Posts Tagged ‘Remember the Titans’
Shanghai Kiss (2007)
Ken Leung rocks. Ever seen Keeping the Faith with Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, and Jenna Elfman? Remember that scene where the Asian dude is trying to sell Norton the sound system? That’s Ken! Hilarious!
On to Shanghai Kiss. I raved about this movie to everyone after I watched it. Honestly, it’s an OK film. But the reason I liked it so much was because it resonated so much with my, I dunno, fantasies… A blonde girlfriend in the States. Visiting Shanghai and hooking up with a hottie at a karaoke bar. Then meeting the Asian girl of my dreams at a bar…
But seriously. You figure it like this: For a film with an Asian lead to make it to the big screens, it’s got to have at least a decent story. Leung delivers. In case you’ve never seen Keeping the Faith, Leung is the bad guy from Jackie Chan’s Rush Hour (the dude with the dyed beach blonde hair). Hayden Panettiere from Heroes and Remember the Titans (she was Denzel Washington’s assistant coach’s daughter) plays the girlfriend from the States. Kelly Hu from The Scorpion King and X-Men 2 is the dream girl from Shanghai.
I haven’t heard of either directors, so I’m not going to mention them for now. But solid movie and solid acting! A must-see for any Chinese-American.
Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
I’m going to get right into it. I saw the preview for Lars and the Real Girl a while back and didn’t think much of it. Honestly, how good can a movie about a guy and a plastic doll be? Ok, it can be pretty good. But the previews didn’t sell me.
Two weeks ago, a friend recommended it over dinner. So I thought I’d give it a shot. Ryan Gosling had a string of movies that I really enjoyed: Fracture, Half Nelson, The Notebook, The United States of Leland, Murder by Numbers, and Remember the Titans. And Emily Mortimer, who I loved in Dear Frankie, and Patricia Clarkson, who I loved in The Station Agent, both costarred.
Spoiler here. Gosling is Lars. He’s a loner. He hates it when people touch him. And he’s delusional, which is why he went and got himself a plastic girlfriend. Midway through the movie I remember thinking to myself, “There had better be a killer ending…” There wasn’t. The meat of the story is how the town embraced this fake girlfriend of his and plays along. I guess it was touching in that sense.
No knock on Gosling’s performance, nor those of the rest of the cast, but I thought the story was pretty lame. It had its moments. There were definitely some funny parts. But funny in the sense that what was happening was so ridiculous, not actually funny.
The only other film on director Craig Gillespie’s resume is Mr. Woodcock. I haven’t seen that one yet, but will consider it since I’m a big Billy Bob Thornton fan. It’s dry humor, that’s for sure. Maybe a bit too dry for me.
