$UPERCAPITALIST, an adrenaline fueled thriller which focuses on a vast financial conspiracy spanning Wall Street to Hong Kong, will open theatrically while simultaneously debuting day and date on Video on Demand and iTunes across North America on August 10th. Directed by former MTV VJ Simon Yin and produced and written by Derek Ting, the film opens in New York at the Village East on August 10th and in LA at the Laemmle Noho on August 31st with additional markets to be announced.
The film features film stars from the U.S. and China including Linus Roache (Batman Begins, The Chronicles of Riddick, Wings of the Dove) and Hong Kong cinema veterans, Kenneth Tsang (Rush Hour 2, John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow) and Richard Ng (Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life). In addition to its U.S. theatrical debut,$UPERCAPITALIST will have its world premiere as the Centerpiece Presentation on Saturday, July 28, 2012 at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas (7:45pm), for the 35th Asian American International Film Festival which runs from July 25th to August 5th in New York.
The U.S./China co-production, the first English language financial thriller independently produced out of Hong Kong, follows a maverick New York hedge fund trader who moves to Hong Kong to orchestrate a mega-deal that swiftly escalates beyond his control. Caught between competing forces in America and Asia in a ruthless culture of profits at all costs, he...
Nice Girl Films presents Model Minority, the debut feature of actor and now award-winning screenwriter and director, Lily Mariye, which will have its East Coast premiere on Saturday, August 4, 2012 at 4:45p.m. at the 35th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF’12), at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas, 260 West 23rd Street in New York.
Model Minority was written, directed and co-produced by Lily Mariye (best known for her role as Nurse Lily Jarvik on the hit TV show, ER, for 15 seasons, and her award-winning short film The Shangri-la Cafe). The film stars Jessica Tuck (“True Blood)”, Laura Innes (“The Event,” “Awake)”, and Helen Slater (The Lying Game, City Slickers).
Model Minority is the story of Kayla Tanaka (Nichole Bloom), an underprivileged Japanese-American 16-year old, who endangers her promising future as an aspiring artist when she becomes involved with a drug dealer. The film includes Takayo Fischer (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End), Chris Tashima (Academy Award winner/Live Action Short film in 2001), and music by three-time Grammy nominee, saxophonist Boney James. The film recently garnered three awards at its World Premiere at the 2012 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival: Special Jury Outstanding Director, Breakthrough Performance by a New Actor for Nichole Bloom, and Outstanding Cinematography.
Island Film Group’s independent feature film Knots, directed by Michael Kang (The Motel and West 32nd) and written by and starring Kimberly-Rose Wolter, will close the 35th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF’12) on August 5, 2012 at 7pm, at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas, 260 West 23rd Street in New York.
Knots, a charming “UN-romantic comedy”, is a witty take on the lives and loves of a family of Honolulu wedding planners, and was filmed on location in Hawaii. Click here to purchase tickets forKnots.
The film also features Illeana Douglas (Cape Fear, “Entourage”), Sung Kang (The Fast & The Furious, Better Luck Tomorrow), Mia Riverton (Red Doors), Janel Parrish (Bratz: The Movie, “Pretty Little Liars”), and Cathy Foy (Battleship, “Lost”, “Hawaii 5-0”).
In Knots, Kimberly-Rose Wolter tells the story of thrice divorced matriarch Miriam (Illeana Douglas), with one daughter born from each husband. What ensues is a recipe for comical family strife as the daughters finally reach the breaking point of addressing feelings repressed thanks to mom’s poor choices in men.
When eldest daughter Lily (Kimberly Rose-Wolter) rejects her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, she decides to return home to Hawaii for family support. It turns out the family is having troubles of their own – their wedding...
January 17, 2012
by Suzanne Joe Kai
1998 isn't really that long ago, but for the Internet, it feels more like a century.
Back then, when a 14 year old kid created AsianConnections.com, an online magazine in search of his Asian American identity, we jumped on board. As mainstream journalists from TV, radio and print, we had been fretting for the zillionth time about the poor and stereotypical coverage of Asian Americans in the media, any American media. (A problem, by the way, that persists even today.)
Scouting for stories, we rejoiced in the fact that Jerry Yang had co-founded Yahoo!, then the biggest star in the constellation of online ventures.
Today, it was announced that Jerry Yang has left Yahoo! What a ride that was for Jerry. Born on February 6, 1966, Jerry Yang has a lifetime ahead of him and we wish him well and hope he continues to innovate.
Digging into our archives here is a commentary by contributing writer Tom Chin, and a photo of Jerry and his Yahoo! co-founder David Filo. We will go back into our archives again and also post Jerry's exclusive interview with AsianConnections.com.
By the way, in honor of the upcoming Year of the Dragon, there is a new beginning - the site is soon to finish a brand new back end system. There will be a lot more images and videos. Our site used to be hosted on the servers of movie review site RottenTomatoes.com thanks to its founders, while I helped the start-up as one of their first...
January 21, 2012
Last night, playwright David Henry Hwang and the cast of Chinglish gathered at Ruby Foo's Restaurant in New York City to welcome in the Year of the Dragon.
Chinglish just celebrated its 100th performance and will be ending its run on Broadway on January 29th. Time Magazine has named Chinglish the "Best American play of the year."
AsianConnections.com's columnist and editor Lia Chang joined the celebration at the restaurant. Lia shot the photograph featuring the two actors Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes used in Chinglish's latest media campaign (shown here).
Chinglish is a comedy about the misadventures of miscommunication, written by Tony® Award winner David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) and directed by Obie Award winner Leigh Silverman (From Up Here, Well).