Dang, it was cold waiting outside the Four Star for the doors to open for the San Francisco Asian Film Festival's premiere of ! And can we just say, the movie that screened right before Rice Rhapsody (A Moment to Remember) must have been extremely sad -- they opened the doors and people came out of the theater bawling. Like, two girls got out of the theater sniffling, looked at each other, laughed that shaky laugh, and then started crying again and hugging each other. Intense! (We looked it up -- it was about a doomed newlywed couple.)
Good for us that Rice Rhapsody is a comedy! Also -- Chef Martin Yan's film debut! We already love it. The plot? A Singaporean restauranteuse (Sylvia Chang), who's raised three boys as a single mother, has recently learned that her first two sons are gay. Is her third son gay too? Plus, why is the dopey next-door neighbor restaurant owner always hanging around? It's Martin Yan!!! Wackiness and poignancy ensue.
Martin Yan in person at the show, an exoticized French girl named Sabine, and the Singaporean specialty of Hainan Chicken Rice, after the jump.
Rice Rhapsody