It was star studded to the gills with Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo (he plays the Hulk), Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston (he plays Loki, Thor's brother and was also in War Horse). Now I'm not into the comic books and don't know all of the back stories on the characters, (thank god they made them into movies!) but it was awesome to see all of these super heroes unite and fight the good fight. You will be thoroughly entertained by all the special effects, especially if you live in New York City. There was some bad ass fighting going on so am now inspired to take self defense classes. Enjoy!!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Go See: "The Avengers"
It was star studded to the gills with Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo (he plays the Hulk), Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston (he plays Loki, Thor's brother and was also in War Horse). Now I'm not into the comic books and don't know all of the back stories on the characters, (thank god they made them into movies!) but it was awesome to see all of these super heroes unite and fight the good fight. You will be thoroughly entertained by all the special effects, especially if you live in New York City. There was some bad ass fighting going on so am now inspired to take self defense classes. Enjoy!!
Can't Wait: Shanghai Calling
"Shanghai Calling" is a romantic comedy about a NY attorney who relocates to Shanghai on an assignment and how he must deal with many cultural barriers, discover romance and save his job.
This film doesn't have any US release dates but has most recently screened at a few film festivals. Cross your fingers for domestic distribution!
Go See: Joyful Reunion
So many things to catch you up on but we'll start here with a film that touched my heart...and my stomach! I covered the red carpet for the 2012 LA Asian Pacific Film Festival on the closing night for Audrey Magazine and got to see a screening of the film, "Joyful Reunion" which was directed by Tsao Jui-Yuan. This touching film (which was inspired by Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman") centered around two daughters, their relationship with their vegetarian restauranteur aging father and lost love.
Director Tsao Jui-Yuan describes his film, “If EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN is said to be a film that uses savory, affection and sexual desires to explore man and woman’s family relationship and social issues then, JOYFUL REUNION will instead be using the simplicity, neutrality and purity of food to portray a long-awaited love…of course, Ang Lee did a great job. I don’t expect myself to surpass his result, but I just hope both films will shine equally in their respective era.”
So, if you're a fan of foodie films such as "Eat, Pray, Love" and "Big Night", go see this film. And also bring some tissue as there are quite a few touching moments!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
KoreAm Interview with Director Bong Joon-ho
Monday, February 13, 2012
How Well Do You Know Oscar?

Well, I flunked a phone interview to audition as a Pop Culture Junkie for a game show as I was proposed the question - Name 10 films that won "Best Picture"? And what came to my pea-brain mind? "Titanic" and "Schindler's List". I was a bloody deer caught-in-the-headlights. What the hell?!? So, I did my research and made a mental note of these. I'm ready now for my big audition - bring it on! I mean, could YOU name ten of these films on the spot?
Best Picture Awards
1928 (1st) | Sunrise Wings |
| 1929 (2nd) | The Broadway Melody |
| 1930 (3rd) | All Quiet on the Western Front |
| 1931 (4th) | Cimarron |
| 1932 (5th) | Grand Hotel |
| 1933 (6th) | Cavalcade |
| 1934 (7th) | It Happened One Night |
| 1935 (8th) | Mutiny on the Bounty |
| 1936 (9th) | The Great Ziegfeld |
| 1937 (10th) | The Life of Emile Zola |
| 1938 (11th) | You Can't Take It With You |
| 1939 (12th) | Gone with the Wind |
| 1940 (13th) | Rebecca |
| 1941 (14th) | How Green Was My Valley |
| 1942 (15th) | Mrs. Miniver |
| 1943 (16th) | Casablanca |
| 1944 (17th) | Going My Way |
| 1945 (18th) | The Lost Weekend |
| 1946 (19th) | The Best Years of Our Lives |
| 1947 (20th) | Gentleman's Agreement |
| 1948 (21st) | Hamlet (1948) |
| 1949 (22nd) | All the King's Men |
| 1950 (23rd) | All about Eve |
| 1951 (24th) | An American in Paris |
| 1952 (25th) | The Greatest Show on Earth |
| 1953 (26th) | From Here to Eternity |
| 1954 (27th) | On the Waterfront |
| 1955 (28th) | Marty |
| 1956 (29th) | Around the World in 80 Days |
| 1957 (30th) | The Bridge on the River Kwai |
| 1958 (31st) | Gigi |
| 1959 (32nd) | Ben-Hur |
| 1960 (33rd) | The Apartment |
| 1961 (34th) | West Side Story |
| 1962 (35th) | Lawrence of Arabia |
| 1963 (36th) | Tom Jones |
| 1964 (37th) | My Fair Lady |
| 1965 (38th) | The Sound of Music |
| 1966 (39th) | A Man for All Seasons |
| 1967 (40th) | In the Heat of the Night |
| 1968 (41st) | Oliver! |
| 1969 (42nd) | Midnight Cowboy |
| 1970 (43rd) | Patton |
| 1971 (44th) | The French Connection |
| 1972 (45th) | The Godfather |
| 1973 (46th) | The Sting |
| 1974 (47th) | The Godfather Part II |
| 1975 (48th) | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| 1976 (49th) | Rocky |
| 1977 (50th) | Annie Hall |
| 1978 (51st) | The Deer Hunter |
| 1979 (52nd) | Kramer vs. Kramer |
| 1980 (53rd) | Ordinary People |
| 1981 (54th) | Chariots of Fire |
| 1982 (55th) | Gandhi |
| 1983 (56th) | Terms of Endearment |
| 1984 (57th) | Amadeus |
| 1985 (58th) | Out of Africa |
| 1986 (59th) | Platoon |
| 1987 (60th) | The Last Emperor |
| 1988 (61st) | Rain Man |
| 1989 (62nd) | Driving Miss Daisy |
| 1990 (63rd) | Dances With Wolves |
| 1991 (64th) | The Silence of the Lambs |
| 1992 (65th) | Unforgiven |
| 1993 (66th) | Schindler's List |
| 1994 (67th) | Forrest Gump |
| 1995 (68th) | Braveheart |
| 1996 (69th) | The English Patient |
| 1997 (70th) | Titanic (1997) |
| 1998 (71st) | Shakespeare in Love |
| 1999 (72nd) | American Beauty |
| 2000 (73rd) | Gladiator |
| 2001 (74th) | A Beautiful Mind |
| 2002 (75th) | Chicago |
| 2003 (76th) | The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King |
| 2004 (77th) | Million Dollar Baby |
| 2005 (78th) | Crash |
| 2006 (79th) | The Departed |
| 2007 (80th) | No Country for Old Men |
| 2008 (81th) | Slumdog Millionaire |
| 2009 (82th) | The Hurt Locker |
| 2010 (83th) | The King's Speech |
Thursday, January 26, 2012
And the Oscar Nominees are...
84th Annual Academy Award Nominations
BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
"The Artist"(The Weinstein Co.) Thomas Langmann, Producer
"The Descendants"(Fox Searchlight) Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" (Warner Bros.) Scutt Rudin, Producer
"The Help"(Touchstone) Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
"Hugo"(Paramount) Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
"Midnight in Paris"(Sony Pictures Classics) Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
"Moneyball"(Sony Pictures) Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
"The Tree of Life"(Fox Searchlight) Nominees TBD
"War Horse"(Touchstone) Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"
Alexander Payne - "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese - "Hugo"
Woody Allen - "Midnight in Paris"
Terrence Malick - "The Tree of Life."
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Glenn Close - "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis - "The Help"
Rooney Mara - "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep - "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams - "My Week with Marilyn"
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Demián Bichir - "A Better Life"
George Clooney - "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin - "The Artist"
Gary Oldman - "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt - "Moneyball"
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kenneth Branagh - "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill - "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte - "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer - "Beginners"
Max von Sydow - "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Berenice Bejo - "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain - "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy - "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer - "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer - "The Help."
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash - "The Descendants"
John Logan - "Hugo"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon - "The Ides of March"
Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin - "Moneyball"
Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan - "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michel Hazanavicius - "The Artist"
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig - "Bridesmaids"
J.C. Chandor - "Margin Call"
Woody Allen - "Midnight in Paris"
Asghar Farhadi - "A Separation."
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
"A Cat in Paris"
"Chico & Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"Dimanche/Sunday"
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore"
"La Luna"
"A Morning Stroll"
"Wild Life"
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Bullhead" (Belgium)
"Footnote" (Israel)
"In Darkness" (Poland)
"Monsieur Lazhar" (Canada)
"A Separation" (Iran)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
"The Artist"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"
SOUND MIXING
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"
SOUND EDITING
"Drive"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse
ORIGINAL SCORE
Ludovic Bource - "The Artist"
Alberto Iglesias - "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Howard Shore - "Hugo"
John Williams - "The Adventures of Tintin"
John Williams - "War Horse"
ORIGINAL SONG
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" - Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio" from "Rio" - Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.
COSTUME
"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"W.E."
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Hell and Back Again"
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
"Pina"
"Undefeated"
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement"
"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
"Incident in New Baghdad"
"Saving Face"
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"
ART DIRECTION
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"War Horse"
FILM EDITING
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"
MAKEUP
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Pentecost"
"Raju"
"The Shore"
"Time Freak"
"Tuba Atlantic"
VISUAL EFFECTS
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Happy New Year!
So, take a look at my interview and keep reading for more of my "two-cents" on various films - old and new!