News Archives
July 2006
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News Archives |
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July 2006 |
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SUMMER PALACE Rejected by Chinese Censors Again (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 30, 2006 |
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Chinese film Summer Palace was rejected by Chinese authority again, according to Life Nanjing, a newspaper owned by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. Summer Palace producer Nai An told the paper that they were ready to resubmit the film for censorship again but they were simply told to wait for further notice because the authority "needs more time to consider." Summer Palace was selected to compete for the Golden Palm in April and its production company Laurel Films submitted it for censorship just one day before its scheduled world premiere in Cannes. The authority refused to watch the film, claiming it contains audible and and visual defects. The film was screened in Cannes in May as planned, but without a certificate from the Chinese authority. A day later, Laurel Films resubmitted another copy and rejected again. This time, the authority said only a "magnetic Beta tape transferred from celluloid" was acceptable. Summer Palace has been sold to almost twenty countries and distribution in North American, some European countries, Japan and South Korea is under negotiation.
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Donnie Yen Might Portray Bruce Lee on the Big Screen (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 29, 2006 |
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Sina.com reports that Donnie Yen is currently in talk to take the lead in a Bruce Lee movie biography, initiated by Lee's four brothers and sisters. The project's financial backer demands the actor plying Bruce Lee must be a Chinese, a real martial-artist, a good actor and someone has Hollywood experience. According to the website, Donnie Yen is very much interested in playing Bruce Lee. He said Lee was just like an idol to him and Lee's spirit had great influence on him. This new Bruce Lee biopic will be based on a biography by Bruce's younger brother Robert. Beijing's JA Media is authorized to execute the project with approximately US$13 million. Shooting will begin in January next year and release is aimed at 2008. |
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Young Pop Star Li Yuchun in Talk to play Stanley Tong's MULAN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 29, 2006 |
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Last year, 21 year old Chinese music student suddenly became a household name after winning an American Idol-like TV singing contest. Her story of success is so influential that even Time Asia put her picture on an issue of the magazine last year (Click here). Now according to Shanghai-based News Times, Li is negotiating with director Stanley Tong for playing the lead role in his long awaited Hua Mulan, backed by Beijing-based PKU Starlight. Another report suggests Chinese actress Fan Bingbing has volunteered for playing the role. Two other Chinese studios are separately pushing for their own Hua Mulan projects. They are H. Brothers (aka. HTF / Huayi Brothers) and Meradian Pictures Group, partnered with Lion Rock Productions.
Related stories: Two More Enter the Battle for HUA MULAN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June 1, 2006Zhang Ziyi Is Asked to Play a Different HUA MULAN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 31, 2006Michelle Yeoh Tempts Zhang Ziyi With Hua Mulan? (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 24, 2004 |
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PU JIANG FENG YUN with Cheng Peipei, Ku Feng and Zhao Changjun (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 29, 2006 |
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A new martial-art film titled Pu Jiang Feng Yun (roughly means Unrest of Huangpu River) is currently being filmed in Shanghai. Story of the movie is unknown except it is about fighting the Japanese invading China or planning to invade of China. The cast includes Cheng Pei-Pei (Jade Fox from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and one of the top stars in Show Bros. movies), Ku Feng (Regularly showed up in Show Bros. movies.) and Zhao Changjun (Ten consecutive annual Chinese national martial-art all-round champion in the 1970s and 1980s and part-time action star since the 1980s. He personally trained Donnie Yen years ago.) Other cast members include Shang Hua and Chiou Hsin-Chi. Helmed by Hong Kong director Law Kei, this movie is expect to wrap by this month.
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LUST, CAUTION Casting and Location Scouting Completed (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 29, 2006 |
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The casting and location scouting process for Ang Lee's Chinese language film Lust, Caution have completed, according to Chinese newspaper Nanjing Daily. New comer Tang Wei will play Wang Jiazhi, a young student volunteers to seduce Mr. Yee, a powerful political figure within the Japanese controlled puppet-government. Wang Lee-Hom and Yu Entai will play two university students involved in a plot of assassinating Mr. Yee. Rong Rong, WANG Lin and YU Ya will play three wealthy housewives playing Mahjong with Wang Jiazhi. In addition, Mr. Yee's house servants will be played by actors and actress speaking Mandarin with Fukienese accent. Majority of the movie will be shot in Shanghai Film Studios at Chedun, which contains replicated Shanghai streets and houses from the early 20th Century. An additional street is being built adjacent to existing set. Several antique houses in Shanghai have also been selected for filming. Two Malaysian cities, Penang and Ipoh, will double for the 1940s Hong Kong.
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Hong Kong's 11th Golden Bauhinia Awards Nomination List (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 28, 2006 |
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Hong Kong Film Critics Association (HKFCA) just release the full nominee list for the11th Golden Bauhinia Awards yesterday. For an unknown reason, the list for some categories is nowhere to be found. According to an press article from Celestial Pictures, Perhaps Love received eight nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Film Editing, Best Original Film song and Best Sound Design. Winners will be announced at a ceremony held on August 13.
Stars showed up for the nominee announcement ceremony: photos video clip
Related stories: (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 20, 2006 Hong Kong's The 10th Golden Bauhinia Awards (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 6, 2005 Hong Kong's The 9th Golden Bauhinia Awards (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 28, 2004 The 8th Hong Kong Golden Bauhinia Awards (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) February 30, 2003 7th Golden Bauhinia Awards By Hong Kong Film Critics' Association (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 17, 2002 |
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July 28, 2006 |
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The full film list for all categories of Venezia 2006, except for Corto
Cortissimo, has been released. Contenders for the Golden Lion include
Hong Kong director Jonnie To's Fangzhu (Exiled), a
follow-up to his acclaimed The Mission, and Taiwanese director
Tsai Ming-Liang's abnormal erotic film Hei Yanquan (literal
title: Dark Eye Sockets). In the Out of competition category, there are
Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's Hamlet inspired period drama Yeyan
(The Banquet) and Benny Chan directed Jackie Chan's baby-napping
comedy action Rob-B-Hood. Films from category Horizons include
Malaysian director Ho Yuhang's Taiyang Yu (literal title: Sunny
Rain), Chinese director Liu Jie's Mabei Shang De Fating (literal
title: Courtroom on Horseback), about a judge whose daily work is
traveling to remote mountain villages to take various cases, and Chinese
director Jia Zhangke's documentary Dong, about an artist's
journey to The Three Gorges of China and Thailand. Chinese director Gu
Changwei's Li Chun (literal title: The First Day of Spring), once
tipped for a world première at the festival, will not make it due to
longer than expected post-production process. |
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July 28, 2006 |
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Rated Category III in Hong Kong (roughly equivalent to NC-17 in the US) for several brutal fight scenes, Dog Bite Dog will be released in the city on August 17. Edison Chen plays a young Cambodian hitman being hunted by a sadistic Hong Kong cop, played by Sam Lee, who is determined to revenge his fallen colleagues killed by the hitman.
Related stories: More DOG BITE DOG Stuff (...) July 19, 2006DOG BITE DOG Official Site (Sina.com.hk) July 15, 2006DOG BITE DOG Trailer (Kaiju Shakedown) June 23, 2006 |
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July 28, 2006 |
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July 28, 2006 |
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Story of three young fighters battling a powerful gang...
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Latest Casting Update on Olivier Assayas' BOARDING GATE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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July 27, 2006 |
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According to The Hong Kong Sun, the role of the contract killer in director Olivier Assayas' Boarding Gate now goes to Carl Ng ( Set to Kill, New Police Story, Colour of the Truth) while Kelly Lin is still attached to play his wife. The film focuses on an Italian woman lives in London (Asia Argento), who has a passionate affair with a former financial big gun (Michael Madsen). She also had a second lover, a contract killer (Ng) who has to kill the big gun and the contract killer’s wife (Lin) is behind the scenes, pulling the strings. A long list of Hong Kong big names were previously associated with the role of the contract killer, like Leung Ka-Fai, Leung Chou-Wai (both named Tony), Andy Lau and Simon Yam. Leung Ka-Fai is now making My Life As a Teacher (literal) in the mainland China, while Leung Chou-Wai, Andy Lau and Simon Yam are staying in Hong Kong for other projects (Leung Chou-Wai for Confession of Pain, Andy Lau for Protégé and Simon Yam for The Iron Triangle). As for the role of the the contract killer's wife, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Q were once considered. The Hong Kong Sun reports that Ng and Lin were asked to join the cast because both of them speak fluent English. Shooting has already begun last week in France. The paper says Olivier Assayas just arrived in Hong Kong yesterday to cast more Chinese actors for a three week long filming in the city starting next month.
Relate stories: Simon Yam Turns down BOARDING GATE for To / Tsui / Lam Jigsaw Project (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive)
June 29, 2006
New Rumor:
Simon Yam and Kelly Lin Approaching Olivier Assayas BOARDING GATE
(MonkeyPeaches
Exclusive)
Andy Lau Gets
PROTÉGÉ, Heads to BOARDING GATE
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
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