Back at my alma mater UC Davis for a few days on official business, but there are just too much news in the Asian film world that I just have to post.

- The Hong Kong Film Award nominations are in (curiously, not on their official website yet, so a full list is available on MonkeyPeaches here), and Zhang Yimou’s barely-a-Hong-Kong-film Curse of the Golden Flower gets 14 nominations, including one inexplicable supporting actor nom for Jay Chou. He also scored two nominations for original songs in CURSE and Fearless. Yes, Jay Chou has now been nominated for more Hong Kong film awards than Martin Scorsese.

In other news, Patrick Tam’s After This, Our Exile is second with 10 nominations. Johnnie To is celebrating twin nominations in both Best Picture and Best director for Election 2 and Exiled (also deservedly nominated for best editing and cinematography). Edmond Pang Ho-Cheung’s Isabella, a personal favorite of mine, is sadly shut out of the major categories (replaced by Happy Birthday and Confession of Pain in the best screenplay category. WHAT?!), with a few in the technical departments and Isabella Leong for best actress. In another case of injustice, Dog Bite Dog not only gets the shaft from the Hong Kong critics society as a recommended film (it got nothing, even though Soi Cheang’s The Death Curse was a recommended film), now only gets one nomination for best new actor. Considering the fact that I can find so many films shafted probably means it must’ve been a pretty good year after all for Hong Kong cinema. Yeah, let’s keep telling myself that.

- Japanese congomerate Kadokawa will start selling their films via Bittorrent technology. Here’s hoping they don’t waste their technology on a slew of mediocre J-horror films.

source: Variety Asia

- Hong Kong will gets its first IMAX cinema (probably after seeing the technology used on major theatrical releases) along with a UA multiplex in Kowloon Bay this summer. I live near Kowloon Bay, I’ve ridden the buses past the area, but I see no major mall being constructed. The fact that you can’t see a mall from the MTR station may spell a bit of doom for the overpriced Hong Kong UA chain. Broadway Cyberport cinema, anyone?

source: Variaty Asia.