Duchess of Sussex criticises 'over-sexualised' caricatures of Asian women in film

Michaela Zee editor Andy Garcia, Regina Hall, Tony Hale and Lisa Ann Walter are among the stars being honored at this year’s San Diego International Film Festival. In its 21st year, SDIFF will include the return of the Opening Night Film Premiere, the Night of the Stars Tribute and Culinary Cinema. The festival has also announced new additions to this year’s lineup, including the drama “She Said,” with Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, and “The Inspection,” starring Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union and Bokeem Woodbine. Garcia will receive the Gregory Peck Award, Hall will be presented the Virtuoso Award, Hale with the Fairbanks Award and Walter with the Virtuoso Award. As previously announced, Colson Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) will receive the Spotlight Award following the screening of his upcoming drama film “Good News” on Oct. 23.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Novelist Amy Tan and Oscar-winning “Rain Man” screenwriter Ron Bass are on board to deliver a sequel to “The Joy Luck Club,” the 1993 movie that broke new ground for Asian American representation. The new film, “Joy Luck Club 2,” is set up at Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group, with Ashok and Priya Amritraj producing alongside Tan, Bass and Jeff Kleeman. A director hasn’t been announced yet. The original “Joy Luck Club,” directed by Wayne Wang, was an epic, multigenerational saga of Chinese and Chinese-American mothers and daughters, whose histories, stories and lives interweave as they navigate life. Club members included characters played by Tsai Chin, France Nuyen, Lisa Lu and Kieu Chinh. The ensemble cast also included Tamlyn Tomita, Rosalind Chao and Russell Wong.

Naman Ramachandran Zahan Kapoor debuts as the lead in “Faraaz,” which has its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival’s Thrill strand. The film is based on based on an incident in July 2016, where armed gunmen held up customers at the Holey Artisan Bakery for 12 hours, before killing 20 of them and two of the bakery staff. Two police officers and five of the gunmen died in a shootout. “Faraaz” is directed by Hansal Mehta (“Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story”) and produced by T-Series, part of its 100-film slate, Anubhav Sinha’s Benaras Mediaworks (“Article 15”) and Mahana Films.

Manori Ravindran International Editor New York’s South Asian International Film Festival has appointed Chayan Sarkar as its new president. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and festival director, Sarkar is also the founder of the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland in Australia. He takes over from SAIFF founder Shilen Amin, who will step down as president, but will remain a member of the festival’s board of directors. Sarkar joins SAIFF as the festival enters its 19th year as a leading film festival in the U.S. for new cinema from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and within the Indian diaspora. In recent years, SAIFF has become increasingly influential as a platform for South Asian cinema, both in the U.S. and internationally. Fourteen of India’s submissions for the international feature film Oscar have had their North American premieres at the festival.

Producers Tristan Goligher (Supernova) and Mike Goodridge (Triangle of Sadness) highlighted the importance of working across platforms and developing projects over an extended period during an industry keynote at the London Film Festival Tuesday. 

Nick Jonas has opened a new rooftop restaurant and bar!

Zack Sharf Eiza Gonzalez confirmed on Twitter that she is not starring as Elektra in the upcoming Disney+ Marvel series “Daredevil: Born Again” in the aftermath of backlash and online harassment from Marvel fans. Rumors have circulated online about Gonzalez’s alleged Elektra role since before San Diego Comic-Con in July, but some fans have criticized the casting and don’t want a Latina actor playing a comic book character of Greek descent. “I feel like I’m just gonna get it out of the way because, One I’m confused as for the amount of hate over this and two I feel like it saves people energy,” Gonzalez wrote on Twitter. “No, I’m not cast as Elektra in ‘Daredevil.’ I have already an on-going series exclusivity contract to ‘3 Body Problem.’ You’re welcome.”

Daredevil — after a super-fun appearance in this week's  -- and he couldn't be more excited to be suiting up as Matt Murdock once again.«I had a really fun time with Tatiana, and the chemistry between those two characters, the back and forth, was so much fun,» Cox told ET at Disney's D23 Expo last month. «We got to see a new side of Matt Murdock, a side of him where he's kind of enjoying his role and having fun and flirting.»The pair first faced off in court, as Matt defended superhero designer Luke Jacobson (Griffin Matthews) against claims from Jen Walters (Tatiana Maslany) and her client, Eugene Patilio, aka Leap-Frog (Brandon Stanley). However, when Leap-Frog later decided to kidnap Luke, She-Hulk and Daredevil got to don their superhero personas to jointly save the day — and capped it all off with a romantic rendezvous!Despite his devilish walk of shame at episode's end, Cox said he's «really emotional» to be reviving the character, both with his appearances in and, as well as a new upcoming series,, which was announced at San Diego Comic-Con this summer and is set to stream on Disney+ in spring 2024 — nearly a decade after originating the character in Netflix's  series, which was cancelled in 2018 after three seasons.«It's a bizarre experience to have played this character, to have the experiences I've had with this character, and the journey we've been on with the show, for that to be finished and ended — in my mind and heart, it's over — and then to be yanked back in and suddenly we're starting again and it's all happening again,» he admitted.

Meghan Markle returned to her Spotify podcast “Archetypes” on Tuesday and in an episode called “The Demystification of the Dragon Lady” tackled the “toxic stereotyping” of Asian women in movies like “Austin Powers,” “Kill Bill” and “Full Metal Jacket.” Markle recounted her childhood in Los Angeles, growing up adjacent to and very appreciative of the Asian influence in her upbringing. (She even recounts going to a Korean spa as a child, an initially embarrassing memory that she now cherishes.) In fact, Markle wasn’t familiar with Asian stereotypes, “ones we see in so many movies and throughout pop culture.”“Movies like ‘Austin Powers’ and ‘Kill Bill’ — they presented these caricatures of women of Asian descent as oftentimes oversexualized or aggressive,” Markle said on the podcast, which can you listen to below.

The Duchess of Sussex has attacked the “toxic stereotyping of women of Asian descent”. She hit out while talking on the delayed fourth episode of her ‘Archetypes’ podcast on Spotify after the instalment was postponed following the death of Queen Elizabeth. The mum-of-two, 41, also said while addressing the “Dragon Lady” concept she felt humbled growing up in Los Angeles surrounded by diverse cultures.

Meghan Markle is back in her “Archetypes” hosting chair after the podcast went on hiatus following the death of Queen Elizabeth.

“Almost Famous,” which starts previews Oct. 3 at the Bernard B. Jacobs.

Good afternoon, angels! Drew Barrymore’s got news — the actress is ready to reprise her role as one of Charlie’s iconic angels.

Lucy Dacus has released covers of Carole King‘s ‘It’s Too Late’ and ‘Home Again’, as well as a live performance video.Both songs originally featured exclusively on a 7″ Carole King ‘Home Again’ Vault Package released by Third Man Records earlier this year.Dacus’ take on the 1971 ‘Tapestry’ cuts were released yesterday (September 28).Listen to ‘Home Again’ below:And ‘It’s Too Late’ here:Earlier this month, the artist performed her take on ‘Home Again’ as part of The Line Of Best Fit secret sessions at this year’s End Of The Road festival. Coinciding with the release of her double single, that performance has also been made available.Watch it below:It’s not the first time in 2022 that Dacus has offered up her spin on classic pop hits.Back in July the singer-songwriter shared a cover of Cher‘s mega hit ‘Believe’, while March saw the young American cover Bruce Springsteen‘s ‘Dancing In The Dark’ at a show in New Jersey.

EXCLUSIVE: The Last Of The Winthrops explores powerful and stunning revelations as a woman reclaims her sense of self after taking an Ancestry DNA test. The directorial debut for co-directors Viviane G. Winthrop and Adam K. Singer will arrive on multiple digital platforms including iTunes/AppleTV and Amazon on November 11 worldwide following a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles beginning October 7.

After a four-week hiatus, Meghan Markle's top-rated podcast "Archetypes" will resume with new episodes on Oct. 4. The Duchess of Sussex had paused her Spotify podcast out of respect to Queen Elizabeth II's passing in September.

Naman Ramachandran San Diego’s The Old Globe has announced an extension of Aditya Chopra’s “Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical” due to popular demand. The Broadway-bound production has been extended for one week and will now play through Oct. 23, 2022. Chopra’s U.S. stage musical reimagining of his immensely popular 1995 Bollywood film “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” commonly abbreviated to DDLJ, addresses the need for cultural unification in a divided world. Shoba Narayan plays Simran, a young Indian American woman whose future is set via an arranged marriage back in India to a family friend. But when she convinces her strict father that she should spend a summer of freedom and fun in Europe, she falls for the charming Rog (Austin Colby), and her plans go out the window.

Dale McRaven, the television writer and creator of Perfect Strangers and Mork & Mindy, died on September 5. He was 83.