News Links - 4/18/07

Dennis Lee's Daily HK cinema news archive

News Links - 4/18/07

Postby dleedlee » Wed Apr 18, 2007 11:09 am

Hong Kong School Switches on to Korean Soap Opera
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2007/04/18/1261@217467.htm

Toronto festival honors Hong Kong
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111796 ... id=13&cs=1

Vote or Die: Johnnie To’s Gruesome Crime Elections Arrive
http://www.observer.com/20070423/200704 ... movies.asp

Mei Ah bringing 'Battle' to H.K.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/con ... 74f9d50cf0



Life in Film: Jia Zhangke
http://www.frieze.com/column_single.asp?c=389

Fashion extravaganza at 26th HK Film Awards Ceremony
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007- ... 989625.htm
26th Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007- ... 1241_2.htm


Sammi Cheung Still Popular Among Fans
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2007/04/17/60@217350.htm

Xu Jinglei Launches Her E-magazine "Kai La"
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2007/04/17/60@217330.htm

Jang Nara to Hold Concert in Beijing
http://english.cri.cn/3086/2007/04/17/176@217270.htm


CBS sets "Survivor" course in China
http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/1196/1/


Malaysia's movie pirates turn to porn
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archiv ... 107349.htm

Japanese mayor killed by mobster
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070417/ap_ ... 1Y3Eqs0NUE
???? Better to light a candle than curse the darkness; Measure twice, cut once.
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Postby dleedlee » Thu Apr 19, 2007 12:48 am

Image

Hate her hat? She couldn't care less
Chinese actress Zhou Xun seems equally indifferent to the prospect of working in Hollywood


CHINESE actress Zhou Xun may have received public recognition for her acting skills, but her sense of style certainly doesn't get the nod from fashion critics.


Zhou Xun with her Best Supporting Actress trophy at the HongKong Film Awards on Sunday.
She recently came under fire for her outfit when she received her Best Supporting Actress title for her role in The Banquet at the Hong Kong Film Awards on Sunday.

According to Hong Kong reports, the veil on her pink beret - which she wore with a boring pink dress - was in bad taste and unnecessary.

But the 31-year-old Chinese actress was nonchalant about thecomments.

'I think the critics should be more open. Since there are so many different stylists around, that means different tastes prevail,' she said.

'I don't think this is a problem. I still like my outfit last night,' the actress told local journalists over the phone from HongKong on Monday.

Of course, she does. After all, her look was styled by her boyfriend, LiDaqi.

Although Zhou Xun has been open about her relationship with her Taiwanese image stylist boyfriend, marriage was an off-limits topic.

When asked if she would stop acting if her boyfriend or husband asked her to, she said, only half in jest: 'Don't use the words 'husband' or 'boyfriend' to trap me.'

She added: 'My boyfriend will not stop me from filming because he knows I love it and he wouldn't stop me from doing what I love. If I stop one day, it would be because I decide to do so.'

Despite rumours about her having secretly married Daqi, she refused to discuss marriage plans.

'I've said before that I won't answer this question. I've been answering it for three years and the answer's still thesame.'

But she chuckled when a reporter suggested that she should just get married so she needn't field the question anymore.

Zhou Xun had reportedly said on a popular Chinese TV talk show that her relationship with Daqi was a 'real and even visible love'.

She has had a relationship with actor Li Yapeng before he married Hong Kong pop diva Faye Wong, a development that reportedly left her deeply hurt and depressed for twoyears.

But things changed when she metDaqi.

'I see sunshine in my life being in love with him,' she had said on the talkshow.

The romantic actress has played many lovelorn characters, such as the ill-fated betrothed of Daniel Wu's prince in The Banquet and the ambitious actress torn between her old and new loves in Perhaps Love.

In her new movie, Ming Ming, which will open in the cinemas next week, the petite actress plays a modern-day martial arts princess and lady 'Robin Hood' who steals for love.

Ask her about what she would do in the name of love and she is tongue-tied.

She did say, though: 'I certainly won't be stealing for love, I would becaught.'

Not that she really needs any extramoney .

TOP EARNER

Zhou Xun reportedly earned US$1.45million ($2.2m) in 2003 and for the past few years, has been in the top 10 in Forbes' list of top Chinese celebrities, alongside stars like Zhang Ziyi and GongLi.

The annual Chinese Celebrities List's general ranking takes into account the stars' income, commercial value, influence, and ability to generate headlines.

This spunky lass' career is certainly flying.

She first attracted international attention with her roles in Suzhou River in 2000 and Beijing Bicycle the following year, but she left an even deeper impression after she played a husky-voiced Huang Rong in the TVremake of The Legend Of The Condor Heroes with Yapeng in 2003.

Perhaps Love launched her career in the Hong Kong film industry in 2005 and it also helped her nab the Best Actress awards at the Golden Horse Awards and at the Hong Kong Film Awards last year.

Aside from acting, she has also released solo albums such as Summer in 2003 and Come Across in 2005 and has sung on several movie soundtracks including Perhaps Love.

She will be hitting the studio soon to finish recording her nextalbum.

While many actors appear caught up in the pursuit of fame and money, Zhou Xun appears to take her craft more seriously.

Despite all the awards and accolades she has been picking up, she said she won't raise her fees in tandem with her rising popularity.

'The Asian film industry needs the cooperation of all Asian people to work hard at improving it. If I raise my fees, it will be bad for production.

'Anyway, I'm not short of money, so why do I need to raise my fees? Making good movies requires the cooperation of everyone and it's not a matter of how much money I can earn,' shesaid.

It is this dream of making good movies that has made her selective about offers from the west.

NO TO HOLLYWOOD

'I have received an offer from Hollywood. but the role is no good. It didn't touch me, so I can't bring myself to play it.

'I can't put a finger to it but when I receive a script and if the role's actions and lines touch me, I will do it,' shesaid.

Several Asian actors who have gone to Hollywood have been lambasted for playing roles that allegedly insult Asians, such as Ziyi for playing a Japanese geisha in Memoirs Of A Geisha and Chinese action star Jet Li for playing a killer slave with a big metal collar around his neck in Unleashed.

Would Zhou Xun take on roles that may be disrespectful to the Asian culture just so she could get her foot into Hollywood?

The smart young woman said: 'I won't answer this question.'

She added: 'I think movies, just like any good artistic work, have no boundaries and can communicate with everyone wherever they are. It doesn't matter where I am filming.'


http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/show/story ... 13,00.html
???? Better to light a candle than curse the darkness; Measure twice, cut once.
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Postby Brian Thibodeau » Thu Apr 19, 2007 2:14 am



Well, I'll be damned. Here I've been so focused on what to see at the Hot Docs festival they're about to have here, that this little baby slipped right under my radar. Thanks for the link, Dennis!

Those keynote presentations by Poshek Fu and Leung Ping-kwan have REALLY got me thinking I should get tickets. Whenever folks hear me complaining about the tendency of North American DVD distribs to go to the same two tired old "experts" for audio commentaries on their Asian cinema, these two IMMEDIATELY spring to mind as far more worthy candidates for the jobs. Oh well, some day, maybe... :evil:

More info here, in case anyone' in the neighborhood that weekend:
http://www.uofttix.ca/view.php?id=233

They mention a "Hong Kong Film Industry Panel." Considering how many current and ex-HK film stars live in this city, I wonder if they might have booked someone with actual connections, so to speak?

Too bad they didn't screen some films from before the handover, maybe ones with the popular anti-China angle, like To's INTRUDER or the first LONG ARM OF THE LAW, for the sake of a then-and-now comparison. It would be apt in light of their choice of Herman Yau's FROM THE QUEEN TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE as the fest title and closing film.
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