My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Sunday Post (details)
Mailbox Monday (details)
HAPPY THINGS:
1. Eating yummy teri-burgers at the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan town
2. Admiring the Nuido embroidery display and description (silk threads on silk fabric technique) at the Cherry Blossom Festival
3. Attending two weeks worth of the 2019 International SF Film Festival - good stuff (details)
The historic 1920's Castro theatre is one of the 10 venues for the the festival.
Bought:
by Mario Giordano
-Mystery, Italy, Sicily | Goodreads
FOR my face-to-face group, Foreign Mystery Book Club.
Freebies: from Free Little Library
Essays, Drawings, Vulnerabilities, and Other Stuff
by Abbi Jacobson
-Memoir, Essays | Goodreads
THE illustrations sprinkled in looks interesting.
by Catherine Lacey
-Contemporary Fiction, Mental Illness | Goodreads
COVER catches my eye every time. Finally got a copy.
AND watched: in theatre part of SF Film Festival
Netemo sametemo (original title)
Director/Screenplay: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Screenplay: Sachiko Tanaka
Based on book by: Tomoka Shibasaki
Stars: Masahiro Higashide, Erika Karata, Sairi Itô
-Drama, Romance, Japan | imdb | my rating: 5
Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality.
ONE of those "what if" movies that keeps you thinking about it well after the end credits.
Baat go leuiyan, yat toi hei (original title)
Director: Stanley Kwan
Writer: Jimmy Ngai
Stars: Sammi Cheng, Gigi Leung, Baihe Bai
-Drama, Hong Kong | imdb | my rating: 5
Cheng Cong, the matriarch of a wealthy Shanghainese family in Hong Kong, is financing the production of a new play in Hong Kong's venerable City Hall. The play is Two Sisters, a retro melodrama in the vein of Tennessee Williams, written and directed by the trans woman Ouyang An. As the two sisters of the title, the production will star Yuan Xiuling (a stage veteran making a comeback five years after retiring from the theatre, and one year after the death of her faithless husband Cheng Jun - who was Cheng Cong's younger brother) and He Yuwen (a smart movie actress making her stage debut, who happens to have nursed a career-long rivalry with her co-star).
STRONG ensemble cast of women makes this film delightful and beautiful to watch.
This screening included a Q&A with the director, Stanley Kwan. He mentions that his mother and relationship with her was part of the inspiration for the film.
Director: Edward Zwick
Screenplay: Geoffrey Fletcher
Based on The New Yorker article by: David Grann
Stars: Laura Dern, Jack O'Connell
-Biography, Drama | imdb | my rating: 5
The tragic and controversial story of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in Texas for killing his three children after scientific evidence and expert testimony that bolstered his claims of innocence were suppressed.
CONTROVERSIAL indeed. Learned about the Innocence Project (here)
The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
This screening was a tribute to Laura Dern and included Q&A with her and director, Edward Zwick. Amazed with Laura's varied and successful body of work - lovely lady.
Director: Cheryl Haines, Gina Leibrecht
-Documentary | imdb | my rating: 5
Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly expands on the unprecedented exhibition @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, organized in 2014 by the film's director Cheryl Haines.
GOT a better understanding of the different aspects of the @Large exhibit from the inspiration to the artwork and logistics of transport and execution.
This screening included a Q&A with director, Cheryl Haines, Ai Wei Wei and John Kiriakou. Interesting to learn how the thousands of postcards sent from the exhibit affected the lives of the recipients.
Der Unschuldige (original title)
Director/Writer: Simon Jaquemet
Stars: Judith Hofmann, Naomi Scheiber, Christian Kaiser
-Drama, Switzerland | imdb | my rating: 5
Ruth is committed to her work, her family, and her faith, but when an ex-lover is released from prison and comes back into her life, her convictions are threatened.
LOVED the transformation process of the protagonist.
This screening included a Q&A with director, Simon Jaquemet. Spoke of the non-religious aspects of the film.
Mo seung (original title)
Director/Writer: Felix Chong
Stars: Yun-Fat Chow, Aaron Kwok, Jingchu Zhang
-Crime, Mystery, Hong Kong | imdb | my rating: 5
The Hong Kong police are hunting a counterfeiting gang led by a mastermind code-named "Painter". In order to crack the true identity of him, the police recruits gang member Lee Man to unmask "Painter's" secret identity.
DETAILS and action of this movie gets you in this one. Nice take on counterfeit in so many ways.
Director/Writer: Lulu Wang
Stars: Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Gil Perez-Abraham
-Comedy | imdb | my rating: 5
A Chinese family discover their grandmother has only a short while left to live and decide to keep her in the dark, scheduling a wedding to gather before she dies.
DEFINITELY a film that sparks conversation.
This screening included a Q&A with director, Lulu Wang. Got the update on what happened in regards to her Grandmother and family after the film.
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently
Thanks for stopping by :-)
