The Wedding Banquet

Starring: Dion Birney, Jeanne Kuo Chang Director: Ang Lee

Dig in! This "funny and poignant comedy of manners" (The New York Times), directed and co-written by Oscar(r) nominee* Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility), is an absolutely delicious feast! Winner of the Berlin Film Festival's prestigious Golden Bear, The Wedding Banquet is "top-notch comedy" (Leonard Maltin)! Successful New Yorker Wai Tung and his partner Simonare blissfully happy, except for one thing: Wai Tung's conservative Taiwanese parents are determined he find a nice girl to marry! To please themand get a tax breakhe arranges a sham marriage to Wei Wei, a sexy go-getter in need of a green card. But when his family swoops down for the extravaganza, Wai Tung would do well to remember that at a traditional Chinese wedding banquet, sexual repression takes the night off!

This 1993 international hit by Ang Lee is a funny and poignant story of a gay, Taiwanese-American man who goes to some lengths to fool his visiting family that he's actually straight. The results are far more complicated and entertaining than anyone could have guessed. The film seems all the more rich now since Lee has become a major Hollywood director: that same sensitivity and mild bemusement he brought to such stories of manners as Sense and Sensibility and The Ice Storm in recent years are in full bloom in this earlier work. --Tom Keogh

I still remember how surprised I was when I saw this movie. Back in the early 90's PC was at it's peak, in addition gay was inextricably linked to AIDS. So imagine my shock when I go to see this movie, a hilarious, touching, movie that gives a wonderfully accurate view of one gay relationship. A couple, one American, one from Taiwan have been together in NYC for years. The Taiwanese man's parents do not know he is gay so keep trying to sign him up for membership in all of these very expensive singles clubs. One of the best scenes is when he and his boyfriend are filling out the application and putting down traits his ideal woman that they think will be impossible to fullfill, "two PHD's, an Opera Singer, speaks 7 languages, ect.." It gets even better when the letter from his parents arrives saying "We've found her" This could have degenerated into a slapstick movie, especially when the parents want to come out to NYC, to throw their son a wedding but it was a Superbly done movie that kept you laughing all the way through. If you have loved any of Ang Lee's Other movies, Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger Hidden Draggon, Eat Drink Man Woman, you will wonder how you've gone so long without seeing this gem. In addition it received an Oscar Nomination for best foreign film "No Subtitles, it is in English" I have loaned this movie out more times than I can count and always have a difficult time getting it back. My only wish is that more gay movies were this high quality.

Buiy "The Wedding Banquet"

Girls Unbutton (1993)

Starring: Loletta Lee, Miki Ng Director: Taylor Wong
This is a silly sex comedy about Jenny (the beautiful, very sexy Loletta Lee) and her adventures in love and pleasure. This is not a quiet film, people are shrill, and things are always happening. There is copious nudity in this film, and simulated sex (I think its simulated). It is a cut above films like Porky's since it has a semblance of a plot and its more about the girls. You see Jenny go through boyfriends and the trials and tribulations associated with those relationships.

She has two very pretty girlfriends who are, lets just say, not very shy. So, if you think you would like to see a film like this, its okay. The rating could be one star or ten depending on that. Its a nonsense film, but the girls look great in it, and in parts of the film get the upper hand in the relationships. I'd say if you think you'll like it, check it out.

To be sure, "Girls Unbutton" would not be considered an Academy award contender. However, the film is very cute, somewhat a more mature, Asian version of "Sixteen Candles". It is also a feel-good movie. Lots of nudity, but with lots of humor. Barring its excessive usage of nudity, it would be a good family movie. Too bad I won't be able to share the movie with my little cousins.
Loletta Lee (known as Lee Lai Chun in Cantonese and Lee Li Zhen, in Mandarin) is a Hong Kong actress born on January 8, 1965 in Hong Kong. She later changed her name to Rachel Lee in 2000.

She started playing small roles in Hong Kong movies in the 1980s. Her first role as main actress is in Devoted to You. She continued to play as young teenager in the 1980s until 1990. She wanted to change her innocence image by playing more daring film such as Summer Lovers. In 1993 she made a daring decision by taking her clothes off and starred in Hong Kong Category III film Spirit of Love.

She continued to show her body in Crazy Love, Girls Unbutton and Sex and Zen 2. (Interesting, Spirit of Love was made earlier than Crazy Love; but the distributor of Crazy Love decided to release Crazy Love in Hong Kong theaters during the Hong Kong theatrical release period of Spirit of Love; finally, both movies did well at Hong Kong box office, but Crazy Love did little better.) She also released 2 nude photographic albums. Crazy Love, Girls Unbutton and Sex and Zen 2 become the best selling VCD and DVD until currently.

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