• View Past Issues
• Authors
• About the Magazine
• Contact Asia Pacific Arts
• Support Us
• RSS Feeds
• Podcasts

January 23, 2009: News Bites

By APA Staff

Keanu Reeves takes on Cowboy Bebop, Slumdog Millionaire wins at everything, and designer Jason Wu gets some free publicity, Obama-style. All this and more in the latest edition of News Bites.

Jason Wu is Obama's Choice

It wasn't until Jason Wu saw Michelle Obama on television on the afternoon of Janurary 20th that he realized she had chosen his design to wear for her inaugural gown. Soon all the news channels were buzzing about her exquisite white gown -- the symbolism of it, how Michelle Obama looked in it while dancing "old school" with our 44th president -- all whilst the letters JASON WU were permanently displayed at the bottom fo the screen. Taiwanese American designer Wu, who was born in Taipei and grew up in Vancouver, has gained much attention in the fashion circuit in the last few years, since he started his own label in 2006. APA even recently featured him at the top of our Best of 2008: Fashion top ten list. But this type of free publicity will surely raise his profile -- not to mention, give him an official place in American history. --Ada Tseng

 
Slumdog Success

Having won every category it was nominated for at the Golden Globes (including Best Picture), Slumdog Millionaire, has yet two more major award shows to face: the Oscars and the Orange British Film Academy Awards (BAFTA). BAFTA released its nominations on January 15th, of which Slumdog received eleven nominations, tying with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for the most nominations for this year. Slumdog's nominations are in the categories of: best film, outstanding British film, director, adapted screenplay, leading actor, supporting actress, music, cinematography, editing, production design and sound. Whether Slumdog will be able to sweep the Orange British Film Academy Awards show will be revealed on February 8th. In the meantime, Oscar nominations were announced January 22nd, and Slumdog picked up ten nominations, including three nods for A.R. Rahman: one for best original score and two for the best original song category. The award show will air on February 22nd. --Megan Chun

Cowboy Bebop goes Hollywood

Right on the heels of multiple live-action anime adaptations from Hollywood, 20th Century Fox will be working closely with Sunrise, Inc. to produce and develop the live-action version of the 1998 prolific anime series, Cowboy Bebop. Keanu Reeves has already signed on to play the green-haired bounty hunter, Spike Spiegel, the protagonist of the show. Sunrise president Kenji Uchida, director of the original series, Shinichiro Watanabe, and original series script supervisor Keiko Nobumoto will all serve as associate producers, while former Sunrise producer/Bones studio co-founder Masahiko Minami will take on a role as production consultant. Peter Craig will take on writing the screenplay, which was formerly indicated by Reeves that it would be based on the "Red Eye" episode of the series and not an original story. Watanabe will be the first to read the script. Erwin Stroff from The Day the Earth Stood Still will come on board as a producer, and Joshua Long will act as executive producer. -–Kanara Ty

Departures Recieves Oscar Nod for Best Foreign Film  

The only Asian film to land the Oscar shortlist for the Best Foreign-Language Film category is Yojiro Takita's Departures [Okuribito]. This Japanese film has already garnered buzz among film circuits winning the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at this year's Palm Springs Film Festival and at the Hawaii International Film Fest. It also took home the Montreal Film Fest's Grand Prix Award. Starring Masahiro Motoki, and Tsutomu Yamazaki, and originally based on a manga, Departures reveals the life of a former cellist returning to his northern Japan hometown and discovers the art of preparing the deceased as an encoffiner. For a more comprehensive take on the film, click here.  --LiAnn Ishizuka

Love Guru Finally Gets Some Love at the Razzies
 
Razzies, also known as The Golden Raspberry Award are awards that were created to counter the Academy Awards by "honoring" the worst acting, screenwriting, songwriting, directing, and films that the industry has to offer for the year. Viewers really did agree this year that The Love Guru was Number One for them for the Razzies. Mike Myer's comedy flop led the worst picture contenders with a total of seven nominations. Myers, who co wrote and produced the movie was not the only one nominated for the dishonor. Jessica Alba, Verne Troyer, and Ben Kingsley also helped The Love Guru secure worst acting slots. Razzies "winners" will be announced on February 21st, the day before the Oscar Awards. --Kristie Hang


Mr. Chan is The New Mr. Miyagi
 
Jackie Chan may just be the new Mr. Miyagi. Jackie Chan is in talks with Columbia Pictures to star in the remake of The Karate Kid. Like the previous Karate Kid this movie will feature a young boy who is picked on by bullies and discovers himself through martial arts. Though the plot does mirror the original 1984 film, the student will be played by Will Smith's son, Jaden Smith, who starred with his father in the blockbuster hit In Pursuit of Happiness. While the original Mr. Miyagi was Japanese American, the remake will be set in China, and shooting is set to begin as soon as this summer in Beijing. --Kristie Hang

Vietnamese Americans protest art exhibit in Santa Ana

Outraged by the Communist depictions of what Vietnamese American protesters called “mocking their painful experiences as refugees,” the Santa Ana art exhibition, “F.O.B. II: Art Speaks [Nghe Thuat Len Tieng],” was forced to shut its doors to the public last weekend. An estimated 300 protests gathered outside the exhibition waving South Vietnam flags and signs that read “VAALA stabs the Vietnamese in the back." Commissioned by the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association, the “F.O.B. II” featured works from 50 artists, including Brian Doan's particularly controversial photograph, “Thu Duc, Viet Nam,” which depicts a bust of former Communist leader Ho Chi Minh alongside a young Vietnamese women fitted with a red tank top and gold star of the present Communist flag of Vietnam. The VAALA intended for the exhibition to open a dialogue about the freedom of expression within the Vietnamese community, and later released a press release that reinstated their respect to those Vietnamese American hurt by the exhibition's works. --LiAnn Ishizuka

Date Posted: 1/23/2009