Latest news with #KellyMarieTran
NZ Herald
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Queer love and family shine in flawed Wedding Banquet update
Solid cast: Kelly Marie Tran, Lily Gladstone, Han Gi-chan and Bowen Yang. Photo / Supplied The Wedding Banquet, directed by Andrew Ahn, is out now. At a dispiriting moment in history when 'diversity' is being weaponised as a dirty word, it's refreshing to watch a story about two couples' romantic travails within the context of race, sexuality and the immigrant experience. This remake of Ang
The Guardian
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
From The Wedding Banquet to Kylie Minogue: your complete entertainment guide for the week ahead
The Wedding BanquetOut now A remake of the 1993 film, director Andrew Ahn's romcom premiered at Sundance earlier this year, bringing together IVF, a green card marriage and a Korean wedding banquet for a comedy of errors starring Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone and Kelly Marie Tran. RiefenstahlOut now Leni Riefenstahl is a rare female pioneer who is tough to celebrate. This documentary explores the question of whether the film-maker's notable work bigging up the Nazi regime ought to eclipse her flair for aesthetics. The SurferOut now We've had toxic masculinity and wrestling in The Iron Claw, toxic masculinity and tennis in Challengers, now it's toxic masculinity and surfing. Nicolas Cage stars as the man who returns to the fondly remembered beach of his childhood to surf with his son, only to find not everyone wants him to ride those waves. The Extraordinary Miss FlowerOut now From the talented film-making duo Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard (who created the idiosyncratic portrayal of Nick Cave, 20,000 Days on Earth), this distinctive performance documentary offers an offbeat reconstruction of the eponymous Miss Flower, through love letters sent to her in the 1960s and 1970s. With music from Emilíana Torrini. Catherine Bray Snapped Ankles The Boileroom, Guildford, 10 May; touring to 17 May Inspired by everything from morris dancing to Fela Kuti via messy warehouse parties, London's artful post-punk rabble head out on tour in support of recent album, Hard Times Furious Dancing. CWith them camouflaged by their omnipresent ghillie suits, brace yourselves for a distinctly unique experience. MC Kylie Minogue16 May to 6 June; tour starts Glasgow The Lights Camera Action hit-maker arrives in the UK for her first tour of cavernous arenas in seven years. After returning to the Top 10 with 2023's viral phenomenon Padam Padam, expect a handful of dancefloor-focused newer songs alongside undeniable classics such as Confide in Me, Slow and Spinning Around. Michael Cragg Gregory PorterManchester, 10 May; Glasgow, 11 May; Newcastle upon Tyne, 12 May; Bournemouth, 14 May; Cardiff, 15 May If there can be such a thing as a jazz superstar, the Grammy-winning soul and gospel-rooted American singer unquestionably qualifies. Porter's soaring baritone voice and deep absorption in African American musics are combined with an idiomatic openness that has brought him worldwide fans crossing generations and tastes. John Fordham Jörg Widmann BBC Hoddinott Hall, Cardiff, 15 May Composer-conductor-clarinettist Jörg Widmann combines two of those roles as a guest with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. On the podium, he begins the concert with the overture to Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, and ends it with Mendelssohn's Fifth Symphony, the Reformation, while in between he conducts the UK premiere of his Violin Concerto No 2, in which his sister, Carolin Widmann, will be the soloist. Andrew Clements The Way Forward Gazelli Art House, London, to 28 June A look back at tomorrow: that is, at the art of the 1960s with its optimistic belief that new freedoms were opening up in a world just getting better and better. The late Derek Boshier stars along with his contemporaries Peter Blake, David Hockney, Pauline Boty, Allen Jones and more. C C Land: The Wonder of ArtThe National Gallery, London, opens 10 May Controversially sponsored by Chinese property firm C C Land, this is the full title given to the National Gallery's new permanent displays, rethought, rehung, but hopefully still as complex and coherent as ever. There truly is plenty of wonder in a free collection that includes Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Artemisia Gentileschi and Van Gogh. A chance to discover great art's joy. To Improvise a MountainLeeds Art Gallery, 16 May to 5 October Painter Lynette Yiadom-Boakye curates an exhibition that explores the influences and inspirations behind her literate, haunting work. She creates portraits and narrative scenes featuring highly realistic but fictional characters. Her affinities turn out to be as mysterious as these images, from Bas Jan Ader to Walter Sickert to Miles Davis. Austen and Turner: A Country House EncounterHarewood House, to 19 October Two people with their faces on banknotes and big birthdays this year meet in the inevitable setting of an English country house. Jane Austen and JMW Turner were both born 250 years ago – but what else do they have in common? More than you might think, this show suggests. Jonathan Jones Soho Theatre Walthamstow This 1,000-seater north-east London outpost of the capital's premier comedy hub has finally had its grand opening – and the lineup for month one is fittingly magnificent, with shows from Dara Ó Briain, Edinburgh prize winner Ahir Shah and US alt king John Early, plus a mixed bill featuring Sara Pascoe, Tom Davis and John Kearns. Rachel Aroesti Dance International GlasgowVarious venues, to 24 May This year's DIG festival features an eclectic range of artists, from a rare appearance (in a talk and workshop) by the illustrious Michael Clark, to of-the-moment Scottish artists (Mele Broomes, Colette Sadler) and international performers (QDance from Nigeria, Omar Rajeh from Lebanon). There are film and family programmes, too. Lyndsey Winship PositiveSouthwark Playhouse, London, 13 to 17 May Malachai is coming out of a toxic relationship. Ade is secretly in love with Malachai. Shortlisted for multiple awards, Temi Majekodunmi's play challenges perceptions of HIV. Robert Awosusi directs this tender depiction of Black gay brotherhood. Kate Wyver Dogs on the MetroLive theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, to 17 May Emilie Robson's people-watching adventure won the inaugural North East Playwriting award. Written in geordie dialect, it takes a seat with Jen and Dean on the Metro as they hurtle through shared memories. Responding to lost youth, with themes of consent and sexual violence, this is for ages 14+. KW Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion MurderbotApple TV+, 16 May AI gaining autonomy is not quite the nightmare it could be in this irreverent thriller, adapted from Martha Wells's award-winning sci-fi novel series. A cyborg security guard (Alexander Skarsgård) hacks its own programming – but despite being unimpressed by humanity, this bot is more into introspection and trashy soaps than violent extermination. OvercompensatingPrime Video, 15 May Benito Skinner's cheeky celebrity impersonations (the Kardashians, Timothée Chalamet) went viral during the pandemic; now the Instagram star is pursuing a more traditional comic trajectory with this new college-set series about a jock struggling to come out as gay. Kyle MacLachlan and Connie Britton co-star; Charli xcx cameos. Alison Hammond's Big WeekendBBC One & iPlayer, 16 May, 8.30pm Between stale chatshows and podcast domination, the celebrity TV interview isn't thriving at present – can Hammond change that? In this new series, the exuberant presenter spends 48 hours with a star (the lineup includes Lenny Henry, Mel B and Jimmy Carr), for an undoubtedly uproarious – and potentially exposing – chronicle of their weekend together. Inside Our ADHD MindsBBC Two & iPlayer, 12 May, 9pm In 2023, Chris Packham, who is himself autistic, presented an evocative, experimental documentary that attempted to capture the mindsets of a variety of autistic people on screen. Now, the presenter is using this approach to explore the ways in which ADHD and dyslexia can shape our perception of the world. RA Doom: The Dark AgesOut 15 May, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC The blood-splattered veteran of the first-person shooter scene returns, this time in a prequel (above) to the 2016 reimagining of Doom. Main character Doom Slayer has been trapped in an ancient realm of castles and dragons and must batter his way out. With an emphasis on melee combat, it's an intriguing break from the game's bullet-riddled history. Capcom Fighting Collection 216 May, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox, PC A second compilation of Capcom fighting classics, this time taking in the glory years of 1998-2004 including the groundbreaking Capcom v SNK titles, which brought the two titans of the fight game together. Also here are the excellent Sega Dreamcast arena-based brawlers PowerStone 1 and 2. Keith Stuart Kali Uchis – Sincerely Out now The Grammy-winning US singer-songwriter follows up last year's Spanish-language album, Orquídeas, with an album that attempts to distill the 'complexities of life'. The beautiful, Lana Del Rey-esque ILYSMIH tries to find joy in love, but it's Sunshine & Rain that better encapsulates the ups and downs of it all. Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke – Tall TalesOut now Electronic music pioneer Pritchard – who previously remixed Radiohead's Bloom in 2011 – teams up with the band's frontman, Thom Yorke, on this new collaborative album. The slippery Gangsters manipulates Yorke's weary croon to sinister effect, while Back in the Game chugs along merrily before slowly disintegrating. PinkPantheress – Fancy ThatOut now After landing a UK and US Top 3 single with Boy's a Liar, pop experimentalist PinkPantheress's debut album, Heaven Knows, felt like a minor letdown. This playful new mixtape – featuring the likes of the Dare, and samples of songs by Basement Jaxx and Jessica Simpson – arrives with less pressure. Sleep Token – Even in ArcadiaOut now This follow-up to the UK No 3 hit Take Me Back to Eden finds the British mask enthusiasts continuing to explore rock's potential. After months of teasing via clues, codes and even a collaboration with a US weather channel, Even in Arcadia is finally ready to be immersed in. MC What We SpendPodcast Hearing from people across the US and throughout the economic spectrum, this fascinating series provides an insight into a typical week's spending for everyone from a retired social worker to the parent of a toddler. & Vimeo Film-maker Miles Blacket's short exploring the reality of domestic slavery in the UK is a confronting watch. We follow two Filipina women who have survived trafficking and are now determined to help their tight-knit community. Unforgotten: The Bradford City FireBBC Two, 11 May, 9pm Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the devastating fire at the Valley Parade football stadium that killed 56 people, this poignant film speaks to survivors and explores the effect the tragedy has had on safety at football matches. Ammar Kalia
Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The Wedding Banquet review — a gently hilarious remake
Directed by the Korean-American film-maker Andrew Ahn, this is a gently hilarious remake of Ang Lee's romantic comedy of the same name from 1993, transplanting the action from New York to the Asian queer community in Seattle and amping up the farce with not one but two same-sex couples. Lily Gladstone, the soulful centre of Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, plays Lee, who is desperate to have a child with her partner, Angela (Kelly Marie Tran from The Last Jedi). Rather more desperate, it turns out, than Angela. 'If it happens, it happens,' Angela says. 'Not for gay people, honey,' Lee replies. Next door live Chris (the Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang) and his South Korean boyfriend, Min (Han Gi-chan),
Irish Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
The Wedding Banquet review: Charming cast outshine the flimsy material in fluffy remake of Ang Lee's indie classic
The Wedding Banquet Director : Andrew Ahn Cert : 15A Starring : Bowen Yang, Lily Gladstone, Kelly Marie Tran, Han Gi-chan, Joan Chen, Youn Yuh-jung Running Time : 1 hr 44 mins Times have changed since Ang Lee's original Wedding Planner, an understated indie classic, introduced a bisexual Taiwanese immigrant, his long-term male partner and a fancy sham wedding designed to fool visiting parents. James Schamus, who cowrote that film, from 1993, also shares writing credits with the director Andrew Ahn on this muddled remake. Relocating the action from San Francisco to cuddly, contemporary Seattle, The Wedding Banquet ties itself in knots to facilitate a phoney marriage in an LGBTQ-accepting environment. Lee ( Lily Gladstone ) and Angela (Kelly Marie Tran) are committed, loving lesbians undergoing a financially ruinous second round of IVF. Angela's college chum Chris (Bowen Yang) and his wealthy boyfriend, Min (Han Gi-chan), live in their garage. Doors are mere metaphors in this arrangement, which allows the curiously sexless couples to wander in and out of each other's dwellings and private moments. With similar blunt force, characters 'speak their truth' in lieu of plotting. These farcical rhythms lend themselves to pitifully few jokes. READ MORE Min, whose US visa is about to expire, is summoned back to Korea by his tycoon grandparents. He proposes to Chris, his boyfriend of five years, who declines, citing commitment phobia. He subsequently proposes to Angela with a green card in mind and a promise to fund Lee's IVF. Before you can say 'Huh?', Min's grandmother Ja-Young (Youn Yuh-jung, the Oscar-winning star of Minari ) visits the quartet. Ang Lee's Wedding Banquet culminated in a beautiful moment when the protagonist's father acknowledged his son-in-law with a traditional bridal envelope. There is no room for such nuance in the fluffy redo. Grandma immediately sees through the flimflam and orchestrates a lavish, traditional Korean wedding for the benefit of her homophobic husband. That character might have allowed for some drama and subterfuge, but he remains resolutely off-screen. Technically, Wedding Banquet 2025 is a dog's dinner. The camera shots and angles are eccentric; a simple two-shot conversation scene completely obscures one of the participants. A distracting amount of fractionally out-of-sync dialogue adds to the bumpy ride. It falls to the charming cast to outshine the flimsy material. Gladstone and Tran are as warm and well-worn as a much-loved bed sweater. Bowen Yang thrums with millennial angst. Joan Chen steals scenes as Angela's loudly gay-positive mother. In cinemas from Friday, May 9th
Business Insider
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
Kelly Marie Tran says after years of therapy, she can look back on 'Star Wars' with 'fondness' in the wake of online abuse from the franchise's fan base
Kelly Marie Tran said she's ready to celebrate "all parts of herself," years after facing a toxic hate campaign from "Star Wars" fans. 2017's " Star Wars: The Last Jedi" was supposed to be Tran's big break in Hollywood. She was the first Asian-American cast in a lead role in a "Star Wars" movies. However, some fans disliked the movie and Tran's character, and started sending racist, misogynistic, and body-shaming comments and death threats on social media. The hate continued for months, with several cast mates coming to Tran's defense against the online trolls. Tran later deleted all her Instagram posts and left social media. Her character's role was markedly reduced in the following "Star Wars" movie. The productions had different directors and the reduction in Tran's screen time was reportedly for technical reasons, however, critics have argued that this excuse felt flimsy. Fan groups harassing actors, especially women of color, for appearing in their favorite franchises has been a worrying trend. Rachel Zegler, Moses Ingram, and Amandla Stenberg have also received similar vitriol in recent years. Tran told Business Insider that after speaking to mental health professionals for years, she can now see the joy of her "Star Wars" experience. "I still hold that experience with such fondness in my heart because there was so much creativity, professionalism, and artistry on those sets," Tran said. "It allowed me into these audition rooms I never would've been in a million years if I hadn't done that job." Tran said that the online criticism made her realize her own internalized racism, misogyny, and shame about her body. She said the experience opened a door for her to go down "the scary path of figuring out how to heal." "I wouldn't be who I am today without it," she added. Tran told BI, "Going through the therapy and counseling got me to a point where now I get to make art celebrating the parts of myself that I was taught to be ashamed of. That I was persecuted for." She said her new film "The Wedding Banquet," which premiered on April 18, is part of her new goal to star in films that celebrate her identity. The film is a remake of Ang Lee's 1993 romantic drama with the same name. In it, Tran plays Angela, a lesbian who marries her best friend's boyfriend (played by Han Gi-chan) so he can get a green card to stay in the US and hide his sexuality from his homophobic grandparents. Tran came out as queer in a Vanity Fair article published in November 2024 at the beginning of "The Wedding Banquet" press tour. She told BI that the film is something she needed 10 years ago. "It's so Asian, it's so queer, so honest with its ability to authentically represent what it is to be a child of immigrants," Tran said. Tran told BI that the Vanity Fair team gave her a few months to consider her decision to come out before publishing the article. Tran said she was grateful to the outlet for giving her time to reflect on the article. "Looking back, I'm like, wow, I really couldn't have thought of a more perfect way to celebrate this part of myself, and I'm very grateful that it happened that way."
