News Links - 12/18/06

[dleedlee]

'Curse' Hits Box-Office Gold
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2006/12/18/271@175400.htm

Warners, Yari clash over 'Painted Veil'
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 7507d76b34
Chinese Super Girl Sings for Hollywood Blockbuster 'Painted Veil'
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2006/12/18/271@175418.htm

Radha Mitchell says new film open to Chinese influences
``The Children of Huang Shi''
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/00 ... 181240.htm

Malaysia: The little indie movie that could - Seed of Darkness
http://www.star-ecentral.com/news/story ... sec=movies

'Hidden rules' tug-of-war in China's entertainment industry
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006 ... 761932.htm

2006 TVB8 Music Awards
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2006/12/18/271@175348.htm

The Emperor's New Libretto
http://www.nysun.com/article/45330

Teenage Boy Writes to Li Yapeng, Asks for Help
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2006/12/18/53@175334.htm

[ewaffle]

The Emperor's New Libretto
http://www.nysun.com/article/45330

It is unfortunate that "The First Emporer" will be the only opera libretto that Ha Jin will write at least based on his work with which I am familiar. A continuing collaboration between Ha Jin and Tan Dun might be in the same operatic major leagues of Mozart/Daponte or Verdi/Boito.

I have heard only bits and pieces of "The First Emporer" (it opens in a couple of days at the Met) and am very impressed by what I have heard.

Ha Jin's novel "War Trash" was difficult to read and almost impossible to stop reading. His descriptions of the casual brutality, individual courage and almost (but not quite) unbelievable fatalism of his characters belongs at the head of the canon of naturalistic/neo-realistic fiction.

[dleedlee]

Hey, glad to see another fan of Ha Jin's writings. I haven't read War Trash yet (My reading throughput being what it is these days, I've held off.) but have read his previous short stories and novels. I keep hoping that they will eventually make that film version of Waiting (with Chow Yun Fat, they said) that was announce a few years back.