Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

[Shannon L.]

I just got back from seeing this and I loved it.  I loved how they tackled not only the aspects of coming from a really wealthy family, but also from a culture that has such deep rooted family traditions.  The story was everything--beautiful, romantic, sad, frustrating......As much as I love a good action adventure movie, I've been really missing rom-coms for a while now. 

On 8/18/2018 at 10:55 PM, phalange said:

When Nick's grandmother was nice to Rachel in the beginning, I thought she would be her ally when Eleanor was being awful, so I was surprised when she turned out to be just as bad at the wedding. Maybe I shouldn't have been all that shocked though, since Eleanor did tell Rachel that she was also not the first or even second choice to marry into the family. I like how the early scene of Rachel teaching game theory to her class came back around with the mahjong scene.

Me, too!  However, I did tear up when Astrid (my God, is that actress gorgeous or what?  Perfect casting, imo) walked into the wedding with her grandmother.  When everyone said they were shocked that she showed up because she never goes to those kinds of things, then they showed her walking in on Astrid's arms and Astrid say's "Thank you, grandma"?  Yep, tears.  She didn't like those events, but came because her granddaughter needed her. 

On 8/19/2018 at 2:38 PM, twoods said:

I wish we got to see the conversation Nick had with his mother.

You know, I can understand wanting to see that scene, but it really made for a big impact at the end.  I knew they'd end up together, especially when his mother showed up at his hotel, but I figured that it was going to be a reluctant "I'm willing to try because I love you.  Maybe I'll grow to love her, too" kind of thing.  But, when he opened that box and I saw the ring?  I literally gasped out loud (and I don't do that often).  That spoke volumes. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

15 hours ago, Wishing Well said:

This is just a thing that started last year, right?  Which is why he was able to be in singapore and film, but not attend the premiere.  

The mandatory military service in Singapore  has been around for over 50 years. Wikipedia had another example of someone who had a situation similar to Kevin’s - classical pianist left Singapore when he was 12 (in 1969) and did not return for his military service when he turned 18. He finally went back to Singapore for the first time in 2005 at the age of 48. He was given a $3000 fine and allowed to come back repeatedly to perform after that. 

As far as I can tell, Kevin Kwan has not been to Singapore recently. He did a book tour last year (while Crazy Rich Asians was filming) and there were some comments/questions on social media noting that he had no appearances scheduled in Singapore. Some of the pictures he posted from the set of Crazy Rich Asians were regrams of other people’s photos (the captions either said he was regramming or said things like “Nina the producer just sent me this photo from the set”). He visited the set while they were filming in Malaysia at the end of May. 

[arc]

The proposal scene was changed at the last minute. It had already gone through a bunch of revisions, but the last change, to give it more action, was a nice choice. (And yet it wasn't the uber-cliched "race through the airport" trope either.)

Also, someone finally interviewed the accountant who suggested Golding for the role.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

14 minutes ago, arc said:

someone finally interviewed the accountant who suggested Golding for the role.

Loved this (especially the line about the bridge). I hope he sends her a really good gift basket every year for the rest of his life!

[Dee]

Performing Blackness Won't Fill Our Asian-American Culture Deficit

Quote

Last week, “Crazy Rich Asians” was released to fervent fanfare. The film follows a Chinese-American woman, portrayed by Constance Wu, who travels to Singapore to meet her wealthy Chinese Singaporean boyfriend’s family. Goh Peik Lin, portrayed by Nora Lum aka Awkwafina, is the Singaporean sidekick of Wu’s character. Awkwafina has been acclaimed by fans and the media, including Rolling Stone, Variety and The Washington Post, as the breakout star of the film.

Although in the book the film is based on, Peik Lin is written as a bubbly, rich Singaporean who went to Stanford, Awkwafina’s Peik Lin is a minstrel-esque performance of the “sassy Black sidekick” caricature, complete with the actress speaking in forced African American Vernacular English (AAVE). White and Asian-American audiences’ overwhelmingly positive reception of Awkwafina’s performance evinces multiple truths.

Rolling Stone’s glowing profile of Awkwafina seems to reveal that director John M. Chu implicitly chose Awkwafina in an attempt to rewrite Peik Lin as a trope. Chu said that he specifically cast her based on her YouTube videos, in which she performs her Asian gangster persona, raps and speaks in AAVE. It’s not suprising; this disturbing slapstick Blackface routine has single-handedly propelled her career. She has appeared in three films—”Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” “Oceans 8” and now “Crazy Rich Asians.” In each one she plays—you guessed it—the same exact sassy sidekick.

Edited August 24, 2018 by Dee

[Nidratime]

So, how the character speaks is blackness and not American-ness? I ask this because, having been raised in the inner cities of the U.S. as a white girl, I've seen all ethnicities speaking the way Awkwafina does.

[memememe76]

Also, I think the author has a different interpretation of the character of Peik Lin from the books. I suspect he did that to fit his thesis. 

[arc]

Huh, wrote a big reply but I seem to have lost it somehow.

It’s not my lane to police appropriation of Black culture, though this issue also gets into being authentically Asian-American. Zhang’s protestations to the contrary, I’m inclined to believe Awkwafina is authentically a New Yorker*. And it’s fine IMO.

I will concede that it gets questionable when she’s “playing herself” in roles like Peik Lin, where the character probably did not grow up in Queens, because then those kinds of characters are - in the context of the movie, anyways - doing a minstrely performance. For CRA, I got over it (with the caveat that it’s not exactly an offence aimed at me anyways) by headcanon-ing that this Peik Lin did grow up in Queens.

* for what it’s worth, I’ve seen tweets by an Asian-American defending Awkwafina by saying she talks like Queens New Yorkers talk, which is certainly influenced by Black vernacular, but isn’t solely the vernacular of Black New Yorkers. He said he went to the same HS as her.

[memememe76]

Her father in the movie said he is from Cupertino, so Peik Lin probably has California roots. And she did go to NYC university with Rachel (Rachel works at NYU, cannot recall whether she studied there too). Peik Lin could have been living in Queens. 

[Bruinsfan]

Didn't Rachel and Peik Lin go to Stanford in California? Rachel teaches at NYU, but I didn't think she was an alumnus.

[arc]

Both were Stanford alums in the book, but I can’t recall off the top of my head how it went in the movie.

[memememe76]

They also changed where the mom lived. In the book, it was somewhere in California. In the film, it was Flushing. That is why I assumed Rachel studied in New York, doubt she could afford out of state tuition. 

[JustaPerson]

Stanford is a private school anyway, the tuition wouldn't change. 

[NUguy514]

According to the book, Rachel and Peik Lin both went to Stanford for undergrad, and Rachel went to Northwestern for grad school.  Also, in the movie, Nick tells Rachel that Astrid graduated top of her class from Oxford, but Astrid didn't go to college in the book.

In related news, Gemma Chan is fighting Lupita Nyong'o for the title of Most Beautiful Woman Alive.

[Athena]

9 hours ago, arc said:

Both were Stanford alums in the book, but I can’t recall off the top of my head how it went in the movie.

This is referenced in the movie by Peik Lin's Dad about how they both went to Stanford.

I caught that they added Astrid being a graduate of Oxford. I liked this addition and Gemma Chan completed a law degree at Oxford before she started acting.

[TheOtherOne]

16 hours ago, Dee said:

Performing Blackness Won't Fill Our Asian-American Culture Deficit

 

Counterpoint:

Who Really Owns the 'Blaccent'? While Awkwafina successfully imitates something in Crazy Rich Asians, it's not black language.

 

Quote

On the other hand, Awkwafina’s antics don’t, to me, conjure blackness any more than Ed Sheeran’s bars. Is a “blaccent” an evocation of blackness, or of something else — power, imperialism, commerce, the digital age? Maybe blaccent shouldn’t function so metonymically, and maybe it shouldn’t imply blackness at all (blackness has enough to contend with), but that something else instead, indicting not an individual instance of theft but a global phenomenon that makes it impossible to know whether a nonblack millennial from Forest Hills studied black culture like a textbook or grew up with the same media as most of us, where blaccents in the mouths of white, snappy performers has been autonomous and apart from the actual speech patterns of black people since America had a theater tradition to call its own.

Consider the many adolescents, now men, who’ve forged a personality around Pineapple Express and adore Post Malone, the way some young women have developed a shtick around Broad City’s fictional “Yas Kween” Ilana — there are blaccents built from blaccents, but maybe not from blackness itself. A certain millennial cool-kid identity is already predicated on basic appropriations that get overlooked when every case becomes exemplary, instead of evidentiary. It’s all very messy, and power makes it messy, but treating the blaccent as something authentically black and stolen doesn’t make it any clearer. “There isn’t a ‘relatable’ white girl inserted into the middle of Crazy Rich Asians,” writes BuzzFeed’s Alison Willmore, yet there’s a whole genre of relatable white girl quirkiness that Awkwafina’s Peik Lin sources from. And while she successfully imitates something, it’s not black language.

In conversations around Awkwafina’s blaccent, the actress’s regional and musical background has been used to both defend and attack her — she’s either the most shrewd opportunist or the most down chick her side of the color line. These extremes of opinion aren’t helped by the way certain profiles borderline fetishize the Awkwafina backstory, as if the idea that an Asian-American woman who grew up in Forest Hills (or literally anywhere in the country) loves rap is too absurd to be true. (Perhaps that is par for the genre, making everyday stories unusual, and perhaps that’s par for celebrity, too.) A recent Rolling Stone profile describes her delivery in Crazy Rich Asians as “Miley Cyrus-meets-New Jersey patois,” an incoherent mishmash that feels nonsensical, selected for the sheer fun of it.

Edited August 24, 2018 by TheOtherOne

[Blergh]

I found it a bit ironic that despite Eleanor and her allies going out of their way to find faults with Rachel to sabotage her re Nick, they never even asked what faith  Rachel was despite the Youngs being Methodist. I mean, one would think they have brought that issue up even if Nick didn't care (as they did a slew of other issues that Nick was perfectly accepting about Rachel).

[Zuleikha]

I saw the movie after reading some of the controversy over Awkwafina's performance. She uses AAVE in one moment: the bawk, bawk chicken scene in the trailer. It's a code switching moment of the type that almost all of us Americans who are Gen Xers or younger do because we've grown up with African-American actors, comedians, musicians, etc. influencing our slang and culture (it is a real shame the concept of cultural diffusion hasn't gone as pop as appropriation). The rest of the time Peik Lin spoke standard English. As far as I can tell, Awkwafina is speaking with her own accent. My impression was that Peik Lin was Singapore raised other than college, so I'm not sure it makes sense for her to have such a NY accent. But I assumed it was supposed to be from going to college in NY (if the dad said Peik Lin and Rachel went to Stanford, I missed it).

IMHO, this is an example of the ease with which things can circulate regardless of whether the underlying claim is factually true. (I also don't watch a ton of Awkwafina YouTube videos, but in the ones I've seen, she is not performing an Asian gangster persona. She doesn't even dress in hip-hop styling.)

In other representational controversies, I also don't think the movie could have had more Tamil or Malay representation. There were South Asians in the various crowd scenes, but ultimately the story is a very small, focused story about a specific family. There wasn't really a logical place for a significant South Asian character. 

Michelle Yeoh was so good. It takes true talen to be able to portray a character like Eleanor as a fully realized, three dimensional human. I also thought Nico Santos did a standout job with Oliver Tsien. Most of the other secondary and tertiary characters came across as so broad or one-dimensional (like I agree that Gemma Chan is very, very beautiful but Astrid just seemed sad to me, with no other layers). But Santos made Oliver funny, yet kept him as very human.

[VCRTracking]

Crazy Rich Asians’ Proposal Scene Was Changed at the Last Minute

I love this part:
 

Quote

 

And then, there was the ring. There was the first ring that Nick had proposed with (the one he showed his best friend Colin), and then there was his mother Eleanor’s (Michelle Yeoh) ring, which would symbolize her approval of their marriage. The proposal was less about Nick and Rachel’s feelings for each other — they were never in question — but whether Rachel could be accepted by his family. (Hence the all-important mah-jongg scene between Rachel and Eleanor before that.) So the ring needed to be a showstopper.

“We had a ring designed already, and our mock-up looked so shitty that Michelle [Yeoh] was like, That cannot be the ring I wear,” laughs Chu. “I’m like, I know, I know. I’m so embarrassed by it, but we don’t have the money. She’s like, I have a better ring than that.” So Yeoh asked her assistant to get her box of jewelry and pulled out the ring that Nick eventually proposes with: an emerald and diamond one she bought as a gift to herself. Chu remembers, “She pulls it out, and I was like, Oh my gosh, that’s our ring.”

 

[arc]

CRA has a second weekend hold of about 94%, aka it dropped 6%. That's tremendous, esp without a holiday weekend involved.

[methodwriter85]

Damn, this is without a doubt hitting the 100 million mark. The last romantic comedy to do that was Trainwreck in 2015.

[Bruinsfan]

That's... less of a drop-off than Wonder Woman had, isn't it? Almost unheard of in this era of make-your-money-back-opening-weekend-or-bust.

[TigerLily20]

Got to see the movie this weekend, am going to see it again but I have to say during the wedding scene (Collins) I was waiting for November Rain to start playing lol....

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 8/22/2018 at 1:27 PM, VCRTracking said:

First of all she's 62 and says "gross"? That's an 80s generation word and she grew up in the 60s! That old bitch doesn't know what she's missing because BBQ pork buns are the beeeeeeeesssssst!

Hey now, I'm 61 and I say "gross," as does everybody I know.

I like pork buns, but I love pineapple buns.

 

On 8/23/2018 at 4:55 PM, Shannon L. said:

You know, I can understand wanting to see that scene, but it really made for a big impact at the end.  I knew they'd end up together, especially when his mother showed up at his hotel, but I figured that it was going to be a reluctant "I'm willing to try because I love you.  Maybe I'll grow to love her, too" kind of thing.  But, when he opened that box and I saw the ring?  I literally gasped out loud (and I don't do that often).  That spoke volumes. 

So did I!

[hendersonrocks]

I saw it a second time today. 2:15 pm matinee on a Tuesday and it was almost sold out!

The second viewing allowed me to kick back and enjoy the spectacle even more. The one weird continuity thing I remembered from my first show jumped out at me even more this time. After the dumpling/Eleanor fiasco, Nick asks Rachel what she wants to do that night - just the two of them. Then it cuts to Rachel in the same outfit, kicking it with Peik Lin at the cafe and then going right to the makeover scene at the Goh palace (still in the same clothes) and then straight to the wedding. It seems like there is a transition scene missing.

Thanks to this movie I've now put Singapore on my places-to-travel-sooner-rather-than-later list. 

[Nidratime]

Quote

The one weird continuity thing I remembered from my first show jumped out at me even more this time. After the dumpling/Eleanor fiasco, Nick asks Rachel what she wants to do that night - just the two of them. Then it cuts to Rachel in the same outfit, kicking it with Peik Lin at the cafe and then going right to the makeover scene at the Goh palace (still in the same clothes) and then straight to the wedding. It seems like there is a transition scene missing.

If I get a chance to see this movie again, I'll have to take a look at those scenes. However, I can fanwank it. If your concern is only the outfit, I can see that as part and parcel of someone packing for a trip and rewearing the same dress multiple times because you certainly don't bring your entire wardrobe on a trip. In fact, the very reason Rachel is given help with her clothes by Peik Lin, et al. is because she didn't pack for all these grand events, especially multi-million dollar weddings.

[hendersonrocks]

Oh, I can totally fanwank it too. I adore the movie and won’t let small potential costuming/timeframe shenanigans affect my enjoyment of it!

ETA: This movie also makes me want to learn how to play mah jongg. My mom plays with friends every week and that is a pastime I could totally behind.

Edited August 29, 2018 by hendersonrocks

[biakbiak]

On 8/19/2018 at 11:07 AM, Fukui San said:

How much would you pay for a screening of the movie which served you the foods shown in the movie as they appear in the movie?

You could go to Alamo Drafthouse, though definitely not as good.

[thuganomics85]

Usually not a fan of romantic comedies, but I gave this a go after hearing all of the praise, plus I really did want to support a movie with an all Asian cast.  Overall, I really enjoyed it even if it followed a lot of the common romcom staples (after-all, it is still a film where one of the biggest conflicts is between the lead and her boyfriend's mother), but I thought they were all done well.  If nothing else, I have to give the film credit for actually making me enjoy the "proposal on an airplane" scene, which should have been the most cliched thing ever, but it was funny watching Nick trying to do it, while dodging and bumping into other passengers.  And then the reveal that he had Eleanor's ring was really well done.

I know that some studios were trying to change Rachel into a white woman, but I don't think it would have been anywhere near as interesting as what we got instead.  The idea that Rachel looked like everyone else and could even speak the language, but was still looked down upon due to class and being a foreigner, was way more interesting to me then if she had been white, and the conflict was more of a "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" type situation.  I'm glad the author didn't budge and waited till he found studios that actually believed in his vision.

The cast was great.  Constance Wu was a fantastic lead, and I hope this gives her a big boost.  Had no idea this was Henry Golding's first role, and while he didn't have as much heavy lifting as Wu did, I thought he acquitted himself very well, and was charming enough.  Awkwafina was hilarious, and if your character is required to be stunningly beautiful to the point that she literally makes heads turn when she enters into the room, then you can't go wrong with Gemma Chan!  As someone who loves her in Humans, I'm glad she is getting some sizable roles in films like in here and the upcoming Captain Marvel.  But as I figured, Michelle Yeoh was my favorite.  She really made Eleanor a fully-realized character, who could be so harsh and cold on the surface, but there more to her then just being an antagonist, and I did buy that she truly thought her actions where what was best for Nick and the family.  Glad she came around at the end, but I suspect she'll still struggle with some of her more traditional views going forward.

Fun seeing a few actors from the dearly departed Marco Polo, like Remy Hii and Chris Pang.

I think the only issue I really had was I wish Nick got taken to task more for all the stuff he kept from Rachel when they were dating.  Obviously, I still think he's a decent guy and his secrets weren't because he was manipulating, but more due to fear that Rachel wouldn't look at him the same way when they first met, but he really did kind of just toss her into the lion's den at times.

Glad it made a bunch of money, and I'm curious to see how the sequels play out.  At the very least, I have to think we'll meet Nick's dad, since he was brought up numerous times.  Part of me is hoping they go full-blown fan service and have him played by Chow Yun-Fat, so we can get a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon reunion with him and Yeoh!

[Shannon L.]

38 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Glad it made a bunch of money, and I'm curious to see how the sequels play out

I forgot to mention in my previous post that I hope we see more of Astrid's story.  I found myself wishing we knew more about her character and her life. 

I haven't read the book, so I don't know if this was covered in it or not, but I wondered if the fact that Rachel was college educated and so accomplished at such a young age factored into the mother's eventual acceptance of her.  When they met, she did seem a little impressed by that.  I wonder if she'd have had any chance at all if she'd been a high school graduate who worked at..... I don't know...a hair salon or something. 

[Nidratime]

Quote

I know that some studios were trying to change Rachel into a white woman, but I don't think it would have been anywhere near as interesting as what we got instead.  The idea that Rachel looked like everyone else and could even speak the language, but was still looked down upon due to class and being a foreigner, was way more interesting to me then if she had been white, and the conflict was more of a "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" type situation.  I'm glad the author didn't budge and waited till he found studios that actually believed in his vision.

I think it was more than just being a foreigner, but that Eleanor felt that American Chinese -- or Americans, period -- are more ambitious for themselves and put themselves before their families, less willing to sacrifice, like she did, to have a family and be there for them. As such, she felt that Rachel would not be the best wife for a man like Nick, who will need someone (according to her belief) who would put herself second for him, his responsibilities, and any children they might have. 

Quote

I forgot to mention in my previous post that I hope we see more of Astrid's story.  I found myself wishing we knew more about her character and her life. 

I haven't read the second book yet, but as I understand it, Astrid's story is expanded upon in the second book. That being said, I did read the first book and there is more to her story that's in that book which didn't make it to the movie. For instance (and I'll put this in spoiler tags in case people want to read the book or in case this stuff ends up in the next movie!):

Spoiler

The guy who Astrid makes eye contact with at the end of the film, during the credits, is her ex-boyfriend, Charlie, who she was previously engaged to and threw over because her parents thought he wasn't good enough for her. Charlie's family was nouveau riche like the Gohs (Rachel's friends). In the first book, Charlie runs into Astrid, sees how miserable she is, and she spills the beans to him that she believes her husband is cheating on her. Charlie is also having problems in his own marriage and admits to Astrid that he and his wife live separately. He makes it his business to help Astrid track down her husband and find out what's really going on. Later, he anonymously helps her husband, by buying his tech company at some outrageous price, allowing Michael to feel more on par with Astrid, but you get the feeling that wasn't going to be the end of their relationship....

 

I just ran across this article which is a "guide to the characters," that was published before the movie was released. What I thought was interesting is they identify "Felicity Leong is played by Janice Koh. Felicity is Astrid's domineering mother." 

https://www.thisisinsider.com/characters-guide-crazy-rich-asians-2018-8

During the actual movie, I wasn't really sure if Felicity was supposed to be Astrid's mother or if any of those women hanging out with Eleanor were her sisters-in-law because, in the book, Eleanor has four sisters-in-law, but they're not all friendly with her. However, as I recall from the book (and now the movie) Felicity *was* with Eleanor in 1995 in London when they are denied their reservations at the hotel and the two children with them are Nick and Astrid. (In the book, it's a little different which I won't spell out here.)

Edited August 29, 2018 by Nidratime

[arc]

This review got to why CRA mattered to me so much:

Quote

Peik Lin welcoming Rachel into the home she shared with her parents and siblings normalised my life. There was no awkward moment where she explained why she was still living at home after university. It was just accepted, my life displayed as though it didn’t require justification.

[…]

These easily-missed details could have been omitted, and knowing what they mean doesn’t affect the plot. But for these characters, and for myself, the presence of such moments woven throughout the film is as obvious and integral to life as breathing.

[…]

We can all relate in some way to the characters that populate Hollywood, regardless of race or culture. But it’s one thing to relate, and a different thing to see yourself reflected.

I’d never had anything tell me it’s OK to exist as I am.”

[ainon]

On 20/08/2018 at 9:58 PM, Frost said:

I was a little confused by the characters relentless focus on being "Chinese."   I went to university in England and one of my flatmates was Singaporean.  And that's what she considered herself and her family - Singaporean.  Obviously one person is a very small sample size...but Aruna is the only person from Singapore that I know!

I had a day long layover in Singapore a few years ago and wandered all over, ending with afternoon tea at Raffles Hotel.  I enjoyed it but I was surprised the hotel kind of came across as a tourist trap.  It didn't seem like the hotel Nick would have chosen for him and Rachel to stay.  Singapore is such a beautiful city, it was a shame more screen time wasn't devoted to the incredible gardens planted everywhere.  Even a basic crosswalk was sumptuous!

Your friend was Singaporean but might not have been a Chinese (the name doesn't sound Chinese). Malaysia and Singapore are multiracial countries, with the different races being very recognisably distinct in terms of appearance, culture, language and food. In fact that's what makes the food so amazing - there's endless variety and fusion possibilities. But when overseas amongst foreigners, Malaysians and Singaporeans would identify by their nationalities.

The hotel seen in the movie was probably a stand-in. A lot of the location filming was done in Malaysia: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/08/31/how-msia-became-a-big-part-of-crazy-rich-asians-from-location-to-acting-talent-and-crew-the-country/

Something I loved when watching the movie was the different accents that everybody had depending on where they might have lived or studied, and switching between languages was done just because. There was no attempt to force eveyone to speak with the same tone or 'standard' accent. And apart from Ken Jeung faking his broken English when first meeting Rachel, nobody was speaking the stereotypical Hollywood Chinese stilted English!

[NUguy514]

3 hours ago, ainon said:

The hotel seen in the movie was probably a stand-in. A lot of the location filming was done in Malaysia: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/08/31/how-msia-became-a-big-part-of-crazy-rich-asians-from-location-to-acting-talent-and-crew-the-country/

That was definitely the Raffles Hotel.  I found an awesome rate and stayed there for two nights last year (#fancy), so I recognized it immediately.  It's quite fabulous.

Seeing this movie has made me really want to go back to Singapore – such a beautiful city!

[QueerGirrl]

On 8/29/2018 at 2:51 PM, thuganomics85 said:

 Part of me is hoping they go full-blown fan service and have him played by Chow Yun-Fat, so we can get a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon reunion with him and Yeoh!

Shut your mouth!  I would d.i.e.

[Nidratime]

That would be great. From your mouth to Warner's, Chu's and Kwan's ears.

[Ms Blue Jay]

I'm obsessed with Astrid.  She was so cool and glamourous.

[PodcastTown]

I grew up with romcoms, especially hong kong movies, that was their wheelhouse. Shaw Brothers did a bunch of them back then. I grew up in the 80s so this was definitely up my alley. 

This movie made me want to venture out and seek more films set in Singapore/Malaysia.  Read an article about a film called Mee Pok Man came out in 96 which I need to see in a hurry! 

[anyanka323]

I'm rereading the books now and now that a sequel is official,

Spoiler

 

it's going to be interesting how Chu and Warner Bros. handle the mainland China storyline from the second book.  In both the first two books, the more recent arrivals from Mainland China, Araminta Lee's family and Kitty Pong in particular, are portrayed as extreme social climbers and with the Lees, only superficially accepted.  The Singapore Chinese look down at their ambition and social striving and talk about them behind their backs very negatively.  That isn't seen in the movie.  There likely will be some changes made to make it possible for the sequel to be filmed in China.

There's one scene from the books that I'm disappointed won't likely be in the sequel - Eleanor's arrival via helicopter to crash Nick and Rachel's California wedding.  By that point in the first third of the second book, she's come to accept that Rachel and Nick are getting married, whether she likes it or not. 

 

Edited September 1, 2018 by Athena
added spoiler tag

[Athena]

Please use spoiler tags when discussing the books especially the sequels. Thank you.

[Empress1]

On 8/23/2018 at 6:55 PM, Shannon L. said:

However, I did tear up when Astrid (my God, is that actress gorgeous or what?  Perfect casting, imo) walked into the wedding with her grandmother.  When everyone said they were shocked that she showed up because she never goes to those kinds of things, then they showed her walking in on Astrid's arms and Astrid say's "Thank you, grandma"?  Yep, tears.  She didn't like those events, but came because her granddaughter needed her. 

I teared up at this part too because I had a similar "family doesn't need to say thank you" conversation with my mother recently.

I read the book earlier this year (but not the series - I'll have to read the rest before the sequels) and this was a pretty faithful adaptation

Spoiler

except for the mahjong scene, which wasn't in the book at all.

I was excited to see Singapore. I used to work for a company that opened offices there when I worked there and while I was pretty involved with the launch on the US side, I didn't get to go to Singapore (my boss did - AND she didn't even appreciate it, hmph). I have friends who lived in Hong Kong for six months and traveled around Asia while they were living there and they loved Singapore. The movie was visually beautiful - the food! the opulence!

Spoiler

I kept waiting for the "I wasn't actually having an affair, I staged it so you would leave me and save face" reveal from Michael like the book; I guess that's coming in the second movie? They teased it with Harry Shum Jr. in the after-the-credits scene.

 Astrid's "I have 14 apartment buildings that I own so [I'll go to] one of those" line was great. I'm not familiar with that actress but she's strikingly beautiful. 

On 8/29/2018 at 3:51 PM, thuganomics85 said:

I think the only issue I really had was I wish Nick got taken to task more for all the stuff he kept from Rachel when they were dating.  Obviously, I still think he's a decent guy and his secrets weren't because he was manipulating, but more due to fear that Rachel wouldn't look at him the same way when they first met, but he really did kind of just toss her into the lion's den at times.

I was annoyed she let him skate on that too. I thought she dropped it too quickly when she confronted him after the bachelorette party. Even stuff like the dress code - Rachel WAS dressed too casually for the dinner at the grandmother's house before Awkwafina lent her a dress (which I loved, but I didn't like the blue one she wore to the wedding). If your family rolls black tie, you have to tell people that!

I thought they showed Araminta's two sides well through her clothing. I mean, you meet her and she's in casual clothes and glasses, and then you learn that she's from a family that owns a billon-dollar business, and then for her bachelorette party that involves a private island, she's in a sequined jumpsuit talking about Rachel's Gap look. It read very deliberate to me, particularly having read the book and knowing she had a not-so-down-to-earth side.

Edited September 1, 2018 by Empress1

[arc]

Rachel must have confronted Nick about it at some point in the deleted scenes, because there's that "You should have told me you're the Prince William of Asia" / "Don't be ridiculous, I'm much more of a Harry" exchange from the trailer that ended up getting cut from the movie. I rewatched the trailer, and that moment was at the mansion (Tyersall Park).

(I think they said they ended up cutting it because Nick's line came off a little too self-complimentary.)

[methodwriter85]

Is Peik Lin supposed to be a lesbian? I thought she was because of the hairstyle and her clothing, plus her dad calling her Ellen. But then she doesn't really seem to display any sexual interest in women. She does make a comment about Nick being hot, but that doesn't mean she was straight.

Edited September 2, 2018 by methodwriter85

[Blergh]

I just thought Peik Lin was supposed to be an oddball who preferred to be an observer to all these wedding and party shenanigans (and to be the best platonic friend she could be to Rachel) but had no real interest in getting tied to anyone of either gender. 

[DrSpaceman]

Saw this today.  Was enjoyable, I liked it. 

Best line was about "Asian ellen".  She really did look like that. 

Probably not as in love with it as others are though. 

[arc]

If you’ve read Jeff Yang’s mahjong scene explanation and you would like even more depth about what message each player’s hand conveys, check out this piece. 

[Browncoat]

I just got back from seeing this, and I loved it!  I haven't read the books -- I'm not sure I even knew there were books -- but I plan to!

The opening scene, to me, conveyed that Eleanor was no one to be trifled with, and that certainly played out in the rest of the movie.

Thanks to @arc for posting the link to the piece explaining the mah jongg scene -- while I was watching, I kept thinking that it would probably be more meaningful if I knew how to play.  Not that I didn't get the gist of it all, but it might have made more sense when they both turned over their tiles at the end.

I liked that we didn't get the actual conversation between Nick and Eleanor at the hotel.  Just showing her there to talk to him, and then the reveal of Nick giving Rachel Eleanor's ring were enough.  Show, don't tell.

One of my favorite bits, though, was when Rachel and Nick arrived at the Singapore airport and she says she can't believe how nice it is, while all JFK has is salmonella and despair.  Truer words were never spoken! 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Bon Appetit discusses some of the food in Crazy Rich Asians with Kevin Kwan and Jimmy O. Yang

As of September 18, Crazy Rich Asians has grossed $151 million domestically and another $38.5 million outside the United States!

[Silver Raven]

1 hour ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Bon Appetit discusses some of the food in Crazy Rich Asians with Kevin Kwan and Jimmy O. Yang

As of September 18, Crazy Rich Asians has grossed $151 million domestically and another $38.5 million outside the United States!

Has it opened in China yet?

[Athena]

25 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

Has it opened in China yet?

No and there is a chance that it may not. The Chinese authorities who allow movies to be released there have not made a decision on it yet. WB submitted it a long time ago but no decision has been made. This article explains a few reasons why China may be ambivalent to it.