Parasite (2019)

The Kims are a family at the bottom rungs of society. Literally, since their shitty, one bedroom apartment is in a basement. They’re so poor that they have to use a neighbors fumigation to kill the cockroaches crawling over their belongings. They’re willing to do just about anything to get ahead, even if that means lying, and getting other people fired. Which is precisely what they wind up doing when the son gets an opportunity to act as a rich girl’s English tutor. He forges a university degree, and when the parents of  this girl like him, he’s able to find the rest of his relatives employment as the rich people’s art teacher, driver and maid, respectively. All is well, until they realize that the maid they got fired has been hiding something in the rich people’s basement, and that they just might have walked into something far more dangerous than they could have imagined.

Guardians Of The Galaxy (To Infinity Retrospective)

“Come and get your love!” Oh, hey there. Welcome to the To Infinity Retrospective. “Come and get your love!” A series created in preparation for Rise Of Skywalker. Each month, I review a different Space Opera, and, this time, we’re returning to the world of films that people have actually seen with Guardians of the Galaxy. What’s it about? Well…

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before…

You’re watching a movie or TV show, two characters are talking, and one of them says something offensive. The other person tells them to not say that, and then winds up saying something even more offensive.

Here are just a few examples of what I’m talking about:

FROM THE BOONDOCKS:

“Don’t say that something’s gay. It’s offensive to fags.”

FROM CRASH:

“Don’t be ignorant. They’re probably Thai or Cambodian. Totally different kinds of Chinks.”

FROM THE BIG LEBOWSKI:

“Also, dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian American, please.”

“Walter, this isn’t a guy who built the railroads here. This is a guy—“

“What the f*** are you talking about?”

“Walter, he peed on my rug!”

“He peed on the Dude’s rug.”

“Donnie, you’re out of your element. Dude, the Chinaman is not the issue here!”

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014)

We’ve all seen movies that advertise themselves as “based on a true story.” But what happens when someone actually believes that claim? Kumiko, a friendless, unmarried office worker in Tokyo, has convinced herself that the Coen Brothers film Fargo, wherein a criminal buries a suitcase full of money in the North Dakota snow, is real. So much so that she steals her boss’s credit card, abandons her apartment and pet rabbit, and journeys to the US to find the “treasure.” She barely speaks English, and has no real plan of how to find the fictional loot. But she’s determined, and won’t let anything, be it the cold, or the fact that the treasure isn’t real, stop her. What will happen? Watch the movie to find out.

Always Be My Maybe (2019)

16 years after an awkward falling out, childhood sweethearts Sasha and Marcus find themselves in vastly different socio-economic situations. While Sasha has become a celebrity chef, opening a chain of successful Asian fusion restaurants, Marcus has stayed in his childhood home and done next to nothing to promote his band, despite them being quite good. So what happens when they meet each other again? Watch the movie and find out.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (2019)

When his father goes missing and is presumed dead, former Pokemon trainer Sam journeys to Rhyme City, a high-tech utopia where humans and the multi-colored, super-powered animals live in harmony. There, while searching through his dad’s apartment, he encounters a Pikachu, who, shockingly, can speak English. Pikachu claims to have known Sam’s father and says that the man is not, in fact, dead. Realizing that there may be a chance to save his dad, Sam teams up with the talking, lightning-tailed mouse, and sets off to unravel the mystery of his father’s disappearance.

The Last Starfighter (To Infinity Retrospective)

Welcome, one and all, to the To Infinity Retrospective, a series I created in preparation for Star Wars 9. On the first day of each month, leading up till December, I’ll be reviewing a different Space Opera. And first up, we have a real diamond in the rough, a flick I’d never have heard of if not for a fellow Screenwriter, The Last Starfighter. What’s it about? Well…

Bumblebee (2018)

When his home is torn apart by war, the transforming robot B-127 must find refuge elsewhere. He leaves, and lands on a distant world, a world he hopes will remain untouched by his planet’s conflict; Earth circa 1987. There, after getting his vocal cords damaged, he takes the shape of a Volkswagen Beetle, and hides in a junkyard, hoping no one will notice him. Much to his surprise, Charlie, a teenage gear head mourning the death of her father, purchases him, hoping to escape her mundane life. It doesn’t take long, however, for her to discover his true identity, and for the two to become close friends, with her even giving him the nickname “Bumblebee.” But their joy is short-lived, as the American military, as well as the alien war criminals hoping to hunt Bumblebee down, are hot on his trail. Will they survive? Watch the movie and find out.

Halloween (2018)

40 years ago, on Halloween night, Michael Myers murdered three people. He was caught and taken back to the asylum in chains, but Laurie Strode, the only one to survive his rampage, knew that he’d be back. And so, every waking hour of the last 40 years, she trained, hardening her body and mind for the eventual return of “The Shape.”  Her obsession was so deep that it drove her daughter, and even her granddaughter away. But that desire to keep her family safe will be proven right, as, this Halloween, Michael’s back in town, and he’s coming for everyone.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Nick and Rachel are in love. They’ve been dating for over a year, live together, and share absolutely everything with each other. Well, not quite everything. See Rachel, a college professor from a working class background, doesn’t realize that Nick is actually from the Young family, the richest and most famous real estate developers in all of Singapore. So when she journeys with him to Asia to attend a wedding, she is blindsided by the sheer opulence with which his family lives. Something else she isn’t expecting is the extreme hostility with which Eleanor, Nick’s mother, treats her. See Eleanor doesn’t think that Rachel is good enough for her son. She thinks that Rachel, who’s Chinese-American, is too foreign and uncivilized to marry the heir to a multi-billion dollar estate. But Rachel isn’t giving up. She loves Nick, and she won’t lose him for anything. But can she convince Eleanor that she’s worthy of her son? Watch the movie and find out.