Japan Film Festival 2009: capsule reviews
This year's Japan Film Festival of Los Angeles brought selections including The Sky Crawlers, Blitzkrieg Bop, A Long Walk, Vacation, Funuke: Show Some Love You Losers!, and more.
Keeping Honest: interview with director Tom Lin Shu-yu
Golden Horse-winning director Tom Lin Shu-yu talks about turning high school memories into his acclaimed first feature Winds of September.
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Anoop Desai
May 1, 2009: News Bites
Anoop bids Idol farewell, The White Tiger finds a Hollywood adapter, and Fast & Furious keeps on truckin'. All this and more in the latest edition of News Bites.
Bye for now, Anoop
Anoop Desai, the 21-year-old singer from North Carolina, was voted off American Idol last week. A record-breaking 45 million people voted, leaving the top five performers -- Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Allison Iraheta and Matt Giraud -- to compete for the title of the 8th American Idol. Leaving the stage with Lil Round, Anoop Desai seemed numb, according to host Ryan Seacrest, as he sang his final song, "Dim All the Lights." Having been in the bottom three for the past few weeks, it was finally time for Anoop Desai to take his leave. --Megan Chun
Rights to The White Tiger bought
The latest Man Booker Prize winner was Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger, a gritty novel that centers around the ugly class tensions that still exist contemporary India. On April 14th, 2009, it was announced that Smuggler Films had bought the rights to the novel, to be turned into a film at a later date. Smuggler Films is owned by John Hart, whose producing credits include the recent film adaptation of the Richard Yates novel Revolutionary Road. As the deal became public, Adiga acknowledged the public's tendency to compare his book to the other Indian-themed story, Slumdog Millionaire, but he emphasized that The White Tiger is less about the hope of overcoming poverty, and more about stooping to disturbing extremes in order to escape the shackles of the lower-caste life. The White Tiger will be produced with the help of Ascension Entertainment. Meanwhile, a new version of Adiga's second novel, Between the Assassinations, will be released June 9, 2009. One of the stories within the novel can be read on the New Yorker website here. --Ada Tseng
Phone: another horror remake
The Americans are at it again! LA-based company Imprint Entertainment has announced that it intends to remake Ahn Byung Ki's horror film, Phone, in conjunction with Korea's Microvision entertainment. With this news, combined with talks of more adaptations of comic books, sequels and remakes of classics and superhero films, the question of "When will Hollywood actually write a new movie?" arises. Discontent with only remaking its own films, Hollywood continues its trend of remaking popular and successful Asian films, especially horror genre films. The English-language script is almost finished, and, though the film has yet to start production, the release has been scheduled for the summer of 2010. The remake, however, will actually be directed by the original director Ahn Byung Ki and shot in Korea, changing the dynamics of the remake. Yet, I still am still waiting for the day that mainstream American audiences will finally be willing to watch foreign films even if they are with subtitles. After all, the rest of the world does not seem to mind too much. --Frederick Stiehl
M.I.A. uncomfortable in the mainstream?
M.I.A. took the main stage at Coachella two weeks ago in Indio, California, but her performance was less than stellar. Although it was her third time being incorporated into the Coachella line-up, it was the first time she performed on the main stage reserved for the big names. However, at the end of her set, she expressed that she preferred to be in the smaller tents as she had performed before. Known for her crazy antics, such as climbing on speakers and dancing with the crowd, M.I.A. was not as unpredictable and remained on stage for the most of the performance. Performing songs from her last two albums, M.I.A. welcomed newcomer Rye Rye on stage with her. Creating a mock news conference, M.I.A. performed from behind a podium with multiple microphones surrounding it. Although finishing her set with her usual "Paper Planes," she did not keep it all standard as she covered a revised version of Amy Winehouse's song, singing "They tried to make me do the Oscars but I said no no no." But all of this leaves two questions: was it the 90-degree desert heat, or was it her recent entrance into motherhood that is to blame? And if it is the latter, then is this what we are to expect from now on? Let's just hope she's sensitive to the heat. --Megan Chun
Fast & Furious Still at No. 1
Justin Lin's Fast & Furious continued its box office momentum in the international circuit's pre-summer warmup, taking the number one spot for the third consective week in a row. The film made an estimated $15.2 million playing on 6,340 screens in 59 territories, for an overseas gross total of $170 million. You know what this means: be on the lookout for another Fast & Furous film. According to a recent interview with Paul Walker, Fast & Furious 5 is in development. Walker said, "I've spoken with executives at Universal at this point, and they're pretty serious about it. They're developing it. They know where they want it to take place. They want to do it in Brazil." We shall see if Lin has any more car films in his future. --Kristie Hang
East Villagers Launches Online Non-Profit Community, Community Concert
It never seems routine when non-profits are recognized or when their work inspires. On May 2nd, a new non-profit online community, East Villagers, plan to bring the non-profit sector a little bit closer together with the official launch of their online website. Dedicated to "non-profit organizations and individuals who are behind the numerous life changing stories about humanitarian work," especially within East Asia, this network includes a growing number of blogs that feature stories about children who drink from muddy water and sleep on thin tattered mats: projects such as a Hepatitis B Vaccination and Education Campaign, organizations that provides free health care for refugees, migrant workers, and other individuals who cross the border from Burma to Thailand. To kick off their launch, a free community concert featuring rockers Tim Be Told and hip hop violinist Paul Dateh is planned for May 2nd at Stanford University. For more information to support non-profits that support the world, click here. --LiAnn Ishizuka
Oscar goes Anime in Beverly Hills
From May 15 to August 23, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced it will host an exhibit titled “Anime! High Art – Pop Culture” at their Beverly Hills headquarters. Nearly 400 cels, clips and characters models were developed in partnership between the Academy and the Deutsches Fimmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The exhibit will be divided into separate areas of shonen, shoujo, early anime, Studio Ghibli, science fiction, fantasy and adults-only and will also feature titles Akira, Dragon Ball Z, Ghost in the Shell, Pokemon: The First Movie, Princess Mononoke, Sailor Moon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!. There will also be a special part devoted to the history and evolution of anime and manga. The Academy also hosted an Akira Kurosawa exhibit last year and previously honored Studio Ghibli with an Oscar for best Animated feature in 2002. –-Kanara Ty
It's the Kung Fu Kid now
Yes, we know Jaden Smith will be in the remake of Karate Kid. Yes, we know Jackie Chan will be playing the role of Mr. Miyagi. Yes, we know that they will be filming in Beijing. We have actually known this all since 2007. But there is finally something to add to this list of facts about the remake. This time around, the movie will be titled Kung Fu Kid. In a recent interview, Jackie Chan accidentally revealed the movie's revised title but told nothing more. Many assume this change is due to the fact that karate is now outdated and not as appealing to the public. Kung fu, on the other hand, is more hip (i.e. Kung Fu Panda). So although no explanations have been given, the assumption is that the movie industry has renamed the film to make it more relevant to the public. Shocking, life-changing news... Yes, we know. --Megan Chun
Not Nine Lives, but it's Ten To Life
Lodestone Theater Ensemble's Ten to Life, a series of four one-act plays, is premiering soon in Los Angeles. Four writers -- Nic Cha Kim, Annette Lee, Tim Lounibos and Judy Soo Hoo -- are behind the scenes of this great tenth season series. "A census agent exposes a family's perverse, hidden secret... A desperate loser turns to experimental surgery to seduce his high school crush... A happy homemaker struggles against an ancient evil that lurks in plain sight... A controlling psychologist must protect his life's love from her memories..." Ten to Life kicks of Lodestone Theatre's tenth and final season. The play will be running from May 2 – June 7, 2009, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm. For more information, call the Lodestone Theatre Ensemble hotline at
Book Dragon Does APA Books Good
Anyone can read New York Times book reviews of best-sellers or find information about that new Nora Roberts detective romance (not that we really care). But where can we turn to for reviews that cover the comprehensive collection of books written by the Asian and Asian Pacific American community? Terry Hong from the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program is the book critic and brainchild behind a recent book blog, "Book Dragon," with archives that date back to 2001 and categories as diverse as the more than thirty different Asian ethnic groups. In her over twenty years of collecting APA titles, she's been able to gather some impressive reviews, most of which were published for the SF Chronicle and The Bloomsbury Review. Search and discover some new titles for your own collection at Book Dragon here. --LiAnn Ishizuka
Death Note to receive Hollywood treatment
Warner Bros. has officially acquired the film adaptation rights to the highly popular manga series, Death Note. In Japan, the series has already spawned two successful seasons as an anime on NTV, as well as two live-action direct adaptations and one live-action spin-off. It was earlier revealed that movie studio Vertigo Entertainment will still be in charge of the production side, while screenwriters Vlas and Charles Parlapanides will be in charge of the script. No announcements have been made yet, about casting or other crew members, as well as an expected release date. –-Kanara Ty
Date Posted: 5/1/2009