Summer at the movies is all about star-studded comic book films, raunchy broad comedies and action. But there are two smaller movies Fandango’s Erik Davis thinks are really worth the price of admission. One is a quiet and quirky tale of a young Chinese woman reluctantly going along with her family’s decision to not tell her grandmother she’s dying. The other is about a Pakistani man who finds himself through Bruce Springsteen’s music.
“The Farewell”
“Remember ‘The Big Sick’? Came out a couple years ago. It reminds me of that in that it’s based on a real-life story, quirky new love story, about a sickness in the family,” Erik Davis said. “The grandmother is sick and they kind of stage a fake wedding in order to say goodbye to the grandmother. Awkwafina, this is her first big dramatic role, she is fantastic in it. This is one of those films that I feel like, come Oscar time, people will be talking.”
“The Farewell” is directed by Lulu Wang and stars Awkwafina, Tzi Ma, Diana Lin, Zhao Shuzhen, Lu Hong and Jiang Yongbo.
In theaters July 12, 2019
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“Blinded by the Light”
“This is a coming-of-age movie about a Pakistani man in London based on a memoir. [He] saw 150 Bruce shows and he is infected by the music of Bruce Springsteen. So 18 Bruce songs are in this movie and it’s about his struggle between what he wants to be in life and what his father wants him to be. He discovers Bruce’s music and they just go off to the races,” Davis said.
“Blinded by the Light” is directed by Gurinder Chadha and stars Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Aaron Phagura and Dean-Charles Chapman.
In theaters August 14, 2019
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