''Shopping for Fangs'' is a 1997

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

- Canadian black comedy film directed by Quentin Lee and

Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese Americans, Taiwanese-American film director. His films have grossed US$2.3 billion worldwide as of March 2017. He is best known for his directorial work on ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002), the ...

, starring

Radmar Agana Jao Radmar Agana Jao, SJ (born November 7, 1966) is an American priest and former actor. He is originally from Valparaiso, Indiana, and he comes from a family of nine children. He was born in Gary, Indiana, on November 7, 1966, to Tessie Agana, a F ...

. The film marks the debut of actor John Cho.

Plot

Housewife Katherine loses consciousness and loses her cell phone as a result. Lesbian waitress Trinh sends her sexually suggestive messages and pictures. Katherine's husband works with a man by the name of Phil. Payroll clerk Phil, who is confused about his sexuality, thinks that he is transforming into a werewolf because his hair grows so quickly that he has to shave every hour, he gorges on raw meat, and he is uninjured after being struck by a car.

Cast

Production

The film's budget was less than $100,000 and had a filming schedule of 21 days in Los Angeles and the

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...

. The film was partially funded with a Canada Council grant. Lee and Lin separated the filming between themselves, with Lee filming the part with Katherine and Lin filming the part with Phil. The term "GenerAsian X" may have been coined because of this film's release, with the X later being removed. Lee said in a 2012 interview, "''Shopping for Fangs'' is about finding connections, which is a theme that threads through all my movies." He also said, "It’s hard to quantify cultural impact, but certainly years after, scholars and critics are still talking about ''Shopping for Fangs''." He added, "In our culture now we tend to think of people as having fixed identities. We tried to use the myths in the film to make these identities fluid again and make us question what we’re really about."

Release

The film premiered at the 1997 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (

CAAMFest CAAMFest, known prior to 2013 as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), is presented every March in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States as the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asia ...

) on March 7, 1997. It also screened at the

1997 Toronto International Film Festival The 22nd Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 4 to September 13, 1997. This festival was notable for the introduction of the Masters programme to TIFF. Awards Programmes Gala Opening Night * '' The Sweet Hereafter'' by Atom Eg ...

. The film was distributed by Lin's company Margin Films.

Reception

J.R. Jones of the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' commented, "Like so many other indie releases of its time, this 1997 comedy is a knockoff of '' Pulp Fiction'', with oddball characters, intersecting story lines, and plenty of

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

flash. But it’s got real energy, and its solid grounding in LA’s Asian community gives the laughs a genuine cultural point of view." David Noh, writing for '' Film Journal'', said, "Under the circumstances, the actors manage to do rather nicely." Edward Guthmann, of '' San Francisco Chronicle'', wrote, "Despite some fresh ideas, attractive actors and a sly, surprising performance by Chin as the disaffected Katherine, this is a rough first effort."

Home media

The film was released on DVD on October 6, 2009 by Pathfinder Home Entertainment.

References

External links

* * * {{Justin Lin 1997 comedy films 1997 LGBT-related films 1997 films American LGBT-related films Canadian LGBT-related films American black comedy films Canadian black comedy films English-language Canadian films LGBT-related comedy films LGBT-related black comedy films Films directed by Justin Lin Chinese-American films Taiwanese-American films Asian-American comedy films Chinese-American LGBT-related films Asian-American LGBT-related films Films shot in Los Angeles 1997 directorial debut films 1997 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s Canadian films