From: NO TOP TEN CENTRAL Newsgroups: alt.asian-movies,soc.culture.hongkong.entertainment Subject: [TAKE OVER] HKSAR Film No Top 10 Box Office (January 22 2009) Organization: Chaffing Heart Club (TM) The following publication contains material that might be objectionable to some readers. Parental guidance and reader discretion are advised. [FLUFF OF THE WEEK] Courtesy of Ming Pao, Sing Tao Daily, Apple Daily, Oriental Daily, and Ta Kung Pao 1. THIS TOP 10 IS DEDICATED TO GUNG HEI FAT COHI! HAVE A HAPPY AND HEALTHY YEAR OF THE OX! 2. MISCELLANEOUS * (1/25/2009) The Andrew Lau Wai Keung directed Lunar New Year film LOOK FOR A STAR (YAU LUNG HEI FUNG) was shot on location in Macau. Two nights ago the director led Andy Lau Tak Wa, Shu Qi, Denise Ho Wan Si, and Lam Ka Tung to Macau MGM hotel for a press conference then to the Macau Observation Tower for a premiere. Shu Qi two nights ago dressed up for the occasion and with the over HK$7 million in Cartier diamond jewelry she had all the attention. Wa Jai who has seen many beauties honestly said that he dared not stare or stand too close. Shu Qi was asked whether she would like someone to give her expensive diamond jewelry. She immediately looked at Wa Jai, but Wa Jai immediately refused. "Giving you 7 million, do you think I am crazy! I can give you the the $7,000 ring on my hand." Later why did the usually generous Wa Jai turned Shu Qi down? Wa Jai said that he was only generous with movies. If Shu Qi would direct he would invest. In addition, Ah Si was asked whether she would dress as provocatively as Shu Qi. She joked that she did not want to abuse anyone. She was very happy that her friends after watching the film praised her femininity. Wa Jai has never been much of a gambler as he would lose every time. Thus he asked the boss Peter Lam Kin Ngok to place two bets for him, then the boss brought him several tens of thousands. During the Lunar New Year Wa Jai would meet with his fan club then shop for peach blossom for his home. This year would be the third year that he would place peach blossom at home. Earlier he has cleaned up the ancestral and the holy altars. * (1/24/2009) In recent years, many university students have started their own business during the Lunar New Year, Josie Ho Chiu Yi two nights ago attended "gi university student Lunar new Year stall" launch. She praised the students' creativity, as their product designs' quality was high and practical. Chiu Yi also disclosed recently that she has been preparing for a movie, but she did not include her husband and father in the cast because she was afraid that they would steal scenes. Chiu Yi said she would stay in Hong Kong during the Lunar New Year and on New Year's Eve she would visit the flower market with her husband to experience the festive atmosphere. When asked her if she was not travel overseas due to the economic downturn, she said that mainly she was busy with preparations for a movie. She revealed that she would produce it with her husband while she would also perform. Yet because her husband was too large in size, she was afraid that he would hog the cameras so she did not arrange for his on screen appearance. She honestly said that this time she called in all her favors as all of her friends would be called. Would she ask her father the casino king to appear? Chiu Yi laughed, "I would have to think about it first. I am afraid that he steals too much thunder. I think just inviting him to the movie would be good enough." As for the film subject, she was not at liberty to discuss that yet. In addition, Chiu Yi in June will release her Mandarin record in Mainland. She also planned to form a band and return to the Hong Kong music scene. As for parenthood, she frankly said that she had no plan because she already had six dogs at home. She did not have time to keep a few more like she would like to. * (1/23/2009) The Lunar New Year film LOOK FOR A STAR (YAU LUNG HEI FUNG) two nights ago held its premiere, director Andrew Lau Wai Keung led actors Andy Lau Tak Wa, Shu Qi, Denise Ho Wan Si, Zhang Hanyu, Ella Koon Yun Na and Lam Ka Wa in attendance. At the event Wa Jai and Shu Qi reprised their proposal scene. Wa Jai even kissed Shu Qi on the cheek three times by popular demand. Always keeping his love life low key, Wa Jai was asked about marriage. He frankly admitted that he had no plan, he would only sign papers when he would get married in the future to keep everything simple. Wa Jai and Shu Qi two nights ago were dressed in white. They even reprised the marriage proposal scene as Wa Jai put a nearly HK$100,000 Cartier diamond jewelry on Shu Qi. Shu Qi put an over HK$7,000 ring on Wa Jai. However, because Wa Jai could not help but laugh they had bad takes. He still insisted that for professional actors one or two bad takes were normal. When Wa Jai kissed Shu Qi on the cheek as requested, the entire audience instantly screamed as Shu Qi who was accustomed to big crowds suddenly turned red. Later Wa Jai gave a few more kisses at the request of reporters, then Wa Jai grabbed Shu Qi's hand and joked that he wanted to fulfill the marital duty. Wa Jai's relationship with Chu Lai Sin has been mysterious, when would he marry? Wa Jai frankly said that he did not have such a schedule, or thought about it what kind of wedding it would be because he has tried everything on film. If he really would wed in the future, everything would be simple. Perhaps he would just sign the document. However, he definitely would tell everyone and the wedding would be low-key. Wa Jai directly said that a high-profile wedding would be very troublesome and he did not want to trouble anyone. What if the bride wanted to wear a gown for the wedding? He said, "Then I would choose one who doesn't like wedding gowns and only likes me, a girl who doesn't even like wedding." As for the film box office, Wa Jai had confidence in his film and would like the most for every movie to perform well. Shu Qi recently has promoted a lot for the film and joked that she had an extra feeling of love. Shu Qi honestly said that she really would like to date but believed that she would spend Valentine's Day alone. She lamented that female artists had difficulty with finding a mate, so a couple like Ekin Cheng and Yoyo Mung Ka Wai was very rare. As for former rumored boyfriend Chang Chen being caught on a date with a hot girl, she joked that Chang Chen in the past had many hot girls but congratulated him on finding a very sweet romance. * (1/23/2009) Sandra Ng Kwan Yu, Ronald Cheng Chung Kei, new comer Shen Lijun, director Vincent Kok Tak Siu and boss Raymond Wong Pak Ming two nights ago in a Tsim Sha Tsui bar promoted their Lunar New Year film ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2009 (GA YAU HEI SI 2009). Lead actor Louis Koo Tin Lok was already on his Lunar New Year holiday and did not attend. The cast played games with the audience to give away gold ox. Wong Pak Ming expressed that earlier he has learned to play Beat the Landlord card game and added it to the film. He also taught Sister Piano (Lee Heung Kam) and Uncle Winter (Ha Chun Chau). They only passed their time on the set with the game. Cheng Chung Kei two nights ago arrived with a red face. He frankly admitted that because of a beer sponsored event he drank a little. He said that he has always turned red after drinking and he could not fool anyone. He confessed that after the incident on the plane he drank less and his tolerance has deteriorated. Thus he has rarely gone to night spots. When asked whether he could whisper sweet nothings at night spots, he played dumb. "I am not sure, lately I rarely had any romance." As for giving film ticket to rumored girlfriend Charlene Choi Cheuk Yin, Ronald said that he only had 20 tickets, all of which have already gone to his mother to give to relatives and friends. He jokingly told her to get her own. He said that he would spend the Lunar New Year with his family in Japan. Later he would record a Mandarin record and compose music for Jeff Lau Chun Wai's new film. Ronald reportedly would take over his father's music business. He said that he only inherited his father's music talent. New comer Shen Lijun two nights ago said that with company colleagues she was not afraid of any danger at night spots and she could play more freely. Shen Lijun said that before coming to Hong Kong she has heard about Lan Kwai Fong, thus earlier she spent Halloween there. Shen Lijun said that her tolerance was average. Once at a Hengzhou film event she got drunk and ended up holding a trash can all night while she vomited. * (1/23/2009) The Patrick Kong (Yip Lim Sum) directed film BO CHI OI NEI (KEEP LOVING YOU) yesterday held a promotion in Tsuen Wan. Actors Stephy Tang Lai Yun, Miki Yeung Oi Kun, Kay Tse On Kay, I Love You Boyz, Sammy and Justin Lo (Juk Tin) attended. Stephy in the movie played a girl with weak hearing so she had very few lines in the film. She said that in one scene she learned to speak with Tse On Kay. Stephy expressed that though she only had one scene with her, after working together she felt that Kay was someone who was very sentimental and cried easily. Stephy dismissed press reports that Tse On Kay made the jump from music to film to steal her business. She said that the role was right for her and she did not feel threatened at all. The film industry already had very young actresses, actor increase is a good thing. Tse On Kay had more space on the posters. Stephy said that Kay should not be overlooked as she had acting potential. Reportedly a Japanese adult video actress who resembled her would have a chance to come to Hong Kong for a 3D version SEX AND ZEN (YUK PO TUEN). Stephy said that actually she never thought they bear any resemblance and with different genres she did not feel threatened. She expressed that she would like to see her in person. While everyone claimed that they looked familiar their figures were already completely different. A tabloid accused her of plastic surgery to turn her fortune. Stephy denied the rumor. "These photos were mixed with old ones, they are hilarious. I didn't fix anything, everything is natural. I am happy about the rumor though because it proves that I am prettier." She said that if she had to have plastic surgery she would work on her nose because she had a broken nose before. Tse On Kay said that she did not come to the film industry to steal jobs, as she has accepted this role a long time ago. Did she feel she has taken Miki's spotlight on the poster? She expressed that she did not, every actor served a purpose. Reportedly Universal was supporting her and Eason Chan Yik Shun to crush Joey Yung Cho Yi, but in turn Hacken Lee Hak Kun was sacrificed so he received no award from Radio Hong Kong. She said, "I haven't heard these rumors." She expressed that she of course could not threaten Joey and did not feel that she has taken Joey's fans. Fans could continue to increase and could like two singers at the same time. In addition, Miki said that she would have a super-sexy breakthrough performance that was in almost two piece (swimsuit). Did she think that she had very little poster space? She expressed that the film had several posters. As for rumors that she was dating Fama's Lok Wing, she explained that they ran into each other in Causeway Bay. She was meeting a mutual friend for dinner so they dined together. She also stressed that she could only be friends with Lok Wing. * (1/22/2009) The Third Annual Asian Film Awards will be held March 23 at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, the event yesterday announced its nominations in 13 categories, including Feng Xiaogang and Ge You's Best Director and Best Actor nomination respectively for IF YOU ARE THE ONE, PAINTED SKIN's Vicki Zhao Wei and EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH's Zhou Xun were nominated for Best Actress, and BEAST STALKER's Nick Cheung Ka Fai was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. According to the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society Chairman Wilfred Wong Ying Wai, in order to seek a breakthrough this year Best New Performer was added to encourage and praise in new talent to perform better in show business. The event consultant Shi Nansun was asked whether she felt very few Hong Kong films were nominated. She expressed that now a lot of movies, like PAINTED SKIN and RED CLIFF were Mainland and Hong Kong co-production films. She also said that in the past two years most nominees attended the event. Would Michelle Yeoh (Yeung Chi King) make an appearance this year? She believed that since she was willing to serve as on the jury, she expressed her love for Hong Kong. Unless she has work on hand she definitely would attend. Turning to the previous year when the event's arrangement was lacking, she said that this year's backstage and media interview areas have already been improved. Zhou Xun was very happy about her Asian Film Awards Best Actress nomination because it was an all Asia award. She felt honored to be nominated along with each nation's excellent actresses. Since she was busy with preparation for her new film FUNG SING (WIND SOUND), she was not able to confirm whether she would be able to attend the presentation ceremony in March. Feng Xiaogang was nominated for Best Director. According to Media Asia Group Managing Director John Chong Ching's response he was on a plane but the event has informed him of the nomination. Chong Ching also said that the film made a mad 300 million in Mainland and he was already very happy with the box office recognition. He would try to arrange for Feng Xiaogang to attend. Previously Cheung Ka Fai has already won an actor award with BEAST STALKER and he was very happy to be nominated again for Best Supporting Actor. He was very honored to be nominated alongside distinguished artists like Lee Byung-Hun. He said that in his two decades in the business, last year was his biggest harvest because the film was nominated and had good word of mouth. It even qualified for the Berlin Film Festival. He has already prepared his combat gear. Although he did not know whether he would win, he has already planned to celebrate with his wife. In addition, the Best Picture nominations included FOREVER ENTHRALLED, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD, PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA, THE RAINBOW TROOPS, RED CLIFF and TOKYO SONATA. Best Actor nominees included IF YOU ARE THE ONE's Ge You, THE CHASER's Ha Jung-Woo, SINGH IS KINNG's Akshay Kumar, DETROIT METAL CITY's Kenichi Matsuyama, DEPARTURES' Motoki Masahiro and THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD's Song Kang-ho. As for Best Actress nominees they were THE MAGIC HOUR's Fukatsu Eri, AND THE SPRING COMES' Chiang Wenli, CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA's Deepika Padukone, KABEI -- OUR MOTHER's Yoshinaga Sayuri, PAINTED SKIN's Zhao Wei and THE EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH's Zhou Xun. Nominated for Best Director were IF YOU ARE THE ONE's Feng Xiaogang, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD's Kim Jee-Woon, STILL WALKING's Horeeda HIrokazu, SERVICE's Brillante Mendoza, PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA's Hayao Miyazaki and Frank Marshall, and RED CLIFF's John Woo (Ng Yu Sum). NOMINATIONS FOR THE 3RD ASIAN FILM AWARDS BEST FILM FOREVER ENTHRALLED (China) THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD (South Korea) PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA (Japan) THE RAINBOW TROOPS (Indonesia) RED CLIFF (China) TOKYO SONATA (Japan/The Netherlands/Hong Kong) BEST DIRECTOR Feng Xiaogang, IF YOU ARE THE ONE Kim Jee-woon, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD Koreeda Hirokazu, STILL WALKING Brillante Mendoza, SERVICE Hayao Miyazaki/Frank Marshall, PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA John Woo (Ng Yu Sum), RED CLIFF BEST ACTOR Ge You, IF YOU ARE THE ONE Ha Jung-woo, THE CHASER Akshay Kumar, "SINGH IS KINNG Matsuyama Kenichi, DETROIT METAL CITY Motoki Masahiro, DEPARTURES Song Kang-ho, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD BEST ACTRESS Fukatsu Eri, THE MAGIC HOUR Jiang Wenli, AND THE SPRING COMES Deepika Padukone, CHANDNI CHOWK TO CHINA Yoshinaga Sayuri, KABEI - OUR MOTHER Vicki Zhao Wei, PAINTED SKIN Zhou Xun, THE EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH BEST NEWCOMER Matsuda Shota, BOY OVER FLOWERS: THE MOVIES Sandrine Pinna, MIAO MIAO So Ji-sub, ROUGH CUT Xu Jian, CJ7 Jeeja Yanin, CHOCOLATE Yu Shaoqun, FOREVER ENTHRALLED BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Nick Cheung Ka Fai, BEAST STALKER Jung Woo-sung, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD Lee Byung-hun, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD Tsutsumi Shinichi, SUSPECT X Wang Xueqi, FOREVER ENTHRALLED BEST SCREENWRITER Na Hong-jin, THE CHASER Li Qiang, AND THE SPRING COMES Tom Lin/Henry Tsai, WINDS OF SEPTEMBER Kurosawa Kiyoshi/Max Mannix/Tanaka Sachiko, TOKYO SONATA Mitani Koki, THE MAGIC HOUR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER Ato Shoichi, PACO AND THE MAGICAL BOOK Cheng Siu-keung, SPARROW Lee Mo-gae, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD Jola Dylewska, TULPAN Wang Yu/Nelson Yu, 24 CITY BEST PRODUCTION DESIGNER Nitin Chandrakant Desai, JODHAA AKBAR Kuwajima Towako, PACO AND THE MAGICAL BOOK Daniel Lee Yan-kong, THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON Bill Lui, PAINTED SKIN Taneda Yohei, THE MAGIC HOUR BEST COMPOSER Dalpalan/Jang Young-gyu, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD Hanno Yoshihiro/ Lim Giong, 24 CITY Hisaishi Joe, PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA Henry Lai Wan-man, THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON A.R. Rahman, JODHAA AKBAR BEST EDITOR Chan Ki-hop, BEAST STALKER William Chang Suk-ping, MIAO MIAO Darya Danilova, NATIVE DANCER Waluyo Ichwandiardono, THE RAINBOW TROOPS Kim Sun-min, THE CHASER BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Craig Hayes, RED CLIFF Kim Wook, THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD Yanagawase Masahide, PACO AND THE MAGICAL BOOK * (1/22/2009) The Lunar New Year film ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2009 (GA YAU HEI SI 2009) two nights ago held a charity premiere and raised 1 million for Po Leung Kuk. Boss Raymond Wong Pak Ming led cast members Louis Koo Tin Lok, Ronald Cheng Chung Kei, Sandra NG Kwan Yu, Ha Chun Chau, Lee Heung Kam and Shen Lijun in attendance. Guests included Donnie Yen Chi Tan and his wife and Teresa Chiang Siu Wai. Cheng Chung Kei said that he only had only four premiere tickets so he did not invite Charlene Choi Cheuk Yin. He believed that she would buy her own ticket. He expressed that even if he wanted to take her he could not because he would have to go overseas and then to Japan with his family. During the conversations, Cheng Chung Kei's face suddenly turned red, but he insisted that was only due to his tight jacket. Was his relationship with Ah Sa stable? He said, "It's decent. (When would you publicly hold Ah Sa's hand?) I don't know, maybe later. It's not related to the Ah Sa. Now fans are very open minded. It only has to do with me." Has he confirmed Ah Sa's position as his significant other? He said that she was a very nice person and a good friend. Was she a very nice girlfriend? He said, "She is a nice girl, where would she get a boyfriend?" Koo Tin Lok on the Lunar third would go to the movies with several secondary school classmates. He also pointed out that this time he had many friends and family asking for tickets so he believed that he would not have enough to send. Goo Jai expressed that every year he would meet up with his secondary school classmates, now only he and another classmate were single. He would be very envious each time he saw his classmates with their other halves, but he did not have time to date. He also said that recently his mother injured her hand, so he had to clean up the house, placed candy dispensers and bought New Year flowers alone. Chiang Siu Wai revealed that recently a Hollywood producer again supported her in this year's investment, a 60 million and a 30 million dollar foreign films. * (1/22/2009) The Jay Chou (Chow Kit Lun) starred film CHI LING (THORN TOMB) yesterday held a press conference in Beijing and announced the lead actress to be Lin Chiling. The film's production cost would reach 100 million yuan, Emperor Pictures has successfully acquired its Hong Kong distribution rights. The film will be a New Year 2010 release. Chow Kit Lun turned into a magician and opened the event with a series of exciting magic show. He even made female lead Lin Chiling appear as she became the magician assistant. Were they looking forward to this collaboration, both praised the other as the best of the opposite sex. Chiling pointed out that Kit Lun was a scholar to her, not only filial but also knew magic. he truly was amazing. She was looking forward to working with him. She also praised Chow Kit Lun for having his own idea about his own creation. He has scored in every aspect of every field so he was very talented. Chow Kit Lun also looked forward to working with the dream girl of almost all the men, only he has asked for a female lead who could not be taller than him. Fortunately he was a centimeter taller than Lin Chiling. Lin Chiling yesterday was also quite thoughtful, appearing in flats. The event even measured their height and confirmed that Chiling's shoes were only 0.5 centimeters, so Chow Kit Lun was still 0.5 centimeters taller than Chiling. Lin Chiling even said that Chow Kit Lun was the tallest male lead who she has worked with. Director Chu Yen Ping pointed out that Lin Chiling was dream of all men, he frankly admitted that he had ulterior motives in working with her. The film would use the KUNG FU DUNK team, including Eric Tsang Chi Wai, Chen Chu Ho and so on, Ching Siu Tung would be the martial arts designer, Yee Chung Man would be the art director. The film is expected to begin shooting by the end of March. * (1/22/2009) BO CHI OI NEI (KEEP LOVING YOU) is Kay Tse On Kay's big screen debut. Co-stars include Stephy Tang Lai Yun, Justin Lo (Juk Tin), Sammy, Miki Yeung Oi Kun, Leung Cho Hiu, I Love You Boyz, etc. The big winner at the major music award presentation ceremonies, Kay during the shooting had to record her new record as well. Everyday she could not be busier. Luckily her key co-star was drama expert Leung Cho Hiu, who made Kay get into her role very quickly. Cho Hiu also praised Kay's looks as sweet, during the shoot he could not help but falling for her and made his performance even more natural. As a film rookie Kay was very tense about her own performance. In addition, Kay and Stephy in the movie also had many scenes together. In the film Stephy was paired with Juk Tin. In one scene Kay taught Stephy how to make her feelings known. Stephy's convincing performance greatly touched Kay. Introverted Stephy seldom took the initiative to talk with people. During the official shoot, her interpretation closely affected Kay's mood and made Kay shed real tears. After this scene they could not help but embrace in a touching moment. [ BLAH OF THE WEEK ] Columns, Reviews, Interviews 1. MING PAO DAILY, JANUARY 28 2009, FILM WORDS MORE ABOUT RED CLIFF ADAPTATION MERITS AND FLAWS John Woo (Ng Yu Sum)'s epic RED CLIFF is a box office hit. The first installment created a new Chinese film market box office record and was a hit in Japan as well. The second installment RED CLIFF II is the climatic center of the story, with great openings in the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This column has glanced over RED CLIFF II's merits and flaws and not too satisfied with some important adaptations. However, it must be pointed out that the film's characters and story are based on THE ROMANCE OF THREE KINGDOMS and just made up out of the blue. Of course when writers and directors take liberty with the subject and freely add and subtract. Whether they are reasonable the subject is worthy of discussion. The Use of Astronomical Knowledge To Borrow East Wind Is Reasonable In the film Zhou Yu uses an anti spy scheme to kill indirectly and Kong Ming's straw boat arrow loan are all familiar to THREE KINGDOMS fans. Although they provide no pleasant surprise on the silver screen, the layout is decent. Kong Ming borrows the East Wind not with magic but with astronomical knowledge, which is very reasonable. As for the Cao troop's inability to adapt to the water and many died from an epidemic, chapter 47 of ROMANCE OF THREE KINGDOMS indeed describes that Cao Cao accepts the armada chain strategy to prevent seasickness among the troops. The film takes the opportunity to create an epidemic outbreak as Cao Cao deliberately spreads the disease to his enemy. Although it is not in the original, it is also justified. The biggest doubt is the goal of Cao Cao's southern march seems to be to seize Xiao Qiao, which some people believe that writers and directors arbitrarily made up. Actually, chapter 44 of ROMANCE OF THREE KINGDOMS mentioned that Kong Ming attempted to boast the troop's morale and said that Cao sent troops to seize Daqiao and Xiaoqiao in order to keep this pair of Jiangnan beauties in the Bronze Bird Pavilion. The Tang Dynasty Du Mu poem RED CLIFF also said, "Had the east wind not done Zhou Yu a turn, Two Qiaos in spring would have gone to the tower." Without the East Wind, Cao Cao would have had the ladies left and right. Xiao Qiao Caused Cao Cao's Defeat -- Outrageous In short, the legend of villains wanting to capture the beauty has a very ancient history, this film is well founded. Yet in the film Xiao Qiao actually went to the Cao camp alone, captivating Cao Cao and leading to his enormous defeat, was truly too outrageously plotted. Along the same lines the ROMANCE OF THREE KINGDOMS describes Wu King Sun Quan's younger sister Sun Shangxiang as extremely tough and brave. Her boudoir was more like an arsenal and no men could rival her. Yet this film made this princess go undercover in a disguise of a soldier, which was also overly dramatized and unconscionable. Zhou Yu's Release of Cao Cao Is Wrong Both RED CLIFF films originally focus on realism. The water, fire and land climatic battles in latter part of the second installment are realistic and fierce, unfortunately the story has many incredible adaptations. In the end Zhou Yu's release of Cao Cao is also very wrong, far paling in comparison to the well known Lord Guan's honorable release of Cao Cao. The fact is, the film's most lackluster depictions are Liu, Guan and Zhang. Liu Bei has no aura of a king. The audience cannot understands why the genius Kong Ming would be so loyal to this guy? This film stresses Kong Ming and Zhou Yu's successful cooperation and downplay their infighting. If you want to see a battle of wits between geniuses, currently Chinese films are obviously no match for Japanese films. - SHEK KEI 2. MING PAO DAILY, JANUARY 27 2009, FILM WORDS LOOK FOR A STAR: SPECIAL PACKAGED BUT PICKY Both of the Year of the Ox Hong Kong Lunar New Year films are modern romantic comedy, both are about three couples' romance. Another common point is both have the opportunity for tourism publicity. ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2009 (GA YAU HEI SI 2009) in the middle shot Hengzhou's Qiandaohu scenery, while LOOK FOR A STAR (YAU LUNG HEI FUNG)'s entire background was Macau and made the newly packaged gambling city look gorgeous and eye-catching. Moreover, both have Cheung Tat Ming as the romantic television program's humorous host. While they have many similarities, the film's styles are significantly different. ALL'S is a typical Hong Kong style popular comedy that plays dress up and is rather popular and cheerful. The Andrew Lau Wai Keung produced and directed LOOK FOR A STAR has more detailed oriented special packaging. While its parts are romantic and wonderful, the story itself is far-fetched and picky. The characters are full of psychological contradictions and not straightforward. YAU LUNG HEI FUNG (WANDERING DRAGON FOOLS PHOENIX) originally was a folktale of the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhengde's undercover visit of Jiangnan and encounter with a small shop girl Sister Feng. A few decades ago Lee Han Hsiang turned it into the Linda Lin Dai and Zhao Lei starred Huangmeidiao opera classic KINGDOM AND THE BEAUTY (GONG SAN MEI YUN). In 2002 Jeff Lau Chun Wai adapted it into the star studded CHINESE ODYSSEY 2002 (TIN HA MO SEUNG). Now LOOK FOR A STAR has changed into a new century version. Andy Lau Tak Wa plays a billionaire who goes to a casino in disguise. Female dealer and showgirl Shu Qi mistakes him for a poor kid and they fall in love. Chinese and foreign films have a lot of the rich disguised as the poor to get the girl comedy. This time the dates on the streets of Macau are also romantic and humorous. Yet when Lau Tak Wa reveals his true identity, trouble starts -- this film conventionally points ouf that being rich is a heavy burden and lacks freedom; when a humble woman "marries a rich man" she too may have a lot of gossip and extremely great deal of pressure. The film's problem is that it wants to to maintain the Cinderella fairy tale but also wants to share real life problems. The later part somewhat drags its feet and is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The other couples consist of a tycoon's female secretary Denise Ho Wan Si and poor migrant worker Zhang Hanyu becoming a feuding couple, and a tycoon's driver Lam Ka Tung's romance with a young divorcee Zhang Xinyi. Originally they are all in love but their backgrounds pose a difficult problem. Actually modern romance can be in the open, why should it have so many suspicions and concerns? The film's three relationships finally are uncovered on a television romance program, which is so exaggerated that it is contrived. As for casting, Lau Tak Wa and Shu Qi as usual performed skilled expressions, singer Ho Wan Si and THE ASSEMBLY's Zhang Hanyu make an unexpectedly good match. Lam Ka Tung has his own unique dramatic flavor. Yet their personalities are somewhat confusing. The entire film's most straightforward person is Maria Cordero, while the prettiest is the Macau scenery. - SHEK KEI 3. MING PAO DAILY, JANUARY 27 2009, FILM AND TELEVISION OBSERVATIONS WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE YEAR OF THE OX? Who will the Year of the Ox benefit? Some metaphysics experts have already made their forecast. Metaphysics have the metaphysics perspective. Commenting from the general climate is another matter. This year the entire world has faced with the financial tsunami, which has proven that the old ways have already been eliminated, Obama with one word "Change" took over the American political regime. Not only the United States, but also the whole world, is looking forward to change. "Change's" implied function through different forms of media has been beaten into everyone's head. Holding on to the old and broken ways certainly does not work, as change has become the general trend. Change can be both good and bad. Under the change banner production change in estimate would be able to take advantage of the opportunity. The entertainment circle's elimination round has already started several years ago, artists who are worthy of their fame will be further ousted. This is an inevitable effect that "change" brings. Artists who are sold with packaging will not have any big run. A few years ago the substance faction was thought to be on the rise, but it was a false start. The writer at the time has already pointed out that it was a response to the public's dissatisfaction with the packaging style idols and not a real phenomenon. Yet this year indeed would be beneficial to the substance faction. In addition artists should focus in one area and not be greedy. The entertainment circle at its peak had artists who were in music, film and television all at once. Artist development in all directions no longer work today. Now doing well in one area is already hard. To truly have a diversified development, artists should be at the very top of a certain faction before crossing over to another. Anyone without substance needs to rely on hard work. Selling hard work in the Year of the Ox is viable. Anyone who is without talent and does not work hard definitely is out of luck. Actually the acceptance of those who sell hard work has nothing to do with the Year of the Ox. Due to the poor economy, everyone who tend to believe in anyone who is willing to put in an effort should have room to survive would project this mentality in artist support. Anyone with talent and substance should not be too blatant, arrogance is this year's big no-no. The reason is very simple. Most people are not living well while you are boasting about your life. Who would like you? Only entertainment products that make people feel like they are getting more bang for their bucks would sell well. Substance and effort are keys to the Year of the Ox invincibility. Anyone who depends on luck would not go too far. - KWOK HIN CHING 4. MING PAO DAILY, JANUARY 26 2009, FILM WORDS ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2009 LIGHT AND LIVELY ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2009 (GA YAU HEI SI 2009) is a typical Hong Kong-style Lunar New Year comedy film that is just for the sake of popular excitement, without any expectation for anything wonderful and novel. As long as it is light and lively it is considered not bad. In fact, over the past decade domestic comedy has been fewer and fewer, and often it gives bitter rather than hearty laughs. This one at least demonstrates that our spirit of comedy has not disappeared and may have possibility to recover. The Raymond Wong Pak Ming produced, Vincent Kok Tak Siu directed film routinely cooks up drama and comedy with marriage, which is a timely subject that is not obsolete in both ancient and modern comedy. This time Sandra Ng Kwan Yu wonderfully plays a shrewd sister, a publishing industry talent who takes pride in being single, but actually "longs for marriage" and dreads of becoming a spinster! Having fun at the expense of single and independent woman like this is inevitable vulgar, but Ng Kwan Yu's performance is lively and funny. Whether she is playing strong and mean or playing infatuated and love struck she is appropriately humorous and maintains a sense of cheerful comedy. Ronald Cheng Chung Kei as her heartbroken brother is also fun, in order to lift the "curse" he hires romance expert Louis Koo Tin Lok to open his sister's heart and leads to a series of bumbling and stumbling relationships. Koo Tin Lok's courtship tricks are very comic book like, the funniest of which is when he runs into his true love he "loses all his power" and becomes a shy guy. Between Ng Kwan Yu and Mainland beauty Shen Lijun he is at a loss. Another Mainland actress Yao Chen plays "Buckteeth Jane" and with Cheng Chung Kei develops a romance that is also interesting. Of course no one should be take this film too seriously. The film also takes the opportunity to promote tourism in Hangzhou and Qiandaohu. Fortunately, Kok Tak Siu has given the film a quick pace and the film maintains consistency from the beginning to the end. Co-stars also include Wong Pak Ming, Ha Chun Chau, Lee Heung Kam, Guo Tao, Clifton Ko Chi Sum and so on. Charlene Choi Cheuk Yin also makes a cameo appearance that can relieve the doldrum. The 1992 version ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL has the strongest cast. Ko Chi Sum directed, with Stephen Chow Sing Chi, Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing, and Wong Pak Ming as three brothers and actresses like Maggie Cheung Man Yuk, Sandra Ng Kwan Yu, Teresa Mo Shun Kwan and so on. Back then it was a Lunar New Year hit, but in my impression it was very silly. Later in ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 97 the brothers were Chow Sing Chi, Francis Ng Chun Yu and Wong Pak Ming, with Roy Chiao (Kiu Wang) as the father. Actually this series' original prototype was the 1988 Cinema City film EIGHT HAPPINESS (BAK SING BO HEI). Johnnie To Kei Fung directed and Wong Pak Ming, Chow Yun-fat, and Jacky Cheung Hok Yau played three brothers, the girlfriends were Petrina Fung Bo Bo, Cherie Chung Chor Hung, Carol Cheng Yui Ling and others. It was very popular. Now ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2009 turned three brothers into a sister and a brother, with Ng Kwan Yu as the most important. Obviously Chinese families had less and less brothers (the Mainland has an one-child policy), but love and family are always attractive. - SHEK KEI 5. MING PAO DAILY, JANUARY 26 2009, FILM AND TELEVISION OBSERVATIONS "MASCULINE OX" IS HELPFUL TO HONG KONG FILMS The Year of the Ox gives people a very masculine impression. In recent months, masculine Hong Kong film box office has been better than other genres and washed away the feminine phenomenon. THE BEAST STALKER (JING YUN) had both good box office and word of mouth. A little earlier there was CONNECTED (BO CHI TUNG WA). In Christmas IP MAN was the sole success. TACTICAL UNIT - COMRADES IN ARMS (GEI TUNG BO DUI -- TUNG BO) also made nearly 4 million. No more needed to be said about the super film RED CLIFF II (CHET BIK -- KUET JIN TIN HA). In contrast, feminine film has been a little pale. NOBODY'S PERFECT (JUET DOI SEUNG GIU) has been worse than expected. LADY COP AND PAPA CROOKS (DAI SAU CHA JI NUI)'s 7.5 million was already considered decent and better than IF YOU ARE THE ONE's 1.1 million. FIT LOVER made as little as 200,000. FOREVER ENTHRALLED (MEI LAN FONG) is also a feminine drama. Although it was not considered a Hong Kong films, it still had Hong Kong star performance. It only made 2.6 million. While masculine films rose in Hong Kong, romance was optimistic in the Mainland. IF YOU ARE THE ONE made 300 million, PAINTED SKIN 270 million, FIT LOVER and DESIRES OF THE HEART also performed decently in Mainland. The writer estimated that masculine film's better box office and word-of-mouth in Hong Kong recently was related to the economic environment. This period's masculine films indeed were solidly made. Giving their full effort, they had no low budget films that tried to confuse in troubled waters. Under the financial tsunami, everyone has been prudent with their spending. A movie must feel like a value. Masculine films has more advantage in this area. After the economic recession stabilizes, light comedy films will look a little better. Comedy is very difficult to come up with quality because few comedy star are considered quality. If not properly done the film would become nonsense. Viewers a cautious consumer mentality that are the most afraid of complaining after admission. Several years ago feminine comedy was popular. Unfortunately comedy actresses who succeeded grew more and more serious and turned to serious acting. Comedy actors with potential were mostly men, seemingly comedy would very likely become masculine as well. Eighties Hong Kong comedy tended to be male oriented. Whether it had grass-roots packaging or the middle class packaging, it had male oriented flavor in its bones. At that time men, women, the young and the old all had a great time with it. As comedy goes masculine, it would be funnier because men are more able to accept self ridicule than women and can go further. - KWOK HIN CHING 6. MING PAO DAILY, JANUARY 25 2009, FILM AND TELEVISION OBSERVATIONS LOW BUDGET CAN MAKE 3D FILM 3D film will be the general trend over the next few years, foreign science fiction films use 3D. The writer knows that martial arts films that are being prepared or are in production would also use it. Siu Yeuk Yuen and his son are planning to make SEX AND ZEN (YUK PO TUEN) with the intention of it being three-dimensional. This would not be the first three-dimensional category III film, a few decades ago a few were made with the old technology. Now the three-dimensional technology is much better, anyone who have seen JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH would know. Many big foreign films would have a 3D version for IMAX cinema release, the effect is even more sensational. Using film to make three-dimensional movies is still very expensive. Although it is already cheaper than before, the shoot needs two cameras at once and additional three-dimensional devices and staff. In general three-dimensional film is 1/3 more expensive than tradition film, the 1/3 at least should be 1/3 of the medium scale production budget. An even cheaper method is the use of digital video. Digital video varies in prices. The expensive ones refer to high definition that can rival film results. The cheap ones are high definition that television uses, or even just high definitely digital video. The lowest level high definitely digital video if transferred to film at its completion would yield acceptable results. Two youth films SEE YOU ON YOU TUBE (OI DAU DAI) and HIGH NOON (LIT YUT DONG HUNG) were shot in high definitely digital video. Mounting Two high-definition video cameras on a three-dimensional filming equipment naturally is lighter than film cameras and much cheaper too. When two sets of images are transferred to the computer, after synthesis they become three-dimensional. A three-dimensional movie that costs under 10 million cannot possibly use film. It can only shoot with high-definition. The three-dimensional SEX AND ZEN that the Siu father and son refer to is very likely to be high-definition. As discussed earlier, among the main reasons behind the category III film decline, excessive internet pornography is only one. The hardest to find is the female lead. Hong Kong category III erotic films in recent years can only cast Japanese Adult Video actress to bare all, which is not too attractive to the audience. Starring local actresses of course is good, but the media pressure is too much. None is willing to sacrifice for the arts and has the box office draw as well. - KWOK HIN CHING 7. TA KUNG PAO, JANUARY 25 2009, LIGHT SHADOW PATH THE FILM INDUSTRY'S REALITY AND FALLACY Earlier a certain newspaper commentary discussed the film industry condition, unfortunately it was almost entirely inconsistent with the facts. Friends in the industry believe that a clarification was necessary, some industry associations even wrote to the newspaper to correction its commentary's difference from reality. The newspaper deduced from the fact of counterfeit availability before a film's release that piracy has "died down", the matter would be "easy to resolve," the argument was that with the Copyright Ordinance and customs inspections, "the problem was not big." After more than a decade of combating copyright piracy the desired effect still has not yet been reached, but counterfeit appearing before the film's release was not considered a problem. The commentary actually wanted to point out the Mainland film inspection has "strangled" film creativity. The editorial said that Hong Kong once was "the Eastern Hollywood" that annually produced 300 films because Hong Kong had a large talent pool, but the most important reason was that Hong Kong in comparison to Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries was much more open, where film professionals were free to perform, to create popular work and such. In fact, in 2003 before CEPA, Hong Kong had very few movies that could have been distributed in the Mainland. Of course they did not require the Mainland inspection, without anything that would "stifle" creative freedom. Yet from the early nineties to 2003, Hong Kong film continuously shrank. The reason was not the lack of creative freedom but piracy. The commentary's position and data collection are a staggeringly sloppy, one of which refers to most films have been produced in the Mainland. In fact, produced in the Mainland are mostly ancient costume films, LOOK FOR A STAR (YAU LUNG HEI FUNG), ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2009 (GA YAU HEI SI 2009), INITIAL D (TAU MAN JI D), and CONFESSION OF PAIN (SEUNG SING) were not produced in the Mainland. The most surprising was that the commentary cited FROM CHINA WITH LOVE (GOK CHAN LING LING CHUT) did not pass the inspection due to its corrupted officials satire. FROM was released in 1994, before CEPA was in effect. Thus its inability to be distributed as a co-production was the norm. Now fifteen years later, the comparison cannot be made. As for the so-called "glory for Hong Kong", INFERNAL AFFAIRS (MO GAN DOH) had to shoot two endings. The entire industry was certain that it was the Malaysia version, not the Mainland version. In addition the film was not a co-production, it was released a year after its Hong Kong release. About ONE NITE IN MONGKOK (WONG GOK HAK YEH)'s dialogue change from "from Hunan," to "from South Pacific" for instant approval, basically the director and investors were able to accept it. More importantly, the film authority suggested a solution rather than deliberately obstructed. The commentary's criticized these changes as "ignorance," then was INFERNAL AFFAIRS' Malaysia version due to the Malaysian government officials' "ignorance"? Any market would have its own rules of the game, no one would force them on you. You could give up Malaysia and any market. The most difficult to understand was that the commentary felt that film professionals "should not be discouraged," "should flight for a greater need for creative space ", and "definitely will be able to obtain suitable space in the Mainland market." Actually the writer maintained a positive attitude toward the Mainland open markets, but its title was grandstanding and did not resemble a serious article. - TIN LIK 8. MING PAO DAILY, JANUARY 24 2009, FILM AND TELEVISION OBSERVATIONS DO CATEGORY THREE FILMS HAVE SURVIVAL SPACE IN HONG KONG? Siu Yeuk Yuen and his son in April will start work on a 3D SEX AND ZEN (YUK PO TUEN) film. Will it start a three dimensional category three film fever? Previously whenever the film market was poor, two genres would appear -- ghost film and category III passion film. Why would the film market have particularly many films of these two genres during a weak or light film market? The reasons are cheaper production cost and a certain audience support. As times have changed, these two film genres have become fewer and fewer in recent years. As the audience becomes more demanding for ghost films, the shoddy ones can have very low box office, so low that they can make no profit. Productions with high budget and effort are still subject to the Mainland inspection. Ghost films are extremely difficult to get past Mainland inspection, some have thought of ideas for Mainland version like the hero walking up to learn it was all a dream, but they cannot possibly succeed. Even with horror films without ghost, the inspection authority would still require them not to be too frightening. Category three passion films are also difficult to get past inspection. Something else that has given sex films a death sentence is the excessive abundance of internet pornography. Online, any category three or four films can be seen. Who would be willing to pay to see them in the cinemas? Category three passion films are different from ghost films as no one would particularly enjoy collective appreciation. Now still going to the movies to watch such category three films are older male viewers who do not access the Internet, those in the service industries with breaks in the middle of the day, or lazy sales people. Earlier the THE FORBIDDEN LEGEND: SEX AND CHOPSTICKS (GUM JUNG MUI) with a low budget made close to three million at the box office with limited profit. However, costume category III films have overseas market and could be sold to Europe and America. Johnny Mak Dong Hung's SEX AND ZEN (TAU CHING BO GAM) years ago was made with a high budget. It was a hit in Hong Kong and also very popular in Europe. Foreign adult movies are more daring than Hong Kong's, the standard is broader so Hong Kong modern category III erotic films are not attractive to them at all. Only the costume ones would provide them with an adventurous angle. Low budget costume category III films have extremely little chance to be released on the big screen in Europe and America. They can only target markets like video and adult television channels. - KWOK HIN CHING 9. MING PAO DAILY, JANUARY 23 2009, FILM AND TELEVISION OBSERVATIONS THE RETURN OF MASCULINE FILM STILL FACES OBSTACLES RED CLIFF II after six days in release made HK$10,900,000 before the Lunar New Year holidays and is expected to receive more than the first installment. RED CLIFF II was released January 8 in the Mainland, with stronger box office than the previous film. China Film Studio claimed that it should be able to break through 400 million, the same as the writer's earlier forecast. In Hong Kong RED CLIFF II was the box office champion on weekdays, but on Sunday it lost to the animation PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA mainly due to differences in audience. The THREE KINGDOMS stories were mainly for the male viewers, recently masculine films began to pick up. Ticket buyers have turned from the after 97 primarily female audience gradually back to male viewers. Before and after 97, Hong Kong was full of shops that sold pirated videos, then came the bit torrent download later. With the poor economy, male viewers would watch movies more via piracy. Female viewers are pickier as they value quality or quantity. Feminine films were mainly romance. Piracy and bit torrent quality were poor, especially the concealed camera version; most female viewers could not accept them. Under the piracy impact, fewer and fewer high budget masculine films are made, which in turn impact male viewer's desire to go to the movies. At that time, the market is only suitable for small and medium-sized films. The technology and internet fever also brought film financing. Movies with HK$10 to 20 million budget do not have enough to make action masculine films. If they are made, they do not have big stars. With big stars, the films can only be romantic comedy. For all these reasons, several years ago female viewers dominated the market. Now the situation has changed again. With fewer Hong Kong films that are suitable for female viewers, the Mainland market inflation is beneficial to masculine films. Originally feminine films still have market, but female stars who are the most able to please female viewers are either married and changed genre and no longer making this type of films. Some also have slipped in performance. Masculine films have become the mainstream again but still have certain limitation. Martial art films like IP MAN or FEARLESS still work, other masculine film genres that involve the mob, the police or killers all face Mainland inspection restriction and have difficulty to develop for now. Only several super productions like RED CLIFF can be made in a year! On holidays, they still lose to animation that is suitable for the entire family. - KWOK HIN CHING [ In Production Now/Soon ] Can : Sit Ting Fung Won Lit : Eavesdropping Situation d. Alan Mak Siu Fai, Felix Chong Man Keung Louis Koo Tin Lok, Lau Ching Wan, Daniel Wu (Ng Yin Cho), Alex Fong Chung Shun, Zhang Jingchu, Lok Sze Wan, William Chan Ting Wai Can : Wan Dai Jor Lit : Play Too Big d. Pang Fat Elanne Kong Yeuk Lam, Stephanie Cheng Yung, Chow Pak Ho, William Chan Wai Ting, Wiley Chiu Shek Chi, Kung Yun Chi Can : Oi Dut Hei d. Joe Ma Wai Ho Gigi Leung Wing Kei, Chen Bo-Lin (Chan Pak Lam), Shaun Tam Chun Yin, Terry Fan Siu Wong, HotCha Can : Yau Jet Geung Si Um Luen Nei Lit : A Zombie Has a Crush On You Roger Kwok Chun On, Natalie Meng Yao, Jo Kuk Cho Lam, JJ Jia (Ga Hiu Sun), Maggie Lee Man Kwan, Tanya Wu (Ng Ka Yun), Anke Bei, Angel Ho Cheuk Ying Can : Um Sat Lit : Assassination d. Soi Cheang Po Shui Louis Koo Tin Lok, Richie Jen (Yam Yin Chai) Can : Tung Moon Lit : Classmate d. Herman Yau Lai To Shawn Yue Man Lok, Ada Choi Siu Fun, Ella Koon Yun Na, Elanne Kong Yeuk Lam, Chapman To Man Jat, Jun Kung Shek Leung STORM WARRIORS AKA : STORM RIDERS II Can : Fung Won II Lit : Wind Cloud II d. Pang Brothers Aaron Kwok Fu Sing, Dior Cheng Yi Kin, Nicholas Tse Ting Fung, Charlene Choi Cheuk Yin, Simon Yam Tat Wa, Ken Ho Ka King, Lam Suet, Tang Yan Opening December 3 2009 [ GOLDEN SCREEN CINEMAS MALAYSIA ] Japanese evil warlord Lord Godless desired to conquer China. He imprisoned a large number of martial artists and tried to make them subjugate. Among the prisoners were Cloud and the martial arts elder statesman Nameless. Wind came to the rescue. The trio was badly wounded by Lord Godless’s evil martial arts attack. Chu Chu was also knocked out when she blocked Cloud from Lord Godless’s strike. The remaining martial artists sacrificed their lives to save the trio, in the hope that the trio would beat Lord Godless one day and save the country. Chu Chu was badly wounded and stayed unconscious. Cloud was filled with remorse and vowed to take revenge. Wind chose to take the evil way to quickly boost up his martial arts skills, so that he could protect the people. During his training, he met the girl who changed his life, Dream. Meanwhile, the troop of Lord Godless came to attack. Wind’s training was interrupted when he tried to save Dream from Lord Godless’s assault. After some killings, Wind ran away and disappeared.... Lord Godless took The Emperor in captivity and stationed his troops in Heaven Cave. Cloud arrived alone and started a combat with Lord Godless. Lord Godless had the upper hand. In the meantime, the half-evil Wind appeared and joined the battle. During the fight, they inadvertently discovered the secret of the sovereign. The real intention of Lord Godless’ invasion was related to an ancient tomb, a forbidden ground buried with the Royal family’s secret. The truth was finally revealed. At last, how would the battle end? Who would eventually rule over the country? Can : Si Lim Lit : Reminisce d. Wai Ka Fai Lau Ching Wan, Kelly Lin (Lam Hei LUi), Yan Qing, Jo Kuk Cho Lam Can : Giu, Won Lit : Call, Soul Grace Ip Pui Man, Carl Ng Ka Lung, Jolie Chan Yuen Kei, Raymond Wong Ho Yin, Chucky Wood Gei Lan, Kwok Hoi San Can : Ang Hong Lit : Tough Guy Anthony Wong Chau Sun, Ellen Chan Nga Lun, Liu Ye, Sun Honglei FANTASTIC WATER BABES Can : Chook Shui Fu Yung Lit : Out of Water Hibiscus d. Jeff Lau Chun Wai Gillian Chung Yun Tung, Alex Fong Lik Sun, Stephen Fung Tak Lun, Tian Liang, Eva Huang Shengyi, Opening October 23 2008 in Malaysia Official Site : www.emp.hk [ OFFICIAL SITE ] A beautiful and cocky swimmer Jill and her teammates kidnaps Alex, Hong Kong's champion swimmer, in order that he can train her to win a duel against her rival in swimming and in love. All hell breaks loose when hate at first sight inadvertently becomes something else... --- [ NOW SHOWING ] Info from Mov3.com (http://www.mov3.com), Ryan's Hong Kong Movie DataBase (http://www.hkmdb.com), Korean Movie Database (http://www.krmdb.com), Cinema Thai (http://www.cinemathai.com), Hong Kong Entertainment News In Review (http://www.hkentreview.com), Internet Movie DataBase (http://www.imdb.com) NARUTO SHIPPUDEN 2: BONDS d. Hajime Kamegaki Japanese Animation Length : 90 mins. Opening January 29 2009 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] A mysterious group of shinobi attacks the Leaf Village! Actually they are Land of the Sky's Sky Ninjas, whose nation the Leaf Village has vanquished previously. Their use of modern weapons bombards the Leaf Village and nearly brings it to the edge of destruction. Master healer Shinno and his apprentice Amaru arrive in the Leaf Village in hopes of the Leaf hokage would assign a squad to rescue the people of Amaru's hometown. The Sky Shinobi has also attacked Amaru's hometown to find the Sky Shinobi's former headquarter address. The Leaf hokage has ordered an counter attack on the Sky Shinboi while Naruto, Hinata and Sakura follow Shinno to Amaru's hometown. They discover the Sky Shinobi's former headquarter but Sky shinobis have killed Shinno. On the other, Leaf traitor Sasuke under Orochimaru's order heads to Amaru's hometown as well...... LOOK FOR A STAR Can : Yau Lung Hei Fung Lit : Swimming Dragon Acting Phoenix AKA : Sing Mung Kei Yuen Lit : Star Dream Fantasy Destiny d. Andrew Lau Wai Keung Andy Lau Tak Wa, Shu Qi, Denise Ho Wan Si, Zhang Hanyu (Cheung Hom Yu), Dominic Lam Ka Wa, Zhang Xinyi, John Chiang Dai Wai, Maria Cordero Ella Koon Yun Na, Yao Wenxue, Pei Wei Ying, Po Po Rating : IIA Length : 118 mins. Opening January 26 2009 Official Site : http://www.mediaasia.com/lfas [ GOLDEN SCREEN CINEMAS MALAYSIA ] Sam is the most eligible bachelor in town - he's young, smart and rich. However, every success has its price. Sam has already divorced three times and finds himself crawling back to the game of love sooner than he has expected. It is love at first sight when Sam chances upon Milan at a Macau casino. She is a part-time poker dealer and a full-time cabaret dancer, seemingly not the perfect match with Sam's life. While Milan is being groomed into a society woman by experts galore, Sam is starting to have cold feet. He takes his lawyer's advice and signs a prenuptial agreement without consulting Milan. This time, he is gravely mistaken, as this woman has a heart of gold and is looking for real love rather than fame and fortune. ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2009 Can : Ga Yau Hei Si 2009 Lit : Family Has Joyous Event 2009 d. Vincent Kuk Tak Siu Sandra Ng Kwan Yu, Louis Koo Tin Lok, Ronald Cheng Chung Kei, Raymond Wong Pak Ming, Lee Heung Kam, Ha Chun Chau, Shen Lijun, Yao Chen Rating : IIA Length : 100 mins. Opening January 23 2009 Opening January 22 2009 in Malaysia Official Site : http://www.allswellendswell.com [ GOLDEN SCENE CINEMAS ONLINE ] Kei's eldest sister Sandra is a hot-tempered magazine editor and her temperament has left her single all this while. They have a traditional family and one of the rules is that none of the siblings could get married before their eldest sister. In view of this, Kei sort help from the famous “Casanova”, Koo Chai (Louis Koo), who is the new journalist in Sandra’s firm to pretend to court his eldest sister and lure her into the mood of love. With Sandra falling in love with Koo Chai, she decides to introduce him to her parents (Lee Heung Kam, Ha Chun Chou). However, Koo Chai fell in love with another girl, Mun during an assignment and this broke Sandra’s heart. To avoid the disappointment of her parents, Sandra asks Mr. Wong a private investigator to pretend as her boyfriend. With Sandra love life going nowhere and her career plunging low, will she get what she wants? Will Kei find his true love and marries her sister off? Who will Koo Chai choose? Will all’s well end’s well? PARKING Can : Ting Che d. Chung Mong-Hong (Chung Man Won) Kwai Lun-Mei, Chang Chen Rating : IIB Length : 106 mins. Opening January 8 2009 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] A couple on a night on which they cannot return home faces a decision before their divorce. FIT LOVER Can : Oi Ching Jor Yau Lit : Love Left Right d. Zhang Jianya Karena Lam Ka Yun, Leo Ku Kui Ke, Huang Xiaoming, Lu Yi, Alec Su (So Yau Peng), Naoki Hosaka (Bo Ban Seung Hei) Opening January 8 2009 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] Nie Bing is a famous romantic television program presenter. She is beautiful, gracious and intelligent, on the screen she sounds like an expert with other people's feelings, but ironically in life she is unable to find he likes men. On her 30th birthday, Nie Bing awakes from a nightmare of dying alone; her mother nags her; her suitors maliciously attack her; even more terrifying is that she sees his divorced father's new girlfriend - her elementary school classmate......Is this the start of 30-year-old woman's terrible fate? Fortunately, on this day, she even meets an angel. The angel sends her a magic car and proclaims that Nie Bing will have twelve opportunities to choose, each time she turns a corner as long as she signals left and turns right, she will encounter a different type of man. With 12 types of men, one will always be suitable to her, right? The suspecting Nie Bing starts this wonderful love finding adventure. Indeed, the most handsome traffic cop in history with countless crazy female fans first enters her life. When he salutes a fan takes photos; when he says, "How are you" a fan applauds; even when he writes up a ticket someone is crying with excitement......This type of man is very handsome, but living with him is too extreme. Nie Bing flees in a panic. Then, comes the eloquent insurance salesman, rich coal bosses, a big time lawyer with unparalleled chemistry with her, a radiant little brother next door, a talented but depressed artist......a man after another arrives, each with a brilliant advantage but also exposes shortcomings for Nie Bing to nitpick at. Each experience is a hilarious adventure, every adventure leads to a helpless perception. How great would it be if she can live with the advantageous part of men. A year has passed since, Nie Bing has already suffered 11 straight defeats on the love battlefield. Nie Bing has had enough and does not want to play anymore. Nie Bloody tosses away the cursed car keys as she wants to return this car that has brought her pleasant surprises and disappointments of love to the angel. At this time, the twelfth man appears. Would this one be the one for her? Finding love sometimes has such a perspective, just like looking for moving landscape on both sides from the car windows with the most touching scenery is behind the car..... DREAM Can : Bei Mung Lit : Tragic Dream d. Kim Ki-Duk Joe Odagiri (Siu Tin Chik Yeung), Lee Na-Young Rating : IIB Length : 95 mins. Opening January 1 2009 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] "He dreamed...she was charged..." Jin has a nightmare in which while giving his ex a ride home he has a car accident. Out of curiosity he finds where the accident occurs in the dream, never expecting the same exact accident. The police looks for the suspect with closed-circuit television. Jin quietly follows the police in hopes of knowing more. Ran who the police wakes up in the middle of the night denies any wrongdoing and even points out that she has a sweet dream. Jin comes out to confess and says in his dream he is the driver of the accident. Of course, the police ignores him and arrests Ran. Jin and Ran work together to find out the truth but discover they have a strange connection: When Jin dreams, Ran would sleepwalk and do what Jin dreams of... They in the dream world is the same person. DESIRES OF THE HEART Can : Toh Fa Won Lit : Peach Blossom Fortune d. Ma Liwen Ge You, Vivian Wu (Wu Kwan Mui), Fan Bingbing, Song Jia, Li Chen, Cong Shan, Guo Tao, Yuen Qiu, Mei Ting, Li Xiaolu, Duan Yihong Length : 117 mins. Opening December 18 2008 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] Luck with the opposite sex, some cannot wait to ask for more, others avoid it like the plague. It is not only outside love but also within desire Luck will tell whether it is a disaster or fortune... Ye is a newly divorced single mother who through a marriage agency gets to know a gentleman Wang Ben, whose pursuit is strong and powerful. His romantic and polite ways have re-ignited the distracted Ye's hope in love, restored her confidence in marriage, and dead set on following him for life until two strange women who claim to be Wang's girlfriends come...Wang Ben disappears, is this suddenly visiting luck with the opposite sex a gift of love from Heaven, or a well-planned fraud?... 9 WINDS AKA WINDS OF SEPTEMBER - THE TAIWAN CHAPTER Can : Gau Gong Fung d. Tom Lin Shu Yu Rhydian Vaughan, Chang Chieh, Sheng Wei Nian, Wang Bo Chieh Length : 113 mins. Opening December 4 2008 Opening March 21 2008 at the Hong Kong International Film Festival Site : http://www.hkiff.org.hk/eng/programme/show_detail.php?fi_id=684 [ HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ] The winds of September are the wind of Hsinchu, a strong wind that visits the county and city between September and November. The film takes us back to 1996, during the time of the tragic Taiwan baseball scandal, an event that devastated many teenage boys. The story follows Yen and Tang and their gang through the last year of their high school life. From chasing girls to midnight skinny dipping to rooting for their favorite baseball team, they do everything together. When an accident throws Yen into a coma, their world starts falling apart. A cruel reality has announced itself, can the boys grow up quickly enough to face it? [ COMING SOON ] BREATH d. Kim Ki-Duk Chang Chen, Zia, Ha Jung-Woo [ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ] On a cold winter day, after learning her husband has found a new woman, Yeon absent mindedly heads for the prison where Chen is confined. Although she does not know him personally, repeated news of his suicide attempts on TV has subconsciously grown in her mind and now is leading her to seek him. Jin has no visitors and normally would not agree to meet with a complete stranger, but hearing that it is a woman he accepts her meeting request out of curiosity. Their first meeting is as awkward as it can get. Yeon treats Jin like an old friend whereas Jin does not open up so easily. WINDS OF SEPTEMBER - THE MAINLAND CHAPTER Can : Gau Gong Fung d. Han Yan Tai Junjie, Wu Xiaoliang, Liu Shuhan, Chi Jia Rating : 105 mins. Opening March 21 2008 at the Hong Kong International Film Festival Site : http://www.hkiff.org.hk/eng/programme/show_detail.php?fi_id=682 [ THE HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ] Some time before the return of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China, a Mainland high school stages a variety show to celebrate the occasion. One of the most brilliant openings among the many recent Chinese high school titles, it introduces the unfolding drama of rival groups of "good" and "bad" students and their "internal contradictions", and serves as a continual mental backdrop for the audience: of youth caught in a society whose founding ideology has become obsolete and absurd. SNIPER Can : Sun Cheung Sau Lit : Godly Gunslingers d. Dante Lam Chiu Yin Richie Jen (Yam Yin Chai), Edison Chen Koon Hei, Huang Xiaoming Opening 2009 [ CINEMA ONLINE MALAYSIA ] Ming is renowned as the top shooter in the police force. However things get complicated after the release of his former teammate and superb marksman Ching from prison. With only vengeance on his mind, Ching wants to take on Ming and the police, believing that they are the ones who put him in jail. When a mysterious sniper sabotages a high-security prisoner transfer and a convict escapes, Ming and his team are dispatched to profile the suspect. KUNG FU CHEF Sammo Hung Kam Bo, Vanness Wu (Ng Kin Ho), Cherrie Ying Choi Yi, Lam Tze Chung Opening 2009 [ GOLDEN SCREEN CINEMAS ONLINE ] Jo had kept hatred in his heart for a very long time and did what he could to oust his uncle Wong Bing-Yi (Sammo Hung) from the village and to claim the rights to the “Dragon-Head Cleaver”, a symbol of power to the clan. As Wong Bing-Yi was forced out of the village, he encountered Shen Qing by chance and is determined to help her during the troubled times at her restaurant “Four Seas”. Here, he discovered a young cooking wonder, Lung Kin-Yat. To bring “Four Seas” back to the top, Lung ends up representing “Four Seas” to the competition against Chef Tin, two times “Top Chef” winner and the head chef at “Imperial Palace”, the restaurant owned by Jo. At the day of the finals, Wong Bing-Yi and Jo met privately to try to resolve their problems. Lung shined by overcoming many obstacles and preparing a dish called “Fresh Water Bak-Choy” just as his master, Wong Bing-Yi had taught him. However, the head judge has been bribed by “Imperial Palace” and he is also the master of Chef Tin. Who will finally win the title of “Top Chef”? Can the “Kung Fu Chefs” finally win over the hearts of many? CLAUSTROPHOBIA Can : Chun Muk Lit : Intimate d. Ivy Ho (Ong Sai) Dior Cheng Yi Kin, Karen Lam Ka Yun, Tsang Kwok Cheung, Chucky Woo Gei Lan, Andy Hui Chi On, Lok Ying Kwan, Eric Tsang Chi Wai Rating : IIA Length : 101 mins. Opening February 12 2009 Opening November 27 2008 (Limited Release) Opening October 26 2008 at the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival Opening March 23 at the Tokyo International Film Festival Site : http://www.tiff-jp.net/en/lineup/works.php?id=4 [ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ] Pearl has quietly fallen in love with her boss Tom, who’s married with a family. Without warning, Tom asks Pearl to interview for another job. Wounded, Pearl demands that Tom terminate her. The gauntlet has been thrown down. Screenwriter Ivy Ho (JULY RHAPSODY) makes her directorial debut with CLAUSTROPHOBIA, using eight scenes and multiple characters to explore the complications and the irony of workplace romance and politics. In a space as small, crowded and claustrophobic as the office, love doesn’t grow - it incubates and breeds, like a virus. BASIC LOVE Can : Oi Ching Goo Si Lit : Love Story d. Oxide Pang Shun Elanne Kong Yeuk Lam, Janice Man Wing San, Ho Chun Wai, Tsui Ching Hei Opening February 26 2009 [ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ] In a pure love romantic story, a song links Ling, Siu Chun and Rex in a relationship. Ling has suffered from leukemia since childhood. Optimistic, she never keeps anything in her heart. Only with a limited lifespan she has kept all her love inside and does not inform her friends Rex and Siu Chun about her illness. Siu Chun came as child with her mother from Mainland to Hong Kong and has made a living selling fish. Introverted Siu Chun was not good with expressing herself. Her personality was the polar opposite with Ling, but they became good friends from mutual concern. Siu Chun has always been fond of Rex, but Rex has not made any move. Siu Chun also does not realize that another guy Hei is silently in love with her. Very talented musically, Rex writers a song for a competition. The song is written for the girl he loves but he never reveals her name. With graduation just around the corner, they will go their separate ways. Their relationship has not further developed until Ling falls ill. Her hospitalization breaks through this relationship silence...... THE EQUATION OF LOVE AND DEATH Can : Oi Sut Seung Lit : Love Lost Compensation d. Cao Baoping Zhou Xun, Zhang Hanyu, Deng Chao Rating : IIB Length : 98 mins. [ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ] Only with compensation would wishes come true... Give and take in love is never in a balance, what is the love that you want like? With fiance Fang Wen disappearing for four years without a trace but often sending letters without any return address, Li Mi has repeatedly recited each word in the letter and double counted each letter's date of arrival. Li Mi's love for Fang Wen accumulates day after day, as she becomes more and more hysterical. She even becomes a taxi drivers to look for her love, thinking that she can hear about her love's whereabouts from passengers' mouths. Fir four years, Li Mi has been waiting, in the end would Fangwen coming back, or would one of his answer? One day, a drug deal case reunites Li Mi with Fang Wen, who vehemently denies his identity and led to cop Ye's suspicion and investigation that finally unveils love's most tragic dark side. HAPPY FLIGHT Can : Hoi Sum Jik Hong Lit : Happy Direct Flight d. Shinobu Yaguchi Ayase Haruka, Seiichi Tanabe Opening March 5 2009 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] "Finally I can fly on international routes!" The always optimistic flight attendant Etsuko is very excited about being able to participate on the international route job that she has looked forward to for a long time and is determined to do everything to its fullest! She never expects that the group of usually elegant and enchanting elders not only wolf down expensive flight meals in the break room but also remove their high heels for foot massage. Before the take of high-spirited novice pilots Suzuki only knows to give a silly laugh when he runs into a massive jet stream...how can two flight rookies turn the adventure into happiness with the passengers? NOBODY TO WATCH OVER ME Can : Shui Loi Sau Wu Ngor Lit : Who Would Protect me d. Ryoichi Kimizuka Koichi Sato, Mirai Shida, Ryuhei Matsuda, Yoshino Kimura, Toshiro Yanagiba Opening March 5 2009 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] A 18-year-old youth suspected of killing primary school sisters is arrested, his mother and sister's lives at the same moment collapse. The unscrupulous media pursued them day and night, the internet continued to dig and uncover their privacy. They even receive death threats against the whole family. A police officer is ordered to protect the mother and daughter but has aroused strong public reaction. The officer's dark past that few know has also been revealed. The suspect's mother finally cannot take anymore and resort to suicide, as the younger sister finds the homicide's key clues......until this moment, actually no one knows whether the suspect is the real murderer? THREADS OF DESTINY Can : 366 Tin Dik Yeuk Ding Lit : 366 Days Appoinment d. Masanori Murakami Junpei Mizobata, Nao Minamisawa Opening March 5 2009 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] When her first love has just ended, a secondary school student meets a quiet, gentle student Atsushi. Both were born on February 29 and unconsciously they have become attracted to each other. Later she discovers that she has made Atsushi in her childhood and thus is even more convinced that this is the destiny of love. On the other hand, her mother has forced Atsushi to give up this just budding romance! In order to protect his beloved, he can only hold back the pain and disappear in front of her. Fate has arranged for an innocent romance to be filled with suicide, death, drugs, violence, abuse and so many unexpected things in the middle. In the end can the red thread bring them back together and fate destined them to be connected again? DEPARTURES Can : Lai Yi Si ji Jau Ming Kuk Lit : Ritual Master's Sonata d. Yojiro Takita (Lung Tin Yeung Yi Long) Masahiro Motoki (Boon Muk Nga Won), Ryoko Hirosue (Guong Muk Leung Ji) Opening March 12 2009 [ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ] Daigo Kobayashi is a cellist whose dream is shattered when his Tokyo orchestra suddenly closes down. Left with no choice but to sell his prized cello, Daigo returns with his wife Mika to his late mother’s house, deep in the Japanese countryside. In need of money, Daigo responds to an ad in the paper for a job in ‘Departures’, mistakenly thinking that it might be somehow related to travel. But to his complete surprise Daigo finds he has applied for a position as an ‘encoffineer’ – a man who performs the delicate and traditional Japanese ritual of preparing the bodies of the recently deceased for their departure to the next life – and without having time to think about it, he accepts the job... THE SHINJUKU INCIDENT Can : Sun Juk Goo Si Lit : Shinjuku Story d. Derek Yee Tung Sing Jackie Chan, Naoto Takenaka (Juk Jung Jik Yun), Daniel Wu (Ng Yin Cho), Masaya Kato (Ga Tung Nga Ya), Xu Jinglei, Fan Bingbing, Chin Kar Lok, Paul Chun Pui, Lam Suet, Lian Jin, Jack Kao (Ko Jit) Opening APRIL 2 2009 [ CINEMA ONLINE MALAYSIA ] In the early 1990s, a tractor mechanic from China nicknamed Steelhead illegally enters Japan to search for his girlfriend. To make ends meet, he joins his friend in Shinjuku in doing menial labor. Steelhead finds out that his girlfriend has married Eguchi, a Japanese Yakuza leader. Steelhead decides to stay in Japan and work for Eguchi as a hitman. Soon, Steelhead gets used to the power and find himself embroiled so deeply in the ways of the underworld that there is no turning back. --- [ Entertainment URL ] EMPEROR MOTION PICTURES http://www.emp.hk GOLDEN SCENE http://www.goldenscene.com SING PAO http://www.singpao.com THE HONG KONG FILM ARCHIVE http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/hkfa/ CHANG CHUN CHINA FILM FESTIVAL http://www.cc-film.com GOLDEN HARVEST http://www.goldenharvest.com STAR EAST http://www.stareastnet.com CITY ENTERTAINMENT http://www.cityentertainment.com.hk Commercial Radio http://www.crhk.com.hk Television Broadcast Limited http://www.tvb.com.hk --- [ NORTH AMERICA AREA CONCERTS ] Courtesy of our neighbors at : High Level Entertainment's Concert & Event News Center http://www.levelhigh.com http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/1721/hlecaen.htm * NATASHA NA YING, A MU, AND GUAN ZHE DATE AND TIME : Sunday, April 5 2009 @ 7PM Monday, April 6 2009 @ 8:30PM VENUE LOCATION : The Avalon Ballroom Theatre Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort 6380 Fallsview Boulevard Niagara Falls, ON L2G 7X5 Canada TICKET PRICES : CA$99.75, 126, 147 TICKET OUTLET LOCATION : TICKET MASTER http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1000416ABC04692E?artistid=1272557&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=5 * Eason Chan live in San Francisco,CA March 22,2009 Eason's Moving On Stage, Eason Chan Live in Concert! Date & Time: Sunday night, March 22,2009 @ 7pm Venue Location: Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave, Daly City, CA 94014 Ticket Prices: $58, $78, $98, $138, $198 VIP tickets on sale now online at: http://www.usastarimage.com/ticket.aspx?id=31 Info & online ticket: www.usastarimage.com concert hotline: 510-651-6888 info email: concert@usastarimage.com ticket outlets: http://www.usastarimage.com/ticket.aspx?id=31 http://www.usastarimage.com Ng Hing Kee SF 415-781-8330 Ng Hing Kee Sunset SF 415-759-1999 Ng Hing Kee Millbrae 650-692-8922 Ng Hing Kee Mountain View 650-969-2034 Ng Hing Kee Oakland 510-272-0822 Ng Hing Kee Milpitas 408-433-5188 World Books SF 415-397-8473 Evergeen Books Milpitas 408-383-9798 Taro Books Cupertino 408-863-1288 Taro Books Newark 510-818-9666 * LIU FANG DATE AND TIME : Saturday, March 14 2009 @ 8PM VENUE LOCATION : Ryerson United Church 2195 W. 45th Ave., Vancouver BC V6K 1N7 Canada TICKET OUTLET LOCATION : TICKET MASTER http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/110042378BFB91C7?artistid=721818&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=5 * INTERNATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING AND MOGEHAN SUN PRESENT JOLIN TSAI WE DANCING ONLINE 2009 CONCERT With Special Guests: Energy DATE AND TIME : Saturday night / Sunday morning, February 8 2009 @ 2AM Sunday, February 8 2009 @ 2 PM VENUE LOCATION: Mohegan Sun Arena Mohengan Sun Uncasville CT TICKET PRICES : $ 168 VIP, 128, 88, 58 TICKET OUTLET LOCATIONS: ONLINE : www.iemshowplace.com/html/jolin_tsai.html CHINATOWN : 89 Bowery 212.925.1898 FLUSHING International Entertainment Marketing 135-05 40th Rd., 2nd Floor Flushing NY 11354 718-888-3113 BROOKLYN International Entertainment Marketing 5609 8th Ave., 2nd Floor Brooklyn NY 11220 718-437-7717 ELMHURST 85-08 Queens Blvd. 2/F 718.803.3326 EDISON, NEW JERSEY: 1681 Rt.27 Suite 3 732.819.8883 BOSTON : 12A Tyler Street 612.695.1989 * RAYMOND MIU PRODUCTIONS, INC. AND TRUMP TAJ MAHAL PRESENT AIR JUSTIN WORLD TOUR 09 LIVE Special Guests: Stephy Tang Lai Yun, Kary Ng Yu Fei DATE AND TIME : Saturday night / Sunday morning, February 8 2009 @ 1AM VENUE LOCATION : Mark G Etess Arena Trump Tah Mahal Casino Resort Atlantic City NJ PRICE : $118, 88, 68, 48 TICKET OUTLET LOCATION: Raymond Miu Productions 195 Canal Street, Suite 201 New York NY 10013 212.966.0800 www.rmpny.com Tin Ha Travel 817 60th Street, 2/FL Brooklyn NY 11220 718.431.8687 * MIMI CHU MEI MEI, ROSANNE AND FONG YI KEI DATE AND TIME : Sunday, February 8 2009 @ 7PM Monday, February 9 2009 @ 8:30PM VENUE LOCATION : The Avalon Ballroom Theatre Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort 6380 Fallsview Boulevard Niagara Falls, ON L2G 7X5 Canada TICKET PRICES : CA$92.40, 113.40, 134.40 TICKET OUTLET LOCATION : TICKET MASTER http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1000416ABC04692E?artistid=1272557&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=5 * LUI FONG DATE AND TIME : Saturday, February 7 2009 @ 8PM VENUE LOCATION : Morongo Casino Resort and Spa 49500 Seminole Dr. Cabazon CA 92230 TICKET PRICES : $98, 78, 58 TICKET OUTLET LOCATION : TICKET MASTER http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/09004228CAEA73D2?artistid=1285929&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=5 * PRISCILLA CHAN WAI HAN, PHIL CHANG YU NEW YEAR CONCERT DATE AND TIME : Saturday night / Sunday morning, February 1 2009 @ 2AM Sunday, February 1 2009 @ 2PM VENUE LOCATION : MGM Grand Theater MGM Grand at Foxwoods Foxwoods CT TICKET OUTLET LOCATIONS : P & M Music 2 Elizabeth Street 212.732.3828 Jessica Holdings Ltd. 135-27 40th Rd. Suite 301 Flushing 718.460.2628 Trans-Pacific Travel 11 Tyler St. Boston MA 617.451.3478 * SHOWBOAT AND FUNG ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT A-DU AND TARCY SU SPRING FESTIVAL CONCERT DATE AND TIME : Saturday night / Sunday morning, February 1 2009 @ 2AM VENUE LOCATION : House Of Blues Showboat The Mardi Gras Casino 801 Boardwalk Atlantic City NJ 08401 * TROPICANA ATLANTIC CITY AND SUNDAY ENTERTAINMENT PRESENT ANDY HUI AND WILLIAM SO NEW YEAR CONCERT Special Guests: Eddie Ng Kwok King, Divas DATE AND TIME : Saturday night / Sunday morning, February 1 2009 @ 1AM VENUE LOCATION : Adrian Phillips Ballroom Boardwalk Hall 2301 Boardwalk Atlantic City NJ 08401 TICKET PRICES : $128, 68, 38 TICKET OUTLET LOCATIONS : P & M Music 2 Elizabeth Street New York NY 10013 212.732.3828 Apple Travel Services, Inc. 774 60th Street 2/F Brooklyn NY 11220 718.680.6666 Dannys Musical Store 41-46 Main Street Flushing NY 11355 718.358.5678 * CHANG SHIN-CHE CONCERT FOR THE CHINESE NEW YEAR SPRING CARNIVAL DATE AND TIME : Sunday, January 24 2009 @ 8PM VENUE LOCATION : Rogers Centre 1 Blue Jay's Way Toronto ON M5V 1J3 Canada TICKET PRICES : CA$48, 88, 138 TICKET OUTLET LOCATION : TICKET MASTER http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/10004178E54880DD?artistid=1285185&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=5 * FAMA AND HINS CHEUNG CONCERT FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR SPRING CARNIVAL DATE AND TIME : Saturday, January 24 2009 @ 8PM VENUE LOCATION : Rogers Centre 1 Blue Jay's Way Toronto ON M5V 1J3 Canada TICKET PRICES : CA$48, 88, 138 TICKET OUTLET LOCATION : TICKET MASTER http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/10004178E53880D8?artistid=1287427&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=5 * PHIL CHANG YU CONCERT FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR SPRING CANRIVAL DATE AND TIME : Saturday, January 24 2009 @ 2PM VENUE LOCATION : Rogers Centre 1 Blue Jay's Way Toronto ON M5V 1J3 Canada TICKET PRICES : CA$48, 88, 138 TICKET OUTLET LOCATION : TICKET MASTER http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/10004178E53880D8?artistid=1287427&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=5 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Box office info : What Box Office Info? The usual suspects : Internet Movie Database, Yahoo! Hong Kong Erors : ye olde chaffing editor For Thursday January 22 2009 10 LADY COP AND PAPA CROOK Can : Dai Sau Cha Ji Nui Lit : Woman of Big Search Investigation d. Alan Mak Siu Fai, Felix Chong Sammi Cheng Sau Man, Eason Chan Yik Shun, Zhang Guoli, Chapman To Man Chat, Wilfred Lau Ho Lung, Kate Tsui Tsz Shan, Michelle Ye (Yip Shuet), Liu Kai Chi, Lok Ying Kwun, Lo Mik Shuet, Chan Bo Yuen Richie Jen (Yam Yin Chai) 9 IF YOU ARE THE ONE Can : Fei Sing Muk Yau Lit : Not Sincere Do Not Disturb d. Feng Xiaogang Ge You, Shu Qi 8 TACTICAL UNIT - COMRADES IN ARMS Can : Gei Dung Bo Dui -- Tung Bau d. Vicent Lo (Law Wing Cheong) Maggie Shiu Mei Kei, Simon Yam Tat Wa, Lam Suet, Sammuel Peng King Chi, Wong Chi Yin 7 AUSTRALIA d. Baz Luhrmann Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman 6 IP MAN d. Wilson Yip Wai Shun Donnie Yen Chi Tan, Lynn Xiong (Hung Doi Lam), Li Ja, Simon Yam Tat Wa, Terry Fan Siu Wong, Lam Ka Tung, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi 5 MARLEY AND ME d. David Frankel Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston 4 BOLT d. Byron Howard, Chris Williams Disney Animation English Voices: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman Cantonese Voices: Jacky Cheung Hok Yau, Wong Cho Lam 3 RED CLIFF II Can : Chet Bik - Kuet Jin Tin Ha Lit : Red Cliff - Decisive Battle Under Heaven d. John Woo (Ng Yu Sum) Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro (Gum Sing Mo), Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Vicki Zhao Wei, Hu Jun, Shidou Nakamura, Janny Lin Chiling 2 THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON d. David Fincher Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett 1 PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA d. Hayao Miyazaki Japanese Animation ------ Summaries for some of the films above. Some contain SPOILERS RED CLIFF II AKA : BATTLE OF RED CLIFF Rating : IIB Length : 141 mins. Opening January 15 2009 official Site : http://redcliff.meiah.com [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] RED CLIFF II undertakes the first installment's tense confrontation between the three kingdoms of Cao, Wu and Shu. Cao Cao learns of Wu and Shu's alliance and sends 800,000 troops and 2,000 warships to the south and set up camp in the dark forest across from the Red Cliff on the Yangtze River. The nations of Wu and Shu lack of food and has far less soldiers than the Cao troops, Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang change the course of events with their resourcefulness, a series of fierce land and sea battle constituted finally The Battle of Red Cliff that has been written in the history of China for ages! PONYO ON THE CLIFF BY THE SEA Rating : I Length : 101 mins. Opening January 17 2009 Official Site : http://www.ghibli.jp/ponyo [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] The story takes place in a world that still longs for magic and miracles still happen in the world, the scene is located at the seaside town and a house on the cliff. A fish Ponyo by chance runs into a boy and they become good friends. In order to live with his friend, Ponyo takes the chance, leaves the familiar sea, in hopes of becoming human. The boy also keeps his promise for his good friend. TACTICAL UNIT - COMRADES IN ARMS Rating : IIB Length : 91 mins. Opening January 8 2009 [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] In the police force, invisible competition always exists; between colleagues, are they friends or foes? Wa and Maggie leads their subordinates to face an emergency task on the last day before their dissolution: to search the mountains for armored car robbers. Over the the year and a half of their co-leadership, they have become rivals and the team relationship has already become split and rigid. Maggie's team wins praise and promotion from the superior. Wa on the other hand has no hope for a promotion. While in the mountains to look for criminals, two teams split up to search separately but fall under robbers' attack, Wa and Maggie in order to save their colleagues face a severe test. Can they finally cast aside their prejudices and work together to complete the job? IP MAN Rating : IIB Length : 106 mins. Opening December 19 2008 Official Site : http://www.ipman-movie.com [ CINEMA ONLINE MALAYSIA ] Adapted from the life story of Ip Man - the grand master of the Wing Chun style of kung fu and sifu of legendary kung fu superstar Bruce Lee. This movie will be the first important record of the master's life. Ip's persistent devotion to Wing Chun is a classic example of the love and respect shown to wushu and the freedom and spirit it represents. Ip Man is a concept, a spirit, a way of thinking - and it exemplifies a new peak in Hong Kong's wushu movies. LADY COP AND PAPA CROOK AKA : Cha Ji Nui Lit : Woman of Investigation Rating : IIB Length : 98 mins. Official Site : www.mediaasia.com/lcpc Opening January 1 2009 [ CINEMA ONLINE MALAYSIA ] When an oil tanker explodes, John Fok becomes the focus of investigation by the Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese police and is forced to put on hold his business to settle things out. Just as John is planning on a comeback, his son is kidnapped. Doomed in love, Senior Inspector Molline Szeto is fed up with her 10-year relationship with her boyfriend. With no prospect of an imminent wedding, she ends the relationship. Excited with her new crossroads in life, she is thrilled to be assigned to investigate the case of John's kidnapped son. IF YOU ARE THE ONE Rating : IIA Length : 127 mins. Opening December 24 2008 Official Site : http://www.mediaasia.com/iyato [ YAHOO! MOVIES HONG KONG ] Overseas Chinese entrepreneur Qin Fen has truly lived up to the term "return from the sea", only returning from the United Stated to Beijing to visit his aging mother after his father's passing. He was 40 something and still single. Home again he got the idea to wed and published a lengthy marriage recruitment ad in the newspaper. This ad that ends with 'if insincere do not disturb' attracts many women with different state of mind for encounters, including a woman who talks to her pet about her feelings, a cemetery salesman, a frigid young woman and a pregnant young girl who is looking for a father for her child. The more Qin Fen goes on the more fun he has. Among the dates, Qin Fen finally meets Siu Siu, a woman who truly touches his heart but also is a flight attendant who is involved in an extra-marital affair. They do not fall in love at first sight, not to mention get along; but like a pair of nemesis, surprisingly they always run into each other from time to time, Siu Siu on a rare occasion can use his shoulder to lend on. Qin Fen finds her naughty smile very acceptable. As both have needs to fulfill, they unknowingly spark off a delicate relationship. However, no matter what, Siu Siu and that man have a hard time with breaking off ties while Qin Fe always seems to be waiting by her side. Finally, Siu Siu is determined to go with Qin Fen on a trip to Hokkaido, and agrees if she can resolve her heart's shackles, they would marry immediately. When the two arrive in Hokkaido, Qin Fen at first does not understand why Siu Siu would insist on coming to this cold town, only to find out that the location is where Siu Siu's love story started. Two months later, Qin Fen has spent over 60 days with Siu Siu's "recovery", she has already gone from a lost person back to a cheerful woman. Qin Fen in these days truly get to know this wonderful woman and loves her even more. They already are no longer two lonely people who meet over a marriage ad, but a true hearted couple who has suffered and shared joy and sorrow together. ------ GLOBAL CHINESE SONG CHART For Saturday, January 24 2009 15 LOVE MORE AND MORE Can : Yuet Loi Yuet Oi Fahrenheit (Fei Lun Hoi) 14 ANOTHER SKY Can : Ling Yut Gor Tin Hung Wang Leehom, Jane Zhang Liangying 13 PROMISED FORTUNE? Can : Shuet Ho Dik Yun Fok Neh Jay Chou (Chow Kit Lun) 12 YUNNAN BEAUTY Can : Wan Nam Mei Natasha Na Ying 11 BELIEVE AS TRUTH Can : Shun Ji Wai Jung Laure (Seung Man Jit), Yu Quan 10 DEEPLY LOVED YOU Can : Sum Sum Oi Gor Nei Jacky Xie (Sit Ji Him) 9 EVEN IF THE WORLD HAS NO FAIRY TALE Can : Jau Shuen Sai Gai Mo Tung Wa Janice Vidal (Wai Lan) 8 I WISH Andy Lau Tak Wa 7 P.K. Jasmine Leong (Leung Jing Yu), Gary Cao (Cho Gat) 6 DRUNKEN RED CLIFF Can : Jui Chet Bik JJ Lin Junjie 5 SUDDENLY MISS YOU ALOT Can : Dut Ying Ho Seung Nei May Day 4 EXPOSURE Can : Bo Guong Hins Cheung King Hin 3 LOVE IS THAT SIMPLE Can : Oi Jau Si Na Mor Gan Dan Pu Bajia (Po Ba Gap) 2 KING QUEEN Can : Gok Wong Wong Hau Big Mouth 1 SONG WRITTEN FOR YOU Can : Wai Nei Seh Dik Gor Fang Datong ------ [ Yakety Yak ] The views and opinions expressed here are purely those of the writer and in no way reflect those of Hong Kong Film Top 10 Box Office, its contributors and affiliated web sites. GUNG HEI FAT CHOI! Top Ten Central wishes you and yours a Happy and Healthy Year of the Ox! Your Chaffing Editor would like to take a moment and ask everyone to say a prayer for the victims of a New York Chinatown car accident and their families. http://cbs2.com/national/chinatown.east.broadway.2.915164.html Your Chaffing Editor thought that he was the only person who has lost all perspective on his priority with this column. Then he found this video. Ladies and gentlemen, Your Chaffing Editor presents: TOILET HOUSE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71B9S06_1uA In case anyone finds that previous item actually appealing, here is something that may be right up your alley. Somehow Your Chaffing Editor sees this chain as a perfect fit in Flushing. http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/en/about.asp All this toilet humor is giving Old Chaffy the urge. Gotta go! SEE YOU WHEN I SEE YOU! Jer Jer Stinks, Your Chaffing Editor Top Ten Central ---------------------- HK Top Ten Central hktopten@hotmail.com | http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/2038