The Farewell - 別告訴她

The Farewell (别告诉她) is an 2019 film. The movie stars Awkwafina (Nora Lum). The supporting cast include Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong, and Jiang Yongbo. The movie was directed by Lulu Wang and based on her own life experience.

Billi is trying to make it on her own as an writer in New York. Billi goes home to wash her clothes and eat her mother's food. When she finds out that her grandmother has cancer, the whole family heads out to Zhong Guo to say their farewell. But there's a catch. The family has decided NOT to tell her grandmother. And Billi finds out why. Torn, Billi goes along with it. But you can see it on her face that she wants so badly to tell her grandmother. What will she do?

This movie was pretty awesome. Lulu Wang is probably pretty well connected to her roots, but she's culturally indoctrinated by her US lifestyle. It comes out in her presentation of the things that happen in Zhong Guo. Lulu Wang accepts the culture, but takes a critical eye to it.

Even though the concept of the movie will give casual movie-goers an excuse to watch and feel nerdy smart or culturally aware, it was not the focus of the movie for me. The focus was really Billi trying to reconcile her roots in Zhong Guo and where she grew up, US. The cultures are vastly different in many ways and it starts with the family dynamics. Than it goes to how elders treat the younger generation. Than it goes to the language. Most kids that grow up in the states from their elementary days will be pretty bad at the mother tongue of their parents.

I was also shocked at how good Billi's grammer was when speaking her mother tongue. If you know folks trying to speak their mother tongue here in LA, they suck. They don't want to unless they have to. And when they do, they translate from English and the grammer is all off. Billi's grammer was on point. That's what a great script does for you. BUT it would have been more realistic if she messed up and her elders kept correcting her. Because that's what happens all the time around LA.

If you're or FOB or not and have Zhong Guo roots, you should make an effort to watch this film. It is well made, independent in feel, but spoke volumes to me and my teenage daughter.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw - 玩命關頭:特別行動

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (玩命關頭:特別行動) is an 2019 film. The movie stars Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby, and Idris Elba. The supporting cast include Eiza González, Cliff Curtis, Helen Mirren and Leati "Roman Reigns" Anoaʻi. Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart make uncredited cameo appearances.



Vanessa Kirby plays Hattie Shaw, a MI6 field agent that gets a virus stuck inside of her. Hattie also happens to the be sister of Decker Shaw, played by Jason Statham. Dwayne Johnson, playing Luke Hobbs, is recruited by the CIA to track down the virus and get it back to safety. MI6 covertly recruits Decker to track Hattie down. As they both make their way to finding her, Black superman, played by Idris Elba, shows up to mess things up. Hobbs and Shaw must now team up to get to the bottom of this.



Just like the other Fast and Furious (FF) movies, there are lots of cars and lots of explosions. Since the 6th FF movie, the storyline has shifted towards to the superhero aspects. Enter Black Superman.

I caught this in the local theatre and was entertained.

The Boys - 黑袍糾察隊

The Boys (黑袍糾察隊) is an 2019 television series. The series stars Karl Urban, Elisabeth Shue, Erin Moriarty, Antony Starr, Jack Quaid, Karen Fukuhara, Tomer Capon, Chace Crawford, Laz Alonso, Jessie T. Usher, and Dominique McElligott. The supporting cast include Simon Pegg, Jennifer Esposito, Colby Minifie, and Ann Cusack. The series is based on a comic book of the same name. Amazon Prime Video released this to the public in July 2019.



The series follows a group of individuals whom have had specific run ins with the superheroes of the world, called The Boys. Because the world sees the super heroes as good, that's the opposite of what The Boys have experienced. The Boys have all had negative experiences and want the world to know this. The series introduces us to the world they live in with the super heroes living as gods in the world. The Boys are not that and live in the shadows.

I watched because I love super heroes and this series takes sort of an alternative look at this. The comic book series came up way back in the 2006. At that time, it gave the comic book world a jolt. I can't be certain of its impact, but comic books were already heading down this road. The Watchmen and Dark Knight was the beginning, but this brought it to a level that wasn't seen than. Now, the normal comic book world already plays the major flaws of the super hero world, and you can see some of in the television shows and movies reflecting that nowadays.

I also see Kimiko's inclusion to be against the given name, The Boys. In all, I was happy to have watched it, but would never re-watch it. When season 2 comes, I'll need a recap and watch that too.

Risen

Risen is an 2016 film. The movie stars Joseph Fiennes. The supporting cast include Tom Felton, Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis, and María Botto. The movie starts at the end of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Joseph Fiennes plays a Roman Tribune, Clavius, who starts the movie by crushing a zealot revolt and heads back to Jerusalem. When Clavius arrives, he's immediately assigned to take care of Jesus at the crucifixion site. When he arrives, Jesus dies, and he assigns the two Roman Centurions to bury him. Overseeing the burial, he seals the tomb. Days later, Clavius is assigned to investigate the disappearance of Jesus's body from the tomb. Clavius finds people from around the city and questions them, eventually getting to Mary Magdalene. Clavius takes a special interest in Mary Magdalene, hoping that she will lead him to the body. Upon his investigation, he dives deeper into the lives of the followers of Jesus.

I was actually quite surprised at how much I liked this movie. Joseph Fiennes does an excellent job as the tired and over worked Roman Tribune on his quest to find the truth. The movie takes the story of Jesus and puts it in the eyes of someone else, in this case, a Roman. The interactions are more focused on the Roman side and how they process things. The addition of other historical figures like Pontius Pilate and the emperor adds to the drama.

I picked this movie up via iTunes during the past Easter season. I think it's an interesting take on the story of Jesus from a unique perspective that will appeal to those that believe and those that do not.

2019 September Blockbuster Movie Guide

Here are the movies to look out for this month, US Edition.

It Chapter Two (牠 第二章)



Ms. Purple



Ad Astra (星際救援)



Rambo: Last Blood (第一滴血5)



Downton Abbey (唐頓莊園)



Abominable (壞壞萌雪怪)



Sources:
IMDB Coming Soon
Box Office Mojo
Wikipedia.org
Taiwan Yahoo! Movies
WMoov Hong Kong