News Links - 4/4/08

[dleedlee]

Yeoh, Yeoh, Yeoh
Featured in Cosmo



More...
http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2008-04-03/17071973893.shtml

Joey Yung: Don't Blame Gillian For EEG's Fortunes
http://www.batgwa.com/story.php?id=741

My Blueberry Nights
Sheds twenty minutes
http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/mo ... l?ref=arts
'My Blueberry Nights'
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ne ... 5629.story
Wong Kar Wai's 'Blueberry Nights'
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/ne ... 8434.story
On the Road, With a Translator
http://www2.nysun.com/article/74160
Music Review: My Blueberry Nights - Music from the Motion Picture
http://geeksofdoom.com/2008/04/03/music ... n-picture/

Review: Tsang Tsui-shan's Lovers on the Road
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awa ... &rid=10902

`The Air I Breathe’ Is Breathtaking
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/ar ... 21899.html

'Made in China' label comes to Hollywood
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 4d9e7905e3

Edison Chen and Shu Qi project in Singapore?
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story ... 49,00.html

Isabella Leong Sued By EEG
http://www.batgwa.com/story.php?id=742

Zhang Ziyi & Wendi Murdoch, BFF?
http://www.batgwa.com/story.php?id=743

Taiwan Pop Stop
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar ... 2003408221

Former TVB star Yammie Lam now soliciting in red-light district
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story ... 51,00.html?

Ariel Lin Shares Life in N.Y. with Fans in New Book
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2008/04/04/176@341883.htm

Li Bingbing


Camille Chen...just awesome
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
http://asiancemagazine.com/apr_2008/cam ... jumping_in

Ayumi Hamasaki Shoots New Pics
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2008/04/04/176@341879.htm


Yao Ming: I Won't Miss the Olympics
http://english.cri.cn/2886/2008/04/04/53@341918.htm

Strike hits Nike Vietnam factory
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7324242.stm

S Korea confirms H5N1 outbreak
http://app2.rthk.org.hk/pda/news/content.php?id=480090

[Fan]

Former TVB star Yammie Lam now soliciting in red-light district
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story ... 51,00.html?

It's sad to read this.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Former TVB star Yammie Lam now soliciting in red-light district
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story ... 51,00.html?

What a crummy life. I'm sure she'll get lots of unneeded attention now that her situation's been made public like this.

Edison Chen and Shu Qi project in Singapore?
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story ... 49,00.html

Oughtta be good to see this one go down in flames. Which it will, even with Shu Qi in it. Edison Chen is SUCH a piss-poor actor. If he had more than a lick of talent beyond his looks and his ability to smirk and/or snarl on cue, he might have had a chance to regain some respect with it through his day jobs, but since he doesn't, and since this movie looks like it might have extensive sequences wherein he'll be allowed to "act" in his native English, the few people who'll actually bother to see it when it comes to DVD will finally be able to see him for the mediocre prettyboy that he is, and hopefully without all the Hong Kong gloss that accompanied him on his previous projects.

For a prime textbook example of his "serious" work—and his galling limitations—check out Kenta Fukasaku's overripe 2005 Japanese film UNDER THE SAME MOON, which I had the misfortune of watching about two weeks back. The director, no great auteur himself, actually felt the character of Don—played by Chen—was a Christ-like figure and neither he nor his marketing people—who were probably the brains behind the casting—could think of a better actor to fill that role than pre-scandal playboy Edison Chen. Ha-HAH! The role is largely without dialogue, which for most actors would be a great opportunity to project with their eyes, their faces, their bodies, but there's Edison, smirking and snarling and simmering through yet another role!

The makers of this new film claim that Edison would be a "good fit", but somehow, I suspect they'll be getting him cheap, easily controlled, and with the faint hope that their little project will somehow redeem him with a public that never thought overly highly of him as an actor in the first place via a show of his thesping skill.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Trailer for the American remake of MY SASSY GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXsMTxrsQR4




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[dleedlee]

Trailer for the American remake of MY SASSY GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXsMTxrsQR4

.

It looks so...bland.

[Gaijin84]

Trailer for the American remake of MY SASSY GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXsMTxrsQR4

Boooooooooooooooooo

I agree - no heart whatsoever

[Brian Thibodeau]

Yeah, it seems to be lacking a grabber of some kind, but I suppose it's an early release trailer, and probably not the one that will ultimately go out to theaters. It just seems so bland, like Dennis says, even though it seems to touch on many of the elements that were in the original. I guess that's the problem with being an Asian film watcher and then seeing the remakes: they always have big shoes to fill—which is why the rights were bought in the first place—but they rarely seem to fill them (I guess SHUTTER would be the most recent example). Gurinder Chadra (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM) was originally slated to direct SASSY, which might have been interesting, but looks like she got replaced with someone named Yann Samuell.

I did notice there is a Japanese TV version of MY SASSY GIRL currently running. Just looking at the pictures on this site makes me wonder if the show won't capture at least the spirit of the original much better than the U.S. film version.
http://www.tbs.co.jp/ryokiteki/

[Fan]

Trailer for the American remake of MY SASSY GIRL

Without that girl in 24, I really thought that's just a fan-made fake trailer.

[Brian Thibodeau]

I don't think either of the leads are right for this. The chemistry just doesn't seem to be there based on this. Not sure who'd be better, but I am sure there were plenty of others who might have matched the goofy charm of Cha Tae-hyun and Jun Ji-hyun. Jesse Bradford is a decent actor, but he's been a bland "ensemble guy" for so long, I just can't see this breaking him out all of a sudden. Same for Elisha Cuthbert, really. I probably shouldn't judge based on a trailer, but it really looks like they went out of their way to find the dullest-looking locations in New York City (IF that's even where they really shot it! )

Something else that bugs me. I think part of the charm of the original was the implication that Jun's title character was a real anomaly by conservative Korean standards. "Crazy" Girls like that in North America are a dime a dozen, lashing out for attention. But here, if they passed out puking on a train, it's doubtful any guy would see them to safety. A movie about a "crazy chick" with a secret probably won't resonate here the way it did Korea, where it was actually a novel idea.

Poster sucks too. Bradford's eyeline is all wrong. He's either looking at a GIANT Cuthbert leaning on the train, or he's looking at someone else!
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/9327 ... ssyto7.jpg

[dleedlee]

I did notice there is a Japanese TV version of MY SASSY GIRL currently running. Just looking at the pictures on this site makes me wonder if the show won't capture at least the spirit of the original much better than the U.S. film version.

The Japanese stills on the site have more energy and look more dynamic compared to the US trailer.

[ewaffle]

One would think that those who do trailers would have figured out how to keep from discouraging potential customers from paying to see the movie. Once again one would be wrong.

Among the types of bad trailers I have noticed:

--ones that make the characters seem dull and unattractive

--incoherent ones

--those that show the best 90 seconds of the finished movie--which is often the only watchable 90 seconds.

The "My Sassy Girl" trailer hits the first two on this list.

[MrBooth]

Trailer for the American remake of MY SASSY GIRL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXsMTxrsQR4

.

It looks so...bland.

compare and contrast...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZQCHWOM9bw&feature=related

[Brian Thibodeau]

compare and contrast...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZQCHWOM9bw&feature=related

It's too long. It shows too much of several scenes. It needs more variety in the music department.


But it's a hundred times better than the trailer for the American remake.