The official website of The Banquet been launched today during a press conference in Beijing. Produced by Beijing-based Huayi Brothers and Hong Kong-based Media Asia, The Banquet is a Hamlet inspired story set in the ancient China.

The Banquet official website

The top menu bar: (L to R) News, Story, Characters, Crew, Designs, Message board.

The bottom menu bar: (L to R) English version (coming soon), Special page, Replay the flash movie.

Posters:

The theme poster

Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi)

Emperor Li (Ge You)

Crown Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu)

Minister Yin Taichang (Ma Jingwu)

Yin Zhun (Huang Xiaoming)

Photos from the press conference: A B

Silk, (literal title: Eerie Silk), by Taiwanese screenwriter and second time director Su Chao-Bin, will receive the treatment of screening at midnight during the Cannes Film Festival next month. In the horror drama, a scientist (Yosuke Eguchi), who attempts to achieve immortality through the research of the dead, finds the spirit of a 13 year old boy. His new discovery soon draws the attention of many people, including a police officer (Chang Chen), the police officer's girlfriend (Lin Chia-Hsin), and the scientist's three assistants (Barbie Hsu, Chen Bo-Lin and Chang Chun-Ning). After the police officer discovers a thread of silk, things begin to get out of control. Claimed to be the most expensive film ever made in Taiwan, Silk cost about 200 million Taiwanese dollars (US$6.2 millions) to make. Taiwan's CMC Movie Corporation covered much of the expense and the Taiwan government donated 13 million Taiwanese dollars (US$0.4 millions) to the project. The cast is filled with first-class local talents and popular Japanese actor Yosuke Eguchi. The crew consists many veterans from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and the US, including cinematographer Arthur Wong (Ultraviolet, Iron Monkey, Once Upon a Time in China series), production designer Yohei Taneda (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Kill Bill: Vol. 1), editor Cheung Ka-Fai (SPL, One Nite in Mongkok, God of Cookery), recent Silver Berlin Bear winner composer Peter Kam (Isabella, Perhaps Love, One Nite in Mongkok), as well as makeup effects artists Paul Katte and Nick Nicolaou (The Matrix trilogy).

Originally worked as an IT engineer, Su Chao-Bin turned his career to film writing in the late 1990s and has written  six film scripts, including Three and Double Vision. in 2001, he wrote his directorial début Better Than Sex, about a web of connected stories on adventure, sex and love in Taiwan.

Chinese director Wang Chao's third film, Luxury Car (literal title: The Summer Days of Hankou) will be shown at the coming Cannes Film Festival in the category of Un Certain Regard. The story of the film begins with Li QIming (Wu Youcai), a village school teacher travels to the city of Wuhan to look for his son Li Xueqin, who run away from home after failing the college entrance exam. In the city of 10 million residents, he teams up with an old policeman (Li Yiqing), who just lost his own son. What they do not know is that, the teacher's son was already killed during a carjacking, carried out by the boyfriend of the teacher's daughter Li Yanhong (Tian Yuan). The film was financed by a Wuhan company and was shot in Wuhan with a full local cast speaking the local dialect. Hankou is one of three towns formed the city of Wuhan and is considered by Wang Chao as the perfect location for showing today's China.

Lou Ye	Hao Lei	Guo Xiaodong
(?)

According to several Chinese newspapers, Lou Ye's Summer Palace, just been picked to compete for this year's Golden Palm, has yet been submitted to the Chinese government for censorships. Showing the film in a foreign country without a certificate for release would make director Lou Ye and the film's producers in big trouble. In the past 20 years, nearly 30 Chinese films, including Lou Ye's Suzhou River, were shown at various international film festivals without being greenlighted by the Chinese government. None of them has been allowed to release in China and  their directors were all punished by the authority.

What has been submitted to Cannes Film Festival is only a video copy of an 140 minute rough cut. Reportedly, director Lou Ye is still working on the final sound mix even though the production wrapped up eight months ago. The final cut is expected to be submitted to Chinese Film Bureau in ten days and failing to pass the censorship may cause the film to be pulled out of Cannes.

Summer Palace, named after the famous former imperial park in Beijing, is about the story of two lovers, played by Hao Lei and Guo Xiaodong. Set in five Chinese cities, Beijing, Chongqing, Wuhan, Beidaihe and Tumen, as well as Berlin, the story begins in mid-1980s and ends in 2000. It features many historical events from the past two decades, like the the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Eastern bloc, the breakup of the Soviet Union and Hong Kong's returning to China. The Production and post-production of the film have been kept in low profile and no promotional materials, not even a still, have been released. It is Lou Ye's fifth directorial work and second Cannes contender.  Three year's ago, his Purple Butterfly was selected to compete for the Golden Palm and was on the top spot of my list of best mainland Chinese productions of 2003.

ComingSoon.net just run an exclusive set report about Rogue, an action piece now being shot in Vancouver. It contains a very detail, maybe even spoiling, description of the final showdown. This is a warning. Writer of this report even made Jet Li to confess that he struggle to play a very bad guy and the movie is a big crazy violent revenge, which he hates it personally. The report also reveals that Rogue is set up to be the first of a trilogy, which means Li and Statham may get to play two more together.

Click here for the ComingSoon report (Thanks to "Chris" and Jet Liang.)

The Music Box	Karmic Mahjong	Intel Younger	The Heavenly Kings
(Shanda Entertainment, Shanghai Da Chen, Beijing Film Studios, Man 5 Production.)

A young barber's courage for love, a man needs to eliminate "the villain" from his life, a group of teenagers' achievement with the Internet, and the rise and fall of a boy band...

Click here for detail (link fixed)

Summer Palace, by Lou Ye, member of China's Six Generation Directors, has been nominated to compete for this year's Golden Palm. Thailand born Pang brothers' new horror story, Re-Cycle and another member of China's Six Generation Directors, Wang Chao's Luxury Car are selected for the Un Certain Regard category. Taiwanese director Su Chao-Pin's horror flick Silk and Hong Kong director Johnnie To's Election 2: Harmony Is Virtual will be screen under the banner of Séances de minuit (midnight screenings). This year, the jury will be headed by director Wong Kar-Wai and Zhang Ziyi will serve as a juror along with other seven filmmakers.

    Summer Palace / Yi He Yuan (China), by LOU Ye

    Re-Cycle / Gui Yü (Hong Kong), by Oxide PANG and Danny PANG

    Luxury Car /  Han Kou Xia Ri (China), WANG Chao

        Silk / Guisi (Taiwan), by SU Chao-Pin

        Election 2 / Harmony Is Virtual / Hei She Hui 2 Zhi Yi He Wei Gui (Hong Kong), by Johnnie To

Click here

Loach Is Fish Too	About Love	Black Night
(FilmCo, Celestial Pictures, Sihaitengfei.)

A divorced woman meets a single man, who shares the same name with her, three cross-culture love stories from Tokyo, Taipei and Shanghai, and a three horror storied from in Hong Kong, Japan and Thailand.

Click here for detail

A Zhou Xun / Daniel Wu version of poster is release today to celebrate Zhou Xun's recent victory at the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards. It shows the Minister's Daughter (Zhou Xun)  holding his lover, the Crown Prince (Daniel Wu).

More on Jasmine Women

Construction of the set of an imperial palace is almost done at Hengdian World Studios.

Click here for more photos.

Infernal Affairs and Initial D director Andrew Lau just spoke to Chinese newspaper Information Times about his upcoming projects. Andrew Lau just completed the production of his Hollywood début, The Flock, with Richard Gere Claire Danes. His long-time directorial partner Alan Mak will involve in at lease some of the following projects.

Initial D 2
Andrew Lau was quite excited about doing a sequel to Initial D. He said it would be a great challenge to make the sequel looks better than the original, which just picked up four awards at the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards last Saturday, including Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Design. Lau said in the sequel, Takumi Fujiwara (Jay Chou) might join a new racing team and might get a new girl friend. No date was given and Lau promised to start writing the script soon.

Shuang Cheng / The Twin Cities (literal title)

Lau only revealed a very vague storyline of the proposed cop thriller set in Hong Kong. It begins with a new case, then things get worse and worse, and something new occurs. He was hoping to work with the major cast members of Infernal Affairs in the project. Lau expected to release it during the coming Christmas, even though the script was done. 

Api Sword

This will be the film version of Taiwanese artist Cheng Wen's classic comic series Api Sword (aka. Api Magic Sword), in the genre of wuxia in the ancient China. Lau said he would make it in the more old fashion style created by director King Hu. Shooting would begin sometime next year.

Set of an imperial post has been built at a place called "Heavenly Pit" near China's southeastern city of Chongqing. Filming of The City of Golden Armor, Zhang Yimou's third martial-art epic is currently underway inside Beijing Film Studios.

Click here for the video clip.

Someone has worked as an extra on the set of Jet Li's Rogue just sent in a short report:

In Re-Cycle (Chinese literal title: Land of the Dead), a romance novelist (Angelica Lee) announces the title of her next project - Land of the Dead. After running out of ideas, she deletes all drafts from her computer. Then she starts seeing a strange woman over and over again and stories described in her drafts all come alive. She decides to follow the woman, who leads her to an unknown land. Written by Oxide Pang and Danny Pang (The Eye 10, The Eye 2, The Eye), Re-Cycle is scheduled for a release this summer in Hong Kong.

Trailer: QuickTime Windows Media

Winners of the 25th Hong Kong Film Awards have been announced in Hong Kong. This is a night of Johnnie To's Election vs. Peter Chan's Perhaps Love. Gangster drama Election collects four heavy-weight awards - Best Film, Best Director for Johnnie To, Best Actor for Leung Kar-Fai and Best Screenplay. Meanwhile Perhaps Love wins in six categories, more than any other movie does. Mainland Chinese actress Zhou Xun is named the Best Actress for her role in Perhaps Love, a big screen musical. Anthony Wong is selected as the Best Supporting Actor for portraying a tofu store owner in Initial D and Veteran player Teresa Mo is presented with the title of Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 2 Young.

SlackFilm.com just posted an exclusive photo of Gong Li as Lady Murasaki in Young Hannibal: Behind the Mask. Gong Li worn something similar in A Terra Cotta Warrior (1989) and Shanghai Triad (1995). She still looks gorgeous today.

(Thanks to "Wilson" of BlackFilm.com.)

Clay Fear	Isabella	Undercover Hidden Dragon	Chocolate Rap
(Media Asia, Mei Ah, Chi & Co.)

The Employees of a pottery dealership are killed one after another after receiving figures made of pottery, a cop is visited by a young girl, who claims to be his long-lost daughter; a restaurant waiter is asked by his gangster "friend" to assassinate the leader of a rival gang; and a break dance champion's career hits rock bottom after a traffic accident...

Click here for detail

Click

(Thanks to "gabe", friend of friend of an extra of Rouge.)

Related story:

Election 2: Harmony Is a Virture	Fearless
(Milkyway Image, China Film Group)

Short after Johnnie To's gangster drama Election shocked the audiences at Cannes, he made a quick delivery of a sequel. Election was released in the mainland China without the last 15 minutes because the Chinese censors concluded those deleted scenes were too violent for the mainlanders. Of cause, the uncut version is still widely available on DVDs, mostly pirated. Now the chance of the sequel being released in the mainland is very slim because it is even more shocking than the first one and goes too deep into the subject of gangs. Johnnie To, who has refused to accept the mainland version of Election, said to release Election 2 was impossible.

Click here (scroll-down for reviews on Election 2 and Fearless.

(Thanks to Shan Ding of Milkyway Image.)

63 year old Taiwanese actress Yeh Wen was found death yesterday on a beach in Taiwan. Reportedly, she suffered from multiple illnesses and was deeply depressed. Her noticeable big screen projects include Tian Lun Meng Hui Shi (1986) and Sunshine in Spring / Chun Hui (1982). Yeh Wen also starred in several local TV series, like Justice Bao / Bao Qing Tian and He Shan Chun Xiao.

(Century Hero)

A B C D

More on Jasmine Women

In Karmic Mahjong (Chinese literal title: Fight to the Bitter End), a mechanic (Francis Ng) is a man cursed with bad luck. His wife is disappointed by her sex life and possibly sees another man, a car he is working on is blown up, he is almost run over by a car. A fortune-teller advices him to eliminate "the villain" from his life, but who is the villain?

Written and directed by Wang Guangli; starring Francis Ng, Cherrie Ying, Liu Yiwei, Liang Jing, Na Wei, Paul Chun, Jia Zhangke (cameo), Wang Xiaoshuai (cameo) and Hei Nan (cameo).

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

Behind-the-scene (Click the numbers below the screen to select.)

Stills

Based on a true event, Kekexili: Mountain Patrol tells the story of a group of volunteers who would do anything to protect the endangered Tibetan antelopes (Chiru). With very little funding and no support from the authority, they have to fight the ruthless poachers in the wilderness of Kekexili, hight on the Tibetan Plateau. Kekexili: Mountain Patrol was the winner the Best Film of China's Golden Rooster Awards (2005), Best Film of Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards (2004) and the Special Jury Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival (2004). Produced by Beijing-based HTF and Sony Pictures, this film will be released in North America by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Click here for the official website by National Geographic and the trailer (Thanks to Maria Leung.)

Reviews by RottenTomatoes.com

Related stories:

US Dates for BREAKING NEWS, KEKEXILI and RIDING ALONE FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES (...) January 15, 2006

KEKEXILI: MOUNTAIN PATROL Reviews, Very Positive (Film Threat / NIXFLIX.COM) February 13, 2005

Several Chinese newspapers report US studio Viridian Entertainment has signed an agreement with Jiangsu Culture Industry Group to co-produce a drama about the Nanking (Nanjing) Massacre carried out by the Japanese army in 1937. Partially based on The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang, this film will feature suffering of the civilians and how a group of foreign nationals' effort of protecting the civilians to the brutal the Japanese force. Producer writer William J. MacDonald (Rome the TV series) has completed the first draft of the script and a panel of Chinese historians has pointed out many historical errors in the script. The producers are hoping Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep would join the cat. Shooting is expected to begin later this year in Nanjing (Nanking), the former capital of China during the massacre and now the capital of Jiangsu Province.