Jerry Ma and Friends Bring The Monkey King Back to Chinatown

April 29, 2025August 25, 2025 Keith Chow

Five years ago in the before times, my Secret Identities partner-in-crime Jerry Ma exhibited a solo art show called A Chinatown Odyssey about a modern interpretation of The Monkey King and his adventures throughout New York’s Chinatown. Well, for this AAPI Heritage Month, Jerry and the Monkey King are back at Pearl River Mart, but this time he’s brought along some legendary comics artist pals for the ride.

Animation, Interview1 Comment

Ming-Na Wen, Gabrielle Nevaeh, James Hong, and Others on ‘Gremlins: The Wild Batch’

October 2, 2024October 3, 2024 Dominic Mah

Gremlins: The Wild Batch, the second season of the animated Gremlins series based on the Amblin films of the 1980s, premieres this week on Max. I got to talk with actors from the voice cast and the creative team about Gizmo the titular Mogwai, horror movies vs. kid shows, the Chinese American roots of the Gremlins universe, and of course, karaoke.

Martial Arts, Movies1 Comment

It’s a Bruce Lee Year: Return of the Year of ‘Enter the Dragon’

April 23, 2024August 15, 2024 Dominic Mah

Have you even watched Enter the Dragon recently? Nielsen reporting suggests that maybe you have.

Bruce Lee’s iconic influence, epitomized by Enter the Dragon, sparked a pop-culture revolution, and remains perhaps THE critical moment for Asian Americans in Western cinema.

Animation, Interview

‘The Tiger’s Apprentice’ Director on Authenticity, Family, and Dim Sum

February 22, 2024February 23, 2024 Michael Lee

Paramount+’s The Tiger’s Apprentice is available for streaming now. And we had the chance to talk to director Raman Hui about the film, as well as some favorite dim sum items to eat.

Animation, Trailers

‘The Tiger’s Apprentice’ Trailer Sees Animals of the Chinese Zodiac Face a Great Evil

January 16, 2024January 17, 2024 Michael Lee

Paramount+ has unleashed a brand-new trailer for The Tiger’s Apprentice, a new animated film based on the popular children’s book series of the same name by Laurence Yep which inserts the mythology of the Chinese Zodiac into a modern-day story about a teenager who discovers that he comes from a long-linage of mystical protectors known as the guardians.

Books, Hard N.O.C. Life1 Comment

Hard NOC Life 307: ‘Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant’

April 10, 2023March 25, 2023 Hard NOC Media

On another special episode of Hard NOC Life, Keith sits down with documentary filmmaker and co-founder of the Asian American Writer’s Workship, Curtis Chin, to discuss his new memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, which will be available in bookstores everywhere this October.

Movies, Sci Fi1 Comment

When Something is Nearly ‘Everything’

March 16, 2023November 25, 2024 Bao Phi

There’s no fucking way they’re gonna be able to land this, I thought to myself.

I’m in a movie theater seeing Everything Everywhere All at Once for the first time. I had heard about it long ago, and was cautiously optimistic.

Conventions, Streaming

D23Expo: ‘American Born Chinese’ Stars Ben Wang and Daniel Wu Talk Representation

September 11, 2022September 11, 2022 Michael Lee

The D23 Expo may be near its end, but that doesn’t mean the news cycle has stopped. While ot the press line, The Nerds of Color had the chance to talk to Ben Wang and Daniel Wu, the stars of the upcoming Disney+ original series, American Born Chinese.

Podcasts

Southern Fried Asian: Chef Tim Ma

May 24, 2022June 22, 2022 Southern Fried Asian

On a new episode of Southern Fried Asian, Keith talks to his Chef Tim Ma — founder and CEO of Lucky Danger, the renowned American Chinese takeout restaurant in D.C. — about his southern roots in Arkansas and Virginia and why it’s important to honor the legacy of American Chinese cuisine.

Interview, Movies3 Comments

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ Actor James Hong on His Legacy in Hollywood

March 24, 2022March 25, 2022 Laura Sirikul

James Hong needs no introduction.

The legendary 93-year old actor, with over 500 credits to his name, is still in disbelief of any praise he gets from his roles. He is surprised when he hears directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert aka The Daniels have complimented his work ethic and loved working with such a legend on the new film, Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Interview, Martial Arts, Television2 Comments

‘Kung Fu’ Star Kee Chan on Finding Humanity in the Villain

March 16, 2022March 17, 2022 Laura Sirikul

It’s hard to not associate the actor with the character they portray on television/film, especially if the character is as sinister and haunting as the enigmatic villain Russell Tan on The CW’s Kung Fu.

Of course, this isn’t the case for actor Kee Chan, who plays Russell Tan.

Animation, Movies, Music

Billie Eilish and Finneas Release Original Song for ‘Turning Red’

February 26, 2022February 28, 2022 Michael Lee

Disney•Pixar has released their first new single, “Nobody Like U,” and an accompanying lyric video for Turning Red. was written by sibling musical duo Billie Eilish and Finneas; the song is reminiscent of the boy bands of the early 2000s in terms of musical stylings and lyrics.

Animation, Interview, Movies

Domee Shi Talks Blending Real-Life Stories And Anime In ‘Turning Red’

February 7, 2022March 8, 2022 Michael Lee

In just a few short weeks from now, Disney+ subscribers will see how messy growing up can be in Pixar’s Turning Red. Based loosely on director Domee Shi‘s life, the film follows Mei Lee (Roseling Cheng), a confident 13-year-old girl struggling to balance her life as a dutiful daughter to her mother (Sandra Oh) and the chaos of her youth. And things get more complicated when she finds out that if she gets too excited or stressed, she turns into a giant red panda.

Animation, Movies1 Comment

‘Turning Red’ Reimagines the Coming-of-Age Story Through Cultural Specificity

February 7, 2022February 4, 2022 Michael Lee

Pixar’s Turning Red is a film unlike any other. Directed by Domee Shi, the film centers on Mei Lee (Rosalie Chiang), a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian girl torn between being the dutiful daughter to her mother (Sandra Oh) and navigating the chaos of adolescence. But her life gets turned upside-down when she discovers she turns into a giant red panda if she gets too excited.

Interview, Streaming, Television

Lisa Ling Shares How ‘Take Out’ Tells the Asian American Story through Food

February 4, 2022February 3, 2022 Keith Chow

Last week, Lisa Ling debuted a new show streaming on HBO Max. In Take Out with Lisa Ling, the award-winning journalist and television host travels the country in search of the diverse cuisines and untold histories that make up Asian America.

Books, Podcasts

Southern Fried Asian: Jamie Ford

January 30, 2022January 29, 2022 Southern Fried Asian

For this episode of Southern Fried Asian, Keith talks to his friend, the New York Times-bestselling author Jamie Ford, and learning about his southern roots in Arkansas. Consider this Southern-adjacent Fried Asian.

Conventions, DC Comics1 Comment

DC’s ‘Monkey Prince’ Returns in New 12-Issue Comic Series

October 16, 2021October 16, 2021 Adonis Gonzalez

Writer Gene Luen Yang and artist Bernard Chang are returning to deliver a brand new 12-issue miniseries starring the Monkey Prince. Marcus Young, a.k.a the Monkey Prince, is DC’s resident simian superhero. Based on the classic Chinese tale, Journey to the West, DC’s Monkey Prince will feature characters influenced by Asian folklore as well as Asian American experience.

Comics, Streaming

‘American Born Chinese’ Headed to Disney+

October 4, 2021 Keith Chow

After smashing box office records with Shang-Chi, Disney and Destin Daniel Cretton are re-teaming on another iconic Asian American comic book. This time, the critically acclaimed and award-winning graphic novel, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, will see new life as a series on Disney+, helmed and produced by Cretton.

Hard N.O.C. Life, Marvel

Hard NOC Life 234: Falling Down the Rabbit Hole

September 13, 2021September 13, 2021 Hard NOC Media

Keith, Britney, and Dominic are back on Hard NOC Life to break down the new trailer for The Matrix Resurrections and tumble down the rabbit hole of Marvel movie speculation. They also give their thoughts on the latest episode of What If and the merits of Marvel Zombies.

Hard N.O.C. Life, Marvel

Hard NOC Life 233: Did ‘Shang-Chi’ Live Up to the Hype?

September 6, 2021 Hard NOC Media

Now that it’s breaking box office records, Keith, Britney, and Dominic are joined by HK cinema and martial arts movie expert Raymond Chow to break down Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on a new episode of Hard NOC Life.

Marvel, Movies

Two Chinese Americans Explain How to Pronounce ‘Shang-Chi’

September 3, 2021September 4, 2021 The Nerds of Color

Keith and Dominic tap into their Chinese American backgrounds to provide YouTube’s definitive explainer on how to pronounce “Shang-Chi,” a name that the entire world will want to know now that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the biggest movie in the world!

Marvel, Movies2 Comments

How to Pronounce ‘Shang-Chi’ Because it’s Super-Important for the Marvel Universe

August 15, 2021September 16, 2021 Dominic Mah

The “Chi” part is easy. “Chee.” Rhymes with “Kree.” Technically the “Ch” is not precisely the same as in English “Chad” or “Chocolate,” but it’s close enough for conversation amongst non-fluent Chinese speakers.

The “Shang” is said the same way as the “Shang” in Shanghai, the city in China. But here’s the thing, if you’ve been saying “Shanghai” as if it rhymes with “Fang Sky” all your life, that’s not really how you say “Shanghai.” And that’s okay.

Marvel, Movies

New ‘Shang-Chi’ Promo Teases Family Drama and Shirtless Simu

July 28, 2021July 28, 2021 Laura Sirikul

Marvel Studios is really kicking up the promotion for the September release of the anticipated film, Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings.

In the new promo called Need, after going into hiding from his past, Shang-Chi (played by a very ripped Simu Liu) is found by his father, Wenwu (Tony Leung), the leader of the Ten Rings, who wants his son to be his right-hand man and eventually take his place. Shang-Chi doesn’t want to follow that path. In a voiceover, Wenwu tells his son, ‘You can’t outrun your destiny.’