greenlit: the other end of the line

Variety reports a that Hyde Park Entertainment has greenlit The Other End of the Line, a cross-cultural romantic comedy about an "Indian call-center operative who travels to San Francisco to be with a man she has only met over the phone." And I'm guessing then a lot of funny things happen: Hyde Park greenlights MGM's 'Line'. While the plot doesn't sound too enthralling, and I won't be standing in line for this one, the project looks like it might be an interesting cross-cultural venture, from an industry standpoint. But then again, maybe not.

auto body shop settles harrassment suit

Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that an auto body shop in San Jose will pay $45,000 to settle a sexual and racial harrassment lawsuit: San Jose auto body shop to pay $45,000 in harassment case. According to the suit against Monterey Collision Frame and Auto Body, a technician of Chinese and Italian ancestry was subjected to repeated racial and sexual harassment while he worked at the shop, "including mimicking martial arts movements and mockingly calling him 'Bruce Lee.'" More here: San Jose auto body shop owner says EEOC violated pact.

Man, what Asian guy in America can't relate to being called Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan or some other kind of martial arts nonsense (and not in a good way) during some point in their lives? And not just on the job, or at school, but while just walking down the street minding your own damn business. You know, some dude yelling "Bruce Leeeeeeee!" out of a passing car? Or some idiot making kung fu noises while you're waiting in line at Burger King? That's right, it happens. And it happens waaaay too often. That's racist!

james wan's death sentence

Forgot to mention that Death Sentence opened in theaters on Friday. It's directed by James Wan, one of the guys responsible for the ridiculously successful Saw horror franchise. The movie stars Kevin Bacon, and to me, looks like a remake of Death Wish... It's been getting pretty abysmal reviews, though dammit, I'll admit I'm a sucker for revenge movies. I can see myself catching it on cable someday on a Saturday afternoon.

exiled/the host giveaway winners

Thank you to everyone who entered last week's Exiled giveaway, courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. Everyone who answered the question correctly was entered into a drawing to win an Exiled poster and DVD copy of the South Korean monster movie The Host. The question was: "Exiled is the pseudo-sequel to what 1999 Johnnie To film?" For your information, the correct answer is The Mission. And our winners are (along with their professed favorite gangster movie):

Brad S. of San Mateo, CA (Hard Boiled)
Van D. of Royersford, PA (Goodfellas)
Clara I. of Bellevue, WA (Infernal Affairs 2)
Allen C. of Edison, NJ (Infernal Affairs)
Eddy C. of Chicago, IL (Hard Boiled)

The rest of you, don't feel sad. It was a good effort. You can go buy/rent The Host on DVD, available in stores everywhere. And then go catch Johnnie To's Exiled, playing right now in select theaters nationwide.

jessica yu's ping pong playa at toronto

I've been perusing the schedule for the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, which starts this week, September 6th and runs through the 15th. One of the films I'm particularly interested in is Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu's first foray into narrative feature, Ping Pong Playa, starring Jimmy Tsai, Smith Cho and Roger Fan. It's actually a sports comedy—not the kind of film I expected from her, which makes it that much more intriguing. A ping pong movie? I'd rather see this than Balls of Fury any day, all day. Here's the movie's official site. Looking forward to eventually checking this one out. I'm also interested in seeing veteran director Wayne Wang's latest, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, which looks like a return to the kind of films he does best.

Some of the other noteworthy Asian/Asian American films include Arthur Dong's documentary Hollywood Chinese, Im Kwon-taek's Beyond the Years, Wang Bing's Fengming, A Chinese Memoir, Takeshi Kitano's Glory to the Filmmaker!, Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Ploy, Naomi Kawase's The Mourning Forest, Lee Chang-Dong's Secret Sunshine, Ang Lee's highly anticipated Lust, Caution (fresh from its premiere at the Venice Film Festival), Hur Jin-ho's Happiness, Shinji Aoyama's Sad Vacation, Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Four Women, Lee Myung-se's M, Buddhadeb Dasgupta's The Voyeurs, Rituparno Ghosh's The Last Lear, Sori's animated Vexille, Lav Diaz's Death in the Land of Encantos, Santosh Sivan's Before the Rains, Pantham Thongsan and Somkiat Vithuranich's Mid Road Gang, Lee Kang-sheng's Help Me Eros, Jiang Wen's The Sun Also Rises, Takashi Miike's SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO, Pang Ho-cheung's The Exodus, Jia Zhang-ke's Useless, Johnnie To's Mad Detective, Lee Isaac Chung's Munyurangabo, Alexi Tan's Blood Brothers, Shivajee Chandrabhushan's Frozen, Richie Mehta's Amal, Gregg Araki's Smiley Face, Wilson Yip's Flash Point, Auraeus Solito's Philippine Science, and Hou Hsia-hsien's Le Voyage du ballon rouge. There's also Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Dude, that's a long, amazing list of films. So if you're in Toronto, this is your chance to treat yourself to some quality cinema.

the mysterious, inscrutable norman hsu

Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, a fugitive from the law for the last fifteen years, was taken into custody on Friday on fraud charges: Fugitive donor surrenders as Clinton camp ponders how. His name started popping up all over the news last week when it came to light that one of the Democratic candidates' biggest financial contributors actually had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Now the Clinton camp is wondering how this guy got in among its list of high-profile donors. Here's some more background on Norman Hsu: Wealth, mystery surround donor Hsu. Ooh, the mysterious, inscrutable angle. Personally, I think every political campaign needs a shady Asian donor. It just keeps things interesting.

la weekly's review of balls of fury

This review of Balls of Fury by Nathan Lee in LA Weekly is kind of funny, kind of lazy, and a bit crude, but conveys pretty much all I really needed to know about the movie: Test My Balls of Fury.

Test My Balls of Fury
Answer all correctly and you still lose

By NATHAN LEE
Wednesday, August 29, 2007 - 8:39 pm

1. Balls of Fury is a movie about:
a. A former table-tennis prodigy (Dan Fogler as Randy Daytona) enlisted by the FBI to infiltrate the underground pingpong tournament of a legendary Chinese criminal (Christopher Walken).
b. Suppository jokes.
c. Little worth discussing and even less worth seeing.
d. All of the above.

2. In his first leading role for the big screen, Fogler, a Tony Award–winning actor (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), can best be described as:
a. A comedic genius.
b. Killing time until his agent gets a call from Judd Apatow.
c. A cross between Jack Black and Richard Simmons.

3. Because the FBI agent who approaches Randy is played by a Latino (George Lopez), he will be made to say:
a. "Maricón!
b. "¡Yo quiero Taco Bell!"
c. "Nigga, pleez!"
d. "Say hello to my little friend!"

4. When Randy undergoes intensive pingpong training at the Happy Mu Shu Palace ("If Mu Shu fits, wear it!"), his guru, Wong (James Hong), offers the following inscrutable advice:
a. "Be as the cricket."
b. "The cheeks cannot hold the smoke. That is what it is."
c. "Pingpong is not the Macarena."
d. "I miss you, Victor Wong."

5. Are Chinese people funny?
a. Yes.
b. No.
c. Totally, like with those weird little sticks they use to eat and everything!

6. As Feng, the criminal mastermind/pingpong enthusiast, Walken can best be described as:
a. A comedic genius.
b. Killing time until his agent gets a call from Judd Apatow.
c. Ka-ching, bitches!

7. When Feng's Amazonian henchwoman offers the services of sex slaves to Randy, it's funny because:
a. They're dudes!
b. They're dudes who scream like little girls.
c. Oh, I get it: sarcasm. Lighten up, homo.

8. Maggie Q co-stars as:
a. A pair of breasts.
b. A pair of breasts that know kung fu.
c. Who's Maggie Q?

9. Balls of Fury is best viewed:
a. At the multiplex.
b. On an airplane.
c. Loaded.
d. Never.

10. Balls of Fury is to The Sound and the Fury as:
a. Freddy Got Fingered is to Finnegans Wake.
b. Borat is to Austerlitz.
c. Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is to The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson.
d. Superbad is to Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.

11. Balls of Fury belongs in the tradition of:
a. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Blades of Glory.
b. Enter the Dragon, Fists of Fury.
c. The Karate Kid, Big Trouble in Little China.
d. Wu Tang Forever.
e. Ka-ching, bitches!

12. Balls of Fury was written by:
a. Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant.
b. A racist monkey.

13. Balls of Fury should have been directed by:
a. Don't hate. Mr. Garant did a lovely job.
b. Stephen Chow.
c. Jacques Rivette.

14. This review is:
a. As lazy as the movie under consideration.
b. Lazier than the movie under consideration.

My only hope now is that this movie bombs at the box office, leaving no desire for anyone to make a sequel. Ever. But I'm not getting hopes up, since audiences have proven that they'll go to theaters in droves to watch any kind of racist idiocy on the big screen.

hyphen, five years later

Jeff Yang's latest "Asian Pop" column is dedicated to Bay Area-based Hyphen magazine, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary: Believe the Hyph. Jeff allows himself to reminisce a bit about being a co-founder of now-defunct aMagazine, way back in the day. Younger cats might not remember it, but for a long time it was one of the only regularly-published Asian American magazines around. It wasn't perfect, and sometimes it was downright frustrating, but it was ours. I even had a subscription for a few years before they called it quits. You could say that Hyphen was born out of the void left by aMagazine. Anyway, props to Melissa, Harry, and everyone who works on Hyphen. It's a true labor of love.

gettin' too old for this

That's a still from upcoming movie The Forbidden Kingdom, the long-anticipated colloboration between martial arts movie superstars Jackie Chan and Jet Li. People have been waiting for this movie for a long time. The problem is, I think we might have waited too long. I've always wanted to see a Jet/Jackie movie, or hell, maybe just a Jet/Jackie movie fight, because it would it be a lot of fun. But when I think about it, what I really want to see is a Jet/Jackie fight circa 1992. Dial it back fifteen years or so, when both actors were doing some of their best movies. Let's face it—both guys are kind of past their physical prime, and aren't making the kind of moves or movies they used to. Of couse, time travel is not readily available to us, so we're stuck with The Forbidden Kingdom, starring older, aging Jet and Jackie. And everything I've heard about this movie thus far has kind of sucked. I'm not expecting much out of this... and Jet Li is apparently urging others to do the same. Lower your expectations: Jet Li, Jackie Chan 'too old' to really throw down

the mental health history of seung hui cho

A new report provides a detailed, comprehensive look at Virginia Tech shooter Seung Hui Cho and his troubled mental health history: Cho's problems date to early childhood. His teachers said he apparently began showing suicidal and homicidal tendencies by the eighth grade. Fairfax County school officials determined that Seung Hui Cho suffered from an anxiety disorder so severe that they put him in special education and devised a plan to help. His parents, teachers and mental health counselors wove together a safety net that held him together through most of high school and got him into Virginia Tech, but it all fell apart when he got to college, where he stopped getting that help. Basically, there were warning signs. And Virginia Tech was never informed of the problem: Unknown to Va. Tech, Cho Had a Disorder. Somehow, while this information paints a more comprehensive of Cho, it still doesn't make what happened any easier to understand.

random stories from the community

Amidst all the talk about contaminated Chinese food products and toothpaste and all that, you'd think everybody would be changing their shopping habits... but many Chinese grocers in the San Gabrial Valley are apparently seeing little effect on their business: Food from China scares some, tantalizes others

Here's a great story in the San Jose Mercury News on a real community hero, 25-year-old leukemia patient Michelle Maykin, who is seeking a bone marrow match, but has also embarked on a mission to find a match for a fellow patient: Ill woman takes on man's struggle to live. Learn more about Michelle at projectmichelle.com.

Some cool South Bay teens pulled together their knowledge, resources and multi-media experience to reach out and educate their schools and communities about Hepatitis B: Sunnyvale, Saratoga teens educating peers about Hepatitis B virus. That's pretty damn awesome. These kids have done a whole lot more than I ever thought to accomplish (or care about) when I was in high school...

The University of California Davis has received a five-year, $3.9 million federal grant with which to create a national center to study Asian American mental health issues: UC Davis granted $3.9M for Asian American mental health studies. The National Institute of Mental Health grant will establish the Asian American Center on Disparities Research on the UC Davis campus. The center will support and coordinate the efforts of a network of researchers studying Asian American mental health. Brothers and sisters, we need this.

The National Education Association is calling for a series of changes to improve opportunities for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities facing educational challenges: NEA Highlights Education Needs of Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders. The model minority myth must go!

yi jianlian signs with milwaukee bucks

About time. After all the speculating and talking and back and forth, Yi Jianlian is ready to play. After being picked sixth overall in the NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks back in June, and keeping every in suspense all summer, Yi signed a standard rookie scale contract with the Bucks in Hong Kong yesterday: Bucks officials travel to Hong Kong, sign Yi. There was some doubt over whether Yi would actually end up in Milwaukee, since it wasn't one of the teams his camp was looking at, and the city isn't particularly known for its large Asian population. But I guess they made it happen. And Yi just brought millions and millions of Chinese people on board as Milwaukee Bucks fans.

clinton mixed up with shady asian money?

I've been hearing quite a bit over the last couple of days about a man named Norman Hsu. Who? For the last 15 years, California authorities have been trying to figure out what happened to Hsu, who pleaded no contest to grand theft, agreed to serve up to three years in prison, and then just disappeared. Turns out the guy has been hanging around quite publicly, at least for the last three years: Democratic fundraiser is a fugitive in plain sight. Since 2004, Norman Hsu has been a high roller at Democratic fundraisers, carving out some political and financial influence, funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to the likes of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has apparently developed a knack for bundling large contributions from "obscure citizens who live modest lives": Big Dem fundraiser wanted on swindling charges

Obscure citizens meaning families like the Paws. This Wall Street Journal story started a lot of the chatter, reporting that the Paws' "unlikely" middle class address is listed for many contributions to the Clinton campaign: Big Source of Clinton's Cash Is an Unlikely Address. And here's the follow-up: Leading Clinton Donor Stays Below the Radar. This isn't the first we've seen a whole lotta fuss over questionable Clinton donors, lest we forget the Asian donor scandals of the 1990s. Oh yeaaaaahhh, wait, those guys were Asians too. This Daily Kos entry takes issue with the scrutiny: Chinese-Americans Give Money To Clinton. The Horror. The Horror.

Look, I won't pretend that I know too much about the intricacies of campaign donations, political influence and fundraiser dinners and all that. I don't know what kind of shady business Norman Hsu has been involved with, and I don't know whether this fuss over the Paws is legit. Forget all that. It seems to that there's an awful lot of attention here simply because we have donors here of Chinese descent. One wonders if there would be so much scrutiny and fanfare if the people involved here didn't have names like Hsu or Paw. You know what I'm saying? Anyway, Clinton is donating the funds she has received from Hsu to charity: Clinton to Give Away Funds From Donor With Outstanding Warrant. And Hsu says that he'll "refrain from all fundraising activities" until his arrest warrant is resolved: Fugitive donor bows out of fundraising

asian men and prostate cancer

A recent study focusing on Asian American men and prostate cancer seems to indicate that most Asian groups have higher survival rates than other groups: Asians May Have an Edge in Battling Prostate Cancer. South Asians, however, seem to be the exception, having worse survival rates than whites by some 40 percent—definitely a major limitation of clumping multiple Asian ethnicities into one group. So why are we so badass when it comes to prostate cancer survival? Don't know. But researchers hypothesize that Asian American dietary patterns—which tend to include less fat, more soy, and more vegetables than a typical American diet—may play a role.

magnolia dvd/poster giveaway

Master auteur Johnnie To's Exiled opens in select theaters this Friday. It's one of those kickass Hong Kong gangster dramas Johnnie To has made a name for himself doing. Go here to see when/where it's playing at a theater near you. Great stuff. So, to celebrate the release of Exiled, as well as the recent DVD release of Bong Joon-Ho's The Host, how about another giveaway? I know everybody likes some free stuff. We've got some goodies here courtesy of the good folks from Magnolia Pictures. Five random lucky winners will get a shiny new Exiled poster and a DVD copy of the hit South Korean monster movie The Host. You like that? But you're going to have to answer two questions... 1) Exiled is the pseudo-sequel to what 1999 Johnnie To film? 2) What is your favorite gangster film, Asian or otherwise? (No wrong answer for this one.) That's it. Email me your answers, along with your name and mailing address, by the end of Monday, September 3rd. And please include "EXILED GIVEAWAY" in the subject line. Entries that do not follow these simple directions will get thrown out. I'll throw all the correct responses in a hat and pick five winners. Easy. So get your entries in, and watch Exiled this Friday in theaters.

sidus buys into imaginasian

Some interesting news for ImaginAsian... last week, the company entered into the first phase of an extensive investment and multi-platform entertainment content agreement with leading Korean entertainment company Sidus Corporation—a deal that's worth in excess of $20 million: Sidus gets a slice of ImaginAsian TV. So what does this mean? For one thing, it looks like ImaginAsian was in big need of some help. Hopefully, the money will be used to expand the cable channel's subscriber base in the United States. According to ImaginAsian's CEO: "We need scale to get advertisers to pay attention to us. Right now, our share of the advertising marketplace is pretty sad." At least he's being honest. Here's the full press release.

nyc's first asian american fire marshal

Earlier this month in New York, 40-year-old FDNY veteran David Wong was named the first Asian American fire marshal the department's history: HISTORIC FDNY APPOINTMENT. Very cool. The marshal rank has existed since 1854, so dammit, it's about time.

the science of racism

This is a load smelly nonsense. In the recent article "Down subjects and Oriental population share several specific attitudes and characteristics," published in the academic journal Medical Hypotheses, two Italian "doctors" offer their theory about the close similarities between Down sydrome and "oriental" people. What kind of crazy talk is this? This blog entry from The Guardian breaks it down: Evolutionary regression back to 1866. Among their genius reasons: "Down subjects adore having several dishes displayed on the table, and have a propensity for food which is rich in monosodium glutamate." Family style and MSG? That's their big argument? Hilarious. My favorite, though, is this one: "Down persons during waiting periods, when they get tired of standing up straight, crouch, squatting down, reminding us of the 'squatting' position ... They remain in this position for several minutes and only to rest themselves." The Asian squat? Compelling. This is the year 2007, isn't it? That's racist!

nyc slasher targets asian women

Police in Manhattan are searching for a man who walks up to women on the street and cuts them with a knife. The attacker has apparently been targeting Asian women—three women, three attacks: Police searching for slasher in NYC. Over the past six weeks the stalker has been walking the streets of Manhattan, targeting Asian women at random, and slashing them across the right forearm in broad daylight. The first attack was in mid-July on 32nd Street in midtown and then the same day in Chinatown. The latest, on August 17th, was just barely two blocks away. The suspect is described by the victims as an African American man 25 to 30 years old, thin, and 5 8" to 5 11". He wears a light gray sweat shirt with the numbers 09 on the back. More here: Slasher on the Loose. My friends in NYC, be on the lookout, and watch your backs. And let's hope somebody catches this racist attacker soon.

masi oka's got milk

Hey look! That's Masi Oka, everybody's favorite time/space-bending supergeek, featured in one of the new Heroes-themed "Got Milk" ads. Look for it in comic books coming soon. (Thanks, Troy.)