A Happy Mother’s Day to my mother and all the other mothers out there …

From the comments on News Links: HKFA Housekeeping

YTSL writes: Re: IP MAN winning Best Film. It just seemed so weird after it didn’t win any of the other major awards (like Best Director, Actor, Actress and even Scriptwriter - three of which went to THE WAY WE ARE).

I agree.  IP MAN’s victory seemed to come out of the blue because it had absolutely no momentum going into the Best Film award.  I bet when Carina Lau and Anita Yuen made their way to the podium to present the award, most people in the room were thinking that it was going to be a sweep for THE WAY WE ARE because it had already won Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Director.  After all that, IP MAN’s win must have been particularly galling to supporters of the Ann Hui film.  For them, this was definitely a 送佛送到西 (if you’re going to escort the monk out West, escort him all the way out West) situation.

You know, I’ve been following the HKFAs for more than ten years now and I’m not sure if it’s good for HKFA voters to have freedom or not.  I’m really confused now.  If you’re too free, you’re like the way the Hong Kong Film Awards are now.  Very chaotic.  Taiwan and its Golden Horse Awards are also very chaotic.

I’m gradually beginning to feel that HKFA voters need to be controlled.  If they’re not being controlled, they’ll just vote for who they want.

IN PRODUCTION:

Andy Lau, Li Bingbing engaged in war of wits

RELATED: DETECTIVE DEE holds opening lens ceremony

Fortissimo Films checks into Pang’s Dream Home

Fann Wong waits to be a bride while Zoe Tay laughs heartily

FAYE WONG:

Unhappy in retirement and, reportedly, in need of money after spending a significant amount of money on medical expenses for one of her daughters, Faye Wong is rumoured to be on the verge of a comeback.  Speculation bubbled over on Friday when images of an upcoming ad for Royal Wind hair care products made its way on the Internet.  The ads, which prominently feature Wong will supposedly debut later this month.

RELATED: Hair care ad images

More Faye Wong:

• Faye Wong to make a comeback
• Faye Wong Sings at Buddhist Event

FEATURES:

Christy Chung Lai-Tai: I want ‘UGLY’ ROLES

Hong Kong hunts its star heritage

Chicago Tribune interviews Kenneth Bi for THE DRUMMER

Fish Leong: New Conquest

GENERAL NEWS:

Eastweek editor jailed over Carina Lau photos

• HK Standard
  
• Yahoo! News Singapore
• Channel News Asia
• CRI English

Carina Lau unafraid of H1N1, but avoids Maggie Cheung

RELATED: Maggie Cheung catches flu in New York

Celestial Pictures Limited donates film library to HK Film Archive

TVB, Shaw Brothers set up film JV

China postpones black-out period to September

Teresa Tang’s memorial park to be completed in 2011

Jerry Yan’s US$20,000 an hour price and his appeal with the ladies

Taipei Times Pop Stop

PHOTO GALLERIES:

Karena Lam Ka-Yan, the First Lady of LoveHKFilm, at an event for Care Aids

Big S Barbie Hsu at a promotional event for Tissot

Vicki Zhao Wei

You’d think these shots were for some shampoo/hair care product but, surprisingly, they’re not.

Japanese celebrity Norika Fujiwara

Recent divorcee Norika Fujiwara was in Hong Kong on May 6th to promote Miss Paris Diet Center

Pictures from Nicholas Tse’s THE LAST

Promotional pictures for Raymond Lam Fung’s upcoming HK concert

Promotional photos for a limited edition of Charlene Choi’s debut solo album TWO MISSING ONE

Zhang Jingchu Demonstrates ‘Bazaar Jewelry’

Karen Mok attends the Hong Kong premiere of TRAIL OF THE PANDA with her family

Pace Wu

Zhang Ziyi in Inner Mongolia

More photos of Zhang Ziyi

Kay Tse’s Night at Hong Kong Coliseum

Slideshow: Vivian Chow promotes Aramni

TV REVIEW:

Tom Shales reviews “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”

BECAUSE I’M NOT ON TWITTER:

May freakin’ 8th … I wake up this morning, draw the curtains in my bedroom and see the ground covered in snow that’s fluttering gently to the ground … gotta love life on the Prairies.

MINI-WATCH LOG POST:

May 8th, 2009: STAR TREK

A good time at the movies but not a pulse-raising, endorphin-releasing experience like, say, last year’s IRONMAN.  I think many of the negative comments I’ve been reading on boards come out of just wanting to be contrarian because I don’t think there are any outrageous missteps or glaring false notes.  The casting, in particular, is spot on.  The only criticism that comes to mind is that the lines for Eric Bana’s villain, Captain Nero, came across very 2009 — so much so that you half expect him to drop an Obama reference or something.  Maybe it was the lines, maybe it was the way Eric Bana delivered them.  Anyway, that’s a small, small complaint.

Random Thoughts:

- Good God!  That was Winona Ryder playing Spock’s Mom in the movie.  I’m now officially an old man.

- Zoe Saldana … whoa!

- Judging from the glimpses I saw of them in the trailer, the compelling hot babes in the G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA look very compelling.

- The trailer for TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN makes me wonder if I should check out TRANSFORMERS.

- The new TERMINATOR is rated PG-13?  What the hell?  So this is what commerce has wrought.  Maybe Skynet should take over humanity now.

Hasta la vista for now.  I’ll be back with some news links.

A happy Cinco de Mayo to all — Mexican or non-Mexican because this blog recognizes the Confucian principle of “all within the four seas are one family”.

Speaking of Mexico, this swine flu coverage from the media is getting out of hand.  Last night, the news had a breathless story on “swine flu survivors”.  Really?  Are you sure you want to drop the word “survivor” here?  Apart from thinking of contestants on a cheesy but fun CBS reality/game show, when I hear the word “survivor”, I usually think Holocaust survivor or airplane crash survivor.  “Swine flu survivor” is a bit much — no?  Heck, I was involved in a bitter struggle with the Big C for more than a year and I don’t go around referring to myself as a “survivor”.

Whatever happened to a little something called perspective?  I’m writing this paragraph on Tuesday evening and, according to the World Health Organization website, there are currently 1,419 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu world wide — that’s 1,419 out of 6.7 billion people or 0.000000211% of the population.  Yes, this flu is something people need to take seriously and watch carefully but is this degree of media coverage necessary?  I’m starting to think that, ultimately, there may be more harm to society from the media crying wolf than there will be from this flu outbreak.

Enough nonsense about the nonsense, let’s celebrate the outmanned and outgunned Mexican army’s victory over Napoleon III’s French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862 with some links:

LINK OF INTEREST:

While we’re on the topic of underdog victories, here’s a link to an off-topic but interesting piece from The New Yorker:

Annals of Innovation: How David Beats Goliath

MOVIE REVIEWS:

HK Magazine reviews:

• I CORRUPT ALL COPS
• THE HORSEMEN
• PERMANENT RESIDENCE

IN PRODUCTION:

Nicholas Tse Went all out for New Role

Vivian Hsu on Freezing Filming Set

CRI ENGLISH movie capusle: SHANGHAI (Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, John Cusack)

EAST WIND, RAIN: Wang Baoqiang Is a ‘Xiao Kai’ in Shanghai

Mainland TV: Four Generations under One Roof

Japan: Warner brings ‘Death’ to bigscreen

FEATURES:

Challenges keep Xu Jinglei Alive

Another Shot At Success: Electric New Paper feature on Mrs. Kozo aka Karena Lam Ka-Yan

Mainland Mission: Screen Daily feature on Peter Chan Ho-Sun

Bau Hei-Jing: The “eldest” best actress

A Heinous History: bc Magazine feature on I CORRUPT ALL COPS

It’s Because We’re Very Vain: Electric New Paper feature on Grasshopper

Cultural Revolution: Screen Daily feature on Polybona boss Yu Dong

Up Close: PUSSYCAT THEATRE

HK Magazine interview with actress/director Crystal Kwok Kam-Yan.  Ten years ago, she directed an intriguing movie called THE MISTRESS.  Definitely worth a look if you can find it on DVD.  There’s an unique shot of a pig in the film that you won’t forget.  It was a remarkable directorial debut for Kwok and it’s a bit of a shame that she hasn’t directed another movie.

High on Action: Feature on young Thai actors from the Thai film POWER KIDS

GENERAL NEWS:

New Bride: 61-Year-Old Liza Wang

Andy Lau’s wedding is off, says HK media

Chow Yun Fat and other Hong Kong stars on the swine flu and Mexico

Nicholas Tse’s Last Album takes off

PHOTOS: Nic Tse promotes his album with a little help from his old man

SARFT reminds you to avoid celebrity scandals

Wouter Barendrecht remembered in Hong Kong

OBITUARIES: Variety; The Guardian

PHOTOS: Xinhua News

Singapore: Jaime Teo plans showbiz comeback

Strong Showing: Article on the Singapore film industry

SEXY PHOTOS GATE:

Cecilia Cheung ‘hopes to act again’ after a year break

PHOTOS: Cecilia Cheung meets with Derek Yee

Gillian Chung performs on TVB charity show

JACKIE CHAN:

On Sunday, Jackie Chan made his first public appearance in Hong Kong since his infamous ramblings at a Mainland business forums last month.  Chan performed at an event celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.  He left immediately after his performance and did not speak to reporters.

RELATED: Xinhua news photos

Jackie Chan wears a political jester’s hat, too

Jackie Chan stages show at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest

PHOTOS: Jackie Chan performs

Jackie Chan Stars Concert in Bird’s Nest

Jackie Chan: There’s no place like home!

Rain joins in Jackie Chan concert

Jackie Chan now the mail lead

Jackie Chan, Yao Ming appointed ambassadors for 2010 Shanghai World Expo

Jackie Chan and The World’s Largest Sushi Roll

CONCERT REVIEW:

Hail the Music Man: Lee Hom-Wang in Malaysia

Lee Hom dazzles fans

OPINION:

City of sorrow: Competing film portrayals of the Nanjing Massacre

PHOTO GALLERYS:

Stalkin’ The Stars: Faye Wong in Hong Kong 1, 2

Faye Wong landed in Hong Kong earlier this week for some shopping and to meet with her friends Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Carina Lau Ka-Ling and Rosamund Kwan Chi-Lam

More Stalkin’ The Stars: Zhang Ziyi shops for shoes in Hong Kong

Vivian Chow Wai-Man shoots a cosmetics ad

Joey Yung, Lisa S. (Daniel Wu’s squeeze) at an event for Tiffany & Co.

Jessica Hsuan, Sunny Chan, Natalie Tong promote their TVB series JUST LOVE II

Zhou Xun: Expo Green Queen

Zhao Ziqi’s Punk Style

Olympic diving star: Guo Jingjing

CHINESE PEOPLE BEING CONTROLLED:

Hubei orders public servants to smoke local cigarettes

FOLLOW-UP: China cigarette order up in smoke

A quick National Day long weekend box office report before I compile a news links post …

Facing tough competition, Wong Jing’s I CORRUPT ALL COPS made HK$2.43 million over the National Day holiday weekend finishing fourth behind Hollywood releases X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, 17 AGAIN and CORALINE.  The respectable HK$2.43 million take compares to the openings of films like THE DETECTIVE (HK$2.48 million) and PAPA LOVES YOU (HK$2.40 million).

In other HK movie box office news, SHINJUKU INCIDENT has been reduced to twelve screens and is currently sitting at a total take of HK$13.94 million.  Meanwhile, SNIPER is down to one screen and will likely not move much more beyond its current HK$6.24 million total.   Playing on three screens, PERMANENT RESIDENCE has made HK$310,000 in nine days.

The numbers (as of May 3rd, 2009):

1. X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (USA), HK$8.56 million, 5 days, HK$8.56 million total

2. 17 AGAIN (USA), HK$3.20 million, 4 days, HK$3.20 million total

3. CORALINE (USA), HK$2.75 million, 4 days, HK$2.75 million total

4. I CORRUPT ALL COPS (HK), HK$2.43 million, 4 days, HK$2.43 million total

5. THE HANDSOME SUIT (JAPAN), HK$2.02 million, 4 days, HK$2.02 million total

Back shortly with a news links post …

Before we get to the latest links, a box office report:

As of April 26th, Jackie Chan’s SHINJUKU INCIDENT is sitting at a box office take of HK$13.79 million from 25 days in theatres.  It has a shot at breaking the HK$15 million mark but it may not match the business of THE MYTH — which ended up at HK$17.06 million.  For the record, here are the box office numbers for Jackie Chan’s last five Hong Kong films:

ROB-B-HOOD (2006): HK$23.05 million

THE MYTH (2005): HK$17.06 million

NEW POLICE STORY (2004): HK$21.1 million

THE ACCIDENTAL SPY (2001): HK$30 million

GORGEOUS (1999): HK$27.5 million

I’m not including the numbers for his Hollywood films because they do relatively weak business in Hong Kong.  Some examples:

RUSH HOUR 3 (2007): HK$8.1 million

THE MEDALLION (2003): HK$7.2 million

THE TUXEDO (2002): HK$5.7 million

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (2004): HK$3.13 million

THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM, with a take of HK$11.7 million, broke the HK$10 million mark but that was likely because Jet Li was in the film as well.

As of April 26th, eighteen days into its run, THE SNIPER has earned HK$6.1 million.  It appears that the presence of Edison Chen neither hurt nor helped its business as it’s doing about the same level of box office as recent Dante Lam films.  THE BEAST STALKER (2008) ended up with HK$7.95 million while UNDERCOVER HIDDEN DRAGON (2006) pulled in HK$8.12 million.

MOVIE REVIEWS:

bc Magazine review of I CORRUPT ALL COPS

bc Magazine review of THE HORSEMEN (Dennis Quaid, Zhang Ziyi)

FEATURES:

Speechless About The Dark: bc Magazine talks to Wong Jing and Ann Hui about NIGHT AND FOG

Daniel Wu: A Vase No More

Russell Wong takes his turn behind the camera

IN PRODUCTION:

Media Asia adds Dante Lam, Ning Hao titles to Cannes slate

Zhang Yimou to shoot ‘Three Guns’

Huayi Brothers’ Tracing Shadow sells across Asia

An Early ‘Sound of the Wind’

Vivian Hsu Plays Mom Role in New Film

SEXY PHOTOS GATE:

Jail looms for Edison sex-pics copier

Computer technician who leaked Edison Chen’s sex photos found guilty, faces jail time

Jail set for computer technician over Chen sex photos

Edison Chen sex photo thief found guilty in Hong Kong court

Edison Chen behaving jittery in Beijing

Taipei Times Pop Stop: Cecilia Cheung among other items

JACKIE CHAN:

Jackie Chan, Stanley Tong to co-direct action adventure

China Daily: Elaborating on freedom and discipline

New York Times: ‘Controlling’ the Chinese People

East South North West: Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China Reacts Differently To Jackie Chan’s Comment

East South North West: What did Jackie Chan say?

cfensi: What Jackie Chan Was Really Talking About

CONCERT REVIEW:

George Lam is the real deal

GENERAL NEWS:

‘The Horsemen’ could be banned in China

THE HORSEMEN: A step down for Asian actors?

Zhang Ziyi attends romantic wedding of Salma Hayek

CRI English Movie Guide:  I CORRUPT ALL COPS

CRI English Movie Guide:  COWEB

Daniel Wu, Xu Jinglei: “Shinjuku” Stars Are Digital Products Fans

CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH: Lu’s City Of Life And Death heats up Chinese cinemas, Chinese massacre movie reports strong opening, Lu’s ‘City’ draws raves, death threats

RELATED: Movie made me cry like a little girl! 

“Forever Enthralled” Is Students’ Favorite 2008 Film

‘John Rabe’ tops Germany’s Lolas

RELATED: Photos for the Beijing premiere of JOHN RABE

Banned Chinese director enters film at Cannes

South Korea: Woo Seung-yeon found dead, Actress hangs herself

PHOTO GALLERYS:

Jessica Hsuan, Sunny Chan

Jessica Hsuan (Suen Huen), Sunny Chan Kam-Hung and other cast members attended  a publicity event on Tuesday for their new TVB series JUST LOVE II.  The show debuts on TVB Jade on Monday, May 4th.

Ray Lui, Kenix Kwok

Ray Lui Leung-Wai, Kenix Kwok Ho-Ying and Nancy Sit Ka-Yin shot a wedding scene for their new 40 episode TVB drama BORN RICH (富貴門). 

Sheren Teng, Suki Tsui

Sheren Teng Sui-Man, Suki Tsui Suk-Man, Kara Hui (Wai Ying-Hung) and Ben Wong Chi-Yin were out promoting their new TVB drama A ROSY BUSINESS (巾幗梟雄)

Lynn Xiong 

On Tuesday, Lynn Xiong Dai-Lin attended a publicity event at the Pacific Place.  Xiong, who played Ip Man’s wife in IP MAN, recently “stole the thunder” at the red carpet for the Hong Kong Film Awards with a nipple slip.  She is rumoured to be dating Aaron Kwok Fu-Sing.

Lynn Xiong at an event for Swarovski watches

Publicity photos for Nicholas Tse’s new music special

Publicity photos for Richie Ren’s new music special

Leon Lai attends an environmental protection event at Ocean Park

Charlene Choi at a store opening in Macau

Michelle Reis at an event for Chow Tai Fook jewellers

CULTURAL NEWS:

Chinese dilemma: Chinese writers fail to find global voice

* * * * *

There’s only one Ricky Hatton and I’ve done my share of walking along and singing the song walking in a Hatton Wonderland but it’s hard to be Asian and not cheer for the remarkable Manny Pacquiao.  I don’t know who’s going to win on Saturday night.  I do know that it’s going to be one heckuva fight.  Go Manny!