November 21st, 2015
The Golden Rock 2015 Golden Horse Awards Live Blog (Complete)
Welcome to our 2015 Golden Horse Awards Live Blog! This year, we’re once again joined by special guests Dana Fukazawa and Coco Shen for commentary. They’ll be identified as D and C throughout the night.
The blog will be updated throughout the night. To see the latest update, just reload the page. The updates go from bottom to top.
23:32: And we’re wrapped for the night! A long night, lots of surprises, and a few films to catch up on. Thanks for following us tonight, and thanks to special guests Dana Fukazawa and Coco Shen. See you next March for the Hong Kong Film Awards!
23:30: This is the first time a Hou Hsiao-Hsien film won Best Picture at the Golden Horse Award.
23:29: The Best Picture Award goes to: THE ASSASSIN. Five awards total. Top winner of the night.
23:26: Jury president Chen Kuofu and TOUCH OF ZEN star Xu Feng now on stage to present Best Picture.
23:22: Final award Best Picture after this commercial break. I hope.
23:17: Finally. The Best Actress Award goes to: Karena Lam for ZINNIA FLOWER.
23:15: We were supposed to be passing this award out 15 minutes ago. It hasn’t happened yet.
23:11: Finally time for the Best Actress award. Chen Shiang Chyi and Lee Kang-Sheng presenting.
23:08: And now a performance by Jonathan Lee dedicated to the nominees before the Best Actress Award.
23:05: We’re in our fifth hour now, and we start with a montage of the Best Actress nominees.
22:57: “Actually, I should be receiving the Best New Actor award. Now that I’ve won Best Actor, I won’t have a chance at that award anymore.” - Feng Xiaogang’s speech.
22:56: Guan Hu said that he forced Feng Xiaogang write an acceptance speech this afternoon. Guan now reading it from his phone.
22:53: The Best Actor Award goes to: Feng Xiaogang for MR. SIX! The sole nominee that didn’t show up.
22:50: Lin Chiling reminds me that she acted in a Japanese drama as she serves as Tsumabuki’s translator. That was a bad memory.
22:49: Satoshi Tsumabuki now on stage to present Best Actor.
22:46: Three awards to go. Time for Best Actor.
But first, some hosts banter. Lin Chiling picks Mickey Huang up in her awkward dress.
22:40: HHH says he would like to keep shooting films set in the Tang Dynasty, now that he’s done it for THE ASSASSIN.
22:39: “I haven’t received this in a while.” - Hou Hsiao-Hsien. He forgets the name of his crew.
22:38: The Best Director Award goes to: Hou Hsiao-Hsien for THE ASSASSIN.
They sure kept him sweating, though.
THE ASSASSIN and THANATOS, DRUNK now tied at four awards.
22:37: Ang Lee: “Who’s your favorite director?”
Shu Qi: “The one that I haven’t worked with.”
Shu Qi has not worked with Ang Lee. She was supposed to be in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, but couldn’t do it.
22:35: Time for Best Director. Shu Qi and Ang Lee presenting. Will HHH get his day on stage?
Ang Lee asks Shu Qi whether she has to wear such tall shoes.
22:33: The Best New Director award goes to: Bi Gan for KAILI BLUES.
22:32: Back and we have Chen Jianbin on stage to present Best New Director.
22:25: Before stepping into the major awards, we get the in memoriam segment.
22:20: Time for Original Music Award for Best Film.
The Original Music Award for Best Film goes to: THANATOS, DRUNK for its fourth award. Things are really looking up for THANATOS.
22:15: The award for Best Original Film Song goes to: WAWA NO CIDAL/PANAY
22:14: Stone and Ann Hsu now on stage to present the two music awards.
22:11: Lin Chiling: High school girl, award show host, and now lip-syncing for Eason Chan. Can’t say she’s not hardworking.
22:09: Time for the fifth Best Original Film Song. Eason Chan will NOT be singing the song from OFFICE. Instead, it’s Lin Chiling.
Lin Chiling is not actually singing. She’s just lip-syncing.
22:00 Moving right along as we enter the 4th hour. Gwei Lun-Mei presents Best Film Editing.
The award for Best Editing goes to: THANATOS, DRUNK, for its third award. Now it’s tied with THE ASSASSIN.
Chang Tso-chi is the winner, but clearly he can’t make it. Two actors from the film go on stage.
21:58: The Best Action Choreography Award goes to: THE MASTER.
21:57: Gwei Lun-Mei now on stage to present Best Action Choreography. She seems amazed that she played an action girl in FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE.
21:55: As we near our 4th hour, another montage for women doing martial arts (?)
21:52: The Best New Actor Award goes to: Lee Hong-chi for THANATOS, DRUNK. The second win for the film tonight.
21:50: Eason Chan now on stage to present Best New Performer.
21:44: Doze Niu brings out the statue for Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
HHH: “This is the first time I brought my wife to the Golden Horse Awards.”
21:41: Of course, Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year Award is for THE ASSASSIN, so it’s going to be a bit awkward when it doesn’t win the major awards, right?
21:38: D: “HHH must be thinking, ‘why did they ask Kevin Chu to give this to me?! Ang Lee is sitting right there. Wang Tong is here too!’”
21:37: Li leaves the stage without giving a speech. Seems to not be in the condition to give one.
Next to Outstanding Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year, going to Hou Hsiao-hsien. Award is presented by Kevin Chu and Sylvia Chang.
21:36: Li is pushed out on a wheelchair, met by a standing ovation.
21:34: Li Lihua has been in 130 films over 40 years.
21:33: Jackie Chan is presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Li Lihua, his godmother and his screen mother.
21:31: Jackie Chan on stage now. My guests wonder if Kai Ko ran into him backstage.
21:28: A few surprises tonight and still no clear indication of a ASSASSIN sweep yet. Interesting results.
21:26: ASSASSIN still the leader of the night with three awards.
21:24: The winner of Best Adapted Screenplay is: THARLO. Second ASSASSIN loss of the night
21:22: Giddens and Kai Ko still on stage, to present Best Adapted Screenplay.
21:19: Time for Best Original Screenplay.
The winner for Best Original Screenplay is: MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART.
21:18: Kai Ko and a crazy-haired Giddens on stage now.
21:17: Finally over. First costume change by the hosts as they try to decipher the Tang Dynasty Chinese in THE ASSASSIN. Chang Chen defers to Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
21:13: And all three of us just wowed when they pulled out the Leslie Cheung song.
21:06: Stepping into the third hour. Eason Chan and Rainie Yang now on stage to sing a medley of film theme songs.
20:56: “I’ve worked with Hou Hsiao-hsien ten times, and I’ve won three Golden Horse Awards.
20:55: The Best Cinematography Award goes to: Lee Ping-Bing for THE ASSASSIN. Third award of the night.
20:54: Time for Best Cinematography. Will ASSASSIN takes its third award here?
20:50: Time for Best Sound Effects.
The Best Sound Effects award goes to: THE ASSASSIN for the second award of the night
20:49: Alec Su and Ruby Lin (formerly of MY FAIR PRINCESS) now on stage to present awards.
20:47: KAILI BLUES and MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART won the FIPRECI Award and Audience Award, respectively.
20:46: We come back from commercial break with some love for the jury, led by Chen Kuofu.
20:45: No film has more than one award yet tonight. No clear sweep in sight.
20:42: The whole PORT OF CALL team are in tears.
20:39: Michael Ning: ”I want to thank Aaron. I’m a nobody, but I got the chance to act with you. You didn’t look down on me, and you took care of me and supported me.”
20:37: Michael Ning is also nominated for Best New Actor tonight.
Michael Ning suddenly switches to Cantonese mid-way.
20:35: Time for Best Supporting Actor.
The Best Supporting Actor award goes to: Michael Ning for PORT OF CALL.
Tonight’s first win for PORT OF CALL
C: “Taiwan doesn’t have a Best Actor, but it has a lot of great Best Supporting Actors!”
20:34: Did Ha Ji-Won beg Hou Hsiao-Hsien for a job?
20:33: Director Cheng Wei-Hao says he’s the last to speak so he can say that THE TAG-ALONG opens next month.
20:30: DEATH OF A SECURITY GUARD director Cheng Wei-Hao also directed the Golden Horse Film Festival’s closing film THE TAG-ALONG.
20:29: Chang and Ha’s first award is Best Short Film.
The winner of Best Short Film is: THE DEATH OF A SECURITY GUARD.
20:27: Oh, this whole thing is in English. Poor Chang Chen has to translate everything Ha Ji-Won says.
20:26: Chang Chen and Korea’s Ha Ji-Won on stage now.
20:21: Ding Ke on stage now to sing the theme song for PORT OF CALL.
20:17: Another commercial break.
20:15: Lu Xuefeng will probably hold the record for the longest speech of the night.
“I hope that I’m only the first award for THANATOS, DRUNK tonight!”
20:13: Lu says that their lighting guy worked despite having gout. I feel for him, bro.
20:10: ”I was fortunate to encounter a hard-working team. Without Chang Tso-Chi, there wouldn’t be a Lu Xuefeng.”
20:09: D: “She spent the whole movie drinking and crying!”
20:06: The winner for Best Supporting Actress is: Lu Xuefeng for THANATOS, DRUNK.
Lu was last nominated for WHEN LOVE COMES, also by Chang Tso-Chi.
20:04: The second award for Aaron-Karena is Best Supporting Actress.
This is Elaine Jin’s fifth nomination at the Golden Horse. Jiang Wenli (THE MASTER) is competing with her niece Ma Sichun (LEFT EAR).
20:01: “This award is heavy. Heavy things are worth a lot of money.” says the winner for THE CHINESE MAYOR.
19:59: Their first award is Best Documentary.
The winner of Best Documentary is: THE CHINESE MAYOR
19:57: Golden Horse nominees Aaron Kwok and Karena Lam on stage now to present awards.
Karena: “Congratulations for your third nomination”
Aaron: “Fourth!”
19:56: C: “I’m glad that this performance shows that Taiwan has more than just the Taipei Chili Peppers!”
19:55: WAWA NO CIDAL is also known as PANAY. It’s the opening film of this year’s Singapore Film Festival.
19:51: Suming Rupi on stage to perform the theme song for WAWA NO CIDAL. TOUCH OF THE LIGHT’s Huang Yu-siang on the piano.
19:47: Another commercial break.
19:46: Winner Hwarng Wern-Ying has been working with Hou Hsiao-Hsien since GOOD MAN GOOD WOMAN.
19:44: Time for Best Costume Design.
The winner of Best Costume Design is: THE ASSASSIN. First win of the night.
19:43: Our guests are both happy about OFFICE’s win. That set was impressive.
19:41: Deng Chao’s first award is Best Art Direction.
The winner of Best Art Direction is: OFFICE. THE ASSASSIN’s first loss tonight.
19:39: Deng Chao now on stage to present two more prizes.
19:38: All three of us agree that the award has already gone on too long.
19:34: Back from commercial break with a musical performance. The theme song from THE LAUNDRYMAN, by some kind of Taiwan rock Jesus.
C: “Taiwan Chili Pepper!”
19:29: First ad break of the night. Half an hour. Only two awards given out. Long night ahead of us.
19:27: The winner of Best Animated Feature is: MCDULL ME AND MY MUM.
19:25: Simon Yam stays on stage for the second award. The Best Animated Feature.
19:23: Best Visual Effects is the first award of the night. My guests think it’ll go to WOLF TOTEM or MONSTER HUNT.
The winner of Best Visual Effects is: THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN
19:22: Simon Yam now on stage to give out the first award of the night.
Simon Yam shows off his Taiwanese to show that he can speak all kinds of languages.
Still don’t know what award he’s giving out.
19:19: Hou Hsiao-Hsien and his “WTF am I doing here” face!
19:17: Mickey Huang and a much taller Lin Chiling now back on stage as hosts.
19:15: Finally, the long-awaited nominee montage. Here we go!
19:14: C: “Why did they do this to the poor girl? Just get Hebe to sing it with her”
19:12: Best Actress nominee and OUT TIMES star Vivian Sung now sings the OUR TIMES theme song.
C: “Probably to celebrate it making so much money!”
19:11: Darren Wang from OUR TIMES put in a cameo. Lin Chiling’s ex Jerry Yan (who plays the older version of Darren Wang’s character in the film) shows up on screen for the night’s first applause.
19:08: Eight minutes in. Alcohol opened. Sketch still not over.
19:06: The hosts are using “witty banter” to name all the nominees.
C: “These poor people have to fake their laughter!”
19:04: Lin Chiling walks on stage with a high school uniform. Still not the oldest Taiwanese actor to play a high schooler (That’s Takeshi Kaneshiro for THE CROSSING)
19:03: I guess we can never avoid starting an award show with one of these things.
Huang: “It’s not easy to sing in front of Eason Chan!”
Sylvia Chang puts in a one-shot cameo.
19:01: We’re off! Hosts Mickey Huang and Lin Chiling on stage with a song-and-dance sequence.
18:57: In case you need a refresher, here is the nomination list
18:53: We’re seated and ready to go. Star Chinese Movies isn’t, though. They’re still showing the credits of KANO.