The Joy Luck Club (1993)

I like it. I get the criticisms of it, but it’s still an entertaining chick flick. Good music, cast, and tear jerking parts. And the Flashbacks in Chinese with English subtitles are some of the best parts. Ying Ying’s womanizing husband who eats the watermelon with his hands was sexy.

I’ve read the novel too and I liked it as well.

It was alright. Overrated drivel.

I liked it! I remember Ming Na Wen in this.

I fucking cry like a girl whenever I watch it.

Me too, R5, me too.

At which part(s), r5?

I quite enjoyed it. I'm a fan of Rosalind Chao, Ming-na Wen, Tamlyn Tomita, and Lauren Tom, so of course a movie with all four was like catnip to me.

Andrew McCarthy was hot in this.

Agreed r9. I always thought so too.

R1 here is the watermelon scene just for you.

Passable chick flick for the most part, but some of it really reminded me of my awkward relationship with my mother and really hit home.

I have no desire to see it again.

Russell Wong was very hot in this.

Most of them R7 but the worst is the mother who has to leave her kids behind on the road because she thought she was dying and figured they would have a better chance without her and then she wakes up in a hospital and realizes that she was going to live but didn't know what happened to her babies.

Is Tamlyn Tomita still working?

Yeah, she's in that new Picard series, and I believe she's either regular or recurring cast on The Good Doctor.

They're remaking it with JLo and Renee Zellweger. Not sure who will play their mothers.

I love the scene where Waverly introduces her white boyfriend to her parents and he accidentally insults her cooking by adding soy sauce LOL

Is it time to re-assess or re-evaluate the film, OP?

It helped me pass my 10th grade high school English final

R18, her fiance had atrocious table manners! Regardless of cultural differences in that scene.

That man was later married to Reba!! He cheated on her too. He's a pig.

It’s weird to think it was thought that casting Andrew McCarthy would help at the box office!

Why wasn't Margaret Cho in this?

It's been a long time but the scene where one of the women had an architect boyfriend and he was splitting up the cost of the groceries made me cry because I had an architect boyfriend who was very similar.

I didn't much care for it and have no desire to revisit the film.

R5 This movie resonated with me in a deep emotional way. I was heterosexually married at the time when I watched this movie. I cried several times during the movie, and the end scene of the unification of the sisters, literally had me crying and sobbing. My emotionless wife stared incredulously at me. The book was wonderful. I have had the same tears for other movies. Terms of Endearment and its reminder of my grandmother saying, 'my heart is broken' when her son, my father, had died from cancer. Without a Trace with Kate Nelligan and the end scene. One True Thing was a movie I went to the day I moved out and separated from my wife and kids; I later read the book on a plane trip, and had to stop reading as I started to cry. The Driving Miss Daisy end when Miss Daisy looks and acts like my precious grandmother, whom at one time in our lives were estranged. I saw The Color Purple on opening night (read the book before the movie). I wanted to cry and sob so badly, the back of my head and back was drenched in sweat trying to suppress what would of been a huge embarrassment, for me and the friends I was with. I was later on a business trip, and the hotel had HBO and was able to sob and cry in comfort of my Holiday Inn room, alone. I love when a movie moves me. Even The Little Princess, both old and new, gets me when she finds her father. I had tears watching the recent A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood that had Mister Rogers in it. But the emotional thrust was about the author of a Esquire magazine article about Mister Rogers. A crying reaction I was not prepared for heading into the movie. I can rewatch these movies, and still cry. I get 'So Emotional' is my theme song.

I feel like watching this movie again now!

I watch it at least once a week.

I'd forgotten one of the girls was named Waverly. Pretentious as hell sounding.

Especially considering how funny it sounds in a thick Chinese accent! Ravelry

I believe she was named after a street in San Francisco? Waverly Place?

I have best quality ❤️

Agree r21, he was obnoxious. R27 you sound annoying as hell.

No, never expect...only HOPE!

r32 is correct.

It needs to be remade with Constance Wu.

I cried at the end when the sisters met their American sister.

Loved it from beginning to end!

Yes, R32. So she would remember where she came from.

I absolutely love both the film and the book. I've always been a fan of all the actresses and it's great that they're still out here working. Tamilyn Tomita was such a bitch in this film. That scene when she's nasty to Ming Na-Wen and embarrasses her at a dinner gathering always pisses me off. I wanted Ming's character to haul off and slap the shit out of her so much.

I enjoyed it but needed to see another movie an hour later.

Loved this movie - it's the Asian Steel Magnolias!

Fell asleep during the opening credits....

R37, and Awkwafina

R24, uhhh. Can you imagine Margaret Cho's mugging during this rather serious film?

[quote]I'd forgotten one of the girls was named Waverly. Pretentious as hell sounding.

That was kind of the point.

Her mother wanted her to be a big chess phenom to reflect upon herself so, of course, she gave her a pretentious name to live up to.

Well, that's the thing that got to me about the film, the mothers' incredibly high expectations and the disappointment with the real, fallible, normal children they ended up with. Although in real life, it wasn't all okay in the end, the disappointment with the reality of parenting didn't end up with tearful confessions, it ended with stuff that would have brought in CPS called if anyone had given a shit.

I wonder if every Asian-American kid with a "Tiger Mom" or "Education Mother" feels like this.

Because Margaret Cho doesn't look Chinese. The Japanese chick is bland enough looking that she could sort of pull it off, but Margaret Cho is decidedly Korean looking.

R49 Sometimes not all Asians can tell. They will look at you trying to see, but they don't always know.

r27 gets the MARY! of all time award.

[Quote] I liked it! I remember Ming Na Wen in this.

And now she kicks ass on Agents Of Shield.

[Quote] Is Tamlyn Tomita still working?

She's on The Good Doctor and also played a kitsune on Teen Wolf.

I liked it....and after I had Amy Tan on a flight I enjoyed watching it again.

Louthestew, what was Amy Tan like on the flight?

R54. Amy was very nice, courteous and friendly. I didn’t bother her because she was busy working and I know celebrities want to be left alone. I did tell her I enjoyed the movie. She smiled and thanked me.

I've read all her books. I would ask her to write faster but I know she is ill.

I enjoyed the Kitchen God's Wife. I don't remember exactly what it was about -- it's been over two decades since I read it -- but I remember enjoying it.

I started it but interest kind of fizzled out after 30 pages or so. I felt guilty about not reading the whole thing, though!

"[italic]I[/italic] had to be third wife to warlord! And yet... [italic]you,[/italic] daughter... [italic]you[/italic] complain to me about... neurosis!"

[quote] I liked it....and after I had Amy Tan on a flight I enjoyed watching it again.

What do you mean, "after I had Amy Tan"? You had your way with her??

Me likey!

I don't remember much of the film but I do remember that I loved it. Since this post I'm going to try to see it again if I can find it online.

R34 Did Daddy not love you enough, which developed your inability to express emotional connection with any art form, may it be movies, sculpture even a book? R51, I humbly accept the 'Mary of all times', over all the Marys on DL.

I have good memories of it, in that not only did I like it, but bought the DVD. But it's been a while.

I always cried at the sad parts...especially with the demanding, awful mother.

I watch it at least once a year and listen to the soundtrack quite a bit. I don't cry as often as I did before and am more critical of some of the writing/acting, but still enjoy the film.

Amazingly expansive and beautiful film to have been produced for only $10 million, would never happen today.

r64=Christina Crawford

R58, maybe I inherited your copy of the Kitchen God's Wife? I bought it from a second-hand store. My 14-year-old self enjoyed it though!

Lol r18, my daughter and I do the faux-modesty-at-the-dinner table bit every chance we get. (She's a great cook, by the way.)

"Here', I tried a new recipe, you won't like, I forgot 3 ingredients, left it in the oven too long and it's just all-around crappy. But here, eat up!"

"Oh, hun, it needs a little soy sauce, big spoon full of mayo and if you hold your nose, it ain't so bad!"

Aw, that's cute R69.

R27, I love that you just let it out.

Once in a while, a movie scene or a song will just get me and I go with it and just ride it out. I love it. I feel so balanced after.

I'm watching this tonight and ordering Chinese takeout! Jealous, bitches??

I actually am, R72. HBO showed this every five minutes in the 90s. Now it never does.

Yes, the movie is a touch sappy, but damn those were some strong women! This is one of my top ten favorite movies because of the stories and the relationships. Very few dramas today can match the depth and heart of this movie.

Yes, I still cry at the end scene when Jingmei finds her sisters and tells them “mama went to heaven” and the sad music plays in the crowded dock. Love it.

The book is even sadder. IIRC there's a whole subplot where Waverly is supposed to be watching her brother at the beach but loses him and he probably drowns.

I was sleeping with a tranny in the Tenderloin. We fell asleep watching a movie. I woke up to nasty screaming. I thought it was coming from the alley. I got scared of getting up and closing the first-floor alley window near the bed. I listened to the nasty screaming with a blanket pulled over my head. When I screwed up the courage to get up and close the window, I realized the nasty screaming was coming from Joy Luck Club on TV, not screeching immigrants in the Tenderloin.

The scene where one of the women is so out of her head with rage at her cheating husband that she drowns their baby in the bathtub just about kills me.

Yeah, R77 except in the movie it's an accident.

In the book, not so much.

The saddest story in the JLC is the one where the mom becomes a concubine because she has no choice after the husband and wife rape her and then steal her baby from her so the first wife can raise it as her own.

R78 I didn't get the impression it was an accident in the movie.

R80 yeah, I’m pretty sure she narrates something along the lines of taking away the only thing that meant something to the baby’s father while holding the baby under...

R80 they totally sanitized the scene if you go back and watch it.

She's washing the baby and gazes off, lost in thought as she's washing the baby and the baby goes under. She comes back to her senses and is frantic about what has just happened. She doesn't hold the baby under in the film.

In the book, it's completely clear she did it on purpose.

R73 If you have a Roku player, it's free to watch on their channel. I just rewatched it a few days ago after decades of not seeing it, and cried real tears.

Why don't they make good films like this anymore? Now we get Crazy Rich Asians. Society has gone downhill.

[quote]The scene where one of the women is so out of her head with rage at her cheating husband that she drowns their baby in the bathtub just about kills me.

That was my favorite part!

I remember France Nuyen was furious that her best scenes were cut by Amy Tan which denied her what she thought could've been a Best Supporting Actress nomination. She didn't hold back and called Tan a user and was delighted the movie ended up with no nominations. Managed to find an old archived article where France let's rip....

r85 Amy Tan was neither the director nor the film editor, so why would she be cutting scenes?

She is sneaky

R75 it wasn't Waverly that had the brother that drowned it was Rose.

In the movie, I thought Tamyln did a great job with her, "One word, one look from you..." line.

Is this on Netflix? Tubi? Where can I see it?

The Toronto International Film Festival did a 25th Anniversary screening win 2018, reuniting the cast and makers of the film. I wish I had attended.

It gave me coronavirus!

#NeverAgain

It was in Roku TV the other day .. I was watching it and dj t get to finish it and now it's apparently gone!

*on Roku

*Didn't get to finish

I love the story in the book of the Mom forced to become a concubine. The mom is manipulated and abused by the husband and wife but finally finds a way to get back at them that costs her a great deal but destroys them.

I suspect the film draws such emotional impact because Amy Tan drew the characters from real life accounts

Amazon Prime has this for rent. FWIW, my Roku has a search feature; perhaps your device does also. I can search a movie title to learn which streaming service has it available and whether it's included with subscription or requires add'l fee.

The drowning baby and blood soup were Nast-T!

Drowning Baby and Blood Soup would be a perfect name for a death metal band!

[Quote] The drowning baby and blood soup were Nast-T!

Blood soup?? Maybe it's a good thing I haven't seen this in over a decade 😦

I thought the drowning baby was purposeful in the film, too. Yes, she was instantly sorry, but she did it. God, the baby was adorable, and he smiled trustingly at his mother just before she let him go under.

It’s a horrible scene.

I actually preferred THE JOY FUCK CLUB films better.

It was the 90s, the baby drowning in the film was intentionally made to appear accidental so that it could get the rating it did. Again, in the movie the baby slips under in it's own, leaving it to interpretation as to what the mother did and didn't do, in the book she holds the baby under.

As far as the blood soup, it's actually flesh soup, and they show it in the movie as well. The daughter forced to become a concubine goes back to the mother who who has disowned her because she is dying. In order to show how dutiful she is, she performs the ritual they no one else would dare to, cuts off her own flesh to make a soup, as the belief is that if the mother drinks it, her illness will go away.