Chinese cinematographer Gu Changwei's directorial début Kong Que (Peacock) has been made available to the general public, once every Saturday at one theater in Beijing.

Click here for details.

(Beijing New Pictures Films  / Elite Group (2003) Enterprises Inc.)

TIME 2004 best and worst, Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine (Thanks to liling chen.)

Best & worst movies of 2004, Dave McCoy, MSN (Thanks to liling chen.)

The best films of 2004, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Best and worst films of 2004, San Jose Mercury News

Rewinding the best and worst films of 2004, Jack Garner, Lansing State Journal

Patriots and partisans: Gibson and Moore grabbed the spotlight in 2004, Milan Paurich, Cleveland Free Times

Zeros and heroes: all cinema wasn't merely mass marketing in 2004, Charles Cassady, Jr., Cleveland Free Times

Best and worst films of 2004, Bruce Newman, Tallahassee Democrat

The best films of 2004, Louis B. Hobson, Calgary Sun

Reasons to disbelieve, Susan Gerhard, San Francisco Bay Guardian

Not another 10 movies, Richard von Busack, Metro Santa Cruz

Top 10 films of 2004, Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Press

The most memorable movies of '04, Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun

Sequels, documentaries make their mark this year in cinema, Christopher Borrelli, Toledo Blade

A rather animated year at the movies, Bob Strauss, U-Redlands Daily Facts

AP reviewers' favorite movies of 2004, Associated Press (Thanks to "Bangkok Bobby".)

Good movies score in 2004, Bob Tremblay, MetroWest Daily News

The directors, the actors, the issues, the cameras, discuss, The New York Times

Denerstein: bios, politics color big screen, Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News

The best movies of 2004, Joseph Cunneen, National Catholic Reporter

Barely legal, Melora Koepke, Hour.ca

Top ten best & worst movies of 2004, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Thanks to liling chen.)

.........

Feng Xiaogang	Ge You	Stephen Chow
(Sina.com)

Chinese director Feng Xiaogang is planning his next comedy titled Gui Zu (literal title: Noble), according to Chengdu Daily. He would ask Ge You and Stephen Chow to play two slickers. It is budgeted with 35 million yuans (US$ 4.23 million) and the shooting will start in March, said Wang Zhongjun, the president of Beijing based studio HTF. Production of Night Banquet, once picked as Feng's  upcoming project, has been postponed, because international funding is needed to back the film's US$ 30 million budget. Feng's A World Without Thieves, has earned more than 90 million yuans (US$ 10.87) in the mainland China and HK$ 4.31 million (US$ 0.55 million) in Hong Kong in two weeks. He also played a small role in Stephen Chow's Kung Fu (Kung Fu Hustle), which has earned at least US$13 million in a few Asian countries since last Thursday. Both A World Without Thieves and  Kung Fu (Kung Fu Hustle) were co-produced by HTF.

Related Story:

More about Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle

According to Chinese newspaper Nanjing Daily, Stephen Chow's assistant Ngai Dat-Sing said  several scripts were prepared for Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle sequel and shooting would begin after  they made the pick. A series of contests have been held in several Chinese cities for people to show up their tricks. Winners will be given the opportunity to perform in the sequel. (Click here to download a commercial for the contests.)

More Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle

Stephen Chow	Stephen Chow and Leung Siu-Tung.	Stephen Chow and Yuen Wo-Ping.
(TungStarl)

In the mainland China, the three day record (Thur. - Sun.) is approximately

50 million yuans (US$ 6.04 million), breaking the record set by Hero two years ago. It collected more than 10 million yuans (US$ 1.21 million) on opening day (Thur.) and the record doubled on Friday, breaking the single-day record set by Hero (18 million yuans). In the city of Hong Kong, the revenue in the first two days (Thur. and Fri.) reached HK$10,560,770 (US$ 1.36 million) and the three day record (Thur. - Sat.) is roughly HK$ 15 million (US$ 1.93). During the first day (Thur.), it earned HK$ 4.11 million (US$ 0.53 million), ten times more than The Polar Express (opened on the same day) and Shark Tale (opened a week earlier) did. In Taiwan, the opening day record (Fri.) is TW$ 15.4 million (US$ 0.48 million), breaking the Friday record set by The Day After Tomorrow (TW$ 10.0 million) and the Saturday number reached TW$ 25.0 million (US$ 0.78 million), 25% more than the preview record set by Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets. The number should reach TW$ 100 million by Sunday. Kung Fu is also doing very well in Singapore and Malaysia.

Another Chinese film, A World Without Thieves, has earned more than 90 million yuans (US$ 10.87) in the mainland China and HK$ 4.31 million (US$ 0.55 million) in Hong Kong in two weeks. The all-time highest earner in the mainland China is Hero (250 yuans / US$ 30.21million) and this year's champion, so far, is House Of Flying Daggers (150 yuans / US$ 18.12 million).

Follow-Up Report:

According to MovieXclusive.com, Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle ranked No.1 at Singapore's weekend box-office report with SG$1,885,201 (US$ 1.15 million), a new record for the island nation. It is currently occupies the No.7 spot at the All-Time Opening ranking, with SG$1,885,,210.34, surpassing many Hollywood titles like The Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter and The Mummy series.

(Thanks to "Ethan aka 'The One'".)

More Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle

(China Film Group Corp. / HTF / Columbia Tristar Film Distribution International).	(Sina.com)

Leung Siu-Lung started his film career in 1973 and in less than two decades he made over 70 films. In the late 1970's, he turned his interest to TV drama and made over 1000 episodes of TV series in less than a decade. In Hong Kong, he was dubbed one of "The Three Dragons", along with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. In the mid 1980's, he made a visit to the mainland China and his projects were subsequently banned in Taiwan. Because Taiwan was a major market for Hong Kong's film and TV industry at that time, Leung Siu-Lung was forced to quit acting. In 2000, he went to Beijing and starred in a TV series. In Kung Fu / Kung Hu Hustle, he played Huo Yun Xie Shen (Evil God of Fire and Cloud; called "The Beast" on the official site), a mental kung-fu master, who had a final duel with Sing played by Stephen Chow.

More Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle

The following is a special program aired on China's CCTV. It contains a 40 minute long making-of featurette. The file is huge and the download will be very long but it is worthy.

Click here to download the video.

Note: BitComet is required. Click here to download BitComet first.

More Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle

Stephen Chow's newest CG-enhanced kung-fu comedy - Kung Kung (Kung Fu Hustle) started showing in Chinese cities yesterday. Revenue from midnight screenings is near 10 million yuans (US$ 1.2 million). Yesterday Stephen Chow and company went to Taiwan, which will received its own Kung Fu treatment starting today. At a news conference, a representative from Columbia even announced that the sequel to Kung Fu is definitely coming. Kung Fu is produced by China Film Group Corp., Beijing based Huayi Brothers & Taihe Film Investment Co., Ltd. and the Asian branch of Columbia Pictures.

Click here for details.

This weekend, everybody got see Kung Fu!

Click here for details.

Aside from the three cuts:

1) Jin slitting the throat of a fellow officer.
2) Jin cradling Mei before his fight with Leo.
3) The removal of blood from Mei's wound.

Before Jin slashes Leo's helmet from his head, the shot of Jin's belly being slashed is gone. The prior shot of Leo swinging is there but the after shot is removed.

Sincerely,
Daniel Tayag

(Media Asia)

(Thanks to "The Drunken Master".)
 

Related Stories:

SEOUL RAIDER Location Photos And Videos (Sina.com) December 18, 2004

Leung Chiu-Wai Becomes SEOUL RAIDER (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) November 9, 2004

Hi, this is Kash. I am a regular reader from the UK. I've seen an uncut version of 'The House of the Flying Daggers', and with all the talk of the US version cuts, I thought I'd inform you of the UK ones. The movie has been rated a 15, but has had 18 seconds of cuts. All cuts relate to the stunts sequences with the horses. Supposedly, these sequences contravene the strict guidelines set out by the BBFC, regarding treatment of animals. What a bunch of idiots!!  I hope that you this information of some use.

- Kash

I saw the post about the two other cuts in House of Flying Daggers before I saw it again today. I can confirm that he is correct about both of them.

I had a French visitor tell me that the throat-cutting shot was not removed from the French release.

-Chris (HelloZiyi.us)

I can verify those cuts ... I saw the uncut version at the Toronto Film Festival and then caught it in the theater a couple days ago. They definitely removed the whole cradling scene ... which was a good move, in my opinion. The Many Deaths of Zhang Ziyi drew a lot of unintentional laughs at the film festival screening and this one cut fixed almost all of that ...

- Todd (www.twitchfilm.net - movie news and discussion)

I saw the film here in Toronto, CANADA during the 29th Toronto International Film Festival and attended the wide release screening a few days ago. The film is the same print shown during the festival. From what I read on monkeypeaches.com, the US release was indeed cut.

- Hin Jang

"Bangkok Bobby" just dropped me two notes today:

In addition to the cut of Jin slitting the policeman's throat, they also cut the part where Jin gets back and finds Mei with a dagger in her, cradles her in his arms, and she warns him to turn around.  In the movie, Jin comes back looks down at Mei and then they cut directly to a shot of Leo attacking from behind.  Maybe this was done because they didn't want Mei's dying to be too protracted.  I saw the movie four times yesterday and every audience liked it, except for Mei taking so long to die.  The cut was probably made to appease American audiences.

In addition to the throat slashing cut and the cut where Jin cradles Mei while she tells him to look behind him, there is a digital erase on the scene where Mei pulls out the dagger.  In the Chinese version, blood pours out of the wound when she pulls the dagger put, but even though Jin tells her the blood will drain, in the US Version you see her pull the dagger out but the blood doesn't pour out.  The scene is intact, but they erased the blood pouring out.

Anyone wants to verify his story?

"Chris" from HelloZiyi.us just discovered that there was a 10 second shot missing from the US release of Shi Mian Mai Fu / House Of Flying Daggers (click here for the missing shot.) The issing shot features Jin slitting the throat of a fellow police officer during the wild flower field fight. The deletion was most likely for getting a PG-13 rating in the US. I have not seen the US release, therefore I cannot personally verify it. Also, since the film is released in Canada by a separate distributor, I am also not sure whether the Canadian release is intact or not. I you have seen the film in the US or Canada, please tell the answer.

(Thanks to "Chris" from HelloZiyi.us.)

In an interview with Moviehole.net, Owen Wilson said he would like to do another Shanghai with Jackie Chan but he did not think it would happen. The fate of Jackie Chan's another Hollywood franchise, Rush Hour, is still uncertain.

Click here for the Owen Wilson interview.

(Thanks to Moviehole.net.)

Hong Kong location: Leung Chiu-Wai. (TungStar)	Seoul location: Leung Chiu-Wai (R) and Richie Ren (L). (Sina.com)

Seoul Raider (?) is been set up as a follow-up to Tokyo Raider made four years ago but only Leung Chiu-Wai and director Jingle Ma return to the sequel. The cast also included Shu Qi, Richie Ren and several Korean stars.

More photos: click here and here.

Videos:

Related Story: Leung Chiu-Wai Becomes SEOUL RAIDER (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) November 9, 2004

Click here.

More about Memoirs Of A Geisha.

Click here for details.

According to Hong Kong paper Apple Daily, Chow Yun-Fat is in negotiation for playing 15th Century Chinese pirate Zhang Baozai (Cheung Po-Tasi) in the second and third installments of the series. Chow's wife, Chan Wui-Nin told the paper that the series' producer and director were willing to offer the role to Chow and director Gore Verbinski even flew to Hong Kong last week to discuss the script with him.

Chinese director Huang Jianzhong recently told Chongqing Evening News that he will soon work on Martial Monk (literal title), a US financed action flick and the Americans has been talking with Jackie Chan for the title role. Story of the movie will follow a Chinese monk traveling to the states to search for the "divine ox" left by Master Damo over a thousand years ago. He said shooting will start early next year.

()

This is still working on The Myth. This time, he is at a waterfall of China's Yunnan Province.

More photos: click here and here.

More about The Myth.

More about Shi Mian Mai Fu / House Of Flying Daggers.

()

This is still an early call - but according to Chinese newspaper Hangzhou Daily, director Zhang Yimou and Jackie might have a meeting to explore the possibility of doing a movie together. Zhang Yimou is quietly planning his third martial-art film, after Hero and House Of Flying Daggers. On the other hand, Jackie Chan is getting tired of his days in Hollywood and is returning home to resurrect his career. Zhang is now doing Qian Li Zou Dan Ji, a small contemporary drama. He is working on The Myth.

More about Qian Li Zou Dan Ji.

More about The Myth.

Other nominees are Shi Mian Mai Fu / House Of Flying Daggers (China), Bin Jip (South Korea / Japan), The Motorcycle Diaries (Argentina / Brazil / Chile / Peru / USA), Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (USA), Fahrenheit 9/11 (USA), Maria Full Of Grace (USA / Columbia), Moolaade (Burkina Faso / Morocco / Tunisia / Cameroon) and Old Boy (South Korean / Japan).

Click here for detail. (with an XL size trailer.)

More 2046.

According to Chinese media, the Shanghai production of James Ivory's latest period film The White Countess just wrapped up. Set in Shanghai from 1936 to 1937. Ralph Fiennes plays a blind former American diplomat, who dreams of opening a nightclub called The White Countess. Natasha Richardson portrays an exiled White Russian countess, who worked hard to support her late husband's aristocratic family, through various jobs, including prostituting. The story starts at the dawn of the great world war and ends with the full scale Japanese invasion.

Two thieves were protecting the innocent when they were supposed to steal, and two soldiers were on vacation when they were supposed to catch a deserter. According to an earlier report, shooting will restart in Rome for the remaining interior scenes.

Related Stories:

Searching for Scenes from Shanghai's Lost Post, by Howard W. French, The New York Times.

Sony Pictures Classics Acquired THE WHITE COUNTESS (Sony Pictures Classics) November 13, 2004

First Look At James Ivory THE WHITE COUNTESS Filming In Shanghai (Sina.com) October 17, 2004

THE WHITE COUNTESS Holds Press Conference In Shanghai (Various) October 8, 2004

Camera Starts Rolling For James Ivory's THE WHITE COUNTESS In Shanghai (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) October 2, 2004

(HFT / Media Asia)

Two thieves were protecting the innocent when they were supposed to steal, and two soldiers were on vacation when they were supposed to catch a deserter.

Click here for details.

More reviews from RottenTomatoes.

More about Shi Mian Mai Fu / House Of Flying Daggers.

(China Film Group Corp. / HTF / Columbia Tristar Film Distribution International).

For more stills, click here and here.

More Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle

(HFT / Media Asia)

Andy Lau and Liu Joyin play a young couple who choose stealing as their life. When they meet a young boy who brings his saving home and naively believes he lives in a world without thieves, they starts to protect him from a gang of ruthless thieves on a moving train. Directed by Feng Xiaogang, will be released in China, including Hong Kong, starting December 9.

Stills

Related Story: A WORLD WITHOUT THIEVES Trailer (Sina.com) November 4, 2004

Winners of Taiwan's 41st Golden Horse Awards were announced tonight at a grand ceremony in Taiwan. Cinema from the mainland China traditional had little present at this annual awards had a major breakthrough tonight. Kekexili, a film about a group of volunteers hunting down poachers in Tibetan Plateau, written and directed by young Chinese director Lu Chu took home the title of Best Feature Film (defeated 2046 by one vote) and the Best Cinematography. Hong Kong director Johnnie To won the Best Director category for his crime drama Breaking News. Andy Lau was named the Best Leading Actor for Infernal Affairs 3, which was released a year ago. Taiwanese actress Yang Kuei-Mei received the Best Leading Actress for local film The Moon Also Rises. The Hong Kong industry still maintains its leading position in the annual awards but its share has shrunken this year.

Winner list:

Best Feature Film - Kekexili - China, mainland

Best Leading Actor - Andy LAU (Infernal Affairs 3) - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Best Leading Actress - YANG Kuei-Mei (The Moon Also Rises) - Taiwan

Best Director - Johnnie TO (Breaking News) - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Audiences' Choice of the Best Film - New Police Story - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Best Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year - Chen Bo-Wen - Taiwan

Best Taiwanese Film of the Year - Splendid Float - Taiwan

Life-Time Achievement Award - A Pi Po - Taiwan

Best New Performer - YANG Yu-Nin (Formula 17)  - Taiwan / HONG Hao-Xuan (Bear Hug) - Taiwan

Best Animation - McDull, Prince De La Bun - Hong Kong

Best Documentary - Chronicle Of Sea Nan-Fan Ao (LEE Hsiang-Hsiu) - Taiwan

Best Original Screenplay - YAU Nai-Hoi, YIP Tin-Shing, AU Kin-Yee (Thrown Down) - Hong Kong

Best Short Film - The Magical Washmachine (LEE Yun-Chan) - Taiwan

Best Screenplay Adaptation - LIN Cheng-Sheng (The Moon Also Rises) - Taiwan

Best Visual Effects - Victor WONG, Brian HO (New Police Story) - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Best Cinematography - CAO Yu (Kekexili) - China, mainland

Best Film Editing - David RICHARDSON (Breaking News) - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Best Original Film Song - Liu Shui Yan Guang (Splendid Float) - Taiwan

Best Original Film Score - Shigeru UMEBAYASHI, Peer RABEN (2046) - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Best Supporting Actor - Daniel WU (New Police Story) - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Best Action Choreography - LEE Chung-Chi, Jo Stunt Team (New Police Story) - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Best Supporting Actress - BAI Ling (Three Extreme - Dumplings) - Hong Kong

Best Sound Effect - CAO Yuan-Fong (The Passage) - Taiwan

Best Make-Up and Costume Design - Jean CHEN, LAI Wei-Joung (Splendid Float) - Taiwan

Best Art Direction - William CHANG, YAU Wai-Ming (2046) - Hong Kong / China, mainland

Click here for detail.

"An outrageously gorgeous spectacle of balletic aggression.", Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"A gem in House of Flying Daggers.", Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

"An absolute must-see.", Lou Lumenick, New York Post

"An emotion-charged epic of style and sophistication that is exciting and at times humorous.", Kevin Thormas, Los Angeles Times

More reviews from RottenTomatoes.

Showtimes: New York City Los Angeles (and surrounding area)

(Thanks to the anonymous.)

Zhang Ziyi (L) and Ken Watanabe (R).	Zhang Ziyi	Gong Li (R)
(Columbia Pictures / DreamWorks Films)

(Thanks to "Wilson".)

More about Memoirs Of A Geisha.

(Mov3.com, Sohu.com.)

A loving wife is really attracted by other girls and a pregnant single girl is really loved by a man other than the father her baby.

New York City

(Thanks to Ardent Quach for the suggestion.)

Click here

(Thanks to "jetliang" and "Vinh".)

This is a short video of Kung Fu / Kung Fu Hustle press conference held yesterday in Hong Kong. It also contains a few behind the scene clips: