Tag: World War II

Gaming, Video Games

‘Call of Duty: Vanguard’ Drops First Look at Zombies Mode from Treyarch Studios

Jamal Michel

There can’t be a Call of Duty release without the inclusion of their flagship Zombies mode, and today new details were finally revealed. From the first introduction back in Call of Duty: World at War in 2009, to the latest version by Treyarch Studios (in partnership with Sledgehammer Games) in Vanguard, players have been exposed to all manner of gameplay features that focused on staving off hordes of zombies. Today, Activision showcased a first look at the new mode coming to their latest title November 5, which features a franchise-first crossover with the studio whose legacy goes back to the mode’s humble beginnings.

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Interview, Music1 Comment

Patricio Ginelsa Reflects Back on the Making of ‘The Apl Song’ Music Video

Lauren Lola

As filmmaker Patricio Ginelsa gears up for the release of the long anticipated follow-up to his feature film, Lumpia, he took last Friday to reflect back on another previous project of his, when he released the test shoot for the music video for the Black Eyed Peas’ “The Apl Song.”

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Interview, Movies

Raymond Bagatsing on Becoming Manuel Quezon in ‘Quezon’s Game’

Lauren Lola

From 1937-1941, under the leadership of President Manuel Quezon, the Philippines opened their doors to Jewish refugees fleeing from Europe, at the beginning of what would eventually become the Holocaust. Approximately 1,300 lives were saved.

It’s a little known history about the Philippines, but what is even less known is how much Quezon had to fight to make it happen, due to the country being under occupation by the United States at the time. It’s this story that’s explored for the first time for the big screen in the film, Quezon’s Game.

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Theatre

A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘Defenders’

Edward Hong

In the realm of Los Angeles intimate theatre, efficiency and constraint are often unfortunately emphasized as budget limitations become the all-too familiar factor hovering over anyone who dreams of doing anything grandiose. So when I heard about a World War II play written by Cailin Maureen Harrison that was going to have its world premiere with the Pandelia’s Canary Yellow Company, I was intrigued because my burning question was: How exactly do you stage a WWII story in a black box setting and do so compellingly??

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Movies, Reviews1 Comment

‘Jojo Rabbit’ Sends a Timely Message via Satire, Fascism, and War

Lauren Lola

The 39th Hawaii International Film Festival is currently underway in Honolulu, and the 11-day event began with a stellar opening night screening last Thursday of Taika Waititi’s latest film, Jojo Rabbit. Set in Nazi Europe, the dark comedy loosely based on the Christine Leunens novel, Caging Skies, follows a 10-year-old Hitler Youth (Roman Griffin Davis) who finds out his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their home. Through getting to know her, he comes to question his own beliefs, even in the midst of his imaginary friend, an idiotic version of Adolf Hitler played by Waititi himself, trying to tell him otherwise.

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Horror, Television

‘The Terror: Infamy’ Doesn’t Need Ghosts to be Scary

Laura Sirikul

In the third episode of The Terror: Infamy, one of the main characters told his wife, who put up some items to protect from evil, “It may protect us from spirits, but not from human evil.”

The latest installment of the supernatural anthology series by Alexander Woo and Max Borenstein explores a dark part of history in America during World War II — Japanese American internment and the ghosts (yūrei) that haunt them.

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Movies17 Comments

Surprise: Hollywood is Still Whitewashing POC Characters

Laura Sirikul

Happy Asian American Pacific Islander Month!

Good news! The story of the Ni’ihau Incident is coming to the big screen. Bad news? Hollywood has learned nothing from the whitewashing outrage that has been in the zeitgeist for the last year.

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Sci Fi, Television4 Comments

Netflix is 3% Closer, but Still Fighting White Supremacy Saviors

Eric S.B.

At this point, it’s damn near impossible to keep up with the onslaught of Netflix original programming. Along with all of the film and series content, the tentacles of the entertainment Kraken inevitably started reaching out for more international collaborations. Around Thanksgiving we were treated to the Brazilian series 3%. In terms of originality, it doesn’t score high: another variation on the theme of a future world where young adults do what they have to do to survive.

It does have its points of deviation though from say The Hunger Games and Divergent with a touch of Elysium. Brazil has had a long and appalling history of income inequality, which I’m sure is where the idea of the tagline came from: “In a dystopian future there is a clear divide between the rich and poor, but when a person turns 20, they have the opportunity to cross the divide.” As implied, by free will all the candidates get to try to make it from the miserable mainland to the utopian island Mar Alto; that looks kind of like Recife to Fernando de Noronha on the map. The tests they undergo are less physical and more psychological until they are whittled down to the fabled 3%. The setting, albeit futuristic, feels closer to present as we undergo our own survival in the collapse.

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Movies, Music, Theatre4 Comments

See George Takei’s Broadway Musical Allegiance on the Big Screen

Keith Chow

If you missed out on George Takei’s Allegiance during its acclaimed, but brief, Broadway run, Fathom Events is giving you an opportunity to see the musical — that made Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda sob — in a cinema near you!

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Comics, Marvel6 Comments

Captain America is HYDRA and Everything Wrong with Big Two Comics

Desiree Rodriguez

Captain America has been revealed to be a HYDRA agent all along and doesn’t this emphasize everything wrong with superhero comics today?

When The Outhousers released the spoilers for Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 the night before its release last week, fans clamored to discredit the website citing it as “unreliable,” “the comic version of The Onion,” and “satire” in an effort to brush aside the original spoiler panel of Steve in full Captain American uniform saying, “Hail HYDRA.” Understandable, this is a huge retcon of Steve Roger’s overall character and the name of Captain America. A legacy of a name built up over 75 years — in fact, Captain America just celebrated his 75th anniversary recently — and fans feel rightly protective.

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Comics, Interview9 Comments

Making Monstress: An Exclusive Conversation with Marjorie Liu

Zhouweiwen

I spent this past weekend at New York Comic-Con. When I wasn’t manning the Epic Proportions booth, I was able to sneak away and meet with writer Marjorie Liu. She makes her long-awaited return to comics with Image Comics’ Monstress, reuniting her with X-23 artist Sana Takeda.

In the first part of this exclusive, wide-ranging interview, Marjorie and I discuss the origins of the book, her childhood obsession with the apocalypse, the influence of pre-World War II China, and what it was like reuniting with artist Sana Takeda.

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Marvel, Toys1 Comment

We’re Giving Away Captain America & Wolverine Toys

The Nerds of Color

Last week, we crossed 1,000 “likes” on Facebook and 1,000 followers on Twitter. I mentioned that to thank you all for upping our numbers on both social media platforms, we would be giving away some toys. So, that’s what we’re going to do!

I mention in that tweet that we’ll be giving away Wolverine Mini-Mates, and we are, but since it’s Cap Week, I’m going to throw in a Marvel Legends Infinite Series Captain America figure too.  Click through to find our how to win the toys.

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Comics2 Comments

Valiant Comics Responds to War Flag Controversy

Keith Chow

Over the weekend, the social media team at Valiant Entertainment took to twitter and responded to this post that we first brought to you back in February. If you recall, superstar artist — and former Valiant creator — Bernard Chang expressed his reservations about the redesign of Valiant’s signature Asian superhero, Rai. Specifically, the artist criticized the publisher’s decision to integrate the motif of Japan’s World War II-era military flag into the hero’s look.

Thanks to this tweet by @feministallies, someone at Valiant Comics has responded to the controversy that has also been reported across the comics blogosphere, including at sites such as Bleeding Cool and Inside Pulse.

The rest of the twitter exchange can be found after the jump.

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Anime, Movies2 Comments

The World with Pyramids

Zhouweiwen

In a conversation with an acquaintance about The Wind Rises, I told her I was already inclined to love it (and I did) because I was already a big fan of Porco Rosso. Miyazaki is a man in love with airplanes and through both movies he imparts that love to his viewers. Both films are reminders that the real magic (and really all Miyazaki movies do this) is not in the world but in your choices and in your will.

(Contains spoilers for The Wind Rises).

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Art, Comics1 Comment

Internment/Service by Bernard Chang

Keith Chow

Last September, I mentioned how I was honored to coordinate and edit a digital comic in conjunction with the Smithsonian‘s touring “I Want the Wide American Earth” Asian American history exhibit.

(And once again, many thanks to Lawrence-Minh Bui Davis and Konrad Ng for allowing me to be part of such an honor).

Since today is the 72nd anniversary of Executive Order 9066, and a Day of Remembrance for the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II, I wanted to share Bernard Chang‘s contribution to the Smithsonian project. Titled “Internment/Service,” Bernard‘s illustration honors the Japanese Americans who fought for justice abroad while their families suffered from injustice at home.

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Comics, Interview15 Comments

Japanese War Flags and Comics’ Lack of Creativity

Keith Chow

Earlier this week, Valiant Entertainment unveiled the long-awaited lineup for their Valiant First roster of rebooted and revamped characters. After re-introducing a gender-swapped version of Dr. Mirage last year, this time they’re bringing back another of the publisher’s standout Asian characters: the Japanese superhero Rai, in addition to giving Dr. Mirage her own book as well. (Both Mirage and Rai were Asians that served as foundational characters when Valiant first launched two decades ago). As one of the creators behind Secret Identities, I was very excited. Then I saw the way they redesigned Rai’s look:

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Anime, Movies1 Comment

Kaze Tachinu (aka The Wind Rises): Miyazaki’s Supposed Last Hurrah

Junko

The Los Angeles movie screening scene has been in quite a frenzy as movies are trying to qualify for the Oscar rat-race. This meant that Kaze Tachinu (風立ちぬ) was going to be on the big screen. Just as a disclaimer, I’m Japanese/English bilingual, so I did ignore all the English subtitles and can’t say much about the English content.

Kaze Tachinu, known as The Wind Rises in the States, is an ode to the generation who grew up with Miyazaki since the 1970s. It’s not filled with magic and intrigue, but brings forth Miyazaki’s never ending love for airplanes (you see cameo appearances of past planes including Gina’s private plane from Porco Rosso), the experience of flying, and the human spirit.

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DC Comics, Movies69 Comments

We Do Not Need a Wonder Woman Movie

J. Lamb (Snoopy Jenkins)

We don’t need a Wonder Woman movie. Yeah, I said it.

I can scarcely imagine a worse waste of digital celluloid: flying spears thrown from thin, gangly limbs, a star-spangled miniskirt threatening wardrobe malfunctions for two and a quarter hours, unblemished ivory skin strained under gold and platinum body armor, practicality be damned. Wonder Woman the movie — fangirl nirvana, fanboy nightmare. Whenever people discuss the needless parade of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants who populate superhero movies’ starring roles, part of me appreciates their boredom with the obnoxious identity politics at play; what was The Avengers but a classic fraternity bro-down with human growth hormone, outdated mythology and colorful titanium tossed in for kicks?

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