November 23rd, 2013
The Golden Rock 2013 Golden Horse Live Blog
Welcome to the 2013 edition of the Golden Rock Golden Horse Live Blog. We are sitting in Hong Kong right now, watching Star Chinese Movies’ live feed.
As always, I will be giving a play-by-play rundown of the show. This year, I am joined by two guess commentators: Dana Fukazawa from the New York Asian Film Festival and Golden Bell Award (Taiwan’s version of the Emmys) winner Coco Shen. They will be identified as D and C, respectively.
Look below, and keep refreshing the page for updates!
0:03 - And that’s it for the Golden Horse live blog this year. Thank you all for reading, and thanks to Dana and Coco for joining me. See you all next year!
0:02 - “This award will encourage more young Singaporean directors” — Anthony Chen.
23:59 - ILO ILO was the first Singaporean film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Golden Horse Award. It is also the first Singaporean film to win the Best Picture Award.
23:58 - And the Best Picture award winner is: ILO ILO . WOW!
23:56 - Ang Lee: “The Best Picture winner took four rounds of voting and two and a half hours of discussion. I think that’s a record”
23:53 - Time for Best Picture now. It’s pretty much up in the air now.
Ang Lee and Hou Hsiao Hsien on stage to present the Best Picture winner.
23:46 - And now, all the past Best Actors and Best Actress winners in Golden Horse history (that are still alive and willing to show up) on stage. Doesn’t look like a lot, but remember the multiple award winners.
23:41 - Whew. Getting towards the end now. My two guests extremely happy for the Lee-Tsai wins tonight.
23:37 - “To win a Best Actor award among these nominees is extremely difficult” - Lee Kang Sheng
23:35 - [Frozen on stage] “There’s nothing wrong with your TV. This is Tsai Ming Liang’s directing style” - Lee Kang Sheng
23:32 - And we’re officially in over-run territory with the Best Actor award. My guests are pulling for Lee Kang-Sheng.
And the winner of the Best Actor award is: Lee Kang Sheng for STRAY DOGS
23:30 - “I am the same age as the Golden Horse Awards” — Lau Ching Wan
23:28 - Lau Ching Wan and Brigitte Lin on stage to present Best Actor
23:24 - And a video montage of Best Actor award winners now, before this year’s Best Actor award.
23:20 - Final two awards coming up. GRANDMASTER will likely remain top winner tonight with at least 5 awards
23:17 - “I’ve been nominated for this for a few times, but it’s finally in my hands” — Zhang Ziyi
23:14 - And the winner of the Best Actress award is: Zhang Ziyi for THE GRANDMASTER
23:12 - Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung now on stage to present the Best Actress award
23:10 - Tsai kang-Yong doing a poll of which astrology sign has the most Best Actress winners.
Virgo has the most number of Best Actress winners. But one has won five times.
Cancer has the most number of Best Actor winners.
23:08 - A video montage of all Best Actress winners before the Best Actress award.
23:06 - Into our 5th hour now. But that was a really great performance by Tsai Chin.
22:57 - C: “Look, everyone’s happy now!” (about Tsai Chin’s performance)
22:55 - Back now with Tsai Chin’s musical performance
22:50 - I’ve seen that ad for THE WEDDING DIARY 2 way too many times tonight.
22:47 - “Thank you, Ang Lee” — Tsai Ming Liang
22:45 - “Everyone knows I have a messy past with the Golden Horse Awards. They don’t like me very much, and I don’t like them very much, either.” — Tsai Ming Liang
22:43 - My guests are pushing for Tsai Ming Liang
And the winner for Best Director is: Tsai Ming Liang for STRAY DOGS
22:41 - Zhang Ziyi, Gwei Lun Mei, Sammi Cheng, Yang Gui-Mei, and Joan Chen together to present Best Director
22:39 - For those who are keeping score: 4 awards for GRANDMASTER. 3 awards for ILO ILO
22:34: The major awards coming up after this commercial break. Starting with Best Director.
22:29: Chen Chen on stage now to accept her award. Standing ovation in the house.
“This is the greatest honor and encouragement of my life”
“I want to dedicate this award to all the people who work behind the scenes.”
22:25: Charlie Chin on stage now to present the Lifetime Achievement Award for Chen Chen.
22:23: “When Anthony Chen said he took two years to write a script. I thought, ‘That’s nothing.’ My script for Ann Hui took three years” - Li Qiang, writer of SO YOUNG.
22:20: Ann Hui and Peter Chan stay on stage to present Best Adapted Screenplay
And the winner of Best Adapted Screenplay is: SO YOUNG
22:17: And the winner of Best Original Screenplay is: ILO ILO
D: “This really is Ang Lee’s cup of tea”
22:16: D: “If TOUCH OF SIN wins, Peter would not read that name.”
22:15: Peter Chan and Ann Hui on stage now to present Best Original Screenplay.
C: “If they blow up Taiwan now, there goes Hong Kong cinema.”
22:03: Amber Kuo and Kevin Chu on stage now to introduce the in memoriam sequence
22:02: “I only came with one wish: to shake hands with Ang Lee” — Anthony Chen.
21:59: Time for the Best New Director Award. Guests again pulling for Anthony Chen for ILO ILO.
And just as Anthony Chen stands up. Ti Lung reveals that he was just reading the nomination list.
And the winner for Best New Director is Anthony Chen for ILO ILO. For real this time.
21:57: I think John Woo just teased a Ti Lung-John Woo reunion.
21:56: Fan service time. Ti Lung: “I haven’t been a gangster for a long time”
21:55: A BETTER TOMORROW reunion as John Woo and Ti Lung take the stage to give out the Best New Director award.
21:53 - “I’ve never won this award before” said Wong Kar Wai when he picked up the Audience Award for GRANDMASTER
21:52 - Now, recap of the two awards passed out last night. The FIPRESCI prize for RIGOR MORTIS and the Audience Award for THE GRANDMASTER.
21:49 - Tsai Kang-Yong now interviewing Brigitte Lin. Her two neighbors had to move to the stairs to get out of the way.
21:48 - Jury President Ang Lee: “Doing this job isn’t easy. Do you know how many of my friends I’ve offended?”
21:46 - Andy Lau takes the time to recognize the jury this year. Host Tsai Kang-Yong is one of them.
21:43 - Back from commercial break. Last year’s Golden Horse jury president Andy Lau on stage now.
21:37 - Each of the band member from ROCK ME TO THE MOON is giving a speech. I think Shu Qi is about to cry. Lot of fans for the film in the audience?
21:31: And now, Best Original Film Song
The winner of Best Original Film Song is: I LOVE YOU from ROCK ME TO THE MOON
21:26 - Chelsia Chen and Lang Lang now on stage to present Best Original Film Score.
And the winner of Best Original Film Score is: A TOUCH OF SIN
D: “Wait, Lang Lang isn’t supposed to mention this film title!”
21:24 - A nice performance by Lang Lang. Now, Tsai introduces the composer for this year’s award ceremony.
21:17 - After noticing that Maggie Cheung isn’t sitting next to Maggie Cheung. D: “Because Carina is there”
21:16 - I think the director of ILO ILO just got caught tweeting on camera.
21:15 - Back after a break for chips and salsa. Now a musical performance of memorable film scores by Lang Lang
21:06 - Time now for Best Action Choreography award.
And the winner of Best Action Choreography is: 12 ZODIACS
21:05 - A team of 60 people in Paris worked on the special effects of THE GRANDMASTER
21:02 - Tsai: “[Best cinematography winner] I think he mentioned at least twice that THE GRANDMASTER took a long time to shoot.”
Dodo and Huang Bo remain to present the Best Visual Effects award
And the winner of the Best Visual Effects award is: THE GRANDMASTER
21:00 - Best Cinematography award as we head into our third hour
And the winner for Best Cinematography is: THE GRANDMASTER
D: “STRAY DOGS is nothing. The camera didn’t even move”
20:57 - Huang Bo and Dodo Cheng - both past hosts - now on stage to present Best Cinematography
Huang Bo: “You see how excited I am by my hairstyle”
Huang Bo: “Yes, I’m only a half-Best Actor winner. I had to share it with Nick Cheung. He’s here tonight to take back what he lost in the past”
20:55 - C: “I like the Hong Konger’s speech”. She means the length of it.
20:52 - And William Chang’s protege has to tie his shoelace before going on the stage to get the award.
20:51 - Both my guests are saying “Just give it to GRANDMASTER already”
And the winner of Best Art Direction is: THE GRANDMASTER
20:49 - Aaron and Sylvia remain on stage for Best Art Direction.
D: “Aaron has so much hair”
20:47 - Director Anthony Chen looks like he’s about to break into tears from the audience stand.
20:44 - Time for Best Supporting Actress. My guests once again pulling for ILO ILO
And the winner of Best Supporting Actress is: Yeo Yann Yann for ILO ILO
My two guests just broke into applause.
20:42 - 102 minutes in, and 8 awards have been given out
Aaron Kwok and Sylvia Chang on stage now to present Best Supporting Actress
20:34 - Ruan and Lin stay on stage to present Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year award
And the winner of Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year Award is: Renowned producer Ye Ju-Feng
20:29 - BEYOND BEAUTY is the highest grossing documentary in Taiwan ever. It has grossed more than NT$50 million nationwide.
20:27 - And the winner of Best Documentary is: BEYOND BEAUTY, TAIWAN FROM ABOVE
20:25 - Ethan Ruan and ZONE PRO SITE’s Lin Mei-Hsiu on stage to present Best Documentary
20:22 - C: “They’re definitely going overtime tonight”
D: “That’s because Taiwan is so zen”
As we go into another video montage, about the 60’s in Taiwan and the beginning of the Golden Horse Award.
20:21 - Tsai Kang-Yong is back with his Iron Man arm.
20:17 - Time for another commercial break
20:14 - Shu Qi and Leon Dai now presenting Best Makeup and Costume Design. My guests are guessing THE GRANDMASTER
The winner for Best Makeup and Costume Design is: THE GRANDMASTER
20:13 - C and D: “They’re giving him the award because he played a KMT member.”
Li is wearing a PRC flag pin.
20:12 - Best Supporting Actor up first.
And the winner of Best Supporting Actor is: Li Xue Jian for BACK TO 1942
20:09 - Leon Dai and Shu Qi on stage now to present. They are here to present Best Costume Design and Best Supporting Actor
They are both Supporting Actor/Actress winners.
20:07 - And Lisa Lu up now. Yes, this segment has gone on for 7 minutes.
20:05 - OK, so it seems from my social media feeds like I’m not the only person noticing all the Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung chatting.
20:04 - This is the 50th Golden Horse Award, so there’s more nostalgia than ever this year. Lots of memories being shared tonight.
20:00 - Tsai now interviewing veteran actors in the audience.
19:56 - And now, a montage of the moment of victory for past winners at the awards.
19:55 - Tsai telling a story about Stanley Kwan winning an award because the jury refused to give Hou Hsiao Hsien an award for CITY OF SADNESS
19:53 - And that was the 5th consecutive shot of Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung chatting away.
19:50 - “Better than sex,” says Leon Dai about filmmaking
C: “What’s he saying about our Gwei Lun-mei?!”
19:49 - C: “Short film, long speech”
D: “This speech is longer than his film”
19;46 - D and C: “HE’S GUAN ER DAI!” - about the Best Short Film winner
19:43 - The two now present Best Short Film
The winner for Best Short Film is: BUTTER LAMP
19:42 - Kuo totally loses it on stage. Lots of fan boys happy tonight.
19:41 - The two are presenting the Best New Actor award.
My guests are pulling for ILO ILO’s Xu Jia Le (Not proper Singapore spelling)
The winner of Best New Actor: Kuo Shu-Yao for STEP BACK TO GLORY
19:40 - D: “Andy Lau and Maggie just don’t care” after seeing numerous shots of them chatting.
19:39 - C: “Why isn’t Faye Wong here?”
19:38 - Tsai Kang-yong changes into an Iron Man suit on his left arm.
Stanley Kwan and Vicki Zhao on stage now to present
19:36 - My guests are not responding very well to this musical performance.
19:31 - C: “She looks better in suits”
19:30 - And we’re back with a musical performance by Denise Ho of Golden Horse nominated songs.
19:25 - First ad break. Time to finish my pizza
19:23 - Tu: “I really wanted to keep this award in Taiwan!”
19:22 - Both my guests are pulling for STRAY DOGS
And the winner of the Best Sound Effects award is: SOUL
19:21 - Ling Po stays on stage to present the Best Sound Effects award.
19:20 - “He should be on FEI CHANG WU RAO,” said D after discovering the French winner speaks Mandarin
19:17 - C: “Why is this granny talking about her kids? Where is the mahjong table?!”
OK, we are kicking off with Best Film Editing award.
And the winner is: A TOUCH OF SIN
19:14 - Ivy Ling Po is the first presenter of the night. She starts by talking about the rewards Golden Horse has brought her over the years.
19:12 - Over 30 movies are nominated tonight.
19:09 - Tsai introducing all the big-name actors in the audience, including Brigitte Lin, Jackie Chan, Sylvia Chang, Hou Hsiao Hsien, etc.. Also the award jury, including Rene Liu and Ang Lee
D: “Ti Lung is still around”
Me: “He’s not dead!”
19:08 - Host Tsai Kang-Yong on stage now, wearing a checkered Golden Horse on his back
19:07 - C: “Movies were so much better in the past”
19:06 - Remember to interact with us on Twitter. @TheGoldenRock
19:04 - Show starting with a montage of all Golden Horse Best Picture winners.
19:01 - If you’re in Asia, you can catch the award on Star Movies Chinese
19:00 - Feed awkwardly cuts into Andy Lau on the red carpet. Maggie Cheung on the red carpet.
D: “Wow, she looks 50″
18:58 - Two minutes to go! And Star Movies getting all the ads out of the right before the 4-and-a-half-hour show.
18:53 - My guest commentators and I are ready to go. But first, pizza!