Jana Monji

Feb 7, 2025 | asamnews.com | Jana Monji

By Jana MonjiLove Hurts is a painful 83-minute action-comedy film that takes two likable Oscar-winning actors, Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose, through their paces but fails to be a cohesive, balanced mix of romance and laughs, spiked with violence. Not even the Goonies reunion between Sean Astin and Quan or the cameo of a certain reality show personality can save Jonathan Eusebio’s directorial debut. Quan’s Marvin is a successful realtor in his current life.

Jan 14, 2025 | wp.me | Jana Monji

Do we really need the sex-positive view of sex workers, written, directed and edited by a man? Sean Baker’s “Anora” enamored audiences and critics at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or, but it hasn’t won my heart. The film is about a young sex worker who marries a young rich client and follows her foul-mouthed struggle to hang on to her Cinderella dream. Baker lost me almost immediately with his soft-porn opening.

Jan 14, 2025 | wp.me | Jana Monji

Two films romanticize the bad boys musicians and I wonder if both don’t have the underlying message, “Boys will be boys.” One looks at a specific period in the life of Bob Dylan, “A Complete Unknown.” Another, “Better Man,” looks at the rise and fall into substance abuse of British rock star Robbie Williams before his redemption. Bob Dylan is not a handsome fellow. His voice is not melodic and I find it irritating.

Jan 3, 2025 | asamnews.com | Jana Monji

By Jana MonjiThe year 2024 has been a good year Asian Americans in film and television and going into awards season, there have already been some Asian Americans winning major categories. The big question is: Will California-born director Jon M. Chu be nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Wicked in 2025? Chu received a nomination from the Critics Choice Awards, but not the Golden Globes.

Nov 26, 2024 | wp.me | Jana Monji

Moana, the plucky heroine of the Pacific Islands who didn’t need a romantic interest for her adventure, returns in “Moana 2”, but the screenplay by Jared Bush and Dana Ledoux Miller, is muddled and the music by Mark Mancina (score and songs), Opetaia Foa’i (score and songs), Abigail Barlow (songs) and Emily Bear (songs) has nothing memorable to offer. For co-directors David Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller this is, according to IMDb.com, their directorial debut on a feature film.