he is absolutely charming at a government hearing for his rocket launch application.

Government Official: "Mr. Farmer, how do we know you are not constructing a WMD?"
Farmer: "Because if I were building a weapons of mass destruction, you wouldn't be able to find it."

I love Billy Bob Thornton playing "bad guy" characters with quirky smart ass comments like in "Bad Santa." It really surprised me to see him playing a positive minded "good guy" in "The Astronaut Farmer." However, I am not sure if he read the shaky script before he accepted the role.

Building a rocket in your garage with a teenager? Are you out of your mind?

My rating: 5 out of 10.

In five segments, "The Dead Girl" tells stories from the perspective of five seemingly unrelated women, the stranger, the sister, the wife, the mother, and the dead girl. But in fact, they are all connected by a murder of that dead girl. And it's a life-altering event for all of them.

The images in this film are really creepy to look at sometimes. It scares me, just like these women who are afraid living in our violent society. Most of these actresses look languish on screen, on purpose. This is not a feel good film, but a deeply sad and creepy one, jammed with unfortunate hopeless women.

The real gem of this film is the superb performance, from all of these actors. This film should be used for teaching acting in college. These women are fantastic portraying these depressing characters. Many of them should get nominated for Oscars. But we all know, for an independent small film like this, that won't happen.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Karen Moncrieff seems an interesting director. So I checked out her "Blue Car" today from the library.