Chris Tashima Movies
- 1986
- R
The Los Angeles Japanese district, Little Tokyo, provides the setting for this violent crime drama that centers upon a determined cop's efforts to oust the dreaded Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) from his city. Before he can do this, he must prove that they have indeed infiltrated Little Tokyo. He doesn't have much luck until he meets Akashi, a former Tokyo cop who is intimate with the methods of the criminal organization. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Rally, John Nishio, (more)
- 1991
- R
Featuring plenty of high, hard kicks, and flailing furious fists, this martial arts actioner tells an exciting tale of vengeance as a tough American street fighter stalks the streets of L.A.'s Chinatown in search of the organized criminals responsible for his guardian's death. Movie newcomer Jeff Speakman makes an appealing action hero, with fluid direction from genre veteran Mark DiSalle. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Speakman, John Dye, (more)
- 1998
L.A.-based Chinese director Sherwood Hu made his English-language feature debut with this fantasy thriller shot in Hawaii and mainland China. The wedding preparations of local policeman Turner (Angus MacFadyen) and native Hawaiian Jenny (Carlotta Chang) are intercut with a bank robbery led by Bong (Chris Tashima). When Turner stops at the bank, he encounters the robbers and chases them out of town to the farm where the wedding guests are gathered. Jenny and the guests are slaughtered during a shootout. The emotionally distraught Turner ignores the suggestion of police captain Kenny (Ray Bumatai) that he take a vacation. Driven by revenge, he begins an investigation and embarks on a search for the killers. Shown at the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angus MacFadyen, Carlotta Chang, (more)
In this drama about young Asian-Americans struggling for a sense of culture and identity, Irene (Suzy Nakamura) is a Japanese-American teenager growing up in the early 1970s. Her parents, who spent much of World War II in a California internment camp (though they refuse to discuss their experiences there), have decided to divorce, which sends Irene, already going through a difficult emotional period, into a tailspin. Unhappy at home, Irene and her boyfriend Luke (James Sie) decide to hit the road for San Francisco; before leaving, Irene symbolically burns her mother's family photographs, an eerie echo of her grandfather's decision, years before, to burn the family's possessions before being taken to the internment camp. Irene and Luke travel with another couple, political activists Mark and Aura; unknown to the others, radical Mark has the makings for several bombs in his bags. The two couples bicker until Irene and Luke split off on their own in search of the remains of the camp where Irene's family was incarcerated. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzy Nakamura, James Sie, (more)
- 2006
Writer-director Eric Byler adapted his ensemble comedy-drama Americanese from Shawn Wong's bestselling 1995 roman American Knees. The film, like the novel, dramatizes the seriocomic, day-to-day experiences of a number of Asian American immigrants in the City of Angels. At the story's center is milquetoast-dull, middle-aged college professor and divorcé Raymond Ding (Chris Tashima) - so ineffectual that he barely seems to have control over the events that befall him, and so emotionally distant in his relationship with live-in lover, the Japanese-American photojournalist Aurora (Allison Sie), that his inaccessibility destroys their union. Forced to move out of their house, Raymond instead rooms with his aging father, Wood (Sab Shimono), making periodic, unannounced visits back to Aurora's home when she is absent. While Aurora kindles her own romance with American Steve (Ben Shenkman), Raymond moves into his own apartment and takes up with Vietnamese-American Betty (Joan Chen) - a university associate plagued by deep-seated emotional and mental problems.
~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Tashima, Allison Sie, (more)
