Jack Song over at David Magdael & Associates, Inc. sent us a bunch of publicity materials for some movies he's publicizing so here's the first batch. Harold and Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay promises to turn the H&K franchise raucously political. We're crazy excited for this movie. See it immediately when it comes out on April 25th!
Notice: Some of these photos display that typical frat-boy misogyny, seemingly something all comedy movies have to have nowadays. You've been forwarned. Also, if you take these photos as happening chronologically, this is also a spoiler warning, lol.
Kal Penn (left) stars as “Kumar” and John Cho (center) stars as “Harold” in New Line Cinema’s upcoming release HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY.
... I like that map of China in the back.
Redefine: 2nd Annual New York City Asian American Student Conference aka THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER is TOMORROW! Be sure to track one of us down, as we will be tired and extremely cracked out--our most entertaining state.
An APA female in directing, producing, writing, and leading roles for one movie?
1 comments Posted by Marilla at 9:16 PMWhoa. I didn't believe it until I saw it myself:
According to Apple Trailers, East Broadway (or Falling for Grace) is a romantic comedy of errors premised upon a hilarious misunderstanding at an opera soirée. There, some Manhattan socialites mistakenly believe that Grace Tang is an heiress of a major Hong Kong fashion industry (she's actually a major Wall Street banker). She doesn't actually correct the mistake, and instead goes on to meet, date, and (maybe) love New York's most eligible (rich, white) bachelor.
Margaret Cho and Ken Leung feature as supporting characters, which has absolutely no way of going wrong. My favorite moment in the entire trailer is when Christine Baranski's character asks the male lead if Grace Tang only wants him "for [his] green card" and if she is "unusually willing to perform bizarre sexual favors". Anybody remember Cruel Intentions? She played an equally racist mother who cracks down on an interracial relationship between her daughter (Selma Blair) and her African American cello instructor (Sean Patrick Thomas).
In some ways, this story might look, read, and sound like a cleaned-up cosmopolitan version of The Joy Luck Club (the ignorant mother comments are uncomfortably familiar), which I don't love and probably never will. However, Fay Ann Lee takes some classic Asian American problems in a world of race-class-immigrant-identity confusion and strings them into a contemporary, relevant storyline. It actually looks good enough that I want to see it on opening night (April 15).
Lee has previously starred in Law & Order and Third Watch, but this is her first writing, producing, and directing debut.
Per an e-mail exchange between AAA:
HahahaAnd I swear that I saw two girls taking camera phone pics in Hamilton Hall.
I'm currently sitting in my Lit Hum class, watching people pass around our postcard. YES.
Um, someone just knocked on my door, pointed to the poster that I put in our hallway, and asked, "Who is that?"
BTW,
Today a crazy grad student approached people who were tabling for NYCAASC and told them that our CultureSHOCK campaign is pornography. She also went on to claim that Columbia University is conservative ("although you undergrads wouldn't think so") and said that she is going to talk about her negative reactions to the postcard in a presentation of campus posters (she also picked up KSA Surge & some other stuff).
I nearly went ape shit on her, which is a surprise, given that I'm the type to sit on the sidelines. It was probably the fatigue. Anyway, everyone that I've talked to so far agrees that she's crazy, but I def got concerned for five sleep-deprived minutes. Funny story though.
Oh I forgot the clincher. Apparently she thinks the campaign's extra bad because we're "Asian, and Asians are supposed to be conservative"!
Well, I don't deny that her observation is partially grounded in truth, but her choosing to tell AAA and its affiliates is, well, a little bit hilarious. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Maybe she's the one who's been taking down our posters, besides increasing the racist quotient on campus by 9999%.
Here are brief summaries and reflections on last night, written per request by the vigil's primary organizer Saffiyah Madraswala and attendee Lizzie Shen.
Sixty-six years ago today,
Last night, Liga Filipina and AAA PC hosted a vigil to commemorate the Bataan Death March. While a solemn occasion, it was also a night to revitalize ourselves as a community. With less than 20,000 of these Filipino veterans alive today, well into their 80s and 90s, dying at the rate of 7-8 a day, students must take up the struggle for full equity now.
In 1941, 200,000-250,000 Filipino soldiers were inducted into the US Armed Forces by military order of President Roosevelt. They fought courageously throughout WWII alongside American soldiers.
On
As Riya Ortiz, member of Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (a Filipino/Filipino American youth organization based in NYC – http://ugnayan.blogspot.com/), stated at the vigil last night, the Filipino/Filipino American youth can only explain this injustice by calling it what it is: systemic racism. When the Philippines was attained by the United States (for $20 million dollars along with Cuba and Puerto Rico) at the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States set out to “civilize” the natives of the Philippines and did not grant the Philippines its independence until nearly 50 years later in 1946. During this time of direct imperial rule, the
It is with this imperialist legacy that the
At the vigil last night, students and community organizers linked arms and observed a moment of silence in remembrance of the horrific loss of life of the Bataan Death March. Today, we continue the struggle to restore due respect to those brave Filipino soldiers by advocating for the equity they deserve. Ain’t no power like the power of the people ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop.
--------------------------------------------------Wednesday night marked the sixty sixth anniversary of the surrender of Bataan by Filipino and American soldiers. As I learned that night, the Bataan Death March has not been recorded in American textbooks.
To send people to war is to bring them one step closer to death. Over 70,000 Filipino and American soldiers marched for 3 days, covering over 60 miles in their trek to prison camps. Along the way, over 10,000 soldiers died. Filipino soldiers fought for the US and their valor, strength and honor should be, and need to be recognized as such. And yet the US government chooses not to do so: the Filipino Veterans Equity Act has not been passed. Out of a total of 66 countries that fought on behalf of the US in World War II, only the Philippines has not been acknowledged. All of these things are evidence of systemic racism, and to deprive people of their rights is something we are so quick to condemn, but as Bataan shows, is still in existence today.
The men who fought did not die in vain. It is crucial as a community we step up, and unite by our concern. Hopefully, more events will be held on this campus to promote positive action. While many veterans have died, some 20,000 live on, and the onus is on us to try and help them. Perhaps the US government will wait until all the veterans are dead, and then ignore the violation of rights completely. This should not be something that only interests a particular group of people, or concerns those directly related. As Saffiyah said, these veterans are our grandfathers; they fought so we could live in a better world.
While the vigil was to commemorate, it was also to educate. The more people learn about the atrocities humans inflict upon each other, perhaps the greater consideration we will take for one another. After all, at the end of the day, we are human, and the harm we inflict upon each other is what will some day be read in our children's textbooks. Although like in the case of Bataan, perhaps not.
(Fans self repeatedly)
We repeat: This image was not photoshopped. It is a real picture of a (semi) nude man on the sun dial. There are also pictures of him in various other public areas.
Find out more about why he's naked here.
Read reactions to the campaign here.
Remember Bataan - A Vigil and Commemoration
Regino Barreda, a Filipino World War II veteran living in Virginia Beach, in Washington for a hearing with the Senate's Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
In 1941, 200,000 Filipino soldiers were inducted into the US Armed Forces during WWII.
On April 9th, 1942, Bataan was surrendered, and over 10,000 Filipino and American soldiers died during the Bataan Death March.
In 1946, the Rescission Act stripped Filipino soldiers of their veterans' status (deeming their service "inactive").
Today, less than 20,000 of these soldiers remain.
We are calling for their recognition and full equity. Please join us.
Tuesday, April 8th at 9:30pm @ the Sundial
(Yeah, we know, it passed. Members from Liga Filipina and AAA PC were present to take part in and listen to: speeches by various Fil-Am group members, a circle of arm-linking, moments of silence, and lots of spilled candle wax)
Stay tuned for more detailed posts by organizer/PC member Saffiyah Madraswala and attendee / AAA OCM Lizzie Shen. (Update 4-9-08: read their posts here)
The Blaaag has yet to write anything about the tragic death of 24-year old international graduate student Minghui Yu, but we feel there's not much to say. As our condolences go out to the family and friends of this guy, we see other international students about campus supporting one another in the recognition that community is the one thing they need to confront such a reality.
We see a heightened alertness in students all across campus, in our classes and commuting between buildings. But most of all, we hear the quiet murmurs about possible intentions of the attack. According to the NYT, a lawyer for the city vaguely called it "predatory in nature" but did not elaborate. The Daily News and Gothamist quoted the boy arrested to have said, "Look what I do to this one," before chasing him. Yu was found with his backpack and wallet, an indication that this altercation was not a robbery.
And so, AAA and its Political Committee struggles to ponder this incident and connect it to the other incidences of anti-Asian violence we have seen. The recent memories of a student attacked at Brooklyn's David Boody Intermediate School ring loudly now. In this month of awareness and community building, we seek to build discussion around this topic, perhaps collaboratively with other student organizations. Please stay tuned for such events.
More from Angry Asian Man, The Spectator...
Remember Bataan - A Vigil and Commemoration
In 1941, 200,000 Filipino soldiers were inducted into the US Armed Forces during WWII.
On April 9th, 1942, Bataan was surrendered, and over 10,000 Filipino and American soldiers died during the Bataan Death March.
In 1946, the Rescission Act stripped Filipino soldiers of their veterans' status (deeming their service "inactive").
Today, less than 20,000 of these soldiers remain.
We are calling for their recognition and full equity. Please join us.
Tuesday, April 8th at 9:30pm @ the Sundial.
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