THE CHINESE INVASION
A short eleven-year span (1982-93) produced five stellar movies about the experience of Chinese immigrants new to our shores. It also brought us Chinese-born director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain), who seems to understand us better than we do.
Chan Is Missing (1982) is a wry charmer. The entire cast (all unknowns) and crew are of oriental descent. Two San Francisco cab drivers have their life savings stolen and spend the movie looking for the thief. The movie’s pint-sized budget seems to have been put in the right places.
In A Great Wall (1986) a Chinese-American family makes the long trip to mainland China to look for their roots. The culture shock to both the visitors and the visited is both funny and revealing. The family’s children are thoroughly American but adjust better than their parents. As FDR said so well, we’re all immigrants, and in a real sense this fine film is about all of us.
The culture shock runs the other way in Eat A Bowl Of Tea (1989), a merry low-key film about Chinese immigrants coming to America after the second World War and trying to adapt to new ways. Marriage in particular is very different in the new land, and the young folks adapt quickly while their parents need a wake-up call. (With our divorce rate, you have to wonder if the old folks don’t have a point!)
The Wedding Banquet (1993) is part of a desperate attempt by a gay Chinese-American to fool his very conservative parents from the old country into believing he is
not only straight, but married as well. The scam stretches tighter as the principals try to
plug more holes in the dike. Ang Lee’s screenplay and direction are sure-handed and entertaining and there are plenty of laughs and surprises for everyone.
Saving Face (2004) written and directed by Alice Wu, is also about Americanized children of Chinese descent and the conflicts they face. The main plot involves two girls in love with each other, afraid of the stigma of their society. They come to realize that their mothers are much more modernized and savvy than they thought.
The Joy Luck Club (1993) is a group of elderly American ladies who grew up in China and who gather to play cards and swap stories. Their children are completely Americanized and as each of the parents’ stories emerge, they come to realize how extraordinary their mothers are. Amy Tan co-wrote the screenplay based on her wonderful novel. This movie is the pick of the litter and one of the unsung treasures of the 90's.
All of the films in this column are available on video, and all are available on DVD. All are fine for children 12 and up.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Sunday, December 10, 2017
NEVER HEAD OF HEARD?
Watching movies in the 80's you would have bet the ranch that John Heard was going to become a leading man and a big star. He didn’t. Can it be that his appearance in a couple of silly movies finished off his shot at the big time? He started very strong.
In Cutter’s Way (1981) he is Alex Cutter. He and Jeff Bridges are fellow Vietnam vets who pursue a complicated conspiracy theory involving a murder suspect who is also a very powerful man. This was Heard’s break-out part and he is quite good. He got glowing reviews from most of the big reviewers. I can’t reveal much more of the plot without ruining the movie for you.
While The Trip To Bountiful (1985) clearly belongs to Geraldine Page as Carrie Watts, John Heard is excellent as her overly protective son. Carrie longs to return to her ancestral home near the little town of Bountiful, Texas. Her son and daughter-in-law (Carlin Glynn) don’t want her to go alone. They also won’t take her because they know the town doesn’t exist anymore, done in by the war and the Depression. Ms. Page won the Oscar for her performance as the spunky matron. She strikes out on her own by bus and reaches a town close to her old home. A kindly sheriff takes her to the spot, now ramshackle and deserted. But- she did make it!
Big (1988) is the fanciful story of a boy who wants to become “big” and with the help of an antique fortune-telling machine, does exactly that. Tom Hanks stars as Josh Baskin, the little boy now in a grown man’s body. He goes to work for a toy company and is quite successful there. He and Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins) become an item. John Heard plays Susan’s jealous boyfriend and co-worker at the toy company. There are all kinds funny and fun instances because Josh is still a little boy at heart but appears to others as a grown-up. This charming film became a hit Broadway musical in 1996 and ran for a couple of years.
Beaches (1988) is the story of two girls who become friends for life, despite ups and downs along the way. Bette Midler plays CC Bloom, a brassy star singer and Barbara Hershey plays Hillary Whitney, a conservative lawyer. John Heard is fine as John Pierce, who starts out as Hillary’s lover, then winds up with CC.
Heard’s bland good looks are perfect for the part of Macauley Culkin’s rather clueless Dad in the Home Alone (1990 & 1992) movies. As you probably know, the plot involves a little boy’s family somehow going off on vacation and forgetting to take him along. This unlikely scenario is repeated two years after the first one. I am not a big fan of these films which seem to minimize the dangers of a child left alone. The most interesting thing about them, in terms of this article, is that John Heard never got another big part. I’m wouldn’t think it was because of his appearance in these two movies, but for some reason he was more or less done at 42. He continued to get lots of work, but nothing of much significance.
In Awakenings (1990) he plays Dr. Kaufman, a decidedly minor part. In Rambling Rose (1991) Buddy is the main character as a child. Heard plays Buddy as an adult. He is John Riley in Gladiator (1992) and I really can’t tell you what he does. He has bit parts in In The Line Of Fire (1993) and The Pelican Brief (1993). After that, it really goes downhill. John Heard had parts in another 50 movies and TV shows for the next 20 plus years and none of them are very good. So, go figure...
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. I could only recommend Big for 10 and up. The rest are for grown-ups.
Watching movies in the 80's you would have bet the ranch that John Heard was going to become a leading man and a big star. He didn’t. Can it be that his appearance in a couple of silly movies finished off his shot at the big time? He started very strong.
In Cutter’s Way (1981) he is Alex Cutter. He and Jeff Bridges are fellow Vietnam vets who pursue a complicated conspiracy theory involving a murder suspect who is also a very powerful man. This was Heard’s break-out part and he is quite good. He got glowing reviews from most of the big reviewers. I can’t reveal much more of the plot without ruining the movie for you.
While The Trip To Bountiful (1985) clearly belongs to Geraldine Page as Carrie Watts, John Heard is excellent as her overly protective son. Carrie longs to return to her ancestral home near the little town of Bountiful, Texas. Her son and daughter-in-law (Carlin Glynn) don’t want her to go alone. They also won’t take her because they know the town doesn’t exist anymore, done in by the war and the Depression. Ms. Page won the Oscar for her performance as the spunky matron. She strikes out on her own by bus and reaches a town close to her old home. A kindly sheriff takes her to the spot, now ramshackle and deserted. But- she did make it!
Big (1988) is the fanciful story of a boy who wants to become “big” and with the help of an antique fortune-telling machine, does exactly that. Tom Hanks stars as Josh Baskin, the little boy now in a grown man’s body. He goes to work for a toy company and is quite successful there. He and Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins) become an item. John Heard plays Susan’s jealous boyfriend and co-worker at the toy company. There are all kinds funny and fun instances because Josh is still a little boy at heart but appears to others as a grown-up. This charming film became a hit Broadway musical in 1996 and ran for a couple of years.
Beaches (1988) is the story of two girls who become friends for life, despite ups and downs along the way. Bette Midler plays CC Bloom, a brassy star singer and Barbara Hershey plays Hillary Whitney, a conservative lawyer. John Heard is fine as John Pierce, who starts out as Hillary’s lover, then winds up with CC.
Heard’s bland good looks are perfect for the part of Macauley Culkin’s rather clueless Dad in the Home Alone (1990 & 1992) movies. As you probably know, the plot involves a little boy’s family somehow going off on vacation and forgetting to take him along. This unlikely scenario is repeated two years after the first one. I am not a big fan of these films which seem to minimize the dangers of a child left alone. The most interesting thing about them, in terms of this article, is that John Heard never got another big part. I’m wouldn’t think it was because of his appearance in these two movies, but for some reason he was more or less done at 42. He continued to get lots of work, but nothing of much significance.
In Awakenings (1990) he plays Dr. Kaufman, a decidedly minor part. In Rambling Rose (1991) Buddy is the main character as a child. Heard plays Buddy as an adult. He is John Riley in Gladiator (1992) and I really can’t tell you what he does. He has bit parts in In The Line Of Fire (1993) and The Pelican Brief (1993). After that, it really goes downhill. John Heard had parts in another 50 movies and TV shows for the next 20 plus years and none of them are very good. So, go figure...
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. I could only recommend Big for 10 and up. The rest are for grown-ups.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
APARTHEID
One of the biggest social tidal waves of our time was the end of apartheid in South Africa and the rise of a black majority government. It is a story worth telling and the movies have done a good job of telling it.
There are two versions of Alan Paton’s monumental Cry, The Beloved Country. Sidney Poitier lights up the 1951 version as a simple back-country preacher intertwined by fate with a white bigot. The 1995 version features an equally-impressive James Earl Jones, along with Richard Harris. Both put a human face on a terrible tragedy, both political and personal. A slight nod to the earlier version here.
Mandela (1996) is a convincing documentary about Nelson Mandela, the first president of the new South Africa, a man who spent nearly 30 years in prison. His crime was being a black man that wouldn’t quit trying to change a horrible system. This film portrays a true triumph of the human spirit.
In Bopha (1993) Danny Glover is a township policeman and Alfre Woodard is his wife. Their son is a militant in rebellion against the system and his parents. The conflicted couple perfectly exemplifies the plight of moderate blacks under apartheid.
Denzel Washington is excellent (as always) as activist Steve Biko in Cry, Freedom (1987). Kevin Kline is a sympathetic newspaperman in this tragic but hopeful biopic about one of the martyrs of the anti-apartheid movement.
In A Dry White Season (1989), schoolteacher Donald Sutherland slowly comes to realize the ramifications of apartheid. His naivete perhaps mirrors that of the rest of the world; eventually he becomes as horrified as we are. Marlon Brando has a nice turn as an outspoken lawyer.
Invictus (2009) is a terrific uplifting film directed by Clint Eastwood. Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman, of course) now president of apartheid-free South Africa hopes to unite his splintered country by convincing the black majority to support the all white South African rugby team, the Springboks. Matt Damon convincingly plays the team captain. When the team visits the prison where Mr. Mandela served nearly 30 years of his life it is a sobering thing for them and us. And, I picked up the rugby rules pretty quickly so don’t let the unusual sport stop you.
These are also worth a look: The Wilby Conspiracy (1975), which is a South African variation on The Defiant Ones; Sarafina! (1992), which is (of all things) a violent musical (!); and A World Apart (1988) with an impressive Jodhi May as a young girl personally impacted by her mother’s political radicalism.
All of the films in this article are available on video. All except the first Cry the Beloved Country are available on DVD. All are for grown-up tastes.
One of the biggest social tidal waves of our time was the end of apartheid in South Africa and the rise of a black majority government. It is a story worth telling and the movies have done a good job of telling it.
There are two versions of Alan Paton’s monumental Cry, The Beloved Country. Sidney Poitier lights up the 1951 version as a simple back-country preacher intertwined by fate with a white bigot. The 1995 version features an equally-impressive James Earl Jones, along with Richard Harris. Both put a human face on a terrible tragedy, both political and personal. A slight nod to the earlier version here.
Mandela (1996) is a convincing documentary about Nelson Mandela, the first president of the new South Africa, a man who spent nearly 30 years in prison. His crime was being a black man that wouldn’t quit trying to change a horrible system. This film portrays a true triumph of the human spirit.
In Bopha (1993) Danny Glover is a township policeman and Alfre Woodard is his wife. Their son is a militant in rebellion against the system and his parents. The conflicted couple perfectly exemplifies the plight of moderate blacks under apartheid.
Denzel Washington is excellent (as always) as activist Steve Biko in Cry, Freedom (1987). Kevin Kline is a sympathetic newspaperman in this tragic but hopeful biopic about one of the martyrs of the anti-apartheid movement.
In A Dry White Season (1989), schoolteacher Donald Sutherland slowly comes to realize the ramifications of apartheid. His naivete perhaps mirrors that of the rest of the world; eventually he becomes as horrified as we are. Marlon Brando has a nice turn as an outspoken lawyer.
Invictus (2009) is a terrific uplifting film directed by Clint Eastwood. Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman, of course) now president of apartheid-free South Africa hopes to unite his splintered country by convincing the black majority to support the all white South African rugby team, the Springboks. Matt Damon convincingly plays the team captain. When the team visits the prison where Mr. Mandela served nearly 30 years of his life it is a sobering thing for them and us. And, I picked up the rugby rules pretty quickly so don’t let the unusual sport stop you.
These are also worth a look: The Wilby Conspiracy (1975), which is a South African variation on The Defiant Ones; Sarafina! (1992), which is (of all things) a violent musical (!); and A World Apart (1988) with an impressive Jodhi May as a young girl personally impacted by her mother’s political radicalism.
All of the films in this article are available on video. All except the first Cry the Beloved Country are available on DVD. All are for grown-up tastes.
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