Golden State Valkyries Game 2 Semi-Finals Halftime Show with Rei Ami from KPop Demon Hunters

Posted on October 12, 2026 by John

Photo and video courtesy of 8Asians.

Rei Ami from KPop Demon Hunters at Golden State Valkries Games 2 Semi-finalsThis past Wednesday, the Golden State Valkyries played against the Las Vegas Aces (the defending WNBA champions) at the Chase Center in San Francisco. For the halftime show,  Rei Ami, of KPop Demon Hunters fame, performed, which I thought was pretty cool:

“The Golden State Valkyries stayed “Golden” on Wednesday night with a win over the Las Vegas Aces. During halftime, one of the original singers behind the “Kpop Demon Hunters” hit song was also on the court.

Rei Ami brought high energy to Ballhalla during Wednesday night’s halftime show. She is one of the three singers behind the voices of Huntrix in “KPop Demon Hunters.” In the movie, she sings and raps as Zoey.

During halftime on Wednesday, she sang “Golden” and her new song “2 Loud.””

The Valkyries wound up defeating the Aces and eventually sweeping the series, 3-0, to make it to the WNBA finals in their second season. Pretty amazing for an expansion team! Last year, the Valkyries were the first WNBA expansion team ever to make it to the playoffs!

The WNBA finals, where the Valkyries face the Atlanta Dream, starts on Saturday, October 17.

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8mm Film Review: Forgotten Island (No Spoilers)

Posted on October 7, 2026 by Jeff

Forgotten Island Movie Poster showing two hands clasping, with bracelets showing Filipino mythological monstersI watched Forgotten Island last weekend and as a Filipino American, I enjoyed it immensely. Will non-Filipinos enjoy it as much? If this movie will have any kind of legs, it must appeal to a broad audience. Here is my review that tries to look at it from both viewpoints.

One initial warning: if you are sensitive to bright flashing lights, be careful about seeing this movie! It has a similar look and feel to the Spider-verse animated movies. I personally liked that look and feel.

From a Filipino standpoint, the cultural references absolutely delighted me. From food and folklore, spotting those Easter Eggs provided a lot of joy. I won’t spoil it too much, but like many people have said, I felt “seen.”

Of course, being “seen” and cultural references to a particular group aren’t enough to keep it and future Filipino themed movies in US theatres. In my opinion, the core story of friendship and memory is universal enough to people of all cultures. Is the movie perfect?  No. I felt a few items were left hanging at the end. I also thought that there were some Deux ex Machina moments, which I personally think are poor plot devices.

H.E.R. really impressed me. I didn’t know what character she voiced until the end, and she definitely didn’t sound like a musician trying to be an actor. I later found out that she acted in a Nickelodeon movie before she became famous as a singer and musician.

Forgotten Island has been doing rather poorly at the box office (definitely worth a separate post). If you want to see it, I suggest you see it soon.

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RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me Debuts

Posted on October 5, 2026 by John

BTS superstar RMLast week, BTS superstar RM, or also known as Kim Nam-joon (김남준),  showed up to showcase his own personal art collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).

“BTS star RM touched down in the Bay Area to celebrate the opening of his new exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The typically confident performer showed a more personal side, shaking off nerves to speak at a private media preview event.”

His exhibition called RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me will be open from October 3, 2026 though February 7, 2027. “For almost a decade, RM, of pop royalty BTS, has been collecting the art that moves him. Now, nearly 150 works from his personal collection come together with works from SFMOMA’s collection, revealing unexpected connections across artists, ideas, and cultures — and offering one of the most expansive presentations of Korean modern art in the US. “The venture has no obvious parallel,” wrote The New York Times.”

A few people were able to ask some questions. The first was what RM wanted people to come away with out of his exhibition. He responded that he hoped that they got to know him – “This is the introduction of me … and how fun and joyful it is to see an exhibition. The second and last question “San Francisco, why San Francisco?” RM: “I think that’s not a question because San Francisco is one of the coolest cities in the world. That’s why. Thank you.”

I was happy to hear that because San Francisco is a cool city. It gets sh*t on a lot, especially on Fox News, but as someone who moved to the San Francisco Bay Area back in 1999, it’s definitely a great place to live compared to other places I’ve lived. The area is expensive as hell and has a lot of other problems, but there’s a lot to love too!

I hope to check out the exhibition in the near future and provide a write-up!

 

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Chinese Immigrants in California Wine Country

Posted on October 2, 2026 by Jeff

Autumn in Napa valley, showing Vineyards with grape vines turning brown, part of Chinese Immigrants in California Wine Country postOn a weekend trip to Napa a few years ago, I noticed a plaque near downtown commemorating China Point Lookout. Chinese Immigrants in California Wine Country built a Chinatown there. As this video from TAAF’s The United States of Asian+America points out, the Chinese who helped build California’s Wine Country were often burned out and their history and contributions largely erased, part of The Driving Out.

We have written about the contributions of Asian Americans to California wine country before. This video gives a different perspective and focuses on Chinese laborers. The interviewer, Lois Cho, is a co-founder of Cho Wines in Oregon. The United States of Asian+America is an ongoing series from TAAF, The Asian American Foundation.

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TAAF presents Asian American Trailblazers

Posted on September 27, 2026 by Jeff

The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), in conjunction with Wong Fu productions, has been presenting Asian American Trailblazers in their series, The United States of Asian+America. This project is an extension of their Asian+American PSA campaign. The campaign features Asian Americans who have tremendously influence American and society in the world. The focus is on trying to combat the pernicious stereotype of the perpetual foreigner.

The series has been going a while since it was first announced. Asian Americans featured so far include YouTube founder Steve Chen, USB co-inventor Ajay Bhatt, and Hip Hop pioneer Sophia Chang.  I had no idea of the influence that Sophia Chang had on hip-hop music, particular with her work with the Wu Tang clan. I have not yet watched all of their videos, and I am looking forward to watching more.

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Forgotten Island Debuts September 25

Posted on September 25, 2026 by Jeff

Forgotten Island Movie Poster showing two hands clasping, with bracelets showing Filipino mythological monstersMarketing has been building up for the Forgotten Island release today, September 25.  I  particularly liked this featurette about the making of the movie. I was pleasantly surprised that some of the animation was actually done in the Philippines.

In case you can’t get enough about this movie, here are some recent interviews and videos of interest:

As I have said before, I really hope this is good. So far, Rotten Tomatoes shows positive responses at 96% as I was writing this. You can see the trailer here.

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Shot on iPhone 18 Pro: “new trick” by ROSÉ

Posted on September 20, 2026 by John

ROSÉ holding up a lollipop saying shot on iPhone 18 Pro for music video "new trick” by Like clockwork, Apple has released a new iPhone this fall – the iPhone 18. And with that comes a new ad campaign, starring ROSÉ, of Blackpink (and individual) fame. ROSÉ isn’t Asian American, but she is Asian and Apple’s commercial is being shown in America:

“A look at ROSÉ’S new music video for “new trick” shot entirely on iPhone 18 Pro. The new variable aperture lens on the 48MP main camera captured improved low-light footage and impressive depth of field to bring the music video to life.”

The commercial is essentially a music video shot entirely on the iPhone 18 Pro. It’s a win-win for ROSÉ and Apple. I know that ‘Left Handed Girl’ was shot entirely on an iPhone (iPhone 13 in fact) So was this entire series of Chinese New Year videos. I mean cameras on phones these days are so good that the need to have a separate video camera is not really necessarily quality wise for most use cases. Amazing to see how mainstream K-pop has become in the United States. BTS isn’t submitting their consideration for the Grammy’s new category in 2027: “Best Asian pop music performance.” The Internet has globalized music.

Here’s the entire music video if you’re interested:

I wonder where the music video was shot. I’m assuming in the United States, but I could be wrong. I wonder what it was like to be one of the background actors in the music video as well as other technical details of the shoot (length of the shoot, budget, etc.) and how much Apple paid ROSÉ.

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South Asian American Breast Cancer: Disparities in Diagnoses and Treatment

Posted on September 17, 2026 by Jeff

We frequently mention data disaggregation is critical to understand Asian American population. This summary of a study on South Asian American Breast Cancer confirms this fact. Compared to white women, doctors diagnosed South Asian Americans at a younger age with more aggressive forms of the disease. On average, they received treatment later than white women, Strangely enough, despite that, South Asians were more likely to have a better odds of surviving breast cancer. South Asians women have a higher percentage of private medical insurance, although it’s hard to establish that is a contributing factor.

The study looked at data from the National Cancer Database which includes more than 2 million women. I really appreciate the large database, as some published medical studies have dangerously small sample sizes. You can read the full paper here.

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Best of the Best: A Netflix Bollywood Dance Movie

Posted on September 14, 2026 by Jeff

Best of the Best movie poster showing two Indian American women dancingAsian American dance competitions are nothing new. The successes of groups like Kaba Modern and Poreotics on older shows like America’s Best Dance Crew in the late 2000’s demonstrates this. But Bollywood-fusion dance teams?  That’s new to me and why this trailer to the new movie Best of the Best fascinates me. A quick synopsis from the press release:

Two childhood best friends, Maya and Anjali, join UCLA’s competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team, only to discover that the road to winning the U.S. Championship is far more raucous and cutthroat than they ever imagined.

I really appreciate the Asian Americanness of the movie – the lead characters are definitely American without an accent. We could use more media visibility of Indian Americans who in most ways are just plain American, especially in a time of growing anti-Indian sentiment.  The movie features Canadian actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. I recognize her from the Mindy Kahling series Never have I Ever. Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam write the movie, which is directed by Lena Khan.

Note that there is an earlier movie from 1989 called Best of the Best.  It also includes Asians and Asian Americans but is enjoyable in a completely different way.  The Best of the Best premieres on Netflix on September 18.

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Remembering Flight Attendant Betty Ong, 9/11 Hero

Posted on September 11, 2026 by Jeff

Picture of Flight Attendant Betty Ong, 9/11 heroEvery time, September 11 comes around, Harry Ong gets nervous.

“As September 11th approaches each and every year, the tension just builds up and the stress, sometimes debilitation. We never forget.”

Harry Ong is the oldest brother of Flight Attendant Betty Ong. Betty Ong worked on Flight 11.  She calmly relayed important information during the hijacking, relaying critical information, helping to identify the hijackers and leading the FAA to close US Airspace. The 9/11 commission called her a hero. Ong died when Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center.

I think is a particularly good time to remember Ong, particularly as Chinese Americans are considered suspicious in the current environment. Ong was a native of San Francisco Chinatown.  San Francisco named the Betty Ong Chinese Recreation Center in Chinatown in her honor. In addition, the Betty Ong foundation has been created to commemorate her. You can find out more about Betty Ong at her Wikipedia page and at her 9/11 Memorial page.

(photo credit: www.bettyong.org)

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Eric Bauza voices on Coyote vs. Acme

Posted on September 8, 2026 by Jeff

Coyote vs. Acme Poster, with voices by Eric BauzaYou may have heard that Coyote vs. Acme came out recently after a long controversial hold when Warner Brothers wanted to shelve the completely finished movie for a tax write off. You not have heard about the very Filipino background behind this story. Asian Canadian Eric Bauza voices the Looney Toon Characters in this movie, as you can see in this delightful video from Pablo Torre Finds Out.

Eric Bauza is hilarious here. You can see him connect with Pablo Torre on a diasporic Filipino level at 3:19. Filipino Americans and Canadians will probably love it. That moment just killed Son Number 1, Torre, and me! Bauza was born in Scarborough Ontario, a heavily Asian city where my cousin and her family live.

Bauza’s and Torre’s discussion of how a greedy corporation shelved a movie about a greedy corporation also makes it worth watching. Unlike the movie Batgirl that was shelved, Coyote vs. Acme received good audience test results. A protest campaign eventually lead to the movie rights being purchased by Ketchup Entertainment for $50 million.

Will Ketchup Entertainment recoup its costs?  Maybe.  Some point out that Coyote vs. Acme benefits from a new phenomenon called a “buycott”. I have to say that joining the buycott is motivation for me to see the movie. In addition, the movie has earned a 96% fresh rating and also stars Lana Condor. We have put the trailer below. It’s in theatres now.

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Pablo Torre is not an IT Guy

Posted on September 4, 2026 by Jeff

Pablo Torre doing an interview

When Pablo Torre told some people that he had started working at ESPN, they assumed he did Tech Support.  But this Pulitzer prize winning journalist is definitely not an IT Guy. I find the story of this Filipino American fascinating.

First, if you don’t know Pablo Torre (likely if you don’t follow American sports), let me give you a quick summary. He began writing for Sports Illustrated, and eventually started appearing on ESPN on cable TV. Torre’s story on how athletes go broke became well known and resulted in a Security and Exchange Commission investigation. He left ESPN and created a podcast and YouTube channel called Pablo Torre Finds Out. A series of stories on how Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers evaded the NBA salary cap won him a Pulitzer prize.  I have embedded the first podcast of his investigation above.

Torre didn’t start off wanting to be a journalist. His Filipino parents wanted him to be a doctor (so typical!), but he wasn’t good at science. Law appeared to an acceptable career route, but he tested poorly on his LSATs and took at job at Sports Illustrated as a fact checker while gearing up another try at the LSATs. He eventually became a writer there, kicking off his career.

I can appreciate his frustration at being thought of as being tech support because he is Asian. Sad to say, but I remember seeing him years ago on ESPN and wondering “who is this Asian guy and why is he there?” A few weeks ago, ESPN recently released a story saying that NBA found on evidence of wrongdoing in the Clipper case. It seemed to refute all of Torre’s investigations. Then, the NBA’s recent announcement vindicated him.

As an actual IT guy accustomed to being behind the scenes (like most Filipino Americans), I am amazed at how Filipinos and Filipino American’s are increasing in visibility. Tennis player Alex Elea comes to mind. Paolo Pasco too- another Filipino American from Harvard like Torre. For his part, Torre is working on other investigations. I didn’t know who he was before, but my sons put me on him.  I am now a fan, and I can’t wait for his next story!

 

 

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