Amid all the New Year’s Eve options out there, my husband and I picked a good one. While the ball was droppin’, our eyes were poppin’—at the final, climactic scene of the modern Korean classic Oldboy. Wow. We were so into it, we forgot to switch over to the TV countdown as we had planned. Will the real Asian film geek please stand up? And does this auspicious beginning to 2009 foretell a great year for Asian film?
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Tags: Addicted, Ang Lee, asian, Asian film, Free Food for Millionaires, Geling Yan, Joan Chen, justin lin, Korean, Min Jin Lee, Never Forever, Oldboy, Stephen Chow, sung kang, Tian yu

Holy Tokyo Drift! That’s Sung Kang—bigger than life. This mural’s on the wall of Taiwan-based Jump Shoes’ flagship store in SoHo. But how did it get there? Meet David Foox—a New Zealand artist with an eye for Asian symbolism. Plus, see Sung Kang’s last three short films with Jump Shoes and Arowana Films.
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Tags: Arowana films, art, Daivd Foox, Fashion, Jump Shoes, marketing, mural, painting, sung kang

As promised, here’s the latest installment in the Jump Shoes promotional short films by Sung Kang and Arowana films. This one elicited some interesting buzz on Sung’s blog. Sung claims that the New York City cops didn’t like him standing in the middle of Times Square. I will say, Sung, your body language is pretty intimidating. The Naked Cowboy also makes an appearance in this vid–and we all know that’s a no-miss. Strangely, this film is stirring up some deep thoughts…

This short film series has become a frequent blog topic because it’s hitting me on several levels–as a Sung Kang fan, an advertising writer, and an aspiring filmmaker. One of my favorite aspects of the film genre is the “afterplay.” That’s the best word I can find to describe the way some films stay with you after you watch them. The meaning behind the images, words, and events continues to unfold in your mind’s eye.
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Tags: advertising, Arowana films, identity, Jump Shoes, Korean, military, Naked Cowboy, race, short films, sung kang, uniform

Yes, that’s Sung Kang’s face in the mural, part of his collaborative publicity campaign for Jump Shoes. Kind of crazy, huh? If you’re in the New York area, you can hoof over to the Jump Shoes flagship store at 89 Spring St., Soho, and see it for yourself, so large and incredible. I also have another of Sung Kang’s short films. It’s marketing, it’s art, and it’s cool. These are also posted on YouTube. You can make comments here, on YouTube, or on Sung’s blog.
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Tags: advertising, Arowana films, Election Day, Jump Shoes, marketing, sung kang, YouTube

He’s bad, he’s nationwide….or is that WORLDwide? In my previous interview with Sung Kang, I made a brief reference to Kang’s ad campaign with China-based Jump Shoes. But this recent collaboration is much more than “Kang as spokesmodel.” It truly is a sharing of ideas, and a new way for Sung to exercise his many creative gifts. Here’s the first short film from a series developed by Kang and the Jump Shoes marketing team, and produced by Arowana Films:
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Tags: advertising, Arowana films, Jump Shoes, short films, sung kang

Part 1

“I never thought that my relationship with food would result in me opening a restaurant,” says Sung Kang, acclaimed American actor and co-owner of Saketini in Brentwood, CA. But he gives credit where it’s due—to the special ladies in his life. Here’s a more introspective side of Sung Kang’s dinner table.

Sung Kang has developed a reputation for playing bad guys…most recently, he appeared as a car-racing thug on NBC’s Knight Rider. Click to watch the full episode.

But in real life, he talks softly and carries a big wok. Check out this video interview with journalist Sara Sohn:
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Tags: Fast and Furious, Jump Shoes, Knight Rider, Miki, Ninja Assassin, Saketini, sung kang

Part 2

Two basic questions reveal much about any animal: What does it eat? Where does it live? Sung Kang’s a breed of his own in the film world, winning fans with roles that shatter Asian stereotypes. He lives in Los Angeles, and he eats, well, some interesting stuff. Since he owns a restaurant, I thought it would be fun to talk chow with Sung. And it was. You won’t believe what he does with ice cream.

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Tags: asian american, cuisine, finishing the game, Food, K-Drama, Saketini, sung kang, The Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift, The Motel

As we gear up for next month’s release of Ping Pong Playa, here’s more of my conversation with Roger Fan. An interview is always about the artist’s thoughts. But we had such a great rapport, I couldn’t help but share a few of my own. Roger has a natural love for the human race that makes him an excellent listener. Here’s more on Asian film, American film, stereotypes, and Justin Lin.

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Tags: actor, asian american, film, funny, interview, justin lin, movies, ping pong playa, roger fan, sung kang, the out takes

Yeah, I’m the lucky girl standing next to Roger Fan. When I finally met him at “Finishing the Game”’s New York City premiere last October, I felt like we’d known each other forever. Roger, one of the film’s stars, was the unofficial blogger of FTG’s 2007 Grassroots Tour. Besides spending most of the year at film festivals and campuses, connecting with the fans, Roger also spent countless hours documenting the tour in pictures and funny descriptions, much to the delight of rabid fans like me. If you got a MySpace comment from Finishing the Game, it was most often Roger’s doing. We emailed back and forth, and I teased him about how great he looked, bare-chested and suntan-oiled, as the cocky Breeze Loo circa 1973.

Then I interviewed him by phone while writing up Finishing the Game for a local newspaper. Truth be told, I was lucky the article got run at all. Asian-American film is pretty much off the radar where I live; I had only 850 words for a review of Finishing the Game AND a “wide angle” on Asians in Hollywood! But Roger, smart Brown alum that he is, gave me so much great material that would not fit in that tiny box. And I had the tall order of editing it and giving my fellow Midwesterners a taste of what’s happening in the Asian-American community.

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Tags: actor, asian american, breeze loo, finishing the game, interview, justin lin, myspace, new york city, ping pong playa, premiere, roger fan, stereotype, sung kang