Contrary to popular belief, TV does not rot your brains. If that were true, I’d have a rotten brain right now and so far, no one’s complained about the stench. We’ve no complaints of the summer leaving us so quickly. It’s ushering in a brand new season of fall TV shows featuring a variety of Asian American talents. TV doesn’t rot your brains, it only gives exposure to talent worthy of exposure. What better way to increase the exposure than with the Ningin Fall Asian TV Special? More »

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Not a lot of people know this, but I was raised on fame in the 80s. And by “fame,” I mean the Irene Cara karaoke version of the song used in the movie of the same name: Fame. Minus a starring role in the Hannah Montana show, I’ve got a lot in common with Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, star of the upcoming 2009 remake out Sept. 25. Aside from both being Filipinas with painfully long names and shiny hair, we’ve both capitalized on this movie. Me by way of forced family function karaoke performances, her by way of starring in a Hollywood movie about young people trying to become famous. Jealous? Don’t be. You’ll become famous with this week’s Fame pin game. More »

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My Dearest Beyonce: I adore you. With every ounce of my being, I try to channel you behind closed doors in my underwear, with hopes of finally nailing down the Single Ladies dance. I, like Kanye, truly believed you had one of the best videos of all time. Until I saw a video of Charice perform your Halo song live at this year’s Big-E fair. More »

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Ever have those mornings after a long debaucherous night, only to realize you don’t remember a thing? I know I have once or five times. How about waking up only to find that you can’t remember a thing from being inside a hyper-sleep chamber in deep space? Don’t look at me guys, I’m actually not an alien — can’t shed any light on that. Perhaps, the upcoming Pandorum film featuring world-class martial artist Cung Le, will? Le plays Manh, a space crew member that aids Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster’s characters into figuring out what happened while hungover, deep space-style. I can’t promise full space cadet-hood with the Pandorum Pin game, but at least you’ll remember it. That’s how good it is this week. More »

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Kids are back in school, leaves start to turn a golden hue and I’ll be on constant fire-watch because it’s still fire-season in California. Sept. 22 in the Western hemisphere marks the end of the summer. The end of the summer is hardly a reason to be sad because this only means one thing: It’s time for the Ningin End of the Summer Special! More »

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…so sings comedienne Jen Kwok in her latest music video for, “Date an Asian.” The chorus of the song suggests you do more than just date an Asian man that I fully support but can’t really elaborate too much on because, well…just watch the music video. More »

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There’s something a little off about the first few seconds of the White on Rice trailer that I think the White on Rice pin game results post will fix. It’s no big deal, just sit back, close your eyes and visualize me as a middle aged Japanese divorcee. Then read this dialogue: More »

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Brothers and sisters looking into pledging for the Phi Kappa Kappa Kappa Ningin Pin Gameda house, your Sorority Row pin game results time has arrived. Before I announce our future brothers and sisters, I just want to say that I am very proud of all of you. Over the past year, you’ve been able to distinguish celluloid train wrecks from film masterpieces and vice versa. Like mini-Siskel and Eberts, only younger and better looking. Stronger too, probably. Speaking of strength, Sorority Row closed in at Rottentomatoes with a weak 29%. More »

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A thousand boxing fans attended today’s Pacquiao vs. Cotto public news conference held at New York’s Yankee Stadium. Of the thousand, none of whom were yours truly. Sad, but true. What’s true is this: This fight will be M-A-J-O-R. Nevermind the fact that it occurs on my birth week. It’s major because the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter Manny “The Pac Man” Pacquiao is at the highest peak of the highest peak of a whirlwind career possessing hardly any losses. More »

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The first set Green Hornet filming photos have emerged on the Internet today, featuring Taiwanese megastar Jay Chou hanging out with Cameron Diaz, all natural like. Like buddies from college or neighbors from around the block. More »

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Forget Korea exists for just a moment. In fact, don’t even consider 2PM’s Jae Bum’s ethnic background and nationality. While we’re at it, let’s forget he’s a celebrity and the age he was when he said what he said to get him into trouble. I’ve been looking at different sides of the issue, examining where the hatred is stemming from and reading different opinions like the ones in today’s Seoul Beats’ op-ed.There’s still an unaddressed issue that is frustrating. It’s the issue of the use of the word “gay” as a descriptive word to mean “stupid” or “dumb.” More »

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Last week, Lillian brought White On Rice to your attention as a comedy film devoid of the usual Asian stereotypes. This week, I thought I’d take advantage of this White on Rice pin game post to talk to you all about a subject very close to my heart (rice) and an issue that has been eating at my soul since I’ve discovered Whole Foods. Folks, rice…isn’t just white. It’s brown, red, black, purple, yellow, etc. Thus, the saying, “white on rice,” is a stereotypical statement in itself. Am I being serious? No. Take me serious in saying this: More »

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In college, I bypassed the Greek system because I didn’t want to get in trouble for making it a hobby of creating funny frat and sorority names. What’s so offensive about Busta Kappa or Kappa Tappa Kegga, American Greek system? Or playing pranks on unsuspecting frat boys that somehow lead to freak accidents that end up literally haunting you for the rest of your life? Oh, whoops. I just blabbed Sorority Row’s synopsis. Sorority Row is a horror film out this week featuring Jamie Chung (Samurai Girl, Sucker Punch, Dragonball Evolution, MTV’s The Real World) as main sorority sister Claire. She’s so main character that I don’t even have to explain where to look out for her in the trailer. More »

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It looks like we’ve been played by Gamer. Again, it was another movie we had high expectations for. Maybe it was the high-octane action-packed trailers? Ludacris? (Ludacris sold me.) Hopes of Gerard Butler’s gamer character being a reincarnation of 300’s King Leonidas? THIS IS…GAMER! Gamer closed in at Rottentomatoes at a final 24%. It then managed to slip down to 21%. Yikes. More »

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Ever experience feeling hurt and flattered at the same time? I’m flattered that we all set high expectations for All About Steve because it’s loosely based on the story of my life (sans Bradley Cooper eventually falling in love with me), but hurt because movie critics just didn’t believe in me and my plight of being an awkward girl highly unsuccessful in the dating scene. Sad, but true. But as the title goes, it is not All About Jinra. It is All About Steve, and to tell you All About Steve…it closed with a final score 6% on Rottentomatoes. More »

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What’s a Jinra to do when she gets lonely in the Ningin offices? In times like these I just ring up my close personal ABDC/SYTYCD dancer friends and invite them over to entertain me. One particular boring day, I had Di “Moon” Zhang, Hokuto “Hok” Konishi (Quest Crew) and Phillip “PacMan” Chbeep just completely annihilate the office with their precisely choreographed tutting, popping, locking moves. It’s so hard being me. More »

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This is all I know about All About Steve: Girl (Sandra Bullock) meets boy (Bradley Cooper.) Girl becomes infatuated with boy in the most comedic of ways. Boy falls prey to her idiosyncratic schemes for attention. Stand-up comedian Ken Jeong (The Hangover) is worth paying attention to as Cooper’s cameraman sidekick in All About Steve. Random trivia: Did you know Ken Jeong is a former physician? Acting is obviously doing something for him. More »

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Just in case you needed to fulfill your daily postmodernistic thought quota, think no further. (Look no further?) This pin game is about a game. Or rather, a movie called Gamer centered on a game that utilizes humans as pawn-like figures controlled by gamers. The film stars Gerard Butler (300), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer), Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Ludacris (rapper whose done less time than Martha Stewart.) According to IMDB, Ludacris is credited as ‘Humanz Brother’ while Aaron Yoo is ‘Humanz Dude.’ Now, I know what you’re thinking. I really hope this means that Aaron Yoo plays Luda’s brother too. “Yes, I am Asian and actually… I’m not Ludacris’ brother. I just play him in a movie.” More »

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If you’re upset that BoA hasn’t cracked any significant Billboard lists or that Sunye not dating Joe Jonas isn’t doing much for the Wonder Girls, I say don’t sweat it. Remember The Saturdays, the British girl group we buzzed about a few months ago? They’ve just released the music video for “Forever Is Over” and announced it to be their first single from their sophomore album. This is their way of saying that they’re probably not going to come to the US because they lack the finances to promote their successful debut album from this year. More »

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Erika, Erika, Erika. Not long after I’ve publicly extolled your vocal talent and your fierce beauty, you appear on national TV and screw up “God Bless America” at a Dodgers vs. Cardinals game. As part of what I like to call NINGINtervention, I am calling you out: Perform every performance like the rent is due TONIGHT. And by that I mean: Remember your lyrics! More »

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