Tag: hollywood

By Selome Hailu SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for Episode 3 of “The Sympathizer” on HBO. Phanxine isn’t an actor. Or so he says, though one might beg to differ after seeing his performance in “Love It or Leave It,” the third episode of HBO’s “The Sympathizer.” Though he’s no stranger to filmmaking, having directed and produced popular features such as the Vietnamese box office hit “Sweet 20,” Phanxine is a first-time performer. In fact, his involvement in “The Sympathizer” only came together after an audition he attended as a prank — more on that later. Episode 2 saw the General (Toan Le) begin to suspect the presence of a North Vietnamese spy among the South Vietnamese community he began building in Los Angeles after the war, but he’s stil...

By Jazz Tangcay When “The Sympathizer” showrunner and director Park Chan-Wook brainstormed ideas for HBO’s newest miniseries, one scene struck him as a “quintessential American institution and represented the idea of America.” It took place in a steakhouse with several characters coming together. Based on the best-selling novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen and set at the end of the Vietnam War, “The Sympathizer” follows a captain, played by Hoa Xuande, in the South Vietnamese army who’s secretly spying for the North Vietnamese communists. As Saigon falls and the U.S. retreats, the Captain remains embedded and escapes to Los Angeles. Throughout, Robert Downey Jr. pops up as various characters who interact with the Captain including Claude, the Captain’s CIA contact, as well as a professo...

BY ELLIE CALNAN Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25) has added a rendez-vouz with Italian actor and filmmaker Valeria Golino to its programme as well as two animated features and the first Cinema de la Plage titles. Golino, whose credits include Rain Man and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, will premiere the first episode of her new serieshe Art Of Joy followed by an in conversation event. The series, which will screen in Italian cinemas in July, stars Jasmine Trinca, Tecla Insolia and Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and follows a Sicilian woman in the early 1900s who dreams of a better life.  The actor and filmmaker has premiered two of her films at Cannes previously – Honey in 2013 and Euforia in 2019. The festival has also added two titles aimed ...

BY JEREMY KAY   Sony Pictures has pushed Karate Kid from December to May 2025 and pushed back Kraven The Hunter to fill the holiday season slot. Karate Kid had been scheduled to open on December 13 of this year and according to sources is being held back in order to follow the sixth and final season of Cobrai Kai, which was delayed due to the strikes. Ben Wang in the title role as Karate Kid, alongside Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, Ming-Na Wen, Aramis Knight, Wyatt Oleff and Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, who will reprise their characters from te original franchise. Jonathan Entwistle directs from Rob Lieber’s screenplay. Kraven The Hunter, an origins story starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Spider-Man’s eventual nemesis, has been pushe...