Yin & Young are back with guest filmmaker Darren Kwan! We discuss how he got into filmmaking and then go into an in-depth talk about the Oscars.

* Darren Kwan - originally from the Bay Area, worked at a tech company in Silicon Valley before deciding on a career change to filmmaking.

* James and Darren met at the De Anza College film department. Reconnected with James when he recognized Darren on the street in downtown LA.

* Darren’s latest film is about the cuddling industry.

* Tangent into Robert Kraft getting busted going to a massage parlor that has happy endings.

* James and Darren shot a short film in the tunnels under downtown LA.

—

* 25:44 Oscars Talk. Everyone breaks down the issues they had with the Green Book: story pacing, racism, and replay value.

* Discussion on the films that should’ve won Best Picture.

—

* 57:13 Moving on to the Best Documentary category, the Oscar nominated film: Minding the Gap:

* Darren expresses his connection to Kiere’s story and lack of connection to Zack’s story.

* Dan was impressed by the narrative structure of the documentary.

* James likes the film but gets heated about how it does not address racism against Asians.

* 01:19:35 - Best Animated Film, Yin and Young both agree on “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse” as a solid winner.

—

Language Corner

* Japanese - 参った (まいった maitta）- a) I give up, b) I’m beaten, c) overwhelmed

* Mandarin - 厭世臉 (yan4shi4lian3) - literally “hate world face”. A cool, smile-less, serious look that women have.

* Cantonese - 身體健康 (san1tai2 gin6hong1) - lit. body healthy, wish you good health. Said during Lunar New Year.

—

Links:

—

Yin & Young links:

Podcast Episodes

Yin & Young EP39 - Filmmaker Darren Kwan and Post Oscars Talk