7.1.2010 - News

CRI: China's First Mutated-Creature Film Due out Aug. 6 (City Under Siege)
In the film, Aaron Kwok plays a careless man who makes a living performing at a vaudeville theater. While he is performing in Malaysia, he and some of his associates travel into the remote mountains in search of treasure. During their trek they absorb a biochemical gas left behind by the Japanese army during WWII.

Donnie Yen, Felix Chong, Alan Mak (r) receive bronze statue of General Kwan

(Sina)

CRI: Donnie Yen Promotes "The Lost Bladesman" in Beijing

In the film Yen plays Guan Yunchang, a legendary general of the Shu Kingdom in the novel "The Romance of Three Kingdoms," one of the Four Classical Chinese Novels.

CRI: Peter Chan to Shoot a Remake of "One Armed Swordsman"

Chan got the idea from the film "One Armed Swordsman," but he decided to create a new story which is more bloody and cruel. Takashi Kaneshiro will costar.

CRI: Jia Zhangke's Shanghai Documentary Premieres

FBA: East Wind Rain (東風雨) (7/10)

Densely plotted, Shanghai-set spy tale, set around the time of Pearl Harbor, is loaded with meaty production design and performances.
If the characters in East Wind Rain and Shanghai had been real people, they couldn't help but bump into each other. Set at the same time, in the same city (where it conveniently rains at moments of high drama), the two films are the flip-side of the same coin: Shanghai through western eyes, East Wind Rain through Chinese ones.

FBA: Echoes of the Rainbow (歲月神偷) (8/10)

Echoes of the Rainbow is one of a growing series of films (from Mr.Cinema to the recent (Gallants) in which Hong Kong filmmakers have begun to assert their separate Cantonese identity by looking back at "rosier" times as China gradually hijacks the territory's film industry and future.

Jun Ji-Hyun (Snow Flower and the Secret Fan) at a recent Shanghai brand appearance

(Xinhua-gallery)

Lu Chuan was formally announced as the director of Banquet at Hongmen after rumors had him being possibly replaced by Daniel Lee. The film now as a new Chinese title King's Feast. The film will be a joint venture with Taiwan's Central Motion Picture and a US company besides Mainland participation and is expected to start filming in October. In fact, there are potentially two films to come out of the project, one on the greater epic story and one focusing on just the banquet incident. (Sina), 2 Previously reported on here: (12.12.2009), (3.27.2010)

Gillian's appearance on TV censored

CRI: Jay Chou dissected

After reigning over the Mandopop scene for a decade there are signs that Jay Chou is coming to the end of his powers.

SG: Cecilia Cheung confirms her return to the silver screen
Gong Li and husband divorce
Rene Liu opens up about scandal
A Taiwanese daily reported that the Taiwan-born beauty was to blame for her singer friend Tarcy Su's break-up with her long-time film director boyfriend Chen Kuo-Fu years ago.

Echoes of the Rainbow - Taiwan Premiere

(May 19) Echoes of the Rainbow has reported NT$100M (US$3M) at the box office already. Not sure how this reconciles with the premiere, though.

Sandra Ng

Alex Law

Aarif Lee Chi-Ting

Mabel Cheung, producer

Sandra Ng, John Shum, executive producer

(Sina)

Echoes of the Rainbow - Beijing Premiere, Stills

Simon Yam

Aarif Lee Chi-Ting

Director Alex Law

Producer Mabel Cheung

Executive Producer John Shum

Simon Yam, Sandra Ng

Buzz Chung Shiu-Tiu

Aarif Lee, Evelyn Choi Wing-Yan

Evelyn Choi Wing-Yan, Aarif Lee

Apr.13 (Sina), (HunanTV)

3.22.2010 - News (Part 2)

THR: Echoes of the Rainbow
Bottom Line: A nostalgic and unabashedly sentimental family picture.
THR: 14 Blades
Bottom Line: A traditional martial arts thriller beefed up by gimmicky weaponry.

THR: Crossing Hennessy

Bottom Line: A rom-com that is more comical than romantic.

THR: Like a Dream

Bottom Line: Little thematic and less narrative sense make for difficult viewing that often tests the patience.

THR: Amphetamine

Bottom Line: Aesthetic aspirations killed the camp.

THR: Ant City (China)

Bottom Line: Evidence that the digital revolution isn't necessarily a good thing.

THR: Kyoto Story (Japan)

Bottom Line: A teasingly original idea from a new filmmaker wrapped up in the familiar.

THR: Wong Jing tackles 3D comedy
'King of Jesters' to be produced by Mega-Vision
Wong also returns to familiar grounds with "Naked Soldiers", the US$4 million three-quel to his sex and crime series "Naked Weapon" and "Naked Killer," which raised to cult status in Europe with their main draw of T&A and guns. Next, Mega-Vision will also begin production of the 30 million yuan (US$4.4 million) action adventure "Aladdina," starring Louis Koo and the Hong Kong pop group Twins.
THR: Filmko on a quest to make 3D 'Quixote'
First Chinese stereoscopic 3D period drama, helmed by Chinese director Agan

...starring Karena Lam ("Claustrophobia") and Liu Ye ("City of Life and Death"), the film was produced with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, utilizing the academy's stereoscopic 3D camera, the first in China. The film also hired a group of 3D experts from Germany as consultants during the shoots.

The company is now developing its next 3D epic, "The Monkey King," a 180 million yuan retelling of the Chinese mythical literature "Journey to the West" with a script written by "Ip Man" writer Edmond Wong. Filming is scheduled for October with a 2011 release date.

WSJ: Arvin Chen on Taiwan’s Film Scene and ‘Au Revoir Taipei’

Fresh from his win at the Berlin International Film Festival for his romantic comedy “Au Revoir Taipei,” Chinese-American director Arvin Chen is at this week’s Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum to meet with potential investors for his new movie,“Nan Jing East Road.”

East Wind Rain poster

(Sina) (Official Sina movie site)

3.20.2010 - HKIFF Preview, Local Films

HK Magazine: Crossing Hennessy (review)
It is enormously refreshing to see a Hong Kong film that has nothing to do with triad politics or wired kung fu acrobatics. Set over a few streets in Wan Chai, “Crossing Hennessy” is a straightforward dramedy that acknowledges the pathos of modern urban living while pointing out some of the simple truths in life...
Interview: Ivy Ho
Someone misquoted me. I did not say, “Within ten years Hong Kong films might become obsolete.” I just said Cantonese films might become obsolete.

HK Magazine: Echoes of the Rainbow (review)

It all started as a selfish little project—director Alex Law wanted to make a film dedicated to his older brother, and wrote the screenplay based on his childhood in 1960s Hong Kong. It is a small, cozy film that feels like a personal tribute...

HK Magazine: Second Act

While co-productions with the mainland continue to keep Hong Kong’s film industry in business, some local moviemakers are taking a more intimate approach to shooting in our city...

Eight Local Films Premiere at HKIFF

Break Up Club
A sad and sweet teen romance. Directed by Barbara Wong. Starring Fiona Sit, Jaycee Chan, Patrick Tang, Hiro Hayama and Bonnie Xian.
La Comédie Humaine
A professional hitman and a screenwriter become friends. Directed by Chan Hing-kai and Janet Chun. Starring Chapman To, Wong Cho-lam and Fiona Sit.

Gallants
Actions and laughs abound in this homage to action films of yesteryear. Directed by Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng. Starring Leung Siu-lung, Chen Kwun-tai and Teddy Robin.
Girl$
A group of teenage escorts encounter a pervy cop and a john with AIDS while a killer is on the loose. Directed by Kenneth Bi. Starring Bonnie Xian, Michelle Wai, Minyi Wang, Derek Tsang and Deep Ng.

How to Make an Indie Hong Kong Flick (link above, scroll down)
Want to make an indie film but short of funds and talent? Let our no-sweat step-by-step guide to independent filmmaking set you on your way to stardom. Hong Kong International Film Festival 2011, here we come!


Variety: Filmart kicks off in Hong Kong
Asian confab buzzes with local momentum, looks ahead to 3D

• A majority of the top 10 Chinese-language box office hits in China were Hong Kong movies or co-productions. The number of movies that started lensing in 2009 was 30% higher than the previous year at 70, and the council expects that number to increase in 2010.
• Hong Kong's expertise is in action movies, and local helmer Wilson Yip says martial arts films will continue to play a key role in the city's movie industry, even as local production companies increase cross-border cooperation.
• Hong Kong helmer Peter Chan, who last year linked up with Beijing distributor PolyBona and Chinese helmer Huang Jiangxin to form the shingle Cinema Popular, has been skeptical about the belief that the market will keep rising forever.
• "Last year was too good to be true. This year everything will go back to being real," he says.It is fortunate that Hong Kong has a huge market on the Chinese mainland, where we are finding new and expanded opportunities," says thesp Tony Leung [Chiu-Wai], who is acting as Hong Kong Entertainment Ambassador.
• "On the downside, dependence on the mainland means we lack market diversity and that's not healthy," he says. "And we also still face constraints on film productions, since it's not easy for some movie themes to win approval from the authorities."

Screen Daily: Hong Kong turns up the volume

On the eve of the 34th Hong Kong International Film Festival and Filmart, Liz Shackleton looks at whether the current surge in Hong Kong cinema really amounts to a revival.

• China has become a crucial market for Hong Kong productions, but its censorship rules restrict Hong Kong’s traditional ghost, gambling and gangster movies, and mainland audiences have different tastes to cinema-goers in Hong Kong. That has led to a downturn in small to medium-budget Cantonese-language fare, and an upsurge in mainland-focused co-productions.
• But the situation started to change last year with the success of Mandarin Films’ comedy All’s Well, Ends Well, and the return of Shaw Brothers and broadcaster TVB to production with local titles such as crime drama Turning Point and comedy 72 Tenants Of Prosperity that managed to recoup just in Hong Kong.
• Also encouraging is the fact that even mainland audiences have been warming up to films with a strong Hong Kong accent. Last year, Wong Jing’s old school comedy, On His Majesty’s Secret Service, grossed $14.9m (RMB102m) in China.

3.12.2010 - News

Great Star theater preparing to rise again

SFIAAFF 2010 Review: Talentime

TVB General Manager and Show Host Arrested For Graft

Stephen Chan, 51, allegedly controlled the shell company which accepted production contracts from TVB and then outsourced the work to other production houses, according to a source.
This allegedly allowed the shell company to accumulate as much as HK$10 million over the years. Some of TVB's top artists such as Bernice Liu, Moses Chan Ho, Raymond Lam Fung, Bosco Wong Chung-Chak, Tavia Yeung Yi and Charmaine Sheh Sze-man had been forced to perform in major shows and other functions, and even ribbon-cutting ceremonies, for free or at very low pay. [Chan was the host of Be My Guest that interviewed the teary Gillian Chung last year, you may recall.]

HK Magazine: There Goes the Neighborhood
The filmmakers of “Echoes of the Rainbow,” which is set in 1960s Hong Kong, found themselves in trouble when they initially couldn’t find the right location for their film. Alex Law Kai-yui and Mabel Cheung originally went to Sham Shui Po to scout for locations, only to find that most of the streets in even this old neighborhood have changed quite a bit, with no street having all the tong laus intact. In the end, they found Wing Lee Street. “If this street is torn down too, Hong Kong will lose yet another street full of characters,” producer Mabel Cheung says after returning to Hong Kong from Berlin. “This is the only street retaining the 1960’s Hong Kong.”
Cheung also mentions that, before finding Wing Lee Street, they considered shooting the film in Malaysia or Guangzhou instead. “It’d be preposterous to shoot a film about Hong Kong in another city,” Cheung says.

HK Magazine: Aarif Lee Interview

CRI: Du Lala's Bikini Scene

Lead actress Xu Jinlei dons a bikini for a scene in her directorial production "Go Lala Go!", formerly called "Du Lala's Promotion", an urban romance film co-starring Stanley Huang, Karen Mok, Li Ai and Pace Wu.

CRI: South Korean Actress to Star in Chinese War Epic

South Korean actress Kim Hee-sun will star in Warring States (tentative title), a war epic set in China more than 2,000 years ago. It will also have mainland actor Sun Honglei.

Just Another Pandora's Box (Once Upon a Chinese Classic)

The movie boasts 58 stars and premieres in Beijing Mar.15 with a staggered roll out across the Mainland, 16th in Shanghai. 17th in Chengdu, 18th in Guangzhou, 19th in Shenyang. (Sina)

Vivian Hsu - The Musician

Vivian Hsu has created her own season this spring with four movies: Hot Summer Love, Fire of Conscience, The Musician (April release),  Seediq Bale (in production) and a new album. (Sina)

Crossing Hennessy - Jacky Cheung has a one-night stand with Maggie Cheung Ho-Yi

(Sina)

Lu Chuan

Lu Chuan's Feast at Hongmen is being delayed due to need for additional financing. In addition, potential cast members Ge You and Feng Xiaogang are still working on Jiang Wen's Let the Bullets Fly. To fill his time, Lu Chuan will shoot a short film about the "hidden rules" of the business based on Tang Wei's banning incident.

(Sina)

Takeshi Kaneshiro rumoured to be trying for baby in Japan

Widely speculated for hiding his marriage - a la a certain Andy Lau - after a blog claimed that the Asian superstar secretly got hitched, another blogger has quoted reliable sources saying Takeshi, who is currently based in Japan, is trying for a baby.

A celebrity blogger exposed the actor for marrying a Japanese woman last December, a piece of news which was denied by his management. On Tuesday, another blogger alleged that the Japanese-Taiwanese actor and his wife are currently located in Japan as part of their plans to have kids.

Ti Lung

Li Yapeng (Faye Wong's husband)

Ti Lung, Li Yapeng and other cast members help launch an upcoming CCTV series. (Xinhua)

Donnie Yen will soon be enshrined in wax at the Hong Kong Madame Tussauds

(Sina)

CRI: Donnie Yen to Get 'Ip Man' Wax Figure

CRI: Fan Bingbing Attends Louis Vuitton Show  (photo gallery)

(Sina)

Taipei Times: Pop Stop
Jay Chou's Batmobile, Ethan Ruan's 'long-haired hottie' and more

The next time you think you have a tough commute: (China Hush)

2.23.2010 - News

Poster for Nana's War of the Roses starring Xie Na

(HunanTV)

Street featured in Echoes of the Rainbow is facing demolition and redevelopment. Now with the success of the film there are renewed calls to preserve Wing Lee Street. (Sina)

Berlin movie hero in real-life heritage plea

Much of Wing Lee Street, home to original architecture from the 1960s, has been lined up for demolition under the government's 25 urban renewal plan laid down in 1998.
Lee Chak-yue, whose Wai Che Printing Company has rented a unit at Wing Lee Street for almost 30 years, echoed Law's call. "The people can move out because it's not safe to be here, but we should keep the history somehow so the next generation will know about our times," said the 81-year-old.

(Related article) (More photos - Flickr album)

Daniel Wu (Sina)

CRI: "Hot Summer Days" Blowout Over "Avatar"

CRI: Snow Flower Director: Zhang Ziyi's Exit due to Neck Injury

Andy Lau's Hollywood encounter

The Heavenly King revealed that he signed with a Hollywood agency in 1992.
"I was a Hollywood star earlier than Jackie Chan and Jet Li. For three years, I flew to America every three months to look at movie scripts."
"I was told very clearly that even in the next 10 years, there would be no more than five scripts that are about Chinese. One of the better scripts I've seen is Year of the Dragon (1985), which starred John Lone.

CRI: China Has Second Largest Number of 3-D Screens in the World

Annie Yi's home burgled, paparazzi suspected

The police have also stated the crime was not a simple burglary as no valuables were stolen except for the notebook computer.
Many believe this burglary might have been the work of paparazzi who are looking to find details on Yi's private life by going through her notebook computer.
HK actress Kathy Chow vows not to marry again
Hong Kong actress Kathy Chow has revealed that she regretted her marriage to actor Ray Lui during an interview with a Hong Kong website.
Chow, who turns 44 this year, secretly wed Lui who is 12 years her senior in the United States in 1988. At the time, she was just 21 years old.

Anita Yuen

Nick Cheung

Appearing for Lancome (Sina) (Xinhua)

Gigi Leung shot a Japanese skin care advert and also handed out hong baos to staff.

(Xinhua)

John Woo

John Woo who suffered from high blood pressure and liver problems while filming Red Cliff and is now producing Reign of Assassins did not appear markedly improved a year later when spotted leaving a restaurant recently. (Xinhua)

Two belated Valentine's Day stories from China Hush:
12 years of reading of another woman’s love letter wakes her husband up from coma
Liu Hong, a 40-year-old woman in Minquan, Shangqiu City, woke up her husband from a 12-year coma by repeatedly reading her husband’s love letter from his period of puppy love for the entirety of the 12 long years when he was in a coma.
Beijing guys hitch-hike all the way to visit one’s girlfriend in Berlin
Two Beijing guys spent 3 and a half months hitch-hiking over 160,000 km across 13 countries to see one of the guy’s girl friend in Berlin, Germany. Altogether they took 88 hitch rides, including tricycle, tractor and carriage. Their journey was dubbed "the most romantic hitch-hike in history” by netizens.

2.22.2010 - News

72 Tenants of Prosperity leading All's Well Ends Well Too 2010 in box office by HK$7.4M to $5.2M.

(Sina)

Stephen Chow to begin filming English movie 'Tai Chi' in June
Renowned comedy film-maker Stephen Chow will begin shooting his new film "Tai Chi" which features prominent Hollywood stars Jack Black and Anne Hathaway in the United States in June this year, said Hong Kong media reports.
"Tai Chi" will be based on the 1972 film "Way of the Dragon" starring Bruce Lee. It tells the story of a Chinese migrant in the US (played by Chow) who works as a dishwasher in Chinatown and hides his skills as a Tai Chi master. He is forced to stand up to gangsters who oppress his fellow migrants and later gets invited to start martial arts schools to share his knowledge.

Echoes of the Rainbow

HK film hits jackpot at end of rainbow in Berlin fest

Hong Kong rejoices over Berlin film prize

Big time for movies fund

Hong Kong's small to medium budget films are elbowing their way into the international arena with help from the Film Development Fund.
Echoes of the Rainbow, which won the Crystal Bear for best feature film at the Berlin Film Festival, is the second film partly bankrolled by the film to garner critical acclaim.
The first, Claustrophobia by director Ivy Ho Sai-hong, saw Karena Lam Ga-yan win the best actress award at last year's Chungmuro International Film Festival in Seoul.
The fund started off with a bang - its first beneficiary, McDull Kungfu Ding Ding Dong, was a mainland box-office hit in July.

Taiwan film wins at Berlin

"Au Revoir, Taipei” on Saturday beat 11 other Asian entries to win the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival (BIFF) 2010

CRI: "Little Big Soldier" Wins at Box Offices During Spring Festival

Variety: About Her Brother (Otouto)(Japan)
Any resemblance between Yoji Yamada's 81st feature "About Her Brother" and Kon Ichikawa's 1960 masterpiece of the same name is purely incidental.

I could've been a yakuza: Japan film maker Takeshi Kitano
.
Lin Chi-ling to star as Takuya Kimura's lover in Japanese drama series

CRI: Doubts over Cao Tomb's Authenticity

AngelaBaby before plastic surgery in a photo discovered by a netizen.

Meanwhile, AngelaBaby was discounting rumors of secretly meeting Huang Xiaoming in Shanghai.

(Xinhua)

2.21.2010 - News

Screen Daily: About Her Brother (Otouto)(Japan)
Family melodrama has rarely been as shamelessly tear-jerking, nor as insipid, as in About Her Brother,a featherweight offering from veteran Japanese director Yoji Yamada.
Erhu soloist added heartfelt tone to 'Up in the Air'

Wang Quan'an

(Xinhua)

CRI: "Tuan Yuan" (Apart Together) Wins Silver Bear for Best Screenplay

Aarif Lee, Alex Law, Mabel Cheung

(gov.hk)

"Echoes of the Rainbow", directed by Alex Law and produced by Mabel Cheung, won the Crystal Bear for the Best Feature Film in the Generation section of the 60th Berlinale 2010, as announced at the award ceremony of Generation section of Berlinale this afternoon (February 20, 2010, German time).It is the first time that a Hong Kong film wins the award. (Source)


Berlin Film Festival Winners

Hong Kong premiere of Little Big Soldier, Albert Yeung and Jackie Chan

(Sina)

(Sina)

Lin Peng and Jackie Chan at Little Big Soldier premiere in Tsimshatsui

(Sina)

72 Tenants of Prosperity - Jacky Cheung, Anita Yuen, Eric Tsang

Jacky Cheung, Eric Tsang

Linda Chung

Bosco Wong

(Xinhua)

Cherrie Ying, grandmother and Jordan Chan

Cherrie Ying

Jordan Chan, Cherrie Ying and Eric Tsang

(Xinhua)

Michelle Yim (Mai Suet), Wan Chi-Keung's nephew Edmond Leung

Wan Chi-Keung was cremated yesterday in a low key ceremony due to the Chinese New Year.

(Xinhua)

"Kowloon Noir," is a homage to Hong Kong film maker Johnnie To and more particularly the movie, The Mission (1999). The theme is a tip to film noir with a dramatic undercurrent. Nate Radley on guitar and Ratliff on trumpet give the track a dark visage that is upped by the languorous lines of Michael Attias on alto saxophone and Beth Schenck on soprano saxophone. The spell is riveting and nails the feeling marvelously. (Source)