YNOT at the Movies

• More boys than girls

  I find out that there are many "boys" in this year's program. From youth focused "Glory Boy Days," to amazingly energetic documentary "Planet B-Boy" about breakdancers, and a dramatic account related to breakdance "Always Be Boyz." Not enough boys? There will have an all-star cast period drama "Blood Brothers (天堂口)." I guess brothers can't be girls.

  There is only one girl in the program: "The Girl Who Hated Books," for only 7 minutes. Hopefully she loves books by now.

• Multi-nationality

  More and more films have more than one country under their names. The collaboration between countries has become a new trend. In fact, Taro will moderate a panel discussion "Crossing Over: Asian Americans and Asia". While many these multinational films are from South Korea and Japan, it's interesting that there is no film coming China except Hong Kong.

• Films reflecting on World War II

  There are quite a few documentaries related to World War II. A superb documentary "Wings of Defeat" tells stories about kamikaze (神風) pilots who carried out suicide missions during World War II. "Behind Forgotten Eyes" recounts the nightmares of comfort women who were forced to serve Japanese soldiers during World War II. "Yasukuni (靖国神社)" takes a rare closer look at the ceremonies at this shrine which hosts the dead Japanese soldiers during World War II, including some war criminals.

• Something for everybody

  Like almost every year, there is something for everybody at the festival regardless one's taste and preference in cinema.

  Art house fans will be delighted with Hou Hsiao-Hsien's (侯孝贤) new film "Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge)" and the rare screening of late Edward Yang's (楊德昌) "A Brighter Summer Day (牯嶺街少年殺人事件)."

  Korean melodrama lovers will find "Happiness (행복)" and "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (싸이보그지만 괜찮아)" staring Korean heartthrob Rain (비), and of course, "Never Forever."

  Garin Nugroho, the director of "Opera Jawa" brings a documentary "Serambi" about the aftermath of 2004 tsunami. "Paper Cannot Wrap up Embers" is a documentary about miserable prostitution lives of women surviving in Cambodia.

  In the gangster and crime drama genre, Michael Kang, the director of "The Motel," comes to the festival with his "West 32nd", and definitely we will find blood in "Blood Brothers (天堂口)."

1. A Brighter Summer Day (牯嶺街少年殺人事件)

   

2. Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (بودا از شرم فرو ریخت )

   

3. Death Note (デスノート)

   

4. Desert Dream (경계)

   

5. Flight of the Red Balloon (Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge)

   

6. A Gentle Breeze in the Village (天然コケッコー)

   

7. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

   

8. The Home Song Stories (意)

   

9. I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK (싸이보그지만 괜찮아)

   

10. Long Story Short

    

11. Never Forever

    

12. Ping Pong Playa

    

13. Planet B-Boy

    

14. Serambi

    

15. West 32nd (웨스트 32번가)

    

16. Wings of Defeat

    

17. Yi Yi (一一)

    

It's gonna be a great festival!

Jodi Long is the daughter of pioneering Asian American vaudevillians: Larry Long and Kimiye Tsunemitsu. Born in Australia, Larry Long tapped danced his way into the Music Hall of Sydney. After married to Kimiye Tsunemitsu, they created a remarkable show called "Larry and Trudie Leung" and appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Larry Long performed in a Broadway play called "Flower Drum Song" that also ended his acting career.

Forty years later in 2001, Jodi is cast in the Broadway revival of "Flower Drum Song." Through Jodi, this terrific documentary tells a compelling story about her parents' struggle to succeed despite how Asians are perceived in American media. It also shows the legacy of these extraordinary performers from the past, their impact on the younger generations, and their contributions to the current Asian American media environment.

The director of the film is Oscar nominated filmmaker Christine Choy. This film is solid documentary filmmaking which not only superbly tells an untold American history but also delights the audience with enchanting and charismatic characters. Long's family story profoundly inspires us as much as it entertains us.

"Long Story Short" will be shown at the 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF).

Slacker Christopher "C-dub" Wang (Jimmy Tsai) has a hoop dream but is a few inches short and stuck in a suburban Asian family that devotes to ping pong: his mom teaches ping pong in a community center, his dad runs a ping pong supply store, and his doctor brother (Roger Fan) is a ping pong champion.

After a serious mishaps causing by C-dub, he ends up teaching a ping pong class of misfit kids, then he goes on to use the class to make more cash by gambling on ping pong games. However, a challenge from a non-Asian rival for the National Golden Cock Tournament title makes C-dub finally to take the game seriously, although he still dreams to be a pro-basketball player.

I am usually skeptical when I see a film is labeled as comedy, because many of them hardly funny. However, this film makes me laugh out so loud that I thought I was screaming, and I were only giggling when I was watching "Juno." I hope writer/director Jessica Yu will make more comedies like this. Jimmy Tsai's acting debut proves that his great talent not only lives behind the camera, but also shines in front of it.

Many comic moments come from daily lives, which make me wonder if they might be lifted out from filmmaker's real life. For example, C-dub turns on the TV with his toes so he can play video game the first thing after waking up in the morning. This must have come from real life observation, rather than pure imagination. Although the ping pong tournament plot is a little formulaic, the film works due to its sarcastic satire and its overall quality, and mostly because it's extremely funny.

The Asian hip-hop sound track also makes the film more cheerful and refreshing. I don't normally eat cereal, but the sound track "I Love Cereal" wants me to have a bowl of cereal, especially after watching how much C-dub enjoys it. However, I will stay away from Ping Pong though so I don't have to wear those tight shorts C-dub was wearing in the film.

Finally, I agree C-dub's dad: the Chinese invented Ping Pong besides the "Four Great Inventions of ancient China." Disagree? Go watch this movie.

"Ping Pong Playa" will be shown at the 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF). Not to be missed.

I almost forgot that the Oscar ceremony is gonna be on Sunday! Last year, my prediction of winners failed in the supporting actor, supporting actress, and the documentary categories. Let me try it again this year to see how my psyche works in the year of rat.

Best Picture

I have seen all five nominations. While I enjoy "Juno" the most, I admire "There Will Be Blood" greatly. I don't know how "Michael Clayton" even gets nominated, and "Atonement" should be listed just in the best cinematography category. "No Country for Old Men" is good, but not as great as "There Will Be Blood," nor as funny as "Juno." It won't be long before "There Will Be Blood" to be included in the National Film Registry.

Will win: There Will Be Blood
Should win: There Will Be Blood

Best Actor

Unfortunately, I have not seen "Eastern Promises" and "In the Valley of Elah." However, I doubt the other performances can ever top Daniel Day-Lewis's unforgettable work in "There Will Be Blood." Aren't George Clooney and Johnny Depp just the same in any other films they are in? Plus, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" bored me to death.

Will win: Daniel Day-Lewis
Should win: Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Actress

Again, I have only seen three films in this category: "Away from Her," "La Vie en Rose (La Môme)," and "Juno." I think "Ellen Page" deserves every bit to win for playing a sharp tongue quirky pregnant teenager. However, considering Academy award voters tend to me older, she probably have to lose to "Julie Christie" who plays an Alzheimer patient.

Will win: Julie Christie
Should win: Ellen Page

Best Supporting Actor

By the time I come to this category, I realize that it's probably a bad idea for me to predict the winners this year: I only saw two performances in this category: "Michael Clayton" and "No Country for Old Men." Javier Bardem is very impressive as a cold blood killer in "No Country for Old Men." It's not hard to guess that he will win in this category.

Will win: Javier Bardem

Best Supporting Actress

Just like the Best Supporting Actor category, I saw three films in this category: "American Gangster," "Atonement," and "Michael Clayton." "Tilda Swinton" has the strongest performance among these three. Actually I wonder how Ruby Dee even gets on this list playing Denzel Washington's mom.

Will win: Tilda Swinton
Should win: Anyone but Ruby Dee

Best Director

This is the hardest to predict even I have seen all five films in this category. I would really like Julian Schnabel to win for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Le Scaphandre et le Papillon)." It's remarkable to be able to imagine what it would be like when one completely paralyzes except one eye lid can move. Paul Thomas Anderson also deserves the honor for creating a master piece "There Will Be Blood." However, Coen brothers are equally competitive for "Country for Old Men." I really think it will be a toss-up among these three. But based on the other awards, I think Coen brothers will win.

Will win: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Should win: Julian Schnabel

Best Documentary Feature

All the five nominations have war, violence, and torture in the background, except Michael Moore takes on sick people who want to get health care. Needless to say, all of them are not pleasant to watch, even "War Dance" is somewhat inspiring with impressive camera works. "No End in Sight" is extremely intelligent and a solid documentary making. "Taxi to the Dark Side" reports its thorough investigation about the torture and prison abuse by the US government. It's shocking and thought provoking. Either film might win.

Will win: Taxi to the Dark Side.
Should win: No End in Sight.

This year Brazil's entry for Oscar nomination in the Foreign Language Film category is "The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias)" (Brazil 2007, 103 min., opens Friday in Bay Area Theaters). It's a sweet film about a twelve-years-old boy who learns how to adapt to a new environment in order to survive.

Mauro was a 12-year old boy who loves soccer. The year his parents went "on vacation" was 1970, when Brazil was competing the World Cup and the leftist was fighting against Brazil's military dictatorship. Because Mauro's parents needed to go underground, or on vacation, he was dropped off to stay with his grandpa, who lived in a Jewish community. However, Mauro is not a Jew nor speaks Yiddish — he is a goy. Worse, he ended up having to live with his grandpa's grumpy old neighbor Shlomo, who was a clerk at a Jewish church.

Anxiously waiting for his parents' return, Mauro began to adapt to his new surroundings and became friends with Shlomo and Hana, a street smart girl living upstairs. Eventually, Mauro got used to this working class neighborhood Jewish community.

Even we have seen films with similar topics about developing a friendship between a young boy and an older adult, this film is still enjoyable to watch. The slow paced plot about Mauro's survival is satisfying and warm hearted, sometimes humorous. However, it's not as engaging as "Central Station (Central do Brasil)," nor as cute as Kolya.

Obviously the focus of the film is to set Mauro out to take up his challenge. Therefore, probably it is wasting time if raise questions like how could his parents drop him off in front of the apartment building then just took off. That would have required rewriting the script.If we ignore these flaws, the film will settle us into that joyful (senior) Jewish community, just like Mauro did, and have a memorable time. Good or not, it will be entirely up to you.

Gina Kim's third feature "Never Forever" (두 번째 사랑, South Korea/USA 2007, 90 min.) is a superb production from a joint force of South Korea and the US.

Beautiful Sophie (Vera Farmiga) is married to a successful Korean American lawyer Andrew (David McInnis). Sophie is deeply in love with Andrew, but their marriage is at stake because she cannot get pregnant. Instead of praying as Andrew's deeply religious family suggest, she makes an offer to Jihah (Jung-woo Ha), a struggling Korean illegal immigrant, that is hard to refuse. She will pay $300 cash each time when they meet secretly, till she gets pregnant, with another $30,000 cash payment.

It all starts as a risky "business" because Sophie is willing to do anything to bring Andrew a child in order to save the marriage. Jihah also has a girlfriend back in Korea and he has to look away when he observes Sophie's "fucking blue eyes." However, things hardly go according to the plan, especially when it comes to the emotion deep inside these characters as well as their awakening desire and passion.

Vera Farmiga's performance as Sophie is stunning. She terrifically calibrates the subtle progress of her character's feelings with great complexity. Korean actor Jung-woo Ha is equally terrific as Jihah, a very convincing and in-depth character.

It's fascinating to see how these characters interact and observe how their relationships evolve. Sometimes, not a single word is being said, only the camera focuses on details, yet it's more effective than anything else. Each shot is telling us something and serves a purpose. It reminds me the word-less storytelling style of Korean director Kim Ki-duk, who also casts Jung-woo Ha as leads in his new films such as "Time (시간)."

This is a great film about dealing with love, passion, desire, guilt, loyalty, and about discovering one's true self.

"Never Forever" will be shown at the 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF).

Winning eight Australian Film Institute Awards (out of 14 nominations), two Golden Horse Awards (out of seven nominations), and many other awards around the globe, "The Home Song Stories (意)" (Australia 2007, 103 min.) is the Australian's entry for Oscar nomination in the Foreign Language Film category. Based on Chinese Australian writer/director Tony Ayres's own childhood memories, "The Home Song Stories (意)" tells a very personal story about family, love, survival, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Through the eyes of an 11-years-old boy Tom (Joel Lok), the film shares us with the bumpy ride of his new immigrant family living in Australia in the 1960s. Tom's mom Rose (Joan Chen) is a glamorous nightclub singer from Shanghai. When Rose performed in a Hong Kong night club, she met and wed an Australia sailor Bill, and moved to Australia with her son Tom and daughter May. Only 10 days later, she left Bill and moved around from "uncle" to "uncle." Finally, Rose fell in love with young chef "Uncle Joe," (Qi Yuwu), an illegal immigrant.

However, the ordinary family life didn't last long. The relationships among the family members went complicated when unrequited love became part of their lives.

The film is deeply personal and touching, but not sentimental. Just like Tom, the 11-years-old boy, we gradually begin to understand what it takes to be able to survive and to bring food to the table.

While the ensemble casts deliver an outstanding performance to the film, Joan Chen and Joel Lok stand out impressively. Joan Chen amazingly plays Rose and gives another her best performances in recent years, as in "The Sun Also Rises (太阳照常升起)." Joel Lok tells us Tom's lost childhood story with what he sees with his curious, confused, yet observant eyes. When he is bored, he plays bridge with himself, even though he is not very good at it (he bids one diamond after one heart in the film).

Although this is no where to be an extraordinary family, but certainly this is an extraordinary film about the family. Rose is back to life vividly, just as Tony Ayres intended.

"The Home Song Stories (意)" is the closing night film at the 26th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF).

If you don't know where Bruges is or how to pronounce it, you will know after the film "In Bruges" (UK/Belgium 2008, 107 min.). Bruges is charming and beautiful by itself. But this funny, smart, well crafted film will have such a greater impact than any Visitor's Bureau can ever dream of.

Colin Farrell plays Ray, a hitman who causes a terrible tragedy during a hit job. Ray's foul mouth boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) sends Ray to Bruges with Ray's hitman buddy Ken (Brendan Gleeson), so Ray can enjoyed the beautiful city in Bruges before he is finished off due to the hit job accident. However, haunted by what happened, Ray thinks Bruges is a shit-hole. He definitely doesn't enjoy Bruges sceneries like Ken does. Meanwhile Ken develops compassion toward Ray that prevents him from carrying out his hit job order. The story gets even more complicated when a few film crew members in Bruges get involved.

The film is brilliant in developing its characters and exploring the complex relationship among these hitmen. Their jobs are killing people, but they are portrayed as heartless or soulless. In fact, quite the contrary, they seem all hold a higher moral standard, which makes these refreshing characters more distinct, and funny. Colin Farrell creates his most entertaining role up to date.

Even with the heavy Irish accent, the dialogues are extremely funny and quirky. Some the pop culture references about the US images are hilarious and as deep as to the bone.

This film is definitely a must-see before you ever send a postcard from Bruges, or before you are "finished."