Takayo Fischer Movies
- 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)
The rousing, true-life story of a single dad who went from living on the streets to owning his own brokerage firm is brought to the big screen by superstar Will Smith, appearing for the first time opposite his real-life son Jaden Smith. Set in early-'80s San Francisco, the film charts the hard times and eventual comeback of Chris Gardner, a suddenly single salesman who has custody of his son, but finds that providing for the two of them is a challenge in the increasingly unstable economic climate. He struggles to work his way from unpaid intern at Dean Witter to something more substantial, even as life continues to offer him setbacks. Making his Hollywood debut, Italian director Gabriele Muccino was championed by Will Smith for the project. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Jaden Smith, (more)
- 2001
With this episode, Hallee Hirsh takes over from Yvonne Zima in the role of Rachel Greene, the rebellious daughter of Dr. Mark Greene (Anthony Edwards). Rachel pops up unexpectedly in Chicago, announcing that she's run away from her mother and that she intends to move in with Doug. Elsewhere, an outraged Weaver (Laura Innes) fires Malucci (Erik Palladino) after he is caught in the middle of an on-the-job sexual indiscretion (in the back of an ambulance!); Carter (Noah Wyle) performs a "reverse burglary" on Abby's (Maura Tierney) behalf; and Corday (Alex Kingston) nods off during surgery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
This independent film, written, produced, directed, and edited by Sharon Powers, follows the downhill slide and attempted revitalization of a former beauty pageant queen. Darlene (Darlene Reynolds) was Miss Mississippi in 1970, but more than 25 years later, her dreams of becoming a fashion model are long gone. Her pageant title didn't win her fame or fortune, and she's still stuck in a backwoods Southern town. It's one of the few places where the old tradition of taxi dancing still exists. Men -- mostly forlorn, old men -- pay 75 cents per dance to hold onto and dance with Darlene, and she is often subject to unwanted advances. Darlene retains her dignity and her naiveté, and she is shielded from harm by her tough friend, Gloria (Bel Hernandez), who has been around the block a few times. When a gentlemanly dancer named Ned (Robert Nelson) asks her out on a date, Darlene accepts. When he proposes marriage on the first date, she also accepts, with unexpected results. The debut film for Powers, Taxi Dancer garnered some attention at film festivals. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Darlene Reynolds, Bel Hernandez, (more)
- 1994
- NR
Filled with plenty of fisticuffs and karate, this actioner follows a tough New Orleans police officer on his personal quest to solve a series cop killings. The cop hires a mercenary biker to help with his private investigation. Their research reveals that the culprit is the town's biggest drug lord and his reason for the killings is revenge for the death of his henchmen. Things get more complex when the good guys realize that the drug lord has made a mistake. The cops aren't killing his thugs, but someone else certainly is. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Davi, Michael Paré, (more)
- 1994
The sneaky underworld of baby selling is the subject of this made-for-television movie. Cybill Shepard stars as a doctor who is trying to adopt a baby. She turns to a couple who claims to be willing to sell their child, only to be swindled out of her money and the child. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cybill Shepherd, Anna Maria Horsford, (more)
Director Mark L. Lester modeled this police action drama on the Hong Kong style, guaranteeing plenty of over-the-top action sequences. Dolph Lundgren stars as police detective Chris Kenner, an American raised in Japan. He is given a new partner, Johnny Murata (Brandon Lee, making his Hollywood debut), a Japanese raised in America. The two are made for each other -- Chris doesn't appreciate American culture, while Johnny doesn't much like Japanese culture. One thing they both enjoy are the martial arts, of which they are experts. The two are assigned to L.A.'s Little Tokyo, trying to nab the notorious Yoshida (Carey-Hiroyuki Tagawa), a drug manufacturer using a local brewery as his distribution center. Yoshida, a member of the Yakuza, has brought the residents of Little Tokyo to their knees. But Chris has personal reasons for wanting to get Yoshida -- as a child he witnessed Yoshida murdering his parents. When Yoshida rapes and kidnaps Minako (Tia Carrere), a beautiful lounge singer, it's the last straw and Chris and Johnny set out for Yoshida's heavily guarded home for a big showdown. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren, Brandon Lee, (more)
John Schlesinger directed this upscale horror film about a landlord with the ultimate problem tenant. Patty Palmer (Melanie Griffith) and Drake Goodman (Matthew Modine) are a middle class couple who lie on their financial statement in order to buy an old Victorian house in San Francisco, planning to renovate it and rent it out. Unfortunately, they select as a tenant Carter Hayes (Michael Keaton), a psychotic real estate bargain hunter who plans to drive Patty and Drake into foreclosure proceedings and then buy the house cheap. Carter starts the ball rolling by refusing to pay his rent and driving out a couple who had rented the rear flat by hammering and sawing all night -- and then releasing a tidal wave of cockroaches. What follows is a psychological war between Carter and the Yuppie couple, with Carter succeeding not only in provoking Drake into more extreme means of eviction, but also causing a rift between Drake and Patty. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Keaton, Melanie Griffith, (more)
Looking like death warmed over, Jack Lemmon plays the aging father of Ted Danson. Always proud of being able to fend for himself, Lemmon despises being reliant upon others, but his enfeebled state does not allow him his old independence. For his part, Danson resents having to care for his dad as he would for an infant. Things take an upward turn when a "Doctor Feelgood" (Zakes Mokae) enters the scene, pumping Lemmon full of self-confidence. But then Lemmon is stricken with cancer, an affliction that he can't jolly himself out of. As the reality of his imminent death strikes everyone around him, Lemmon retreats into fantasy, recalling the past happy events of his life as though they're happening here and now. The rest of the family humors their dying dad, and in so doing draws closer together than they've been in years. TV sitcom maestro Gary David Goldberg co-produced and directed Dad, and also adapted the screenplay from the novel by William Wharton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Ted Danson, (more)
- 1986
The made-for-television American Geisha was based on the published reminiscences of real-life anthropologist Liza Dalby. Pam Dawber stars as the Dalby counterpart, here renamed Gillian Burke. As part of the research for her Stanford University grad-school thesis, Gillian heads to the Japanese town of Kyoto, there to work as an authentic geisha girl. Richard Narita costars as the Japanese gentleman with whom Gillian falls in love. Less than a year before American Geisha's September 11, 1986 premiere, Narita essayed a similar role in the white-slavery melodrama Girls of the White Orchid. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
