Giant Robot: Asian Pop Culture and Beyond / Chungking Express

In-person:

Giant Robot co-founders Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong; co-director Dylan Robertson; actor-filmmaker Daniel Wu. A book signing for "Giant Robot: Thirty Years of Defining Asian-American Pop Culture" will begin at 6 p.m.

Admission is free. No advance reservations. Your seat will be assigned to you when you pick up your ticket at the box office. Seats are assigned on a first come, first served basis. The box office opens one hour before the event.

Giant Robot: Asian Pop Culture and Beyond

U.S., 2022

An episode of PBS SoCal’s Emmy Award-winning series Artbound, “Giant Robot: Asian Pop Culture and Beyond” is an insider look at the history and influence of the magazine from its earliest days. Interviews with founder Eric Nakamura along with Martin Wong, Margaret Cho, Daniel Wu, David Choe, Claudine Ko (culture editor) and Wendy Lau (graphic designer) capture the DIY, punk-infused spirit that fueled its coverage of Asian and Asian American alternative culture as well as its distinctive, innovate look. Insightful and inspiring, the episode will be followed by an in-person conversation with many of its subjects.

DCP, color, 57 min. Directors: Dennis Nishi, Dylan Robertson.

Chungking Express

Hong Kong, 1994

Wong Kar-wai’s masterpiece of Hong Kong cool came out the same year Giant Robot debuted as a zine, a fateful coincidence that, along with the premiere of Margaret Cho’s All-American Girl, makes 1994 a pretty good year in the rise of Asian and Asian American culture. Reviewed in GR issue #3 where it was ranked third in a top 10 of Hong Kong movies (behind Drunken Master II and The Lovers), Wong’s “quirky little gem” with “a very avant-garde, experimental feel to it” is a swirled reverie of action, romance, longing and mystery featuring Christopher Doyle’s dazzling cinematography and iconic performances from its entire cast.

DCP, color, in Cantonese with English subtitles, 103 min. Director: Wong Kar-wai. Screenwriter: Wong Kar-wai. With: Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-wai.