News Links - 7/12/08

Dennis Lee's Daily HK cinema news archive

News Links - 7/12/08

Postby dleedlee » Sat Jul 12, 2008 1:48 pm

Film Review: Red Cliff
A formidable prelude to an epic battle with resplendent effects and action spectacles
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... fdf9?imw=Y
'Red Cliff' has rock-solid opening in Asia
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 68e3d68773

John Woo: Quake affected me
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation
The casting of Red Cliff
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/ ... 44/1/.html

Stung by 'flower vase' criticisms
Image
http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2008-07-10/12532095672.shtml

Lin Chiling makes movie acting debut in John Woo's Red Cliff
She's 'a bit shocked' by criticism

NO, she did not cry, she insisted.

Lin Chiling plays Tony Leung's beautiful and gentle wife in the movie epic Red Cliff.
Though she admitted the pictures published showed her eyes to be, in her own words, 'shui wang wang (dewy)'.

Shaking her head, Lin Chiling, 34, told The New Paper: 'I didn't cry, no. Maybe it was my make-up that made my eyes look like that.'

The Taiwanese supermodel-turned-actress was in town yesterday as part of Red Cliff's Asia tour.

In the two-part John Woo epic based on the classic novel Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, Chiling plays Xiao Qiao - the beautiful and gentle wife of the great general Zhou Yu (Tony Leung).

The movie also stars Takeshi Kaneshiro and Vicki Zhao.

On Tuesday, Chiling was back home in Taipei to promote the film when a reporter asked her about the Taiwanese media criticising her debut role as being no more than a 'hua ping' (Mandarin for vase, or eye candy).

According to several media reports, tears then welled up in her eyes as she gave her reply - as the photos apparently showed.

While Chiling denied that she was in tears, she admitted she was 'a bit shocked' that the Taiwanese media would get the impression that Xiao Qiao is just a vase in the movie, when she's not.

'When the director created this role, he didn't mean for it to be a small accessory. Xiao Qiao may not be a big part of the movie, but she acts as a go-between...

'She represents love, peace and carries an anti-war message.'

So, is she especially sensitive to the word 'vase'?

'I hear it too often,' she said with a self-deprecating laugh.

'I don't resent (the word), but I hope (the Taiwanese media) will hear my views and rethink the issue.'

As a first-time actress, Chiling, who shot to fame in 2004, would only give her performance in the movie 60 out of 100 marks.

She felt she's 'totally new' and she only 'just passed'.

Critics had earlier voiced concerns that her fashionista image did not gel with a period film and that her voice was too doll-like for her character.

As if to show her determination in delivering a good movie debut, Chiling underwent intensive training for months to learn how to speak and behave like a lady of ancient times.

DID HER OWN STUNT

She also valiantly rejected a body double and did her own stunt, getting suspended by wires in one scene.

But that will only be shown in the second part of Red Cliff, which will be released later this year.

The first part opens here today.

Chiling admitted she felt immense pressure when she got the role, but said she soon learnt how to 'convert the pressure into motivation' to propel herself forward during filming.

'If you work hard enough, you will improve... I carried a lot of expectations on my shoulders in doing this (movie), and now that it's out, I hope people will like it,' she said.

Eight months of filming last year had 'enriched' her life 'profoundly', and Chiling now hopes to focus on doing movies and is looking at new scripts.

She has not decided what to do next, but hopes she will not be typecast as the gentle woman she is known to be.

'I can be tough. I don't want to be stereotyped and I think I can overcome that in time,' she said.

Contrary to popular opinion, she does not think she's the perfect woman.

Her biggest imperfection?

She broods too much, she said.

'I used to be a simple and happy person. But now that I've been given such responsibility and a sense of mission (as a public figure), I tend to think too much.

'I'm slowly losing my simple and happy self, and I want to get it back.'
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/story ... 11,00.html

Johnnie To on "Mad Detective"
http://www.ifc.com/film/film-news/2008/ ... ective.php

Film Reviews
Ann Hui's The Way We Are
http://www.hk-magazine.com/feature/way-we-are
The Sparrow
http://www.hk-magazine.com/feature/sparrow
City Without Baseball
http://www.hk-magazine.com/feature/city ... t-baseball
Blind Mountain
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 11NANR.DTL
The Photograph (Singapore)
Touching tale of a dying photographer and his unlikely apprentice.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awa ... &rid=11418

'Kung Fu Panda' Hits A Sore Spot in China
Why a Quintessentially Chinese Movie Was Made in Hollywood
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03281.html

Time for the great action hero to finally slow down - Jackie Chan
http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leis ... -21326337/

Maggie Cheung graces Vogue
Image
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008- ... 130618.jpg
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008- ... 780519.jpg
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008- ... 533845.htm

Nic Tse in animated "Storm Rider: Clash of the Evils"
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2008/07/12/1221s379924.htm

Law Lan with singer Jade Kwan at recent charity event in Hong Kong
Image
http://ent.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/news/sho ... 374&ct=pic

Michelle Yeoh's Wax Figure
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2008/07/12/1821s380055.htm

Happy couples
Tony Leung and Carina Lau
Image
Vive Nevo and Zhang Ziyi
Image
http://ent.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/news/sho ... 365&ct=pic
http://ent.sina.com.hk/cgi-bin/news/sho ... 364&ct=pic

The Forbidden Kingdom Japanese press conference
http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/5AnCwEIw ... Conference

Interview - MC Jin
http://www.hk-magazine.com/feature/mc-jin

New England Patriots Cheerleaders Teach Their Moves In China
With Chinese characteristics
Image
http://wbztv.com/slideshows/patriots.ch ... html?rid=0

South Korean tourist shot dead in North
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7501126.stm

Man Held over Death of Canadian Model in Shanghai - update
http://english.cri.cn/3100/2008/07/12/1301s379991.htm
???? Better to light a candle than curse the darkness; Measure twice, cut once.
Pinyin to Wade-Giles. Cantonese names file
dleedlee
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Postby Brian Thibodeau » Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:35 pm

Another update:
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/459078

On B.C.'s Salt Spring Island, where O'Brien, 22, grew up and shared an apartment with her boyfriend Joel Berry, family members are suspicious of how quickly the arrest came, and say they have been left in the dark about the case.

"The Chinese government hasn't told me anything, I only see it on the news," Glenna Berry, Joel's mother, told the Star's Jackson Hayes. "No, I don't believe anybody has (had) any official contact."

Berry expressed doubt about the arrest and is concerned about the timeline of the case.


:?




'Kung Fu Panda' Hits A Sore Spot in China
Why a Quintessentially Chinese Movie Was Made in Hollywood
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03281.html


Interesting article. It is kinda sad that China's own film industries are so far away from producing something of this calibre, both financially and creatively. I'm sure they could do the technical job for a lot less than the $130 million Dreamworks spent, but they'd likely still be labouring in a creative vacuum. :(

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Postby Brian Thibodeau » Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:42 pm

And, for any readers from the Toronto area (all two or three of us :lol:):
http://www.torontonightmarket.com/nm2008/
Went to this last night and might return tonight. Packed as hell, but a lot of fun.
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