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Between Awkwafina, Ali Wong and the cast of Joy Ride, new paths are being forged for actors and comics who used to be stuck in the sidelines

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In the 2012 female-led American comedy Pitch Perfect, an Asian-American character named Lilly is introduced as a shy, softly spoken aspiring singer. Lilly isn’t just quiet – her voice barely rises above a whisper. And as her bandmates throw their energy around, she is mostly in the background, with her reserved presence played for laughs.

It was a small role, but it spoke volumes. On screen and in the wider Western culture, women of Asian descent have long been tagged with the tropes of meekness and obedience – the good student (Mona in Pretty Little Liars), the compliant daughter (Jade Wu in Sweet Valley High) and the hard-working employee (Ingrid in Partner Track). Unfailingly polite, considerate and deferential,...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for The Afterparty, Joy Ride and They Cloned Tyrone.

Joy Ride premiere

Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu joined director Adele Lim, co-writers Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao, and producers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, and Josh Fagen at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday.

Sherry Cola, Sabrina Wu, Stephanie Hsu, Teresa Hsiao, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong, Adele Lim and Ashley Park Josh Fagen, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weave

The Out-Laws premiere

Netflix hosted a special screening of its new comedy in Los Angeles on Monday, with stars Adam Devine, Nina Dobrev, Pierce Brosnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Michael Rooker, Blake Anderson, Lauren Lapkus, Lil Rel Howery, Laci Mosley and producer Adam Sandler.

Adam DeVine, Nina Dobrev and Pierce Brosnan Adam DeVine and Adam...

In a tense crime story inspired by true events, Sister Tse travels from Taiwan to New York with the help of a human smuggler known as a “Snakehead”. Gaining favour with the matriarch of a crime family, she quickly rises through the ranks. However, a better way of life isn’t the only reason she came to America, and desperately searches for her daughter. Read our reviews here and here.

Starring Shuya Chang, Jade Wu (Luke Cage), Richie Ng (Killerman), Devon Diep (Honest Thief) and Sung Kang (Fast & Furious franchise).

Snakehead is written and directed by Evan Jackson Leong (Linsanity) a 6th generation Chinese American director and documentary

filmmaker. Leong is most known for his documentary Linsanity, which follows the journey of Jeremy Lin from Harvard to the NBA, that made its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Dazzler Media presents Snakehead on DVD & Download-to-Own from 1st August.

Shuya Chang is magnetic as the illegal immigrant searching for her daughter, who is taken under the wing of a charismatic older gangster

Writer-director Evan Jackson Leong’s tale of a street-smart illegal immigrant who gets taken under the wing of a charismatic older gangster follows a well-worn plot beat-for-beat, right down to the inevitable montage in the midsection set to slinky pop. The kicker is that the apprentice and the master are women, exhibiting much the same unflinching ruthlessness you would find in a Martin Scorsese, Johnnie To or Park Chan-wook movie, but with a little less violence. But that doesn’t mean no violence: at one point, New York Chinatown kingpin Dai Mah (Jade Wu), a character based on a real female crime boss, slits a man’s throat with the effortless focus of a butcher slaughtering a pig, and barely gets a drop of blood on her dowdy polyester housecoat.

Originally planned for 2020 but pushed to 2021 due to the pandemic, “Snakehead” is a passion project based in New York’s Chinatown, and it’s worth taking note.

Dazzler Media presents this powerful crime drama, inspired by true events, coming to DVD and Download-to-Own from August 1, 2022.

on Amazon

Directed by Evan Leong and originally financed because of a Kickstarter campaign, “Snakehead” is the director’s first feature film. The story entails a Chinese immigrant coming to New York to find her daughter, and is inspired by true events, even though the story is fictional. The film is based in New York’s Chinatown, featuring Shuya Chang as anti-hero Sister Tse, Jade Wu as underground Chinatown boss Dai Mah and Sung Kang, known for his roles in the Fast & Furious franchise, as the troublesome son of Dai Mah, Rambo.

Director Evan Leong said that this film is about humanizing the immigrant experience,...

Nora's misadventures will continue. Comedy Central has renewed the Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens series for a third season. The second season finished airing in October.

A scripted comedy series, the Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens TV show was created by Awkwafina and Teresa Hsiao. The cast includes Nora Lum aka Awkwafina, Lori Tan Chinn, Bd Wong, Bowen Yang, Gabo Augustine, Michelle Buteau, Jennifer Esposito, Chrissie Fit, Jonathan 'Dumbfoundead' Park, Jaboukie Young White, Wai Ching Ho, and Liang Ying He. Guests in season two include Margaret Cho, Alan Kim, Lauren Ash, Alex Borstein, Ross Butler, Cindy Cheung, Catherine Cohen, Catherine Curtin, Nancy Eng, Fortune Feimster, Chloe Fineman, Judy Gold, Stephanie Hsu, Kerri Kenney-Silver, C.S. Lee, Fay Ann Lee, Ajay Mehta, Aaron Takahashi, and Jade Wu. The story is loosely based on the real-life of actress and comedian Nora Lum,...

Manhattan transforms into harrowing place in Dmz, a four-part limited series coming to HBO Max March 17. The series, based on the DC graphic novel of the same name, stars Rosario Dawson as a woman who has to navigate a demilitarized zone in a quest to find her lost son.

The trailer for the show reveals a destroyed, overgrown New York City, where cheetahs roam among the crumbling buildings. Along the way, Dawson’s Alma Ortega encounters gangs who may stand in her way.

Dmz also stars Benjamin Bratt, Hoon Lee,...

“Bel Air” is about to feature a “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reunion — of sorts. Daphne Maxwell Reid, who played Will’s aunt on later seasons of “Fresh Prince,” and Vernee Watson-Johnson, who recurred as Will’s mom on the show, are returning to Bel Air — in guest starring roles for Episode 9 of Peacock’s new drama.

Maxwell Reid and Watson-Johnson portrayed Aunt Viv and Viola “Vy” Smith, respectively, in the original series. For their upcoming guest roles on “Bel-Air,” the two will play “Helen” and “Janice,” members of the Art Council Board of Trustee.

Peacock’s “Bel-Air” reimagines the beloved “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” sitcom — with a new lens on Will’s (Jabari Banks) complicated journey from West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. The series, inspired by Morgan Cooper’s viral trailer, is executive produced by Will Smith — as well as director/co-writer Cooper and showrunners T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson.

Dmz Trailer — HBO Max‘s Dmz (2022) TV mini-series trailer has been released. The Dmz trailer stars Rosario Dawson, Benjamin Bratt, Freddy Miyares, Hoon Lee, Jordan Preston Carter, Venus Ariel, Jade Wu, Rutina Wesley, Nora Dunn, Jade Wu, Rey Gallegos, Mamie Gummer, Agam Darshi, Juani Feliz, and Henry G. Sanders. Crew Continue reading: Dmz (2022) TV Mini-series Trailer: Rosario Dawson searches for Her Son during America’s Second Civil War [HBO Max]...

America seems to become more polarized and divided every day, with no end in sight, but how bad could it actually get?

That’s the chilling question asked by “Dmz,” an upcoming four-part limited series on HBO Max, based on Brian Wood’s DC Comics series of the same name. The story takes place in a near future in which America has become engulfed in a second civil war between the United States and a group of secessionist armies who call themselves the Free States of America. The fighting has resulted in Manhattan turning into a demilitarized zone separating territories held by the two armies. With no government in place to enforce laws, the island is ruled by criminal gangs, with power shifting on a near-daily basis.

Ava DuVernay, who executive produces “Dmz” and directed all four episodes, described it as a show “set a few moments in the future...

Rosario Dawson is willing to risk anything to find her son in the first trailer for HBO Max’s “Dmz.”

The four-part limited series, based on the DC graphic novel of the same name, tells the story of a near future where America is embroiled in a bitter civil war, leaving Manhattan a demilitarized zone — hence the title of the series. The show chronicles the journey of fierce medic Alma Ortega (Dawson), who saves lives while desperately searching for her lost son.

In the trailer released on Monday — which you can watch above — Dawson’s Alma explains that she and her son were split apart during the evacuation out of Manhattan before it became a demilitarized zone. Even though the city is now an active war zone, she decides she must go back in search of him.

She contends with the gangs, militias, demagogues and warlords that control this lawless no man’s land,...

"You're stepping into stratospheres of consequence." HBO has revealed an official trailer for a sci-fi thriller mini-series called Dmz, which will debut with 4 episodes on HBO Max later this month. Another surprise series that's ready to launch within weeks that we didn't know much about before. It's based on the Vertigo comic book series written by Brian Wood, with artwork by Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. Dmz leaps off the pages of the acclaimed graphic novel into the visual landscape of a dangerous and distorted Manhattan as one woman navigates a demilitarized zone in a harrowing quest to find her lost son. It's set eight years into America's Second Civil War, where the rule of law is basically dictated by the most powerful person at any possible time and that can change from block to block. The series ensemble cast features Rosario Dawson, Benjamin Bratt, Freddy Miyares, Hoon Lee, Jordan Preston Carter,...

The film recently played at Toronto film festival.

Participating at the Asian Contents & Film Market online, Australia-based Odin’s Eye Entertainment has announced sales deals on Evan Leong’s US crime thriller Snakehead to Japan (Happinet Phantom), Taiwan (Av-Jet), and India and worldwide airlines (Pictureworks).

Inspired by a true story, the film follows a woman called Sister Tse who is brought to New York by human smuggler Snakehead in order to search for her daughter. There, she manages to gain the favour of the matriarch of Chinatown’s most notorious gangland family, rising quickly through their ranks.

Known for Sundance documentary Linsanity,...

The familiar story of a new recruit rising through the ranks of organized crime is given a punchy female Asian twist in “Snakehead.” , this first narrative feature by documentary maker Evan Jackson Leong (“Linsanity”) is highlighted by outstanding performances by Shuya Chang as the fearless newbie and Jade Wu as the matriarch of a family specializing in the nasty business of human smuggling. Though it switches tone abrasively at times, and some story aspects feel a little too formulaic, “Snakehead” burns brightly when focused on the Faustian relationship of its formidable female characters. The future looks promising for Leong’s long-gestating labor of love, which opens in theaters and online on Oct. 29 following its major launch at Toronto.

“Snakehead” opens with a sobering statement about the scale of illegal immigration and how human traffickers known as Snakeheads charge $50,000 for passage to the U.S. The first words we hear are...

“Chinatown doesn’t change for anybody,” says Jade Wu’s Dai Mah late in Evan Jackson Leong’s “Snakehead,” the kind of line that sounds like an intentional callback to 1974’s “Chinatown.” That’s not surprising, as so much of Leong’s long-time passion project plays like a tribute to the Old Masters of cinema. “Snakehead” doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but considering its all-Asian cast and bent toward chronicling women in power, there’s an air of something truly special to the crime drama, especially in Shuya Chang’s contemplative performance.

An opening title card tells us that for $50,000, Chinese immigrants can be sent to the United States, where they will be then forced into prostitution and other illegal jobs as a means of paying off the debt to the person who brought them, the eponymous “snakehead.” Sister Tse (Chang) is one such woman, working to survive in America...

Samuel Goldwyn Films and Roadside Attractions has debuted a new trailer for the upcoming ‘Snakehead.’

Sister Tse comes to New York through a Snakehead, a human smuggler. She gains favour with the matriarch of the family of crime and she rises the ranks quickly. Soon Tse must reconcile her success with her real reason for coming to America.

Written and directed by Evan Jackson Leong, the film stars Shuya Chang, Jade Wu, Yacine Djoumbaye, Catherine Jiang, Richie Eng and Sung Kang.

Also in trailers –

The film is released in the US in cinemas, On Demand and Digital on October 29th.

The post “What would you do if someone betrayed your family?” New Trailer lands for ‘Snakehead’ appeared first on HeyUGuys.

"Witness her rise. Respect her power." Goldwyn Films has released a trailer for a gritty crime thriller titled Snakehead, which is arriving on VOD this October. The first narrative feature from filmmaker Evan Leong, this film premiered at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and stops by the Toronto Film Festival next. Shuya Chang stars as Sister Tse, who comes to New York through a "Snakehead", a human smuggler. She gains favor with the matriarch of the family of crime and she rises the ranks quickly. But soon Tse must reconcile her success with her real reason for coming to America. A Chinese immigrant get caught up in an international crime ring of human smuggling while attempting to make a better life for her own family. Also starring Jade Wu, Yacine Djoumbaye, Catherine Jiang, Richie Eng, and Sung Kang. This almost plays like American Gangster if it were Chinese Gangster, about...

Originally planned for 2020 but pushed to 2021 due to the pandemic, “Snakehead” is a passion project based in New York’s Chinatown, and it’s worth taking note of.

“Snakehead” is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

Directed by Evan Leong and originally financed because of a Kickstarter campaign, “Snakehead” is the director’s first feature film. The story entails a Chinese immigrant coming to New York to find her daughter, and is inspired by true events, even though the story is fictional. The film is based in New York’s Chinatown, featuring Shuya Chang as anti-hero Sister Tse, Jade Wu as underground Chinatown boss Dai Mah and Sung Kang, known for his roles in the Fast & Furious franchise, as the troublesome son of Dai Mah, Rambo.

Director Evan Leong said that this film is about humanizing the immigrant experience, and the movie showcases this in a really intriguing way.

After making its festival rounds in California earlier this spring, Evan Jackson Leong’s “Snakehead” opened this year’s Asian American International Film Festival in New York. The film follows the ever-elusive Sister Tse (Shuya Chang) through the New York Chinatown’s criminal underworld. Through shows of unrelenting loyalty in seemingly mundane situations — a dumpling house, a fish shop, and of course a secret torture chamber — she wins the heart of Dai Mah (Jade Wu), the local matriarch and pimp who smuggled her through. Her undying devotion comes at a crossroads, however, when her daughter is endangered. Rife with prostitution, drugs, and violence, “Snakehead” dreams up a visionary thriller sprinkled with hot-button issues and suggestive key words.

Snakehead is screening at Asian American International Film Festival

There’s only one catch, however: “Snakehead” is not actually all that… exciting. Certainly, many things happen throughout the movie. One blink of an...

Comedy Central released a trailer for Season 2 of “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens,” premiering on Aug. 18.

Starring Awkwafina, Bowen Yang, Bd Wong and Lori Tan Chinn, the new season follows Nora (Awkwafina) as she navigates young adulthood in outer-borough New York City.

Joining them this season are guest stars Margaret Cho, Alan Kim, Lauren Ash, Alex Borstein, Ross Butler, Cindy Cheung, Catherine Cohen, Catherine Curtin, Fortune Feimster, Chloe Fineman, Judy Gold, Stephanie Hsu, Kerri Kenney-Silver, C.S. Lee, Ajay Mehta, Haley Joel Osment, Aaron Takahashi and Jade Wu.

In the trailer, Nora gives advice to her cousin (Yang), works at a CBD store and falls asleep at the wheel.

Gabo Augustine, Michelle Buteau, Jennifer Esposito, Chrissie Fit, Jonathan ‘Dumbfoundead’ Park, Jaboukie Young White, Wai Ching Ho, Bea Soong, Nancy Eng, Liang Ying He and Fay Ann Lee reprise their roles from Season 1.

Watch the trailer below.

Also in today’s TV...

Dmz has added nine faces to its cast. Rutina Wesley, Mamie Gummer, Nora Dunn, Henry G. Sanders, Venus Ariel, Jade Wu, Rey Gallegos, Agam Darshi, and Juani Feliz are all joining Rosario Dawson and Benjamin Bratt in the DC series based on the comic books by Riccardo Burchilelli and Brian Wood. There were 72 issues of the comic between 2005 and 2012.

Read More…...

Good news for Star Wars fans in need of a fix: A special episode of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, about Luke Skywalker’s surprise return in the Season 2 finale, will premiere Wednesday, Aug. 25 on Disney+.

The installment highlights the technology used to recreate Luke Skywalker and the collaborative process with his portrayer Mark Hamill. The program also explores “the immense pressure and responsibility the filmmakers had in bringing back one of the most important characters in film history,” per the official release.

More from TVLineTVLine Items: Future President Returns, Paris Hilton Cooking Show and MoreTVLine Items: Good Trouble Season 3B Trailer,...

Exclusive: Rutina Wesley (Queen Sugar), Mamie Gummer (True Detective), Nora Dunn (The Big Leap) and Henry G. Sanders (Queen Sugar) are among nine cast in HBO Max’s Dmz, a limited series based on the DC comic series from Ava DuVernay and Roberto Patino, and Warner Bros. Television. Also joining stars Rosario Dawson and Benjamin Bratt are Venus Ariel (NCIS: New Orleans), Jade Wu (Marvel’s Luke Cage), Rey Gallegos (Animal Kingdom), Agam Darshi (Funny Boy) and Juani Feliz (upcoming Harlem).

Joining the creative team are filmmaker Ernest Dickerson and Emmy winner Carly Wray.

Dickerson will direct and executive produce three episodes of the four-part series. DuVernay directed the first episode and executive produces the series.

Wray has joined the writing team and will serve as co-executive producer on the show, working alongside showrunner Patino, who wrote the pilot episode and executive produces the series.

Dmz is set in the near future,...

Exclusive: Samuel Goldwyn Films and Roadside Attractions have acquired North American rights to writer/director Evan Jackson Leong’s Snakehead.

The crime thriller center on Sister Tse (Shuya Chang), who travels from China to New York via a human smuggler known as a snakehead. In the process, she gains favor with the matriarch of a crime family, risking in the ranks quickly. But success isn’t the only reason she came to America. Ultimately, the character needs to reconcile between personal success and her family.

Chang and Sung Kang lead the cast, which also includes Jade Wu (Luke Cage), Perry Yung (Warrior), Yacine Djoumbaye (Three Trembling Cities), Catherine Jiang (A Different Sun), Devon Diep (Honest Thief), Richie Ng (Midnight Driver), Celia Au (Awkwafina is Nora from Queens), Jamie Choi (Gotham), and Sandra Eloani (The Heartbreak Kid...

1970: All My Children premiered on ABC."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1953: Ellen Demming made her first appearance as Meta Bauer White Roberts on both the television and radio versions of The Guiding Light. Demming played the role until 1974.

1965: On Another World, Dru (Geoffrey Lumb) assured John (Michael M. Ryan) he had done everything he could for Pat, whose trial was about to begin.

1970: ABC premiered Agnes Nixon's daytime soap opera All My Children. It ran for over 41 years on on the network, ending...

1970: All My Children premiered on ABC."History is a vast early warning system."

― Norman Cousins

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1953: Ellen Demming made her first appearance as Meta Bauer White Roberts on both the television and radio versions of The Guiding Light. Demming played the role until 1974.

1965: On Another World, Dru (Geoffrey Lumb) assured John (Michael M. Ryan) he had done everything he could for Pat, whose trial was about to begin.

1970: ABC premiered Agnes Nixon's daytime soap opera All My Children. It ran for over 41 years on on the network, ending after 10,712 episodes on September 23, 2011. Original cast member Susan Lucci stayed with the soap for its entire run.

Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders and Henry Stram will join forces with the previously announced Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devasted by last years earthquake when they appear in this Sundays March 11 benefit performances of Shinsai Theaters for Japan, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union Seventh Street at Third Avenue.

Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders and Henry Stram will join forces with the previously announced Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devasted by last years earthquake when they appear in this Sundays March 11 benefit performances of Shinsai Theaters for Japan, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union Seventh Street at Third Avenue.