9.10.2010 - News

Danwei: Chinese horror films: It was all just a dream
Satisfying horror movies are difficult to come by in China. Film censors on the mainland frown on the supernatural, nor do they look kindly on serial murders.

APA: Sophie's Creator: an interview with director Eva Jin

The Chinese box office hit Sophie's Revenge, starring Zhang Ziyi as the romantic comedy lead, was the sophomore directing effort by China-born, American-educated filmmaker/cartoonist Eva Jin.

CRI: "White Deer Plain" Begins Filming in Beijing

CRI: Gong Li, Andy Lau Star in Valentine's Day Release, What Women Want

CRI: Director Tsui Hark Visits Students at Beijing Film Academy

THR: Chen Kaige talks 'Sacrifice'

FBA: Zhao's Orphan now titled Sacrifice

Don Quixote opens Oct. 15 and features 27 big name stars

Li Jing edition poster

Li Jing

Guo Tao

Monica Mok (Mo Xiaoqi)

(Sina), 2, 3

Schoolgirl killer in Adventure Island

(Sina)

Anthony Wong attending the premiere of High School Musical. He said he is afraid of prescription drugs (ecstasy?) and wishes Rosemary well. (Sept.9)

(Sina-slide show), 2

Li Bingbing

(Xinhua-slide show)

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai spotted leaving a Central noodle shop, wondering if anyone will bring him back a t-shirt from Venice. (Sina-gallery)

Josie Ho cleaning bathroom out of concern for health after finding odors

With Amy Wu Mei-Yee

Josie Ho volunteered to clean the backstage bathroom at the theatre in Shanghai where she is performing excerpts from The Purple Hairpin as part of the World Expo. (Sina)

SG: Andy Hui rumoured to be back with old flame

SG: Jackie Chan embroiled in donation scandal

SG: Cosmetic surgeon claims 95% of Korean stars had gone under the knife

9.8.2010 - News

New Wind Blast poster released

(Sina)

Stool Pigeon review - 4/5 by Winnie Yeung

Reign of Assassins - Barbie Hsu, Wang Xueqi, Michelle Yeoh

Kelly Lin

Barbie Hsu

Reign of Assassins was previewed for critics in Beijing today. John Woo's daughter, Angeles, plays a female killer and even gets a few close-ups. (Sina)

Promotional stills for Adventure Island

A ruthless female killer recalls Kill Bill

(Sina)

Vivian Hsu, Wang Bo-Chieh

Juliet starring Vivian Hsu will be the opening film of the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival in November. Vivian plays a physically handicapped woman in the film. (HunanTV)

Who wore what on the Venice Film Festival Red Carpet including a nice comparison of the runway version to the red carpet version.

Andy Lau celebrates birthday early in Venice

(Sina-slide show)

Kelly Chen

Kelly Chen appearing for a children's shoe brand

(Sina-slide show)

Zhang Ziyi - Got Milk?

Dropped by international brands like Armani in the wake of 'donation-gate', Zhang Ziyi recently appeared in a  TV advert for a national milk brand. (Xinhua)

F4's Jerry Yan is said to be interested in being cast in Zhang Ziyi's upcoming Mulan. He's brushing up his English in hopes of landing a role.

(Sina)

Karena Lam is rumored to be due to deliver a baby in November. The father is said to be MV director Yuen Kim-Wai who is married. Her former company Filmko denied the allegations and threatened legal actions. Derek Tsang tried but failed to contact Karena hoping to have her help promote his film Lover's Discourse at the Pusan Film Festival. The film features Karena and Eason Chan. (Sina), 2

Plans for Cecilia Cheung to comeback in a Derek Yee collaboration has dissolved according to reports. She had a choice of two scripts to review from the director. No explanations other than the usual 'schedule confilicts' and a failure to reach an agreement between the two sides. Cecilia's manager confirmed the news. (Sina), 2

SG: Michelle Reis shows off baby bump

9.7.2010 - News

Screen Daily: Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame
There’s a tasty idea in here, and its entertainingly executed: graft a detective story onto a historical martial arts actioner set during the Tang dynasty, and see what emerges. Director Tsui Hark has never been a less-is-more kind of guy, and the sheer abundance of plot threads and sumptuous, FX-enriched set pieces threatens to swamp the story at times.
Strait Times/AFP: Tsui's film wows

Screen Daily: The Child's Eye 3D
While the script of cult directors Danny and Oxide Pang’s 3D horror movie is a strictly by-the-numbers affair, there are more than a few nicely set-up 3D moments and a healthy moment of surreal filmmaking in amidst the film’s horror-in-a-hotel tale.

Screen Daily: Reign of Assassins

As a action-packed tale of martial arts revenge and killings, the impressively staged Reign of Assassins certainly delivers the goods in stylish fashion. It might lack the sheer visual poetry of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but its scenes of sword-play are wonderful and once the story gathers momentum it is absorbing and entertaining.

Poster for national release

(Sina)

Screen Daily: Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen

Screen Daily: Showtime

Macau-born Clara Law at Venice Festival
Law will present “Red Earth”, which is one segment of a larger project, “Quattro Hong Kong,” featuring the independent contributions of four Hong Kong directors: Herman Yau, Clara Law, Heiward Mak and Fruit Chan.

Li Bingbing

CRI: Li Bingbing in Venice, (Sina-slide show)
CRI: Shu Qi Models 'Legend of the Fist' Costumes

Lam Suet

Lam Suet, Liu Hua

Lam Suet plays his first lead role in the Hollywood-style Mainland action thriller Adventure Island directed by Feng Chao. Starting as a stage manager in the '80s, Lam Suet became a regular in Johnnie To's films and won a Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in PTU. (Sina)

Up Close With Benny Chan, 2

FBA: Seediq Bale finally wraps
FBA: Hawthorn to open Pusan festival
Guests include Tang Wei and a gala screening of Late Autumn.

Karena Lam break due to pregnancy? In July, a pregnant woman resembling Karena Lam has been regularly seen visiting a Toronto hospital for check ups. To confirm suspicions, documents were checked and indicated the patient's English name was indeed 'Karena Lam'. This was reported by someone who is a friend of a nurse. A call by reporters to a GM at Filmko said that there were no signs of pregnancy and that Karena's break was for education purposes in order to get a degree in Canada. (Xinhua)

CRI: Film-goer Jolts Cinema, Distributor with Lawsuit over "Aftershock" Ads
Chen, who saw the movie twice at the Xi'an Polybona International Cinema (Polybona), said in her suit that audiences were given no warning or indication on the ticket that ads before the film ran to 20 minutes.

October Elle - Zhao Wei

(Xinhua), (Sina-slide show)

Sam Lee, Edison Chen

Edison Chen and Sam Lee sold out a club in Hangzhou with 1000 tickets at 200 yuan each. One caller offered 80,000 for a box. Outside the club, it was like an auto show, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and Ferraris filled the street. Out of town license plates indicated that many had made special trips to come. Edison's rapping in Mandarin was bad yet the crowd screamed like crazy. Female fans were especially excited as he left the stage and they grabbed to touch him. (Xinhua)

HKStandard: Bullets that silenced the hired guns

There were several robbery cases involving banks and goldsmiths between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. The robbers used nine-millimeter automatic pistols (like the Black Star made for the People's Liberation Army), assault rifles such as the AK47 and even grenades...