By Nozomi Shima PZ ’25

You know the drill. AMC Stubs A-List. $26 a month. Up to three movies a week. Makes up for itself by watching two movies a month. And most importantly, certified cinephile badge: acquired. 

After coming back from studying abroad in Denmark, where I experienced a miserable lack of AMC theaters (it’s the American Multi-Cinema), I was thirsty for the theater. I hastily made the A-list investment again this summer, despite not being especially excited about any upcoming movies. I had yearned for it for too long — the chilling A/C, the plush recliners, greasy popcorn, blue raspberry ICEEs, and Nicole Kidman’s inspiring speech welcoming me back. 

Unfortunately, upon my return to the theater, I was struck by the effect of last year’s SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in Hollywood that largely shut down production. I was barely able to fulfill the two-movie monthly quota that I enforce for myself! However, I will spotlight a couple that stood out to me this summer. 

Oh… and there are probably spoilers ahead. 

Twisters

My pick for this year’s summer blockbuster, led by “Minari” director Lee Isaac Chung, is a standalone sequel to a ‘90s adventure flick. “Twisters” picks up in New York, five years after a fatal disaster that occurs while storm chaser Kate, played by Daisy Edgar Jones, and her friends are doing research to “tame” a tornado in Oklahoma. Kate is whisked away from her job in New York and recruited to help an old friend test a new tornado scanning system back in Tornado Alley. Witnessing the effects of the storms ravaging towns across the state, she must confront her grief and trauma as she attempts to help people with her keen ability to sense the weather.

While on the hunt, Kate crosses paths with a YouTube-famous, self-proclaimed “Tornado Wrangler,” played by Glen Powell. Powell’s character, with his magnetic charisma that commands the screen and a Southern charm wins over the audience and ultimately, even the cynical Kate.

I’m not sure if I enjoyed this movie so much because of the stark lack of other exciting films this summer or because it was actually good (or because of Glen Powell), but I went to go see it twice. It’s not groundbreaking — it’s relatively predictable and the film (devastatingly) leaves out a much-needed kiss between the two leads that leaves it feeling incomplete. That being said, “Twisters” somehow manages to have all of the elements I look for in a movie I’m seeing in theaters. It’s fun and playful while maintaining high stakes, , the actors have great chemistry, and the soundtrack is enjoyable. The story is fresh despite its sequel status, and director Chung definitively proves his ability to ascribe a boundless beauty to America’s heartland.

Dìdi

Following an Oscar-nominated short about his maternal and paternal grandmothers, Sean Wang’s feature directorial debut fills a media void of nostalgic Asian American Y2K teendom. The semi-autobiographical film is full of the irritations and awkwardness of growing up. Reminiscent of recent coming-of-age classics like “Eighth Grade,” “Mid90s,” “Lady Bird,” and my personally beloved “Pen15.” 

Set in 2008, “Dìdi” follows Chris Wang, a 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy during the summer before high school. He deals with both the typical strife of pubescent boys and the entanglements of his Asian American identity, casting aside respect for his culture and family in exchange for coolness currency. Through escapades with an older group of skaters, flirty messages with his crush on AIM, and dinner table fights with his older sister, he must discover that “coolness” comes from being authentic rather than trying to be someone else.

Like all of the main characters in the coming-of-age media I previously mentioned, Chris still has a lot of growing up to do. It deeply and disproportionately frustrated me to watch him continuously make stupid decisions because I saw a lot of myself in his upbringing: Listening to music I know my crush likes to make them think we’re soulmates; lying about understanding a reference from a movie I hadn’t actually seen; feeling inadequate when my mom came home from a dinner with a friend, chock-full of stories about another Asian kid’s incredible accomplishments. However, no matter how uncool I felt, I never let those pent-up emotions erupt at my mom.

Portrayed with understated grace by Joan Chen, Chris’s mother is the real heart of the movie. An immigrant attempting to raise two American children on her own while her husband financially supports the family from Taiwan. She receives unwarranted blame from her family. Her mother-in-law (played by Sean Wang’s real grandmother!) cites her parenting as the reason for her children’s bad behavior and Chris angrily projects his insecurities about being “too” Asian onto her. Though Chris takes a long time to treat her with any ounce of maturity, it’s clear by the light she brings to the film that Sean Wang reflects upon his own mother’s sacrifices with a warm appreciation. The closing scenes left me with tears in my eyes and a fervent desire to get home and give my mom a big hug.