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I was checking out the Los Angeles Times, and came across “‘Hulk’s’ biggest obstacle: Ang Lee’s version.” Ang Lee is of course the Oscar winning director of Brokeback Mountain. I’ve enjoyed many of Lee’s films, including The Wedding Banquet, Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (where I first came across and fell in love with Zhang Ziyi), Brokeback Mountain, and most recently, Lust, Caution. Well, one Ang Lee film I was not a huge fan of, was The Hulk. It was okay, at best, and I agree with the LA Times article that the new Hulk movie coming out this summer will have to overcome a lot of the ill will the first film generated:
“”The biggest challenge on ‘The Incredible Hulk’ was Ang Lee’s ‘Hulk’ in 2003,” says Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios… In absolute and relative terms, director Lee’s superhero movie opened fantastically, grossing $62.1 million in its first weekend… But “Hulk’s” real (and crushing) story unfolded over its second weekend, where middling reviews and corrosive word-of-mouth pushed its grosses down a staggering 70%. In deciding to return to the property after such a brief hiatus, Marvel and Universal tried to figure out what went wrong on the first film and how they could better capture the enduring appeal of one of Marvel’s most popular creations. They also realized they would have to cut through a wall of disbelievers. “We knew people would be out there saying, ‘Why are you doing it again?’ ” says Adam Fogelson, Universal’s marketing chief.”
I agree - why did Marvel make and is going to release another Hulk film? And only 5 years from Ang Lee’s version? Does Marvel really think it can overcome the negative perception of the first film?
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Welcome one and all to the 18th episode - thanks for checking it out.
This episode I challenge you to name all the original performers of the songs I play on the show, plus we have an interview with Director/ Actress Siu Ta (Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle) just before the world premiere of her first documentary, Daddy Tran: A Life in 3D.
Also see what my Fortune Cookie’s answer is to a question from a listener and if anyone out there wants $15 seat tickets to the Korean Music Festival at Hollywood Bowl this coming May 17th, 2008 - let me know ASAP.
For any comments, suggestions, feedback, requests and questions for my Fortune Cookie, leave a comment at Popcast88.com or email me at christine [at] popcast88.com.
Please remember, if you would like to support the podcast, I ask that you support the artist by buying their albums through YesAsia.com by the links provided on this site.
(Continued)
POP88 #18 - The Cover/Sample Show + Int. w/ Siu Ta [46:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (6) No Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Movies, Music, POP 88
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“The metal look works for Chinese males. This shit sprouts out of our head quite naturally and it looks pretty good. And that echoes with the great warriors of ancient times. Long hair means martial prowess.” - Kaiser Kuo, Tang Dynasty
A couple of years ago, I watched a documentary called Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, which completely changed my perception of Heavy Metal music. I mean, I was never a fan, but I wasn’t completely against listening to it either. I don’t love it, nor do I hate it. I would say, that there are more redeeming qualities in heavy metal music than there is in, say, pop music. You may not like it, but it’s never boring.
For the most part, heavy metal music actually has its roots in orchestral classical music like Wagner and Beethoven. While most of the vocals in the genre are stereotyped with gutterral screaming, a good portion of the vocals have more in common with opera than rock; think Freddie Mercury and Queen.
So imagine my surprise that the same filmmakers created a sequel called Global Metal. Applying the same anthropological mindset as the first film, they set out to find out what and how heavy metal music has been affected by globalization by talking to bands and fans of heavy metal music all over the world (particularly in Asia.) I highly recommend watching it when it comes out in June and also rent its predecessor on DVD.
Before, my exposure to rock music from China was fairly limited to whatever I saw on YouTube through Danwei.Tv and movies. I wasn’t impressed to tell you the truth. It all seemed kitchy and wannabe and really felt something was missing in its delivery. Every so often I would come across a gem, like Cherry Boom, but they were very few and far between. The band credited with bringing heavy metal music to China was Tang Dynasty. It was founder Kaiser Kuo, who was born in New York, went to China in the late 80’s to start the band which sold 2 million legit copies of its debut album ‘A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty‘.
In preparation for the interview with the filmmakers, I go ahead and attempt to do my homework in terms of metal bands from Asia (China and Japan in particular) and I come across this supposed thrash metal band called Overload from China … and slowly find myself turning into a fan.
Known as Chao Zai, Overload is fronted by one-time pop singer Gary Qi, who according to Wikipedia formed the band with elitist musicians in China. Listening to his voice, plus looking at his picture on the album cover (rowr!), I can’t help but be drawn in. I’m almost shock to discover just how pretty one song can be, side by side, with something that is just fueled with aggression. I implore you out there to check out the music on iTunes. Search: Chao Zai.
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If you may recall, last year, I reported that Penn was going to be teaching at the University of Pennsylvania. Not only is Kal Penn a successful actor, but he’s a pretty good college lecturer, according to the University of Pennlysvania’s independent student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, reporting in “Students say Kal Penn’s Asian American studies class was a hit:”
“Actor Kalpen Modi-more fondly known as Kal Penn - conquered Hollywood after his hit movie Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. But, with students raving about his Asian American Studies class as the semester ends, it seems Modi has conquered something perhaps more significant than teenage humor: the field of academia. “I was a little skeptical at first about what credentials gave him the right to teach a class at Penn,” said a College senior and Cinema Studies major …”By the end of the class, I realized it wasn’t his academic credentials that got him here, it was his experience in the field - which is equally valuable,” she said. Modi, who served as an adjunct professor in the Asian American Studies Department, taught ASAM 109: Images of Asian Americans in the Media this past semester. His interest in teaching at Penn stemmed from the lectures he had given about how race and gender identity play out in the media, in addition to Penn’s robust ASAM program which Modi discovered last November.”
Too bad Penn’s lectures aren’t online (or maybe they are?). It would be really interesting to hear Penn’s, as well as other Asian American actors and actresses about their experiences on Asian Americans in media and how they view Asian American history and studies from an academic standpoint.
No Comments | Posted in: Current Events, Entertainment, Movies, Observations
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The Onimusha series for Sony’s Playstation 2 has had a wide following including the fan girls of Takeshi Kaneshiro. And it seems that with the movie in pre-production status currently, there are few things that we know except for the fact that the protagonist Samanosuke Akechi, will indeed be played by Kaneshiro.
Considering the fact that Samanosuke’s character design was entirely based on Kaneshiro, it was the obvious choice to have this actor play the live-action part. On top of that, Christopher Gans, of the film Silent Hill fame, will be directing. I personally found Silent Hill to be one of the few movies that could stand up to the whole wishy-washy effect of “game to big screen” cheesiness.
Hoping that with Kaneshiro’s fan base, and Gans directing, there will be a lot more people that don’t know the storyline to actually go see this movie. Currently slated for December of 2009.
Photo Credit: (Gaira House)
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Harold and Kumar - Escape From Guantanamo Bay opens tomorrow, Friday, April 25th. The original, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, opened almost 4 years ago on July 30, 2004. I remember reluctantly going to see this movie with my brother, who was interested in seeing the film.Personally, from the trailers, I thought this movie was going to be really bad - but much to my surprise, I found it hilarious.
Although the original only did about $18 million in the theaters, the DVD became a cult classic which grossed over $60 million over time, and led to the production of the sequel.
I saw Harold and Kumar 2 during this year’s San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival. I won’t spoil it for you, but definitely let me know what you thought of the movie if you catch it.
3 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, Movies
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I had written earlier in the month on “The [MIT] Tech: Movie ‘21′ Discriminatory Casting Unjustified,” and had some additional thoughts on the movie ‘21′ given my recent travels and experiences.
My brother and I were in Boston two weekends ago for my cousin’s wedding. After my cousin’s bowling party on Saturday night in Cambridge, my brother and I dropped by Harvard Square briefly and then headed to MIT, where my brother went (MIT’95, ‘97, Course 2/Mechanical Engineering). We saw a poster while walking around the student union and Infinite Corridor advertising: “”Bringing Down “Next House”" - From the original MIT Blackjack Team That inspired Bringing Down the House and 21. NEXT HOUSE DINING HALL Saturday, April 12, 10PM-12AM.”
Next House is my brother’s undergraduate dorm - so we decided to drop by. We wound up going to Next House around 11PM, and the person at the front desk let us in. They weren’t letting anyone into the Next House cafeteria because it was packed to the fire code capacity. But after the “official” talk, they had the presenters at different “blackjack” tables to do some blackjack demos and discussion.
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I was on Facebook when I noticed that a friend of mine had become a “fan” of “Vincent Who?” and I thought to myself, “What is this all about?”
Vincent Who? is a new documentary about Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American who was brutally murdered in Detroit in 1982 in a case of mistaken identity at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment. More than twenty-five years later, the documentary “Vincent Who?” revisits the case and its effect on the leading Asian-American community activists of today and the future leaders of tomorrow:
“Interviewees and speakers include Helen Zia (leading activist during the Chin case), Stewart Kwoh (Founder & Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Judy Chu (Chair, California State Board of Equalization), Mike Eng (California State Assemblyman), Renee Tajima-Pena (Producer & Director, WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?), Frank Wu (Dean, Wayne State University Law School), Janet Yang (Producer, THE JOY LUCK CLUB), Justin Lin (Director, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW) …[and many other prominent Asian-Americans.]
If you happen to be in Chicago on April 19th, you can catch a sneak preview of the film during the Asian American Film Showcase: Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 North State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 5:30 PM. Here is a trailer for the documentary:
No Comments | Posted in: Discrimination, Movies
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