Anna May Wong Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Vintage Image of the Day: Anna May Wong
Filed under: Classics », Vintage Image of the Day »
Actress Anna May Wong was born on this day in 1905 in Los Angeles, and became one of the first Chinese-American movie stars. She appeared in the first two-strip Technicolor feature, The Toll of the Sea, which was a 1922 silent adapatation of Madame Butterfly. One of her early films you can watch on DVD is the 1924 version of The Thief of Bagdad, which starred Douglas Fairbanks, in which Wong plays a slave. Anti-Chinese prejudice of the time made it difficult for Wong to get leading roles -- she was not allowed to kiss non-Chinese men onscreen, so she often played supporting characters. She spent some time making films in Europe in the late 1920s, such as the 1929 silent film Piccadilly. Wong's best-known role may be in the 1932 Josef Von Sternberg film Shanghai Express, supporting Marlene Dietrich. In fact, some Wong fans claim she steals Shanghai Express from Dietrich, although that's debatable. I can't judge for myself -- Shanghai Express isn't currently available on DVD in the United States. Wong's film career essentially ended during World War II, although she appeared in a few films and hosted her own TV show briefly in the 1950s. She died in 1961.
Time's website includes an extensive Richard Corliss profile of Wong that provides helpful context and background about the era in which she worked. It's a comprehensive and interesting biography of Wong, as well as a discussion of her film and stage roles, and is certainly worth a read.
News from Slackerwood: Cine Las Americas, Monster Squad, and Screen Legends
Filed under: News From Slackerwood », Other Festivals »
It feels like an explosion of Austin film news and events is going on this week. In addition to the screenings listed below, some limited-release movies are finally reaching Austin: Summer Storm, Don't Come Knocking, Awesome; I F***kin' Shot That!, and The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things.
- The Cine Las Americas film festival starts on Wednesday 4/19 and runs through Sunday 4/23. This week's issue of the Austin Chronicle contains previews and recommendations for the festival.
- Held over: Austin filmmaker Kyle Henry's film Room has extended its run at Alamo on South Lamar for another week.
- Nacho Libre is getting an Austin premiere, done in a very Austin way: outdoors and with live wrestling. Director Jared Hess will attend the Lucha Libre Extravaganza on Saturday 5/27, outdoors at the Glenn. You can buy tickets now or reserve a free ticket if you promise to wear a Mexican wrestling mask.
News from Slackerwood: Boogaloo, Hoops, and Shanghai Express
Filed under: News From Slackerwood »
I believe the title of this entry tells you everything you need to know about the variety of films screening in Austin this week. In addition, there seem to be more free-admission films than usual this week, so if you're worried about scraping up money for your taxes, you can still see some good movies around town.
- Austin filmmaker Kyle Henry's film Room, which screened at Sundance and Cannes last year, will be playing all week long at Alamo on South Lamar. This week's Austin Chronicle includes an interview with Henry and actress Cyndi Williams.
- That quirky documentary about Texas sex-toy laws, Dildo Diaries, is getting a short run at Alamo Village, from Friday-Sunday 4/7-9. It's not only a fun movie, it's a good reminder of how insane the Texas Lege can be.
- All I know about Breakin' and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo is that the sequel title has spawned more silly parody titles than any other film I can think of, including Highlander 2: The Quickening. If you're a fan of these movies, Alamo Downtown is showing them on Saturday 4/8 with actor Michael "Shrimp" Chambers and producer David Zito both making appearances.
News from Slackerwood: Film Series Mania
Filed under: Quentin Tarantino », News From Slackerwood »
I have never seen so many film series starting in one week in one town in my whole life. Whether you prefer silent-film actresses, Chinese martial arts, classic widescreen films, or the fun of outdoor movie-viewing, Austin has a film series for you. April and May are going to be wonderful months for a variety of film programming in Austin.
- Adam and Steve, the film that opened the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (aGLIFF) last year, is playing all week at Dobie Theatre. Also at Dobie this week, AFS@Dobie presents the German comedy Go for Zucker.
- Free coffeehouse movies: Austin Java is showing Intolerable Cruelty tonight (3/31) at 8 pm. Ventana del Soul is starting an Anime Movie Monday series on 4/3 at 7:30 pm with Excel Saga, which I assume has nothing to do with Microsoft.
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