attack of the 40ft gale! coming to a threatre near you! but only if you live in SF or DC. Ah, crud.
• I know the odds are, like, .000001% that Gale will be anywhere near the SF premiere of FFG tonight, but a fangirl can still hope, y'know? Though, if he is, I'll have to hear about it from my flist. Right coast this time for me, just the wrong end of the state. Woe. But it's only fair since we had it last showing. I SUPPOSE. But, man, oh, man. I wanna go and see it again. I saw the new movie clips/caps and...
...DID NOT REMEMBER THIS RED SHIRT AT FIRST.
Clearly Gale and his hotness gave me temporary amnesia like post-bashing!Justin.
AND there's even going to be a meet-n-greet thingie "with the filmmakers" (= Fay) at Momi Toby's a couple hours before the showing. FREE FOOD AND CHEAP DRINKS! It's like they're just taunting me now. I mean, look how adorable the place is! *cough*pay no attention to the gang graffiti being reflected in the window in that second one.*cough*
• Which reminds me! Remember that FFG ballot I ripped back at the screening? VC wraps, awards presented <--FFG didn't win. Not the Jury Prize it was up for nor the Audience Award we ripped so heartfeltly for.
• Talk about good timing asldj. Google just sent me a FFG review notice. *reads* Ouch. Well, it's mostly about Fay. *pets* Gale's character is mentioned, but nothing specific about him or his performance other than "The romantic leads exhibit little chemistry." and "...Such weaknesses hamper the quality cast." I'm counting him in there with the "quality cast" kthx. That's it. No, wait, I take that back -- one of his close-ups gets mentioned. In reference to how Fay shoulda had the cameras on her at the time adlajkj. May I just say I preferred Fay's direction there. When in doubt, always go to a close-up of Gale, that's my motto! And, hey, least they spelled his name right. SCORE!
Review: 'Falling for Grace' a formulaic story
by Anita Katz, The Examiner
(Courtesy photo)
Gale Harold and Fay Ann Lee star in “Falling for Grace.”
SAN FRANCISCO - A recipe that has long warranted moratorium status - the Cinderella formula - dominates “Falling for Grace,” which presents the fairy-tale heroine as a social climber with roots in Chinatown. The result is a striving but hackneyed indie that neither a Chinese-American ingredient nor an appealing lead performance can make fresh.
Largely the baby of newcomer filmmaker-actress Fay Ann Lee, the film is part romantic comedy and part immigrant-experience snapshot. Lee plays Grace Tang, a Chinatown-bred Wall Street investment banker who is so eager to fit into high society that after some wealthy socialites mistake her for another Grace Tang - a Hong Kong heiress - she goes along with the misunderstanding.
The deception hooks Grace up with ideal bachelor Andrew Barrington (Gale Harold), a rising prosecuting attorney with money and morals. As love blossoms, Grace - unable to maintain the charade forever - must embrace who she truly is.
Lee proves decent in front of the camera but shaky behind it. A likable screen presence, she convinces us that Grace deserves happiness. As a director, she presents Chinese-American life in a way that captures both the struggles of people like Grace’s hardworking China-born father, who is ailing and without health insurance, and the desperation with which some children of immigrants try to assimilate.
But her inexperienced steerage and a banal script (cowritten by Karen Rousso) give rise to clunky, shallow overall results.
Suggesting a mix of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Maid in Manhattan,” the movie contains nothing original or sparkling enough to enable it to overcome the rags-to-riches triteness at its core.
Clichés prevail - Andrew’s blond, superficial socialite fiancée, for starters. Lee cranks up the feel-good tone beyond credibility. Sweatshop labor gets the gloss-over. The romantic leads exhibit little chemistry.
Such weaknesses hamper the quality cast. This includes Lee herself, who, while vital, can’t, under Lee’s directing, score the emotional knockout that the movie needs. In a key realization scene, director Lee gives the primary close-up to Andrew, even though it is Grace’s eyes that should be radiating heartbreak into the camera. You wish Lee had shown more confidence in herself as an actor.
Falling for Grace **
Starring Fay Ann Lee, Gale Harold, Margaret Cho, Ken Leung
Written by Fay Ann Lee, Karen Rousso
Directed by Fay Ann Lee
Rated PG-13
Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes
*
And y'know what? That's 1 hour, 38 minutes of GALE HAROLD ON THE BIG SCREEN BEING ADORABLE AND EMO, people.
Doesn't get better than that. :D
...DID NOT REMEMBER THIS RED SHIRT AT FIRST.
Clearly Gale and his hotness gave me temporary amnesia like post-bashing!Justin.
AND there's even going to be a meet-n-greet thingie "with the filmmakers" (= Fay) at Momi Toby's a couple hours before the showing. FREE FOOD AND CHEAP DRINKS! It's like they're just taunting me now. I mean, look how adorable the place is! *cough*pay no attention to the gang graffiti being reflected in the window in that second one.*cough*
• Which reminds me! Remember that FFG ballot I ripped back at the screening? VC wraps, awards presented <--FFG didn't win. Not the Jury Prize it was up for nor the Audience Award we ripped so heartfeltly for.
• Talk about good timing asldj. Google just sent me a FFG review notice. *reads* Ouch. Well, it's mostly about Fay. *pets* Gale's character is mentioned, but nothing specific about him or his performance other than "The romantic leads exhibit little chemistry." and "...Such weaknesses hamper the quality cast." I'm counting him in there with the "quality cast" kthx. That's it. No, wait, I take that back -- one of his close-ups gets mentioned. In reference to how Fay shoulda had the cameras on her at the time adlajkj. May I just say I preferred Fay's direction there. When in doubt, always go to a close-up of Gale, that's my motto! And, hey, least they spelled his name right. SCORE!
Review: 'Falling for Grace' a formulaic story
by Anita Katz, The Examiner
(Courtesy photo)
Gale Harold and Fay Ann Lee star in “Falling for Grace.”
SAN FRANCISCO - A recipe that has long warranted moratorium status - the Cinderella formula - dominates “Falling for Grace,” which presents the fairy-tale heroine as a social climber with roots in Chinatown. The result is a striving but hackneyed indie that neither a Chinese-American ingredient nor an appealing lead performance can make fresh.
Largely the baby of newcomer filmmaker-actress Fay Ann Lee, the film is part romantic comedy and part immigrant-experience snapshot. Lee plays Grace Tang, a Chinatown-bred Wall Street investment banker who is so eager to fit into high society that after some wealthy socialites mistake her for another Grace Tang - a Hong Kong heiress - she goes along with the misunderstanding.
The deception hooks Grace up with ideal bachelor Andrew Barrington (Gale Harold), a rising prosecuting attorney with money and morals. As love blossoms, Grace - unable to maintain the charade forever - must embrace who she truly is.
Lee proves decent in front of the camera but shaky behind it. A likable screen presence, she convinces us that Grace deserves happiness. As a director, she presents Chinese-American life in a way that captures both the struggles of people like Grace’s hardworking China-born father, who is ailing and without health insurance, and the desperation with which some children of immigrants try to assimilate.
But her inexperienced steerage and a banal script (cowritten by Karen Rousso) give rise to clunky, shallow overall results.
Suggesting a mix of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Maid in Manhattan,” the movie contains nothing original or sparkling enough to enable it to overcome the rags-to-riches triteness at its core.
Clichés prevail - Andrew’s blond, superficial socialite fiancée, for starters. Lee cranks up the feel-good tone beyond credibility. Sweatshop labor gets the gloss-over. The romantic leads exhibit little chemistry.
Such weaknesses hamper the quality cast. This includes Lee herself, who, while vital, can’t, under Lee’s directing, score the emotional knockout that the movie needs. In a key realization scene, director Lee gives the primary close-up to Andrew, even though it is Grace’s eyes that should be radiating heartbreak into the camera. You wish Lee had shown more confidence in herself as an actor.
Falling for Grace **
Starring Fay Ann Lee, Gale Harold, Margaret Cho, Ken Leung
Written by Fay Ann Lee, Karen Rousso
Directed by Fay Ann Lee
Rated PG-13
Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes
*
And y'know what? That's 1 hour, 38 minutes of GALE HAROLD ON THE BIG SCREEN BEING ADORABLE AND EMO, people.
Doesn't get better than that. :D