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Since opening in China on February 10th, YOLO has grossed over $464.2 million at the Chinese box office and has become the highest-grossing film over the Lunar New Year holiday, retaining the #1 spot two weekends in a row. China’s top grossing female director Jia Ling’s hit comedy drama will be released in select theaters in North America this Friday, March 8th via Sony Pictures Releasing International. Written, directed and starring Jia Ling, the Chinese-language film will be released in approximately 200 select locations across the U.S. and Canada.
YOLO follows Le Ying (played by Jia Ling), an unemployed woman in her 30s who still lives with her parents until one day, she meets a boxing coach who just may change her life.
I’m not sure when the last time I saw a Chinese film in a mainstream theater as opposed to a film festival. While those films tended to be period pieces with martial arts (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, etc.). YOLO takes place today.
It will be interesting to see how well this film does – I don’t think I’ve seen much promotion for the film thus far. If you’re interested in the film, you can check out where it’s screening here: https://www.yolo.movie/. I am really curious myself and will probably check out the film after watching Kung Fu Panda 4.
“A massive crowd showed up to celebrate the Chinese New Year in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Saturday night as Hollywood actress and comedian Awkwafina led the annual parade to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.
From Union Square to Chinatown, tourists and locals packed the sidewalks along the milelong parade route to watch the iconic celebration—one of North America’s largest and few remaining nighttime parades.”
As part of her visit to San Francisco, Awkwafina held a mini-press junket right before the parade. As soon as she got out of the car to get to the Kung Fu Panda 4 backdrop, she was mobbed by fans, including those involved with the parade. I had only two minutes to interview her before she was rushed off to her parade duties.
“After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior (Golden Globe nominee Jack Black), is called upon by destiny to … give it a rest already. More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.
That poses a couple of obvious problems. First, Po knows as much about spiritual leadership as he does about the paleo diet, and second, he needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position.
Even worse, there’s been a recent sighting of a wicked, powerful sorceress, Chameleon (Oscar® winner Viola Davis), a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature, large or small. And Chameleon has her greedy, beady little eyes on Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm.
So, Po’s going to need some help. He finds it (kinda?) in the form of crafty, quick-witted thief Zhen (Golden Globe winner Awkwafina), a corsac fox who really gets under Po’s fur but whose skills will prove invaluable. In their quest to protect the Valley of Peace from Chameleon’s reptilian claws, this comedic odd-couple duo will have to work together. In the process, Po will discover that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places. “
I’ll definitely have to catch Kung Fu Panda 4 now! Kung Fu Panda 4 comes out on March 8, 2024.
The new live action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender on Netflix has been trending at #1 since it was released a couple weeks ago, so it’s no surprise when it was announced that they are now planning to do Season 2 and 3. In the first 11 days of release, the show has had 41.1 million views. It was No. 1 in 76 countries. How long we’ll have to wait for the next season is still TBA, but for now, huge congratulations to the cast and crew for the two season renewal.
Lisa Su is a trailblazing figure in the technology sector who, via her ground-breaking inventions and revolutionary leadership, has irrevocably changed the world. Su was born on November 7, 1969, in Tainan, Taiwan. Her journey has been marked by intellect, tenacity, and an unwavering quest of perfection.
Su showed a strong talent for science and mathematics from an early age. She had an early fascination with technology since she was naturally curious and had a strong desire to know how things operated. Her future successes were made possible by her insatiable curiosity.
She began her academic career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. She then went on to Stanford University, where she earned her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in the same field. Her creative spirit and analytical mindset were greatly influenced by these formative years.
As I mentioned on my post on Nai Nai and Wài Pó, I also screened The Last Repair Shop. Although this 40 minute short documentary is not necessarily Asian American related, I did want to review it and give it a shout out because the film is amazing! What is this film about? Here is its YouTube description:
In a nondescript warehouse in the heart of Los Angeles, a dwindling handful of devoted craftspeople maintain over 80,000 student musical instruments, the largest remaining workshop in America of its kind. Meet four unforgettable characters whose broken-and-repaired lives have been dedicated to bringing so much more than music to the schoolchildren of the recording capital of the world.
The documentary profiles four craftspeople (out of the 12 who work there) who volunteered for the documentary.
“Throughout this film, which, if you have a beating heart and a kind soul, you will feel the stories deeply, you begin to understand that dealing with an ailing piece of musical equipment comes with a sense of anxiety and grief. Playing instruments teaches the students, and the listener, more than just a series of meticulously arranged notes. Something happens with the sound vibration that connects with our own. It helps us to see and feel things inside of ourselves, and it can aid not just in coming-of-age, but it sustains us as we grow.”
The Last Repair Shop filmmaker Ben Proudfoot was in a Q&A with Nai Nai and Wài Pó filmmaker Sean Wang at the screening I attended, which I recorded here. Both of these shorts are nominated for an Academy Award.
Nai Nai and Wài Pó and The Last Repair Shop reinforce this thought of mine: everyone has a story to tell, but too often we are not listening, not taking the time to listen or not providing the platform to enable us to listen. These two documentaries are a great platforms for those in the films to tell their stories. Please consider watching them!
You can watch the film online for free here on YouTube:
Renowned in the computer world, Jensen Huang is best known for his leadership as the CEO and co-founder of NVIDIA Corporation, one of the top producers of graphics processing units (GPUs). Huang, who was born in Tainan, Taiwan, on February 17, 1963, has emerged as a major figure in the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and graphics technology.
According to Times, Huang’s academic endeavors marked the beginning of his successful journey. He attended Oregon State University to obtain a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, and then Stanford University to pursue a master’s degree in the same field. The groundwork for his future contributions to the tech industry was built by his scholastic background.
So much had happen to Sean between the time I first met him in December 2023 to February 2024, that it was highlighted in a recent New York Times piece, Young Filmmaker Lives His ‘Fairy Tale’ at Sundance:
“Sean Wang, a first-time [feature length] director, received an audience award for his coming-of-age film, “Dìdi.” He also got the ultimate prize: a distribution deal. …
Mr. Wang, a 29-year-old filmmaker, was dressed in a black suit and white Vans (a nod to his skateboarding roots). He grabbed his chest in a show of how fast his heart was beating as he introduced his film, “Dìdi.” It is a coming-of-age story about an angsty, insecure 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy trying to find his place in the world.
…
Now, after slogging away on his script for six years and finishing the film, Mr. Wang is taking his first steps into the spotlight thanks to Sundance. The moment coincided with promotion of his short film, “Nai Nai & Wài Pó,” about his two grandmothers. That film was recently nominated for an Oscar in the documentary short category and will soon [now, as of February 9th, 2024] become available on Disney+.
…
Adding to the swirl of excitement was Mr. Wang’s Oscar nomination for his documentary about his grandmothers. He flew back from Utah to watch the early-morning nominations announcement with his family at his childhood home. When “Nai Nai & Wài Pó” was announced as the final nominee in the short film category, Mr. Wang buried his head in his grandma’s lap then fell to the floor.
“I will never get used to this,” he said later in an interview.
“Dìdi” ended up winning the prestigious Sundance audience award, a prize that in years past has gone to movies like “CODA” and “Whiplash.””
Sean Wang and I in San Francisco, February 2024
Being able to see Sean again after all of this had happened and to congratulate him was a pure honor and pleasure. Because of the Oscar nomination of ‘Nai Nai & Wài Pó’ and Sean’s success at Sundance, he returned to the San Francisco Bay Area (he’s a native – raised in Fremont, California) for another special screening. I’ve captured the pre- and post- screening introduction and Q&A below, along with a brief review.
The long awaited Avatar: The Last Airbender live action show from Netflix finally released, and all 8 episodes are out. Here are my impressions of Episode 1.
Story: Very good. There was already solid source material to work with, and the way they decided to start with the backstory first actually works, chronologically easier to follow. Although not exactly the same frame by frame, so far, it is generally staying pretty true to the original story, and honestly, anyone hoping for a frame-by-frame exact equivalent is just not being reasonable. One little tweak I’m very pleased with is the change in Ang and Kitara’s relationship at the beginning of the story. In the animated series, Ang’s little crush on her always felt really awkward and uncomfortable. They’re just comrades now, and even though I’m not fond of their pairing, at least their relationship can develop with a little more sincerity without the creepy weirdness. Continue reading →
I live in Silicon Valley, and one of the benefits is that I live about five miles from Stanford University, where are often quite a few events of interest to me that are open to the public. Recently, there was a screening of recently 2024 Oscar nominated short documentary ‘Island In Between’ by S. Leo Chang:
“I [S. Leo Chiang] was born in Taiwan, grew up in the United States, worked extensively in China and now live in Taipei. This mix of experiences has given me a front-row seat to the complex, decades-long dance between these nations. Lately, the world is paying considerably more attention to my homeland, especially after the former U.S. House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, visited in August 2022.
Kinmen, also known as Quemoy, is a group of islands governed by Taiwan that were the front lines of the first and second Taiwan Straits Crises decades ago. They lie just a few miles from mainland China, and these days, locals are unsure what escalating tensions mean for the future.
Taiwanese voices are often drowned out by Chinese and American narratives, overshadowed by the global power plays going on around us. Few people outside the region understand what life is actually like for the Taiwanese people caught in between two superpowers. I made this documentary to show life in Taiwan through the eyes of the people who live there, including me.
At this moment, as we struggle to make sense of the horrors of war, I hope this documentary can play a small part in advocating for peace.” – Film and Text by S. Leo Chiang
I had heard of Kinmen, but I didn’t realize that the Taiwanese island was so close to mainland China. It is so close that there is a swimming contest between Kinmen and the city of Xiamen – about 3.7 miles / 6 kilometers). One can see the cityscape of Xiamen’s skyscrapers from Kinmen. I learned about the history of Kinmen and the people on the island, which is about 130,000 residents. Supposedly, half of that number only reside part of the year there.
Even though Kinmen is so close, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was never able to take over the island. There were also diplomatic considerations, especially in the 1950s, with the United States having fought Chinese troops in the Korean War and the growing U.S. presence in Vietnam. This just demonstrates that any amphibious assault of Taiwan would be treacherous and even more dangerous and challenging than D-Day, as U.S. World War II planners had considered when the Japanese occupied Taiwan.
Lunar New Year is a big deal in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it’s also a big deal with the Golden State Warriors. I couldn’t make the celebration night last year, but did back in 2022. This is the Year of the Dragon, and this year’s celebration was another fantastic night at the Chase Center with the Warriors playing the Clippers. There were some nice giveaways to the first 10,000 fans in attendance: a Lunar New Year Bucket Hat, courtesy of Cache Creek Casino Resort:
During one of the time outs or breaks, the Warriors played this video on the big screen with the players guessing what zodiac signs some of the players were based on the characteristics of the zodiac:
Stephen Curry was fittingly born in the Year of the Dragon, just like San Francisco born Bruce Lee!
When they built the Narita International Airport out in the Chiba Prefecture back in the 70s, the idea was to decongest the main Haneda airport in Tokyo and establish a more spacious, higher capacity, and cost efficient alternative to flying into the main Tokyo city area itself. Since then, it has become the primary gateway to Japan for most visitors, with convenient trains that take you right into the heart of Tokyo or wherever in Japan you might be aiming to go.
As a result of its positioning, this international hub is located out in a rather remote area of Japan’s main Honshu island, which means surrounding it are rather quaint countryside and suburban destinations. Everyone knows about Narita Airport, but few think about the Narita City housing said airport that has many quintessential traditional Japanese experiences just a short 20 minute train ride away.
This makes Narita City the perfect place to get a taste of authentic Japan during a long layover or as the relaxing start or end to your Japan adventures.
Will fashion writer Zoe Zeng be able to hack it (pun intended) in the startup world of Silicon Valley? After years of “paying her dues” only to still be underpaid and overworked, Zoe is offered a job that will take her from the mean streets of New York into the tough world of tech. As the brand new VP of marketing for FitPick–an app that allows users to poll on OOTD options–Zoe has her work cut out for her. A new field, coworkers skeptical of her reason for being there, thousands of miles from her best friends . . . has she made the right choice or will she fall flat (and lose her job)?
Zoe is a delightful protagonist. And though this is published by Berkley, so you know there’s romance, it’s really about Zoe’s growth, how she navigates the ups and downs and advocates for herself and her vision to make fashion more inclusive. The female friendships she develops (shout out to Bern) are warm fuzzy hugs — as worthy a Galentine’s Day read as a Valentine’s Day read. And Zoe makes some questionable judgment calls, but you cheer her on, even while you wait for the other shoe to drop. And Zhao doesn’t shy from dealing with some of the bad sides of tech, or honestly the workplace in general, including a storyline about sexual harassment (with the front of book heads up that has become more and more common).
