Daily Archives: March 30, 2010

The Mikado Project

Just spotted the trailer for “The Mikado Project“. This feature film directed by Chil Kong will premiere on May 1st 2010 at the Los Asian Pacific Film Festival. It’s the story of a struggling Asian American theater company that in a desperate publicity stunt to save their company decides to produce a modern reconstruction of Gilbert and Sullivanʼs, The Mikado. Here’s more about the film:

The story begins with the news that The Angry Buddha Theater Ensemble, has lost its leading male actor, Jace (David McInnis, Never Forever), to a primetime gig on TV. Without Jaceʼs star power the company faces imminent demise. Lead by Lance (Allen Liu, Flower Drum Song), a scrappy artistic director secretly living out of the back office of the theater, the members of the group fight over the idea of putting on The Mikado, which to some in the company is the equivalent of reviving “Charlie Chan” or “Kung Fu”.

We see the conflict most vividly through the eyes of three women in the troupe: Viola (Tamlyn Tomita, The Eye), a veteran finding her way in a young actorʼs world; Cheryl (Erin Quill, Avenue Q) a half-Irish, half-Chinese, feisty actress whose indignation masks her insecurities about being a lead; and Yuri (Yuri Tag, MTVʼs Americaʼs Best Dance Crew) who is young, naïve, and oblivious to any negative connotations from art or life. These three women guide the story through their experiences as Asian American women in Hollywood and along the way we are given a window into the lives of the other members of the theater company and provided a glimpse into what binds them to the company.

If you liked Raymond J Lee’s Glee Audition, you’ll see more of him in this film too. Hope this film gets out on the Asian American festival circuit.

The Mikado Project trailer

Prelude to Point 9 by Shin-B

Female Asian American hip hop artists are on the rise. Here’ the latest from Shin-B called Prelude to Point 9. Here’s a little more about the song from Shin-B herself:

Yo, Shin… what does ‘Prelude to Point 9’ even mean? It means an introduction, the beginning (Prelude)… to forever, eternity, infinity (Point 9). Mathematically, 0.99999 = Infinity.

Life is chock full of dead ends; whether it be a death, bad relationship, despair, trials and tribulations. But, with every dead end, there’s a new beginning. It’s the circle of life that continues forever and ever. It’s up to you to repair that damage and re-write a new beginning. A new beginning that’ll improve you and lead you towards an impenetrable existence called… Forever.

Last year, she went indie and coming hard with this track. She’s working on a mixtape album with KRS-One’s former DJ and Supernatural’s current DJ, Silent John. It’s rumored to feature collaborations with Dumbfoundead and Lyricks. If you’re in LA or SF, Shin-B will be tearing up the stage at the SeoulFul Concert 2010 in LA on April 3, 2010 and Kollaboration SF on April 10, 2010.

Check out other female MCs rippin’ it including Rocky Rivera, Hopie Spitshard, Masia One, and Misnomer(s).

Prelude to Point 9 by Shin-B

Lyrics to Prelude to Point 9 by Shin-B

i’m sittin, and i’m waitin, for my minute, of fifteen
i’m bettin, that i’ll get it to be, more than fifteen
with an appetite, to outshine a king (i’m hungry)
louie to the french, write a rhyme, similar to louvre
in a habitat. with murals, and a picture
what i do, realigned with a mirror
reflect and present, whatever that i battle
wherever that i struggle, HIGHlighted with a BIC
never ever hidden like a secret or a trick
forget about ur pride, don’t consider it a favor
sick of everybody who complainin like a neighbor
givin birth, labor, a way for the latter
the former pavin a way for girl to be a rapper
kinda hesitant when i hear a chatter
i used to be the kind to care about a matter
i let it take over, then, i get shattered
now an opposite, i’m feelin kinda flattered
flash in a pan, (nope!) more than 1-d
a 3d, an hd, versatile
coverin a topic we could all relate to
know about a struggle, i know about a pain
the minute that i feel, i send it thru a Ping
i used to be quiet, now i wanna riot
i see a fish big, yeah i wanna fry it
used to work at a wharf, sell-fish (selfish)
first on my mind, all last on a list
thought, only of i, first, on my mind
and everybody sayin i wont ever get a guy
life is a balance
it’s a student
it’s a teacher
yeah~
it’s how u see like glasses
what u View like a show with Walters
beauty’s beauty (when) beast is a beauty
duckling a swan, live, without feuding
do my own thing, refuse to get cued in
meant to do music, yeah i’m a shoe in
i rock nikes, i just do it
my status, proof’s, in the pudding
zigga zig ah, ah zigga zig ah
i’m never doin drugs so ya kids won’t rah?

Whatever It Takes on PBS

Whatever It Takes on PBS

Whatever It Takes by first time director Christopher Wong was on the festival circuit last year. If you didn’t catch it, you have an opportunity starting today to watch it on PBS. Here’s a synopsis of the film:

WHATEVER IT TAKES chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the very first year of the Bronx Center for Science & Mathematics, an innovative public high school set in NYC’s South Bronx. This deeply emotional, character-driven documentary focuses on Edward Tom, the school’s dynamic rookie principal, and Sharifea Baskerville, a talented but troubled ninth-grade girl.

The personal stories of this school’s students and staff call to mind larger themes of school reform and the need for educators, parents, and policymakers to prioritize the transformation of the public school system so that all children can receive a quality education.

Grittily realistic, yet ultimately triumphant, WHATEVER IT TAKES paints a compelling picture of cutting-edge ideas and dedicated individuals, united in their vision to restore hope to a broken community.

We highly recommend this documentary. It’s very inspirational.

Whatever It Takes Trailer

channelAPA.com interview with director Christopher Wong

Principal Edward Tom interview with CBS

I.M. Pei – Building China Modern on PBS

Premiering nationally on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS, American Masters’s I.M. Pei: Building China Modern follows Pei on this historic journey to define China’s architectural vision as it comes into its own on the world stage. Noted architect I.M. Pei, who left his native China in the 1930s, was invited to design a modern museum to house the antiquities of Suzhou, where he grew up. This film follows his seven-and-a-half-year personal and architectural journey from west to east, a literal coming home — a realization of Pei’s lifelong dream, but also his biggest challenge and a work that he defines as “my biography.” The program includes commentary from local residents, design specialists, Suzhou officials and a stellar array of architects, designers and scholars commenting on Pei’s life and work. Here’s more about the program:

I.M. Pei has been called the most important living modern architect, defining the landscapes of some of the world’s greatest cities. A monumental figure in his field and a laureate of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize, Pei is the senior statesman of modernism and last surviving link to such great early architects as Corbusier, Gropius, and Mies van der Rohe. Entering into the twilight of his career and well into his eighties, Pei returns to his ancestral home of Suzhou, China to work on his most personal project to date. He is commissioned to build a modern museum in the city’s oldest neighborhood which is populated by classical structures from the Ming and Qing dynasties. For the architect who placed the pyramid at the Louvre, the test to integrate the new with the old is familiar but still difficult. The enormous task is to help advance China architecturally without compromising its heritage. In the end, what began as his greatest challenge and a labor of sentiment, says Pei, ultimately becomes “my biography.”

The film captures Pei as he forges an architectural language that brings together Western modernity and Eastern tradition into a current synthesis. After decades of living in the U.S. and amassing unprecedented international acclaim for his projects, Pei returns as a “foreigner” to his birth country to give a new direction for Chinese architecture in which history can live in the midst of change. In effect, Pei, who has contributed to America’s urban landscape during the height of its architectural and engineering power is now helping China do the same. Few architects have played such a critical dual role.

With an agenda of change, Pei inevitably enters into a crucible of conflict in Suzhou. For those concerned about the loss of traditional forms of architectural identity, he is too modern. For those who would simply bulldoze China’s past, he is too tradition-minded. Adding to the already complex assignment, he faces the controversy of displacing residents living at the museum site. To meet the design challenges, Pei draws on ideas that stretch far back within his own life and work – including a 1946 thesis project at Harvard, where he was taught abstract modern architecture. Throughout his education and career, Pei maintains his “impossible dream” to bring together modernity and traditional, regional influences (including nature) in his work. Eight years in the making, American Masters’ I.M. Pei: Building China Modern traces Pei’s pursuit of that dream and explores the defining conflicts of our age – the lure of the modern versus the pull of history. The result is a surprisingly revealing and intimate portrait of the man who set as his goal nothing less than the redefinition of architecture in modern China.

Check your local listing on when this runs in your PBS station.

I.M. Pei – Building China Modern Trailer