Really terrific Sundance-y flick. Wang's a tremendously talented filmmaker, and the cast here is aces all around. Strong recommendation.

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generally, I enjoy films that exist in a real universe that's outside my perspective...in this case, Chinese/Eastern culture...and the film itself was beautifully done

I was mildly intrigued by the trailer i saw some months back but wasn't pressed

then I listened to the This American Life story about Nai Nai and I was like, ok I must see this movie

I smiled at the cleverness of "Based on an Actual Lie" vs "based on a true story"

the woman that played Nai Nai , Shuzhen Zhao, was a BEAST...just an acting master class all around...to me, she stole every scene she was in...i really really enjoyed her and she made me wish i had a woman like that in my life...

loved the conflict of east vs west...just a great film all around

d

>the woman that played Nai Nai , Shuzhen Zhao, was a
>BEAST...just an acting master class all around...to me, she
>stole every scene she was in...i really really enjoyed her and
>she made me wish i had a woman like that in my life...

Yep...I still want to sign up for her tai chi class

It was a good movie

♥ Inescapably Me ♥

"Love is never any better than the lover" Toni Morrison (The Bluest Eye)

This is a very relatable story for me and I'm sure many others: those who were originally from China/Taiwan/HK that came to a Western country with their parents when they were young. Usually you'll hear about stories of those hardworking Asian parents in a foreign land, or the first generation kids who were born and raised in the land their parents migrated to. This story is about the "in-between" generation, the ones who spent part of their childhood in Asia, and grew to teens then adults in the west.

There are many funny and heartfelt moments, and I've experienced many of those situations personally. The bellhop being curious about the differences between China and the States really hits close to home, as well as when the grandma was being fussy about not getting lobsters for the wedding. The 'farewell' scene was something I've experienced many times before, and it made me tear up. It's a family drama from a very unique perspective, and I think most people will enjoy this, regardless of their background.

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