This article contains spoilers. Every so often, Hollywood releases an all-female, or all-POC version of a classic story, like the 2016 version of “Ghostbusters” or the 2014 version of “About Last Night.” And when that happens, you can bet that there wi ...
‘Better Luck Tomorrow’: 20 Years Later
Tackling the legacy of the greatest Asian American filmThis article contains spoilers.On October 4, 2019, the LA Times’ released an article titled “The 20 best Asian American films of the last 20 years.” And number one on their list was the 2002 crime dra ...
Iris Yamashita: extraordinarily under-appreciated screenwriter
The Woman Who Penned 'Letters from Iwo Jima' Has Never Stopped Writing “If our children can sleep safely for one more day, it would be worth the one more day that we defend this island!” So declares General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, played by Ken Watanabe ...
‘Therapy Dogs’ and the blind ambition of youth
“Class of 2019, you’re graduating this year. And you know what? You should know the truth. We were never really a yearbook committee. Instead, we’re gonna make our own secret movie, which you all get to see very, very soon. It’s the movie you deserve. The ...
‘The Chinatown Files’: An untold story we’ve all heard before.
Written By: Nathan Liu When you think of the “Red Scare,” what comes to mind? Is it Joseph McCarthy? Is it the Hollywood Blacklist? I’m guessing it’s not working-class Chinese immigrants and their children getting jailed, deported, and driven to suicide f ...
Kayo Hatta’s ‘Picture Bride,’ a forgotten film ahead of its time
Written By: Nathan Liu “Between 1907 and 1924, more than 20,000 young Japanese, Okinawan and Korean women journeyed to Hawaii to become the wives of men they knew only through photographs and letters. They were called ‘picture brides.’ This film is ba ...
Ismail Merchant: Film producer poster child
Written By: Nathan Liu Producers. They’re crucial to filmmaking, yet few people seem to know what they actually do. I certainly didn’t. For years, if you’d asked me what I thought a producer was, I’d probably have said, “A fat, cigar-chomping man, ...
With ‘The Fabulous Filipino Brothers,’ Dante Basco gives us ‘crazy blue-collar Asians.’
Written By: Nathan Liu This article may contain spoilers. Everything you need to know about Dante Basco’s directorial debut, “The Fabulous Filipino Brothers,” is right there in its title. It’s about being a brother and it’s about being Filipino. ( ...
‘Waikiki’: Half remembered dream or waking nightmare?
Written By: Nathan Liu This article may contain spoilers. When you hear “Waikiki,” what do you think? White beaches? Blue waves? Drinks with tiny umbrellas? I’ll bet it’s not homelessness or domestic violence. And yet, both thi ...