Every once in a few film festivals I find that rare gem that goes unnoticed in the mainstream movie world yet instantly becomes one of my all-time favorites. This year it was Jessica Yu's Ping Pong ...

After a string of documentaries, including In the Realms of the Unreal, and an Academy Award win for Best Documentary Short, Jessica Yu makes an unlikely, deceptively slight narrative feature debut ...

You may be wondering why I'm supporting this little indie movie so much and the answer is simple - it was awesome! Ping Pong Playa was one of my favorite movies of last year and has remained in my ...

Jessica Yu’s “Ping Pong Playa” made its premiere at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, shortly after another table-tennis-based comedy, “Balls of Fury,” bounced through mainstream ...

The film coyly announces itself as a character comedy of indie pedigree in its first act, as C-dub advises his eleven-year old friend Felix that “unless you want to become the Chinese Napoleon ...

Asian-American cinema breaks out of its identity crisis with a comedy that is competitive with the American standard while addressing social and cultural issues particular to minority audiences.

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts. The makers of ‘Ping Pong Playa,’ the comedy about a wannabe basketball ...

It’s an age-old human tragedy to love something completely and be terrible at it. Most in that scenario concede ineptitude but overcome defeat, soldering on “for the love of the game.” Others are ...

A kid dreams of playing professional basketball in order to escape his dead-end job, living in the suburbs, his bossy older brother and running his Mom's ping pong classes.

filmmakers nurture a secret desire to make lowbrow comedies and genre pictures? Prior to co-writing and directing Ping Pong Playa, Jessica Yu had a reputation as one of the most daring documentarians ...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Oscar-winning documentarian Jessica Yu's narrative debut upends any highbrow expectations created by her intense nonfiction films. By Justin Lowe, The Associated Press San Francisco ...

Predictable slacker-stepping-up story from a Chinese-American perspective. The best part of the movies were the little kids, especially Felix. And PING PONG! 2008 Movies: 116 ...