We welcome Rocky back on the podcast to review Nida Manzoor’s Desi martial arts-comedy-epic, Polite Society! We also discuss the harrowing news out of Sudan, a new African animation anthology that includes Egypt and Egyptian creators, give our recommendations for the week, and much more!
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Episode 53: ‘Polite Society’ Review with Roxana Hadadi”
In anticipation of Nida Manzoor’s thrilling masterpiece Polite Society, premiering this weekend, we speak with the writer/director herself about her career and the messages she aims to convey with her debut feature film.
Continue reading “Nida Manzoor on ‘Polite Society’ and Breaking Barriers for South Asian and Muslim Women”
In anticipation of Nida Manzoor’s thrilling masterpiece Polite Society premiering in theaters, we spoke with stars of the film Priya Kansara and Ritu Arya on taking the lead roles of the Khan sisters.
Continue reading “Priya Kansara and Ritu Arya on Leading Nida Manzoor’s ‘Polite Society’”
The Pakistani-British Khan sisters, Ria (Priya Kansara) and Lena (Ritu Arya) have dreams that deviate from what their community and family expect from them, namely to work in STEM and marry well to guarantee socioeconomic security. But Ria and Lena have dreams to work in the arts, whether that be stunt choreography for Ria or painting for Lena.
Continue reading “‘Polite Society’ is an Action-Packed and Poignant Masterpiece”
After the events of last week’s Kung Fu, Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang) is arrested for a number of reasons against Delta Securities. She has decided to take responsibility for her actions. Now with Henry in charge of the Shooby gang, Nicky can focus on finding herself again — especially since she has more time in the slammer. Fortunately, Nicky doesn’t have to stay there too long as her bail has been set and she’s free to go, but under certain conditions.
Continue reading “Nicky is Out of Jail in an Exclusive Clip from Tonight’s ‘Kung Fu’”
The first trailer for writer-director’s Nida Manzoor’s Polite Society has just dropped, and the Focus Features Film hits theaters April 28, 2023!
Continue reading “Watch the First Trailer for Nida Manzoor’s Desi Martial Arts Epic ‘Polite Society’”
Kung Fu third season returns this week and there’s A LOT to digest after the earthquake of last season that shook more than just the ground — Harmony Dumplings was left in shambles; Althea’s (Shannon Dang) career took a turn for the worse after hacking into everyone’s location (to save them); Dennis (Tony Chung) has been cut off from his family; Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman) is stuck in the other dimension; Henry (Eddie Liu) left on his own adventure; and, Nicky (Olivia Liang) now has to figure out lift without a warrior’s purpose and a boyfriend.
Continue reading “‘Kung Fu’ Showrunners Give a Season 3 Sneak Peek and Answer Our Shipping Questions”
In 2019, author F.C. Yee brought the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender into the young adult fiction space, when he authored The Rise of Kyoshi. The first of the Kyoshi duology, readers got to explore one of Avatar Aang’s more notable previous incarnations in how she came to be one of the more hardcore Avatars.
Continue reading “From Kyoshi to Yangchen, F.C. Yee on Chronicling Stories of the Avatars”
In the second season of Kung Fu, Ryan (Jon Prasida) goes through a lot. The fresh-out-of-med-school youngest Shen sibling was healing from the break-up with Joe (Bradley Gibson) from the end of season 1, but finds love with Sebastian (JB Tadena), the new head chef of Harmony Dumplings.
Continue reading “Jon Prasida on Ryan’s Love Life and His Fighting Hopes for ‘Kung Fu’ Season 3”
Paramount Pictures has been on fire this year! With hits like Scream, Jackass Forever, Sonic 2, and now the mega blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick, the studio has pulled off one of the most impressive comebacks in the history of studio market shares imaginable. In the past three years, they rocketed from a #6 rank to a #1 rank this year on the strength of their slate and the quality of their movies! Will they keep the streak going with the animated comedy Paws of Fury? We’ll let you be the judge.
Continue reading “New Trailer for ‘Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank’”
It’s fair to say that Evan (Gavin Stenhouse) has had it rough on The CW’s Kung Fu. In the first season of the series, Evan’s had to deal with the return of his first love Nicky (Olivia Liang); the breakup with his longtime girlfriend; Nicky ultimately choosing Henry (Eddie Liu) over him; and, realizing how shady the District Attorney’s office, where he works, is.
Continue reading “Gavin Stenhouse on Evan’s Rogue Mission and Finding His Place on ‘Kung Fu’”
Warning: spoilers for this week’s episode of Kung Fu, “The Alchemist,” below.
With Kung Fu’s midseason return tonight, we learn something shocking about Mia’s (Vanessa Yao) destiny as a hybrid.
Continue reading “Vanessa Kai on Pei-Ling’s Big Reveal and Wild ‘Kung Fu’ Theories”
There is so much to say about The CW’s Kung Fu.
It’s just so good.
Now in its sophomore season, Kung Fu is getting darker than ever with its’ big bad Russell Tan (Kee Chan) trying to take down Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang) and her family. Things become even more complicated with the return of baddie Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman).
Continue reading “‘Kung Fu’ Star Yvonne Chapman on Zhilan’s Course for the Season”
The CW’s Kung Fu returns this week for their second season!
We last left the Shooby (Shen family + Scooby) Gang with Nicky (Olivia Liang) defeating Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman) in the battle for the biange — sending the latter to prison; Althea (Shannon Dang) and Dennis (Tony Chung) finally tying the knot with her revealing everything to her newly-wedded husband; Ryan (Jon Prasida) truly coming out to his parents; and, Jin (Tzi Ma) and Mei-Li (Tan Kheng Hua) finally having Nicky back in their lives.
Continue reading “Olivia Liang Spills Some Juicy Details for a Darker ‘Kung Fu’ in Season 2”
There’s another Tan to be weary of this season of Kung Fu.
If Kerwin Tan’s (Ludi Lin) relationship with his father Russell Tan (Kee Chan) was any indication of a problematic family, wait until you meet the doting daughter of the elusive crime boss.
Continue reading “First Look at Russell Tan’s Daughter Juliet on The CW’s ‘Kung Fu’”
The trials and tribulations of indie filmmaking are taken to their absurd, action-y, lengths in Marc Price’s Nightshooter, a story about a film crew finding themselves at the scene of a harrowing gang (mob?) execution at an abandoned and soon to be demolished business center on the last night of shooting a zombie film.
Continue reading “‘Nightshooters’ is One of the Best Action Films This Year”
To celebrate the release of Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings on Blu-ray and DVD, actress Meng’er Zhang sat down with The Nerds of Color to talk about all the good spoilers she couldn’t talk about before — Xialing’s relationship with her father (Tony Leung), her brother (Simu Liu), and the organization she has now inherited, The Ten Rings.
Continue reading “Meng’er Zhang on Working with Tony Leung and Their Relationship in ‘Shang-Chi’”
On a new episode of Hard NOC Life, Keith, Britney, and Dominic welcome action designers Chris Cowan and Yung Lee to talk about their work on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings! The crew also break down the latest What If and the anime-inspired Star Wars: Visions!
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.
As Bruce Lee might say, we must start with dispelling what is not useful and replace it with what is useful. I won’t rehash any arguments comparing Shang-Chi to Black Panther which are based in speculation, impulse-tweeted, or otherwise made in bad faith. The phrase “Asian American Black Panther” has been tossed around (including by me), in various contexts, since Black Panther came out in 2018.
Continue reading “‘Shang-Chi’ Is Not NOT Like ‘Black Panther’”
Marvel’s Shang-Chi premieres this week. As the first Asian-led Marvel film, there’s a lot of pressure to get this character and story right, given the comic book’s problematic history being rooted in stereotypical Asian tropes. Director Destin Daniel Cretton and screenwriter Dave Callaham did a lot of research on Shang-Chi’s comic book origins and knew what they wanted to do with him.
Continue reading “‘Shang-Chi’ Screenwriter Dave Callaham on Keeping it Authentically Asian American”
During the global press conference for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings this morning, director Destin Daniel Cretton revealed that Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) and Katy (Awkwafina) say they are strictly platonic.
Continue reading “Shang-Chi and Katy are Just Strictly Friends”
The Paper Tigers, the indie martial arts film starring Alain Uy, Ron Yuan, and Mykel Shannon Jenkins that went from Kickstarter to Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes will culminate its improbable journey on the biggest streaming platform in the world when it debuts on Netflix this Saturday, August 7.
Continue reading “‘The Paper Tigers’ to Stream on Netflix”