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Chances are, you know someone like “Quiz Lady” Anne Yum. As played by Awkwafina, this socially awkward young woman works a boring Cpa job by day, doing her best to blend in with the gray walls of her cubicle. But every evening at the same hour, Anne tunes in to her favorite game show and becomes a star — even if her flatulent old pug, Mr. Linguini, is the only witness — as she answers every question quickly and correctly.

The kind of comedy perfectly suited to the comfort of one’s own couch, Jessica Yu’s “Quiz Lady” is the story of how, with the help of her outrageously extroverted older sister, Jenny (Sandra Oh), Anne overcomes her anxiety and agrees to appear as a contestant on “Can’t Stop the Quiz.” So what if she trips up in front of idol/host Terry McTeer (Will Ferrell) when she finally reaches...

"How many hearts does an octopus have?" 20th Century has released the official trailer for a crazy fun comedy called Quiz Lady, a new film from filmmaker Jessica Yu (director of one my favorite underrated indie comedies Ping Pong Playa). This is heading straight to streaming on Hulu later this fall, after first premiering at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival - which kicks off this week. A gameshow-obsessed woman and her estranged sister work together to help cover their mother's gambling debts - using her dog as leverage. They set out on a wild, cross-country trek to get the cash the only way they know how: by turning Anne into a bona-fide gameshow champion. Co-starring Awkwafina and Sandra Oh, with Jason Schwartzman, Holland Taylor, Tony Hale, and Will Ferrell as one of the big gameshow hosts. This looks like it packs in a ton of witty laughs, and it might actually be a good watch!

The Hollywood Reporter arts and culture critic Lovia Gyarkye shares her list of the 10 must-see films at this month’s Toronto Film Festival.

The Boy and the Heron The Boy and the Heron

How lucky for us that Hayao Miyazaki, the animation master with a gift for enchanting world-building, didn’t stay retired? The prolific Japanese filmmaker makes an exciting return with The Boy and the Heron, which opened in Japan earlier this summer. Inspired by Genzaburo Yoshino’s novel How Do You Live?, The Boy and the Heron chronicles the adventures of a young, bereft boy who discovers an abandoned tower and a persistent grey heron while exploring his new town.

Dicks: The Musical

A24’s first musical feature is a ride that, for better or worse, I’m ready to get on. Comedians Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp play two businessmen who find out they are twins and try to reunite their parents.

Game shows have been a staple of the world's television-viewing diet since the medium's infancy. "Spelling Bee" first hit the British telly in 1938, while "Truth or Consequences" made a one-off debut on New York City's Wnbt in 1941. Our fascination with smarty pants contestants flaunting their vast trivia knowledge brought us the high-stakes duo of NBC's "Twenty-One" and CBS' "The 64,000 Question," which led to the 1950s quiz show scandals.

Over a half-century later, we're still hooked on programs like "Jeopardy," "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Price Is Right." Some of these shows require contestants to be genuinely well-read; others ask people to be semi-knowledgeable about retail value and physically capable of spinning a big wheel. Regardless of the skill (or utter lack thereof) involved, there is something undeniably thrilling about watching a regular working stiff go on live television and win a decent chunk of change. Depending on the show,...

To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (Aapi) Heritage Month in May, Fox’s free streaming service Tubi has curated a container of titles that highlight Asian American voices from its catalog. The collection features Academy Award nominees, films from female and male Asian American directors, Sundance Film Festival selections, documentaries, and titles that prominently feature Aapi stories, actors, and actresses.

Films

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2007) – Directed by Wayne Wang (Joy Luck Club)

Bitter Melon (2018) – Directed by Hp Mendoza

Children of Invention (2009) – Sundance Film Festival selection

Chu and Blossom (2015) – Featured in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Go Back to China (2019) – Starring comedian Anna Akana, written/directed by Emily Ting

I Will Make You Mine (2020) – Directed/written/produced by Lynn Chen, produced by Emily Ting

Love Arcadia (2014) – Featured in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Miss India America (2015) – Featured in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film...

Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to Wrath of the Titans, Mirror Mirror and Goon.

Sam Worthington reprises his role as the mythical Greek hero Perseus in this action-packed sequel to 2010′s Clash of the Titans. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes co-star.

Revel in Greek greats:

Hercules (1983) The Incredible Hulk’s Lou Ferrigno stars in this cult classic as the Greece’s most legendary hero. Here Hercules is on quest to save the beautiful Princess Cassiopeia from the cruel clutches of the sorcerer Minos. Ingrid Anderson co-stars.

Jason and the Argonauts (2000) Jason London (Dazed & Confused) stars in this 2-part TV miniseries as the titular noble warrior who leads his brave ranks to battle the terrors of Poseidon, vicious harpies and a fearsome dragon, all in search for the Golden Fleece.

Co-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman continued to add cast members to their upcoming biopic Lovelace, starring Amanda Seyfried as Linda Boreman, better known as the first porn superstar Linda Lovelace. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed today that Romeo Brown, who’s appeared on the TV series Rizzoli & Isles and Dexter, joined the film as a character named DJ Frankie Crocker. Brown was in Bobcat Goldthwait’s comedy God Bless America and Jessica Yu’s comedy Ping Pong Playa. Juno Temple, last seen in Summit Entertainment's The Three Musketeers 3D as well as the indie comedy Dirty Girl, recently joined the film as Linda's best friend.

Co-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman continued to add cast members to their upcoming biopic Lovelace, starring Amanda Seyfried as Linda Boreman, better known as the first porn superstar Linda Lovelace. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed today that Romeo Brown, who’s appeared on the TV series Rizzoli & Isles and Dexter, joined the film as a character named DJ Frankie Crocker. Brown was in Bobcat Goldthwait’s comedy God Bless America and Jessica Yu’s comedy Ping Pong Playa. Juno Temple, last seen in Summit Entertainment's The Three Musketeers 3D as well as the indie comedy Dirty Girl, recently joined the film as Linda's best friend.

Co-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman continued to add cast members to their upcoming biopic Lovelace, starring Amanda Seyfried as Linda Boreman, better known as the first porn superstar Linda Lovelace. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed today that Romeo Brown, who’s appeared on the TV series Rizzoli & Isles and Dexter, joined the film as a character named DJ Frankie Crocker. Brown was in Bobcat Goldthwait’s comedy God Bless America and Jessica Yu’s comedy Ping Pong Playa. Juno Temple, last seen in Summit Entertainment's The Three Musketeers 3D as well as the indie comedy Dirty Girl, recently joined the film as Linda's best friend.

As I noted in my review of "Last Call at the Oasis," I'm not always for the big issue docs that try to save the world. So I was pleasantly surprised to really enjoy and appreciate how Jessica Yu worked with a grand-scale cause such as water. As in water shortage, water contamination and really any every other water-related problem affecting some part of the world today. I just had to talk to the Oscar-winning filmmaker, known previously for nontraditional docs like "In the Realms of the Unreal" and "Protagonist" and the fictional sports comedy "Ping Pong Playa," to find…...

I guess there's been a big isue about Hollywood casting a white kid in M. Night Hubbabubba's The Last Goofybender movie. So much of an issue that this guy decided to form racebending.com, a website dedicated to making sure Asian-Americans get cast in any role that is Asian. Which is fine, but general audiences couldn't care less. I know I couldn't care less. I'm sure the movie will be just as good or just as bad if it starred the entire cast of Menace II Society. If Avatar is such a fantastic animated series with rich storytelling then the color of the character's skin shouldn't matter much, right? And this isn't my "insensitive" racist issue on the subject. My Godson is black, my ex was Korean/Japanese, I've had Puerto Rican and Hispanic girlfriends and I was engaged to a Korean girl. Not to mention I'm a white guy...

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed A Time to Kill I really like this film and have been waiting for an opportunity to buy it since the DVD release has always included the first half of the film on one side of the disc and the second half on the other side, easily one of the most annoying ideas to come out of the early days of DVD. However, now that it is on Blu-ray there is finally a version worth buying and you can believe I will be picking this one up. The Rock Collection

The Rundown / Doom / The Scorpion King Last night I popped in Doom and watched about 30 minutes or so of it and one thing I noticed, that I hadn't before, is the high definition picture really made the Rock's back look sort of weird where they tried to cover up all his tats.

A few years back, Jessica Yu made a positively hypnotic documentary called "In The Realms Of The Unreal," about a painter/writer named Henry Darger, the ultimate outsider artist.  I loved that film.  I put it on my top ten of the year list.  And yet, when she released her first two narrative films in 2007, I didn't see either of them, and I only just caught up with the first of them last night.  And "Ping Pong Playa" couldn't be more different than "In The Realms Of The Unreal" if it was directed by a different person. That's not to say...

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed The Tudors - The Complete Second Season I don't know what happened between last year and this year, but I re-watched the first season of "The Tudors" in anticipation of plugging in ten episode second season, but I'll be damned if I just wasn't interested and I never did. I guess it surprised me considering I loved the first season (read the review here) and have been looking forward to the second. I have a feeling if I pop it in I will finish all ten off in one stretch. Who knows... Perhaps just writing this will motivate me to do so because I did thoroughly enjoy what amounts to an R-rated soap opera the first time around and with Peter O'Toole joining the cast for the second season how could I not enjoy this one? Battlestar Galactica:...

Filed under: Action, Comedy, Drama, Foreign Language, Thrillers, Box Office, Cinematical Indie

Is everyone in Toronto for the festival? Has everyone caught up with everything they want to see? Are arthouse movie lovers football fans too? I'm not sure how else to explain the downturn in the indie box office this weekend, in which Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django continued its stay at the top, per estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. Sukiyaki made $5,100 at its single Gotham engagement; now let's see what happens when it expands beyond New York City.

Also holding up decently in its second weekend was I Served the King of England, which increased to 17 theaters and earned $4,241 per location. Everyone Wants to Be Italian was the only debuting indie to crack the Top 10, but its tepid $2,224 per-screen average at 98 locations indicates that not everyone wants be Italian. No word on what happened with The...

Watch the latest movie clip “Ninja Mode” from the upcoming comedy “Ping Pong Playa” by director Jessica Yu ( Grey’s Anatomy, The West Wing ) and starring Jimmy Tsai, Roger Fan ( Drillbit Taylor, Stuck on You ) and Shelley Malil. Synopsis: Christopher “C-Dub” Wang is a suburban guy who waxes political on all things Asian American and clings to pro basketball pipe dreams. But when misfortune strikes his family, C-dub must overcome living at home, working a dead-end job and his worldly older brother, to run his Mom’s ping pong classes and defend the family’s athletic dynasty. In theaters September 5th! For more info, visit: http://www.pingpongplaya.com...

Look, I don't want to make it sound like an either/or thing. You can see wide-release films And art-house indies. I'm just saying that on this particular weekend, the only wide release is something starring Nicolas Cage in a mullet, and it wasn't screened for critics. So if it were an either/or thing, this would be a good time to become an art-house fanatic, and the Indie Spotlight is here to let you know what your options are.

Seven films are opening in limited release today: August Evening, Everybody Wants to Be Italian, Mister Foe, Ping Pong Playa, Save Me, A Secret, and Surfer, Dude. Here's the scoop on each of them.

Everybody Wants to Be Italian

What it is: A romantic comedy about a man and woman who both pretend to be Italian because they think the other is. Ok, maybe this doesn't actually sound any better...

Why do so many documentary filmmakers nurture a secret desire to make lowbrow comedies and genre pictures? Prior to co-writing and directing Ping Pong Playa, Jessica Yu had a reputation as one of the most daring documentarians around, thanks to features like the stylish, thoughtful In The Realms Of The Unreal and Protagonist, and shorts like the Academy Award-winning "Breathing Lessons." Now, in the grand tradition of Canadian Bacon and The Dark Wind, Yu has made a fiction feature that contains little to no traces of anything that made her doc work special. In fact, it's practically remedial. Which doesn't mean Ping Ping Playa is bad, necessarily—or at least not as bad as Canadian Bacon or The Dark Wind. For the most part, it's an amiable underdog sports comedy, co-written by and starring Jimmy Tsai as an L.A. slacker who's forced by circumstance to take over his mother's table-tennis.

Watch the latest movie clip “You’re Awesome” from the upcoming comedy “Ping Pong Playa” by director Jessica Yu ( Grey’s Anatomy, The West Wing ) and starring Jimmy Tsai, Roger Fan ( Drillbit Taylor, Stuck on You ) and Shelley Malil. Synopsis: Christopher “C-Dub” Wang is a suburban guy who waxes political on all things Asian American and clings to pro basketball pipe dreams. But when misfortune strikes his family, C-dub must overcome living at home, working a dead-end job and his worldly older brother, to run his Mom’s ping pong classes and defend the family’s athletic dynasty. In theaters September 5th! For more info, visit: http://www.pingpongplaya.com...

Take one renegade Japanese director, set him to work on a Spaghetti Western, add a cameo by a talkative American filmmaker, and what do you get? First place in the indie four-day weekend box office race. Sukiyaki Western Django, directed by the prolific and extremely versatile Takashi Miike and featuring Quentin Tarantino in a small role, tore it up at the single Manhattan theatre where it opened, grossing $13,100, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo. The version released in the Us does not represent Miike's original vision, however. Distributor First Look edited 20 or so minutes for the bastardized edition currently playing, so this is a muted triumph. *

The light-hearted I Served the King of England had the right stuff to average $8,487 per screen at eight locations. Directed by Jirí Menzel, the film stars Ivan Barnev, Oldrich Kaiser, and the always wonderful Julia Jentsch. Naked Penélope Cruz outdrew mostly-clothed Penélope Cruz,...

By Neil Pedley

This week's trip to the multiplex offers a jaunt around the globe where, amongst other things, there's a case of mistaken ethnicity in Boston, Nic Cage gets another wig fitted in Thailand, there's whimsy and surrealism in Scotland and Matthew McConaughey is right at home in Malibu, where he might finally have found something he does well, maybe.

"August Evening"

Strained emotional bonds and the transitory nature of the life of an illegal immigrant provide the backdrop for Chris Eska's quietly affecting family drama that stars Pedro Castaneda as an aging farmhand who loses his job at a chicken farm in a sleepy Texas town, forcing he and his devoted daughter-in-law (Veronica Loren) to relocate to San Antonio to stay with his older children and the grandchildren he never knew he had. As Alison Willmore pointed out in last week's Lunchbox, Castaneda is a first-time actor...

This fall, we're getting our second table tennis comedy in as many years. In 2007, it was Balls of Fury, which was as stupid as it could possibly be, but I still found a couple things to enjoy about it. Ping Pong Playa looks, well, almost just as silly, but based on what I've heard, it's pretty damn funny.

When you watch the trailer, you won't see any big names or wild special effects; this was an Independent Spirit Award nominee, so you know at a certain point it was made on empty pockets.

I like the main character, based on what I've seen, a Chinese American who calls himself C-Dub and thinks he would've been in the NBA if he had different genetics. But after a slow-speed car accident injures his mother, he has to pick up her paddle and play the pong to save the family-run business. C-Dub is...

Filed under: Comedy, Sports, Trailers and Clips

Just in case you have a heart of stone and weren't taken in by the awesome Ping Pong Playa poster that Erik posted earlier this month (which is to the right), two new clips have hit the web. To refresh your memories -- this is the story of a basketball-loving Asian American who has done everything he can to remove himself from his family's ping pong ways -- until an accident and some jerky ping pongers make him reevaluate things.

First up, over at Coming Soon, C-Dub (Jimmy Tsai) gets introduced to his mom's ping pong class after she gets in a car accident and can't teach. C-Dub is completely not into the thought of spending his time with these tykes, and is none too impressed when he is mistaken for his ping pong champion brother.

Meanwhile, over at MovieWeb, we get to...

I am sure by now you've seen all the big blockbuster films of the year from Cloverfield to The Dark Knight, but if there was one smaller film you should definitely see this year, it's Ping Pong Playa. 

{sidebar id=1}Christopher "C-dub" Wang is a suburban guy who sports an urban swagger, waxes political on all things Asian American, and clings to pipe dreams of a career as a pro basketball player. Blaming genetics for his failure to make the NBA, C-dub lives at home, works a dead-end job, and squirms in the shadow of his older brother, Michael, a doctor and ping pong champion.

With a family-run store devoted to all things ping pong and a mom who teaches it at the local Chinese Community Center, the WangsÂ. entire world revolves around the sport. But despite the family legacy, C-dub opts to spend his free time playing

video games...

Check out a brand new movie poster from the upcoming comedy “Ping Pong Playa” by director Jessica Yu ( Grey’s Anatomy, The West Wing ) and starring Jimmy Tsai, Roger Fan ( Drillbit Taylor, Stuck on You ) and Shelley Malil. Synopsis: Christopher “C-Dub” Wang is a suburban guy who waxes political on all things Asian American and clings to pro basketball pipe dreams. But when misfortune strikes his family, C-dub must overcome living at home, working a dead-end job and his worldly older brother, to run his Mom’s ping pong classes and defend the family’s athletic dynasty. In theaters September 5th! For more info, visit: http://www.pingpongplaya.com...

You may be wondering why I'm supporting this little indie movie so much and the answer is simple - it was awesome! Ping Pong Playa was one of my favorite movies of last year and has remained in my mind ever since. Now it's finally getting a very small theatrical release on September 5th in only New York and Los Angeles, so pay attention if you live there. Cinematical has debuted the final poster and it's a perfect fit for the feel of the movie. This is something that I'd be willing to even put up on my wall at my place to enlighten any visitors that stop by. And if you haven't seen the trailer, do yourself a favor and watch it right now! You never know - you may find that Ping Pong Playa will be one of your personal favorites this year. I'm not the only one...

Watch the latest movie trailer from the upcoming comedy “Ping Pong Playa” by director Jessica Yu ( Grey’s Anatomy, The West Wing ) and starring Jimmy Tsai, Roger Fan ( Drillbit Taylor, Stuck on You ) and Shelley Malil. Synopsis: Christopher “C-Dub” Wang is a suburban guy who waxes political on all things Asian American and clings to pro basketball pipe dreams. But when misfortune strikes his family, C-dub must overcome living at home, working a dead-end job and his worldly older brother, to run his Mom’s ping pong classes and defend the family’s athletic dynasty. In theaters September 5th! For more info, visit: http://www.pingpongplaya.com...

New York -- IFC Films has picked up U.S. theatrical rights to Jessica Yu's Asian American-themed comedy "Ping Pong Playa."

It follows aspiring pro basketball player Christopher "C-dub" Wang (Jimmy Tsai) who is forced to settle for running his mother's ping pong class.

"Playa" is the narrative debut for documentarian Yu ("Protagonist," the Oscar-winning short "Breathing Lessons"), who co-wrote it with Tsai.

It premiered at last fall's Toronto International Film Festival, screened this weekend at New York's Asian-American Film Festival and will hit select theaters Sept. 5.

IFC's Arianna Bocco negotiated the deal with Icm and The Firm.

Before we get any further, I'm going to just say it now - you need to see this movie. Ping Pong Playa is absolutely frickin' hilarious. I stumbled upon it and laughed my ass off from start to finish, calling it one of my favorite movies of last year. It's everything that Balls of Fury should have been as a ping pong comedy, but wasn't. Back at the Toronto Film Festival last year I reluctantly agreed to check out this movie, knowing nothing about it, and walked out calling it the "best of the fest" with a 9.5 out of 10 rating. It is really that good. Jimmy Tsai plays the kid known as C-Dub, who may look dumb in the movie, but it's purely a play - he's coming off that way for the sake of comedy and it works. Please give this indie comedy a chance! Although this trailer ...

• The toast of the town is Diablo Cody and the gift she gave to Jason Reitman. Juno picks up a trio of awards and trailing with two awards each is another Fox Searchlight flick The Savages and the Cannes Julian Schnabel and his cinematographer were well rewarded for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly's aesthetic brilliance. Here is the complete list of noms and winners below. Best Feature: Juno         Best Director: Julian Schnabel         Best First Feature: The Lookout           Best Documentary: Crazy Love         Best Foreign Film: Once         Best Female Lead: Ellen Page           Best Male Lead: Philip Seymour Hoffman         Best Supporting Female: Cate Blanchett         Best Supporting Male: Chiwetel Ejiofor Best Screenplay: The Savages         Best First Screenplay: Juno           Best Cinematography: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly           John Cassavetes Award: August Evening         August Evening Writer/Director: Chris Eska Producers: Connie Hill, Jason Wehling Owl and the Sparrow Writer/Director: Stephane Gauger Producers: Nguyen Van Quan,

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