July 27, 2007: News Bites

The Rebel is Coming to America

Director Charlie Nguyen recently announced that his film, The Rebel, will be distributed in the States by the Weinstein Company. He voiced his hope of helping Vietnam to be acknowledged in the world of cinema, as many filmmakers have done for their countries in the past. Starring Johnny Nguyen, Dustin Nguyen, and pop singer "Veronica" Ngo Than Van, The Rebel is a periodic piece that takes place in French-inhabited Vietnam and features a charming, gracefeully ass-kicking Johnny Nguyen as a member of a secret police force. Splattered blood and changing sides occur as the talented martial artist in real life showcases his ability to perform moves that will have audiences mesmerized. Ngo Than Van, as the daughter of the rebel leader, impressively holds her own as well: see picture above. --My Thanh Mac

Emmy Nominations Announced

The nominations for the 59th Annual Emmy Awards have arrived and APA is proud to acknowledge that Masi Oka from Heroes and Sandra Oh of Grey's Anatomy are both in the running for Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, respectively. Oh, a pro, has already been nominated three times for her snarky, cynical Dr. Christina Yang on Grey's. Meanwhile, it is the first nod for Oka for his role as everybody's favorite nerd, Hiro Nakamura on Heroes. The Emmy Awards will take place September 16 on Fox.  For a full list of the nominees, check here. --Janice Jann

Gilbert Named Next Music Director of the NY Philharmonic

On July 18, 2007, The New York Philharmonic finally announced Alan Gilbert as its next music director. The announcement confirmed much speculation over the appointment of the 40-year-old -- who became chief conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in 2000, and served as the Santa Fe Opera's first music director as well as assistant concertmaster. He is the son of two Philharmonic musicians, violinists Yoko Takebe and Michael Gilbert. A first cousin, Miki Takebe, is the Philharmonic's director of operations. Despite his family ties, Gilbert has been a different choice from the past -- he is a rare American and will also be the first native New Yorker to hold the title. Some consider him a risk because of his young age. The current director, Lori Maazel, is 77. To his credit, Gilbert has studied the violin and viola at Harvard University, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the Julliard School of Music. In 2001, Gilbert made his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic and guest-conducted 31 concerts prior to the announcement. His five-year term will begin with the 2009-2010 season when Maazel's contract ends. --Catherine Manabat

Dr. House Meets Mr. Penn

In last season's finale of FOX's Emmy award-winning hit medical drama House, three cast members (Omar Epps, Jennifer Morrison, and Jesse Spencer)left and/or were written out of the show. To keep the madness going, four new cast members were added, playing candidates that are competing for a fellowship opportunity with Hugh Laurie's insensitive but brilliant Dr. Gregory House. Kal Penn (The Namesake, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle) is one of them.

Penn just wrapped the Harold and Kumar sequel, previously titled Harold & Kumar Go to Amsterdam, currently titled Harold & Kumar: High Alert, and safely, casually, and tentatively referred to as Harold & Kumar 2. --Ada Tseng

De Niro to Make Mao Zedong Movie

From Ron Rowan's memoir, Chasing the Dragon: A Veteran Journalist's Firsthand Account of the 1949 Chinese Revolution, comes a film by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. Universal bought the project when writers Jon Marans and Yuri Sivo pitched the idea of bringing Rowan's life story to the big screen. Rowan covered the Chinese Civil War as a correspondent for the Shanghai bureau of Time and Life magazine. The film aims to be an epic-sized drama by tracing Rowan's witness of the rise of Mao Zedong and his army as well as his relationship with a Chinese interpreter. Rowan will be consulted during the production, while Sivo is set to executive produce. --My Thanh Mac

The Newest "Park" in New York City

Move over P. Diddy, there's a new music mogul in town. K-popstar manufacturer Jin Young Park purchased a reported $4 million townhouse on East 31st Street to hold the American branch of his South Korean company, JYP Entertainment. Renovated into a studio and living area for his musical trainees, the building's velvet rope and bright signs have a few New Yorkers mistaking it for a nightclub.

Park is best known for developing Asian superstar, Rain, whose astounding popularity has reached global proportions. In 2006, Rain raked in $20 million in sales internationally and was voted in a Time magazine online pole as the Most Influential Person of 2007. His world tour quickly sold out. After Rain's contract expired, Park set off to find the next line of singers to bring in the money.

He puts his young protégés, G-Soul, Min, J Lim, on a strict regimen of vocal, musical, acting, and dance training that would put boy-band mass producer Lou Pearlman to shame. It's here in New York that Park has planned to cultivate what he hops will be the newest faces to gloss magazines around the Pacific Rim and beyond. --Catherine Manabat

Jet Li in Combat

Jet Li's new movie, War, costarring Jason Statham (The Transporter) will be released in theaters August 24th.  Li plays a notorious assassin named Rogue who kills off the partner of Statham's FBI agent Jack Crawford. As Statham seeks revenge, he becomes tangled in Rogue's bloody crime battle between Asian mob rivals the Triad's and Yakuza. The film is produced by Lionsgate and features a slew of agent talent including Devon Aoki, Terry Chen, Sung Kang, Steph Song and many more. This will be Li's first return to the American silver screen since 2003's Cradle 2 the Grave. His upcoming projects include The Forbidden Kingdom and The Mummy 3. --Janice Jann