Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre- 1572 California St., San Francisco, (415) 267-4893
Tickets are $10.50 for general admission and $8.00 seniors, students & children
Showtimes (valid 4/9-4/15): Fri.-Sat.- 1:30, 4:40, 7:15, & 9:50; Sun..1:30, 4:40, & 7:15; Mon-Thurs.- 1:30, 4:40, & 7:15
Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas – 2230 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, (510) 644-2992
Tickets are $10.00 for general admission and $8.00 for seniors, students and children
Showtimes (valid 4/9-4/15): 1:45, 4:35, 7:10, & 9:45
Set in the midst of war and political upheaval during the Taiping Rebellion of the 1860s, THE WARLORDS is a spectacular historical action film starring Jet Li (Fearless, Lethal Weapon 4) as General Pang, who barely survives a brutal massacre of his fellow soldiers by playing dead, and joins a band of bandits led by Er Hu (Andy Lau, Mo Gong, Protege) and Wu Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). After fighting back attackers from an helpless village, the three men take an oath to become “blood brothers,” pledging loyalty to one another until death, but things quickly turn sour and the three men become embroiled in a web of political deceit, and a love triangle between Pang, Er Hu and a beautiful courtesan (Wu Jing-Lei). Winner of 8 Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture, Director (Peter Ho-Sun Chan), Cinematography and Actor (Jet Li). (China/Hong Kong, 2007)
“Directors Peter Chan and Wai Man Yip have made what is easily one of the biggest, most epic stories in the history of modern Chinese cinema. The true story of a 19th century General Pang (Jet Li) and his blood brothers, is beautifully shot, incredibly moving, and has as much action as anyone could ever want.” -We Are Movie Geeks
“Boundless energy and drive.” -Time Out London
“Think Lawrence of Arabia, with more mud than sand, or Patton: Lust For Glory with swords and arrows… Li delivers a different, powerful performance as a complex antihero.” –Empire
The film’s running time is 110 minutes, and is rated R. In Mandarin; fully subtitled in English.
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Okay folks, here’s your viral video of the day: it’s got the standard Susan Boyle-esque elements, but instead of Britain’s Got Talent, it’s the Taiwanese Idol-clone One Million Star, and instead of crazy cat lady turned diva Susan Boyle, we got Eric Lin, a guy in a bowl-cut wearing what looks to be a valet uniform. His nickname, given to him in the voiceovers? 小胖, or “Little Fatty.” Ouch. But surprise, here he is belting a pretty dead-on version of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. Well played, 小胖, well played.
Shopping With GASP!
I’ve had my eyes on ‘The Warlords’ since it was released in Asia as The Blood Brothers (投名狀 / tóu míng zhuàng) in 2007. Directed by Peter Chan, this spectacular historical action film is set in the midst of war and political upheaval during the Taiping Rebellion of the 1860s.
Based loosely on real events in Chinese history, it stars Jet Li as General Pang, who barely survives a brutal massacre of his fellow soldiers by playing dead. Pang soon joins a band of bandits led by Er Hu (Andy Lau) and Wu Yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). After fighting back attackers from an helpless village, the three men take an oath to become blood brothers, pledging loyalty to one another until death. Of course, it wouldn’t be a movie if things didn’t quickly turn sour — the three men become embroiled in a web of political deceit, and a love triangle between Pang, Er Hu and a beautiful courtesan (Xu JingLei).
The film won a ton of awards in Asia and it was clear to me as I was watching the film that the sweeping cinematography and the masterful direction was what set ‘The Warlords’ apart from most modern Asian cinema. I’m not one for gory and grizzly fight scenes, but I couldn’t keep my eyes away from the battle scenes, even at their bloodiest. The three male main characters were engaging — though I’m the first to admit that I’m an unabashed Takeshi fan. The major distraction of the film is the “love triangle” storyline, but then, if you’re watching this movie for the love story, then you’re definitely watching the wrong movie.
Due to scheduling conflicts, I was not able to speak to Director Peter Chan as I had planned to, but I was curious to ask him how he thought American audiences would respond to the film, considering that most people here don’t have a background in the history of China. So since I couldn’t ask him, I’ll ask any of our 8Asians readers who have seen the film for their opinions on this topic. Do you know anything about the Taiping Rebellion or the Qing Dynasty? Does having knowledge of the historical background of a film’s setting make a difference in how you might view it?
‘The Warlords’ is available on VOD, XBOX LIVE and AMAZON and opened in selected theatres April 2nd. The Bay Area opening is on April 9, 2010 at Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre, in San Francisco, Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas in Berkeley, and Camera 3 in San Jose. The film’s running time is 110 minutes, and is rated R. In Mandarin; fully subtitled in English.
If you like epic films, then you’ll probably enjoy this film as much as I did. Want to check it out this weekend, Bay Area folks?
What you could win from Landmark Theatres and 8Asians:
A free pair of tickets for Opening Weekend (4/9/2010) in SF (Landmark’s Lumiere Theatre) or Berkeley (Landmark’s Shattuck Theatre)!How do you enter?
All you have to do is to leave a comment with your preferred location and your favorite out of the 4 stars (Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, or Xu Jinglei) and one lucky winner will be selected to go!Hurry, the deadline to enter is: Thursday, April 8 at 12noon (Pacific Time)
ONE lucky winner will be selected and contacted that afternoon.Rules for entering:
1) Please be serious about using the tickets– unused free tix suck!
2) Contributors to 8Asians and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.Prize courtesy of: Landmark Theatres and 8Asians.
KQED Radio recently had a forum on whether Universities discriminate against Asian-Americans. The forum had people on different sides of the debate, including:
- Angela Suh Um, founder and chief consultant with the Boston Academic Consulting Group and former employee in the admissions departments of MIT and Harvard
- Daniel Golden, editor at large at Bloomberg News and author of “The Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way into Elite Colleges — and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates”
- Ling-Chi Wang, retired professor of ethnic studies and Asian-American studies at UC Berkeley
- Mark Rashid, professor of civil engineering at UC Davis and former chair of the UC’s Admission Board (2006-2008)
Ling-Chi Wang mentioned that simulations of the proposed UC admissions policy changes show that Asian-American enrollment would drop, while Mark Rashid countered that a new simulation change showed little change. Angela Suh Um brought up the “you don’t want too many Asians” argument, and I’m glad that another panelist brought up the fact that Asian-Americans are a very diverse group.
h/t: John
ASIAN AMERICANS IN MEDIA, A Career Panel
Curious about a career in music production or radio? Interested in what it takes to be a filmmaker or a hip hop artist? Then, come join TASA as we take a look into the lives and careers of five of the most successful Asian American entertainers in the industry. Hear stories from Rik Cordero (music video director), Jin (rapper), Miss Info (Hot 97 radio and TV personality), Dave Liang of the Shanghai Restoration Project (electronic producer), and !llmind (hip hop producer). If you are Asian American, or simply want to learn more about a career in media, you want to be at this panel discussion. All five panelists will be available for questions from the audience.
Featured panelists:
RIK CORDERO:: Award-winning independent music video, commercial, and film director. He’s directed videos for Jay-Z, Nas, Snoop Dogg, and more. He’s founder and executive producer of Three/21 Media and recently won Best Film Award at the 2009 HBO New York International Latino Film Festival. Bio: http://www.three21media.com/rikcordero/?page_id=66
JIN AU-YEUNG (AKA JIN THE EMCEE):: Undefeated BET Freestyle Champion. The first Asian solo rapper to be signed to a major label. He’s released 4 albums and debuted on film in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Bio: http://ayojin.com/bio/
MINYA OH (AKA MISS INFO):: Radio personality, journalist, and pop culture pundit. She currently has a spot on Hot97 and also writes an advice column for Vibe Magazine. She recently published a book on hip-hop fashion history. Bio: http://www.hot97.com/missinfo/
DAVE LIANG (AKA THE SHANGHAI RESTORATION PROJECT):: Electronic producer who blends 1930s Shanghai jazz with hip-hop and electronica. His albums have reached Top 10 on various electronic charts and his music was featured in the NBC broadcast of the Beijing Olympics. Bio: http://www.shanghairestorationproject.com/bio.html
RAMON IBANGA, JR. (AKA !LLMiND):: Hip-hop producer who has produced tracks for Talib Kweli, Redman, 50 Cent, El Da Sensei and more. He was named one of the Top 20 Best Producers on Scratch Magazine. Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illmind
I am one of the millions of Americans who has seen each and every sorry episode of Jersey Shore. I was horrified at some of the antics of Snooki, The Situation and friends, yet I couldn’t tear my eyeballs away.
Now I’m reading about this ad on Craigslist from Tyrese Gibson’s production company looking for what could be a totally awesome…or truly abominable new reality series: an Asian-American version of Jersey Shore. Here’s what the ad says:
Looking for interesting, attractive, colorful Asian-Americans to cast in a reality show similar to JERSEY SHORE, REAL WORLD, THE HILLS, etc. We need attractive Asian-Americans with lively, strong, and unique personalities between the ages of 18 to 30 with equally interesting life stories and perspectives to share, especially individuals who know about and/or experienced the Koreatown life. If you are not Asian but are obsessed with Asian culture or people in some way, email us and please explain.
Three things came to mind when I read this ad.
- I’m not sure what to make of the fact that they welcome non-Asians who are “obsessed with Asian culture or people in some way.” (The f word is right on the tip of my tongue.)
- Why does the ad ask for Asian Americans, and yet they emphasize “Koreatown life”? Then again, Jersey Shore sought to cast guidos, but they ended up with a couple of non-Italians, like JWoww.
- Reality TV often exploits and stereotypes its contestants, so I have my reservations about how “Koreatown life” would be portrayed.
Regardless of how you feel about this, it’s best to keep in mind that this potential show is a long, long way from becoming a TV series. A long way. It might not even happen. I mean, just think about it. An all Asian American cast on TV? Yeah, right!
I know this has already made the internet rounds– not to mention mainstream media (CBS Early Show)– last week. But I can’t help posting it because little Losiah’s reaction in this video is pretty much how I feel every Monday morning when I realize that my weekend is over.
One of the awesome things about this video going viral is that the Whittaker family is using it as an opportunity to inform others of their adoption process. Back in 2006, they documented the trip they took to bring him home in a 14 part series they posted online. If you’re going to watch this, please have a box of Kleenex ready.
The Committee of 100 19th Annual Conference serves as a critical forum to discuss issues pertaining to U.S-China relations and Chinese-Americans. Under the theme “Envisioning our Future Together” C-100′s distinguished membership assembles a thought-provoking mix of leaders and experts in various fields to provide insights on the evolving relationship between the two countries.
ABOUT COMMITTEE OF 100
The Committee of 100 is a national, non-profit, non-partisan membership organization that brings a Chinese-American perspective to issues concerning Chinese-Americans and Sino‑U.S. relations. Our organization draws upon the collective experience, knowledge and resources of our members- Chinese-Americans who have achieved prominence in a variety of fields-who work in partnership towards our dual mission:
* To encourage constructive relations between the peoples of the United States and Greater China.
* To promote the full participation of Chinese Americans in all fields of American life.
When I was filling out the census form for my household, I came across question 8 (see picture), and I wasn’t quite sure how to answer. For myself, I answered no. For The Wife, the Brother-in-Law, and my kids, it wasn’t so simple. They definitely have Spanish origins, as The Wife’s side of the family has ancestors from Spain. The Wife is light-skinned, as is one of my sons. People debate whether Filipinos are Asians, but this made me wonder: are Filipinos, at least some of them, Hispanic?
Being Hispanic could be considered advantageous. Given accusations of redlining Asian-American at elite universities and University of California admission policy changes that some say would lower Asian-American enrollment, having “non-Asian status” could help Filipinos. There is no question of Spanish influence on Filipino culture, names, and language. There are many Filipinos like my wife and children who have Spanish ancestry. There are even some Filipinos who speak Spanish at home as their preferred language, and there is a Spanish-based creole language (it uses Spanish words for vocabulary but with a non-Spanish grammar) called Chavacano.
It turns out that I am not the only one left uncomfortable by question 8 and other race associated census questions. I looked online and saw a number of discussions like this one from Yahoo Answers about whether Filipino are Hispanic. I called the census bureau’s help line, who basically read me a longer version of question 8. I asked what I should answer, and they said that they couldn’t tell me what I should answer. I asked The Wife what I should answer for her, and she said while she has Spanish ancestry, she is Filipino.
In the end, I ended up checking no for question 8, and checked off the Filipino category for question 9. What do you think? Did I do the right thing? Are Filipinos Hispanic?
Our internal e-mail lists have us discussing all kinds of stuff: Asian American identity, representation in the media, the experiences of activism in an academia setting and its progression as we transition to the working, adult world. And sometimes, we like to sing songs from the 1990′s.
Ernie: M. Night Shyamalan defends the glass ceiling of The Last Airbender.
Moye: Can someone explain to me what the irony is that he’s referring to?
Koji: I think the irony is that he’s a person of color so it’s ironic that he’s getting in trouble for this. That’s what I took at least.
Moye: Ernie said that the irony was over the fact that he has so many minorities in the whole movie overall so that the movie is actually features the most diverse cast ever….?
Koji: Yeah, that too. I think he’s ironic like when it rains on your wedding day.
Moye: Or when you have ten thousand spoons but all you need is a knife?
Indulge me as I use this space to rave and brag and gush and brag and rave and – well, you get the picture – about our very own Koji Steven Sakai. Koji is a writer; you’ve actually read his stuff here at 8Asians.com. He wrote an indie sex-comedy, a well-received, well-loved, well-reviewed movie that has enjoyed sold out status at film festivals called The People I’ve Slept With. If you’re dying to see it, you’ll be happy to know that the movie has been snatched up by a US based TV station, Logo, for mass (cable) enjoyment.
Let’s take a moment and give it up for a man who has done what I only dream about doing: write something that people actually enjoy.
UPDATE: Congrats to our winners! Thanks to all who entered, but kudos to Confuse_Us, whose comment was long, complex, and orginal and ngatruong, whose comment was short, simple, and genuine!
This isn’t an April Fools joke, yo! Thanks to the generosity of Lac Su, the author of “I Love Yous Are For White People,” we’ve got another great giveaway for 8Asians readers.
So if you haven’t followed our advice to read Lac’s memoirs, or if you have already read this book and just want the companion t-shirt, this is the giveaway for you! People who’ve read the book kept telling Lac that if he would stamp the words “I Love Yous Are for White People” onto a t-shirt, they would totally wear it. So Lac made it happen with the help of Donnytello Tran from Neaato (who drew the illustration) and to Ryan Suda at Blacklava (for screening the image onto nice, soft, and comfy t-shirts).
It is so cool of Lac to create these shirts because he is using them to fundraise for Giant Robot Magazine and the Asian American Studies program at Purdue University, two organizations that need financial support. So if you don’t win the t-shirt in this contest and you want to buy one, they are just $20 and proceeds go to support these two worthy causes.
What you could win from Lac Su, Blacklava and 8Asians:
One t-shirt and an AUTOGRAPHED copy of “I Love Yous Are for White People” (book). (Two winners will be selected!)How do you enter?
Simply leave a comment answering the following question: Why do you think Giant Robot Magazine and Asian American Studies in universities are important for you to support? (The two best answers win, as determined by an esteemed panel of judges*)Hurry, the deadline to enter is: Tuesday, April 6 at 11:59 pm (Pacific Time)
TWO lucky winners will be selected and contacted later that week.Rules for entering:
1) Please be in the US or Canada. Sorry, we will not be shipping anywhere else!
2) Contributors to 8Asians and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.
To help you write the best answer, visit Giant Robot Magazine and the Asian American Studies program at Purdue University
*Judges may include Lac Su, contributors to 8Asians, and other cool peeps
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