6.16.2010 - News

NYTimes: In China, an Attempt at a Hollywood-Style Movie (Empires of the Deep)
It is an ambitious departure from the formulaic historical or Communist propaganda movies usually churned out by the Chinese film industry. [sigh, that old canard again]

Variety: Crossing Hennessy
Riffing on American indie "Crossing Delancy," Hong Kong helmer-scribe Ivy Ho's lackluster romantic comedy "Crossing Hennessy" centers on a fortysomething slacker, still hung up on the childhood sweetheart who dumped him, and a young woman whose family feels she's involved with an unsuitable man. Ostensibly a vehicle for the two stars, pic forces their relationship to take a backseat to multiple subplots that detour the narrative through sitcom, melodrama and fantasy.

THR: 'Killers' to close Shanghai fest Sunday
DMG, a Chinese-American media company, and Lionsgate have managed to get "Killers" slotted as the Shanghai International Film Festival's closing-night film on Sunday.
"They love American movies," DMG CEO Dan Mintz said. "However, there's also a signal coming from China: You need to know how to do business with us and how to handle us. The signal is that you can't just show up once in a while and expect things to go right. You have to know how to work the market and be committed. People know when you are committed or not."

THR: China screen reaches out for more foreign actors [for boxing, maybe?]
THR: Christie opens Shenzhen production facility
Digital cinema projector maker ramps up output

Triple Tap stills - Louis Koo, Chapman To

!!!!

Louis Koo, Charlene Choi

(21cn)

Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue

Miriam and Shawn were in Guangzhou to promote the Mainland Cantonese version of Pang Ho-Cheung's Love in a Puff. Shawn discounted recent rumors of a relationship with Sammi Cheng. Since they live in the same building, reporters spotted the pair walking their dogs together. Coincidentally, Love in a Puff features a spring-fall relationship. Director Pang declared Love in a Puff the mildest Cat.III film ever. Some of the changes include: the 10 minute opening scene has been shortened to 3-4 minutes, a cigarette joke referring to the male organ, Vincent Kok's jokes about the paparrazzi, and a key point where Miriam quizzes Shawn about text messages and the implication of getting an abortion(?) is blurred. (Xinhua), (21cn)

Tsui Siu-Ming promised that the 3D Modern Beijing Opera starring Jackie Chan will be action packed. Chan will play national hero Yang Zirong. It is based on the story of Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy which takes place during the Sino-Japanese War. Tsui Siu-Ming is enlisting the help of the PLA backed August 1 Film Studio because of its enormous resources and expertise. (21cn)

(Sina)

Danwei: Liu Ye fights a drunken foreigner over a taxi
[Video reenactment below :D]

Global Voices: Film director beats up foreigner at swimming pool
Ning Hao meets a paper tiger

Nicholas Tse's son, Lucas, receives HK$8m acting offer

Kelly Chan

Kelly Chan unveils the new Airbus 330 for Hong Kong airline

(Sina), (Xinhua)

Gigi Leung

Mandy Lieu

Gigi Leung was asked at a design exhibition whether ex-boyfriend Ekin Cheng called to comfort her after her recent break up with her French boyfriend. Gigi told reporters that there was no need. (Sina)

Sammi Cheng - Taiwan

Sammi appeared with Fay, lead singer of FIR, to promote sales of handmade soaps to benefit World Vision.

(Xinhua)

Gillian Chung appearing at an event for her film Ex. 

Is she rooting for England in the World Cup? (Xinhua)

China’s 3D World Cup dreams put on hold

3.22.2010 - News

Variety: Hong Kong festival kicks off

The 34th Hong Kong Film Festival kicked off Sunday with the twin bows of Ivy Ho's comedy "Crossing Hennessy" and Clara Law's "Like a Dream" at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.
Screen Daily: Like A Dream
Clara Law’s beautifully absorbing fable is a lush and at times entrancing moody melodrama that is highlighted by the quite wonderful performance by the enchanting Yolanda Yuan who plays dual roles.

Screen Daily: Crossing Hennessy

Crossing Hennessy is an engagingly fresh and enjoyable dramatic comedy that makes great use of its Hong Kong locations as it delves into the romantic complications of modern urban life.

THR: Chinese presence fuels optimism in Hong Kong

Almost a fifth of this year's exhibitors -- more than 120 -- hail from mainland China, as the growing strength and importance of that market continues to show itself.

THR: Jackie Chan, Stanley Tong producing TV series

Jackie Chan and Stanley Tong will produce a 30-part television series about Yuefei, one of China's most heroic and controversial generals, now that they have secured long-sought Chinese government approval.

The series, "Yuefei," is about the general of the Southern Song Dynasty in the 12th century A.D., who helped defend central China against invaders, but eventually was imprisoned and executed by the high court at age 39. Yuefei's name was cleared posthumously and his story is told to Chinese children today to teach courage and tenacity.

Chow Yun-Fat - Let the Bullets Fly

(Sina)

CRI: Interest in 'Bullets' Runs High

CRI: Director Wang Quan'an's New Project Not So New

CRI: Bazaar Releases 'La La" Fashion ! 
Bazaar releases a special issue of its magazine to coincide with 'Go Lala Go!' that includes more golden rules of office survival.

Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yu hope Cat.3 rating won't affect box office

(Sina)

Asian Film Awards Jury President Tony Leung Kai-Fai suffering from eye irritation.

Awards to be announced Monday. (Sina)

Tang Wei at HKIFF

Paw Hee-Ching, Ivy Ho, Tang Wei

(Sina)

Stanley Huang and Karen Mok in Go Lala Go! (Du Lala's Promotion)

Three "Jing girls" in Wong Jing's Future X-Cops

Zhang Li

Tang Yifei

Natalie Meng Yao (HunanTV)

Vivian Hsu was surprised with a birthday cake on the set of Seediq Bale

Director Wei Te-Sheng, Vivian Hsu

(Sina)

(Re)Inventing China’s “Seventeen Years” on Film at the 2009 New York Film Festival
Mainland Chinese works of art from this “Seventeen Years” period have been routinely dismissed as propaganda by the same Western scholars and critics who periodically “discover” and celebrate masterpieces of Chinese cinema from the preceding Republican era or the later post-Mao era.
Mao-era Chinese films are univocal, tedious, and thematically homogeneous.

This rarely questioned truism could only be asserted by the ill-informed, and its widespread acceptance reveals how common is the ignorance of this period of Chinese film history. The cinema of this period includes comedies, musicals, dramas, animation, war epics, historical sagas, traditional operas, children’s films, and spy thrillers...
Mao-era Chinese films are excessively ideological and oppressively obvious, bludgeoning the viewer with blatant political propaganda...




Half a century on, 'Suzie Wong' still a star in Hong Kong
Actress Nancy Kwan walks into Hong Kong's Luk Kwok Hotel, the first time she has ever visited the backdrop to her classic 1960 film "The World of Suzie Wong".

Jacky Cheung concert tour embroiled in fraud case

Stanley Ho's daughter, Pansy Ho

AP: Asian casino magnate denies organized crime ties

Asian casino magnate Stanley Ho denied Thursday that he has ties to Chinese organized crime gangs.

Casino VIP rooms opened door to gangsters in Macau, report says

HKIFF - Crossing Hennessy Red Carpet Photos

Tang Premieres New Film After Reported China Ban
Ang Lee protege Tang Wei premieres first film since reported China ban over 'Lust, Caution'

Tang Wei

Andy On Chi-Kit

Tang Wei, Andy On

Ivy Ho

Lowell Lo, Paw Hee-Ching, Ivy Ho, Tang Wei, Andy On

Paw Hee-Ching, Lowell Lo

Nina Paw Hee-Ching

Shi Nansun (c), Patrick Lung Kong

Patrick Lung Kong

Andy On

Like a Dream's Clara Law, Eddie Fong

(Sina)

34th HKIFF Red Carpet (slide show)

34th HKIFF Opening Ceremony (slide show)

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.

Crossing Hennessy - Andy On Chi-Kit and Tang Wei

Crossing Hennessy opens in the Mainland Apr.2

(Sina)

Andy On plays Tang Wei's imprisoned boyfriend

Tang Wei

Andy On Chi-Kit

(HunanTV)