6.29.2010 - News

City Under Siege poster

Film opens in Hong Kong Aug.12 (Sina)

THR: Daniel Wu hopes to export HK success to Hollywood
"I find that Americans still have a very big stereotype toward what Asians are, and I don't feel a need to perpetuate that stereotype. So when a good character comes along, I'm all for it. I'm ready. I'd be very open to it," Wu said.
Variety: Love in a Puff
A lighter-than-air yarn about two cheerful nicotine enthusiasts, Hong Kong romancer "Love in a Puff" is an unfiltered delight. Pang Ho-cheung gets the balance exactly right with this well-realized vehicle for Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue, which also plays like a poem to that most cinematic of vices, smoking. http://hkmdb.com/news/?p=5642

CRI: "Shanghai"
Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy said that a good film should touch people emotionally. It was proved in his latest work "Shanghai".

FBA: Welcome to Shamatown (決戰剎馬鎮) (6/10)

Goofy treasure-hunting comedy is a cross between Crazy Stone and A Simple Noodle Story.

CRI: Giong Lim Promotes His Music in Beijing

Taiwan musician Giong Lim held a press conference last week in Beijing to promote the background music for Jia Zhangke's "I Wish I Knew", a dedicated film for the Shanghai World Expo 2010. [hkmdb]

CRI:'Driverless' Stars

Liu Ye plays a well-off man who is bored with his married life until he bumps into his first love played by Gao Yuanyuan.

Liu Ye, Gao Yuanyuan

CRI: Louis Koo and Daniel Wu are "in Love": States Director Derek Yee

A press conference for the action thriller "Triple Tap" was held in Beijing on June 28th. (Sina)

Beijing premiere

Li Bingbing

In the film, Li portrays a manager at a financial company. When Yee was asked to describe Li in real life, he said Li was strong, but inside she was a tender woman. As soon as the voice faded, a tear came out of Li's eyes. "It's very touching that the director understands me," explained Li.

Triple Tap: Intriguing premise but uneven delivery

Unfortunately, "Triple Tap" could not capitalise on this intriguing premise. Yee made his big reveal somewhere in the middle of the film, completely shutting down the suspense of finding out what actually transpired during the robbery and who was behind it.

Cecilia Cheung - Shanghai

Cecilia will begin work on Derek Yee's film with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai in February.

Endorsement appearance

(Sina), (Sina-slide show)

Stephen Fung - Fantastic Water Babes

Alex Fong Lik-Sun, Stephen Fung

Stephen Fung (Sina)

Alec Su (left), director Zhang Fanfan during a media visit to the set

Alec Su

Alec Su, Pace Wu

Pace Wu in character

The Hidden Chamber of Secrets, a mystery film about serial murders, stars Alec Su and Pace Wu is currently filming in Beijing. He plays a novelist, she plays his wife. The story of horror takes place within 24 hours in a locked house with 8 people. One by one they die. Zhang Fanfan directs the film scheduled to open Oct. 29. (Sina)

Fan Bingbing

Rian Dundon: Behind the Scenes with Fan Bingbing, (CF)

Li Bingbing - Trends Health cover

CRI: Cover Girl of 10-year Anniversary Edition of "Trends Health"

CRI: Faye Wong to Perform 5 Concerts in Beijing This Fall

Hong Kong celebrity Michelle Reis in the family way
Ex-Hong Kong actress Michelle Reis was seen coming out of the gynaecologist's office recently, leading to speculation that she was preparing to get pregnant, according to a report in U-Weekly.

6.23.2010 - News

THR: Shanghai
The film, which finally made its debut at the Shanghai International Film Festival, is no game-saver for the Weinstein Co. as it lacks the stylistic and narrative punch needed to separate itself from the pack. http://hkmdb.com/news/?p=5626
FBA: Deep in the Clouds (碧羅雪山) (4/10)
Loose, ethnic-minority drama is a step backward dramatically for director Liu Jie after his tight, city-set Judge.

"Clean" Mandarin version of Love in a Puff rated 87/100 by audience in small survey in Beijing. Not bad since the edits loss some of the humor and clarity of the plot. (Sina)

Backstroke's Qi Wei

(Sina)

Liu Ye taxi fight - actual photos this time

That looks like director Zhang Yang in the background.

  (Xinhua-series)

Sammi Cheng

 

Sammi Cheng promoting her new CD and denying rumors of affair with Shawn Yue

(Sina)

Global Times: Huang Yi's exclusive confession on marriage and her recent divorce

SG: Nicholas Tse resorts to 'selling' son out for money

According to sources, Nicholas has plans to migrate to China and set up a media company there.
Nicholas will not be extending his contract with his company when the term ends later this year. Instead he's planning to set up a media company in China with his former manager Chow Chun Fai.

While the couple was originally unwilling to let their son, Lucas Tse, go under the spotlight, they are now open to taking up endorsements deals for Lucas too.

SG: Gaile Lok's first appearance in music video directed by hubby Leon Lai

Gaile Lok

Jung Woo-Sung 

(Xinhua)

Wang Lee Hom said he would only watch the World Cup next year

HK actress Fiona Sit upset over secret paparazzi photos

They apparently managed to photograph the 29-year-old actress in just a T-shirt and underwear at home with her mother.
Photos of Sit in the midst of picking her nose and other situations have also made their way to the pages of publications in Hong Kong.

6.18.2010 - News

[Grrrrr: USA wins, loses and ties Slovenia, 3-2, Mali ref spoils comeback effort.]

CF: Latest Posters of "Shanghai"

Xu Fan - After Shock

Zhang Jingchu

Zhang Jingchu, Chen Daoming, Xu Fan

CF: Stills from After Shock

City Under Siege: Aaron Kwok (Sina)

Cecilia Cheung to star in Derek Yee's new film

Taiwan pulls out from Shanghai film festival

Mainland China also asked the director of another Taiwanese film, 'Us,' to mosaic the footage of the national flag of the Republic of China before playing in China. The director, Chung Cheun, found the request ridiculous and decided not to go.

Rosamund Kwan gives up acting to do charity work, perhaps

"I have appeared in over a hundred films and tried playing virtually every type of character so I think I have made the grade as an actress," said Kwan at an event in Beijing.
"I had a number of film offers but I rejected them and will no longer take on any more film roles."

Rosamund Kwan

The Rosamund Kwan Foundation donated $2M yuan to the Rule of Law Sunshine Fund which provide legal services aid to poor and other vulnerable groups. She was also appointed Ambassador of Legal Aid at the launch ceremony at the People's Hall in Beijing (Xinhua), (Sina)

Edison Chen

Just in time for Halloween, Edison Chen is planning his musical comeback in October. That is when he will release a new album with 8 Mandarin songs and 2 Cantonese songs. With help from MC Hotdog, Edison's songs written in English will be translated into Chinese. Last night at the Fama concert, Edison read aloud his rewritten lyrics to 'Imagine' including the line, "I hope someday you'll change your mind and join me" that hinted at his comeback. (Sina) On his blog, Edison's June 17th post says, "words mean nothing in this world".

6.17.2010 - News

THR: MPAA's Pisano calls for 'open and free' industry in China
THR: Product placement finding its place in China
Product placement strategies for China’s booming movie business drew a standing room only crowd to the film market’s closing day, on the sidelines of the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival.

• But China’s catching up and imitating Western practice quickly, if not always smoothly. In the current boxoffice hit romantic comedy “Go La La Go,” by director Xu Jinglei, the male protagonist is cheered up when his girlfriend hands him a cup of Lipton tea without mentioning the American brand.
• Actor Tony Leung appeared on an outdoor billboard for Head & Shoulders shampoo with the same haircut and black shirt he wore in “Infernal Affairs” (2002).
• “With my film ‘Spicy Love Soup,’ Peter showed us all kinds of things we’d never seen done for movies in China, like a soundtrack using pop stars, posters in the subways and a Valentine’s Day,” said Zhang about the film he said grossed about 30 million yuan ($4.39 million), a killing for its time.

THR: Chan calls 'Karate Kid' role a nice break

City Monkey (6/10)

China's first parkour movie is more about the teenage hero's combative relationship with his mum than about the sport itself.

The Legend Is Born: Ip Man (8/10)

Unofficial Ip Man prequel has a quality look and lively tone, with plenty of good action.

Shanghai (7/10)

Full-on, pulpy mystery-thriller, set in spy-ridden '40s Shanghai, entertainingly tips its hat to studio classics.

Short of having the Warner Bros. logo at the start, and Humphrey Bogart walk on screen and say "Play it again, Chan," Shanghai is the closest thing to an oriental version of Casablanca in colour and widescreen as you're likely to get. The surprising thing is that it pretty much works, on its own deliberately pulpy level, and even manages to pack some genuine emotion into its final section and must-make-the-last-ship-out finale. The central plot doesn't really manage to combine the main character's personal and professional quests, and some interesting side characters get beached by the tight editing; but while it's running on screen, Shanghai doesn't bore for a second...

Zhang Ziyi and Sun Honglei have signed on to star in the epic historical film 'Revolution'. Sun Honglei plays Huang Xing, second only to Sun Yat-Sen, who led an alliance to overthrow the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Zhang Li will direct with a script by Wang Xiaodong, who wrote The Founding of a Republic. (Xinhua)

Pang Ho-Cheung

Hong Kong director Pang Ho-Cheung revealed in Shanghai that he was entering the mainland market. He will make three films in three years under an agreement with a subsidiary of Jiangsu Radio and Television Studios. He said Hong Kong producers at most invest $10M yuan. Pang's first mainland film will have a $30M yuan budget. He admitted that he is still learning the mainland review system and that he will consult with his mainlaind partner and slowly he will learn it. Pang has already started preparation on his first film. It is an adaptation of a book whose rights have been purchased [Women's guide to catching spoiled boys] and it is in the scripting stage. The tentative Chinese title is 'Spoiled Women, Best Life'. (Sina), 2, 3

Shanghai's winning projects include Lost In Touch, Last Valentine's Day (Screen Daily)

Quan Ling’s Lost In Touch and Sheng Zhimin’s Last Valentine’s Day took the top two prizes at China Film Pitch and Catch (CFPC) and Co-production Pitch and Catch (Co-FPC), the project market of Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF).

Film Business Asia: Lost in Touch is top project at SIFF

At a low-key awards ceremony in Shanghai last night, novelist Quan Ling (權聆, pictured) secured Most Creative Project Award for Lost In Touch (陌生), her melodrama about a husband and wife experiencing the seven-year itch that is to be produced by Jia Zhangke's (賈樟柯) Xstream Pictures (西河星匯).

CJ readies 3-D creature movie

CJ Entertainment (CJ엔터테인먼트) is re-teaming with Haeundae (해운대) producer JK Film to deliver a 3-D creature movie.
Production gets underway this week on Block 7 (7광구, working title), a creature-action film set on and below an oil rig. (FBA)

Wang Xiaoshuai, John Woo

 

Pang Ho-Cheung, Doze Niu

CF: Directors Gather to Discuss Chinese Cinema

3-D charges the air in Shanghai

From his own experiences working with a Hollywood studio, He Ping said that US producers see their own films as global films and not just as North American films, with powerful resources at hand to take the films into international markets. The implication is that Chinese producers are still thinking too locally. He also said that Chinese producers have a "not invented here" mindset and that they should work more closely with neighbouring countries on new technologies. (FBA)

CJ and Polybona form strategic partnership

Jiang Kai and Huang Yi, only separated?

Latest reports from 'informed sources' indicate that Huang Yi is trying to salvage her marriage to Jiang Kai. Previously reported to have a flash marriage and flash divorce, it's said that the couple is only separated and that divorce proceedings were not finalized. 

In the interview, Huang Yi said: "The question was repeatedly asked is sometimes annoying, I'm here to tell my friends who care about me, one thing, that I really had separated Jiang Kai." As to the causes, Huang Yi stressed: "Just because personality clashes ... ... there are many problems, really hard to say a few words clearly. It is purely due to a financial (the people), one artist, two people working environment there is no way to reconcile, he will move. Some requirements may be I can not accept personal and work environment is the most important (reason). "

Huang Yi said she tried to restore their marriage, "as a girl, if not to the last step, certainly will be very hard to restore. I have this feeling, or serious, otherwise I would not be open to you this feeling. But indeed there are many problems in that period, I have been in a confused period. until the subsequent emergence of the photographs, I also can not question him, why did you do, but I think I tried, for me, This is not a good thing, is a great harm. "

She also revealed than in October she may work in Herman Yau's new film 'Qiu Jin'. (Xinhua)

Charlene Choi signed autographs in Beijing to coincide with the release of her Mandarin CD As a Sa. (Xinhua)

Zhao Wei

Ruby Lin, Zhao Wei

Zhao Wei, Ruby Lin, and China Film Group Deputies visited a senior actress on her birthday at a Shanghai hospital. (Xinhua)

Lucas Tse takes on pop legend Michael Jackson

In a 5-minute clip circulated on a popular Chinese video-sharing website, Lucas Tse, son of power couple Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse, pouts and moonwalks to the beat of Michael Jackson's 'Beat It'.

Eldest son of Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung to make singing debut

Singapore's education lured Jet Li here

Fan Bing Bing's rumoured beau's background uncovered

Twenty years her senior, Mu is said to be a native from the Shandong province who grew up in Taiwan. Apart from being the boss of a famous club in Shanghai, Mu is also active in the Taiwanese showbiz arena and is one of the masterminds behind many Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese productions.

Danwei: A Blind Shaft-style coal mine scam