Leisure

January 3, 2025 0

Kiyoko Murata’s ‘A Woman of Pleasure’Finds Agency in an Untenable Situation

There’s a reason why some stories should not be told by people outside their world. In the case of Arthur Golden’s 1997 novel “Memoirs of a Geisha,” adapted into a hit 2005 eponymously titled film, the Orientalism whitewashing was in full flower. Golden’s novel, set in the late 1920’s, roughly 25 years later than the events of Kiyoko Murata’s “A Woman of Pleasure,” told basically the same story. A daughter is sold into prostitution to cover her family’s debts. Both […]

December 6, 2024 0

Jon M. Chu’s ‘Wicked’ Is a Blockbuster Queer Romance Film for Our Times

by Harmony Witte

“Wicked” is a blockbuster-bound love story for the ages in the grand style of Old Hollywood. This queer-coded romance tells the classic story of two enemies to lovers whose chemistry and complicated love for each other is so well known in the intimate world of female friendship. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) was born with green skin in the land of Oz and must fight to find her place in society. Glinda (Ariana Grande-Butera) is also looking to find herself and establish […]

April 13, 2024 0

A Conversation With Daughters of Shandong Author Eve J. Chung

by Christopher John Stephens

Historical fiction writers need to serve two masters. The first is a strict adherence to facts, location, and real-life characters. The other is effective world-building through relatable characters. Eve J. Chung’s new novel Daughters of Shandong is a confident, gripping, heart pounding epic that perfectly balances those priorities. Chuang, a women’s civil rights lawyer said “Chinese people have a saying ‘Zhong nan qing nu,’ …’Value men, belittle women.’ Sexism was, and still is, so ingrained in our culture that many […]

March 30, 2024 0

Kung Fu Panda 4 Continues the Furry Franchise

by Harmony Witte

There is a new installment of the Kung Fu Panda comedy/adventure animated film series and its continuing to blow audiences away with its marvelous story, superb voice acting, and stellar music! Kung Fu Panda 4 continues the tale of Po (voiced by Jack Black, The Holiday, School of Rock) who improbably becomes the “Dragon Warrior” –a master of kung fu. Po is a giant panda and in this film is chosen to be the spiritual warrior of the Valley of […]

March 30, 2024 0

Chromic Duo Played an Emotional, Innovative Show at Crystal Ballroom

by Harmony Witte

Chromic Duo made up of Lucy Yao and Dorothy Chan, performed at the Crystal Ballroom on Friday March 22nd, as a part of the Celebrity Series of Boston’s Stave Sessions and this was not the oft pictured typical classical piano concert! They played on toy pianos, a toy xylophone, a synthesizer, as well as on a stand up piano to breathe fresh air into works, such as Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Path of the Wind” from My Neighbor Totoro and wrapped up […]

March 2, 2024 0

‘Freckled Rice’ and ‘Our Chinatown’ Explore Chinatown’s Past and Future

by Harmony Witte

Arts Emerson brought back to life the local classic narrative film, “Freckled Rice,” on Feb. 18 at the Bright Family Screening Room over the Paramount Theater in a screening that included the documentary short, “Our Chinatown.” “We have found a diamond that was in someone’s treasure box and unearthed it,” said Susan Chinsen, creative producer at Arts Emerson, who is also the director of the Boston Asian American Film Festival. “Freckled Rice” is the coming-of-age story of a 13-year-old boy […]

February 17, 2024 0

‘Expats’: A Disappointing Exploration of Grief

by Harmony Witte

I watched the first season of Expats on Amazon Prime and was sorely disappointed by the quality of the six-episode offering. Directed by Lulu Wang (Posthumous 2014, The Farewell 2019) the show is based on a 2016 novel called The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee, which received mostly positive reviews. The story follows the lives of a group of expatriates living in Hong Kong and chronicles their interactions with each other, and how they navigate the unfamiliar world around them […]

January 13, 2024 0

Real Women Have Curves Premieres in a Funny, Poignant, and Memorable Musical

by Harmony Witte

The American Repertory Theater has another big hit in the making with Real Women Have Curves: The Musical! (Book by Lisa Loomer, additional material by Nell Benjamin. The show opened recently to excited crowds and is introducing a new generation of people to the story of big dreamer, Ana Garcia. The musical is significantly different from the 2002 award-winning film (Josefina Lopez and George Lavoo’s screenplay based on the play by Josefina Lopez) in all the right ways. Aside from […]

December 23, 2023 0

Jiaoying Summers is No Joke

by Jia H. Jung

Comedian Jiaoying Summers, 33, shivered on the Congress Street Bridge and gazed at a museum and ships commemorating the Boston Tea Party that happened almost 250 years ago to the date. As fife music trilled in the morning air and men in tricorn hats and leggings stood in waiting, she pondered how colonists threw tea into the harbor to protest British tariffs, catalyzing the American Revolution. Looking down into the water, she mumbled that she would have just pretended to […]

December 22, 2023 0

Ping Pong Serves as a Bridge Between Cultures, Generations

by Derek He

As many families across the country celebrated Thanksgiving with traditional turkey dinners, a group of local Asian Americans marked the occasion by competing in a ping pong tournament. Inside the Malden High School gym, students and adults competed during the holiday in the event led by Mei Hung, executive director of the Chinese Culture Connection. “Like other sports and arts, ping pong helps people who have language barriers communicate,” Hung said, adding that holding different divisions allowed participants of all […]

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