Finally! After seven decades in show business with over 600 film and television roles to his name -- perhaps the most credited Hollywood actor in history -- legendary actor James Hong is being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At 93 years old, he is the oldest actor yet to receive this distinction.
Most recently, you may have seen him playing Michelle Yeoh's father in Daniels' genre-bending multiverse epic Everything Everywhere All at Once. Here's a featurette from A24 with his cast mates including Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, talking about Hong and his pioneering career:
And Other Things to Know From Angry Asian America.
NYPD: Classify brutal attack against 89-year old Asian woman a Hate Crime.
Last month in Brooklyn, an 89-year old Asian woman was assaulted and set on fire by two people in masks. The police are not investigating the incident as a hate crime, despite the fact that there was no provocation, the assailants didn't know the victim, and they didn't try to take anything from her. It was just a heinous, violent act. This petition is calling on the NYPD and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez to classify the incident as a hate crime.
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James Hong Deserves a Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
With hundreds upon hundreds of credits to his name, James Hong is Hollywood's most prolific actor, hands down. If anyone deserves a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it's Mr. Hong, who has appeared in films from Chinatown to Big Trouble in Little China to Kung Fu Panda over a seven-decade career. So fellow actor Daniel Dae Kim has launched a fundraiser to get Mr. Hong his star. [UPDATE: The GoFundMe has reached its goal of more than $55,000 in just three days. The next step is the nomination process.]
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Benson Lee Set to Direct 20th Century Studios' Untitled K-Pop Film Seoul Searching director Benson Lee is set to direct a K-pop-themed feature film from 20th Century Fox Studios. The untitled film follows a young Asian American college student from the United States who becomes a top competitor on South Korea's toughest k-pop competition show and chases her dreams of becoming a K-Pop star, despite the disapproval of her family.
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First Look at Character Designs From 'Invicible'
Here's a first look at the character designs from the upcoming Amazon animated series Invincible, based on the comic book by Robert Kirkman and starring the voice of Steven Yeun in the title role. It's a Walking Dead reunion, of sorts. Invincible follows a teenager named Mark Grayson whose father is the most powerful superhero on the planet. The series is set to premiere later this year.
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HAYAO MIYAZAKI PIN
"Children understand intuitively that the world they have been born into is not a blessed world." This 1-inch soft enamel pin from Super Yaki pays tribute to the smiling face of master animator, filmmaker, screenwriter, author, and manga artist Hayao Miyazaki. Get it here.
Be Water
I can't make it to the Sundance Film Festival this year, but one of the films I'm dying to see is the premiere of the Bruce Lee documentary Be Water, directed Bao Nguyen. The film focuses on the legendary martial artist's rise to superstardom in the years before his death. Rejected by Hollywood, Lee returned to Hong Kong to complete four films. Charting his struggles in two worlds, Be Water explores questions of identity and representation through rare archive, intimate interviews, and his writings.
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Over 140 Prominent AAPIs Endorse Elizabeth Warren
More than 140 prominent Asian American and Pacific Islanders -- creatives, activists and academics -- announced their support Thursday for Democratic presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. The collective, which includes the likes of Constance Wu, Celeste Ng, Rabia Chaudry and Ellen Pao -- cites Warren's stance on a number of issues important to the Asian American community, including immigration, education and investment in entrepreneurship among the reasons for its support.
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To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Trailer
Netflix has dropped a new trailer for the hit romantic comedy sequel To All The Boys P.S. I Still Love You, which premieres next month. Starring Lana Condor and based on the bestselling young adult novel by Jenny Han, the new movie follows the next phase for Lara Jean and Peter, who have just taken their relationship from pretend to officially official when another recipient of one of her old love letters enters the picture.
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A24 re-teams with "Daniels" for Everything Everywhere All At Once
I'm pretty excited about this. A24 is re-teaming with filmmaker duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert ("Daniels") for the sci-fi adventure comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once, which begins production in Los Angeles this week. It stars Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, James Hong, Jonathan Ke Quan(!) and Jamie Lee Curtis. There's no word on the plot, but this is the team behind the farting corpse movie Swiss Army Man, and the masterpiece of a music video for "Turn Down For What." So yeah, I'm in.
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Parasite Live to Picture, January 26
This is just cool as hell. On Sunday, January 26, the Academy Award nominated film Parasite will have its score performed live to picture at The Theatre at Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Featuring 37 musicians, the Hollywood Chamber Orchestra will be conducted by Parasite composer, Jung Jaeil. Featuring an introduction by Oscar-nominated director Bong Joon Ho.
In the recently released trailer for the supernatural action-adventure R.I.P.D., Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds star as two cops dispatched by the otherworldly Rest In Peace Department to protect and serve the living from the unruly undead. Think Men in Black, but swap out aliens with bad souls and evil spirits.
The joke is that the cops are dead, so they take on a different appearance when they dwell among the living. Ryan Reynolds happens to look like an old Chinese guy. And when you need an old Chinese guy for your movie, there should be one man at the top of your list: James Hong. The one and only. Take a look:
