Thursday, August 30, 2012

SCMP: Shawn Yue brings basketball fans to boil in Shanghai [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

Vivian Chen
Aug 30, 2012

While Hong Kong was in the grips of Linsanity last week, our own actor and basketball enthusiast Shawn Yue Man-lok was enjoying the support of screaming fans across the border.

Yue attended the Nike Festival of Sport in Shanghai on Friday. Professional baseball stars such as Lebron James, Kevin Durant and Yi Jianlian also took part in the four-day event.

Yue and his Wang Chau Industry Basketball Team competed against team Love Life, featuring Taiwanese model Godfrey Gao Yi-xiang and television host Blackie Chen Chien-chou. Chen's Mando-pop singer wife, Christine Fan Wei-qi, cheered from the sidelines. The game ended in a tie.

Yue said he appreciated having the chance to play with his team and against his Taiwanese opponents, as he didn't get many opportunities because of his heavy show-business workload. Playing a sport together was the best way to make friends, he said.
Weibo

The star also called on his fans to stop using busy work schedules as an excuse not to exercise.

He said they should put on their favourite exercise gear and hit the gym or a basketball court, and make exercising a healthy habit, he said. (SCMP)

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Have a Laugh [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

Peter Chao (aka Davin Tong) is a Chinese-Canadian living in Vancouver and he makes me laugh. Most of his videos are NSFW but the one below is 'clean'. I only stumbled across him this year. TheWineKone is also Chinese-Canadian. He fell off my radar for a few years but this year I started following him again. Next Media Animation (NMA), of course, presents the news in its own unique way.







8.3.2012 [Videos] - [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

Trailer for "The Silent War"


Teaser for "Let it Be" starring Joan Chen and Van Fan

Some behind-the-scenes and making-of from "Lion Roars 2"


SCMP: Director Admits Making Promo


Jul 31, 2012


Noted film director Zhang Yimou was paid 2.5 million yuan (HK$3.06 million) for his involvement in an 18.5 million yuan promotional video for the Railways Ministry that has further cast the office in a negative light amid mounting public criticism, mainland media reported yesterday.


Both Zhang (pictured) and the ministry came under fire last month when the National Audit Office criticised the five-minute film, Chinese Railways, for its poor quality and high cost, and for not going through the proper tender process.

On July 2, Zhang denied directing the video. However, yesterday he admitted signing a contract in January 2010 with Beijing-based production company Xinshike, and receiving the money as payment for directing the short film that cost 18.5 million yuan, according to a report in the Economic Information Daily.

The ministry has come under fire for corruption and non-transparent management since the graft-ridden downfall of its former minister, Liu Zhijun , last year, with several other railway officials also detained.

Neither Zhang nor anyone at the Railways Ministry were available for comment yesterday.

The newspaper quoted a source at Xinshike as saying that the ministry 'just wanted to use Zhang to direct the video, so it let our company reach him directly'.

The source, who was not identified, said the video cost 7 million yuan to make after Zhang's payment - on which the company paid taxes - with much of the remainder paid as bribes and kickbacks.

The report did not say which officials at the ministry may have accepted kickbacks, but soon after the revelation by the government auditor, the newly appointed deputy director of vehicles for the ministry's Transport Bureau, Liu Ruiyang , came under investigation earlier this month. Liu's wife, Chen Yihan , who worked at the ministry, was also being investigated.

She used to be deputy chief of the Railway Ministry's publicity department, before being promoted to deputy secretary general of a cultural department.

Zhang also said he had signed a second contract a year after the first stating that Xinshike could not use his name for promotional purposes.

Liu Zilong, a Shenzhen-based activist lawyer, commented on the scandal, saying: 'The ministry should launch a further investigation and offer the public details about [its] relationship with the production company. If the company is found to have been involved in bribing officials to win the bid for the video, Zhang's pay would also be unlawful.'

Independent producer Li Wenling said: 'Zhang should be ashamed if he directed a video with such terrible standards.' (SCMP)

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

8.1.2012 - News [Roast Pork Sliced From A Rusty Cleaver] (飲水思源)

TimeOutHK: Lacuna
Lacuna, perhaps adhering to the conservative censorship standards in China, feels uncharacteristically tame and gratuitously sweet. Indeed, the nocturnal rom-com’s Category IIA rating in Hong Kong should ring all sorts of alarms for those looking for The Hangover, Beijing.

Pang Ho-cheung is returning to his controversial best with his latest showbiz satire, Vulgaria.

TimeOutHK: Sexy Shiga Lin

CF: Jackie Chan Brings "Rush Hour 4" Back
CF: August One Studio: Shooting from a New Perspective

CF: Character Posters Released for 'White Deer Plain'

CRI: Zhang Yimou Responds to Ad Scandal
Zhang Yimou to cooperate with railways film probe

GlobalTimes: Rail ministry under fire over 7m yuan film kickback
Shortly after an audit report showed the Ministry of Railways had spent 18.5 million yuan ($2.91 million) on a disappointing publicity short film, the public was shocked again to learn that a huge chunk of the investment might have been pocketed by ministry officials.