#FIRSTLOOK: NEW DISNEY SHORT “US AGAIN”

Disney have announced their first Animated Short in five years, titled US AGAIN, coming this June to Disney+ and also arriving in theatres (where applicable) this March alongside RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON.

Synopsis:

Set in a vibrant city pulsating with rhythm and movement, an elderly man and his young-at-heart wife rekindle their youthful passion for life and each other on one magical night.  The years fade away as the joy of dancing propels them across the exciting cityscape of their youth and revives fond memories and ambitions.  “Us Again” is told entirely without dialogue and set to an original funk and soul musical score reminiscent of the mid-60s.

(Photo credit: Disney)

#INTERVIEW: EURICO DA SILVA ON “RIDING FOR FREEDOM”

Seven-time champion jockey Eurico da Silva arrived in Canada in the early 2000s after travelling the world riding among the best in Brazil, Singapore, Macau and more. Known for his larger than life personality and positive spirit, nobody would ever have known he was battling same dark demons that stemmed from his childhood, threatening to destroy everything he had built.

da Silva‘s Memoir RIDING FOR FREEDOM released late 2020, already is nominated for a Sovereign Award, winning raves on the internet. Not only is it shocking and disturbing, it also is inspirational and uplifting in chronicling his will to survive. The Book is available now on Amazon here.

We had the pleasure of chatting with da Silva about the book and our own troubled relationships with our fathers. This and more, below:

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

#FIRSTLOOK: NEW TRAILER FOR “THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY”

You cannot miss Andra Day‘s phenomenal performance as Jazz legend Andra Day as Billie Holiday. See the new Trailer for THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY!

Synopsis:

In the 1940’s, the US government targeted beloved jazz icon Billie Holiday as part of their war on drugs, to prevent her from performing her heart-wrenching ballad “Strange Fruit,” a blatant cry against lynching. Directed by Lee Daniels, written by Suzan-Lori Parks and starring Andra Day.

See the Trailer:

eOne Films release THE UNITED STATES vs. BILLIE HOLIDAY on Digital and On-Demand Friday, March 2, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: eOne Films)

#COOKING: BIBIMBAP RECIPE

BiBimBap. This healthy and cheerful Korean staple is an all-time favourite and I have been known to go through periods where all I eat is this. It is extremely hearty and fun to make. The term itself translates to “Mixed Rice”, which is accurate. You assemble all the ingredients together, add the sauce and toss it like a salad. While the traditional recipe uses Bulgogi Beef, I’m doing a spicy Korean Chicken and adding-in fried Zucchini fritters, Hobak Jun and Japchae, Korean Glass Noodles. This is a real tour-de-force! This recipe serves four. This is a medium-spicy.

Rice:
1 1/4 cups Botan Rice, rinsed
2 cups water

Korean Chicken:
4-6 Chicken Thighs, de-boned and cut into thirds
3 tbsps Gochujang
1 tbsp Korean Red Chili Pepper
1 tbsp Organic Raw Sugar
3 tbsps Sesame Oil
1 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and minced
1 stalk green onion, cut into 2-inch-long pieces
Canola oil

Japchae:
1 handful Sweet Potato Glass Noodles
3 tbsps Sesame Oil
2 tbsps Organic Raw Sugar
2 tbsps Soy Sauce
1/2 sweet red pepper, sliced thinly
1/2 white onion, sliced thinly
2 stalks green onion, chopped into 2-inch pieces
1/2 tsp sea salt
Sesame seeds, toasted

Carrots:
6 miniature carrots, slivered into thin matchsticks
Sprinkle of sea salt
1 tbsp Seasoned Rice Vinegar

Crown Daisies:
1-2 handfuls of Crown Daisies (Spinach will do too)
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
Sea salt, to taste

Shiitake Mushrooms:
6-8 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, soaked in water minimum 1-2 hours and sliced thinly
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
Sprinkle of Organic Raw Sugar

Hobak Jun:
1 Zucchini, cut into 1/4″-thick slices
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup flour
Sprinkle of sea salt
Canola oil

Additional Toppings:
1/4 cup Kimchi, chopped
Sesame Seeds, toasted
4 eggs

BiBimBap Sauce:
1/2 cup Gochujang
1 tbsp water
2-3 tbsps Organic Raw Sugar
2 tbsps Sesame Oil
2 tbsps Seasoned Rice Vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions:

1. Prepare rice in rice cooker.
2. Prepare Japchae. In medium-size pot, boil water with salt. Once boiled, add Yam Noodles and cook uncovered. Bring to a boil and cook no more than 3-5 minutes. You do not want the noodles too soft. Strain in colander and run under cold water. Press dry with paper towel.
3. In skillet, heat 1 tbsp sesame oil and sautée green onions, red pepper and white onion for about 5 minutes till caramelized.
4. In small bowl, mix soy, sugar and 2 tbsps sesame oil.
5. Toss noodles into skillet with sauce and fry for about 3 minutes, careful to avoid noodles breaking. Set aside.
6. In small pot, blanch carrots and drain in colander. Toss-in rice vinegar and sea salt. Set aside.
7. In small pot, blanch Crown Daisies and drain in colander. Do not overcook. Toss in sesame oil and sea salt. Chop bunch in half. Pat dry with paper towel. Set aside.
8. In small skillet, add sesame oil and sautée Shiitake mushrooms. Add oyster sauce, soy sauce and sprinkle of sugar. Cook till the mushrooms shrink-in a bit and set aside.
9. Prepare Hobak Jun. Place flour on one plate and have beaten egg in a shallow dish. Heat skillet on medium heat with a bit of canola oil. Season zucchini gently with sea salt and once they start sweating, dip in flour and then egg mixture lightly before placing in skillet. Fry till golden and flip. Transfer to platter and set aside.
10. Prepare Korean Chicken. Marinate chicken pieces in Gochujang, Korean Red Chili Pepper, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and wine.
11. Heat large skillet with canola oil, on medium-high heat. Sautée green onion, ginger, garlic and white onion. Add chicken and cook till marinade begins to thicken (approx 10 minutes) and chicken caramelizes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
12. Prepare sauce. In small sauce pan, sautée garlic in sesame oil and add-in remaining ingredients, bringing to boil. Pour into bowl and cool. Heat canola oil in skillet on medium heat. Fry eggs sunny-side up, leaving yolk runny. Carefully set aside, being careful not to break yolks.
13. In serving bowl, assemble by placing rice at bottom first. Create even sections for Kimchi, Carrots, Crown Daisies, 2-3 pieces of Hobak Jun, Chicken, Japchae and Shiitake. Place fried egg on-top and then add sauce. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Serve with large spoon and mix well.

Gallery:

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#GIVEAWAY: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN DUA LIPA’S “FUTURE NOSTALGIA (THE MOONLIGHT EDITION)”

Warner Music Canada x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win a CD copy of THE MOOONLIGHT EDITION of Dua Lipa‘s phenomenal album, FUTURE NOSTALGIA. The Album includes smash hits Don’t Start Now, Break my Heart and Levitating!

This Deluxe Edition features three more previously unheard tracks ‘If It Ain’t Me’, ‘That Kind of Women’ and ‘Not My Problem (feat. JID)’ and will include the top 10 smash hit single from Miley Cyrus Feat Dua Lipa ‘Prisoner’ which has reached 250m streams worldwide. Also on the album is ‘Fever’ with Angèle, which spent three weeks at #1 in France and 11 weeks at #1 in Belgium and J Balvin, & Bad Bunny ‘UN DIA (ONE DAY) (Feat. Tainy) which has hit over 500m streams.

Full track listing:

1. Future Nostalgia
2. Don’t Start Now
3. Cool
4. Physical
5. Levitating
6. Pretty Please
7. Hallucinate
8. Love Again
9. Break My Heart
10. Good In Bed [Explicit]
11. Boys Will Be Boys
12. Dua Lipa x Angèle – Fever
13. We’re Good
14. Miley Cyrus – Prisoner (feat. Dua Lipa)
15. If It Ain’t Me
16. That Kind Of Woman
17. Not My Problem (feat. JID) [Explicit]
18. Levitating (feat. DaBaby)
19. J Balvin, Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny – UN DIA (ONE DAY) (Feat. Tainy)

A selection of tracks from FUTURE NOSTALGIA – THE MOONLIGHT EDITION:

You can stream FUTURE NOSTALIGA – THE MOONLIGHT EDITION now here.

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Re-Tweet this Contest Tweet below for an extra chance or “like” this Post on our Instagram.

We love Dua Lipa! Enter for your chance to #win a copy of her acclaimed FUTURE NOSTALGIA album, The Moonlight Edition.https://t.co/QPo0vHE8Mj pic.twitter.com/WCc5dtwwNY

— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) February 15, 2021

Rules and regulations here.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Music Canada)

#FIRSTLOOK: NEW TRAILER FOR “AFTER WE FELL”

Right in time for Valentine’s Day comes this new Trailer for AFTER WE FELL, the latest installment in the AFTER Franchise.

Synopsis:

Just as Tessa makes the biggest decision of her life, everything changes. Revelations about her family, and then Hardin’s, throw everything they knew before in doubt and makes their hard-won future together more difficult to claim.

Cast: Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Josephine Langford, Stephen Moyer and Mira Sorvino

VVS Films release AFTER WE FELL, release TBD.

(Photo/video credit: VVS Films)

#GIVEAWAY: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A PREMIUM VOD RENTAL OF “BARB & STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR”

Lionsgate x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win a free PVOD rental of BARB & STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR! Critics are calling this a future Cult Classic!

SYNOPSIS:

Take a trip and break out of your shell with Barb and Star. From the gals who brought you Bridesmaids (co-stars and co-writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) comes BARB & STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR. Lifelong friends Barb and Star embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they decide to leave their small Midwestern town for the first time…ever. Romance, friendship and a villain’s evil plot…hold onto your culottes, BARB & STAR debuts in your home on February 12th!

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo, Jamie Dornan, Damon Wayans Jr., Vanessa Bayer, Fortune Feimster, Phyllis Smith, Ian Gomez, Michael Hitchcock, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Kwame Patterson, Rose Abdoo

Trailer:

To enter to win, click “like”on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Re-Tweet the below for another chance. You must be following!

Enter for a chance to #win a PVOD rental of BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR!

How: https://t.co/yxHfw8Jcmw pic.twitter.com/I3Ee9ptIVU

— MR. WILL WONG 📸 (@mrwillw) February 15, 2021

Rules and regulations here.

BARB & STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR on Premium Video-on-Demand Friday, February 12, 2021.

(Photo/video credit: Lionsgate)

#COOKING: AIR FRYER TURON RECIPE

Air Fryer Turon. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Filipino Cuisine, it honestly is so satisfying! One of my favourite things is Turon and it’s been so long since I’ve had it. It’s basically a sweet, caramelized egg roll with banana/plantain stuffed inside. So delicious. I was watching SELENA + CHEF and it was so cool seeing Toronto-born, New York-based Chef Jordan Andino guest star on the show, showing us how to make some traditional favourites. I love that his take on Turon has Jackfruit, a stinky, albeit delicious and underappreciated fruit. If you can find it fresh, use fresh, if not, no shame in canned. I’ve played around with this and adapted it for the Air Fryer, cutting sweetness and grease, but still enough to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Ingredients:

8 Egg Roll Wrappers
1 ripe Plantain (should have black markings on skin), cut into four pieces and then divided into thirds
4 pieces of fresh Jackfruit, sliced into strips
1/4 cup light brown sugar
4 tbsps melted unsalted butter
1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

1. Lay Egg Roll Wrapper on cutting board.
2. Arrange 3 strips of plantain and 2 jackfruit on wrap.
3. Sprinkle a bit brown sugar over plantain and jackfruit.
4. Fold bottom of wrap up, just to cover the fruit. then fold-up left and right sides. Dip finger in beaten egg wash and rub onto top strip of Egg Roll Wrapper. Fold over once more and seal gently.
5. Arrange Turon onto a platter.
6. Pre-heat Air Fryer at 375°F.
7. Brush melted butter allover the Turon. Sprinkle a bit more brown sugar.
8. Fry in two batches, four each for about 7 minutes. Flip Turon once half-way through.
9. Allow to cool about 10 minutes before eating.

Gallery:

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#FIRSTLOOK: “HELTER SKELTER: AN AMERICAN MYTH”

50 years after the conviction of the Manson Family comes new six-part EPIX Docu-Series HELTER SKELTER: AN AMERICAN MYTH, new episodes airing every Thursday on Hollywood Suite starting February 11, 2021.

With the Oscar-winning success of Quentin Tarantino‘s ONCE UPON A TIME.. IN HOLLYWOOD, and also a Novel on the way based on the Film, the public still is proving to be fascinated by Charles Manson and his pack of devotees – among those a few who carried out the murders of Actress Sharon Tate and four others in 1969. The Manson Family also were responsible for a number of other crimes including murder.

The Series, directed by  Lesley Chilcott (Watson, An Inconvenient Truth) is a comprehensive study of Manson and his Family members and through subject matters experts like Biographer Jeff Guinn and Journalist Ivor Davis, people who knew Manson, his actual followers and archived interview footage, we get a complete picture of one of the most fascinating criminals in history.

Chilcott seeks to understand how failed Musician Manson came to be one of America’s most famous criminals and cult leaders. We go all the way back to his childhood where he was separated at a young age from his parents who were incarcerated for a petty crime and thus, began a cycle of him spending his youth in detention centres, escalating to time in some of the nation’s toughest institutions. We come to learn that prison is actually where he feels most at home because this is where he grew-up literally and where his friendships were formed. In this regard, the Docu-Series offers a balanced approach as even with so much known about Manson, it offers still some shocking and surprising insights. With the amount of detail we get, we really have a renewed appreciation for how many facts Tarantino got exact in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

But how does he go on to be able to influence others on the scale he did? And this gets explored and is attributed to a course he had taken in an effort to get a fresh start in life.

Manson often targeted a certain vulnerability in the young women he recruited, tapping into something deep within their psyche providing the promise of a new start and validation. While things didn’t initially start off violent, matters escalated when Manson became convinced America was on the verge a Race War, forming alliances that would secure him access to weapons. He had convinced his followers that he was a manifestation of Christ and would be the one to guide them through salvation.

Through re-enactments, interviews and footage, Chilcott places us back to the era and it feels we are back in time when Manson first shocked a nation, making something that happened 50 years ago still feel very real. While the earlier episodes do a great job setting things up, the latter episodes which feature Davis that really dive deep. Davis wrote Manson Exposed: A Reporter’s Fifty-Year Journey into Madness and Murder, and truly was there on the front lines following the story during his tenure and he understands the collateral damage of those impacted by the murders.

Most of our fears approaching this Docu-Series was that we would be subject to disturbing images and re-enactments, and we’re thankful there isn’t too much of that, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t at the edge of our seat the entire way.

More here on the Series and airtimes on Hollywood Suite.

#NEWMUSIC: DUA LIPA – “WE’RE GOOD”

Dua Lipa keeps delivering the hits! A new edition of her phenomenal FUTURE NOSTALGIA has just arrived, called the Moonlight Edition. Included in the mix is this new track, WE’RE GOOD.

Check it out:

The elegant looking clip is co-directed by Vania Heymann and Gal Muggia.

Check-out FUTURE NOSTALIGA – THE MOONLIGHT EDITION here.

(Photo/video credit: Warner Music)