Chen Kaige's new film Mei Lanfang which is set to hit theaters this in December 2008 is apparently already causing some controversy as China Daily is reporting that her scenes may be cut out of the movie:
Some media reports have suggested that all scenes featuring Gillian will be deleted. Such a suspicion was caused by a promotional booklet released by China Film Group Corporation, the movie's producer during the Shanghai International Film Festival.
I'm not sure I'm really buying it - but it does give the movie, which also stars Zhang Ziyi - some extra hype between now and its opening.
In a previous post Vietnam: Economy 1, pageant winners 0 I couldn't help but notice how Vietnam's beauty pageant winners haven't really won anything on the global stage - and you know you wanted to know about this - and even though this year's Miss Universe pageant is going to be held in Nha Trang on July 14th, I couldn't help but think that it's probably not going to help their cause for winning something major (because the talent contest is apparently a dead heat this year according to Las Vegas bookies) - but it's at least nice to get some more tourists into the country - and hey - whatever you think about beauty pageants - can't really help you there because while I don't really watch them - I don't really have any problem with them either.
And since - are you really going to deny a Vietnamese woman the chance at a Miss Universe crown after her country was Agent Oranged not even a blink of an eye ago?
If you can't get what Kevin Garnett was saying after he won his first championship I can't really help you - because it's a vibe thing you know?
It's raw emotion that if you can't feel it you've probably never been in a losing situation where everyone around you tells you that you can't, even though you know you could, and you eventually did.
You've probably never felt hard blacktop on your feet, dribbling the ball at midnight, going against someone who said to you "You shoot pretty good for a half breed or Oriental, or whatever you are" the look on his face saying "I can't lose to this guy because I should just be better than him."
You've probably never been pulled over by cops at the drive-thru window for no reason except that you looked out of place, because you were in a car that people just didn't think you should have, even though it was nothing special, the cops saying to you "I drive American" before they drove off, you just happy they didn't take you in.
You've probably never had to out-run a Ford Mustang and a group of guys shouting to you and your friends that you should go back to where you came from, screaming every possible racial epithet in their drunken state as you ran as fast as you could for as long as you could, getting a reprieve because of the red light and the bushes around the corner, holding your breath as the car stopped in front of you, slowly making it's way past, getting ready to run the moment you heard a car door open.
You see what I'm saying?
You probably care more about who you know, what you wear, what you drive, what names you can drop, where you live, and how many times you can tell your friends how much you gave to the cause of the day you decided to get onto so you could look like you were down, even though you don't know the first meaning of that word, and even though you don't embrace anyone who's not like you.
You probably never had to be escorted to use something as simple as a restroom because people were afraid for you because out of the blue a group of skinheads decided to show up at the venue you were at, looking you up and down - but you stayed, you stood, because you had every right to be there too.
You probably never got starred down by a cop you were filing a complaint against because he was too aggressive the night before as you made the long walk to the entrance of the station, each step forward wondering if you were doing the right thing, if it really mattered, in the end not caring if you got any justice, because it was just about doing what you thought was right.
You've probably never been beat down by white hands, blond hair, and blue eyes while you were defenseless, because you didn't know how to defend yourself. Because it was two against one. Because you didn't know it could be that way. But in the end you came back. You got it done.
You've probably never been on the side of the conversation with HR and managers telling you that you should let those racial statements go - that you should put down your head and just do your work, otherwise they'd find someone else - the last time this happens to you, unlike the other jobs and the other places where you let people like them impose their will on you, you instead imposed your will on them. You didn't get money, you didn't get newsworthy, you just got respect.
You got the respect from yourself that you wondered if you'd ever get.
See - if you didn't get Kevin Garnett and his raw emotion, letting it all hang out, making sure he gave it up to everyplace and everyone that's helped make him who he is throughout his career - to shout at the top of his lungs that anything is possible - you probably never will.
So Parminder Nagra is going to be in the new Batman: Gotham Knight animated flick/anthology (which is supposed to be kind of a bridge between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) as the voice of Cassandra - and according to IMDB it should be coming out on DVD July 8th.
At the same time she also just signed on to a UK movie called Marathon which is about six strangers who compete in the London Marathon (where I'm assuming somehow their lives become intertwined).
But good as those project sound - I still can't help but keep on waiting for a sequel to Bend It Like Beckham. I mean who didn't love that movie? Who wouldn't want to see Bend It Like Beckham II?
And maybe in the sequel - which they should do, because it's a good idea - Parminder and that blond haired chick who's been in all those pirate movies and in that epic romance which I never saw - they could actually go to LA, kidnap Beckham, take him back to the UK where they put him through some type of English punishment which restores his fading game and at the same time, just for fun, they also kidnap Beckham's wife - that brunette haired chick - give her a face lift so she's unrecognizable, and then her and that blond haired chick sail away together and then Beckham - after a grueling 1/2 year of waiting for his wife who never returns - asks Parminder to marry him - she accepts - and then there's a really bitchin' song and dance number at the end.
Was checking out Asiance Magazine (because I'm like that) and caught this interview on Abducted: The Megumi Yokota Story which is going to be airing June 19th on PBS.
Check out a few lines from the article:
Abduction: The Megumi Yokota Story premiers on PBS, June 19th. ABDUCTION is the true story of a 13-year-old Japanese girl kidnapped by North Korean spies in 1977, and her parents' 30-year battle to bring her home. It was directed by Chris Sheridan (Director, Writer, Producer) and his wife Patty Kim (Director, Writer, Producer).
When I posted about this movie before, around the time of it's theatrical release date in SK (and it'll be playing down at this year's 2008 NYAFF) the one piece of information that stuck with me from people's reviews was about the film's colors, the images, its dream-like quality - and after sitting down and watching it this week - it definitely comes through on those levels.
At the same time - as perfect as certain pieces of the film were - from Lee Yeon-hee's acting as the peculiar girl who seems to be getting stalked by an unknown (while at the same time following Kang Dong-won), to the bold colors and great imagery - somehow as good as the movie was, there were a couple pieces that just didn't seem to fit - especially from one scene in particular.
One scene shouldn't make or break a movie - and it doesn't - but in a movie like M, which almost seems to be perfect in a lot of ways - that one scene - which really has nothing to do with the movie whatsoever, really stands out.
Overall though - it's still a good flick to check out - and definitely see it at the NYAFF if you get a chance.
Posting some videos which are segments from Du the Fu that I found online and wanted to post just because it's always nice to hear from the students hitting the books.
The Asian American Institute was established in 1992 as a pan-Asian not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. Its mission is to empower the Asian American community through advocacy, utilizing research, education, and coalition building.
CAPAL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan, educational organization that was founded in 1989 by APA professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Its mission is to promote APA interests and success in public sector careers, to provide information and education on policy issues affecting the APA community, and to serve the APA community at large.
I know you came out a week or so ago, but I'm not an iPhone user, so really, I just don't keep tabs on you like everyone else.
But I did want to write you a quick note - as well as to people who've been crunching the numbers on their monthly data plans thinking about getting you - that while I know you have a little cute browser and sizing out images like you're squashing someone's head can be fun - you really don't bring much else to people's lives except the "Look at me, I got an iPhone aren't I like really just so so cool" feature.
And let's face it - unless they're one of my friends who just likes to have multiple phones and check stuff out - your owner is most likely a dumbass.
I gotta go - because this is way too long of a note to you - but I just had to say that I can't believe in your newest model you still don't have extra storage, MMS, or even the ability to take some video - I mean what good are you?
You have some 3G and some GPS - not really that ground-breaking you know?
I have to admit that out of all the professions out there, nursing is one area where I just don't think about racism as much, and I guess in some ways you can chalk it up to the human element - the "do-gooder" piece of the job that should trump anything having to do with racism - that human interaction - but like everything else, there's the side we sometimes don't see.
Check out some of the snippets from an article up at nurse.com:
... Smith Williams has heard professors voice assumptions that black nursing students could not conceptualize or formulate abstract thoughts from their learning and experiences ...
... For example, nurses and physicians [from other units] seek out Caucasian RNs when looking for the person in charge ...
... There's a long history of some institutions treating Filipino and other foreign-educated nurses differently ...
... To admit to the presence of racism in health care is something that most in nursing do reluctantly ...
I don't know about you, but I'm thinking they have some work to do sooner rather than later.
There's a good story in the LA Times about some great Asian Americans - and specifically Chinese Americans - who are giving back to the communities here and abroad:
Pasadena resident Ming Hsieh made a fortune from fingerprint identification software that helps U.S. authorities catch welfare cheats, guard the border and assist police in cracking cases.
Cyrus Tang built a Las Vegas-based business empire of specialty steel, pharmaceuticals and furniture. And in the heart of Silicon Valley, Jerry Yang developed one of the largest Internet search engines in the world -- Yahoo.
All three wildly successful entrepreneurs are Chinese immigrants, and now they and others like them are giving back to their adopted homeland in a new gold rush of philanthropy that is bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to U.S. universities, think tanks and other nonprofit groups.
Giving is good. Check out more from the article here.
Even though I'm a Kim Ki-duk fan, I just sat down this weekend and caught his 06/07 film TIME (Shi gan), and for the most part it was pretty much what you would expect from Kim - and the performances by Park Ji-Yeon (pre face-lift) and Seong Hyeon-a (post face-lift) were pretty convincing (although even for a Kim Ki-duk moviegoer who knows what they'll get, the time twist in the beginning and the end does kind of leave you going "Are you sure?").
Recommend checking it out if you need something to watch on DVD and you dig the arthouse flicks or are into Kim Ki-duk's previous films like 3-Iron or Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring.
Sounds cool not only in part because it adds more media to the landscape, but also because one would hope that it keeps on adding to the connection entertainment execs should be making between Asia and Asian Americans - but then again it's probably just wishful thinking on my part:
Fox Intl. Channels will launch South Korean subsidiary Fox Ventures Korea this year.
FIC revealed the plan Wednesday at KCTA 2008, a digital cable TV showcase in Busan organized by the Korean Cable TV Assn. Ward Platt, prexy of FIC Asia, attended the show as a speaker.
A recent report by Hong Kong research outfit Media Partners Asia identified Korea as one of the most promising markets for pay TV expansion despite the emergence of regional giants India and China.
Korea is expected to see a boom in new TV services as regulatory change paves the way for cablers and IPTV service providers to battle it out for dominance of the living room (Variety, April 21).
Fox Ventures Korea will likely be established by July and rapidly expand into a range of new-media businesses in the country. It aims to provide digital video-on-demand service, launch an Internet advertising agency and offer new-media channels, digital games rentals, interactive service supply and theatrical movie distribution.
I know what you're saying - it doesn't really sound like it much - but the more global we get, the more we should see the crossover appeal from culture to culture.
The New York Asian Film Festival is about to get going, and this year they'll be showing 43 films and two short programs - and the lineup is looking pretty tight.
Japan Cuts = Films co-presented with JAPAN CUTS - Festival of New Japanese Film stylejam = Part of Focus on Stylejam program guest = indicates festival guest appearance; see details for individual film for more information
As I’m sure all of you already know, last week Barack Obama officially secured the Democratic Party’s nomination to be the next President of the United States. As many commentators, journalists, and bloggers have been saying, his status as the first non-White Presidential nominee of a major political party is truly historic in many ways.
I would like to place his historic accomplishment in a sociological context and specifically, how it fits into the larger landscape of American race relations.
Michael Kang is a Korean American filmmaker trying to get comfortable with the idea that he is based in Los Angeles. His feature film directorial debut “The Motel” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is currently on DVD through Palm Pictures. “The Motel” is the recipient of the Humanitas Prize as well as the top jury prizes from numerous festivals.
And now, NBC is bringing the show back, but in an infinitely superior form: "Celebrity Family Feud". It starts July 1 and features four celebrity families duking it out per episode. Episode 1 features Margaret Cho and family v. Corbin Bernsen and family.
The odd thing about the word “n***er” for me is that as much debate as I’ve heard about the term, my exposure to it in adulthood is fairly limited. I grew up in the Chicago area in a mostly African American family, but a few of my black relatives, all transplants from the South, insisted on complaining about “no-good n****rs” and such, despite the fact that I took issue with their use of the word
2008. Reality star Tila Tequila takes credit for the good news in California: "“It is because of me. I definitely think (my show) has helped the movement..."
Rapper Jin recently celebrated his 26th birthday... and seven years in the music business. All growns up. The former RuffRyders recording artist and world reknown freestyle battle veteran has come a long way since those seven straight victories on BET's Freestyle Friday.
Last month I posted up on M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening and I guess while the reviews aren't that great it still pulled in $30 million. I have to admit that I've liked a lot of his movies that he's come out with lately - and I liked Lady In The Water even though it's been universally panned by critics.
If you've been a regular reader of this blog you know I dig and support The Slants, and I got this sent down to me via The Slant's PR this week:
Portland, Oregon-based Asian dance-rock outfit The Slants - Simon Young (bass), Aron (vocals), Jen Cho (keyboards), Gaijin (keyboards), AC (drums), and Jonathan (guitar) were featured on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday, June 11th.
All Things Considered, June 11, 2008 - In the 20th century, younger members of many minority groups repurposed offensive words that had been used as slurs and insults. African Americans and gays, in particular, transformed hateful brands into badges of pride or belonging. Now, in the 21st century, a few Asian-American musicians are trying to do the same, particularly in the name they chose for their band: The Slants.
It all started as kind of a practical joke. Simon Young had been playing bass in bands for years, but what he really wanted was to front an all-Asian lineup. Now, with The Slants, he's almost done it.
Young, both Chinese and Taiwanese, met The Slants' lead singer, Vietnam-born A-Ron, and later formed the band with drummer AC and guitarist Johnny, who are both Hispanic and Filipino. "Together, they make up about one Asian," Young says with a laugh.
I was reading this article by MSNBC expert Sam Smith - and I just have to shake my head and wonder where we're going when a journalist leans on the sensational versus the actual facts strictly for headlines (see Smith's article Garnett keeps coming up small in big moments).
Let me just break some things down for you throughout this year's playoffs to show you how off Smith really is on this particular topic:
Atlanta Game 5: In this swing game with both teams tied, KG goes for 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists, and in the 4th quarter goes for 8 points resulting in a Celtics 110-85 win, being one win away from winning the series.
Atlanta Game 7: This was a blowout game and was over in the first half. KG goes for 18 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists.
Cleveland Game 1: When Pierce went 2 for 14 it was Garnett that set the tone for the first game and the series against Lebron's Cavs with 28 points and 8 rebounds. In the 4th quarter with the Celtics up by just one point it was Garnett who laid in 8 points in the 76-72 win while Pierce and Allen went for a combined 0 points.
Cleveland Game 5: With both teams up 2-2 this is a pivotal Game 5 for the Celtics to take the lead in the series and be one win away from reaching the Eastern Conference Finals. How big does Garnett come up? 26 points and 16 rebounds. In the 4th quarter Garnett goes for 6 points and 8 rebounds, 4 of which are offensive rebounds.
If Garnett doesn't have these two games (among the many others) do you think Boston even gets to a game 7 where Pierce can go off for 41 (and KG did have 4 points in the 4th quarter which totalled Allen's entire point total for the Game 7).
Detroit Game 3: With Detroit winning Game 2 taking away Boston's home court advantage and Boston not having won on the road yet, KG goes for 22 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists ensuring that Boston takes back the home court advantage in Boston's first road win of the playoffs.
Detroit Game 5: After Detroit wins Game 4 and can take the lead in the series with a win in Game 5 Garnett goes for 33 points and 7 rebounds to give Boston a 3-2 edge in the Eastern Conference Finals. Oh yeah - in the 4th quarter, he goes for 10 points including 2 clutch free throws to seal the game in the 106-102 win.
If Garnett doesn't come up big in the Detroit series which he did - it means Boston never gets to the finals (where Ray Allen is playing some of his best ball).
NBA Finals Game 1: Not taking anything away from Pierce's heroics, but it was KG who led the Boston Celtics in both points and rebounds with a series starting 24 and 13 - 4 rebounds which were offensive.
NBA Finals Game 2: In the 102-108 win, Garnett goes for 6 crucial points of his 17 total in the 4th quarter. Leads team in rebounds with 14, 3 which are offensive.
NBA Finals Game 4: Coming back after a poor game KG goes for 16 and 11 in the 97-91 win. Trailing by 2 points in the 4th, Garnett comes up with 6 key points in the quarter helping the Celtics go up 3-1 on the Lakers, one win away from their 17th championship (and throughout the NBA finals so far, he's led his team in rebounds in every single game controlling the boards which has been a key aspect to winning the series).
Sure. Garnett has had to 2 games in the NBA finals where he's shot 36% and 28% in games 2 and 3, but in Game 1 he lead the team in scoring with 40% shooting and in game 4 shot 50%, so while Smith laments in his article about KG shooting a "woeful 35.4 percent" in these first four games, it doesn't nearly tell the whole story (and he's averaging a team best 20.5 points and 10.3 rebounds in the playoffs overall being Boston's most consistent player in the playoffs - and 17.4 points and 12.5 rebounds in the finals).
Put it all together and I just have to ask how can anyone in their right mind can say Kevin Garnett doesn't come up big when it matters.
Just look at the numbers in the context of the games and you'll clearly see you can't.
Somedays I would turn on Meet the Press not just because I was interested in who would be on a particular program, but because in an almost inexplicable way, I knew it was what I needed, what I craved in a visceral sense.
More than anything else to me, Tim Russert and his voice, heard in so many different political arenas, represented the unapologetic search for the truth, for balanced dialogue and conversation, and for holding people accountable for what they said, and what they did, versus letting them slip by unnoticed, and under the radar:
In an era of celebrity journalists, Tim Russert was at the pinnacle of both halves of that rarified universe. What set him apart was the sheer exuberance he brought to his profession, the incredible energy he poured into everything he did, the amazing knowledge he had of American politics and the insatiable curiosity he had to know more. He could go nowhere without drawing a crowd; he went, not to play to that crowd, but because he knew they could teach him something that he didn't know.
The man widely viewed as America's most influential political journalist, Tim Russert, the probing host of NBC's Meet the Press, died suddenly yesterday.
Russert, who was 58, suffered a coronary embolism while working at the NBC Washington bureau. The consummate Washington insider, Time magazine had named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
The death of NBC’s Tim Russert has stunned the journalistic and political worlds. And his loss will reverberate through them - and our political system itself - for a very long time.
In over 15 years as moderator of NBC’s "Meet the Press," Russert grilled candidates, congressional leaders, cabinet members and political activists of all stripes with a style that was respectful and fair but also confrontational. His show became a measuring stick for anyone seeking elevation to higher office, a gauntlet of sorts that had to be run by presidential candidates to prove their chops - the "Russert test."
NBC anchor Tim Russert's death Friday stunned and saddened his colleagues and the many politicians and other guests who had appeared on his long-running show "Meet the Press."
Condolences poured out of Washington for his family, as those who knew him praised him as an institution in political journalism.
It only adds to the sadness of Russert's death that he passes away in the middle of a suspenseful presidential election, and one that again affirmed his standing as possibly America's most influential political journalist.
For more than 16 years, Tim Russert served as the moderator of “Meet the Press,” the award-winning Sunday public affairs program on NBC.
The program is, in some ways, the flagship brand of the network’s news division. It is the most popular show of its kind, and also the most influential. And since 1991, its identity has been intertwined with that of Mr. Russert’s, an anchor with a booming voice and a seemingly inexhaustible vault of political knowledge.
Years before he entered the world of political journalism, in the mid-1980s, he was intimately involved in the New York political world. From 1977 to 1982, he was the first chief of staff to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a New York Democrat elected in 1976. He was instrumental in Mario M. Cuomo’s election as governor of New York, in 1982, and was counselor to the governor in 1983 and 1984.
He was "one of the premier political journalists and analysts of his time," Tom Brokaw, the former longtime anchor of "NBC Nightly News," said in announcing Russert’s death Friday afternoon. Brian Williams, managing editor and anchor of "NBC Nightly News," called his death a "staggering, overpowering and sudden loss."
And I tell this story to ask a question: After Russert, the deluge? Not to canonize him, but he operated in a way, and on an assumption, that seems all but lost in modern America: the ability to debate, to argue, with a reverence for the frail humanity of all.
He was a relentless interviewer and wielded such clout that when he declared that Barack Obama had wrapped up the Democratic nomination last month, his view was treated as a news story in itself.
The slantyapolis/seftre blog has served millions of views trying to help in its own way, to give voice to the Asian and Asian American community, as well as document it, over the last 18 years. Sometimes op-ed, sometimes straight news, sometimes off the beaten path--the continued impetus remains that there's power in sharing voices and in sharing your own voice and reflecting that back into the communities you belong to.
If you're looking for the 2008 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
2007 In Review Posts
If you're looking for the 2007 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
