Summer is here, and it’s a good time to catch up on some classic Asian American films that are now available online, and see some of the newest Asian American feature films and documentaries online and on demand through Comcast, Vimeo, Netflix and more. Here’s part 2 of our list (see Part 1 here).
—Nancy Nguyen
Lucky Chow – Episodes 1 (Ramen Mania), 2 (Koreatown USA), 3 (NY Reimagined), 4 (Northern Thai Cuisine)
2015 | 30 minutes each episode |NR
Lucky Chow is a new national public television series co-produced with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and Bruce Seidel / Hot Lemon Productions. The 6-episode series follows LUCKYRICE culinary festival founder Danielle Chang as she travels across America exploring the Asian food landscape. The series features many of the country’s most renowned chefs and culinary personalities, such as Top Chef winner Kristen Kish, YouTube sensation Maangchi, and ramen renegade chef Ivan Orkin.
* Episodes 1 & 2 available on Comcast On Demand during the month of June; episodes 3 & 4 available on Comcast On Demand during the month of July
American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs
2014 | 1 hr, 24 min | NR
Grace Lee Boggs is a 99-year-old Chinese American whose vision of revolution will surprise you. An activist and philosopher, she has devoted her life to an evolving revolution that encompasses America’s past and its potentially radical future.
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The Slanted Screen
2006 | 1 hr, 2 min | NR
From silent film star Sessue Hayakawa to Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle, the Slanted Screen examines the portrayal Asian men in film and television, and how new filmmakers are now re-defining age-old stereotypes. The film contains over 50 film clips of depictions of Asian American male characters from Hollywood films spanning almost a century.
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A Lot Like You
2015 | 1 hr, 20 min | NR
When Eliaichi’s retired father moves back to Tanzania, she begins a film journey that examines the intricate fabric of multiracial identity, and grapples with the complex ties that children have to the cultures of their parents.
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Jiro Dreams of Sushi
2011 | 82 min | PG
This documentary profiles sushi chef Jiro Ono, an 85-year-old master whose 10-seat, $300-a-plate restaurant is legendary among Tokyo foodies.
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Planet B-Boy
2008 | 1 hr, 39 min | NR
With compelling characters and vibrant dance sequences, PLANET B-BOY is set in the International world of B-boying – the urban dance more commonly known as “breakdancing.”
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Cambodian Son
2014 | 1 hr, 25 min | NR
Cambodian Son documents the life of deported poet, Kosal Khiev after receiving the most important performance invitation of his career—to represent the Kingdom of Cambodia at the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Kosal would travel to London having only taken two flights prior; first, as a 1-year-old refugee child whose family fled Cambodia and, then as a 32-year-old criminal “alien” forcibly returned to Cambodia in 2011. The film follows a volatile yet charming and talented young man who struggles to find his footing amongst a new freedom that was granted only through his deportation. Kosal’s London representation is a triumphant moment for many people in his life, both in America and Cambodia. The film traces the impact and significance of this moment for Kosal, his friends, family, mentors and a growing international fan base. Armed only with memorized verses, he must face the challenges of being a deportee while navigating his new fame as Phnom Penh’s premiere poet. After the performances end and the London stage becomes a faint memory, Kosal is once again left alone to answer the central question in his life: “How do you survive when you belong nowhere?”
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Hafu
2015 | 1 hr, 25 min | All Audiences
With an ever increasing movement of people between places in this transnational age, there is a mounting number of mixed-race people in Japan, some visible others not. “Hafu” is the unfolding journey of discovery into the intricacies of mixed-race Japanese and their multicultural experience in modern day Japan. The film follows the lives of five “hafus”–the Japanese term for people who are half-Japanese–as they explore what it means to be multiracial and multicultural in a nation that once proudly proclaimed itself as the mono-ethnic nation. For some of these hafus Japan is the only home they know, for some living in Japan is an entirely new experience, and others are caught somewhere between two different worlds.
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9-Man
2014 | 87 min | NR
9-MAN uncovers an isolated and unique streetball tournament played by Chinese-Americans in the heart of Chinatowns across the USA and Canada. Largely undiscovered by the mainstream, the game is a gritty, athletic, chaotic urban treasure traditionally played in parking lots and back alleys. 9-Man grew in the 1930’s, at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment and laws forced restaurant workers and laundrymen to socialize exclusively amongst themselves. Today it’s a lasting connection to Chinatown for a dynamic community of men who know a different, more integrated world, but still fight to maintain autonomy and tradition.
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Ip Man 1
2008 | 106 min | R
An occupying Japanese general challenges Chinese men to duels to prove the superiority of the Japanese, but Ip Man refuses to fight — at first.
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Ip Man 2
2010 | 108 min | R
New in Hong Kong, martial arts instructor Ip Man perseveres and retaliates against his rivals’ opposition to the Wing Chun fighting style he teaches.
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2000 | 120 min | PG – 13
A young woman in ancient China longs for an adventurous life rather than a dull arranged marriage in Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning martial arts epic.
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Shaolin Soccer
2001 | 87 min | PG -13
A down-and-out ex-soccer player joins forces with a former monk to assemble an unlikely team of players to win the China Super Cup soccer tournament.
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Mulan
1998 | 88 min | G
Disney brings an ancient legend to life in this animated tale of a tomboy who disguises herself as a man so she can fight with the Chinese Army.
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Mulan 2
2004 | 78 min | G
Courageous heroine Mulan and her hilarious luck dragon, Mushu, are back for more adventures in this sequel to Disney’s smash hit.
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Big Hero 6
2014 | 1 hr, 42 min | PG
From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the team behind “Frozen” and “Wreck-It Ralph,” comes “Big Hero 6,” an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax, a plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada.
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Fresh off the Boat
It’s the ’90s and 12 year old, hip-hop loving Eddie just moved to suburban Orlando from DC’s Chinatown with his parents. It’s culture shock for his immigrant family in this comedy about pursuing the American Dream.
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The Mindy Project
A single-camera comedy, starring Mindy Kaling, that follows a skilled OB/GYN navigating the tricky waters of both her personal and professional life, as she pursues her dreams of becoming the perfect woman, finding the perfect man and getting her perfect romantic comedy ending.
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Hawaii Five-O
2010 – 2013 | TV-14 | 4 Seasons
Hawaii’s top cops are reborn in this update of an iconic TV show. They may work in paradise, but there’s enough crime to keep them working overtime.
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One Child
2014 | TV-MA | 4 Episode
At the request of her birth mother, adoptee Mei leaves her home in Britain to visit China, where she finds her brother faces an unjust death sentence
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Advantageous
2015 | 97 min | NR
In a near-future city where soaring opulence overshadows economic hardship, Gwen and her daughter Jules do all they can to hold on to their joy together, despite the instability surfacing in their world.
*The film is available on Comcast On Demand during the month of July and available on Netflix.
Snowpiercer
2013 | 126 min | R
The Earth’s remaining inhabitants are confined to a single train circling the globe as revolution brews among the class-divided cars.
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