Nothing but blue sky...
A blend of thoughts, poetry, lyrics, travel anecdotes, anything that comes to mind mid-air, mid-stream, mid-thought about to take off ~ ...thoughts in flight
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Delicacy (La délicatesse) 2011
For the romantics out there, I totally recommend the new Audrey Tautou (French actress in "Amelie") film called "Delicacy" (La délicatesse) - such a sweet, well-acted movie. It's a new fave of mine. :)
Kind of romantic afterwards, almost got caught in a rainstorm, caught the cable car home from the Lumiere and then walked through the Masonic down to my street and scurried across the street to my building. Woo!
Maks and Melissa Gilbert "Please don't step on my jewels. I'm not gonna step on your jewels. You almost did. [She looks down] Sorry. That's ok. :D
Hilarious.
Best quote by Sherri: "That thing that scares you the most that makes you say, I don't know if I can do it, I'm scared - run towards it because it's so amazing on the other side."
Silent movie, lady behind was eating something with a loud wrapper for a long time, the guy behind me fell asleep. Haha, but all in all, a wonderful movie.
It was a full house for Jake's documentary at the Castro Theater (I was in the back right). Later, Jake played ukulele for us with his brother Bruce and their mother sang with them too! :) Great times - aloooooha!
Jake Shimabukuro World Premiere Documentary @ SF Asian American Film Festival + Live Performance with his Brother Bruce (ukulele) and Mother (singing)
Those familiar with Jake Shimabukuro may know him as a ukulele virtuoso who has performed with artists as diverse as Bela Fleck, Cyndi Lauper and Yo Yo Ma, been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone and Time Magazine, and has earned comparisons to Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix. For those unfamiliar with his music, all it takes is to hear a few chords—or glimpse him in performance—and the appeal comes through instantly. Produced by CAAM & Pacific Islanders In Communications, this intimate documentary will give viewers a singular glimpse into not only Jake Shimabukuro, the performer and musician, but also Jake, the young boy who grew up in a modest apartment to a single mother and unsuspectingly rose to international stardom.
Rising young filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura (whose acclaimed trilogy on the early Asian American cultural movement includes Yellow Brotherhood, Pilgrimage, and A Song For Ourselves) provides an insightful portrait of this first-class musician, backstage, at home, on the road, and into his early days. A quiet boy, Jake quickly took to the ukulele, largely to deal with the troubling divorce of his parents. From there, Jake’s path would progress with perfect synchronization, from skinny teen (when his skills are recognized by a master ukulele craftsman) to young adult (when he starts getting local radio airplay, and is “discovered” on YouTube) and suddenly to international stardom, especially in Japan. His evolution as a musician is marked by increasing technical prowess (an aggressive strum that “could get a lot more speed”) and, perhaps more significantly, an introspective approach to creating new sounds—not with distortion panels and amplifiers, but with his bare hands.
Through it all, Jake continues to challenge himself, as both a musician and a person. On one trip, Jake travels with his manager to her hometown of Sendai, Japan, one of the casualties of the devastating tsunami. Performing at shelters for children and elders, Jake observes, “Nothing’s ever perfect... But things can feel perfect.” Experiencing the music of Jake Shimabukuro, one knows exactly what that means.
-Christine Kwon
Jake Shimabukuro will be in the house to give a mind-blowing ukulele performance!
Co-presenters: Japan Society of Northern California, HawaiiPage.org, AAS @ SFSU
Top Chef Alums Beverly Kim and Preeti Mistry @ SF Asian American Film Festival Cook Salon
Food is the next rock n’ roll. From celebrity chefs to food trucks, our culinary culture is exploding with innovative new tastes and eating establishments. Many of the must-try offerings are Asian American restaurants and pop-ups. In this salon, we celebrate this explosion by bringing together two talented Top Chef Alums, Preeti Mistry and Beverly Kim to discuss their experiences and food. They will also create different international movie snacks live with the audience. Consult your spice rack and come to share ideas for Asian movie snacks!
Featuring: Preeti Mistry Chef, Juhu Beach Club, Top Chef Alum
Beverly Kim, Chef De Cuisine, Aria Restaurant Chicago, Top Chef Alum
"Nice Girls Crew" World Premiere at SF Asian American Film Festival
Description Sheetal Sheth, Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen star in this raunchy Bridesmaids-meets-Arrested Development, no-holds-barred comedy series. Assembling an all-star cast of actresses, Nice Girls Crew crosses the line of traditional comedy — and then goes a little further.
Sophie (Lynn Chen), Leena (Sheetal Sheth), and Geraldine (Michelle Krusiec) have been true “frenemies” since elementary school. All grown up and finding themselves in the city of Los Angeles, the ladies seek refuge from their isolation in a book club where they never actually talk about the book. Their subjects of interest? Sex, cannibalism, drugs and just about everything else you’d expect in such good company.
Geraldine is a natural leader with an insatiable thirst for validation; Leena is a ruthless thug-ess in heels, and Sophie is the angelic voice of reason (but true undercover psycho). As adults, the ladies find themselves gathering week after week not because they like each other, but because their inability to mix with normal society forces them to rally for a bit of companionship and good reads. But when personal hang-ups combine with delusions of grandeur, books make way for much more explosive conversation material.
Nice Girls Crew is a production of the Center for Asian American Media. Created / written by Festival staffer Christine Kwon and directed/written by award-winning filmmaker Tanuj Chopra (Punching at the Sun; SFIAAFF ’06), the series will be the first of its kind to be produced by CAAM and to premiere at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Join us for a sneak peek at this ground-breaking new venture. The screening will be followed by a conversation with many of the creators and stars of the series.
