- Chris Chan Lee directs this stylish neo-noir set in L.A.'s Koreatown. After being away for a year, Sam (Sung Kang, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) returns home to avenge the death of his best friend with the help of Don, an ex-gangster. Desperate to set things right, Sam soon finds himself hopelessly entangled in the city's criminal underworld. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:Â ACTION/ADVENTURE R
A group of over-achieving Asian-American high school seniors engage in some extra curricular crime.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 1-MAR-2004
Media Type: DVDJustin Lin's well-received 2002 independent feature,
Better Luck Tomorrow, is a strangely appealing story of the mysterious, somehow inexorable drift of an ultra-conscientious, Southern California high school senior, Ben (Parry Shen), toward a fateful interlude with crime. Though highly focused on! impressing colleges with his thoughtful balance of excellent grades, energized volunteer work (as a translator), and varsity sports (warming the bench during basketball games), something about Ben appears to be unraveling. Perhaps it is an attraction to his out-of-reach lab partner (Karin Anna Cheung), or his growing attachment to hard cash, or simply the malaise that coats his every act of self-denial. In any case, he and a brood of fellow Asian American overachievers metamorphose into the local go-to gang of black-market thievery--all while keeping up their classes. Lin brings a fresh angle to the exhausted youth-crime genre, and clarifies, with no small wisdom, the distinction between building a future and living one's destiny.
--Tom KeoghStudio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 07/14/2009 Rating: RJustin Lin's well-received 2002 independent feature,
Better Luck Tomorrow, is a strangely appealing story of the mysterious, somehow inexorable drift of an ! ultra-conscientious, Southern California high school senior, B! en (Parr y Shen), toward a fateful interlude with crime. Though highly focused on impressing colleges with his thoughtful balance of excellent grades, energized volunteer work (as a translator), and varsity sports (warming the bench during basketball games), something about Ben appears to be unraveling. Perhaps it is an attraction to his out-of-reach lab partner (Karin Anna Cheung), or his growing attachment to hard cash, or simply the malaise that coats his every act of self-denial. In any case, he and a brood of fellow Asian American overachievers metamorphose into the local go-to gang of black-market thievery--all while keeping up their classes. Lin brings a fresh angle to the exhausted youth-crime genre, and clarifies, with no small wisdom, the distinction between building a future and living one's destiny.
--Tom KeoghJustin Lin's well-received 2002 independent feature,
Better Luck Tomorrow, is a strangely appealing story of the mysterious, somehow inexorable drift ! of an ultra-conscientious, Southern California high school senior, Ben (Parry Shen), toward a fateful interlude with crime. Though highly focused on impressing colleges with his thoughtful balance of excellent grades, energized volunteer work (as a translator), and varsity sports (warming the bench during basketball games), something about Ben appears to be unraveling. Perhaps it is an attraction to his out-of-reach lab partner (Karin Anna Cheung), or his growing attachment to hard cash, or simply the malaise that coats his every act of self-denial. In any case, he and a brood of fellow Asian American overachievers metamorphose into the local go-to gang of black-market thievery--all while keeping up their classes. Lin brings a fresh angle to the exhausted youth-crime genre, and clarifies, with no small wisdom, the distinction between building a future and living one's destiny.
--Tom KeoghAn award-winning English language film for the whole family, "the Debut" revolve! s around Ben Mercado (Dante Basco), a talented high school sen! ior who has rejected his Filipino heritage. The long-simmering feud between Ben and his immigrant father Roland (Tirso Cruz III) threatens to boil over and ruin the 18th birthday party of Ben's sister Rose (Bernadette Balagtas). But to Ben's surprise, his sister's celebration challenges his sense of misplaced identity, and the way he regards his father and grandfather (Filipino film legend Eddie Garcia). In one night, Ben faces the true nature of his relationships with his family, his friends, and himself.
Filipino-American high school student Ben (Dante Mercado) works in a comic book shop to earn money to pay his way into Cal Arts. His father, a postman, is determined that his son--who has won a pre-med scholarship to UCLA--will become a doctor. The eighteenth birthday party of Ben's sister, Rose, sets off a comedic and touching series of events and family struggles that will in turn determine young Ben's future. This fresh independent production from Gene Cajayon presents a li! ghthearted and warm coming-of-age tale filtered through the eyes of an American subculture rarely seen on film.Puberty sucks, and nobody knows it better than 13-year-old Ernest Chin (Jeffrey Chyau). As he watches guests come and go, Ernest finds himself forever stuck at his family's hourly-rate motel, where he divides his time between taking orders from his overbearing mom, cleaning up after whatever miscreants the motel may attract and longing for the girl of his dreams, 15-year-old Christine (Samantha Futerman, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA). When charismatic Sam Kim (Sung Kang, PEARL HARBOR, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT) checks into the motel, fatherless Ernest is taken under his wing and hustled toward manhood, for better or worse. THE MOTEL is an honest portrait of adolescence as heartfelt and authentic as it is hilarious.Winner of the Humanitas Prize at Sundance 2005, The Motel is a charming feature debut by writer/director Michael Kang. Be! tween Kang and producer Gina Kwon (Me and You and Everyone ! We Know< /I>), this chronicle of adolescent sexual exploration shares the clean, contemporary look of Miranda July's film, and also Dayton/Faris's recent release, Little Miss Sunshine. Interestingly, all three examinations of humanity's awkwardness star nerdy, charismatic children. Punctuated by spare dialogue, The Motel follows Ernest (Jeffrey Chyau), a thirteen year-old Chinese American boy whose family runs a roach motel primarily visited by prostitutes and druggies. Ernest's mother and grandfather strictly enforce their depressing traditional family work ethic, squashing Ernest's hopes of winning a writing contest that he has secretly entered, for example. As Ernest cleans scummy rooms, he discovers porno magazines and other evidence of raunchy sexual escapades. Intrigued but shy about his sexual prospects, Ernest casually enlists his semi-girlfriend, Christine (Samantha Futerman) to explore magazine images with him. Funny, touching scenes of Ernest with his little ! sister's stuffed toy bunny, to name one, remind the viewer of that curious age when sex is mysterious but tangible. When renegade adult, Sam Kim (Sung Kang), moves into the motel to drink and cavort with women, Ernest befriends him and takes tips. Eventually Ernest realizes that he's a gentleman as he begins to understand the subtleties of love. In this film marked by sincerity, one can't help but think of the protagonist's name metaphorically. --Trinie DaltonAfter a mysterious year-long absence ex-gangster, SAM (Sung Kang, The Fast & The Furious 3) returns to Los Angeles determined to find redemption for his past. He soon becomes intertwined with his old mentor DON (Tom Bower, Die Hard 2), a retired gangster and VERA (Kelly Hu, X Men2, Scorpion King), the lover he abandoned. Sam is soon drawn back into the shadowy world he left behind where he now finds himself being hunted by a ruthless hit man, LEON (Russell Wong, Romeo Must Die) as he enters a world of impossible! desires, loneliness and isolation. Can Sam undo his mistakes ! before l osing all that he came back to save?
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