Beijing premiere of The Banquet


Lust, Caution with Wang Lee Hom and Joan Chen

Ang Lee pays the price for shooting on location


TVB stars mourn Kwan Hoi Shan: DoDo, Ng Man Tat

"The Banquet" Premieres in Hong Kong
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 138748.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006- ... 083766.htm


STILL LIFE Joins Toronto Festival
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 138599.htm


Crazy Stone Chosen as Closing Film of Pusan Int'l Film Festival
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 138590.htm
http://english.people.com.cn/200609/13/ ... 02165.html

On 'Geisha' controversy, Zhang Ziyi says unfair to mix art and politics
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/entertain ... 2000c.html

HK thriller "Exiled" to indie distributor
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlene ... ived=False

DVD Review: Chungking Express / Fallen Angels
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62749

THE CULT OF CANTOPOP
http://hk.bcmagazine.net/hk.bcmagazine. ... topop.html

HK Veteran Actor Dies at 82
http://en.chinabroadcast.cn/3086/2006/0 ... 138323.htm

HK thriller "Exiled" to indie distributor
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlene ... ived=False

Geez, this Reuters story had me checking my TIFF tickets of EXILED. The article says it premiered LAST Thursday, when in fact, it premieres tomorrow night, as my tickets and the TIFF website attests. Thanks, Reuters! Still on the ball these days, I see!!

THE CULT OF CANTOPOP
http://hk.bcmagazine.net/hk.bcmagazine. ... topop.html

This article sums up some of the reasons I was so indifferent to Gillian Chung's recent "exposure" incident, even though the piece doesn't address it. There isn't much of dividing line separating how the fans view pop star idols and how the idols ultimately view themselves, it would seem (heck, half of these new pop stars were probably idol-worshippers before they became pop stars themselves, so it's a cyclical disease).

Both sides seem to relish perpetuating this little fragile, cutesy fantasy life of puppy love and broken hearts BEYOND what the handlers at companies like EEG have manufactured. It's one thing for the fans to behave like that—they seem to be middle-teens with a lot of growing up to do (as we all did at some point)—but the pop stars are usually in their late-teens to mid-20's and beyond, and when their precious little world gets upset, they seem to lash out with the petulance and crying jags and "look-at-me-I'm-so-sad-but-I-still-love-you" antics one might reasonably expect from their fans in order to maintain those squeaky-clean images, and those sizeable royalty cheques.

But still, I gotta admit I love the music...