Tokyo: Wheat Cast

Fan Bingbing

Wang Jiajia, Huang Jue

Huang Jue, Wang Jiajia, Fan Bingbing, He Ping

(Sina.com)

Chrissie Chau

The Chrissie Chau Rorschach Test continues, or Great Taste, Less Filling: Appearing at a beer promotion bar event, Chrissie Chau was heckled by female drinkers with chants of, 'Big chest, no brains.' Male drinkers responded supportively with, 'Gaa yau, nou lik'. (Add fuel, exert power.) Unperturbed, Chrissie remained composed and paused for interviews and photographs. [This is one tough cookie.] Meanwhile, HKUST denied apologizing to Chrissie. It seems the lecture topic was not what they told her it was going to be. (?) (Sina.com)

Eric Tsang thought that the lecture was a brilliant idea. In previous years, Eric had been invited to lectures at HKUST. Was he asked to prepare in advance? He said he liked to students to ask questions, the better to know what students wanted to know. (Sina.com)

Today marks the anniversary of Anita Mui's birthday (46). Recently, Anita's mom was spotted wandering lost with a Filipina maid in a Causeway Bay mall. She tried to call someone on her mobile but finally had to stop a male passerby to ask for directions. (Sina.com)

Denise Ho

Anita's protege Denise Ho held a tribute concert the night before despite back injuries suffered during rehearsals. (Sina.com)

Maggie Cheung and unknown young man. Olé!

Maggie Cheung - Fendi, Paris

(Xinhuanet.com)

Kelly Lin

Kelly Lin promotes a watch brand in a daring dress.

(Sina.com)

Gigi Leung - Taiwan

Gigi Leung promoting perfume brand, says no plans for marriage.

(Sina.com)

Miriam Yeung

Miriam Yeung was in Mongkok for a ribbon cutting ceremony. Asked if she wanted to invest in her own shop, Miriam responded that she used to have a second-hand clothes shop but it took too much time and she is more suited to performing. She said she hoped to sell her residence for HK$30M and net a small profit.

(Sina.com)

Hsiao Shu-Shen

Last year

Hsiao Shu-Shen is in trouble again. The Taiwan actress was spotted with waist length hair entering a Taipei psychiatric hospital after she failed mandatory urine drug tests as part of her terms of suspended sentence for a drug conviction two years ago. [It was earlier reported that Hsiao had not been performing her required community service, also part of her condition for release.] The urine and hair tests were false positives for methamphetamine but it triggered a panic attack and in despair she self-mutilated herself. The 34 year-old actress suffers from bipolar disorder, depression, panic disorder and has a history of self-mutilation. The speculation was that some anti-depressant medication may have caused the false positives. Hsiao Shu-Shen has let her hair grow exceedingly long, it is thought, as proof of her anti-drug determination. (Xinhuanet.com)

I spy: Edison Chen in Central, Hong Kong recently. He was spotted in colorful hoodie and big eyeglasses while in a mall with two foreign friends. (more photos)

Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh

Gong Li was almost locked out of the LV fashion show when the show started on time instead of the usual hour to hour and a half delayed starting time. (Xinhuanet.com)

Marketing 101 - Wheat edition: Huang Jue and Fan Bingbing Share an Intimate Moment at the Airport

Birmingham City chief Peter Pannu tells of Triad battles

Spy drama Happy Autumn(?) set in 1949 Guangzhou features Guo Xiaodong and Sun Chun, opens Oct.14. (cri.cn)

Guo Xiaodong

Sun Chun, Guo Xiaodong (Sina.com)

The Message has been on whirlwind media tour around the country. At one enthusiastic meeting with fans Huayi Brothers CEO Wang Zhonglei has promised that if The Message broke $300M at the box office he would release a 3 hour DVD version! The theatrical version runs 122 minutes. According to reports, the footage shot for the Li Bingbing-Huang Xiaoming 'medical checkup' scene is almost equal to that alone. (cri.cn)

(Sina.com)

Fan Bingbing

Huang Jue

Du Jiayi

Director He Ping

Wheat arrives in Beijing (Sina.com)

Huang Jue Exposed in 'Wheat'

Known for his relationship with actress-director Xu Jinglei, actor Huang Jue has stepped out of his comfort zone to reveal his true colors in the film "The Wheat".

"The Wheat" tells the story of two Qin soldiers fleeing from war and taking refuge in the small town of Zhao, where all of the adult men of the village have gone to war. To survive, the fugitives change their identities into Zhao soldiers who had won the battle against Qin.

Rene Liu, Jacky Cheung

With production moving from Beijing to Shenzhen, Jacky Cheung and Rene Liu were in Shenzhen to promote their upcoming New Year's/Valentine's Day film Hot Summer Day (formerly Yit Lat Lat). The film is a Huayi Brothers and Fox joint venture. The stellar cast will include Nic Tse, Daniel Wu, Barbie Hsu, Vivian Hsu, and Duan Yihong. When Jacky was asked about the difference between Rene and his recent costar Tang Wei (Crossing Hennessy), he replied that Rene was more experienced and Tang Wei needed more time as she was still new. (Xinhuanet.com)

Visitors From The Sui Dyansty from director Zhang Yuxin (Teeth of Love) features time travellers in this new comedy.  Trailer (Sina.com)

3D 'Deer' Premieres

"The King of Milu Deer", which claims to be China's first animated 3D blockbuster, premiered on Saturday in Beijing.

Chow Yun-Fat 'Dancing with Strangers'
Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat's next film will be a Spanish-American-German-Chinese cooperation, Screendaily.com reports.

Huang Xiaolei

Da Zhang Wei

Director Liang Chao

Royal Tattoo red carpet photos (Sina.com)

Astroboy opens Oct.23

Astroboy mosaic made of 138,000 recycled subway tickets on display in a Shinjuku department store. (Sina.com)

China picks 'Forever Enthralled' for Oscars

Emperor hires Ivy Ho for marketing
Former HKIFF awards director joins after 15 years in industry

Wheat in Shanghai, Storm Warriors in Shenzhen

Fan Bingbing

Director He Ping

Wang Jiajia, Huang Jue

Du Jiayi (right)

CRI: "Wheat" Premieres in Shanghai (Sina.com) (Xinhuanet.com)

CRI: "Forever Enthralled" Bids for Oscar

Storm Warriors in Shenzhen

Ekin Cheng, Charlene Choi

Aaron Kwok, Tan Yan

(Sina.com)

Charlene Choi

in Shenzhen to promote Storm Warriors (Sina.com)

Sun Honglei and Kelly Lin meet the press in Chengdu

My Fair Gentleman (Sina.com)

Taipei Times - Short takes

Ichi

In feudal Japan, a blind musician with lethal sword skills (Haruka Ayase from Oppai Volleyball and Happy Flight) sets out to find her blind masseuse father, encountering the usual bandits and deadly political intrigue. This is an update of the famed series centering on the blind Zatoichi character, who could be this forlorn young woman’s father. Critics admired the film’s visuals and noted its retention of genre conventions rather than a modern reworking of theme and character, notwithstanding the female lead.

Naoko

Another manga-based film from Japan, this one turns to the curious sport of relay marathons and the relationships among the members of one team. Naoko (Juri Ueno) is a manager for the team, but her ability to deal with the best of its runners is compromised by memories of a fatal accident some years before. Of more interest than the manga-based, baseball-themed Rookies: Graduation, which opened last month, if only because marathons have better scenery.

The Little Finger and the Forbidden Body

A mannered Japanese incest potboiler from 2005, this is being promoted as an earlier feature starring Hiroyuki Ikeuchi (Ip Man). Ikeuchi gets it on — and on — with his sister, only to later block the memory of the experience. But his line of work in a red light district doesn’t let his repressed past stay buried. Actor-director Kei Horie seems to have a thing for grim subject matter. Also known in English as Finger and Body and The Whole Body and the Little Finger — the mind boggles. The Baixue theater in Ximending is the best possible place for a movie like this.

For better or worse, Korean cinema audience is changing