11.23.2009 - News

CRI: Andy Lau Turns into a Peking Opera Performer

THR: Screen empress Liu returns in '37'
Once the most celebrated actress in China, award-winning Chinese screen legend Liu Xiaoqing will return to film in Hong Kong director Dennis Chen’s drama “37," in a role that rendered her unrecognizable,

Mike He, Alfred Cheung

Mike He and Alfred Cheung promote Love At Seventh Sight at Tuen Mun Town Plaza in Hong Kong. (Sina)

Aaron Kwok, Ekin Cheng

Aaron and Ekin attend Storm Warriors MV and theme song release Sunday. More photos (Sina)

(HunanTV)

CRI: Director Gu Changwei Casts Eye on AIDS discrimination
Established director Gu Changwei ['Peacock'] started to shoot a documentary on reducing people's discrimination toward HIV/AIDS.

Gillian Chung goes Gaga for Charlene's birthday bash (cri.cn)

CRI: Charlene Choi Celebrates Birthday

More birthday party slides HD (Sina)
Gillian Chung, Chan Wai-Ting, Kenny Kwan, Yumiko Cheng, Joey Yung, Albert Yeung, et al.


Nicholas Tse plans to move family to China



CRI: HK Businessman Buys Jackson's Glove for $350,000

Macau hotel to display Jacko 'moonwalk' glove

11.06.2009 - Movie News

THR: Tang Wei returns in 'Manchu' remake
'Lust, Caution' actress coming off ban, stars in English film

“Full Autumn” in Korean -- by Kim Tae-yong (“Family Ties”) will start shooting later this month in Seattle, and will travel to other cities across the United States, the Korean producer said...


THR: Hong Kong movies make a dramatic showing at the boxoffice
Four local films got into the top 10 in the summer: the Shaw Brothers' comeback "Turning Point" (HK15.7 million), "Overheard" from the "Infernal Affairs" team (HK15.5 million), Edko's Aaron Kwok thriller "Murderer" (HK11.7 million) and period comedy "On His Majesty's Secret Service" (HK8.8 million). Only two made the cut last summer...Although the number of local releases rose slightly in 2009, what's staggering is the upcoming Chinese New Year public holiday slot, which will see 10 Hong Kong/Chinese-language high-profile projects competing in three weeks in February. It's something the which hasn't been seen since the 1990s....

THR: AFM Special Report: Hong Kong
Boxoffice may be up, but the outlook is troubled

"If there (were) enough films to make in Hong Kong, I'd rather not go anywhere else," says [Herman] Yau, the hugely prolific Hong Kong director who works with three crews simultaneously -- even while many technicians have followed the helmers to the mainland. "Although a large number of Hong Kong filmmakers are now working in China," he says, "they can't bring all the film crews with them, so there're still a lot of local crew members stranded here, unemployed."

THR: 'Bodyguards and Assassins' sells at AFM
Cinema Popular also is shopping its action-romantic comedy "The Return of the Incredible Wu Xia Couple," directed by Vincent Kuk, and Dante Lam's period actioner "Flying Guillotines" at AFM.
Screen Daily

THR: Jung to star in 'Rain of Swords'
Film co-stars Michelle Yeoh, co-produced by John Woo

Screen Daily: TF1 buys Media Asia’s Chen Zhen for France
Hong Kong’s Media Asia Distribution has sold The Legend Of Chen Zhen, directed by Andrew Lau and starring Donnie Yen, to France’s TF1.

Leading Hong Kong action star Yen plays Chen Zhen in the film, a folk hero who fights the Shanghai mafia and occupying Japanese. Shu Qi and Anthony Wong also star...Meanwhile, Dream Movies also took rights for Australia and New Zealand to Pang Ho-chueng’s Love In A Puff, a comedy starring Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue, and Johnnie To’s new project, Death Of A Hostage, starring Lau Ching Wan.

Screen Daily: Cameron's Avatar forces Chinese blockbusters to shift release dates

Zhang Yimou’s remake of Blood Simple [Amazing Tales: Three Guns] has bought its release forward from December 18 to December 11, while Hong King Universe’s The Storm Warriors has shifted its release to December 10. Jay Chou-starring Treasure Hunter will be released on December 9 instead of mid-month as originally planned, and Ning Hao’s road movie Wu Ren Qu [No Man's Land] will move back its release by three months to March next year...

Variety: CineAsia honors Zhou Xun
Actress to receive star of the year kudo

Variety: Fair Love (South Korea)

Variety: The Laughing Policeman (Japan)

Taipei Times: Golden Horse seeks new pastures

CRI: Golden Horse Film Festival Opens

Taipei Times - Short Takes

Wheat (長平大戰之麥田)

What first might appear to be another tiresome period costumer about one of the millions of battles in China’s history turns out to be something rather different. Two deserters from the Qin army in the Warring States period lucklessly find themselves in an enemy town whose men are away fighting. Their lies and ingratiations with the women gradually wear thin — especially as others arrive with contradictory news. This meticulously photographed drama-comedy is structured around elemental themes, of which wheat, the local crop, is prominent. Directed by He Ping (何平), who made The Swordsman in Double Flag Town

Meat Grinder

(雙旗鎮刀客).

A coming-on-middle-aged street vendor projects her madness and history of abuse onto (mostly) unsuspecting, sleazy men — and cooks up a storm. Surprisingly good reviews greeted this gory Thai drama, which is right up there with Hong Kong’s The Untold Story (八仙飯店之人肉叉燒包) as a boundary-pushing, gag-inducing Asian incarnation of Sweeney Todd; it’s also a perfectly timed essay for people who think US beef is the sign of the Devil. Abstruse political subtexts (it’s set during student riots in the 1970s) and class and gender commentary ... or blood, guts and torture for their own sake? Take your pick. Taiwan’s censors have let this one through without cuts, though it isn’t clear if this is the version originally banned in Thailand. Either way, here’s the question: Why doesn’t Taiwan make movies like this?

4 new Three Guns images in HD (Sina)

CRI: Stefanie Sun Sings for Mulan

Let The Bullets Fly

Ge You

Carina Lau plays Ge You's wife

(Xinhua)

CRI: 'Bullets' Go Stylish (HD version Sina)

Gong Beibi and Aaron Kwok

Oxide Pang has started shooting B+Detective, the sequel to C+Detective (aka The Detective) in Thailand. (HunanTV)

Li Xiaolu and Alfred Cheung (actor, director, writer)

Love At Seventh Sight (lit.Seven Days To Fall in Love)

(HunanTV)

Beijing Premiere - Love At Seventh Sight

Alfred Cheung

Li Xiaolu aka Lulu

Mike He

Film opens nationally Nov.3 (HunanTV)

10.27.2009 - Movie News

Director Billy Chung, Cherrie Ying (2nd left), Wang Zi (left) promote New Year's action film Wu Lin Xiao Zhuan (lit.Martial Arts Comedy).

Cherrie Ying

The film is a joint Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan venture. (Sina) (Xinhua)

Jaycee Chan

Zhao Wei

Mulan cast and crew become honorary citizens of Mulan's hometown Shangqiu, Henan Province. The crew also donated movie props to the city. (Sina)

The Robbers (lit.Tang Dynasty Brothers)

A martial arts comedy starring Hu Jun and Jiang Wu opens November 20 kicks off the New Year early. It has been positively received at the Shanghai and Pusan International Film Festivals. (Sina)

Radish Warrior successfully opened the weekend with $8.7M at the box office (Sina)

Love At Seventh Sight (lit.Seven Days To Fall in Love With You)

Alfred Cheung's romantic comedy opens Nov. 3 and features Mike He and Li Xiaolu (Sina)

CRI: Director Zhang Yimou Tells "Amazing Tales" in Color

The Message has surpassed $220M at that box office and the prequel is set to begin filming next summer. (Sina)

Chinese movie-makers keep faith with martial arts

The Chinese film industry is hoping a little more martial arts magic will woo international audiences over the next 12 months with two productions set to take familiar stories one step further.

First up comes the US$12 million (eight million euro) budgetedThe Storm Warriors, directed by Hong Kong-based twins Oxide and Danny Pang, and set to make its film industry premiere at next month's American Film Market (http://www.ifta-online.org/) as they try to sell it to the world.

The film is taken from the wildly successful Hong Kong comic series Fung Wan (Wind and Cloud), by Ma Wing-shing, which also inspired the Andrew Lau-directed The Stormriders (1998).

That film starred Asian idols Aaron Kwok and Ekin Cheng, and raked in HK$42 million (3.6 million euros) from the local box office that year. It still ranks as Hong Kong cinema's 12th all-time top earner.

The Pangs -- who built an international reputation thanks to the success of horror film such as The Eye (2002) -- say they have tried to reinvent the martial arts genre with their production, reuniting Kwok and Cheng and mixing live action and cutting-edge computer generated imagery.

They also claim the story should stand on its own and not be thought of as a sequel, even thought it features the same characters.

The same line is being taken by the people behind the US$29 million (19 million euro) budgeted Shaolin Temple - which shares the same name as the 1982 film that launched the career of martial arts star Jet Li, and is obviously set around the same legendary martial arts school.

The film is set to star box office draws Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and Nicolas Tse -- alongside more than 1,000 monks from the temple.

The film starring Li took in 100 million yuan (9.7 million euros) in China and saw the Shaolin monks start to take their martial arts skills on international tours, a trend which continues today.

But director Benny Chan -- who made the award-winning New Police Story (2004) with Chan -- told Chinese media that while his production shares a number of things in common with Li's film, he plans to move the story of the monastery forward from the seventh century to the early 20th century.

Shaolin Temple will have its fight scenes choreographed by Hong Kong's Corey Yuen (Red Cliff, X-Men) and is set for an end-of-2010 release. (Independent.co.uk)[site flagged for trojan virus]

THR: MPAA Wants Legal DVD Promotion

'Informed sources' report that Zhang Ziyi has indeed been retained to play Tony Leung's wife in Wong Kar-Wai's First Generation Master. Zhang Ziyi, through her manager, denied the rumor yesterday. Elsewhere, it's been reported that Wong Kar-Wai is under a lot of pressure as Ip Man was a big box office success and will now compete against Ip Man 2. The casting of Zhang Ziyi is viewed as a counterstrike. Ip Man's son was asked about the pair, he said, 'Both Lynn Xiong and Zhang Ziyi are very thin. My mother was similiar in build (?). I have not seen Zhang Ziyi's acting but Lynn Xiong in Ip Man was pretty good.'
Brigitte Lin reportedly turned down a role because it was not tailor-made for her. Chang Chen is said to play Bruce Lee. Filming is now slated to commence in November.
(Xinhuanet.com)

Barbie Hsu and Nic Tse

Nic and Barbie shoot a special effects scene in the studio for Hot Summer Days. Today, Nic is flying to Beijing to perform in the National Day celebration. (Sina.com)

Mike He, Li Xiaolu

Alfred Cheung's new film 7 Days To Fall in Love With You opens Nov.3. Lead actress Li Xiaolu recommends spending the National Day Holiday to find a new boyfriend or girlfriend. (Xinhuanet.com)

Korea Times: 'Rain' Falls on Summer-Battered Hearts

Would you give love a second chance? In his fifth feature "A Good Rain Knows," (aka Season of Good Rain) melodrama maestro Hur Jin-ho says "yes," orchestrating another romance that seeps into the viewers' hearts with a graceful andante tempo.

Korea Times: Jang Dong-kun makes a comeback onscreen as a character not unlike himself ― an eligible bachelor ― in ``Good Morning President.''

NYTimes: Indie Filmmakers: China’s New Guerrillas
Like independent filmmakers everywhere, Mr. Zhao worked with no guarantee of an audience, or even a place to show his work. By his estimates only a few thousand people have seen “Ghost Town” in China since he finished it last year. Several hundred more are scheduled to see it Sunday afternoon when the film has its international premiere at the New York Film Festival.

Ang Lee says he's baffled by 'Woodstock' results



The Message hits theaters for National Day
The movie was directed by Gao Qunshu from the mainland and Chen Kuofu from Taiwan. According to Chen, the movie was filmed to tell the destinies of people involved in China's Anti-Japanese Aggression War (1937-1945)...
The plot of the film was inspired after a murder mystery game, in which one tries to guess who is “killing” the others in the group. However, the film is more solemn than the game, as heroes and heroines in the movie are tortured both physically and spiritually in a bid to fulfill their purposes.

Andy Lau rides over the media storm and expresses his thanks