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ENTERTAINMENT B1
SEPTEMBER 22 - 28, 2011
Sean Kanan on How to Cook Like a Gentleman
COURTESY OF NTD TELEVISION
BY OLIVIA ZEITOUN
EPOCH TIMES STAFF
N
EW YORK—You might
know him as the bad
guy from “The Karate
Kid Part III,” or for his
more recent work on “The Young
and the Restless,” but actor and
producer Sean Kanan has a
different project up his sleeve
lately—writing. His first book,
“The Modern Gentleman,” was
released on Sept. 13, yet Kanan
is not a newcomer to the art of
writing.
“I’ve actually written for longer
than I have acted,” Kanan said
in a recent interview with NTD
Television on Wednesday, Sept. 14,
in New York. “Writing is really the
first endeavor into the arts that I
ever participated in.”
Combining his writing with
his love for cooking, Kanan has
written a cookbook specifically
with the male audience in mind
(but also inviting women for a
look into the male mind). “The
Modern Gentleman” will help
guys through not only the basics
of preparing a kitchen and cooking simple meals but also more
impressive dishes. The recipes
range from simple mac ‘n’ cheese
to roasted pork loin stuffed with
goat cheese, with the intention of
helping any man go from clueless
to culinary genius.
However, “The Modern Gentleman” isn’t just a cookbook. “The
book also deals with the lost art
of being a gentleman in today’s
Actor and author Sean Kanan (R) and NTD Television on-air personality Kean Wong.
sometimes confusing social landscape,” Kanan explains. According
to him, and surely many other
men out there, balancing the roles
of being a man is hard.
“Guys were left a little confused:
Am I supposed to be the alpha
male who is a problem solver, or
am I supposed to be the guy that
is sensitive and a really great listener? For my money, the reality
is that it’s a little of both, and it’s
somewhere in between.”
This balancing act is brought up
many times in his book. Kanan
humorously talks about relationships and about “connecting with
her with honesty and integrity
without being dismissed as ‘the
nice guy.’” Basically, it’s how to be
the strong alpha male type but
without acting like a cave man. To
achieve this, etiquette is required,
and such etiquette is the main
theme of many chapters in “The
Modern Gentleman.”
Becoming a gentleman, however, is not just an education
for confused or bad-mannered
adults. Being a gentleman is all
DISNEY ENTERPRISES INC.
about being a man who “exhibits
strength and compassion towards
others, a man who treats others
with tolerance and dignity,” all
according to the book.
So, wouldn’t that be a great thing
to teach children? That’s what
Kanan’s girlfriend Michele thought,
when she pointed out to him that
young boys who learn how to act
like gentlemen earlier on will take
that lesson with them in life and
avoid becoming bullies.
Kanan himself has had quite an
experience when it comes to bully-
ing. As a self-proclaimed “chubby
and awkward kid,” he was often
the victim of bullying. This led the
young Kanan to take up martial
arts, leading to his breakout acting
role. His experience with bullying
caused him to become a member
of the Anti-Defamation League,
helping in the fight against bullying.
With his new book, Kanan takes
preventing bullying to a new level,
reasoning that kids who know
how to be gentlemen will bring
compassion and tolerance into
their everyday life, and stop bullying.
The book’s focus is on the art of
being a gentleman in the kitchen. There is a chapter about the
utensils and ingredients you will
need to keep home, another one
on the subject of different wines
and liquors, and two chapters celebrating Italian cuisine.
But don’t worry, the book takes
on how to be a gentleman outside
of your kitchen, too. This includes
how to take women out on dates,
how to entertain a group, and even
advice on flower arranging, balanced out with a chapter about
defending yourself like a man.
Kanan concludes this cookingmeets-self-help book with tips on
how to buy the perfect engagement ring, hopefully showing
how far being a gentleman can
get you.
So just like the book’s tagline
reads, don’t just set the table. Set
the mood.
With reporting by NTD Television
Fear of the Unknown
SCOTT GREEN/ SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Restless
Director:
Cast:
Gus Van Sant
Henry Hopper,
Mia Wasikowska,
Ryo Kase,
Schuyler Fisk,
Jane Adams
Running time: 95 minutes
Rating:
PG- 13
BY MARK JACKSON
EPOCH TIMES STAFF
‘The Lion King’ Re-released in 3-D
BY VICTORIA KU
EPOCH TIMES STAFF
The heartwarming tale and
characters of “The Lion King” are
making their grand entrance to
the theaters again, but this time
in a completely renewed format
that has generations buzzing
with excitement.
Retitled appropriately “The
Lion King 3D,” the film will
play in theaters nationwide for
only two weeks starting Sept.
16, updated so that the threedimensional effect will bring
audiences, old and new, closer
to the story.
The classic Disney motion picture, first released in theaters in
1994, instantly became a classic with award-winning music
written by Elton John and Tim
Rice, along with compositions
by Hans Zimmer who has also
composed pieces for other films
like “The Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Inception.”
It became the highest grossing motion picture worldwide
shortly after being released into
theaters and ranked second in
the U.S. box office, following
closely after “Forrest Gump,”
generating a total of $788,241,776,
according to film-tracking website Box Office Mojo.
Both co-directors of “The
Lion King,” Roger Allers and
Rob Minkoff, have been heavily involved in Disney’s Feature
Animation Studios years before
they were recruited to work on
what would become a milestone
in animation history.
“The first thing that came to
my mind was, ‘How are they
going to do that?’ I didn’t have
a clue how a 2-dimensional
movie could be translated into
3-D,” said Roger Allers, according
to a press release. “It was certainly an eye-opening process
for me.”
The journey for transitioning the movie from a motion
picture to a three-dimensional
film was a challenge that all the
original crew members faced. “It
took four months to complete
the conversion,” said Robert
Neuman, the stereographer of
“The Lion King 3D” in a press
release.
“Why do this with such a
great, classic film? In creating
this 3-D version, we’re creating
a whole new art form, a whole
new medium. You have all of
the charm and the energy of
the hand-drawn line that the
original artists put down on
paper, but there’s a tangibility
that you usually only get out
of something that has more
dimensional framework.”
“A team of 60 artists worked
on the project,” Neuman noted,
referring to the staff that created the 3-D version.
Allers says, “You feel much
closer to the action with the 3-D
version. The 3-D really pushes
the drama and you are drawn
into the story.”
Even after more than 15 years
since the creation of “The Lion
King,” it still stands as one of the
true gems of Disney’s animation
movies, having set the bar high
for the rest to follow. For many
years after, Disney continuously
gained earnings from “The Lion
King” merchandise, memorabilia, toys, and music.
The story became such a
phenomenon that there was a
Broadway musical “The Lion
King” created in 1997, and it has
been the seventh longest-running show in history, according to the Internet Broadway
Database.
Though filled with resonating
music and quirky characters,
the film also embodies values
that teach children and adults
alike about the strong relationships between parents and their
children, to look within yourself for guidance, and that good
always conquers evil.
“The main challenge creatively
was to tell an anthropomorphic
story about animals. I think the
level of anthropomorphism in
the film exceeds many of its
predecessors, which is something we were very proud of,”
Minkoff said in a press release,
when asked about the challenges of creating ‘The Lion King.’”
“Our characters had a more
human feel to them, especially characters like Timon and
Rafiki. Despite being animals,
they look and act very human
indeed.”
“Restless” is a wonderful, sweet,
playful, sad tale of young love,
death, ghosts, and transformation. Mia Wasikowska as Annabel
Hovering over all, are questions of and Henry Hopper as Enoch
in “Restless,” a quirky, slowthe afterlife. The message of this
paced drama directed by Gus
film is—by having the courage
Van Sant.
to commit to the “present” and
say what one means, the “after”
becomes irrelevant. It’s a cliché by beyond their years, gained
now, but that’s the reason “pres- through painful early losses.
ent” and “gift” are synonymous.
There are notes of “The Bucket
Enoch Brae (played by Henry List” (naturally) and “Harold and
Hopper, making his acting debut Maude” here, as well as Ferris
and looking hauntingly like real- Bueller’s endless curiosity about
life father Dennis) is an eccentric life and the need to look under
youth, saddled with the morbid every stone, with humor. They
proclivity of gate-crashing other take the time to memorize the
folks’ funerals. Enoch’s parents names of water birds and bugs,
died in a violent car crash, which write and rehearse death scenes,
has caused him to come a little and so on.
unglued, seeking answers in the
One immediately senses a
young woman’s touch on this
faces of strange corpses.
Enoch died as well, clinically, film, a la Sofia Coppola. That’s
for a short while, in the crash. He probably because it’s the producmaintains later, in a distraught ing debut of actress Bryce Dallas
moment, that there was nothing, Howard, guided by her superstar
and that there IS nothing, in the “triple-threat” father, Ron.
afterlife.
A film camera can read your
However, he fails to enlighten mind. One of the magical things
to the glaring fact that it was about cinema is that it lets you
only after he was dead for a few witness actors thinking actual
minutes that he started seeing thoughts. To enhance this magic,
and communicating with his best director Gus Van Sant shoots
friend—the ghost of a Japanese practically a second film’s worth
kamikaze pilot named “Hiroshi” of footage of his actors doing
(Ryo Kase)—and thereby not silent takes. Without words, the
seeing the forest for the trees, body and face have to express
in terms of the existence of an more. This is the hidden depth
afterlife.
behind “Restless”—every so often,
Enoch’s furtive funeral-focus one sees a whole inner dialogue
is eventually busted by an obser- move across an actor’s face like
vant, likeminded young woman ripples on a pond.
who ignores his rebuffs and wins
As the film’s most poignant line
his trust. It turns out that the states, “We have so little time to
curious, nature-loving Annabel say any of the things we mean.
(played by the latest Australian We have so little time for any of
acting-force-to-be-reckoned-with, it.”
Mia Wasikowska) is dying.
Although the pace is sometimes
Knowing her broken wing is a bit slow, “Restless” shows us two
beyond fixing, Enoch is drawn doomed young lovebirds apprecito accompany her on her final ating the gift of each other, and
journey, and on that journey they taking the time to more fully
fall in love. They are a special express the things they mean.
couple—two little oddball birds Van Sant’s silent takes are a furof a feather.
ther, perfect example of that.
The costuming was inspired,
dressing them with touches of
vintage 1920s and 1930s fashion, reflecting a shared wisdom,
ARTS & CULTURE
HEALTH
AUTOS
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SCIENCE & BEYOND
TECHNOLOGY
FOOD & DINING
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THE
GRAPEVINE
SCOTT GRIES/GETTY IMAGES
Phish Member Trey Anastasio
Phish Holds
Concert for
Flooded
Vermont
American rock band Phish held
a concert in their home state of
Vermont on Sept. 14, in an effort
to raise funds for the flood-ravaged state after Hurricane Irene
devastated infrastructure in
late August.
“It’s been heartbreaking to
see all the loss and destruction
that came from the storm,” said
Phish keyboardist Page McConnell on the band’s website.
“Vermont is very much a part of
who we are as a band. ... We hope
the money raised will make a
difference in the recovery and
rebuilding effort.”
In fact, the concert raised
$1.2 million, according to the
Burlington Free Press, and will
be given to the band’s charitable organization WaterWheel
Foundation and to the Vermont
Community Foundation to help
with recovery efforts.
Humanitas
Prizes Awarded
FRAZER HARRISON/
The 37th HumanGETTY IMAGES
itas Prize, which
honors film and
television writing intended
to promote
human dignity,
meaning, and
freedom, was
awarded last
Friday, Sept. 16, David Seidler
in Beverly Hills.
Among the winners were
screenwriter David Seidler for
the film “The King’s Speech”
and writer-director Thomas
McCarthy for the sports drama
“Win Win,” starring Paul Giamatti. Both earned a $10,000
prize. The television writing
team for “Modern Family” and
“Friday Night Lights” also earned
honors.
Paul McCartney
to Wed
Sir Paul McCartney, 69, filed paperwork in London last week to wed
his fiancee Nancy Shevell, 51. The
former Beatle is said to be tying
the knot at London’s Marylebone
Town Hall, the same venue where
he married his first wife Linda
McCartney, according to a report
from the Associated Press.
This will be the third marriage
for McCartney and the second
for Shevell. The couple have been
dating for four years, and were
engaged in May.
Compiled by Michele Goncalves,
Epoch Times Staff
ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES
Paul McCartney and Nancy
Shevell