Friday, October 9, 2009



Johnnie To
Leaving for the Pusan International Film Festival, Johnnie To said he plans to appeal a lawsuit* stemming from Running On Karma. He stands to lose $700M. (Sina.com)

*(3/26/2008) During the production of the 2003 film RUNNING ON KARMA (DAI JET LO), a stuntman substitutes for an Indian actor in one scene in which he jumps on a table then to ground. The stuntman claims that the wire technicians pulled the wires that were connected to the table too soon, making the wire come in contact with his heel and throwing him off balance. When he fell he landed on his left hand, cracked his left wrist and dislocated his left elbow. The stuntman yesterday filed a lawsuit against Johnnie To Kei Fung's production company Milky Way Image for 5.7 million in compensation.

The 38 year old stuntman has been in the profession for years, makes as much as 50,000 monthly and has ample experience. The simple jump originally would not have been difficult for him. Yet on the night of June 21, 2003, director To Kei Fung after three to four takes still was not satisfied with the wire and other stunt professionals' coordination and asked for another take. The stuntman claimed that on the final jump to the table, the wire technicians pulled the wires too soon and caused the incident. He also pointed out that the production company has not provided cushion to break the fall, in turn leading to his arm injury. Now he cannot even pick up anything heavy. After the accident he is determined to 5% handicapped. Now even though he can be an action coordinator he can no longer be a stuntman. (hktopten archives)


Zhang Jingchu - Pusan
CRI: Pusan Int'l Film Festival Opens
Asia's top film fest set for glitzy opening

Variety: The Message review


Variety: Good Morning President (South Korea)

Screen Daily: Good Morning President



Ge You



Jiang Wen spent the National Day holiday shooting Let The Bullets Fly on location. Ge You was reportedly unrecognizable to local tourists in his long gown and new flowing hair style. Ostensibly a drama, Ge You's performance is witty and cracks up the crew with laughter. Shooting in the mountains west of Beijing, the autumn weather has created spectacular forest scenery of red and yellow. The mountain colors are even more fantastic giving director Jiang Wen great glee and causing no regrets for the crew working during the holidays. (Sina.com)

CRI: National Pride Translates into Big Bucks

A  film about the birth of New China is creating a revolution at the box office, where it is about to deliver new records.

"The Founding of a Republic" had raked in 330 million yuan (US$48.34 million) by Sunday.



The great success of "The Founding of a Republic" left little room in theaters for other films during the eight-day National Day holiday. The most successful of the other offerings was "The Message", a spy thriller starring seven A-list stars, including Zhou Xun and Li Bingbing.

Produced by the privately owned Huayi Brothers Media Group, the film earned 150 million yuan in the 10 days following its September 29 opening.

The romantic comedy "My Fair Gentleman" ("Yao Tiao Shen Shi") has earned a respectable 13 million yuan.
And two art-house flicks: "The Warrior and the Wolf" ("Langzai Ji") and "The Wheat" ("Mai Tian") fared less well.

According to Bu Er, a box office analyst with Mtime.com, the former had raised only 2.4 million yuan in ticket sales by October 4. The latter took 6.3 million yuan.

None of the three animation films screened during the holiday took more than 3 million yuan.



Zhou Xun
Zhou Xun revealed at the Hong Kong promotion of The Message that she drank red wine to assist her in acting hysterical.



Huang Xiaoming
Huang Xiaoming's studied Japanese for 4 months to prepare for his role and his costars understood nothing of what he was saying. His performance exceeded director Chen Kuo-fu's expectations.


Co-director Chen Kuo-fu
Surprisingly dropped out of the hot seat this year is Zhang Ziyi, the Chinese actress will be gunning for a Best Supporting Actress win instead...


Directed by Taiwanese director Kevin Chu, Treasure Hunter depicts a story of a chivalrous young man, Qiao Fei (Jay Chou) who risks it all and attempts to defeat an unscrupulous organization by protecting the treasure. The movie cost up to S$21,000,000 to produce, and also stars leggy Taiwanese supermodel, Lin Chi-ling alongside Eric Tsang, Chen Daoming, Chen Chuhe, and Will Liu...


Indonesia: Bloody ambitious
"Darah" is ... the title of the debut feature from Indonesian directors Kimo Stamboel and Timo Tjahjanto (no, they're not actually brothers) which sees six friends who, upon following a strange girl home, end up being tortured and slaughtered by her mother and brother. It is produced by local film-maker Eric Khoo and Infinite Frameworks' Mike Wiluan's new production company Gorylah Pictures.


18th Golden Rooster Hundred Flowers Film Festival runs Oct.14 - Oct.17


The Towering White Crane festival mascot







The set was designed by Taiwan's leading set designer

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