Profile

toastykitten: (Default)
toastykitten

June 2025

S M T W T F S
123 45 67
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930     

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
toastykitten: (Default)
I liked it. I wish it didn't have the weight of the entire world on it, because it's really weird to be promoting a Cinderella fantasy in these times where the gap between wealthy and poor have never been wider, but the movie doesn't really want you to think about that at all. So it doesn't. Anyway, it's full of hot Asian men with their shirts off, the women do some incredible acting, and of course an Asian focused romcom would be more about the relationship between future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. :P

In addition, I like Nick and Rachel's characters a lot better in the movie - in the books, they are basically cardboard cutouts with not that much personality to basically introduce the audience to the "crazy rich Asians".

Anyway, I loved that nothing is explained to the audience - no explanation of all the food porn, no explanation for the Chinese music (most of the soundtrack is old-school Mandarin songs or Cantonese covers of American pop songs), no explanation for the mahjong scene (Angry Asian Man has an explainer post if you really want to delve into it - obviously spoilers).

Some links worth reading:

Crazy Rich Asians: The film burdened with crazy 'Asian' expectations
.
It's Time to Forgive the Joy Luck Club.
Why 'Crazy Rich Asians' Isn't Really a Win for Diverse Representation
Pair Crazy Rich Asians with this Hong Kong romcom classic

The movie also just made me nostalgic and homesick. Anyway, of course I just went searching for all of Michelle Yeoh's movies:






toastykitten: (Default)
I have a weakness for celebrity gossip, especially when it pertains to Asian people, so the whole Jenny Shimizu dishes about her relationship with Angelina Jolie is fascinating to me. Shimizu is a total trip; some interesting things she says includes "I've never kissed anyone with a bigger mouth than Angelina. It's like two waterbeds" and "Her and I have a relationship just like I have with my friends or my mother but it doesn't necessarily mean were having sex." Uh huh. In one of the articles it mentions that she hasn't spoken to Jolie in years, but in another she mentions that Jolie still booty-calls her to "fulfill her sexual needs."

Then I discovered that GiantRobot once interviewed her. GiantRobot gives the best interviews ever. In this interview, she talks about pooping in Madonna's bathroom, listening to Shaq poop and rap at the same time, and getting robbed by someone and her mother. It's only a partial interview, so if you want to read the rest, you're going to have to buy a back issue.

I'm sort of torn about seeing Memoirs of a Geisha. On the one hand, I haven't read the book yet, and I like to read the books before I see the movie adaptations, and on the other hand, I love Michelle Yeoh. Oh, and the stupid controversy over the casting. Even friggin Wikipedia wastes three paragraphs on it. Sometimes I wish there was a way for both the Chinese and the Japanese to grow the fuck up about these things, but I don't see it happening in my lifetime, unless they actually deal with the war honestly. (And no, I do not mean all Chinese and Japanese are like that. And I heard Memoirs is kind of a Westernized fantasy of what geishas are about, so that's more of the reason why I'm hesitant. But I can't judge until I actually read the book.)

At least they didn't cast Lucy Liu. :P

When I read somewhere that Bill Murray didn't like Lucy Liu and said she had no comic timing, I laughed. He's right. She doesn't.

Michelle Yeoh - I wish she would change her English name to the Cantonese pinyin - which would be "Yang" or "Young", because "Yeoh" sounds like "Yow!" or a cat screaming. I love her in everything she does, and also partly because she is crazy enough to do her own stunts even though she has no official training in martial arts. Oh, and her English is excellent, which gives her way more leeway in crossing over to America than for Jet Li or Jackie Chan.

Zhang Ziyi - When she first came out, I didn't think much of her. I thought she was kind of plain, and I was like, Zhang Yimou dumped Gong Li for her? But I think her willingness to do anything is probably why she's so good.

Did you know that Justin Lo is doing Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift? BLT alumni Jason Tobin and Sung Kang are going to be in it. Hey, Lil Bow Wow is, too. Dude, is he old enough to drive?
Page generated Jun. 20th, 2025 09:51 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios