Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
Tiffany Young was 15 when she left her native California for Seoul, South Korea, where she hoped to become a music star. Within two years, the teenager made her debut with Girls’ Generation, which would become one of the most successful K-Pop groups ever. She’s back in the U.S. and has a new solo single, “Over My Skin.”
In modern South Korea, pop stars and politics don’t often mix. While some hip-hop acts (such as Epik High) address controversial topics, many idol groups stick to a slick, apolitical formula with a proven record of success. BTS, who just became the first K-pop act ever to top the Billboard 200 album sales chart, have become a record-setting success story in part because of their willingness to buck this convention.
In “Gutenberg! The Musical!,” two actors portray 30 different characters (of both sexes!) and sing 15 songs in a show about Johann Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press. Clearly, this isn’t your typical play.
When entrepreneur Irving “Bud” Levin started the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1957, his intention was to compete with the prestigious festivals already thriving in Berlin, Cannes, Edinburgh and Venice and to establish the U.S. as a viable member of the international film-festival circuit. Today, as its 50th anniversary edition begins (the event runs through May 10), it’s clear that America’s oldest film festival, which features 25 juried awards and is presented by the San Francisco Film Society, has established a venerable presence on the North American circuit — even though it might not necessarily have eclipsed, say, the Sundance Film Festival just yet.
For almost everyone in the entertainment business, awards season culminated with the Oscar ceremony late last month. But for J. Wayne Anderson and Mary Ann Anderson, 2007’s ShoWesters of the Year, the festivities are only just beginning.
More than two decades ago, an Israeli rock star affectionately known to his fans as Poogy decided to create his own film festival. An avid lover of the arts and an actor himself, Poogy invested $35,000 of his own money into the venture and formed a fest designed to showcase the work of Israeli filmmakers. He was unsure of how film fans would react to his project, but he was certain that it was something he had to try.
Slamdance Film Festival co-founder and president Peter Baxter knows all too well what goes into making a movie and trying to find an audience for it. Baxter currently is working with James Zalcman on “Wild in the Streets,” a documentary about a rough English sport that was the precursor to soccer.
A crop of outstanding documentaries bravely examines some of the modern world’s most pressing issues — from global warming to free speech.
Back then, Hollywood was respectable, much like the rest of America. A secret was a secret to be kept, and the studio moguls made sure they were kept.
In both the book “Memoirs of a Geisha” and its film adaptation, women fall into two categories: sexy geisha and conniving dragon ladies, two stereotypes about Asian women that linger today. Already some members of the Asian-American community are worried that the film, which opens locally Friday, may reinforce unflattering images of Asian women as being submissive, sexual objects.