Results tagged “mtvfilms”

Best Action Sequence: In what seems like audiences expressing a subtle distaste for the west coast, The Day After Tomorrow’s "Destruction of Los Angeles" won, beating Spiderman's New York "Subway Battle."

Gothamist finally saw Better Luck Tomorrow this past weekend and enjoyed it very much. We don't know if it was the intelligent acting or the frenetic insanity of it, but the film seemed like a breath of fresh air, not just in its depiction of Asian-American teenagers, although that was a big part of it. This recent L.A. Times article about the trend towards depicting extremely gritty teen life captures what was intense about seeing Better Luck Tomorrow: The idea that teens (i.e., people) are fallible and empowered to make decisions in non cookie-cutter ways, a la What a Girl Wants. Although that's an idea Gothamist would like to pitch: Asian teen movie with Colin Firth. Oh, yes.

The upcoming release of Better Luck Tomorrow has critics and cultural scholars buzzing. A drama wealthy, Ivy League-poised Asian American teenagers who descend into crime, the film is sparking debate about how Asian Americans are supposed to be perceived. Some feel it's great, finally a way to get people seeing Asians as something else besides the model minority, while others are offended that Asians are being shown in an unflattering matter. At 2002's Sundance Film Festival, there was a heated argument about the film. Roger Ebert wrote about it and his participation:

If you're a member of the Independent Feature Project, take advantage of the second Charlotte Sometimes showing this weekend at the Pioneer Theater in the East Village, as part of the screening schedule for Independent Spirit Award nominated films. Charlotte Sometimes was nominated for two - Best Supporting Actress, Jacqueline Kim, and Best feature under $500,000. The only other things I know about it are that Roger Ebert thought it was a wonderful film (he's iffy lately, but he's a great advocate of rising filmmakers), romance plays a role, and that it has an Asian cast. I feel very strongly about supporting Asian filmmakers, which probably contributed to about 60% of the reasons why I saw Maid in Manhattan and Autumn in New York in theaters. Better Luck Tomorrow, which made a splash Sundance last year for showing a seedy side of Asian-American youth, will be released this spring by MTV Films, but Charlotte Sometimes does not have distribution yet, which is why I'm glad I'm an IFP member. An interview with Eric Byler, director of Charlotte Sometimes. Charlotte Sometimes is also the title of a song by the Cure - is that where the film gets its name?