Hong Kong Film Critics' Association has announced the nominations for the annual Golden Bauhinia Awards. INFERNAL AFFAIRS got 9 nominations, followed by HERO with 5.

Based on various reports, MASKED CRUSADER, a super-hero type action flick with Michelle Yeoh and director Jingle Ma, will be some sort of comedy. Jingle Ma said he was hoping the Masked Crusader would be somewhat "Spider-Woman"-like. To prepare for her role, Michelle Yeoh is currently practicing a "hawk" style martial-art. Last month, Michelle Yeoh, Jingle Ma and producer Thomas Chung, went to Shanghai to do the casting. They were looking for: an 8 - 10 year old girl who has learned martial-art to play the young Masked Crusader (not yet a crusader), 10 men to play cops, 4 girls to play flight attendants, and another 50 to play minor roles. Shooting will start no later than early April and locations will include Shanghai, Beijing and Japan.

Michelle Yeoh and Jingle Ma in Shanghai

Photo: THE TOUCH Official Site

Review: CRADLE 2 THE GRAVE (Negative, Major Spoilers) by "Mr. T"

Review: BULLETPROOF MONK (Positive, Minor Spoilers) by "BTH"

Click here

Hong Kong's Sing Pao reports MiramAxe just pushed the released date of SHAOLIN SOCCER back again, for the fourth time, and shifted the effect onto HERO. MiramAxe's bid for the Oscar's Best Foreign Language Film category was CITY OF GOD. But after HERO was "unexpectedly" nominated for the award which was missed by CITY OF GOD, HERO has suddenly become very bankable. It is still up to MiramAxe to decide whether and how to bank it. If Sing Pao's report was true, HERO would probably be released in April in North America which was originally reserved for SHAOLIN SOCCER. According to Greg's Previews, the new release date for SHAOLIN SOCCER is August 8, 2003. I just checked MiramAxe's official site. HERO is still not in and SHAOLIN SOCCER remains at the "Upcoming Films" section.

Chris Hyde from Box Office Prophets has written an "hostile letter" to Harvey Weinstein, who run a cinematic empire called MiramAxe. The issue is about MiramAxe's treatment of Asian films, like HERO. Good read!

Click here

Thanks to Ross Cheung

A teaser poster of WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH has been released. A preview poster has already been released in July of 2001 and there will be another poster when the film is released in theater. Its original name is HEROES OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. "Heroes" was replaced by "warriors" is probably because there is another "HERO" even though both films were shot at the same time. The time is set in the Tang Dynasty and the story is about a former army officer in exile, a Japanese cop loyal to the Chinese ruler and is chasing the army officer, a general's daughter, leader of a group of desert bandits and a caravan just passing by. Co-produced and distributed by Columbia's Asian branch, the film is aiming at an October release.

Go to the film's special page

BLIND SHAFT / MANG JING (Mainland China / Hong Kong / Germany)

(The Silver Berlin Bear for An Artistic Contribution)

Two men are living on killing people. Each time they recommended someone to be a miner. Then kill their victim under the cover of a mining accident and claim compensation from the mine owner as the victim's relatives. They feel completely senseless about human life, but when a young boy is about to become the next victim, one of the killers starts to feel uneasy. He struggled between pity and greed. Finally he was killed in the mine while trying to save the boy's life.

Based on award winning novel Shen Mu (Sacred Wood) by Liu Qingbang, the film was created and directed by Li Yang, a Chinese student now studying in Germany.

2002, directed by Li Yang, staring Li Yixiang, Wang Shuangbao, Wang Baoqiang, 92 minutes.

Related picture: Director Li Yang   Actor Li Yixiang   Another still

KALA, MY DOG! / KA LA SHI TIAO GOU (China)

In Beijing, factory worker Lao Er (Ge You) lives in a screened life. His laid-off wife (Ding Jiali) and teenager son (Li Bin) are not giving him any easy time. Only a little mixed-breed dog called Kala is offering him some relief. One day a cop shows up and takes away Kala, who is unlicensed. Lao Er tries to bring Kala back through his friend of friend of friend, but each time he only gets the wrong dog. Only one option left - licensing Kala with 5000 yuans, otherwise he will never see Kala again...

2003, written and directed by Lu Xuechang, staring Ge You, Xia Yu, Ding Jiali, Li Bin, 110 minutes

Link: Sina.com

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRIDGE / AM ANDEREN ENDE DER BRÜCKE / FEN NI DE WEI XIAO

(China / Austria)

1931, a young Vienna girl Fanny Ebner (Nina Proll) met Ma Yunlong (Ma Yunlong), one of 18 police cadets from China. Soon they passionately fell in love but their relationship was rejected by their family, especially Fanny's father (Erwin Steinhauer) a teacher of the police academy. After Ma Yunlong returned to China, Fanny still could not forget her true love. One day, she received a letter containing a ship ticket to Shanghai. Against the will of her parents and advice from her best friend Annie (Muriel Baumeister), who just ended her short-lived marriage with another Chinese cadet Hua (James Pax), Fanny left Vienna and headed to China at the age of 18. They got married at M's little village and started a over half century long unbroken love through culture barrier, hardship, poverty, war and political unrest...

The film is based on the true story of Gertrude Wagner and Du Chengrong. Du Chengrong has passed away in 1990 and Gertrude Wagner die last Wednesday at the age of 86, just two days before the film's Shanghai premiere she had promised to attend.

2002, written by Wang Zhebin, directed by Hu Mei, staring Nina Proll, Wang Zhiwen, Susi Nicoletti, Song Xiaoying, Muriel Baumeister, Erwin Steinhauer, Julia Stemberger, Wang Yuchang, Karl Merkatz.

Links: Official Site   Sina.com   Filmab.de   Trailer (QuickTime)

ZHOU YU'S TRAIN / ZHOU YU DE HUO CHE (China)

Zhou Yu (Gong Li) works as a painter at a china factory. Twice a week, she takes train to the other city to meet her boyfriend Chen Qing (Tony Leung), a poet and a librarian who always looks a bit depressed. While on the train, she meet another man, Zhang Qing (Sun Honglei), a vet who is always filled with energy. Zhou Yu's relationship with these two man just like she takes every week, always on the move and never stop...

Based on Bei Cun's novel Zhou Yu De Na Han (Zhou Yu's Crying Out)

Written by Sun Zhou, Bei Cun, Zhang Mei, directed by Sun Zhou, Staring Gong Li, Tony Leung, Sun Honglei.

Official Site   Trailer

I am hoping this information can answer some questions many readers has asked.

From left to right: DVD box, DVD disc, VCD box, VCD disc. (Click on the images to see the large version)

Photo: Southern City

 

DVD
Disc type: DVD-5 (single-side and single-layer)	Disc type: DVD-9 (single-side and double-layer)
Number of disc: 1	Number of disc: 1 (?)
Video format: NTSC Color	Video format: NTSC Color (?)
Sound system: Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound	Sound system: Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound (?)
Screen ratio: 1 : 2.35	Screen ratio: 1 : 2.35 (?)
Length: 98 minutes	Length: 120 minutes (?)
Language: Mandarin Chinese	Language: Mandarin Chinese
Subtitle: Simplified Chinese / Traditional Chinese / English (US)	Subtitle: Simplified Chinese / Traditional Chinese / English (US)
Feature: HERO (Theatrical Version)	Feature: HERO (Extended Version) (?)
Documentary of Making of the Film	Documentary of Making of the Film (?)
Release date: February 20, 2002	Release date: February 27, 2002 (?)
Released by:	Released by:
Guangdong Face Audio and Video Production Co. Lt.	Guangdong Face Audio and Video Production Co. Lt.
Guangdong WeiKai Audio and Video Production Co.	Guangdong WeiKai Audio and Video Production Co.
Distributed by: Guangzhou Audio and Video Publishing House	Distributed by: Guangzhou Audio and Video Publishing House
VCD
Number of disc: 1
Video format: Pal Color (?)
Sound system: Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound (?)
Screen ratio: 1 : 2.35 (?)
Length: 98 minutes
Language: Mandarin Chinese
Subtitle: Simplified Chinese
Feature: HERO (Theatrical Version)
Release date: February 20, 2002
Released by:
Guangdong Face Audio and Video Production Co. Lt.
Guangdong WeiKai Audio and Video Production Co.
Distributed by: Guangzhou Audio and Video Publishing House

According to Hong Kong's The Sun, MGM is planning a Jackie Chan flick called THE HIDDEN KINGDOM. It will be made as a Tomb Raider type adventure, which should be somewhat similar to Jackie Chan's OPERATION CONDOR series. The story will involve the fictional Shangri-La and shooting will be done in India and some other Asian countries. No word on when the shooting will start.

There are at least two Jackie Chan movies in preproduction - AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS and TITANIUM RAIN. HIGHBINDERS is basically in the can and THE TWINS EFFECT, in which Jackie Chan takes a supporting role, is under production in Hong Kong.

Related Story: Hyde Park Attaches Jackie Chan to High-Octane Slate (Screen Daily)

Southern Daily reports production of 2046 will soon be wrapped up in Hong Kong and will restart in Shanghai next month. Kimura Takuya and Lau Kar-ling will not be involved in the Shanghai shoot and, in fact, no one has seen them on the set in Hong Kong either. According to Sina.com, young actress Kong Yishan has been added to the cast list.

Art Director Tim Yip has revealed a few things about Michelle Yeoh's HUA MULAN to Yangtze Evening Post. He said there were big war scenes in this movie and three to four thousand set of costumes would be made. Shooting will start in June in China. Michelle Yeoh will soon start working on MASKED CRUSADER, a super-hero, or more accurately, super-heroine type of movie by Hong Kong director Jingle Ma. Director Stanley Tong is planning another HUA MULAN, an English language movie staring a Chinese girl from the States. A third HUA MULAN, initiated by a Korean studio, has reserved the main spot for Zhang Ziyi but she has not said anything yet. All three project are not directly related to the Disney animation MULAN, although they are all based on the same Chinese folklore.

I am receiving tons of e-mails asking me all kinds of the HERO DVD and VCD everyday. Here are some answers based on what I know:

The DVDs and VCDs, released or will be released, have more than one origins. So far, there are distributors from the mainland China and Hong Kong selling official discs, which are becoming available today or in the near future.

In the mainland China, the discs are released by Face and WeiKai, and the distributor is Guangdong Audio and Video Publisher. DVD and VCD from them have been promised to be released today and there is no evidence to suggest the release has been delayed.

In Hong Kong, the discs are released by Edko and are possibly distributed by Joy Sales. So far, only VCD is released and DVD

 has been pushed back. A reader of this site, cliff r, has e-mailed SensAsian.com, one of the online disc sellers only offering Hong Kong version of VCD, concerning this matter. The answer he got confirmed such delay. Looks like Edko will not released the DVD until the film has been released globally. I suspect this is yet another influence from MiramAxe, which does not want DVD from Asia to "spoil" the theatrical release in North America. But, what if MiramAxe just kept pushing the theatrical release back again and again, would the DVD be held forever? I hope not.

There is also another version of VCD originated from Thailand currently available on the web, which I could not verify its authenticity. Many discs offered on Ebay are pirated products.

Nanfang Daily just posted the box and disc design of HERO DVD and VCD.

From left to right: DVD box, DVD disc, VCD box, VCD disc. (Click on the images to see the large version)

These DVD and VCD are only for distribution in the Mainland China. Other regions will get their own designs.

A Hollywood production about a story of some Americans in the Japanese occupied The Philippines, made by mainly Australian crew and shot in a back lot of Shanghai Film Studios. This happened during four weeks over October and November last year. The back lot located at Chedun, just southwest of Shanghai city. It was built to recreate Shanghai from the first half of the 20th Century. The maker of THE GREAT RAID has discovered the replica of Shanghai actually very similar to the downtown Manila in the 1940's. Then late last year, the old Shanghai was transformed to the Chinatown of the old Manila. In addition to exiting buildings, the crew also built a church, a strong hold, a prison and some slum houses. Some fake palm trees were also "planted" since Manila is a tropical city but Shanghai is not. THE GREAT RAID tells a true story of a group of Americans' daring raid on a Japanese prison camp in The Philippines during the Second World War. Last November, a reporter from Shanghai Youth sneaked into the set and saw the shooting of the scene of what happened after the Japanese entered Manila. There were extras playing Pilipino civilians and Japanese soldiers. In the scene, the American doctors and nurses stood outside a hospital, then some informer (?) came to inspect and later several nurses were taken away, including the one played by Connie Nielson. There were large number of extras, as high as over 1500, involved in the production in Shanghai and some of them might have been recruited directly from The Philippines and Japan.

The shooting was not a completely happy experience for both the American and Shanghai Film Studios. The Americans were complaining about numerous of negotiations and re-negotiations with different ministries and government entities. Communication and quality of service locally provided seemed also be somewhat problematic. On the other side, the Americans were called arrogant and very difficult to work with according to a report posted on the official of Shanghai Film Studios. However, Shanghai Film Studios is happy to see the Americans have paid them 11.66 million yuans (US$ 1.41 million) and the structures left over from the production are attracting more visitors to the back lot, which also functions as a theme park.

Related images:

A shot taken on the set in Shanghai

The first publicity photo being released

Related Story: Article by City Weekend Guide

Related Site: Shanghai Film Studio Tour

Photo: City Weekend Guide

Winner list of the 53rd Berlin International Film Festival has been released this afternoon. HERO has been awarded with Alfred Bauer Prize, in memory of the Berlinale's founder, for the film's particular innovation. Another Chinese language film MANG JING (BLIND SHAFT) by director Li Yang received The Silver Berlin Bear for an artistic contribution.

Click here for the complete winner list (PDF)

"... The nod for Zhang Yimou's all-star martial arts epic HERO reveals Harvey Weinstein's one major awards campaign miscalculation this year. If Miramax had released the film in 2002, the studio could have been looking at widespread nominations on par with CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. Instead, the studio threw all of its foreign category muscle behind CITY OF GOD, obviously counting on HERO not getting nominated, as the film is currently slated for release this coming November--in obvious striking distance for consideration for *next* year's non-Foreign Language Film Oscar categories. But now that HERO did get the nod this year, it's ineligible to compete for any Oscars next year. Ironically, with CITY OF GOD not making this cut, that film is now eligible for widespread consideration for next year's Oscars, having been released domestically in January."

Click here to read Michael Dequina's comments on all nominations of this year's Oscar.

Thanks to Lily Chan

Qin Lixin, a top executive of Beijing New Picture, which produced the film, told Yang Cheng Wan Bao he was confidence that MiramAxe will promote HERO well at the Oscar even though he knew nothing about MiramAxe's plan. Meanwhile HERO's box-office revenue has surpassed 250 million yuans (US$30.2) and is doing very well in the rest of Asia.

According to someone called "GP", Hugh Grant is no longer related to the project and the role Phileas Fogg will be played by Steve Coogan. According to an earlier report, Hugh Grant's insisting on altering the script has delayed the project.

Click here for the original report

What is the big deal with the Oscar? Fame, money, glory but not art. In a previous editorial (click here), I wrote: "the Oscar is no longer the award for the best of cinema, but the award for the best among the most popular, or sometimes, just the most popular." CHICAGO's 13 nominations have prove I was right. Those folks who are running the awards have become more and more conservative. They are afraid of praising the most artistic and the most creative, because art and creativity often mean unpopular. After all, the Oscar is run as a business and showing people the most popular is vital to the business' survival.

Being popular is often the only criteria for being good and therefore increasing the chance of joining the gigantic Oscar party. HERO got nominated not only because it was from a good director but also because it is, at least potentially, popular. A nomination will transfers to revenue in the box-office and an award will add more dollars on to it. Director Zhang Yimou knows this. He left Berlin and headed for America even though announcing winners of the Berlin Film Festival is still days away. After made so many films which are only popular among artistic filmgoers, Zhang decided to make HERO in order to reach the "mainstream" audiences and so far, he succeeded, in Asia.

On the nominees' list, the name MiramAxe has been mentioned so many times that I have started to suspect my eyes were not functioning well. Once the spearhead for promoting the most creative talent of cinema, MiramAxe has been transformed to the best businessman for marketing films at the Oscar. Those films from MiramAxe are all good but they are designed primary for the Oscar and money not the moviegoers. Because MiramAxe is holding so many nominees, winners and losers will be pre-selected by the powerful marketing machine from this subsidiary of Disney.

Still, MiramAxe remains at the top spot of the most hated Hollywood studios amongst fans of non-English language films. Re-editing, bad dubbing, and replacing soundtracks are just some example of what this studio has been doing for foreign films. In one of its top executives' word - "to make the sh*t work".

MiramAxe was the most aggressive one among studios competing for the international distribution rights of HERO but since it has got it, nothing has been done to promote the film, except saying a few words and handing out several stills to the press, which really cost nothing.

What will MiramAxe do next? I predict it will do very little. Because a foreign import means nothing to them, compared to the films produced by itself.

During an announcement early this morning in Beverly Hills, HERO has been nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film of the 75th Academy Awards. The film will compete with four other films for the award. They are EL CRIMEN DEL PADRE AMARO (Mexico), THE MAN WITHOUT A PAST (Finland), NOWHERE IN AFRICA (Germany) and ZUS & ZO (The Netherlands). Winner will be announced during the ceremony on March 23rd.

According to Star Daily, only DVD-5 will be released on February 20. DVD-9 will come on February 27.

According to TimeForDVD.com:

DVD-5 is a DVD that is single-sided and single-layered, which holds up to two hours of video and audio (i.e., 4.7 GB of data).

DVD-5 is a DVD that is single-sided and dual-layered, which holds up to four hours of video and audio (i.e., 8.5 GB of data).

Based on information we have so far, the theatrical version of the film is 98 minute long and the extended version, intended only for video release, is about 2 hour long.

Photo: Associated Press

According to Shanghai Youth, Chen Chong (Joan Chen) has officially jointed the cast of MO LI HUA KAI (lit.: JASMINES BLOOM). She will play actress Xian and Zhang Ziyi will still play Xian's daughter and granddaughter Zhi and Xiao. Based on novel FU NÜ SHENG HUO (lit.: LIVES OF WOMEN) by Su Tong, who also wrote RAISE THE RED LANTERN, the film tell a tale of three generations of a family in Shanghai from the 1930's to the 1980's. Jiang Wen has basically agreed to take the male lead of the film. Cinematographer Hou Yong, who will also direct the film, is working on the detail screenplay.

Related Stories:

Jiang Wen, Jone Chan May Board Hou Yong New Film With Zhang Ziyi (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 25, 2003

Zhang Ziyi Will Play Take Three Roles In Her Next Film (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 9, 2003

Zhang Ziyi Signs Up For Cinematographer Hou Yong's Untitled Directorial Début (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 8, 2003

Hong Kong's Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG) just pre-launched the official site of THE TWINS EFFECT with two brand new teasers (ASF format):

Teaser 2 (Hong Kong version):  300k 56k

EMG's THE TWINS EFFECT page

Cast:                          Ekin Cheng, Edison Chen, Charlene Choi, Gillian Chung, Anthony Wong, Josie Ho

Special appearance:    Jackie Chan

Director:                     Dante Lam

Action director:           Donnie Yen

Photo: Emperor Media Group

During the 53rd. Berlin International Film Festival, HERO will be openly shown outside of east Asia for the first time.

Other Chinese language films shown during the festival:

MANG JING, ZHOU YU DE HUO CHE (ZHOU YU'S TRAIN), HUI JIA (GOING HOME), TRACES OF THE DRAGON: JACKIE CHAN AND HIS LOST FAMILY (documentary), JIU YUE (OLD TESTAMENT), TIAN XIA WU SHUANG (CHINESE ODYSSEY 2002), XIN XIN (TWO HEARTS), AJI (DREAM CUISINE), KA LA SHI TIAO GOU (KALA, MY DOG!), KINGDOM AND THE BEAUTY, COME DRINK WITH ME, HONG KONG NOCTURNE, INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN, 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, YAN FEN JIE (THE REMNANT), PTU, INFERNAL AFFAIRS.

Photo: Associated Press

According to Chengdu Evening News, the DVD and VCD will indeed contain the extended version of the film. The theatrical version, in all countries, is 98 minute long, and according to an earlier report, about 20 minute long deleted scenes will be added back to the video.

An administrator of the official forum of FACE (Fei Shi), one of the official video distributors in China, has hinted that the DVD, not the VCD, will contain English subtitle.

According to Beijing Morning Post, the master copy of the film has been handed to the official video distributors Wei Jia and Fei Shi yesterday. The materials being handed over include two cassettes of the beta copy of the film, one audio cassette, and one copy of the subtitle. When being asked what would make the official disc different from any pirated copy, a representative from these two companies answered, "the quality of our disc will be definitely much more superior than those of pirated discs." DVD and VCD will come with two kind of packages, plain and collectable. They will be released in China on February 20 as planned. Please do not purchase pirated DVD or VCD. The quality of those videos just does not deserve your eyes and ears.

The first HERO trailer in QuickTime format is up at French movie site CineMovies. Unfortunately, because the trailer was converted directly from Media Player format, which we have already seen, the quality remains the same.

Trailer: HERO (QuickTime): Hi Res.   Lo Res.

There are also four new stills. (click here)

According to the site, HERO will be released in France on March, 26. This means release dates for other European countries will very likely be in March as well.

Report from Hollywood, Warner Bros. has paid US$1.75 million for the remake rights to INFERNAL AFFAIR (WU JIAN DAO / MOU GAN DAO), breaking the record of the most expensive remake rights acquiring fee ever paid for an Asian film. The old record was set by DreamWorks, which paid a six-digit for the remake rights to Japanese horror RINGU and made it into THE RING last year. Brad Pitt's unnamed company and Warner Bros. jointed force to sealed the deal last Friday night after outbidding MiramAxe (thank goodness!), DreamWorks, Paramount, Columbia and a teaming of Fox 2000 and Regency Enterprises. According to Variety, Brad Pitt may take one of the two leading roles in the remade. INTERNAL AFFAIRS' director Andrew Lau told Hong Kong's The Sun, that Brad Pitt was very suitable for the role played by Andy Lau, a mole inserted into the police force by the crime lord, and Robert Downey Jr. might be a good choice for Leung Chiu-Wai's role, an undercover cop informing the police each move of the crime lord.

Related Stories:

Variety article: Brad Pitt Hot for Asian "Affair"

The Hollywood Reporter article: Warners Pays to Have "Affairs"

MiramAxe just put a page for SHAOLIN SOCCER at its site. (Click here) It has been declared that SHAOLIN SOCCER will be released in North America in April. Should I believe them this time? Maybe not! Anyway, the  name of the film's female lead Zhao Wei is misspelled as Zhou Wei and she is placed behind Li Hui, who only has on screen time of less than one minute.

Variety reports Paramount has secured Chow Yun-Fat to lead the remake of WALK LIKE A DRAGON, a Western released in 1960. In the new film, Chow will portrait "an Asian official menaced by Golden Triangle crime lords who threaten to turn his San Francisco-based daughter into an drug addict. The daughter and her American love interest, who have not yet been cast, flee to Arizona." The original WALK LIKE A DRAGON tells a romantic triangle with an American played by Jack Lord and a proud Chinese man (James Shigeta) rescuing a would-be Chinese slave girl (Nobu McCarthy) in the Old West.

(right) poster of the original WALK LIKE A DRAGON

Steven Chow's CG enhanced fantasy soccer/kung fu comedy SHAOLIN SOCCER has been named the Best Foreign Language Film of Japan's 45th Blue Ribbon Awards, after defeating many Hollywood big names like THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, A BEAUTIFUL MIND and GANGS OF NEW YORK. SHAOLIN SOCCER was box-office mega-hit in Japan last summer when the World Cup Football (Soccer) was held there.