Ming-Na Wen

The Joy Luck Club

  • Title: The Joy Luck Club
  • IMDb: link

“I tell you the story because I was raised the Chinese way. I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, and to eat my own bitterness. And even though I taught my daughter the opposite, still she came out the same way. Maybe it is because she was born to me and she was born a girl, and I was born to my mother and I was born a girl, all of us like stairs, one step after another, going up, going down, but always going the same way.”

Joy Luck Club

There are a handful of films that are guaranteed to always bring tears to my eyes. Based on the novel of the same name, 1993’s The Joy Luck Club centers around the lives of twenty-something Chinese-American women and the lives of their mothers, all of whom grew up in China, which are explored in flashbacks. After immigrating to America, these four women found each other and created the group playing mahjong and sharing stories for which the novel, and film, are named.

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The Book of Fennec Shand – In the Name of Honor

  • Title: The Book of Boba Fett – Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor
  • wiki: link

After getting off-track for a couple of episodes, The Book of Boba Fett concludes its season with a return to the main storyline involving Boba Fett’s (Temuera Morrison) attempts to become the new crime boss of Mos Espa and fight off the invading the Pyke Syndicate. Oh, and there’s that last-minute revenge for the Tusken Raiders (well, sort of). The finale certainly doesn’t skimp on action and offers the payoff of Fett riding his Rancor (something we were told was extremely difficult and didn’t see him train for even once). Most of the episode takes place in the streets of the city as Fett’s crew fights the superior numbers and firepower of the Pykes. Most of Fett’s crew, that is.

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The Book of the Mandalorian – Return of the Mandalorian

  • Title: The Book of Boba Fett – Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian
  • wiki: link

For the first of two episodes The Mandalorian hijacks the six-episode run of The Book of Boba Fett. Hey, it’s only fair given Boba Fett‘s (Temuera Morrison)  attempts to upstage on the character on his own show, right? As an episode of The Mandalorian, “Return of the Mandalorian” makes sense (even if it feels like a step backward for the character). As an episode of The Book of Boba Fett, it feels very much out of place. But, seeing how The Mandalorian is the superior show, I’m willing to enjoy the ride.

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The Book of Boba Fett – The Gathering Storm

  • Title: The Book of Boba Fett – Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm
  • wiki: link

Another episode that primarily focuses on an extended flashback, “Chapter 4” offers us Boba Fett‘s (Temuera Morrison) discovery of the wounded Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), his decision to save her life, and the beginnings of the pair’s working relationship involving reclaiming Slave I from Jabba’s Palace and taking some revenge on both the Kintan Striders and the Sarlaac. Sneaking into, and escaping from, Jabba’s Palace is given the most time in the episode getting us closer and closer to who Boba was at the time of his first appearance in The Mandalorian.

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The Book of Boba Fett – Stranger in a Strange Land

  • Title: The Book of Boba Fett – Stranger in a Strange Land (Chapter 1)
  • wiki: link

The opening chapter of The Book of Boba Fett sets the stage for the season with two storylines. The first takes place in the present with Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) taking over the role as head of Jabba the Hutt‘s criminal empire on Tatooine. The other, taking place in flashbacks when Fett takes a dip in the Bacta tank, begins to fill in the gaps of what happened to the character between his apparent death in The Return of the Jedi and his reappearance last year on The Mandalorian. In the opening chapter of both these tales, things don’t exactly go Fett’s way. While having the same feel as The Mandalorian, it lacks a funny little co-star, and the dual storylines often trip over each other while trying to decide which is the main story The Book of Fett wishes to tell.

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