| The Donut King | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Alice Gu |
| Written by | Carol Martori |
| Produced by |
|
| Cinematography | Alice Gu |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Peter Lauridsen |
Release date |
|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Donut King is a 2020 American documentary film which tells the life story of California donut shop owner Ted Ngoy. [2] [3] [4]
The Donut King was directed by Alice Gu, and is her first feature film. [5] Having grown up in Los Angeles, she was doubtful when her children's nanny made a reference to "Cambodian" donuts; she thought all donuts were simply "American". [5] Upon looking into the matter, she learned about Ted Ngoy and became fascinated with the topic. [5] She reached out to Ngoy and other Cambodian families who ran donut shops, and within six weeks began principal photography. [5]
Ngoy was hesitant to return to California for the film; he was estranged from his children and former friends. [6] Gu persuaded him to and, ultimately, he regarded his return as a 'healing experience,' and his ex-wife and children have forgiven him. [6]
The Donut King had its world premiere in the Documentary Feature Competition the South by Southwest film festival. [5]
The film received 69/100 on Metacritic, receiving "generally favorable reviews". [7] In a positive review, Richard Whittaker with The Austin Chronicle said that "Gu does stellar work compiling and constructing Ngoy's life story through interviews and archive and contemporary footage," and added "the animation sequences by Chapeau Studios and 1881 Animation that make the perfect drizzle of icing." [8] Giving it three-out-of-four stars, Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com called The Donut King "a heartwarming albeit scattered documentary from director Alice Gu," and praised the film for "its balance of poppy visuals and detailed history." [9] In a mixed review, Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail said the film is "well worth watching" while saying there "are holes in this doughnut story." [10]
Whittaker said that "as Asian Americans face increasing racism, its closing message about how immigrant communities...define America has only become more timely." [8]
A doughnut or donut is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty vendors. Doughnut is the traditional spelling, while donut is the simplified version; the terms are used interchangeably.
Wayne's World is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Penelope Spheeris. It was produced by Lorne Michaels and written by Mike Myers and Bonnie & Terry Turner. Based on the Saturday Night Live sketch Wayne's World, it stars Myers in his feature film debut as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, a pair of rock and heavy metal fans who broadcast a public-access television show. It also features Tia Carrere, Rob Lowe, Lara Flynn Boyle, Brian Doyle-Murray, Chris Farley, Ed O'Neill, Ione Skye, Meat Loaf, Robert Patrick and Alice Cooper in supporting roles.
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas is a 2003 American animated adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. Featuring the character Sinbad the Sailor, it was directed by Tim Johnson and Patrick Gilmore and written by John Logan, and stars the voices of Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Joseph Fiennes. It tells the story of Sinbad, a pirate who travels the sea with his dog and his loyal crew, alongside Marina, the fiancée of his childhood friend Prince Proteus, to recover the stolen Book of Peace from Eris to save Proteus from approving Sinbad's death sentence.
Sleepers is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Vittorio Gassman, Brad Renfro, Ron Eldard, Jeffrey Donovan, Terry Kinney, Joe Perrino, Geoffrey Wigdor, Jonathan Tucker, Bruno Kirby and Billy Crudup. The title is a slang term for juvenile delinquents who serve sentences longer than nine months.
The Black Cauldron is a 1985 American animated dark fantasy adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions in association with Silver Screen Partners II and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is loosely based on the first two books in The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, a series of five novels that are in turn based on Welsh mythology.
The Country Bears is a 2002 American musical road comedy film directed by Peter Hastings, produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and based on the Disney theme park attraction Country Bear Jamboree. The film stars Christopher Walken, Daryl Mitchell, Diedrich Bader, Alex Rocco, and Haley Joel Osment as the voice of Beary Barrington with the voice talents of Candy Ford, James Gammon, Brad Garrett, Toby Huss, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Stephen Root.
Curious George is a 2006 animated adventure film based on the book series written by H. A. Rey and Margret Rey. It was directed by Matthew O'Callaghan, written by Ken Kaufman and produced by Ron Howard, David Kirschner, and Jon Shapiro. Featuring the voices of Frank Welker, Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore, David Cross, Eugene Levy, Joan Plowright, and Dick Van Dyke, it tells the story of how the Man with the Yellow Hat, a tour guide at a museum, first befriended a curious monkey named George and started going on adventures with him around the city while attempting to save the museum from closure.
Mr. Magoo is a 1997 American comedy film directed by Hong Kong film veteran Stanley Tong and written by Pat Proft and Tom Sherohman. Based on UPA's cartoon of the same name, it was produced by Walt Disney Pictures, and stars Leslie Nielsen as the title character, alongside Kelly Lynch, Matt Keeslar, Nick Chinlund, Stephen Tobolowsky, Ernie Hudson, Jennifer Garner and Malcolm McDowell.
Holes is a 2003 American neo-Western comedy drama film directed by Andrew Davis and written by Louis Sachar, based on his 1998 novel. The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Jon Voight, Patricia Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson, Eartha Kitt and Shia LaBeouf.
American Splendor is a 2003 American biographical comedy drama film written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. The film, which chronicles the life of comic book writer Harvey Pekar, is a hybrid production featuring live actors, documentary, and animation. It is based on the 1976–2008 comic book series of the same name written by Pekar and the 1994 graphic novel Our Cancer Year written by Pekar and Joyce Brabner. The film stars Paul Giamatti as Pekar and Hope Davis as Brabner. It also features appearances from Pekar and Brabner themselves, who discuss their lives, the comic books, and how it feels to be depicted onscreen by actors.
Ted Ngoy is a Cambodian American entrepreneur and former owner of a chain of doughnut shops in California. He is nicknamed the "Donut King".
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller-drama film written and directed by Sean Durkin in his directorial feature film debut, and starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy. The plot focuses on a young woman suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult in the Catskill Mountains.
The Missing Picture is a 2013 Cambodian-French documentary film directed by Rithy Panh about the Khmer Rouge regime and Cambodian genocide. Approximately half of the film is news and documentary footage, while the other half uses clay figurines to dramatise the genocide's impact and aftermath on Cambodian people and society.
Donut County is a puzzle video game developed by American designer Ben Esposito and published by Annapurna Interactive in 2018. The player moves a hole to swallow objects, which makes the hole increase in size. The concept originated in a game jam based on pitches from a Twitter account parody of game designer Peter Molyneux and later added a mechanic similar to that of Katamari Damacy. Other inspirations for the game included Hopi figurines—a theme Esposito later relinquished—and locations from Bruce Springsteen songs. Donut County was released in August 2018 for iOS, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows platforms, while versions for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch were released in December 2018. It was also released for Android in December 2020.
Ryka Aoki is an American author of novels, poetry, and essays. She teaches English at Santa Monica College and gender studies at Antioch University.
The Hole in the Ground is a 2019 supernatural horror film, directed by Lee Cronin in his feature debut film, from an original screenplay he wrote with Stephen Shields. It stars Seána Kerslake, James Cosmo, Kati Outinen, Simone Kirby, Steve Wall, and James Quinn Markey. It follows a woman who begins to suspect that her son's disturbing behaviour is linked to a mysterious sinkhole.
Clickbait is a drama television miniseries, created by Tony Ayres and Christian White. Ayres serves as showrunner, while Brad Anderson, Emma Freeman, Ben Young, and Laura Besley are directors. It was released on Netflix on August 25, 2021.
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is a 2022 American live-action/animated adventure comedy film based on the characters Chip and Dale and loosely inspired by the 1989 animated TV series of the same name. Directed by Akiva Schaffer and written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand, the film stars John Mulaney and Andy Samberg as the voices of the eponymous pair, respectively, with KiKi Layne, Will Arnett, Eric Bana, Flula Borg, Dennis Haysbert, Keegan-Michael Key, Tress MacNeille, Tim Robinson, Seth Rogen, and J.K. Simmons. Walt Disney Pictures co-produced the film in association with The Lonely Island and David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman's Mandeville Films.
Crazy, Not Insane is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Alex Gibney. It follows the research of psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis who studied the psychology of murders. It is narrated by Laura Dern.
The Boy Behind the Door is a 2020 American horror-thriller film written and directed by David Charbonier and Justin Powell. The film stars Lonnie Chavis, Ezra Dewey, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Scott Michael Foster, and Micah Hauptman, and focuses on two boys attempting to escape their kidnapper's house. It premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 27, 2020, and was released on the streaming service Shudder on July 29, 2021.
 | This 2020s documentary film–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article related to an American film of the 2020s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |