Crazy Rich Asians - from the producer of The Hunger Games

[Deck Rickard]

Crazy Rich Asians should have found a way to get Samuel L. Jackson in there. The Samuel L. Jackson from Black Snake Moan. It would have been awesome.

LOL. Yes, that SLJ needs to appear in more movies.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

 

[samsnee]

No it won’t

 

[Pink Ranger]

^ do you guys get why I find the SJW angle on this movie so obnoxious now? I mean, that Time cover. Give me a ****ing break. If they wanted just to make a woman-validating Sex and the City style rom com, that's fine, add it to the pile. But don't tell me this movie is supposed to make me feel empowered; bougie progressives will still see me as a pie-faced oriental, and this movie will not only not change that, but might make it worse.

 

[TheVileOne]

Did Sex and the City movie change Hollywood?

 

[Schlosser85]

Did anyone notice there was a Sex and the City movie besides its core fanbase of bored middle-aged housewives living vicariously through its characters?

 

[Dr. Evil]

Sex and the City had a movie?

 

[TheVileOne]

Did anyone notice there was a Sex and the City movie besides its core fanbase of bored middle-aged housewives living vicariously through its characters?

I feel like people did make notice of it at the time. It was a huge success and it did very well, and then people at the time acted like it was a game changer. Then the sequel came out and did disappointing business and people basically forgot about it.

 

[TheVileOne]

Sex and the City had a movie?

It had two movies.

 

[Ozbridge]

I'm Asian (like, I literally grew up in Asian), but I don't even see that Henry Golding is biracial. I just thought that he is one of those Asian people who was born blessed with that nose or has had plastic surgery (just look at Korean actresses, they all have the same nose). Sonoya Mizuno is obviously biracial though.

Or maybe Henry Golding is very obviously biracial and I have difficult seeing people's faces (like if I am walking on the street and meet one of half a dozen white blond guys living in my building I won't recognize any of them).

 

[BestGirl]

I'm surprised Harry Shum wasn't cast to play Nick. He definitely has the better resume. Is Charlie a villain, and does he feature in the sequels?

 

[Pink Ranger]

Did Sex and the City movie change Hollywood?

It made my mother suddenly very okay with me marrying another guy, because she thinks that automatically comes with a million-dollar gay wedding with Liza Minnelli singing at the reception.

 

[samsnee]

I remember when Bridesmaids came out and made bank and headlines were that it showed women can open movies too and we would see more. Then a slew of knockoffs came out, and they all bombed. Then Girls Trip came out and studios acted surprised again that it did well and we got more stories about how it showed women can open movies.

But has Hollywood really changed what is being greenlighted and made since those two movies? I'd say no.

 

[Teelie]

To be fair, there have been a lot more women-led movies coming out compared to what there used to be. But to also be fair, a lot of them were hastily written and/or poorly thought out or recieved immense backlash (see Ghostbusters as a case for all three).

 

[Frankeh]

Why is this movie being compared to Sex and the City all of a sudden? Look at the critical reception...

 

[jmc]

I remember when Bridesmaids came out and made bank and headlines were that it showed women can open movies too and we would see more. Then a slew of knockoffs came out, and they all bombed. Then Girls Trip came out and studios acted surprised again that it did well and we got more stories about how it showed women can open movies.

But has Hollywood really changed what is being greenlighted and made since those two movies? I'd say no.

The reality is a lot of it is just down to right place, right time. Every time some film comes along that is suppose to change things in the industry nothing really does. Remember how Avatar was suppose to usher in a new era of 3D or that The Hobbit was suppose to bring in the era of 48FPS? None of that eventuated, this despite their success.

 

[Teelie]

Avatar did bring in a new era of 3D but just like the last ones it failed to last more than a few years because it sucked. It was a rehash of every previous attempt only "better" somehow despite needing those ridiculous glasses. 3D is still hanging on by a thread.

I don't know why people thought The Hobbit was going to change anything though.

CRA might make a difference but it might not. If it succeeds it will definitely bring in a lot of imitators which will inevitably suck like most imitations do. Maybe this time it sticks. It feels different than before and with China now a big deal there is extra incentive to feature more asian casts.

 

[jmc]

But as samsnee said all it did was bring about a bunch of cheap knockoffs. I agree about The Hobbit though, I don't know what why anyone thought that was going to take off.

 

[TheVileOne]

I think with Hobbit. It was something different. No one was really trying it. And it probably seemed enticing to offer this big screen image with more data or more frames.

Unfortunately because of Avatar, we got a lot of movies with terrible 3D conversions that didn't really look good at all.

It really dumped a lot of unwanted 3D films into the market on us.

The problem is studios don't really want to make game changers. They just want results and want that extra money.

 

[jmc]

Just a question about this film. Given the size and scale of Asian cinema why exactly are people this excited for this film? I've seen a lot of people talking about seeing themselves on screen but I'm a bit puzzled by this give how big the film industry is and all the content that you can get from there. Is it just a case of access? We've got a dedicated TV channel to international content and get trucks loads of content from the region, as well as Netflix having a massive library of films and tv shows from there. Do Americans not have anything like this? I get why Black Panther would generate this type of buzz given there's not much African content that's readily available, but I don't get why this would.

 

[Lencho01]

There's plenty of Asian and African content available. You just have to know where to look. One of those places you won't look often is Hollywood. That's why this film's getting the buzz it's getting. It's not like people can't watch stuff from places like China, Japan, or South Korea. I think the articles have said it's been like 25 years since Hollywood has made a film with an all Asian (American) cast.

 

[jmc]

So, it's literally just about the characters being American?

 

[TheVileOne]

Identity, gender and racial politics are a big thing right now especially with the #MeToo movement going through Hollywood. That's why this is a big deal in the press.

 

[Dr. Evil]

There is this show on Netflix called "Mr. Sunshine" starring Lee Byung-hun, whom many of you may or may not have seen in the two GI Joe movies as Storm Shadow, also was in Red 2, Terminator Genisys and the Magnificent 7 remake. It's mostly in Korean. It's a fascinating show.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Just a question about this film. Given the size and scale of Asian cinema why exactly are people this excited for this film? I've seen a lot of people talking about seeing themselves on screen but I'm a bit puzzled by this give how big the film industry is and all the content that you can get from there. Is it just a case of access? We've got a dedicated TV channel to international content and get trucks loads of content from the region, as well as Netflix having a massive library of films and tv shows from there. Do Americans not have anything like this? I get why Black Panther would generate this type of buzz given there's not much African content that's readily available, but I don't get why this would.

There's plenty of Asian and African content available. You just have to know where to look. One of those places you won't look often is Hollywood. That's why this film's getting the buzz it's getting. It's not like people can't watch stuff from places like China, Japan, or South Korea. I think the articles have said it's been like 25 years since Hollywood has made a film with an all Asian (American) cast.

Lets be honest... The majority of English speaking audiences aren't going to watch films in another language. Also... I think the point, at least partially of this film is that it is "just" like a Sex And The City, rom com trifle that's getting major studio backing and support despite it NOT being a majority Caucasian cast. I know that sounds like a back handed compliment, or paradoxical but that's why the reaction and hope behind it is about very similar to BLACK PANTHER. What was special about BP really, not to be to reductive but just facing facts... It was a fantasy action adventure drama made to be as four quadrant safe as possible for the most part in a world where that's hardly a rarity at the movie theater. The Hollywood landscape is overflowing with fantasy action adventure films chasing the four quadrant blockbuster gold ring. But this one was a majority Black cast, doing something those performers and film makers rarely get to do in those numbers in front of or behind the camera.

Non-Caucasian ethnic groups/Nationalities in Hollywood get pigeonholed into certain types of stories, say the "Outrageous Ghetto Comedy" for Blacks or "The Martial Arts Film" for Asians. There are a few others and each group has been almost assigned their niche but could never seem to get much traction in doing the wider film genres Caucasian casts and creators get to do. And when they are allowed spotlight, what's the one guaranteed type of film that gets made? The Ethno-Tragedy Drama. You know the type I mean. Those Oscar bait films that are about "the struggle" in some form. These are fine films and some are all time greats. JOY LUCK CLUB, or TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE... But that's a narrow spectrum. Why should Blacks, Latinos or Asians only see themselves in a handful of story types? Why is the choice either "FRIDAY/BARBERSHOP" or "BOYZ IN DA HOOD/TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE"? Why aren't there more HAROLD AND KUMARS? Why not a detective mystery Neo-Noir with a Pakistani male as the lead? Why not a buddy cop action movie with two Chinese-Americans? Why can't there be a hard sci fi film in the vein of THE MARTIAN or INTERSTELLAR with a majority Hispanic cast?

Now... Films like those do get made all the time. It's not a great feat if another murder mystery film gets made or a big budget tent pole spy thriller/action film gets a green light. Those films are a dime a dozen... But they also don't get made with or by non-White casts and film makers. And when films do get made in the narrow slice of films that feature non-White casts they rarely get the same type of studio backing and clout in advertising of other films. This film, BP... Actually really not all that special in broad terms... But the audience widely and the groups that don't see themselves portrayed in the types of stories Hollywood has told for decades and aren't going away soon specifically... Yeah it's something that we've reached a point where an all Asian cast can make a SEX AND THE CITY type consumerist porn rom com trifle.