We here at Audrey are huge fans of Lynn Chen. She made a red carpet and catwalk appearance at Audrey’s Night Out, and blogged about her experience here. Instead of participating in the debauchery of the after party, she went around posing with the vintage cars at the Petersen Automotive Museum. She is so refreshing!

Her turn as the uptight older sister to Karin Anna Cheung’s more … shall we say … morally carefree sister in The People I’ve Slept With (the title says it all) was classic, but if you want to see another side of Chen, you have to go get White on Rice, out on DVD today.

The disc is loaded with never-before-seen features, including a documentary film of the Japanese premiere, deleted scenes, and a voice cameo by legendary actor Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Spider-Man 3). White on Rice was born of collaboration between Dave Boyle (Big Dreams Little Tokyo) and lead actor Hiroshi Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Jima, The Last Samurai), who worked together in Boyle’s first film. “I knew right away [Watanabe] had the comic charisma to carry a lead role in a comedy. He’s the only guy who could pull of this role, and I’m proud of our work together on the film,” said Boyle.

The Honolulu Advertiser calls the film “A Satisfying Comedic Feast,” while the San Francisco Chronicle said the film was “A cinematic milestone.”

Check out our interview with Lynn Chen here. Chen plays the love interest of Jimmy, a misguided 40-year-old divorceé trying to navigate his way through a new life (and find a new wife) in America out of his sister’s basement.

Hiroshi Watanabe (Jimmy) on the left and Justin Kwong (Bob) from Dave Boyle's "White on Rice."

Check out the trailer here: WHITE ON RICE-THEATRICAL TRAILER from Dave Boyle on Vimeo.

For more information on the film, visit: http://whiteonricethemovie.com

To watch the first five minutes of the movie go to:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/whiteonrice/

Last Sunday, the Academy Awards honored the late, the great John Hughes. If you’re of a certain age, I’m sure you agree that no other filmmaker so acutely charted our adolescent lives than Hughes. With one glaring exception — Long Duk Dong.

[insert menacing music here]

Yes, who can forget (and not cringe) every time someone mentions Asian American actor Gedde Watanabe’s infamous role as the happily clueless and fobby foreign exchange student in Hughes’ Sixteen Candles. I have such a love-hate relationship with this movie. Love love love Molly Ringwald’s unrequited crush-love on the quintessential high school heart-throb Jake Ryan. Hate hate hate the bad stereotypes that come packaged with “The Donger.” (Sorry Gedde!).

Well “Donger,” meet “Jimmy.” Filmmaker Dave Boyle’s unlikely hero from his endearing comedy White on Rice, which just opened at New York City’s Big Cinemas Manhattan (formerly The ImaginAsian).

Hiroshi Watanabe (Jimmy) on the left and Justin Kwong (Bob) from Dave Boyle's "White on Rice."

Jimmy makes for a nice bookend to Hughes’ Long Duk Dong — fobby, but in the best possible way. Jimmy, played with particular exuberance and heart by Japanese actor Hiroshi Watanabe (Letters from Iwo Ima), is 40 and finds himself having to share a bunk bed with his 10-year-old nephew Bob at his cousin Aiko’s house. Fresh off of a divorce, Jimmy earnestly sets out to find a new wife when he runs into his brother-in-law’s gorgeous niece Ramona (Lynn Chen of Saving Face). Sadly, Ramona has eyes for Jimmy’s way cooler coworker Tim (James Kyson Lee of “Heroes”). Jimmy wages a love war on Tim (who doesn’t seem to realize that) in an effort to win Ramona’s heart.

Dave Boyle's hilarious comedy "White on Rice" at NYC's Big Cinemas Manhattan (formerly The ImaginAsian) this weekend.

The film has won over critics both stateside and abroad in Japan. The SF Guardian says Watanabe does a “perfect job,” while Jeff Yang in a review for the San Francisco Chronicle calls the move “a cinematic milestone.”

The film is in a very limited theatrical release and only few DVD copies are available on the website. Visit White on Rice online for details. In the meantime, here’s taste:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/5719208[/vimeo]