Author: Denise Coley
Starring Kim Tae-ri, Ryu Joon-yeol, Kim Woo-bin, and Lee Ha-nee, Alienoid: Return to the Future is the continuation of writer and director Choi Dong-hoon’s hit time jumping Sci-Fi adventure film Alienoid released in 2022. For information on where to watch Alienoid: Return to the Future, visit the official Well Go USA site. Carolyn Hinds Freelance Critic, Journalist & Podcaster African American Film Critics Association Member, Tomatometer-Approved Critic Co-Host & Producer So Here’s What Happened! Podcast Bylines at http://Authory.com/CarolynHinds Twitter & Instagram: @CarrieCnh12
In her latest documentary short film 14 Paintings, which premiered in the Documentary Short Films Program at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, award-winning director Dongnan Chen (The Trail From Xinjian 2013, Singing in the Wilderness 2022), invites her audience to not only look at the 14 paintings highlighted, but to think about the artists of the famed Dafen Village, who dedicated hours of painstaking effort to create them. “Art is subjective” and “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” are two very old sayings used to describe situations where the creation of art in all its infinite variations…
Bhutan has been ranked as one of the happiest countries in Asia and the world. Despite being less corporate and industrialized, Bhutan has proven that happiness comes from a mindset, not belongings. This Himalayan kingdom, which was once alienated from the rest of the world until 1974, is a tourist hotspot despite the expensive daily tax for foreigners. Bhutan is one of the fewest countries with the youngest democracy in the world after their monarch willingly abducted the throne to promote the country’s happiness. Bhutan’s panoramic views of mountain vistas and ancient lakes as well as cultural and historic…
2023 was an amazing year for K-Dramas. From undercover cops to pig farms, here are some of the most popular dramas of the year! The Good Bad Mother (Netflix) The Good Bad Mother, available on Netflix, centers around a grown man and his estranged mother. As a lawyer in the city, he stays far away from his hometown village where his mother is a pig farmer. However, after being in a terrible car accident, the man’s memory reverts back to when he was a child. Now, his mother cares for her adult son as he struggles to heal…
Blue. It’s the first vision one gets when they walk into Houston’s White Oak Music Hall lower level on a Tuesday night in late January. The stage is bathed in it. The mood is set right away. (If you know, you.will.knovv.) The air is spiced with vanilla and a mingling of scents from excited womxn and some of their male companions, hoping the sultry R&B the DJ promises will cross over into something romantic. And the scene is romantic, a pallor of moody lights and expectant energy that makes the room buzz with anticipation. (Imagine being hypnotized by The…
Tongyeong is a coastal city situated in the southern part of Korea with international recognition for its deep maritime history and contribution to arts, music, and culture. In Hansado Island, Tongyeong, the legendary Admiral Yu Sin Si led Korea’s Joseon Kingdom to victory against the Japanese revolution. As such, Tongyeong City is filled with traces of the admiral’s legacy through the city’s numerous historical folklore and sites. In addition to being a historical city, Tongyeong City is known as the birthplace of famous musicians, including the iconic composer Yu I Sang, poet Kim Choon Su, and novelist Park Kyong…
Premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Brief History of a Family, is first time feature writer and director Jianjie Lin’s tense, methodically paced, and layered examination of the effects of China’s infamous political strategy known as the ‘One Child Policy’ on a small well-off middle-class family and their mysterious young acquaintance. Starring newcomer to the screen Lin Muran as Wei a high schooler and aspiring professional fencing athlete who cautiously befriends Sun Xilun’s enigmatic Shuo, Brief History of a Family takes a nation-wide government policy and shrinks it down to the micro – literally and figuratively. By focusing…
Have you ever seen an urban forest? It’s a space of densely compacted greenery right in the middle of a city. Oftentimes, these are planted using the Miyawaki method of forestation. Essentially, this method brings the forest to a small plot of land in an urban setting. Within the span of 20-30 years, these cultivated plots can grow a forest! That might seem like a long time, but most forests take between 200-300 years to grow. That’s quite the expedited development! Here’s how it works: various species of plants are grown directly next to one another. This…
Download and Streaming links https://lilleague.lnk.to/Lollipop Music Video https://youtu.be/cCP1vluMi1Y Japanese dance/vocal/rap group LIL LEAGUE have released their new single ‘Lollipop’, the lead track from their upcoming first full-length album ‘TRICKSTER’, along with a music video. The song title hints at something sweet, but the theme of the lyrics is the contrast between “the surface and what lies beneath”, or the light side and the dark. We all yearn for a world that is sweet and glamourous, but beneath the surface lie bitter and painful experiences. Artists who live public lives in the bright spotlight may be plunged into darkness for…
Studio Ghibli films have captured viewers for decades. They have such a beauty to them, and the stories are charming, touching, and peaceful. The stunning imagery can be traced back to Kawase Hasui. A Japanese artist born in 1883, he made incredible contributions to his country’s art scene, influencing not just the craft of his day but inspiring future generations. His work helped inspire the creation of Studio Ghibli’s timeless animation. Kawase Hasui’s artistry took off during the early 1900s. He joined the Shin-Hanga movement, which means “new prints”. This group wanted to bring Japanese woodblock painting techniques into…
The Fort Worth, Texas Concert was extremely hyped for Odd Eye Circle! They performed some of their old songs by the “sub-unit of ARTMS,” then their solo songs plus their newer songs, along with cover songs that each of them performed amazingly by the way. This is their second time to Texas, their first time was in Dallas, so this is their first time in Fort Worth. The girls’ fans; Loonatics were really excited to see them again, shouting their names and saying “I love you,” but also jamming out to their music and performance. Plus, it was cute…
Thank you BMO Stadium and KRAZY Super Concert for your safety and comfort concern for all. #KRAZYSuperConcertPostponement #BMOStadiumKRAZYConcertpostponement #kcrushnews ##safetyconcernrain #SouthernCaliforniaregionrains #newdate #newdateannouncedsoon #checksocialmediachannels #kcrushamerica #KRAZYSuperConcertNoLongerFebruary9and10 #postponement #KRAZYSuperConcertnews
Japanese idol group Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu released their new album ‘Tokimeku Koi to Seishun’ on January 24. This was followed by two hugely successful solo performances at Yokohama Arena on January 27 and 28, the group’s biggest concerts to date. The music video for ‘hapilablue!’ is also out now; the video is packed full of happiness, love and youth, the three themes of the song. The music video expresses these themes through its must-watch dance choreography, switching between three different costume changes and sets, before reaching the final climax where the members of Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu dance surrounded by floating bubbles…
2023 brought us another great K-Pop year, with artists like Fifty Fifty and BLACKPINK’s Jisoo going viral with their respective hits “Cupid” and “Flower,” BTS’ Agust D (Suga), V, and Jungkook proving themselves viable soloists, and SHINee, Sunmi, and BTOB showing that they can still hang with the new group of young guns. This past year was one for the ages as K-Pop fans from various generations had something to be excited about as 2023 sped by. The excitement from different K-Pop fandoms radiated in our seventh annual Kcrush America K-Pop Music Awards. This year, voters from Australia, North America,…
For his first feature film Dìdi (弟弟) – the Mandarin word for little brother – writer and director Sean Wang, chose to look to his past, 2008 to be specific, for inspiration in order to look forward. 2008 is a time where the film’s protagonist Chris, Sean’s alter ego played charmingly by Izaac Wang, is caught between wanting to explore this new world of modernity where his culture and race as a Taiwanese American boy might not matter in a way it did before, and not understanding what his mother Chungsin (Joan Chen), older sister Vivian (Shirley Chen), and…
Since 2008 the government and monarchy of Bhutan have made it a political and cultural policy to promote happiness to foster stability of the country itself. By implementing the Gross National Happiness (GNH) index, an equation that mathematically measures and calculates the happiness levels of the population, the government believes the success of the people equals the success of the country. But what happens when Agents of Happiness, the very people tasked with researching the happiness of others, realize that they themselves aren’t happy, and that what’s needed to make a person truly happy, and content can’t be quantified by…
K-Pop sensations CRAVITY, KISS OF LIFE, AMPERS&ONE and others performing on April 26 & 27 GRAMMY Museum® returns to host their own stage at three-day expo featuring Q&A panel discussions with artists Tickets to go on sale starting January 30 for presales and February 1 for public sales at webridgeexpo.com WE BRIDGE, the three-day convention and two-day music festival celebrating Asian entertainment and culture, has announced their return to Las Vegas on April 26-28 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center and Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. The industry’s trailblazing icons DYNAMIC DUO, HWASA and JESSI…
She Her Her Hers is a rising indie powerhouse across Japan, China, and the world at large. Currently in their biggest Asian 2023-2024 tour for their “Diffusion of Responsibility” album, the three piece band has had a massive popularity uprising in the last 5 years since their debut in 2011. The Chelsea hit-maker band has showcased its musical forte through its hypnotizing works, including through the “Location” and “Afterglow” albums. Known for their uniquely mesmerizing beats fused with harmonizing lyrics, She Her Her Hers band’s live performances have become a spectacle worth looking forward to. KCrush America had an…
Japanese band SUIREN released their new digital EP ‘Reverse’ on January 24, showcasing their unique keyboard-laced rock sound. SUIREN was formed in 2020 by vocalist Sui and keyboard player/arranger Ren. They have won praise for their meticulous sound, centered on Sui’s piercing singing voice and ephemeral, fragile melodies. They have provided theme songs for multiple anime series and movies, drawing attention from music fans. The EP includes many gems, including the lead track ‘Eye Shadow’, along with ‘stella’, which was used as the main theme song for Square Enix’s highly anticipated game ‘STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY R’ –…
In this brief interview on the red carpet at Sundance 2024, directors of the narrative documentary Agent of Happiness, Arun Bhattari (Mountain Man) and Dorottya Zurbó (Easy Lessons) spoke with me about translating the unique humor of the people of Bhutan, and how being happy is as much a mind set as it is a political mandate. Agent of Happiness had its World Premiere in the World Cinemas Documentary Competition program at the Sundance Film Festival, held in Park City, Utah. The film is the second project Bhattarai and Zurbó have collaborated on with the 2017 documentary The Next Guardian,…