asianweekly northwest
12
MAY 11 – MAY 17, 2019
37 YEARS
■ AT THE MOVIES
Y O B L L E H
drags like hell over two hours
By Andrew Hamlin NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
BARER from 3 That experience and other similar experiences propelled him into a practice of standing up for himself — and others. His first experience came when he was driving a vehicle with loud exhaust pipes that were “rumbling,” he said. He was eventually arrested. “I went before the judge and he said, ‘You’ve been stopped several times,’ and he said, ‘You’re going to end up on the wrong side of the Walla Walla State Penitentiary.’ I said, ‘No, you’re wrong judge, I’m going to go to university and end up a judge like you.’” His mother, who was in the courtroom that day, lowered her face into her hands. His father was furious. Years later, however, Barer came back to his hometown and was visiting the law library. The same judge, apprised of this, asked to see him. Barer immediately apologized to the judge for his impertinence. But the judge had seen his picture in the paper with Senator Warren G. Magnuson and he said, “You don’t have to apologize — you were right!”
Helping to remake the world
When shipping commenced in 1979, both the United States and China were excited to take part in it, on a voluntary and reciprocal basis. That did not mean, however, that both sides had reasonable expectations. The U.S. side, as it had done throughout modern history, saw China as a bonanza for marketing new products. The Chinese, on the other hand, had little understanding of the U.S market. Their first shipment of goods, according to media reports at the time, included pigs’ feet,
in the audience should find themselves nodding in recognition. The two men go about their assigned tasks, but they hear distant rumblings of a cataclysm, the impending end of the world. This has to do with an immortal witch, Vivian Nimue, the Blood Queen (played with lip-licking glee by Milla Jovovich), who’s been cut into pieces and flung across the U.K., but who nevertheless waits, in pieces, to be reassembled, so she can bring about Armageddon. So far, so good. But the script, written by Andrew Cosby, ruins a good thing by trying to have too much of it. Every new character gets a long-winding backstory. Every jeopardy is eventually undone by a
sausages, and canned jellyfish. Much has changed in 40 years. Today, the United States is China’s largest trading partner. In 2018, the United States exported $120.3 billion worth of goods to China and imported $539.5 billion worth of products, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Last year, Washington state maintained a somewhat more equal ratio, importing $16 billion worth of goods and exporting roughly the same amount to China, according to the United States Census Bureau. While trade with China has come under fire in recent years, some economists argue that healthy trade prevents war. Matthew O. Jackson, a Stanford University economist, in his new book, “The Human Network,” argues that trade is “vital” in preventing conflict. “It is obvious from the data that countries that have substantial trading relationships with each other simply don’t go to war with each other, regardless of their politics,” said Jackson, in an email. “The costs of such conflict become too high. Essentially, all of the remaining major conflicts in the world are between countries that have relatively low amounts of trade with each other.” Still, decreasing trade with China would not necessarily bring about an increasing chance of war. That would happen for other reasons, according to Bachman, the UW professor. “When that first ship came to Seattle, there was little prospect for direct war between China and the U.S.,” he said. “Arguably, the chances of war have increased in recent years, but that is for reasons related to geopolitica and Taiwan.” Mahlon can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
larger, more profound “stroke of luck,” so you learn early that nothing’s really at stake. One crucial aspect of the film occurs offscreen. The character of Benjamin “Ben” Daimio, a B.P.R.D. field team commander, is a Japanese American soldier with an odd affliction which sometimes comes in handy against evil. Daimio was created by Mike Mignola, with John Arcudi and Guy Davis, and was originally slated to be played by Ed Skrein, who has English and Austrian blood, but no Asian blood. This led to accusations of whitewashing. Skrein agreed to step down, explaining to “Entertainment Weekly” that “it is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance
Andrew can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
Photo by Assunta Ng
“Hellboy,” director Neil Marshall’s reboot of the popular film series (derived from the comic books created by Mike Mignola), runs two hours and might well have been twice as good at three-fourths that length. I haven’t seen the first two films, but I’m led to understand they crackled with energy and moved fast. You won’t find much of that here, where promising characters, acting, and plot points get overrun and overstretched. Hellboy himself (played by David Harbour, best-known from “Stranger Things”) certainly came from the bowels of Hades himself; but he’s committed to doing good and helping mere mortals, even if he can’t resist dry-wit wisecracking at their foibles. He’s guided by his Earthly stepfather Trevor Bruttenholm (Ian McShane), founder of the B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense) that employs both men. The roughhousing and mutual verbal abuse that the son and (step-) father share, proves one of the film’s saving graces. The two tough-minded fellows can’t say something as simple or direct as “I love you,” so they have to communicate affection through aggression. A fair number of men
for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voices in the Arts. I feel it is important to honor and respect that. Therefore, I have decided to step down so the role can be cast appropriately.” The new Daimio turned out to be Daniel Dae Kim, a Korean-born American-based actor known for the “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0” TV series. Interestingly enough, the controversy led to Kim meeting and getting to know Skrein, the man he’d replaced. “Thanks for the opportunity to get to know each other in person. Grateful to now call you ‘friend,;” Kim told Skrein, again according to “Entertainment Weekly.” Kim renders Daimio flinty, grouchy, and subtly vulnerable all at the same time. I also enjoyed the work of two talented biracial actresses, England’s Sophie Okonedo, as a psychic seer, and America’s Sasha Lane, playing a young woman who’s not completely sure what she is, but donates her odd talents to the fight for good. A lot of hard work and inventiveness went into “Hellboy.” With a shorter, more pointed and directed script, it could have been a fine film instead of a merely-bearable slog.
Chinese Consul General Wang Donghua toasted Stan Barer at the Port of Seattle celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first Chinese ship coming to Seattle.