Many, many links to get to so no nonsense from me today …

HONG KONG CINEMA:

Hollywood Reporter Feature: 100 years of Hong Kong cinema

Raymond Wong Bak-Ming: Golden age of HK cinema may show again, says producer

Hong Kong film market thrives

HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:

Jackie Chan on why he’s given up kung-fu films + review of his new film Shinjuku Incident

New York Times: Jackie Chan Movie Kicks Off Hong Kong Film Festival

Jackie Chan lends star power to hometown festival

Red Carpet: HK Film Festival Open Night

Xinhua photos from opening night

Wall Street Journal: Scenes from Hong Kong’s Filmart

Hong Kong Filmart: Forum bids looser China pic policy

Filmart focus on China

Q&A: HKIFF executive director Soo-wei Shaw

IN PRODUCTION:

DARK OCTOBER renamed BODYGUARDS & ASSASSINS: Cinema Popular unveils $23m historical epic Bodyguards & Assassins, Light Shed on ‘Bodyguards’

Edmond Pang Ho-Cheung’s new project: Hong Kong’s 852 Films begins production on first feature Dream Home

Jeff Lau’s latest: In ‘Cyborg,’ Robots Fight Right

IP MAN 2 News: Jay Chou loses role as Bruce Lee

3-D shock and awe from Pang brothers

Zhang Yimou lines up black comedy with Zhao Bensan

EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN sequel in the works (I hate to say it but this feels like a stinker already.  Vegetarian chef?  Earthquakes?  Yeesh.  Call the movie something else and forget about trying to glom on to the legacy of EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN.)

Dayyan Eng enlists Daniel Wu, Gong Beibi for Inseparable

ASIAN FILM AWARDS:

CRIEnglish.com: Zhou Xun Crowned at Asian Film Awards

Hollywood Reporter: Japanese films dominate Asian Film Awards

Screen Daily: Japanese cinema triumphs at Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong

AFP: Japan shines at Asian Film Awards

Associated Press: ‘Tokyo Sonata’ best film at Asian Film Awards

Photos: Xinhua Photo Gallery, Sina.com Photo Gallery, Fan Bing Bing, Michelle Yeoh, Brigitte Lin (Lin, still gettin’ it done in her 50s, was on hand to present a lifetime achievement/contribution award to Tsui Hark and his wife Nansun Shi.)

Korean Western top contender at Asian Film Awards (Always fun to see what people thought before the awards.)

GENERAL NEWS:

Stephen Chow target of criticisms once again

Jackie Chan in Taiwan to promote Shinjuku Incident

Jackie Chan reveals past relationship with Teresa Tang

Andy Lau marrying Carol Chu in April?

Maggie Cheung left Hong Kong to avoid old flame?

Zhang Ziyi on cover of sex disc

Stage Set for “Big Four” of Chinese Pop

NANKING! NANKING!: China OKs Rape of Nanking pics, Stills from NANKING! NANKING!

Jayme Ong: Laidback bride

Harlem Yu to announce divorce

SEXY PHOTOS GATE:

Gillian Chung provides youths with Food for Thought

Gillian Chung arrives in China with Edison Chen’s father

Photos: Gillian Chung hawks jeans in Beijing

TV host reveals inside story of Cecilia Cheung’s interview

Tse couple offer photos for charity

FEATURES:

Q&A: Jaycee Chan

APA Top Ten: Leslie Cheung’s Heartbreaker Roles

MOVIE REVIEWS:

Screen Daily review of DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION

Wen Wei Po review of CLAUSTROPHOBIA

PHOTO GALLERYS:

Zhang Ziyi poses for “Lohas” Magazine

Nic Tse performs in Beijing

Karen Mok photo shoot

Li Bing Bing promotes an eco-friendly lifestyle

CULTURAL NEWS:

Hollywood CATCHES Bollywood FEVER

I-Sis Trio: No mini skirts for them

Herman Li: Headbangers love this HK-born guitarist

Skynet/The Cylons one step closer to taking over humanity

GILLIAN CHUNG WATCH:

- Gillian Chung Yan-Tung continued her comeback this week with promotional events in Taiwan and Beijing.

- A report in today’s edition of Guangzhou Daily claimed that a Mainland car company has canceled a promotional event in Chengdu which was supposed to feature an appearance by Chung.   According to the article, reaction to Chung’s “Be Tough” ad campaign has not been favourable so she is no longer wanted as a pitchperson.  However, a spokesperson for the car company told Guangzhou Daily that the event was canceled because their new car line is not ready to be introduced.

- Reports also surfaced this week that Ah Gil is being offered a role in a Mainland television series based on the Jackie Chan movie THE MYTH.

- Finally, let the derisive jokes begin, there were reports that EEG is preparing a Hong Kong movie version of SEX AND THE CITY starring EEG properties Joey Yung Tso-Yi, Yumiko Cheng Hei-Yi, Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin and … {drum roll} … Gillian Chung Yan-Tung.  As my SEX AND THE CITY viewing was limited to only the opening credits, I don’t know enough about it to make jokes but — based on discussion board reaction to this news — I know enough about the HK entertainment circle to know that this project may do more harm than good to Gillian Chung’s career.

IN PRODUCTION:

Peter Chan Ho-Sun: Star-Studded ‘Dark October’

GENERAL NEWS:

Taipei Times Pop Stop: Edison Chen, Taiwanese entertainment circle news

Rain ordered to pay concert promoter US$8m in damages

Yao Ming, Zhang Ziyi top Forbes Chinese celebs list: Channel News Asia article,  CRIENGLISH.com article #1,  CRIENGLISH.com article #2

Nine hottest Chinese women, courtesy of Complex magazine

“Red River” Takes Transnational Love Story to Screen

Mainland Actors to Be Allowed in in Taiwan TV Series

Zhang Yimou Launches Live Show on Tropical Island

MOVIE REVIEWS:

Variety reviews THE UNDERDOG KNIGHT (Liu Ye, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang, Ellen Chan)

DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION: Evolution is no solution, What happen, Chow?

FEATURES:

Joey Yung: ‘You’re not pretty enough’

Michelle Yeoh: Wall Street Journal Interview Excerpts

Zhang Yimou: Famous Chinese Film Director Says He’s an Artist, Not a Politician

PHOTO GALLERYS:

On the set with Yvonne Yung Hung: After giving birth to a child in 2007, Yvonne Yung Hung makes a comeback with a role in the Mainland television series 孫子大傳 (trans. THE GRAND LEGEND OF SUN TZU).  Although she believes that being a mother is still her primary job, Yung feels that the baby is old enough now for her to take some work outside of the home.  Zhang Fengyi (Cao Cao in RED CLIFF) stars in the series as Sun Tzu.

Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin: Sunny Charlene

Shu Qi the Spokes-Beauty

KOREAN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

Jang Ja Yung suicide: Korean actress Jang Ja Yun found dead in home, Letter claims late actress was forced to have sex, Calls Growing for Overhaul of Showbiz ‘Slave Contracts

Korean entertainment falls outside of the purview of this blog but if this kind of thing happens in the South Korean entertainment circle — often considered more “pure and innocent” than other Asian entertainment industries — then you have to wonder what kind of shenanigans go on in Hong Kong.

Before we get to the links, some observations about the online response to “Gillian Week” as Gillian Chung Yan-Tung returned to the entertainment circle with an in-depth TVB interview, a press conference, a publicity event and a promotional trip to Taiwan all in the past week.

Based on monitoring the chatter on discussion boards, I would say that about 1/3 of the people are fully supportive of Gillian Chung, 1/3 still view her with scorn and derision and 1/3 are sympathetic but mostly indifferent.  This last group feels bad for Chung and her plight but I don’t think they would go out of their way to support her by buying her products or seeing her films.  I think the key for Ah Gil will be to see how much of this last group she can win over.  It’s too early to say right now if her comeback will be successful but I think it’s safe to say that she won’t be as profitable for EEG as she was prior to the fateful days of January 2008.

One thing is for sure, EEG and EEG-friendly media outlets are trying their hardest to sell the idea that Ah Gil is back and that the public is behind her.  Oriental Daily News ran some transparently biased reports this week suggesting that the crowd at Chung’s publicity event for a clothing store was fully supportive (other media outlets reported that some people were shouting insults) and that Chung had overwhelming support on the Internet even though it’s clear that she doesn’t.

As for the online reaction to her TVB interview, I would say that 30% of the people had a positive response to it while 70% viewed it negatively.  I believe the negative reaction stems from the credibility problems Chung and EEG have after the over-reaction to the EasyFinder photos in 2006, the initial “it’s fake! it’s fake!” response to the first Sexy Photos Gate images and the infamous “naive and stupid” press conference.

The main issue the detractors of the interview had was that it seemed like a staged piece of theatre in support of Gillian Chung’s comeback.  Some noted that while Cecilia Cheung’s interview felt like a free-flowing conversation held in a normal TV studio, parts of Chung’s interview felt like it was scripted by EEG media handlers.  From criticism that the interview was held at EEG boss Albert Yeung’s home (which included the usual snark about Yeung’s relationship with EEG starlets) to allegations that Chung threw Edison Chen under the bus because she saw that Cecilia Cheung received a positive response from doing it, many felt that Gillian Chung was still being fake and disingenuous.  It did not help that there was talk that Chung’s manager, Mani Fok, interfered during the interview by cutting in and limiting discussion of topics such as Chung’s rumoured relationship with Juno Mak Jun-Lung.  (Fok admitted later in the week that she was “acting like a lawyer” during the interview).

Many felt that Gillian Chung didn’t directly answer Stephen Chan’s questions as a hotly debated topic was Chung’s response to a question about her reaction to the EasyFinder scandal.  When Chan hinted that her reaction to the changing room photos may have been overplayed, Chung answered that her response was appropriate because she felt like she had been “raped” and that there was a big difference between consenting to have your picture taken and having your picture taken without your knowledge.  While some felt the answer was sufficient, most felt that Chung dodged the real question.  I think the majority view is best summed up by “Kiwi Pika”, a poster on a Chinese-language discussion board.  My translation of the post:

She didn’t answer the question about the changing room photos properly at all. Saying that it felt like “rape” is an insult to women who have been raped. Please, it’s so far from the same thing! We didn’t see anything! All we saw was a little bit of shoulder. All that crying was really over the top. I think the natural reaction would have been anger. Anyone in a similar situation would feel angry but I don’t think they would feel victimized. The pictures didn’t show anything! She or, more likely, her management decided to take the opportunity to make money from it by milking it for all the sympathy she could get. I find it hard to feel sorry for her because all of this is just karma for making a mountain out of a molehill.

I’ll be back later this week with my thoughts on this whole brouhaha.  Until then, enjoy these links:

SEXY PHOTOS GATE:

The Observer on Sexy Photos Gate

Gillian Chung’s secret romance

Gillian Chung’s press conference: Gillian Chung makes high profile comeback, Gillian the toughie

Gillian Chung goes to Taiwan for promotional event

Gillian Chung admits Juno as boyfriend

Edison Chen gets death threat: Stamps with ’sinister’ meaning QING MING DEADLINE, Edison laughs off death threats, Edison Chen receives death threatening letter, Bullet death threat aimed at Chen, Letter threatens harm to Chinese-Canadian star involved in racy photos scandal, Edison gets threats

Edison Chen vows: “I’ll come to Singapore again”

Nic Tse pledges undying love for Cecilia Cheung

Cecilia Cheung expecting her second child

Joey Yung expresses full support for Gillian Chung

Summary: A Seemingly Endless Scandal

IN PRODUCTION:

Jackie Chan starts shooting historical epic

Villagers disrupt ‘Mulan’ shoot

Chow Yun-fat to star in Dadi Century’s Confucius biopic

John Woo to make “Titanic of the East”: CRIENGLISH.com article, AFP article

John Woo eyes film on Hard-Boiled game

GENERAL NEWS:

“Dragonball” Premieres in Tokyo

Will Rain be able to save his Hollywood career?

Jackie Chan cheated of HK$3 million over car deal

Kelvin Kwan, Jill Vidal: Pop pair face more time behind bars

Taipei Times Pop Stop: Edison Chen, more

Hollywood-Asia marriage matures

Zhang Yimou: Insider story of the Beijing Olympic

San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival: 10 Glorious Days of Asian American Film

Hong Kong’s Celestial strikes Canadian licensing deal

FEATURES:

Chow Yun-Fat: Chow on this!

Heroic pairs in Dragonball: Evolution

F4’s Vanness Wu: Anything for Ang Lee

Jaycee Chan smitten by Bollywood

Rainie Yang: I’m a tomboy around guys

Edmond Chen: Hollywood can be a pain

Chen Kaige: Capturing the best and worst of times

Chen Kaige wants to make Cultural Revolution film

FILM REVIEWS:

Variety reviews DESIRES OF THE HEART (Ge You, Vivian Wu, Fan Bingbing)

CRIENGLISH.COM FILM PREVIEWS:

Ann Hui’s NIGHT AND FOG (Simon Yam, Zhang Jingchu)

THE SHINJUKU INCIDENT (Jackie Chan, Daniel Wu)

PHOTO GALLERYS:

Gillian Chung’s “Be Tough” ad campaign

Vicki Zhao Wei in Elle Magazine China edition

Another week, another change to the “What’s Sanney Watching?” bit.  This time I’m changing the name from “What’s Sanney Watching?” to “The Watch Log”.

Why? Well, Manny Kok, my manager here at the Kozo Entertainment Group, consulted a fortuneteller and was advised that re-naming the bit to “The Watch Log” would bring me more good luck.

Just kidding.  I’m having a little fun with the Gillian Chung Dik-Shan to Gillian Chung Ka-Lai to Gillian Chung Yan-Tung segment from Ah Gil’s TVB interview last week.  In case you didn’t already know, Gillian Chung changed her name from Chung Ka-Lai to Chung Yan-Tung because her EEG manager, Mani Fok, went to a fortuneteller and was told Yan-Tung would increase the amount of luck Gillian Chung has careerwise.  Worked like a charm, didn’t it?

Anyway, I’m changing the name of this feature to “The Watch Log” because “What’s Sanney Watching?” contains my name and it makes me feel like one of those pretentious dopes that refers to themselves in the third person.

With that, here are the latest entries to “The Watch Log”:

March 10th, 2009: IP MAN

A colossal success as a kung fu movie.  Unfortunately, it claims to be a biopic and, as a biopic, it’s a colossal failure.  Biopics are supposed to dramatize the events of a real person’s life.  They don’t have to be meticulous Ken Burns-type documentaries but, at the very least, they should enlighten the viewers on the big picture details of the subject’s life.  IP MAN’s portrayal of Ip Man the person is so thin and shallow, it’s more of a superhero movie than a biopic.  Instead of IP MAN, a biographical drama about Bruce Lee’s sifu, the movie felt like it was about a Chinese superhero named IPMAN.   All that was missing was a SPIDERMAN-like theme song that goes like this:

Ipman, hero of song and story!
Ipman, winner of Chinese glory!

Fighting for the right, fighting with his might.
He can beat ten Japanese men!

Ipman, Chinese are safe when near him.
Ipman, only the evil fear him.

Softness in his eyes, iron in his thighs;
Virtue in his heart, fire in every part
of the mighty Ipman!

Heck, with the success of the first movie, the franchise is already in place as there are plans for IPMAN 2 and IPMAN 3, uh, I mean IP MAN 2 and IP MAN 3.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie very much.  It’s a great popcorn action flick.  It’d just be a travesty if it beat THE WAY WE ARE for the Best Film HKFA.

One last thing, the big final fight between Ip Man and General Miura was a bit of a letdown because it was so one-sided.  General Miura got off so little offense, it felt more like a squash match than a definitive showdown between two martial arts titans.  There was more drama wondering whether or not Sato was going to shoot Ip Man during the fight than there was in the fight itself.

March 8th, 2009: SHAOLIN GIRL

I was warned by Kozo and others that SHAOLIN GIRL was a terrible movie.  However, much like a child who touches a hot bowl even though his parents have said: “don’t, it’s hot”, I had to see it for myself.  An aimless abomination that drifts tediously from one plot point to the next, SHAOLIN GIRL squanders the goodwill created by SHAOLIN SOCCER and wastes the talents of the lovely Kitty Zhang and leading lady Kou Shibusaki.

If you put a gun to my head and made me say something nice about the movie, I suppose I could say that it isn’t a total loss because I learned that “hug it out” is, apparently, one of the 72 Supreme Arts of Shaolin (少林七十二絕技).  It seems to me that “hug it out” may be a more effective skill to use against female opponents than “art #1: the grinding palm” or “art #55: the bristling hedgehog strikes a hole” or “art #12: the hand as accurate as the spittle of the white snake”.

A note of thanks to reader Alex L. for saving the Leung Treasury $16 by sending me his DVD of the film.

SEXY PHOTOS GATE:

A mirror has two faces

Gillian Chung Interview articles:  Secret romance, ‘I blame myself’, Edison Chen was her ‘greatest love’, HK starlet contemplated suicide over photo scandal, Gillian Chung Walks Out of Scandal’s Shadow

Joey Yung’s point of view

FEATURES:

Malaysia Star feature on Chow Yun-Fat

HK Magazine feature on Liza Wang Ming-Chuen

Boston Globe feature on Chris Yen (little sister of IP MAN’s Donnie Yen Chi-Tan)

Palisadian-Post feature on Shannon Lee (daughter of Bruce Lee, little sister of Brandon Lee)

GENERAL NEWS:

Wong Kar-Wai signs with Hollywood agency

Nic Tse releases album: The Last Nicholas Tse?

Paulyn Sun’s boyfriend pleads not guilty (It appears that someone at the Electric New Paper is reading the ol’ blog.)

Jill Vidal arrest: I’m sorry, sobs father of singer in drug arrest

Jolin Tsai Tunes up for ‘Butterfly’

Man behind Oscar’s Best Foreign Film was a porn director

IN PRODUCTION:

Woo Making Hard Boiled 2

MOVIE REVIEWS:

Tapei Times reviews of: LOOK FOR A STAR, L-O-V-E,

Malaysia Star Online reviews of: ONG BAK 2, LOOK FOR A STAR, RED CLIFF 2