Fulfilling her late father’s last wish, Zhang Yuanyuan (Wang Zhen’er), who grew up in the United States, returns to China with her young daughter. There, she is confronted with a painful truth — her estranged mother (Li Ping), whom she has long blamed for abandoning her, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. As the mother’s memories fade, Yuanyuan and her daughter accompany her through the gradual unraveling of time. Through fragments of recollection and reality, Yuanyuan’s thoughts drift back to the 1980s, where she “meets” her mother as a young woman (He Lin) — brilliant, beautiful, and full of promise. In that era of newfound hope after the resumption of university entrance exams, her mother’s life seemed destined for success. Yet a single unexpected event changed the course of her life, as well as that of Yuanyuan’s father and Yuanyuan herself, forever. A tender and time-woven story about memory, reconciliation, and the quiet strength that binds generations.
In 1977, Star Wars changed the world. It took the universe by storm, completely redefining everything everyone knew about movies. But then, in 1980, The Empire Strikes Back changed Star Wars. Sequels were not as well regarded back then as they are today.
This film’s ambition is betrayed by its lack of substance.
A refreshing twist is that all the kids’ powers are…kind of useless. There’s a kid who can only move in slow motion, a kid who has every power in the world but can only use them randomly, and our main character Missy who has no powers at all. The thesis of the film seems to be that it doesn’t matter what kind of powers you have, its the way you use them, which is good for the warm and fuzzies.
The film's Incluvie rating is off the charts. It features Black, Muslim, queer, trans humans whose moms hold them up, fight for them, and love them for who they are...making anything possible.
In Amazon’s new shark flick, The Devil’s Mouth, terrible tourists finally get their comeuppance while two estranged best friends must overcome their petty squabbles to survive as the rest of their party gets chomped one by one. While it’s by no means an Oscar winner, The Devil’s Mouth is good old fashioned shark week carnage with a tourist critical twist, perfect with popcorn, a friend, and a healthy does of schadenfreude.
