Kat Kuan

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Recommended Movies

Brave Enough by Lindsey Stirling

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Recommended watch: the BRAVE ENOUGH documentary from Lindsey Stirling.

It tracks her story on how she became a YouTube sensation: a violinist who can play while dancing to electronic dance music.

It wasn’t an easy journey, and it chronicles her heartbreaks including a very public one on America’s Got Talent where the judges dismissed her work. Yet she picked herself back up and worked even harder.

Loved how raw she was about her feelings – even dealing with imposter syndrome as she was selling out concerts.

It very much speaks to the artist’s journey and how much heart and courage it requires.

Watch if you have time!

P.S. It’s a YouTube Original movie, so if you don’t have YouTube premium, you could sign up for the free trial.

Trailer:

Full Documentary:

The Illusion of Money

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Everyone’s got a complex relationship with money and has their own money story. I believe that healing our money story will move us past our limiting beliefs so we can start to step into all that we are capable of.

If you spend energy worrying about money or the scarcity of it, I highly recommend watching this documentary on the Illusion of Money by Kyle Cease.

It makes you feel even more expansive and limitless in your abilities and potential. He says most people act like time is unlimited and money is limited when in reality it’s the opposite; time is limited and money is unlimited. Zing!

It’s a great perspective shift on life and money. I believe your life will be better after watching this. Just sign up below to access it for free.

https://kylecease.com/movie/

Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time Movie Review

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Oprah Winfrey says, “The message of this film is that you are enough. It is the number 1 lesson that Maya Angelou gave to me: you are enough.” (From a YouTube interview of the cast of A Wrinkle in Time.)

After hearing her say that, I was intrigued and had to check out the movie for myself! One of the highlights is the all-star cast including Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and the director Ava DuVernay. All of these women are extremely inspiring and carry themselves with such grace and kindness.

I remember reading this book as required reading in school growing up. Even though I read it, I frankly didn’t really understand it. It’s originally a sci-fi book by Madeline L’Engle. But now that I’ve seen the story unfold on the big screen with beautiful cinematography, I see how it reveals deep lessons about life and people. Maybe I had a hard time visualizing it back then or didn’t have the perspective of why those lessons were important.

Anyhow, it’s the story of a young girl who goes on a time-space travel search for her father with the help of her younger brother, a classmate, and 3 supernatural women: Mrs. Which, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Who. They teleport into other dimensions and meet a variety of quirky characters. Along the way to find her father, the young girl’s character is tested and she is forced to look within herself for the strength to continue.

I won’t give away the story, but I really enjoyed the movie. The costumes, makeup, and special effects are also breathtaking. This was my favorite song from the movie: Magic. Sia’s voice is amazing and just transports you to another world.

Also, here’s a beautiful quote from the movie, spoken by Mrs. Who (played by Mindy Kaling) whose character only speaks in quotations by famous people.

The wound is the place where the light enters you.”

Rumi

Wow, gives me chills.

Alright, well that’s enough tidbits. Check out the movie if it sounds interesting to you!

A Wrinkle in Time

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before

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Source: Netflix

There’s been lots of excitement in the Asian American community (and beyond) about the movie Crazy Rich Asians, which has topped the box office for the 3rd weekend in a row! However, another recent movie release that didn’t receive as much fanfare, was the Netflix movie To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, adapted from Jenny Han’s novel. Hence, I’m going to talk a little about it now!

MOVIE SYNOPSIS

First off, I really enjoyed this movie. It was a charming romantic comedy.

The movie centers on the story of Lara Jean, a shy Asian American high school junior who is finding her way through life and school. She’s never had a boyfriend, but has a secret crush on her sister’s boyfriend. Yikes! Instead of sharing her feelings with her crushes throughout her life, she wrote these mushy gushy love letters to them that she’d secretly hide in a box in her closet.

When the love letters accidentally get sent out to the respective guys, all chaos ensues. This poor girl (who tried to be an invisible wallflower) gets thrust into the spotlight to deal with what she’s written about in these letters and her current feelings for these boys. You’ll have to watch to see what happens, but I wanted to make a couple of points.

REPRESENTATION MATTERS

This movie stars an Asian American lead and portrays an uncommon narrative for an Asian American female on the big screen (oftentimes Hollywood will cast the Asian girl as the supporting best friend or some other secondary role). This movie shows a more complex character, which I appreciate because #RepresentationMatters. I do feel like the tides are changing and the stories of women and of different ethnic backgrounds are slowly making their way onto the screen.

I believe seeing ourselves reflected in the stories on screen makes us feel less alone in the world, that what we’re feeling is normal.

Now this movie didn’t really highlight the Asian culture in the movie (as compared to Crazy Rich Asians), but I think the sentiment is there.

It makes me feel proud to see a fellow Asian American in a lead in a movie. It makes me feel like, hey, our stories and feelings are important enough to be captured for the screen. Important enough for other people to take time to watch this story and be entertained by it in their free time.

I think by just taking up space – whether in-person or on the TV screen, it implies that we matter.

There’s still a long ways to go though – i.e. needing to represent Asians with darker skin tones on screen as well, and representing more Asian male characters as love interests. Part of the reason for the lack of representation in these two areas may have been the way the story was written (the male character love interests had American sounding last names). And I’m also speculating that the production company may have wanted to play it safe with characters that followed the formula of typical romantic comedies in America. They know it sells well, so they go with it. Perhaps if the cast too diverse, they feared that the mainstream audience may not want to watch the movie.

Sigh. It’s hard though, I don’t know when movies on the big screen will reflect the diversity in real life. But I’m just glad to be able to witness progress in my lifetime and hope that we’re moving in the right direction. One step at a time.

PORTRAYING THE STRUGGLES OF ADOLESCENCE

Speaking of growing up, I also really enjoyed how the various struggles of adolescence were woven in to create a more complex storyline. Being bullied at school or having an enemy, not having many friends, dealing with peer pressure or rumors, sorting out feelings about crushes, challenges with family dynamics at home, etc… These are the real things that teens struggle with, and I spent a lot of energy and time spinning my wheels over these things. I think the movie did a great job developing the conflict that Lara Jean felt with herself and with others around here as she tried to figure out what she wanted.

(On the topic of adolescence, I’ve been meaning to watch another newly released movie Eighth Grade about an introverted thirteen-year-old girl named Kayla who is trying to survive 8th grade.)

RELATING TO THE MAIN CHARACTER

Anyhow back to the original movie I was talking about, there was something about Lara Jean’s shy and reserved demeanor that made me relate to her a lot. For example, growing up, I would be too scared to approach or make a move on my crush, haha! >.< I just lacked the confidence to do so, and so I just admired my crush from afar and maybe we’d have a chance encounter where we’d exchange a few brief words. LoL so funny to think back on. Sigh awkward times growing up.

Here’s a different perspective on dating from another emerging Asian American voice – Awkwafina, who stars in Crazy Rich Asians. This feels like a refreshingly honest perspective, and it’s pretty entertaining.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and excited about what it means for representation in the entertainment industry. If you’re interested in checking this movie out, you can find it on Netflix. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Less is More – A Documentary on Minimalism

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In a world that is driven by more money, more achievements, more prestige, I loved the refreshing perspective offered in the Netflix special called “Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things.”

DOCUMENTARY

I watched it last year and again this year. I think this documentary brings us back to our roots, reminds us that our time is short, and that materialistic things are fleeting. It also brings me great relief and peace because it reminds me that a happy, content life is achievable and simple – that it actually involves having less and being less crazy busy.

The documentary follows the journey of 2 guys, who call themselves the Minimalists. They have a blog here: https://www.theminimalists.com/ They had 6-figure incomes and successful careers, but they yearned for a more fulfilling life. And so they left most of it behind to pursue minimalism, and to travel the world teaching others about it.

MINIMALISM

The concept of minimalism is to boil your life down to the essentials that you need to be happy. And to not get wrapped up in all the fancy, elaborate things that you think will make you happy, but end up just adding clutter and burden to your life.

They emphasize that being minimalistic doesn’t mean being cheap or depriving yourself. You can still buy nice quality items, if they truly bring you joy. There’s just no need to buy an excess amount of them. It means spending your resources and time on things that actually matter to you. For example, one of the guys sold his house and now he has less stuff to maintain about his house. The documentary also showed the concept of tiny houses. And without the burden of taking care of a big house, these people had more time for quality time with loved ones.

BEING INTENTIONAL

Another way to put it is that minimalism is about living a very intentional life. For every expense you have, you question whether it’s worth it. You become more careful about resources and energy, and start to make room for the important things in life according to your values.

WHERE I’M AT

I tried minimalism for awhile, and I don’t think I’m quite a minimalist. I do like simplicity because I get overwhelmed easily. But there’s also lots of things that I have that make me happy, that I’m not quite ready to give up yet, ha! I guess it’s just about finding the right balance for myself.

I had a recent incident of ants in my kitchen, and had to fumigate it to get rid of them. That involved moving a bunch of my stuff into the bedroom and covering it with plastic so the fumes wouldn’t get onto it. In the process of moving all my items, I realized how much stuff I have that I don’t use.

For example, I have SO many books I don’t read. That prompted me to donate a huge amount to the library – 58 books in fact! It was bags and bags of books – I had to make 4 trips back and forth to the car. Afterwards, I felt like a huge weight lifted off me. I don’t think I want to buy anymore physical books, if possible. I’m going to go with digital books or library books, so I don’t end up with too many books sitting and collecting dust.

That donation gave me some momentum to declutter, so I’m going to start getting rid of more things. There’s no point in keeping things I will never use. Sometimes it’s the guilt of getting rid of them, but you just have to hold it in your hand, thank the item for being part of your life and for the role it played (i.e. if someone gave it to you), and then donate or toss it. (Marie Kondo advice) Clearing physical spaces clears our mental spaces, and makes room for new things – new ideas, new beginnings! And I want more of the latter!

To find out more about The Minimalists…

Blog: https://www.theminimalists.com/

Podcast: https://www.theminimalists.com/podcast/

Netflix documentary (trailer below): https://www.netflix.com/title/80114460

P.S. If you like this documentary, check out this one on The Illusion of Money.

Disney’s Coco: Choosing Between Your Family or Your Passion

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Coco is about the story of a boy named Miguel who loves music and idolizes a music legend Ernesto de la Cruz. Because of past family drama, the family banned all forms of music. Hence, Miguel has to sneak away to learn how to play guitar. He gets caught and his guitar is destroyed. He runs away and embarks on an adventure where he must choose between following what his family wants or following his passion for music.

If you’ve ever tried to chase your passion / your dream, it likely has made a loved one in your life a bit concerned. They may say certain things because they are scared about the uncertainty of your future. They don’t want you to suffer the pain of rejection or failure. But living life in a safe way can mean missing out on discovering your biggest strength or your greatest sense of fulfillment. Therein lies some major tension.

We do a lot of self-sabotaging on our own, but I wonder if potential entrepreneurs get scared to go for what they want because there are people in their life who prefer different life choices and can be very vocal about it. When these people are close to you, and supposedly know you pretty well, it grows the seed of self-doubt inside yourself and that can cause you to turn around and give up. That is quite sad actually. It’s also hard because anything worth creating / developing takes years and years of dedication and focus, without any visible results. It is a very hard internal battle to fight to keep going.

If you choose to keep striving, here are some inspiring quotes I found on never giving up. My favorite is from Confucius who says, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

I certainly don’t have all the answers, and each person will have to find a balance for themselves. If you watch the movie, you can see how Miguel navigates his tricky situation.

I enjoyed this movie very much because the storyline was so touching. The visuals were spectacular, and the music was amazing too. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. Queue it up in your Netflix watch list! Of you can also rent Coco on Amazon.

If you can relate to any part of this struggle, I’d be honored to hear your experience in the comments below.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. And of course, I would recommend this movie regardless.