March 15, 2012 - 

THE FP

Written and Directed by: Brandon Trost & Jason Trost

Starring: Jason Trost, Lee Valmassy, Art Hsu, Caitlyn Folley, Nick Principe, Brandon Barrera, James DeBello, Sean Whalen, and James Remar

Indie film The FP makes its debut in limited release in theaters nationally today March 16, 2012. Click here for The FP screening schedule. 

I would go to see The FP only because Art Hsu is one of the stars in this quirky, funny movie.

Film critics are writing that this homage to retro-80's B movies and 90's hip hop spoken by white folks is hilarious, utterly ridiculous, and fun.

A word of caution however, one reviewer warned there is some rough dialogue that is racist, sexist and homophobic in this retro romp.

The FP won the Audience Award at 2011’s Fantasia International Film Festival in Toronto, and was a hit at 2011's SXSW, the mega film and music festival in Austin, Texas. 

AsianConnections' interview with Art will be posted soon! 

Meanwhile, enjoy our exclusive interview with Art on his first feature film starring role back in 2009 in Cranked: High Voltage!

March 19, 2012

Automaker Volvo announced today it has signed a brand endorsement deal with New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin.

Lin will reportedly become Volvo's brand ambassador for the next two years, with focus in the U.S., China and Chinese-language markets in Asia.

"You may not immediately see the conneciton between me and Volvo, but both of us are striving to be better and smarter at what we do, and to do it our own way," Lin said at a news conference today.

"I hope that my efforts will inspire more young people to follow their ambitions in sports and education, just like Volvo Car Corp. is designing cars around epople's ambitions in life."

For the full story click here.

Related:

Jeremy Lin signs endorsement deal with Volvo

"In the locker room with Jeremy Lin" by Suzanne Joe Kai

"How Linsanity hits home" by author, journalist, broadcaster and former senior editor of Rolling Stone Magazine Ben Fong-Torres. 

Author, former Wall Street Journal writer, and historian William Wong writes about Linsanity in this five-part series:

Guidelines on reporting on Jeremy Lin issued by the Asian American Journalists Association

Jeremy...

The inaugural 2010 Festival was 100% sold-out; this year’s festival expands to one week from May 2-8, 2011 at various locations throughout New York City. Participants of the LUCKYRICE Festival include members of the LUCKYRICE Culinary Council – Daniel Boulud, Susur Lee, Anito Lo, Masaharu Morimoto, amongst others, to include some of the world’s top restaurants, chefs, and mixologists. Tickets can be purchased at www.luckyrice.com. Proceeds from the festival will again benefit City Harvest.

“We are thrilled to be joined by BOMBAY SAPPHIRE and again by Conde Nast Traveler for the LUCKYRICE Festival this year,” said Danielle Chang, Founder of LUCKYRICE. “I am excited to share Asia’s rich culinary culture with so many New Yorkers and honored to be supported by our esteemed Culinary Council.”

ABOUT LUCKYRICE
LUCKYRICE is an integrated experiential marketing and media company that was launched in the spring of 2010. LUCKYRICE has quickly become the definitive guide to the Asian culinary world, which represents sixty percent of the world’s population. LUCKYRICE understands these cultures and creates a common denominator through the lens of food.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS*
May 2 – 8, 2011 | New...

By Stephen Rakower

Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethaku wins the Palm D'or for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives a mystical reincarnation tale of a man with acute kidney failure who chooses to spend his final days with his loved ones in the countryside.

Contemplating the reasons for his illness, Boonmee treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave - the birthplace of his first life.

The film is the sixth for the 39 year old director who likes to be called by his nickname, Joe, and the first Palm d'Or for Thailand.

Joe is outspoken about the current political troubles in Thailand, and the recent deadly clashes in the streets of Bangkok.

He says the clashes are due to the wide divide between the rich and the poor.

He is lobbying for more Thai government funding of films. This year he said, Thailand announced a new government film fund of $6.2 million, with half going to one film directed by a Thai prince to do a historical film. Just before flying to France to the Cannes Film Festival, he said he was lobbying Thailand's Ministry of Culture for more transparency in film funding.

Joe is the son of two doctors who moved from Bangkok to the northeast part of Thailand and built a hospital there. His film is set in the same northeast location as his childhood.

From 1994 to 1997, Joe attended the Chicago Art Institute where he was exposed to many kinds of films, especially experimental films. He initially had alot of challenges adapting...

By Stephen Rakower

Tickets to events and screenings at the 2012 Newport Beach Film Festival go on sale beginning April 1, 2012.

A preview of the film festival's offerings April 26 - May 3, 2012 show once again a slate of 350 films from 40 countries. With the festival centered in the beautiful seaside community of Newport Beach, the community goes 'all-out' with its parties and programs for filmmakers.  Here's a preview of the 2012 line-up The festival has a variety of offerings where you can watch films grouped by themes, location or genre such as French, Australian, or Surfing films. Below, you can check out last year's film festival's "Asian Showcase." 

Related:

By Stephen Rakower

The 2011 Newport Beach Film Festival is in full swing, April 28 to May 5 with 350 feature films, documentaries and shorts screening from 40 countries, with filmmakers attending from all over the world, free screenwriting and filmmaking seminars, and lavish After-Parties that go from 10pm to 2am - well into the late night.

On Saturday April 30, festival attendees were treated to free events including "A Conversation with Aaron Sorkin" with a personal appearance by Aaron Sorkin, award-winning screenwriter, producer and playwright, and seminars led by award-winning industry professionals on directing and film composing. On Sunday May 1, for the fourth year, Walt Disney Studios presented a collection of rarely seen animated works, hosted by Academy Award nominated film...