Wednesday, February 27, 2013

"The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel" [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

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Look for Guan Hu's action-comedy "The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel" to open March 29. The film stars Huang Bo, Zhang Hanyu, Liu Ye. The supporting cast includes Chie Tanaka and Wang Xun. Set in the Beijing during the Second World War, the film tells the story of three little-known people dragged into a cholera epidemic.

CF: New Posters of "The Chef, The Actor, The Scoundrel" Released

Liu Ye - the chef

Zhang Hanyu - the actor

Huang Bo - the scoundrel

Huang Bo

Liu Ye


Zhang Hanyu


Here's an older trailer

New trailer, released today, can be seen here.


"Christmas Rose" [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

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A trailer for Charlie Young's "Christmas Rose" was released at a press conference in Beijing yesterday. The story of the Tsui Hark-produced film has been under tight wraps and the title led many to expect a romantic film. Instead, the film is involves a case of sexual assault by a doctor, played by Chang Chen. It was only a few days ago that Chang Chen was revealed to be in the cast. The cast includes Aaron Kwok, Xia Yu, Qin Hailu, Guei Lun-Mei as well. Aaron Kwok plays the prosecutor, Guei Lun-Mei, the victim; and Xia Yu, Chang Chen's defending lawyer. The film, written and directed by Young, opens in April.

Aaron Kwok, Charlie Young, Xia Yu, Chang Chen



(Sina), 2, 3




Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Posters for Zhao Wei's "So Young" [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

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Character posters for Zhao Wei's directorial debut, "So Young" (formerly "Farewell to Our Youth") were released today. The film opens April 26. (Sina)

Yang Zishan

Han Geng

Mark Chao You-Ting

Jiang Shuying




From Weibo
Faye Wong and Zhao Wei singing karaoke a few nights ago

Zhao Wei dining



Oscars, in passing [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

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Ang Lee, you've just won the Best Director Award at the Oscars! Where are you going? I'm going to In-N-Out Burger!



SCMP: Beijing film critic wins ADC prize for slamming Hong Kong film (Vulgaria) [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

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By Ernest Kao

Cross-border tensions on social media were stirred this week after a Beijing film critic slated a Hong Kong comedy film for being a work of “cultural garbage” that portrayed mainlanders negatively.

Jia Xuanning, a 24-year-old Beijing Film Academy and Chinese University graduate, won the Hong Kong Arts Development Council ’s first ever Critic’s Prize with a scathing critique about 2012 film Vulgaria .

Jia’s 3,500 word essay titled “Gazing at the Anxiety of Hong Kong Film Through Vulgaria” won her the ADC’s Gold Prize on Monday, which came with a HK$50,000 cash reward.

“The thing I hate most about Vulgaria is that it claims to be a film produced specially for the Hong Kong people because it is what they want to watch,” Jia told reporters at the ADC awards ceremony. She said Hong Kong people deserved better films.

On Facebook, many Hongkongers were riled mainly because of Jia's mainland background, highlighting the recent rise in anti-mainland sentiment. “Hong Kong’s category-three films are just not for you [mainlanders], you should all go back and watch your category-four propaganda films about elite cadres,” said one user on Facebook.

“If [Jia] thinks all films should be interpreted by their literal meaning, then she should just look to Hollywood," another netizen wrote on Hong Kong forum HKGolden.com . "It's about time mainlanders stop thinking the world revolves around them.”

Reaction on the mainland blogosphere was mixed. One user on Sina Weibo said: "I agree partly with Jia's critique, especially the representation of mainland actresses in the film", presumably referring to Dada Chen's character.

According to the ADC's panel , Jia won because she "explored the identity of Hong Kong people and their relationship with the mainland...from a social perspective. The review not only has a strong sense of criticism, but also creativity and unique opinion, allowing readers to rethink mainstream values of Hong Kong.

Directed by Hong Kong’s Pang Ho-cheung starring Chapman To Man-chak and Ronald Cheng Chung-kei, Vulgaria’s plot revolves around a debt-ridden film producer trying trying to revamp his career with a porn film. Cheng plays a gangster from Guangxi who sports a heavy mainland accent and bankrolls the film.

Vulgaria was a critical success, raking in HK$30 million in ticket sales at the box office and six nominations for this year’s Golden Horse Film Festival. The film contains heavy swearing, a rarity in most Hong Kong films and strong adult content – points Jia did not hesitate to label "low" in her essay, according to the Apple Daily .

In the paper, Jia said Pang "proved how he could make cultural garbage entertainment successful”. She also said Hongkongers found it hard to accept how their mainland counterparts could evolve so quickly from “their poor relatives to today’s rich”.

On Facebook, actor To responded to Jia's critique by comparing film appreciation to “looking at the Mona Lisa”: “Happy people may feel she is smilingly at them genuinly, the self-abased may feel she is smilying at them mockingly. As for Mona Lisa herself, she doesn’t give a s***!”

Pang denied his film was a snub aimed at mainlanders and posted a response in defence of his film: "I think the Hong Kong spirit is embodied in freedom of speech...you think vulgarity is garbage, I think the suppression of vulgarity leads to the downfall of works of free speech." (SCMP)

Monday, February 25, 2013

More on "Finding Mr. Right" [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

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The release date for "Finding Mr. Right", starring Tang Wei and Wu Xiubo, has been pushed back a week to March 21.
Screen Daily has a review.

Below, a new poster and some newly released stills.












Saturday, February 23, 2013

Johnnie To's "Drug War" [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

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Johnnie To's "Drug War" opens next month. Some posters, stills and, at the bottom, New Year's greetings from the cast and crew.







Louis Koo

Huang Yi


Wallace Chung

Gao Yunxiang

Li Guangjie

Sun Honglei

Louis Koo

Cheng Tai-Shen 



Wong Jing's "Princess and Se7en Kung Fu Masters" [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

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Posters and trailers for Wong Jing's "Princess and Se7en Kung Fu Masters", opening next week. The cast includes Sammo Hung, Sandra Ng, Ronald Cheng, Eric Tsang, Wong Cho-Nam, Rose Chan and many more. Opening Feb. 28 in Hong Kong, Mar. 8 on the mainland.





Ronald Cheng, Sandra Ng, Xie Na






 Cantonese trailer

Mandarin trailer