#starringjohncho

Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn - Ellen Wong

Floyd Lawton/Deadshot - Lee Byung-hun

Amanda Waller - Michelle Yeoh

Col. Rick Flag - Daniel Henney

Waylon Jones/Killer Croc - Dalip Singh Rana

Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang - Mike Moh

Chato Santiago/El Diablo - Doua Moua

Dr. June Moon/Enchantress - Rila Fukushima

Movies that unfold entirely on computer and phone screens: The future of cinema? Or short-lived gimmickry?

Time will tell, but the answer probably is somewhere in between.

Producer/director Timur Bekmambetov is a firm believer in the small screen -- and we’re not talking TVs here. So much so that the Russian-born filmmaker’s studio, Bazelevs, has developed Screenlife, technology that Bekmambetov plans to use to produce a steady stream of computer-screen movies.

“Searching” is one of them. And while the #StarringJohnCho film is proving to be at least a minor hit with audiences and a big hit with critics, whether it is worthy of “groundbreaker” status remains to be seen.

“Searching,” at its heart a missing person thriller, unfolds entirely on computer and cellphone screens and offers a dizzying array of Google searches, YouTube videos, webcams, texts, video chats and social media posts.

It is, in short, how many people live in 2018.

But does that make for a good movie? And is the new approach to storytelling enough?

Cho, in a breakout starring role, plays David Kim, a man who thinks he has been a good father even after his wife dies of cancer (which plays out early in the movie in a series of home videos and photos), leaving him as the only parent to their teenage daughter, Margot (Michelle La).

When Margot goes missing after a late-night study session, David learns that not only has he been distant but that he doesn’t really know who his daughter is.

Enter the internet. After his daughter’s disappearance, David begins a frantic search through her videos, social media friends lists and online banking activity (he’s able to easily hack into his daughter’s accounts, which should scare all of us). He even sets up a spread sheet to list anyone who had contact with his daughter before she went missing and what they were doing at the time.

He soon has help. Detective Rosemary Vick (Debra Messing) is assigned to Margot’s case and proves to be a calming influence for David as she takes charge of the investigation but allows him to be more involved than maybe he should be.

So far, so good. “Searching” is tense as David scrambles for nuggets of information. We watch him mostly through webcams, and we see him age before our eyes as a sense of panic and then confusion set in. His daughter’s mostly online life begins to be revealed, and the father can’t believe what he is learning.

And then the movie takes a turn for the worse.

Perhaps the novelty of watching events unfold online wears thin partway through “Searching.” Until we get used to this type of movie, there’s something unsettling about watching people using a computer or cellphone. It seems like an invasion of privacy (if there is such a thing), even if we are invited.

Also, as the investigation kicks into gear, perspective changes. The early parts of the movie are almost entirely from David’s viewpoint (and phone and computer). But then “Searching” becomes inundated with online TV news reports, and the sensationalism quickly amps up. When Margot is presumed dead, we are subjected to the worst of humanity online – those who barely knew Margot claiming to be her best friend, those who are quick to blame and accuse the father, a stream of maudlin online condolences. Even the likable David takes a nasty turn, becoming the subject of a viral video that shows him assaulting someone he thinks is involved in his daughter’s disappearance.

“Searching” doesn’t preach to us about the downside of a life led online and how we don’t really know those we interact with away from the real world. But it does not need to. It’s all right there in front of us. We can make our own judgements.

Eventually “Searching” completely jumps the tracks, becoming part soap opera, part mediocre “CSI” episode. Not to give everything away, but the final third devolves into a series of implausible and yet cliched twists and red herrings. And the ending is as corny as it is predictable.

That’s too bad, because director Aneesh Chaganty (who co-wrote with Sev Ohanian) was on to something here. Cho, La and Messing give standout performances. The film is an interesting and tense watch, at least until the story goes awry.

And there it is: Story. Still, even these days, the lifeblood of any movie. It’s where “Searching,” sadly, comes up just short.

While not overtly acknowledged in the film, Western modernism borrows heavily from Asian culture, which Kogonada has previously discussed. Under his direction, this intermingling of ideas and styles coalesces in Columbus. At one point in the movie, Casey describes her cooking as “subtle,” and says that by using less salt, one can better taste the food. Such restraint can also be used to explain Kogonada’s work. While he may not have set out to define an Asian American aesthetic, his synthesis of art criticism, filmmaking, and storytelling presents us with one of the clearest examples I’ve seen to date.

At the 2009 Radio and Television Correspondents Association dinner, The Daily Show’s John Hodgman went over the President’s nerd bona fides, but here are more examples of Barack Obama repping for all of us Nerds of Color.

He is a legit Trekkie

During the campaign, and throughout his presidency really, Obama was often called “Spock-like” due to his cold, logical demeanor in the times of chaos and upheaval that come along with campaigns and governing with an intransigent congress. Little did his critics know, but they were paying him a compliment. Obama’s Trek fandom goes all the way back to his childhood growing up in Hawaii that extended to his time as POTUS. The White House even released an official statement on the passing of Leonard Nimoy. When Obama guest-edited an issue of Wired, he spoke about why Star Trek matters.

He collects comics

During the 2008 campaign, press reports stated that Obama claimed Spider-Man as his favorite superhero growing up. In addition to Spider-Man, he also collected Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian comics as a kid in the Pacific. His avowed love for Spider-Man comics led to his inclusion in a special commemorative issue of Amazing Spider-Man for his first inauguration. That said, Spider-Man wasn’t the first comic he ever appeared in. In 2007, Marvel writer Greg Pak pitched a short story for Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology (of which I am one of the editors) in which the main hero teams up with a president who looked a lot like Obama.

He got Joe Quesada to illustrate one of his aides

This story is the best. Here’s the full story from Joe Quesada himself.

http://joequesada.tumblr.com/post/155722310398/i-dont-post-a-lot-on-social-media-these-days-and

The White House had an official position on the Death Star.

When Obama came to office, he promised to include more participation by the nation’s citizens through its “We the People” petitions. If any petition received at least 25,000 signatures, the White House would respond with an official position. Because the internet is the internet, a petition asking for construction of a Death Star received the requisite number of signatures and the government responded in kind with perhaps the nerdiest response possible.

This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For

The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn’t on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:

The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.

The Administration does not support blowing up planets.

Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

He loves when dress up as superheroes

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He’s an avid reader of science fiction

It’s safe to say that Barack Obama views himself first and foremost as a writer. Recently, the President had a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times‘ book critic Michiko Kakutani about the importance of books to his presidency. In it he and Kakutani have an extended conversation about Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem.

For a while, there was a three-volume science-fiction novel, the “Three-Body Problem” series — which was just wildly imaginative, really interesting. It wasn’t so much sort of character studies as it was just this sweeping […]The scope of it was immense. So that was fun to read, partly because my day-to-day problems with Congress seem fairly petty — not something to worry about. Aliens are about to invade. [Laughter]

He watches Game of Thrones

Not only did he once tell Bill Simmons HBO’s fantasy epic was his favorite TV show (even if he forgot Tyrion’s name), he even got an advanced White House screening of the show’s sixth season. One of the perks of being POTUS, I guess. To make up for forgetting Peter Dinklage’s character, over the summer, he made a Buzzfeed video attempting to name every dead GoT character. There were a lot of them.

He’s Superman

Not only did he inspire the Alex Ross illustration above, Obama was actually born on Krypton. He said so himself. DC’s Multiverse Superman Calvin Ellis was also based on Obama. Plus, there’s this iconic photo taken in Metropolis, Illinois.

We’re going to miss you, Mr. President. #ThanksObama

If I had infinite money and everyone I wanted was available, I’d make this movie. Still set in Regency England, same empire dresses, but an all asian cast. I want to fit Daisy Ridley and John Boyega in there somehow. Inspired by #StarringJohnCho and the 1997 Cinderella with Brandi. 

John Cho at the Oscars 2023 rehearsal as a presenter.

When will John Cho get his own Oscar?