It’s time.

It’s definitely time.

It’s time for me to come in from nude sunbathing out on the beach and get to work on my first post for 2009 — a post about my “mosts” of 2008.

Before I begin, a caveat:  If my picks for the “mosts” of 2008 seem a bit vanilla, a bit uninspired and a bit dated, it’s because torrents and illegal downloads have killed my local Chinese video store so I now have to order in HK films.  As a result, I’ve been limited to the major releases (like RED CLIFF) or films that I have an interest in seeing (like Tissot Presents CONNECTED: A Motorola Film Presentation).  I’ve had to pass on films with negative reviews (like AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS) and the marginal titles (like those Wong Jing productions: MY WIFE IS A GAMBLING MAESTRO and THE FORBIDDEN LEGEND: SEX & CHOPSTICKS).  Ah, who’s kidding who?  I’m going to be seeing SEX & CHOPSTICKS at some point in my life …

In the past, I would have seen everything but having to pay fifteen to twenty bucks to see a film is a much different steaming tray of cha siu bao than having to pay four bucks to see a film.  I need to save some money for hookers and blow … OK, OK, the truth … Doritos and porn. 

I saw 24 Hong Kong films in 2008 (yeah, I keep movie-viewing stats … a side effect of being a sports geek) but a number of those were catch-up titles from 2007. Consequently, some older titles will be in my “mosts” selections.  I’m also not going to be able to offer any “diamond in the rough” suggestions like CLEAN MY NAME, MR. CORONER.  The closest I can come to making a recommendation of that ilk is the Martin McDonagh film IN BRUGES.  It tells the tale of two hitmen who are forced to cool their heels in the Belgian city of Bruges and has some definite Hong Kong movie DNA in it.  In fact, it reminded me a lot of EXILED.  So, if you like Johnnie To films and the “honour among thieves” genre, I think you’ll enjoy giving IN BRUGES a look.

On to my “mosts” of 2008:

Most Enjoyable Film Experience: RED CLIFF

Since the phenomenal success of CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON, movie fans have been left looking in dismay over an immense wasteland filled with the carcasses of ambitious but fatally flawed “costume epics made for the international market”.  Look over there!  It’s the empty shell that used to be known as THE BANQUET.  And here, we have the corpse of THE PROMISE.  What’s that smell?  It’s the rotting flesh of SEVEN SWORDS.

Finally, after eight long years, a big-budget, star-studded production has come along and delivered on its promise.  Unlike some of its predecessors, it doesn’t leave viewers feeling disappointed (I’m looking at you THE BANQUET), puzzled (SEVEN SWORDS) or laughing derisively at the unintentional comedy (THE PROMISE). While RED CLIFF VOL. 1 (volume 2 comes out later this month) isn’t a pantheon-worthy masterpiece, it is solid entertainment and thoroughly enjoyable.  It’s well-made with the familiar Woo style, doesn’t indulge in over-production, tells a coherent story that satisfies and, while the comedy can be a bit corny, viewers are likely to laugh with it instead of laugh at it.Some of you may be thinking that RED CLIFF was OK but it wasn’t the most enjoyable film experience of 2008.  Well, it was the most fun I had watching a movie from the three Chinas (Mainland, HK, Taiwan).  For the record, the most fun I had at the movies in 2008 was IRON MAN.

Two factors enhanced my enjoyment of the film:

One, I’m a ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS geek.  I own the book.  I own the original KOEI PC game when everything fit on one 5 1/4″ inch diskette and used less memory than a Lin Chi-Ling JPEG.  Even though they are all essentially the same game, I own the PS2 versions of DYNASTY WARRIORS 3, DYNASTY WARRIORS 4 and DYNASTY WARRIORS 5.  By the way, my high score at the Battle of Chi Bi is 1383 KOs with Zhao Yun.  Yes, I am a true hero of the Three Kingdoms.

Two, I’m a John Woo fan.  A BETTER TOMORROW and HARD-BOILED are enshrined in the Republic of Sanneyistan movie pantheon.  Coupled with the fact that John Woo had not directed a Chinese film since 1992, I was all geeked up for RED CLIFF and the familiar John Woo flourishes: the bromance, the notion of honour between men, the slow motion shots and, of course, the pigeons.  It’s sort of like how WWE fans go insane whenever Hulk Hogan appears.  It doesn’t matter that he’s well into his 50s and that he has the agility of a hippopotamus.  People still go nuts whenever “Real American” starts blasting on the loudspeaker and he does the familiar posedown, the waving at the fans to cheer and the leg drop. Whatcha gonna do when John Woo unleashes a bromantic action drama on you?  Sit back and enjoy it, that’s what.

One more thought about RED CLIFF:  Before I saw her performance in the film, the prevailing image I had in my mind of Taiwanese supermodel Lin Chi-Ling was of her dancing with business magnate Terry Guo.  Apparently, back in February 2007, she was paid to make an appearance at a business dinner thrown by Guo and somehow ended up dancing with him.  It caused a minor brouhaha when director Tsai Ming-Liang spoke out against her by saying that making such appearances was “cheap” and “disgusting”.  The incident sticks out in my mind not because I worship at the Temple of Righteous Propriety with director Tsai but because I saw the pictures and thought to myself: “whoa, Lin Chi-Ling is kinda hot.”

I know, I know, you’re probably thinking:  “Lin Chi-Ling is hot.  What a revelation.  What’s Sanney going to discover next?  The sky is blue and snow is cold.  Is he going to kiss a girl and like it?”  In response, let me just say that I see gorgeous beauty every day when I look in the mirror so it takes a lot for me to recognize beauty in others. 

Basically, I wasn’t expecting much from Lin Chi-Ling beyond the usual “flower vase” routine.  To my surprise, Lin turned in a decent performance and held her own opposite my cousin Tony, Takeshi Kaneshiro and that scene-stealing but peculiarly-clean newborn foal.  I wouldn’t put it in the same league as some outstanding debut model-actress performances — like Qi Qi (aka Mrs. Simon Yam Tat-Wah) in the criminally underappreciated THE KID and Yoyo Mung Ka-Wai in EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED –  but it isn’t bad for a rookie.

Most Disappointing Moment: Sexy Photos Gate

No, no, no.  I’m not going to be like the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild and descend from Sanctimony Peak to deliver a lecture on how Sexy Photos Gate was a tragedy for society and a tragedy for members of the entertainment industry.  Yes, having very personal photos exposed for all the world to see is beyond the pale and very traumatic and very mortifying for those involved.  However, if you create an interest in yourself so that you can profit from that interest, you can’t really complain when that interest turns on you in ways you can’t control.  If you live by the sword, you can’t complain if you end up dying by the sword.

Nope, my “disappointment” with Sexy Photos Gate is actually more of a lament.  For the past few years, news about the health of the Hong Kong movie industry has been grim (read Tim Youngs’ article in Time Magazine about the issue for a good overview).  However, I’ve always believed that the industry would survive because I’ve seen what the ingenuity and grit of Hong Kong people can do.  I was confident that the industry would find some way to keep going.  It’s like what the Jeff Goldblum character said in JURASSIC PARK: “Because the history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers.  Life breaks free.  Life expands to new territories.  Painfully, perhaps even dangerously.  But life finds a way.”  I was sure the industry would find a way.

Now, I’m not so sure.  Why?  Because no quickie “ripped from the headlines” movie about Sexy Photos Gate has popped up.  During the Asian Economic Crisis of the late-1990s, the industry still managed to produce THE LOVE AND SEX OF THE EASTERN HOLLYWOOD — a movie based on rumours that swirled around Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk, Sandra Ng Kwun-Yu and Veronica Yip Yuk-Hing among others.  After the tech bubble burst, not one but two movies about an infamous murder case turned up: THERE IS A SECRET IN MY SOUP and HUMAN PORK CHOP.  Mere weeks after the Melody Chu Mei-Fang sex scandal broke, the HK movie industry offered THE PEEPING.  Yet, almost a year after the first photos surfaced, no “ripped from the headlines” exploitation flick based on Sexy Photos Gate has been released.

Perhaps there is some reluctance to produce a movie because of the rumoured triad connections involved but you would think that the money a Sexy Photos Gate film could generate would be too enticing to pass up.  Maybe the physical and fiscal risk outweighed any potential reward.  Maybe the industry is too weak for a movie on the biggest scandal of this decade to generate any significant profit.  Whatever the case may be, it is another sign that the health of the Hong Kong movie industry isn’t as robust as it used to be.

Most Shameful Moment: Watching CJ7

If I lived on Sanctimony Peak with the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild, I’d go on a self-serving pious rant about how my most shameful moment as a HK entertainment fan came when I was looking at those Sexy Photos Gate pictures.  Alas, I’m a ham sup lo so I had no compunction about looking at the photos.  I’m not condoning the actions of those who were rabidly waiting for the latest pictures or those who were obsessed with collecting every last image.  I’m just saying that the natural reaction of any normal fan would be to look at the pictures so — despite the whines and moans about the destruction of society — no one should feel shame for looking at the photos.

No, my most shameful moment came while I was watching Stephen Chow’s CJ7.  Here I was watching a warm-hearted family movie about the relationship between father and son yet I was constantly distracted by salacious thoughts about Kitty Zhang.  I kept thinking how different my life would have been if I stayed in Hong Kong and was schooled by hot women wearing tight-fitting cheongsam instead of the likes of the stern Father Ernie and dour Sister Olga here in Canada.  One thing’s for sure, if I never underwent the tutelage of Father Ernie and Sister Olga, I’d be feeling no shame over, uh, admiring Kitty Zhang.

On a side note, anyone out there see Kitty Zhang in SHAOLIN GIRL?  Kozo killed the film in his review so I’ve stayed away but is it enjoyable on a “turn off your brain and look at the pretty pictures” level or is it, as Kozo contends, so bad that I’d get more enjoyment lighting the $16 the DVD costs on fire and watching the money burn?

Most Egregious Use Of CGI: KIDNAP

SPOILER WARNING!  SKIP THIS SECTION IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED ABOUT THE ENDING OF KIDNAP.

If you’ve seen KIDNAP then you probably know precisely what I’m going to write about: the scene where Karena Lam Ka-Yan’s character gets nailed by a car.  The effect was so cartoonish and so out-of-place for the taut thriller that director Law Chi-Leung had going, I half-expected Bugs Bunny to poke his head through the pavement and say: “… I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque … {sees the body of Karena Lam’s character} … oooh, that’s gotta hoit.”

Instead of using that ridiculous CGI, it might have been more effective (and cheaper) to do it old school — the way they did it in Shaw Brothers movies and TVB dramas before the advent of computers — stick a bad wig on a stuntman and do the stunt for real.

Most Memorable Scene: The Stephanie Cheng Yung - Edison Chen Kwoon-Hei scene from TRIVIAL MATTERS

I wish I could say that the scene sticks in my mind because of the cute as a button Stephanie Cheng Yung.  Sadly, no.  The scene sticks in my mind because of the warped notion of “good citizenship” espoused by Edison Chen.  The stupid scene stuck in my mind like an ear worm every time I visited a public toilet in 2008.  It didn’t matter where I was: a pay toilet near the famous Piazza San Marco in Venice, a washroom in a pub just off of Leicester Square or the downstairs facilities in the Columbia Icefields Visitors’ Centre, I couldn’t help but think of Edison Chen’s idea of “public service”.   Thank you Edison Chen.  Thank you Pang Ho-Cheung.

I suppose that I must now make the obligatory comment about how it’s ironic (or at least prescient) that the scene involved a certain part of the male anatomy that Chen would, months later, go down in history and become synonymous with due to Sexy Photos Gate.

Most Memorable Moment Of Bad Acting: Gigi Leung Wing-Kei in WONDER WOMEN

I don’t mean to single out Gigi Leung as a “bad actress” with this selection.  On an absolute scale, her acting skills are fairly decent and I saw many, many poorer performances in 2008.  However, her work in WONDER WOMEN is the bad performance I remember most out of all the ones I saw last year.  Overall, Leung’s effort in WONDER WOMEN is pretty good, it’s just that in key moments she’ll use an exaggerated expression or an exaggerated gesture that belongs more in a TVB drama than a sweeping epic about Hong Kong since the Handover.

The moment that sticks in my mind is early in the film shortly after she discovers that her trusted “uncle” (played by Hui Siu-Hung) is conning her with a real estate scam.  Instead of attempting to portray genuine emotion, she uses one of those melodramatic TVB “hrrmph” expressions that’s so jarring it kills the narrative momentum of the film.  Sure, an argument can be made that the entire production is plauged by such inconsistency but a really good actress should have the ability to rise above bad directing and bad production (Karena Lam, for instance, has delivered the goods in many questionable movies).   It’s this lack of acting chops that kept Leung from progressing beyond the “It Girl” level earlier in her career.

Most Memorable Moment of Good Acting: Eddie Cheung Siu-Fai in KIDNAP

There wasn’t any particular instance of great acting that prompted me to pick Eddie Cheung for this section.  It’s just that while I was watching him in KIDNAP, it dawned on me that Cheung is an outstanding actor.  I never really noticed it before because he started his career playing thankless roles in TVB series.  From the late-1980s to early this decade, Cheung spent his time at TVB playing villains, dorks or the third wheel in romantic triangles.  Consequently, you never really paid attention to him because the focus was always on the leading man and the leading lady.

Since leaving TVB, Cheung has put together a nice string of supporting roles in some notable movies (from RUNNING ON KARMA to THROWDOWN to MAD DETECTIVE).  In the past couple of years alone, he’s played a supremely competent badass cop in KIDNAP, a sympathetic hardass cop in DOG BITE DOG, a jerkass police superintendent in CONNECTED and an explosively violent personality in MAD DETECTIVE.  Here’s hoping that his talent, his skill and his range are recognized someday with a Hong Kong Film Award.  Hong Kong Movie Gods, I beseech you, please make it so.

Looking Ahead To 2009: Growing a Lamstache

Now that I’ve finally put 2008 to rest, here’s what I plan to do in 2009: grow a George Lam Chi-Cheung style moustache.  Why?  In real life, the guy is married to Sally Yeh.  In his last two movies, his characters were married to ones played by Gigi Leung Wing-Kei and Loletta Lee Lai-Chun.  In addition to having such good luck with the ladies, he played a badass gangster in THE PYE-DOG.  Surely, the secret to his success is the ’stache.

OK, OK, maybe I’ll take a pass on the idea of the Lamstache.  What I will do in 2009 is wait for the Hong Kong Film Awards nominations to come out and see all the nominated movies and performances.  I have a feeling that means I’ll be seeing films like RUN PAPA RUN and THE WAY WE ARE.  Of course, I’ll be seeing RED CLIFF 2.  In fact, if I was a crazy rich guy, I would hop a flight to Hong Kong just so I could see the movie instead of waiting for it to come out on DVD.  Alas, I’m not rich, just crazy.

Do any of you have suggestions on movies from 2008 that I should see?  Does the accumulated babeage in LA LINGERIE make it worth a look?  How about NOBODY’S PERFECT?  Is there enough Jo Koo in THE VAMPIRE WHO ADMIRES ME to justify a purchase?  If there’s a film that you saw in 2008 that tickled your fancy, let me know.  It doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I enjoy the fartsy just as much as the artsy.

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Be seeing you, Patrick McGoohan.

Image credits: Blueprint Pictures (IN BRUGES still), WWE (Hulk Hogan), Wenhui Xinmin United Press Group (Lin Chi-Ling/Terry Guo), Mei Ah Entertainment (THE LOVE AND SEX OF THE EASTERN HOLLYWOOD still), Star Overseas (Kitty Zhang), Bugs Bunny (Warner Bros.), Not Brothers (TRIVIAL MATTERS still), Mandarin Films (WONDER WOMEN still), George Lam’s Official Website (George Lam)

Much to my embarrassment, I have to begin with a familiar refrain: Apologies for the long gap in between posts. My cousin Tony recently married his longtime girlfriend in, of all places, Bhutan so I’ve been on the road slowly making my way to the remote mountain region by plane, train, automobile and, for the last few rugged kilometres, yak. The ceremony was fantastic but Bhutan isn’t easy to get to so everyone in the Leung clan sort of wished that he had the wedding at a Marriage Registry office like everyone else.

I am, of course, kidding. I didn’t go to Bhutan for the Tony Leung Chiu-Wai-Carina Lau Ka-Ling wedding but I have been on the road. I’m back home from a trip to England and Italy. I had a fabulous time made all the more enjoyable because it was my first significant trip in more than ten years and, naturally, because of what I’ve been through in the last little while. I savoured every minute — even the moments I was crammed like a sardine in the London Tube during rush hour. I didn’t mind the tight, smelly, sticky situation one bit because I consider myself very, very lucky and very, very blessed just to be able to have the experience.

As I am a bit of a history buff, I went to many famous sites and often had moments where I was enveloped by a pervasive sense of history. When I stood in front of Stonehenge, I could picture pre-historic men working together to drag those massive stones. When I surveyed the panoramic countryside view from the “Pink Terrace” at Chartwell (the family home of Winston Churchill), I was blown away by the fact that the legendary Churchill used to enjoy the very same view. In Rome, when I visited the Temple of Julius Caesar, I couldn’t believe that I was looking at the funeral pyre of one of the men who helped expand the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

Stonehenge

View from the “Pink Terrace” at Chartwell

The Funeral Pyre of Julius Caesar

Longtime readers will know that I enjoy the fartsy side of life just as much, if not more, than the artsy side. So, contrary to the paragraph above, my trip wasn’t all about historic sites, I made my share of pop culture pilgrimages as well. When I went to the famous Colosseum, I could barely concentrate on what the tour guide was saying because all I was thinking was: “wow, that’s where Chuck Norris stood in WAY OF THE DRAGON“. Even though I knew that the climactic Norris-Bruce Lee fight from the film was shot on a soundstage, I was looking for the spot where the fight would have taken place. I also resisted the urge to yell out: “Tang Lung, you are a very brave man! Tang Lung, the man you just saw will kill you! Tang Lung, you are trapped!”

I made another pop culture pilgrimage to Rome’s Piazza Navona — the location of the scene in WAY OF THE DRAGON where Nora Miao lectures Bruce Lee about being too uptight around foreigners. For about ten minutes, I sat on the bench in front of the Fountain of Four Rivers where Bruce Lee sat but, sadly, no Italian beauties like Malisa Longo showed up to bring me back to her apartment. I like to think that it was because the Fountain of Four Rivers was closed for restoration since, as the movie demonstrated, handsome Chinese guys like myself are irresistible to Italian beauties.

Piazza Navona in WAY OF THE DRAGON

Italian Beauty Malisa Longo

Nora Miao, Bruce Lee and Malisa Longo

Fountain of Four Rivers closed for restoration

Enough about me … since this is nominally a blog about Hong Kong entertainment, I better earn my keep and talk a little bit about the entertainment circle. I dragged my friend Ah Wing away from his three-year old daughter and one-year old son this past weekend for a screening of THE DARK KNIGHT. While everyone else was interested in seeing the highly-hyped sequel to BATMAN BEGINS and the vaunted Heath Ledger performance, I was interested in seeing if the rumours that Edison Chen Kwoon-Hei was cut from the film were correct. I suspected that he was still in the film but that he would have a very, very small role. I pegged the over/under for the number of lines for the man with the hand worth HK$500,000 at 2.5. If I were a betting man, I would have placed a small wager on the under.

As it turned out, I would have collected on my bet because Chen only had two lines. Since he wasn’t even on screen for one of those lines, I don’t think the role will have Hollywood beating at his door as his performance definitely was not a Jet Li in LETHAL WEAPON 4 situation.

Speaking of “Sexy Photos Gate”, reader Mark — who is supposedly teaching English in Japan but is probably there stalking Miki Nakatani (oh wait, that’s what I would do if I was in Japan) — sent in an e-mail to let us know that “Sexy Photos Gate” has even been a source of inspiration for the prodigious Japanese adult video industry. In June, an adult video titled “Leaked Photos! Former Boyfriend Films Private Intercourse!” was released by Alice Japan (go here for the official website — Warning: Adult Content).

Back to THE DARK KNIGHT … I don’t know if I can join the chorus of those proclaiming it to be an Oscar-worthy masterpiece. I have decidedly mixed feelings about it. The film is indeed very good but it’s also a little too long and very dark and very pessimistic. Perhaps expectation is playing a part in my perception of the film. I was anticipating a repeat of the “hell yeah!” feeling I had after seeing BATMAN BEGINS. I was not expecting to be gut-punched with a shockingly somber movie. When I walked out, I didn’t feel like I’d just seen a superhero movie, I felt like I’d just seen GOTHAM ON FIRE — the followup to Ringo Lam’s intense and depressing movies CITY ON FIRE, PRISON ON FIRE and SCHOOL ON FIRE. I suspect I’m not alone in feeling stomach-punched because, apart from the laughs inspired by the Joker’s disappearing pen trick, the crowd in the theatre was deathly quiet and, when we came out, we all had dazed expressions on our faces.

That’s all for today, I’ll be back sometime in the next sixty days with a post about TVB.

By the way, if you picked me up at the airport and I circled your car and said: “BMW? Mustang? It’s a Rolls!” would you think I was funny or weird? When my cousin picked me up at London’s Heathrow Airport, I did the car bit from WAY OF THE DRAGON but all I got was a puzzled look because she hadn’t seen the film. I did, however, achieve a small victory by eliciting the Nora Miao “just get in the car” face from my cousin. Good times.

Image credits: Sanney Leung (Stonehenge, Chartwell, Temple of Julius Caesar, Fountain of Four Rivers), Golden Harverst (WAY OF DRAGON screen shots)

Welcome to The Tea House where I get ready for the day I become the benevolent dictator of the Republic of Sanneyistan by coming down from my hermetic cyber-mountain top and interacting with my loyal subjects, uh, readers.

I was going to call this feature “Sanney’s Mailbag” but I only received Congressional approval for an e-mail address this past weekend (go here for details) and “Sanney’s Comment Box” sounds like something you need to fill with kitty litter. In the end, I decided to play off the House Where Words Gather theme and call this feature “The Tea House”. Picture all of us sitting at a table and having a pleasant conversation while sharing a nice big pot of tea and some freshly-steamed siu mai dumplings (燒賣).

Let’s start things off with some comments on the comments from the last post “Sypmathy for Mr. Imprudence”:

Eliza Bennet writes: Comparing her [Cecilia Cheung] to Maggie of now would not be fair. Better compare her to Maggie of her age. But Tang Wei? Her performance was not bad at all but all the nostril flaring didn’t bring anything new at the table. I’d like to see her do something else before I form an opinion on her acting prowess.

aircompass writes: I think it’s much too early to place Tang Wei’s talent. She’s certainly a charming and intelligent girl, but one decent performance does not a Maggie Cheung make.

I adore Cecilia Cheung, however. I think she always brings something good to the table, and I think she’s a very reliable and effective dramatic actress.

Upon reflection, I wish I would have done a better job of writing that last paragraph about Cecilia Cheung’s acting. I didn’t mean to compare her with Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk or Tang Wei. I was referring to the type of role and not the actresses. I should have written: “I don’t think she has the chops to give a subtle performance required by complex roles like Su Li-Zhen/Mrs. Chan from IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE or Wang Chia-Chih/Mak Tai-Tai from LUST, CAUTION.”

I think Cecilia Cheung is a solid actress. She has a great screen presence that engages you and makes you care about her characters even if they are a dopey shopping addict or some otherworldly, mystical hot babe. It’s just that I don’t think her acting skills are refined enough to handle roles that call for a lot of subtlety.

By the way, I agree with aircompass about Tang Wei. She gives an outstanding performance in LUST, CAUTION but it’s way too early to place a “Screen Queen” crown on her head.

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Glenn writes: I think I’ve made my love for Cecilia’s acting well known on this site; I’m a sucker for her crying bits where her already raspy voice gets even further choked up. Works every time for me.

Man, I’m feelin’ ya on this one. The raspiness is the vocal equivalent of a hot babe wearing nothing but a men’s white tuxedo shirt.

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Eliza Bennet writes: Edison Chen at the press con (heh) didn’t seem sincere to me. It actually seemed like he was expecting some sort of a reaction from everyone.

He didn’t strike me as entirely sincere either. His proclamation that he was going to dedicate himself to “charity and community work” seemed about as genuine as O.J. Simpson declaring, years ago, that he was going to dedicate himself to “finding the real killers”. I was just saying that despite the prepared script, you could sense that — at the core — there was a real human who has been severely humiliated. By contrast, at their press event, EEG chose to present corporate creation Gillian Chung™ instead of genuine human Gillian Chung so it was hard for people to connect with her and feel any real sympathy for her plight.

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Viktor writes: I find it is a disgrace that the people involved are now judged by the quality or authenticity of their press conferences. The fact remains that they did no wrong to anybody (the allusion to Nixon’s crookery in “Sexy Photos Gate” is malicious, to say the least).

I don’t think anyone is trying to equate what Edison Chen and his partners did in private to Nixonian crookery. Adding the “-gate” suffix to any sort of controversy has just become a convenient way for the media to label scandals. Earlier this month, the Obama-Clinton race for the Democratic presidential nomination begat “NAFTAgate”. Since September, American football fans have been subjected to endless talk about “Spygate”. I think that “-gate” has become mostly disassociated with the original Watergate scandal. If you go to Wikipedia, you can see a list of more than twenty scandals that have had “-gate” attached to it.

The Eastern Heretic and the Poisonous West (left) with their American counterparts the Venerable West (centre) and the Eastern Dowager (right).

Linguistically speaking, I’ll admit that I was surprised when I saw that the Chinese media attached “-gate” to the scandal. Chinese and English are so different, it’s often difficult to translate concepts from one language to the other. You don’t see the American media calling Senator John McCain of Arizona the “Venerable West” or Senator Hillary Clinton of New York the “Eastern Dowager”. I’m guessing that, for logistical reasons like article length and headline length, calling it “Sexy Photos Gate” was easier than using the unwieldy “Edison-Gillian-Bobo-Cecilia Picture Scandal”. Moreover, the latter became inaccurate when more starlets became involved.

As for Gillian Chung and Edison Chen being judged by their respective press conferences, I’ll paraphrase Hyman Roth from THE GODFATHER, PART II and say simply: “this is the business they’ve chosen”.

Besides, I think most people are judging Gillian Chung™ and Edison Chen™ rather than the actual Gillian Chung or the actual Edison Chen. I think you have to be very naive or very foolish if you don’t understand that there is a distinction between the public persona and the private person. Based on how he presents himself to the public eye, you’re entitled to have an opinion like Edison Chen™ is a poseur — a dopey, bad-boy wannabe who, if caught in a gunfight, would probably pull a Ruby Wong from PTU rather than take nine to the body like 50 Cent. However, unless you know him personally, it’s impossible to have a reasonable opinion on the actual Edison Chen. Put it this way, there has got to be a difference between Edison Chen™ and the actual Edison Chen. There must be something endearing about the actual Edison Chen because multiple women liked him enough to have relations with him and trusted him enough to let him take compromising photographs of them.

By the way, congratulations to Shawn Yue Man-Lok! I think it’s now safe to declare him the winner of the long and bitter Shawn Yue-Edison Chen “teen idol” rivalry.

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Glenn writes: While I do agree that Charlene [Choi Cheuk-Yin] is the more talented of the Twins, I can’t recall anything memorable beyond comedy roles — has she done anything even close to drama? I haven’t watched Diary yet; maybe that will prove me wrong? She was good in Leave Me Alone and My Wife is 18 — made that film far better than it should have been.

My memory may be faulty so the timeline may be slightly off but I believe Charlene Choi established her dramatic acting bona fides way back in 2000-2001 before EEG hooked her up with Gillian Chung. I believe both HEROES IN LOVE and FUNERAL MARCH were made and released before Twins released their first album in the Autumn of 2001. While Ah Sa got nominated for the Best New Artist HKFA for her role as a “girl with a terminal disease” in FUNERAL MARCH (losing an honourable decision to Karena Lam Ka-Yan’s performance in JULY RHAPSODY), HEROES IN LOVE was the better showcase of her young acting talents.

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A comment about Damn You, Kozo! … Kozo’s rant about inconsistent romanization brought to mind a conversation I had recently with someone about “legacy kids” (children of people who are rich, powerful or famous). This person, who shall remain nameless, hates George W. Bush with a passion and was trying to make the argument that, generally speaking, legacy kids grow up in a pampered environment so they don’t develop the skills that allow them to handle important positions when they are adults. I have to admit that I found the argument convincing until the person used Kim Jong-Il as another example of an “incompetent legacy kid”. It’s not that I think Kim Jong-Il is doing a bang-up job governing North Korea, it’s that the person I was talking to referred to Kim Jong-Il as Kim Jong II (Kim Jong The Second).

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A little help … Any Microsoft Excel experts out there? I’m flirting with the idea of running a Hong Kong Film Awards predictions contest and I need someone to help me develop a formula so that I can determine the winner without having to manually go through every entry. If you can help, please get in touch with me.

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Have you seen PROTEGE? If you have, please read this post and discuss the ending with me.

IMAGE CREDITS: Lung Poon Restaurant (Siu Mai), TVB (Screen grab from LEGEND OF THE CONDOR HEROES), The Huffington Post (John McCain, Hillary Clinton), Milkyway Image (Ruby Wong), Reuters (Kim Jong-Il)

Maybe it’s because I’m a softie but I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of sympathy for Edison Chen Kwoon-Hei as I watched his press conference last Thursday. Though his statement contained ill-advised credibility-killers like his concern for “society as a whole” and his pledge to dedicate himself to “charity and community work”, it was clear from his body language that Chen was genuinely gutted by “Sexy Photos Gate”. While my sympathy and HK$25 will buy him a tray of shrimp dumplings at a dim sum restaurant, I thought Chen came off much better than Gillian Chung Yan-Tung did in her press conference. Comparing the two, it’s hard not to notice that Chung self-inflicted even more damage to her career by appearing duplicitous and insincere just as she was taking heavy criticism for being duplicitous and insincere. EEG really needs to find better public relations help because the people manipulating PR for them now are doing more harm than good.

For the most part, Chen is still being excoriated over the scandal. His announcement about dedicating himself to charity is being dismissed as a publicity ploy and he took criticism for being disrespectful to Lydia Shum Tin-Ha by not allowing a proper period of time to pass before having the spotlight refocus on him and “Sexy Photos Gate”. Those who feel any sort of sympathy for Chen are definitely in the minority. Even tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-Sun, of all people, crushed Edison Chen. This past Saturday (February 23rd), Sing Tao Daily reported that the casino magnate refused to offer any opinions about “Sexy Photos Gate” because it was “trash” but he did say that he thought “that person” (Chen) was “cheap, cheaper than dirt.” Ouch.

Some other thoughts on the Edison Chen press statement:

- A few people are parsing Chen’s stepping “away from the Hong Kong entertainment industry” to mean that he is going to take a shot at Hollywood. Are you kidding me? If Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chow Yun-Fat thought breaking into Hollywood was frustrating and difficult, what kind of chance does Edison Chen stand? The odds are so low that he stands a better chance of re-establishing a career in Hong Kong entertainment than he does at building a meaningful Hollywood career.

- With all due respect to Lydia Shum, it’s difficult to fault Edison Chen for holding the press conference on Thursday. He was caught in a no-win situation. Hold the conference on Thursday and get criticized for being disrespectful to Lydia Shum. Delay it a few days and continue taking shots for being a coward. Announcing that you are waiting out of respect for Lydia Shum opens you up to talk of trying to get sympathy by riding on her coattails.

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Another sign that I watch too much TV: I was watching the new LAW & ORDER episode last Wednesday night and I couldn’t help thinking that — if it actually blipped on the radar of people here in the West — “Sexy Photos Gate” would make for a great “ripped from the headlines” episode. Multiple suspects are available for the ol’ LAW & ORDER twist and I’ve already come up with the pithy ending: McCoy and Cutter are walking away from the courthouse following the verdict. They spot the agent for whoever murdered “alternate universe Edison Chen” holding an impromptu press conference on the courthouse steps. McCoy turns to Cutter and says: “The show must go on.” Cue “Executive Producer Dick Wolf” title card.

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Some comments on the comments from the last post:

Will writes: “No thoughts because of the snowstorms in China”? Damn snowstorms! I was hoping to hear what you thought of everything. Surely, you must have SOME opinions.

Using a phrase that seems to have become part of the North American lexicon in the past couple of years, my opinion on “Sexy Photos Gate” boils down to: “it is what it is”. People are people. They have their foibles. They make mistakes. They react to things of a sexual nature. I’m confident Edison Chen isn’t the only person to have recorded themselves having sex. Everybody has done things in their life that they regret and everyone has sexual instincts. Basically, I can understand why events unfolded like they unfolded — from Edison Chen taking the photos in the first place to the women allowing Chen to do so to the interest in seeing and collecting the photos.

I can also understand why some people took to the streets to protest police actions surrounding the photos. Given the already sensitive nature of Hong Kong political culture when it comes to the issue of human rights, it’s easy to see why people would be irked by the ham-handed response by the police — especially the insinuations that even having the photos on your hard drive was a criminal offense.

The only strong opinion I have about the entire affair is that I wish people would stop the mourning and weeping for society. Over the past three weeks, I’ve read multiple variations of “this scandal is bringing down society” or “we must protect the younger generation from this scandal”. For more than 5,000 years, Chinese society has survived despite war, conquest, pestilence and death, I think it and the younger generation will somehow manage to survive “Sexy Photos Gate”.

I thought the overwrought response by the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild was particularly dismaying. A couple of days into the scandal the Guild held an “emergency meeting” then emerged to release a sanctimonious statement saying that the affair was “not only a tragedy for the entertainment industry but a tragedy for Hong Kong people”. They called distributing the photos a “poison” for the younger generation and called for the police to stop the “bad wind from blowing further”. The first thing that came to mind when I read the statement was Helen Lovejoy screaming: “won’t somebody please think of the children” in that Maison Derriere episode of THE SIMPSONS. My second thought was where was this concern for poisoning the younger generation when Wong Jing was producing the RAPED BY AN ANGEL movies and John Woo was making films with body counts well into triple digit territory?

Instead of holding emergency meetings and releasing statements that make them look like dopes, it would be far more constructive for the Guild to follow the leads of sports labour unions by holding workshops or developing literature that provide advice for new members on how to handle fame and fortune. Tips like “don’t pose for pictures or videos that may damage your reputation” could have prevented “Sexy Photos Gate” from happening in the first place.

Glenn writes: … Twins were due to break up anyway and both Charlene and Gillian have done good work solo — Charlene in SIMPLY ACTORS and others and Gillian in BEYOND OUR KEN and other flicks.

While Gillian Chung has done well in her solo acting roles, I don’t think she’s done enough to establish an identity outside of Twins. The perception of Chung has been that she’s the “lesser Twin” — pretty, cute but not as talented or charismatic as the award-winning Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin. Even if “Sexy Photos Gate” didn’t happen, Chung wouldn’t have much of a career outside of Twins. I think deep down EEG knows this because if Chung could be profitable outside of Twins, Twins would already have disbanded.

Eliza Bennett writes: As a fan of Cecilia’s acting I never saw that her career is having a downslide (I blame THE PROMISE!!!). Your post sure was a wake up call as far as I’m concerned. If your predictions come true, it will be sort of a waste of a good actress.

I hope you didn’t think I was saying that Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi’s career is circling the drain because the point I was trying to make was that the scandal wouldn’t be too damaging because the white-hot “it girl” period of her career was over. From the release of KING OF COMEDY during Lunar New Year 1999 to late-2003/ early-2004, Cheung was the “it girl” of the HK entertainment circle. It seemed like she was in every other holiday movie or every other major production. She was so popular in the first three years of her career, newspapers and magazines tried to increase sales by publishing vacuous articles about her father and her little brother or writing stories about the contents of her trash. By “downside of her career”, I meant that the buzz of celebrity surrounding Cecilia Cheung now is markedly less intense than what it was earlier in her career. She is now at the point where producers are going to hire her for a role because they want her for it rather than because her star power will help them make money. This is why I don’t think the scandal will significantly damage her film career.

While we’re on the subject of Cecilia Cheung, I was wondering what you guys thought of her acting. I think she has great screen presence but she’s an unrefined actress. If you watch LOST IN TIME or ONE NITE IN MONGKOK or THE PROMISE, there are many instances where you can tell that she’s “acting” because she has a tendency to overplay emotion. Borrowing the exquisite brushwork analogy of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society, Cecilia Cheung is an 1.0 mm medium point pen not a 0.5 mm fine point pen. Right now, I don’t think she has the chops to give complex, subtle performances like Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk did in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE or Tang Wei in LUST, CAUTION. I’m not saying that she’s a terrible actress, I’m saying that she’s not in the “great” actress category yet.

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Rest in peace, Lydia Shum Tin-Ha.

IMAGE CREDITS: Associated Press (Edison Chen), NBC Universal (LAW & ORDER cast), 20th Century Fox Television (Helen Lovejoy), 21 Century Shengkai Film (Still from THE PROMISE)

Now that the initial blast waves from the explosive celebrity photos scandal have passed and those involved have started emerging from their fallout shelters, here is some speculation on the damage this “strange, strange ordeal” has inflicted on the careers of the three central figures — Edison Chen Kwoon-Hei, Gillian Chung Yan-Tung and Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi:

Instead of adding my voice to the cacophony of opinions on “Sexy Photos Gate” aka “Celebrity Photos Scandal” aka “Edison-Gillian-Cecilia-Bobo Picture Scandal”, I will be focusing solely on the implications that the scandal may have on the careers of the three major celebrities who are still involved in the entertainment circle. Besides, I really have no thoughts on the scandal at large because my thoughts are mostly with the victims of the snowstorms in China. (Sorry Andy Lau, couldn’t resist. We kid because we love …). To those of you who believe that speculation on the career prospects of these celebrities is inappropriate, I ask you to consider the following: These people have cultivated an interest in themselves and have profited from that interest. It is fair game to discuss how this scandal may effect that interest.

Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi

Career-wise, “Sexy Photos Gate” should not have a major effect on Cecilia Cheung. Before the scandal hit, her popularity had already peaked and she was on the downside of her career. Her last major movie release was in 2006 and her last new song was recorded in 2005. In the past two years, her career has consisted of advertising and promotional work, television appearances and voiceover roles. Cheung’s most significant project in this period was a biographical Mainland television drama on the life of Zhou Xuan. Her days of being a major box office draw for big budget projects and holiday movies were already over so the scandal should not damage her film career in any significant way as it likely would have continued based upon factors other than star power.

As for her celebrity image, the scandal should not have a detrimental effect because Cheung did not promote herself as a paragon of virtue and it was no secret that she liked to enjoy life. Furthermore, the public perception of Cheung seems to be that — as a wife and mother — she had put her “wild” days behind her and had moved on to the next stage of her life. Among Cheung, Gillian Chung and Edison Chen, Cheung is the one most likely to be perceived by the public as a “victim”. Apart from some desultory comments about her personal grooming habits, the response to Cheung’s part in the scandal — in both discussion forms and media articles — has been mostly sympathetic.

Gillian Chung Yan-Tung

“Live by the sword, die by the sword” best describes the predicament of Gillian Chung Yan-Tung. Along with her Twins’ bandmate Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin, Chung made a living by promoting herself and everything from instant noodles to Hong Kong Disneyland using a cute and innocent personna. The scandal has obliterated that image and her reliance on being sweet and squeaky-clean (unlike Charlene Choi, Gillian Chung has not been able to diversify herself from the Twins brand) means that recovering from the scandal will be difficult.

While the release of the first photos was a grave wound to her career, the cause-of-death will be the inept response by her publicity handlers at Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG). Rather than issue blanket denials and have their sympathetic media outlets attempt to debunk the photos by citing unnamed “experts”, EEG should have determined the authenticity of the photos and had Gillian Chung confront the public as quickly as possible. Their response should have been based upon the precedent set by the “Aaron Kwok Love Trap Incident of 1999″.

In August 1999, a videotape of Aaron Kwok Fu-Sing caressing a woman in an Australian hotel room was filmed by con artists who hoped to blackmail Kwok with it. Instead of buckling to the demands, Kwok and his manager filed a criminal complaint and an injunction in an Australian court to block the sale of the video. They then held a press conference to publicly address the matter. At the event, Kwok admitted to being attracted by the woman and to caressing her in a hotel room. He went on to emphasize that he was a victim of a scam and that the only thing he was guilty of was being attracted to a woman. Kwok: “I am a victim of love. It is hurtful to be cheated like this.”

At that point in his career, Kwok projected a clean-cut image — though not to the extent of Gillian Chung — so the incident was a definite threat to his carefully-crafted reputation. By confronting the matter directly, rapidly addressing the public and reminding people that he was a victim, Kwok was able to quell wild speculation and minimize the damage. Eight years later, he is nominated for a Hong Kong Film Award and holding a concert series at AsiaWorld-Expo.

If Gillian Chung and EEG reacted similarly to “Sexy Photos Gate”, the blow to her career may have been limited to damaging rather than catastrophic. If the photos were indeed fake, then Chung should have been out in public immediately bemoaning the attack on her good name. If the photos were authentic, Chung should have reacted like Kwok did in 1998. She should have held a press conference and admitted to being in the photos. The plan should have called for her to go “all-in” with her wholesome and innocent image by declaring that Edison Chen was her first love and that she agreed to the photos because she was naive and inexperienced. She then could have reminded the public that she was a victim by reacting like she did during the EasyFinder Scandal of 2006. It may not have been convincing but it would have been better than what happened.

Understandably, Chung may have been too mortified by the photos to appear in public during the first days of the scandal but EEG should have impressed upon her that it was critical for her to get her message out to the media and control, somewhat, the discussion over the scandal. Aaron Kwok addressed the public after the first “Love Trap” stories broke. Ekin Cheng Yi-Kin held a press conference when news of his relationship with Gigi Leung Wing-Kei surfaced. Jackie Chan spoke to the press about “Dragon Seed” when it became clear the story could not be contained. Facing the public when a scandal breaks is part of the job when you are an HK entertainment idol. Gillian Chung and EEG should have realized this during week one of the scandal.

The only way EEG can be absolved of blame for the way they handled the matter is if they went with the full denial because Gillian Chung told them on day one that the photos were fake. Otherwise, they were extremely foolish for ignoring the old Chinese adage: 紙包不著火 (”paper cannot cover up a fire”).

As it stands now, Gillian Chung has to dig out of a very deep hole if she wants to restore her career. Advertisers may find her too “radioactive” to work with because reaction to her part in the scandal has not been sympathetic. The majority view is that she is a hypocrite for maintaining a cute and chaste image in public while being less than chaste in private. Moreover, the sympathy she garnered from the EasyFinder Scandal has turned into animus as her reaction to the spy-camera photos is now perceived as calculated and disingenuous.

It appears that EEG has adopted a strategy of “keep a stiff upper lip and proceed like nothing happened”. It may be the only option available because to try adopting a different image — “good girl gone bad”, for example — would make Chung appear desperate. The critical question in the coming months will be: How much of her fanbase can Gillian Chung keep? If she can keep enough to still be profitable, then she and Twins will survive. If not, EEG will break Twins up, slowly and quietly marginalize Gillian Chung and send her off to join the ranks of faded HK starlets. If it happens, the move will not be overt. After a suitable waiting period that allows them a little face-saving distance from the scandal, Twins will break up because it is the “natural time” and Gillian Chung will be “taking a break” because she needs to “rest” or because she is going to Japan or the United States or England to take “singing/acting lessons”.

Though the situation may appear bleak, there are a few factors working in Chung’s favour. First, EEG and its publicity machine is solidly behind her. Mani Fok Man-Hei, EEG super-manager, has been spinning the line that Chung is still being offered movie work and advertising jobs. Media outlets sympathetic to EEG have been running stories calling her “sincere” and “brave”. Second, it appears that the powers-that-be in the entertainment circle — investors and producers — see Chung as a “victim” and are willing to give her every opportunity to rehabilitate herself. Will that be enough? The answer will come in a year or so from now but, one thing is certain, Gillian Chung and Twins will never be as popular or as profitable as they were before January 27th, 2008.

Edison Chen Kwoon-Hei

History has shown that if a celebrity is talented, popular or rich, it is possible to weather everything from minor transgressions to serious criminal charges. So, is Edison Chen talented enough, popular enough or rich enough for his career to survive “Sexy Photos Gate”? Conventional wisdom suggests no. However, Edison Chen’s career has defied conventional wisdom so he cannot be written off. Nonetheless, it is difficult to envision a scenario in which Chen’s career does not end up being significantly diminished by the scandal.

Chen’s appeal to the Hong Kong market was based primarily on a hip-hop, bad boy image. He used it to establish himself, with varying degrees of success, in film, music, advertising and business. Not only has the scandal — and Chen’s bizarre response to it — severely damaged that “street cred”, he has become a laughingstock to some and an object of scorn to others. On Internet discussion forums, there are some who applaud Chen for his sexual exploits but they are vastly outnumbered by posters who wonder what psychological inadequacy led Chen to record them with such fervour and those who make derisive comments about his genitalia. In addition, being sexually prolific does not carry the same cachet in the conservative HK market as it does in other markets.

Furthermore, Chen’s bizarre response to the scandal — from the blog post about his new film SNIPER to chastising the media for not “getting their facts straight” to the Bin Laden-like video statement from an undisclosed location to the long delay in directly addressing the public — has painted him as a coward in the eyes of most. One poster on a Chinese-language discussion board likened Chen’s response to a person reacting to 9/11 by refusing to acknowledge anything happened then ignoring the magnitude of the situation by complaining that it “ruined a sunny day”. Many have stated that a true “bad boy” would face the public like a “real man” and not act like a 縮頭烏龜 (”turtle hiding inside its shell”). Others question the “bad boy” image by wondering if a real “bad ass” would keep a stuffed animal on his bed or have a pink cotton-candy themed laptop computer.

Evidence of Chen’s falling status has emerged rapidly. The release of his Columbia Pictures/Star Overseas film, JUMP, has been pushed back to October 1st from May 1st. Reportedly, Columbia Pictures called for the delay because they wanted Chen excised from the film. Earlier this month, Chen’s ads for the Manhattan Titanium credit card were pulled. This past weekend, Sing Tao Daily reported that the cashless payment system, EPS, has dropped him from its roster of celebrity spokespersons — pulling all billboards and television spots that featured Chen. It appears then that investors and producers have seen the emphatically negative reaction to Chen and decided to disassociate themselves from him. If that is the case then it will be extremely difficult for Chen to re-establish himself in the entertainment circle.

On the positive side of the ledger, Chen is not without resources. He still has sympathetic media outlets willing to proclaim that his trip away from Hong Kong was a planned Lunar New Year holiday. They have also tried propping up Chen’s image by dropping reminders that Anthony Wong Chau-Sang is his “godfather” and Miriam Yeung Chin-Wah is his “godsister”. The release of THE DARK KNIGHT this summer may get him some favourable media coverage. Moreover, it is impossible to dismiss Chen entirely because he accomplished the remarkable feat of building a career in the Hong Kong market based on a hip-hop, bad boy image that would have been dismissed as laughable in the West (given the history of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry and the multiple murders and arrests that it spawned). He beat the odds once, it is possible that he might do it again. The odds, however, are even longer this time around and most gamblers would probably not make that bet.

IMAGE CREDITS: Reuters (Cecilia Cheung), Associated Press (Gillian Chung), Sil-Metropol Organization (Aaron Kwok), Edison Chen (Edison Chen)