Quandaries of Asian-American Representation Strike a Nerve in ‘Shortcomings’
Its not-so-subtle reference to ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ is much more than a mere dig.
By MARTIN TSAI
||Culture
MARTIN TSAI
New York, New York
Martin Tsai is a Contributor for the Sun.
Mr. Tsai is a film critic with bylines in The New York Sun, Los Angeles Times, and many others. He holds a master’s in Cinema Studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Latest Articles
Acting Powerhouses Elevate the Cinematic Comfort Food of ‘The Miracle Club’
In a sense, the film offers as much escapism as do the blockbuster franchises playing at multiplexes, albeit for an entirely different crowd: Scenic coastal views. Vintage fashions. Legendary actresses doing an accent. People burying the hatchet.
By MARTIN TSAI
||Culture
A Literary Noir Set at a Posh Country Estate, the Looks of ‘The Lesson’ Are Deceiving
The film’s central mysteries center around who steals from whom and who teaches whom a lesson.
By MARTIN TSAI
||Culture
Reinventing Identity — and Recalibrating Ambitions — in Celine Song’s ‘Past Lives’
A tale of rekindled romance waxes poetic about providence and reincarnation.
By MARTIN TSAI
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The Incredible Stroke of Luck for ‘American Born Chinese’
While not nearly as cohesive or bold as ‘Everything Everywhere,’ the Disney Plus series ‘American Born Chinese’ does offer unique depictions and insights.
By MARTIN TSAI
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‘Always Sunny’ Star Charlie Day Channels French Comic Icon Jacques Tati With Mixed Results
The French filmmaker’s sense of wide-eyed wonder in his whimsical adventures is missing in the tale of Latte Pronto in ‘Fool’s Paradise.’
By MARTIN TSAI
||Culture
Adaptation of Classic ‘Margaret’ Preserves Judy Blume’s Perennial Wisdom – at the Expense of Entertainment
Judging by the new adaptation of Blume’s cautionary tale about conformity, it’s easy to see why the author’s work has resonated with generations of girls and young women.
By MARTIN TSAI
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‘Polite Society,’ Toying With Genre, Subverts Clichés of the Asian Immigrant Experience
While it doesn’t go for broke like ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ the film is worthy of the comparison.
By MARTIN TSAI
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In Benjamin Millepied’s Reimagining of ‘Carmen,’ Everyone Is a Dancer
He has adapted Georges Bizet’s storied opera into a movie, updating it to the present-day Chihuahuan Desert from 19th-century Spain.
By MARTIN TSAI
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Honoring Motherhood — Warts and All — in a Rapidly Changing Harlem
Instead of deploying familiar hard-knock-life themes as dramatic shorthand, ‘A Thousand and One’ elevates them as down and dirty facts of life without a whiff of cliché.
By MARTIN TSAI
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Other Than the Fireworks Scene, ‘Empire of Light’ Leaves a Dim Impression
The director, Sam Mendes, seems to feel something for these characters, but conveys little beside a figurative ‘sorry.’
By MARTIN TSAI
||Culture
Young Cannibal Hits the Road in ‘Bones and All’
This coming-of-age story is not exactly the generic horror flick the trailers and commercials lead one to expect, but it also doesn’t follow closely the young adult novel on which it’s based.
By MARTIN TSAI
||Culture