News Archives
February 2007
|
|
|
News Archives |
|
|
February 2007 |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
25 Projects Backed by Hong Kong's Asia Film Financing Forum ( V ) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||
|
|
February 28, 2007 |
|||
Wee-Wee the Poop - story of a little piece of poop by Brian Tse
Brian Tse, the creator of McDull the little pig from Hong Kong, is getting ready to direct his first movie, a 3-D nomination. It tells Wee-Wee a little piece of poop, who is in love with a beautiful sausage and wants to be a sausage. With two friends he men the toilet, Wee-Wee finally makes himself look exactly like a sausage. But the girl he loves has been eaten. Giving up his dream, Wee-Wee only hopes to see his love again.
Hong Kong's Bliss Concepts Ltd is now looking for sales agents, pre-sale agents and financers.
Also from Asia Film Financing Forum: - a Japanese warrior's spiritual journey in the ancient India, by Bharatbala (India).- a young man's one night spends with a teenage girl ends in a tragedy, by Ho Yuhang (Malaysia). - a man returns to his father old farm with his young girlfriend and unavoidable faces his haunting past, by Rachel Ward (Australia). - three stories of how members of a Singapore family has to face the drastically changing world around them, by Kelvin Tong (Singapore). - a heart-broken man is asked by the spirit of a little girl find out the truth behind her death, by Noh Dong-seok (South Korea).
The Good, the Bad and the Weird - in the Japanese occupied northeast China, three men and a whole batch of others are greedy on a treasure map, by Kim Jee-Woon (South Korea).- a suicidal South Korean man makes a trip to the north and gets very close to the home he has not seen for decades, by E J-yong (South Korea). - a biopic of Li Xianglan, a Japanese woman became a movie star in the Japanese occupied Chinese soil, by Kore-Eda Hirokazu (Japan). - story of four men and women in the city of angel, by Nghiem-Minh Nguyen-Vo (Vietnam / France). - a paralyzed man, his male nurse and the man's father, by Anocha Suwichakornpong (Thailand). - a brother and a sister decide to look for a woman appears in an audio tape left by their father, by Kim Young-nam (South Korea). (tentative title) - both a father and a son has a unspeakable secret of his own, by Kurosawa Kiyoshi (Japan).
Photos: HAF. |
||||
|
|
|
|
25 Projects Backed by Hong Kong's Asia Film Financing Forum ( IV ) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||||
|
|
February 27, 2007 |
|||||||
Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Red Rose and White Rose - story of two women in the world of men by Mable CheungSince the mid-1980s, Mabel Cheung has made many beautiful movies - Illegal Immigrant, An Autumn’s Tale, The Soong Sisters, City of Glass and Beijing Rocks. Now she comes out an idea of telling a story about two women inspired by Roman of Three Kingdom, a classic Chinese historical novel. Sun Yan, arranged by his warlord brother to marry another warlord and Wang Shuang, a maid of Sun Yan and secretly spying for Sun’s brother. The script was written by Alex Law, Cheung’s long-time partner for over twenty years. Law and Cheung's Hong Kong-based Electric Shadows Productions Ltd. is now looking for pre-sale agents and financers.
Shuang Xiong Hui - tale of two restless man and women in 1950s Hong Kong by Jia ZhangkeHe is one of the frontrunner among China’s Sixth Generation Directors. From Xiao Wu, Platform, Unknown Pleasures, World to his recent Venice Golden Lion winner Still Life, Jia Zhangke has never stopped refreshing us. While getting ready to make The Age of Tattoo, Jia plans to do another one he wrote, Shuang Xiong Hui (Meeting of Two Heroes). In 1950s Hong Kong, a Nationalist army officer arrived in the city after the mainland China fell to the communist rule. He meets a beautiful flight attendant, who has seen the whole world and many people in exiled in Hong Kong. Jointly produced by Hong Kong's Xstream Pictures and Japan's Office Kitano, this project now needs co-producers, sales agents, pre-sale agents and financers.
Tea of the Desert - a child's birth story in a desert by Lü YueHe was the cinematographer of On the Hunting Ground, To Live, Shanghai Triad and Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl, and the director of Mr. Zhao and The Foliage. Lü Yue’s third directorial project will be a fiction inspired by real stories. In early 1950, the first baby is about to birth among tens thousands of soldiers station in the middle of a desert. But the baby wont’ come out and without a vehicle, people decide to carry her to the nearest hospital over a hundred miles away. The screenplay was penned by Li Qiang (Peacock, All the Invisible Children – Song Song and Little Cat, The Postmodern Life of My Aunt). Beijing-based Cheerland Entertainment is now looking for co-producers and financers for the project.
Photos: Sina.com, ? |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
25 Projects Backed by Hong Kong's Asia Film Financing Forum ( III ) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||||
|
|
February 26, 2007 |
|||||||
Now Showing - a couple's seamless act at home by Pang Ho-Cheung
From the director of You Shoot, I Shoot, Men Suddenly in Black, Beyond Our Ken, A.V. and Isabella. In Now Showing, written by Hong Kong director Pang Ho-Cheung and Wan Chi-Man, a TV soap star wants to “protect” his privacy from his Pilipino maid. He and his wife play a couple completely from the real them, day by day and night by night. Slowly, the wife rediscovers her acting talent while getting very close to the maid.
Hong Kong's Making Film Productions Ltd. now seeking co-producers, pre-sale agents and financers.
One Night in Beijing - a decision has to be made by Zhang Yuan
Zhang Yuan (Beijing Bastards, East Palace West Palace, Seventeen Years, Little Red Flowers) is getting ready to tell another Beijing story, scripted by Zhang Yuan and Li Xiaofeng. One Night in Beijing, a game designer is about to show his work to a Korean investor but his girlfriend just tells him she will leave him forever the next morning. Men and women are all having their own interesting stories in just one night in Beijing.
Produced by Beijing Century Good-tidings Productions, this project welcomes co-producers, sales agents, pre-sale agents and financers.
Palace Days - how a little girl becomes a monarch by Xu Jinglei
Yong Chinese actress and director (My Father and I, A Letter from an Unknown Woman, Dreams May Come) is ambitiously planning tell the story in the flourish Tang Dynasty, written by author Wang Shuo. In Palace Days, produced, directed and starred by Xu, a young concubine of the aging emperor, a prince and a princess have become the best friends. No one would expect that many years later, one of them becomes the only female monarch of China.
Co- sales agents, pre-sale agents and financers are in need for the project pushed by Xu's Beijing-based Kaila Pictures Co. Ltd.
Related stories: Xu Jinglei to Shoot DAYS IN THE PALACE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 31, 2007Xu Jinglei's DAYS WITHIN THE PALACE Gets Ready for Production (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 19, 2005 Woman Director Xu Jinglei Tells Tale of China's Only Female Emperor with DAYS WITHIN THE PALACE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) May 26, 2005
Photos: Sina.com, ? |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
THE BLOOD OF YINGZHOU DISTRICT Wins an Oscar (...) | |||
|
|
February 25, 2007 |
|||
Produced by Ruby Yang and Thomas Lonnon's The Blood of Yingzhou District has become the winner of category "Documentary Short" of this year;s Acedemy Awards. It follows the story of a little boy named Gao Jun, from Yingzhou, Anhui Province of eastern China. He is one of 75,000 so-called AIDS Orphans now living in China. His parents died after being infected with HIV through blood seller. After he was rejected by his relatives, he was sent to live with two foster parents, who were also HIV positive. A year after, his HIV symptom appeared and he had to take medication made for adults because medication for children was hard to find in China. His foster parents could not afford his medical expense and he had to move to a another foster family.
Related Story: The Oscar Nomination (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 23, 2007 |
||||
|
|
|
|
25 Projects Backed by Hong Kong's Asia Film Financing Forum ( II ) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||||
|
|
February 25, 2007 |
|||||||
The Journal of Moonlight and Morning - a girl serial killer's story by Mak Yan-Yan
Hong Kong director Mak Yan-Yan, who has made such mysterious films like GeGe, Butterfly and August Story. Now preparing Yunnan New Film Project, she has prepared another one. The story is about a 16 year old girl, who by day is a school girl and by night is a prostitute killing her clients one after the other. She is finally caught and the police discovers she is something other than a girl. The script was penned by Amos Why, based on the original story written by Zita Law
Hong Kon g-based Dragonfly J Co. Ltd, is behind the project, which is looking for co-producers, sales agents, pre-sale agents and financers.
The Last Hour - A Palestinian Man's Redemption by Lou Ye
His “underground movie” Suzhou River made him famous in the world and workless in China and his Purple Butterfly entered the Cannes competition. Now, for showing the “unapproved” Summer Palace in Cannes last year, he and Nai An are banned from making movie by the Chinese government until 2011. In the rest of the world, where Chinese law does not apply, he will make The Last Hour (Chinese title: Ameena), based on Palestinian writer Mazen A.I. Sa’adeh’s story. Just ends his decade in a Israeli prison, Ahmad, a Palestinian man returns to his wife Ameena. Impotent, he refuses to receive medical treatment until two months later his wife walks away. He decide to wait for his wife’s return and meets himself from the past.
Beijing-based Dream Factory is looking for co-producers, sales agents, pre-sale agents and financers.
The Messenger - two stories about two persons' adventure in love by Chang Tso-Chi
Have made a dozen films, like Temptation of a Monk, Autumn Moon and The Goddess of 1967, Hong Kong director Clara Law has planned to tell a woman and a man’s love in two stories, written by Law and Eddie Fong. In one story, Mike, a detective tries to wake up Lynn, a girl who can see the future and stays in coma; and in another story, Lynn returns to her war-torn city to retrieve something very important and meets Mike, a soldier of the enemy force.
Australia-based Lunar Films Pty. Ltd. is looking for sales agents, pre-sale agents and financers.
Photos: Yunnan New Film Project, Sohu.com, ?. |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
25 Projects Backed by Hong Kong's Asia Film Financing Forum ( I ) (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||||
|
|
February 24, 2007 |
|||||||
Bema's Tear - a Tibetan fairytale by Francis Ng
Hong Kong regular actor Francis Ng is getting ready to direct his third movie, titled Bema's Tear, which will tell a fantasy story written by Yang Yee-Shan (From the Queen to the Chief Executive). It tells a 15 year old Tibetan nun setting up a journey to restore an artifact, which has been protecting her little island for 99 years.
The project is produced by Beijing-based Golden Skyway Media Co. Ltd., which is looking for co-producers, sales agents, pre-sale agents and financers.
Blown by the Typhoon - little people's unsettling life by Ying Liang
Young and very young mainland Chinese director Ying Liang will be working on his second full-length feature film Blown by the Typhoon. His full-length directorial début Taking Father Home, about a teenage boy's six year journey of searching for his runaway dad, was a favorite among several international festivals. Penned by Ying Liang and and producer Peng Shan, Blown by the Typhoon tells the unsettling life of a prevented young girl, who is thinking about an abortion, her jobless boyfriend, who is sharing the same lottery dream with the girl's father, who is also jobless, and many other little people who are planning their next step to change their life forever.
The project is produced by Shanghai-based 90 Minutes Film Studio which is looking for co-producers, sales agents and financers.
The Dream - seven stories of the future meeting the past in the present by Chang Tso-Chi
Taiwan director Chang Tso-Chi’s sixth film will be called The Dream. In each of seven mini stories written by Chang, someone’s “past” meets his or her “future” at the “present”. The illumination of these moments will be the focus of the film. Chang’s previous works including Midnight Revenge, Ah Chung, Darkness and Light, The Best of Times, The Butterfly.
Through his own Chang Tso Chi Film Studio, he is looking for co-producers, sales agents and financers.
Photos: Information Times, Sina.com, Tianjin Daily. |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
Jay Chou Directs for the First Time with AN UNSPEAKABLE SECRET (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 22, 2007 |
||||
In recent years, Taiwan-born pop diva singer Jay Chou has diverted part of his time to movie acting. He played the lead role in the big screen edition of Initial D and portrayed the middle prince in Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower. Soon, he will star in Slam Dunk, a basketball related thriller. Now Chou is making his film directorial début, An Unspeakable Secret (literal title), which tells a love story of two high school teenagers, with Chou as the lead. Guey Lun-Mei is playing the female lead and Anthony Wong, who played Chou’s “father” in Initial D, is playing his “father” again. While shooting at the school he once studied at, Chou denied that the story was based on his own experience. He said the movie tells a story, which is more exciting than his first love experience and he would like to tell people to cherish the best things around us, including love.
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
World's Most Celebrated Directors to Celebrate 60 Years of Cannes Film Festival (Le Festival International du Film) |
||||
|
|
February 21, 2007 |
||||
35 world's most well-known directors will make a film together to celebrate the 60th birthday of Cannes Film Festival. The film will consist of 33 short clips to reflect the filmmakers' "current state of mind as inspired by the motion-picture theatre' and provide "a family stroll back through memories, dreams, bursts of laughter, cries of alarm and emotion."
The directors are: Theo Angelopoulos, Olivier Assayas, Bille August, Jane Campion, Youssef Chahine, Chen Kaige, Michael Cimino, Ethan & Joel Coen, David Cronenberg, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Manoel De Oliveira, Raymond Depardon, Atom Egoyan, Amos Gitai, Hou Hsiao Hsien, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, Aki Kaurismaki, Abbas Kiarostami, Takeshi Kitano, Andrei Konchalovsky, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, Nanni Moretti, Roman Polanski, Raoul Ruiz, Walter Salles, Elia Suleiman, Tsai Ming Liang, Gus Van Sant, Lars Von Trier, Wim Wenders, Wong Kar Wai and Zhang Yimou.
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER Got Two SATURN Nominations (SaturnAwards.org) |
||||
|
|
February 20, 2007 |
||||
BEST
INTERNATIONAL FILM Fearless (Rogue / Focus) The Host (Magnolia Pictures) Letters From Iwo Jima (Warner Bros.) Pan’s Labyrinth (Picturehouse) BEST COSTUME Joan Bergin (The Prestige) (Buena Vista) Yee Chung-Man (Curse of the Golden Flower) (Sony Classics) Penny Rose (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest) (Buena Vista) Judianna Makovsky (X-Men: The Last Stand) (20th Century Fox) Gilly Martin (Flyboys) (MGM) Sammy Sheldon (V For Vendetta) (Warner Bros.)
(Thanks to "wweq ewrqre")
Official SATURN Awards website
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER Won for Its Art Direction and Costume Design (...) |
|||
|
|
February 19, 2007 |
|||
Last week, American Art Directors Guild decided to present the annual award for Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film to Curse of the Golden Flower's art director Huo Tingxiao, the man who were also involved in the production of Zhang Yimous's Hero and House of the Flying Dagger.
This week, American Costume Designers Guild picked Yee Chung-Man's work in Curse of the Golden Flower as last year's best in a period film. Congratulations to Yee, who has worked in over a dozen Hong Kong productions, like Peace Hotel, Tokyo Raider, Golden Chicken, Perhaps Love and the Ci Ma remake (aka. This Violent Land). This award may help him a little bit at the coming Oscar.
Art Directors Guild official website Costume Designers Guild official website
Art directors honor trio - Top prizes go to 'Flower,' 'Labyrinth,' 'Casino', by Laura Repstad, Variety Costume designers pick 'Flower' - 'Labyrinth,' 'Queen' win guild awards, by Eric Stitt, Variety
|
||||
|
|
|
|
Trailer for Hou Hsiao-Hsien's BALLON ROUGE (aka. ORSAY) (...) |
||||
|
|
February 18, 2007 |
||||
A trailer for Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first non-Asian project Ballon Rouge is available in QuickTime format, thanks to KFC Cinema and Twitch. Inspired by 1956 French film Le Ballon Rouge, the film is about a little boy and his baby-sitter, a Chinese student, inhabit the same imaginary world and through their adventures they are followed by a strange red balloon. The boy's mother is played by Juliette Binoche.
Related Stories: Hou Hsiao-Hsien Does ORSAY in Paris (...) August 7, 2006 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
February 17, 2007 |
||||
The jury of this year's Berlin Film Festival has decided to name Chinese film Tuya's Marriage the Best Picture. Set in the grassland of China's Inner Mongolia, the film tells a story of a herdswoman, Tuya announces she will divorce her handicapped husband and marriage a man who will support her ex-husband as well.
Mei , a US / Taiwan co-production shared the Short Film Silver Bear with French film Decroche. The Prizes of the Ecumenical Jury were also given to Tuya's Marriage (Competition) and another Chinese production, Getting Home (Panorama). Taiwan's Spider Lilies (Ci Qing / Tattoo) won the Golden Teddy Award for best feature, which honor homosexual content films screened during the festival.
Tuya's Marriage review, by Derek Elley, Variety
Related Stories: China's 'Tuya's Marriage' wins best film award at Berlin fest, AFP Chinese film "Tuya's Marriage" wins in Berlin, Reuters Berlinale coverage, indieWIRE Short Film Awards have been given out at the Berlin International FIlm Festival, Cinema Without Borders Butchered LOST IN BEIJING Greenlighted by Chinese Censors (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) February 6, 2007LOST IN BEIJING Got Berlin Ticket, but Stranded in Beijing (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) February 4, 2007GETTING HOME Going to Berlin Too (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 24, 2007APPLE Is up to the Berlin Bear Too (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 23, 2007TUYA'S MARRIAGE to Be Premièred At Berlin Fest (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 21, 2007ISABELLA Captured a Silver Bear at Berlinale (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) February 18, 2006Chinese Film PEACOCK Won The Jury Grand Prix at the Berlin Film Festival (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) February 19, 2005 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
February 17, 2007 |
||||||||||||||||
The videos:
Related Stories: More Photos from Feng Xiaogang's THE ASSEMBLY (...) January 20, 2007THE ASSEMBLY Location Video (Sina.com.cn) November 28, 2006Props Burnt Before Feng Xiaogang Launches His War for THE ASSEMBLY (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) November 27, 2006Pictures from a Muddy Location of Feng Xiaogang's THE ASSEMBLY (Sina.com.cn) November 20, 2006Spy Photos from the Set of Feng Xiaogang's THE ASSEMBLY (...) October 31, 2006More Detail on Feng Xiaogang's THE ASSEMBLY CALL (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 26, 2006Feng Xiaogang to Blow an ASSEMBLY CALL for a WWII Epic (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) August 10, 2006 |
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
February 17, 2007 |
||||
Oscar winner Tim Yip designed the costumes for the gang drama. Loosely based on John Woo's Bullet in the Head and produced by John Woo, Blood Brothers tells three best friends travel to 1930s Shanghai for better life. While making fortune and respect, they choose different paths and eventually have to trun against each other. The cast includes Daniel Wu, Chang Chen, Shu Qi, Liu Ye, Sun Honglei, Tony Yang and Li Xiaolu.
Related Stories: Fortissimo to Sell BLOOD BROTHERS outside of Asia (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) February 2, 2007Fortissimo bonds with 'Blood Brothers' (Variety) February 1, 2007 John Woo Produced BLOOD, BROTHERS Meets the Press (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) November 13, 2006BLOOD BROTHERS Poster (Twitch) November 15, 2006John Returns Home to Produce GATE TO HEAVEN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) May 24, 2006 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
Heavy-Weight Cast List of John Woo's THE BATTLE RED CLIFF Announced (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 16, 2007 |
||||
Producer and president of China Film Group announced the list of the major cast member of John Woo's upcoming US$75 million historical drama The Battle of Red Cliff yesterday.
Chow Yun-Fat - as Zhou Yu, the top general of warlord Sun Quan. Leung Chiu-Wai - as Zhuge Liang, the top adviser of warlord Liu Bei. Lin Chi-ling - as the younger Qiao sister, wife of Zhou Yu. Zhang Fengyi (The Emperor and the Assassin, Farewell My Concubine) - as warlord Cao Cao, who attempted to defeat Sun Quan and Liu Bei. Chang Chen (The Go Master, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) - as warlord Sun Quan. You Yong - as warlord Liu Bei. Hu Jun (Getting Home, Lan Yu) - as Zhao Yun, a general of Liu Bei. Zhao Wei (The Post-Modern Life of My Aunt, Warriors of Heaven and Earth) - as Sun Shangxiang, sister of Sun Quan and future wife of Liu Bei.
Other cast members include Tong Dawei (Lost in Beijing), Kou Si, Sun Chun and Song Jia.
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
Opening This Week: February 10 - 16 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||||||||
|
|
February 16, 2007 |
||||||||||
A drug lord decides to tell his protégé secret of the trade, two sisters are assigned to steal back a pearl, and a low-level god has to fulfill a promises he made thirty years ago...
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
Cast Choice for Lu Chuan's NANJING! NANJING! (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 15, 2007 |
||||
Director Lu Chuan (Kekexilin: The Mountain Patrol, The Missing Gun) has revealed his thought about who would star in his Nanjing/Nanking Massacre project, Nanjing! Nanjing! (literal title). The leads are a Chinese soldier (to be played by a star from the mainland China or Hong Kong), a Japanese soldier (to be played by a star from Japan) and a Chinese woman in love with the Chinese soldier (Maggie Cheung). Andy Lau will play a supporting role. Other possible cast choices include Ge You and Li Bingbing. Shooting will start by March although the Chinese government has yet grant a shooting permission.
Nanjing/Nanking Massacre is also known as The Rape of Nanking. In December 1937, the Japanese troops took Nanjing/Nanking, then capital of China, by force and started killing, raping and looting Nanjing residents, refugees and POWs. It is believed that the death toll of the massacre ranges between 200,000 and 400,000. Crimes against civilians and POWs were very common among Japanese soldiers during WWII and The Rape of Nanking was the worst incident of it kinds. The right-wing political activists and politicians in Japan are still denying or partially denying the existence of such crimes.
Related Stories: Three Nanjing Massacre Projects Running in Parallel (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) December 14, 2006RAPE OF NANKING Adaptation Reassumed (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) August 15, 2006Stanley Tong Wants to Tell His Nanjing Massacre Story with THE DIARY (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) May 21, 2006Hollywood to Tell a Rape of Nanking Story (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 1, 2006 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
February 14, 2007 |
|||
Review 1, by Justin Deimen, movieXclusive.com Review 2, Twitch
Related Stories: PROTÉGÉ Stills (G-Film.com) January 27, 2007Jackie Chan Needs Protégés for his Ten Projects (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) December 28, 2006PROTÉGÉ Stills - Daniel Wu as the Protégé (Sina.com) December 26, 2006PROTÉGÉ Stills (Sina.com) December 22, 2006 PROTÉGÉ Stuffs (...) December 10, 2006 PROTÉGÉ Teaser Posters (Sina.com.cn) November 20, 2006
PROTÉGÉ Teaser Trailer
(Film Unlimited)
October 20, 2006
PROTÉGÉ Production Photos
(Oriental Daily / The Hong Kong Sun)
PROTÉGÉ Press Conference Photos from
Hong Kong
(Sina.com.cn / OriSun.com)
PROTÉGÉ Plot Summary
(MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) Andy Lau as a Drug Lord in PROTÉGÉ (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 12, 2006Andy Lau Gets PROTÉGÉ Heads to BOARDING GATE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June 18, 2006Peter Chan Talks Future Projects - PROTÉGÉ BLOOD BROTHER Remake and More of THE EYE Series (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) April 13, 2006 |
||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
February 13, 2007 |
|||||||||||||
Related stories: Emperor rises to take China's 'Sun' (Variety Asia Online) SUN RISES AGAIN Promotional Stills (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 29, 2006Jiang Wen's SUN RISES AGAIN in Production (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 1, 2006Jiang Wen's WHERE THE SUN RISES to Be Filmed in Shangri-La (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 30, 2005 Wong Chau-Sang Joints THE PAINTED VEIL Remake and Jiang Wen's THE SUN RISES AGAIN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) August 13, 2005 Actor Director Jiang Wen Plans His Third Directorial Effort - THE SUN RISES AGAIN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June 30, 2005 |
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
China Okayed the Content of Jiang Wen's THE SUN ALSO RISES (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
February 12, 2007 |
|||||||||||||||
Hong Kong-based Emperor Motion Pictures (EMP) announces that the Chinese film regulator has approved the content of the long-awaited The Sun Also Rises, written and directed by mainland Chinese actor director Jiang Wen. However, to pave the way for the film’s planned premi鑢e at the coming Cannes Film Festival this May, a final print has to be submitted to a committee for being censored, which is expected to happen in April. This is the tricky part because the mind of the majority members of the committee stays in half century ago. They would demand to cut scenes and sounds they do not like or do not understand.
This highly stylish film, which consisted with four parts about four forms of passion – madness, sex, dreams and violence. The cast includes veteran Joan Chen, Hong Kong’s Anthony Wong, Jackie Chan’s Son Jaycee Chan, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Godfather of China Cui Jian, young actress Zhou Yun and director Jiang Wen. EMP is praising The Sun Also Rises a film with “a beautiful epical style, an story of unbelievable attraction of suspense and Jiang Wen’s unique creativity.” Production of the US$10 million drama began at the end of 2005 and wrapped just a while ago. A French-based Duran Duboi is doing the short but costly CG shots Jiang has created in his mind. This music is handled by Joe Hisaishi, a long-time collaborator of amine master Hayao Miyazaki. The cinematography was done by Zhao Fei and Lee Pin-Bing.
EMP, which acquired the film’s sales rights when it was already in production, claimed it “had been sought after by international sellers including France's Rezo Films, EuropaCorp and Wild Bunch; Japan's Movie Eye Entertainment; Hong Kong's Fortissimo; as well as the U.S.' Focus Features and specialty arms of several studios.”
Jiang Wen’s previous directorial works, In the Heat of the Sun and Devils on the Doorstep are both Cannes winners. In the Heat of the Sun was made a box-office miracle twelve years ago in China. Devils on the Doorstep, completed in 2000, was banned in China until a chopped version was allowed to be released on video last year. As for The Sun Also Rises, EMP has planned to release it globally this summer. If everything goes well, China would be included.
Related stories: Emperor rises to take China's 'Sun' (Variety Asia Online) SUN RISES AGAIN Promotional Stills (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 29, 2006Jiang Wen's SUN RISES AGAIN in Production (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 1, 2006Jiang Wen's WHERE THE SUN RISES to Be Filmed in Shangri-La (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 30, 2005 Wong Chau-Sang Joints THE PAINTED VEIL Remake and Jiang Wen's THE SUN RISES AGAIN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) August 13, 2005 Actor Director Jiang Wen Plans His Third Directorial Effort - THE SUN RISES AGAIN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) June 30, 2005 |
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
Ang Lee to Do A LITTLE GAME, According to Variety (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 11, 2007 |
||||
Variety reports Ang Lee will be directing A Little Game, which will be produced by James Schamus, how has been involved in every film Ang Lee directed, including Lust, Caution. However, a personal assistant of Ang Lee told Shanghai paper Oriental Morning Post that he had never heard of the project and Lee's effort was on the post-production of Lust, Caution..
According to the Variety article, A Little Game will be a romantic comedy talking about "a happily engaged Brooklyn couple who decide to play an experiment on their friends." They spread a rumor among their friends, claiming they have broken up, to find out what their they really think of their coupling. The shooting was halted just weeks before the camera began to roll in early October over the concern of the script quality. The original director Gabriele Muccino was removed but Schamus resurrected the project. Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz, who originally set to play the leads, are expected to resume their roles. The Variety report seems came straight from Schamus' mouth. I am not sure why Ag Lee's assistant denied Lee's involvement. Probably, Lee has not say yes.
(Thanks to "Mary"'s contribution.)
Related story: Focus' Schamus brings back "Game" - Lee attached to direct project , by Michael Fleming and Diane Garrett, Variety
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
Status Update on John Woo's RED CLIFF (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 10, 2007 |
||||
Last week in Beijing, John Woo said the production of his ambitious The Battle of Red Cliff would begin by the end of March and would last about six months. The current script he has is the ninth but not the final. Woo said the story was more based on the real history and less on Romance of the Three Kingdom, the famous historical novel. So far only Chow Yun-Fat, Chang Chen and Lin Chi-Ling are signed. Other actors, include Leung Chiu-Wai, Chen Baoguo, Collin Chou, Zhang Jingchu, Zhang Feng Yi and Zhao Wei are still negotiating with Woo. Ken Watanabe may have already detached frpm the project. The Chinese title has already been changed to Red Cliff. Not sure about whether the English title has been changed. Set construction at a reservoir in China's Hebei Province is near complete. About 2000 vessels will be used to shot the battle scene. A 3-D model of the reservoir and the mountains surrounding the reservoir has been given to an unnamed effect company. The reservoir will be transformed to the Long River (Yangtze River) and the mountains will be made more southern (the location is hundred miles north of where the real battle took place.) Five US-based computer effect companied have been contracted to do the CG jobs. Woo said he would take Troy as the benchmark for doing CG shots of the movie (Why not The Lord of the Rings?) The budget has soared from US$50 million to US$70 million. The movie will be cut to two editions - the two-part Asian Edition and the non-Asian edition. Does this mean the non-Asian edition will be shorter?
Update: Variety reports the Asian version will be two movies, each will be two hour long, and the the non-Asian version will be a single two and a half hours movie. Click here for the Variety article.
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
February 9, 2007 |
||||||||||
A housewife meets his husband's dead ex-love, a divorced man finds a cell phone which can bring him romances one after the other, and a jobless PhD graduate fall in love with his instructor...
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
STILL LIFE Kicked out of HK Awards for being Shown in the "Wrong" Format (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 8, 2007 |
||||
Bad news for Chinese director Jia Zhangke! His Venice Golden Lion winner, Still Life, has been removed from the nomination list of the upcoming 26th Hong Kong Film Awards. Still Life was once nominated to compete for the Best Asian Film Award, along with Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles from China, Death Note from Japan, Crazy Stone from China and The Host from South Korea, but because the film was shown in Hong Kong digitally, rather than from a projector running a 35mm film (mandatory for the awards), it has been replaced by Me Not Stupid 2 from Singapore. This US$750,000 film was shot with a digital camera and the digital version shown in Hong Kong was the same one made the film a Venice winner. Gordon Chan, director and vice-chairman of the awards, told Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post that they made the decision after a complain was filed against Still Life. Chan said they insisted only movies shown with 35mm file were eligible for the awards to protect movies. He was aware there had been more and more movies shot digital but they were not ready to include these them. Zhou Qiang, one the producers of Still Life, was very upset by the news. He said nobody bothered to tell him the film was nominated and nobody bothered to tell the film was un-nominated either. Still Life was shown in the mainland China with film projectors because all digital projects were booked for Curse of the Golden Flower at the time of release. Related stories: The 26th Hong Kong Film Awards Nominees (Hong Kong Film Awards) February 1, 2007Opening This Week: December 9 - 15 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) December 15, 2006Jia Zhangke's STILL LIFE Welcomed at Toronto Fest (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 18, 2006STILL LIFE Joins Toronto Festival (Toronto International Film Festival) September 12, 2006Jia Zhangke's STILL LIFE Captures Venice Lion (...) September 9, 2006Jia Zhangke's SAN XIA HAO REN Makes Last Minute Joining of Venice Competition (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) September 4, 2006THE BANQUET Poster for Venezia 2006 (Media Asia) August 19, 2006 Director Jia Zhangke Is Running Three Projects (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) February 27, 2006 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON: Teaser Post and Character Design Sketches (Xiao Pang's Blog) |
||||||||||
|
|
February 7, 2007 |
||||||||||
Loosely based on part of classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this US$25 million Chinese-Korean co-production, will focus on Zhao Yun (also known as Zhao Zilong), a relatively minor character in the novel. The story is about Zhao Yun (Andy Lau) making the last stand against the invading army from Wei, which is about to take the kingdom of Shu. A series of flashbacks will chronicle Zhao Yun’s life story. The cast also includes Sammo Hung and Maggie Q. Shooting will start soon near China’s northwestern desert city of Dunhuang.
Related stories: Plot Update on Andy Lau's THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) October 18, 2006THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON in Pre-Production (...) October 15, 2006Andy Lau to Star in Two Period Films - STRAT蒅E and ZHAO ZILONG (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 2, 2005 |
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
Butchered LOST IN BEIJING Greenlighted by Chinese Censors (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 6, 2007 |
||||
Chinese media report Lost in Beijing has finally got a release certificate from China’s censorship authority, after being submitted for the fifth time. As it has already been selected to compete for this year’s Golden Bear, this certificate is vital for legally showing the film anywhere around the world, according to the law of China. About 15 minutes have deleted from the original cut and the ending has been changed. The scenes and subplots being removed include: a country girl traveling to Beijing for work and becoming a prostitute, Leung Ka-Wai’s character and a foot massage house owner having sex with a prostitute. The censorship committee, consisted with people either old in age and/or old in mind, initially rejected the film, which was targeted at audiences with the ages from 18 to 30. Director Li Yu burst into tears once she knew committee’s decision. Producer Fang Li said here was a “generation gap” between Li Yu, a young director and members of the committees, many of them were “experienced veteran filmmakers”.
Lost in Beijing (original Chinese title were changed to “Apple”, out of the committee’s objection) tells a story of two couples. One couple is a wealthy foot massage house owner and his wife; and the other couple is Apple and his husband, traveling to Beijing for work.. They bump into each other after an unexpected incident.
Related story: APPLE Is up to the Berlin Bear Too (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 23, 2007 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
February 6, 2007 |
|||
According to "one of the most respected scoopers" of Mania.com has been in negotiation for joining the upcoming second sequel to The Mummy and the tile for it has been picked as " Mummy: Curse of the Dragon". The plot for the sequel is now a closely guided secret but the scooper says it involves Brendan Fraiser's character, his son ad a brand new Mummy (Li?) Rachel Weisz is also expected to reprise her role.The first Mummy (a loose remake of a 1932 same title black and white short actually) is brainless and funny and the second Mummy is more brainless and less funny. What about the third Mummy? Jet Li will steal the show because he is a true fighter. He triumphantly buried the franchise of Lethal Weapon by outshining everyone in the fourth installment of it. Will he do the same for Mummy?
Original report by Mania.com. (Thanks to Jet Liang.) |
||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
February 5, 2007 |
|||||||||
Based on a novel titled The Silver Value, by Cheng Yi, The Silver Empire is a US$10 million historical drama centers on a 19th Century family of banking merchants in China's Shanxi Province. The cast includes Aaron Kowk (After This Our Exile, Divergence), Hao Lei (Summer Palace), Zhang Tielin and Jennifer Tilly. The film is jointly produced by Taiwanese producer Peggy Chiao’s (Blue Gate Crossing, Beijing Bicycle) Arc Light Films and Crystal Clear Pictures set up by Chiao and Christina Yao, the film’s director. It is believed that Taiwanese high-tech tycoon Terry Guo paid much of the $10 million. The script is penned Yao Shuhua, a California-based theater professor. Yee Chung-Man (Curse of the Golden Flower, Comrades, Almost A Love Story, A Terra Cotta Warrior) served as the art director and Anthony Pun (Rob-B-Hood, Heroic Due) was the cinematographer.
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
LOST IN BEIJING Got Berlin Ticket, but Stranded in Beijing (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 4, 2007 |
||||
Lost In Beijing (Chinese title: Apple), a Berlin Film Festival contender is now in big trouble. The Chinese censors have refuse to grand the film a release certificate unless the filmmakers agree to make 15 cuts. The censors claim several shots are suspecting of pro-sex and pro-gambling but the makers believe making those shots are nothing but some stylish choice. Producer Fang Li said tomorrow he would submit the film to the censors for the fifth time. He said several cuts had already been made and it looked like the film had adopted another style. Fang Li said Lost in Beijing was made for the young people. Therefore it would not be a surprise that the censors, either old in age or old in mind, could no understand what the film talking about. The Chinese film authority does not allow any Chinese movie to be shown anywhere in the world without a release certificate. Last year, Lou Ye's Summer Palace was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival without a release certificate. Subsequently both Lou Ye and producer Nai An was banned from making movies four five years. Since the 1990s, dozens of Chinese movies were shown at various international festivals with release certificates issued by the Chinese government. Almost all of them are still banned in China.
Related story: APPLE Is up to the Berlin Bear Too (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) January 23, 2007 |
|||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
February 3, 2007 |
|||||||||
Poster designers from the Chinese mainland are definitely improving their craft. These poster prove it. The Matrimony's Chinese title literally means "The Ghost inside the Heart" or "Something Unspeakable inside the Heart"). The time was the 1930s and the place was Shanghai. A house wife, played by Rene Liu, was married to a photographer through an arranged marriage. Her husband, played by Leon Lai, ignored her and spent most of this time inside the penthouse. The house wife sneaked in the penthouse and found the ghost of a young woman. She was her husband's ex-lover (Fan Bingbing) and was killed in a car accident the day she would accept his proposal. The dead woman told the housewife how to get her husband's attention and it really worked...
Probably for getting the Chinese censors' approval, the "ghost" story was actually wrote by a radio host, who told her listeners the story to imply her boyfriend, the photographer, to propose to her. The photographer got her message and asked her to meet at the place, where the photographer's "girlfriend" from the story was "killed".
The film is produced by Beijing-based Huayi Bros and Taiwan's Nan Fang Film Productions. The script was written by Zhang Jialu, Yeung Sin-Ling (Inner Senses) and director Teng Huatao.
|
||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
Fortissimo to Sell BLOOD BROTHERS outside of Asia (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
|||
|
|
February 2, 2007 |
|||
Fortissimo Films announced it had acquired the world-wide rights (excluding Asia) to Blood Brothers (The Chinese literal title, Gate to Heaven, sounds much better! Please do not confuse it with martial-art director Chang Cheh's Ci Ma and a remake currently being directed by Peter Chan. Both movies are also called "Blood Brothers" sometimes.) A loose remake of John Woo's highly praised but box-office failure, Bullet in the Head, Blood Brothers is produced by Woo and directed by Alexi Tan. Set in the 1930s Shanghai (favorite decade and favorite city for countless Chinese language productions and many productions in other languages), the story tells innocent young men, played by Liu Ye, Daniel Wu and Tony Yang's path of losing innocent in the city of violence and betrayal. The cast also include Shu Qi as the crime boss' mistress, Chang Chen as a charismatic enforcer, Li Xiaolu as another young girl and Sun Honglei as the crime boss. Now in post-production, this movie will be released in Asia starting this summer. Fortissimo will begin selling rights at this year's European Film Market during the upcoming Berlin Film Festival. Blood Brothers is John Woo's first shot of returning to his Chinese root. He is currently preparing the mega-budget historical war drama The Battled of Red Cliff, which is expected to go into production next month in China.
Tile image: an early promotional still. From left to right - Tony Yang, Liu Ye, Sun Honglei, Daniel Wu and Chang Chen.
Related Story: Fortissimo bonds with 'Blood Brothers' (Variety) February 1, 2007 John Woo Produced BLOOD, BROTHERS Meets the Press (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) November 13, 2006BLOOD BROTHERS Poster (Twitch) November 15, 2006John Returns Home to Produce GATE TO HEAVEN (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) May 24, 2006 |
||||
|
|
|
|
Opening This Week: January 27 - February 2 (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) |
||||
|
|
February 2, 2007 |
||||
To please a millionaire, a TV host starts playing mahjong with him...
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
The 26th Hong Kong Film Awards Nominees (Hong Kong Film Awards) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
February 1, 2007 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Zhang Yimou's lavish period drama Curse of the Golden Flower, about a royal family's self-destruction, received 14 nominations in 13 categories, Patrick Tam's Hong Kong made After This Our Exile, about a trashy dad and his abused son, received 10 nominations, and Jacob Cheung's historical war epic A Battle of Wit received 9 nomination. Johnnie To is mentioned twice for director Exiled and Election 2: Harmony Is Virtue. Isabella Leong is nominated for both Best Actress (Isabella) and Best Supporting Actress (Diary). Patrick Tam is nodded by writing, directing, art directing and editing After This Our Exile. Jay Chou is honored for playing a supporting role in Curse of the Golden Flower, and composing / singing the theme songs for Curse of the Golden Flower and Fearless. Rene Liu is nominated for playing the female lead and singing a song for Happy Birthday. Man Lim-Cheung gets double nominations for his production designs for Isabella and production / costume designs for Confession of Pain. Tim Yip's costume and production designs for The Banquet offers him two chance to win...
Official Hong Kong Film Awards website.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
February 1, 2007 |
||||
A new poster of Hong Kong director Ann Hui's The Postmodern Life of My Aunt has been released today. I don't know who came up the idea for the the poster, but I am sure it is one of the best from the mainland China in recent years. The mainland poser designs usually suck, though. From the left to the right, there are Siqin Gaowa as "my aunt", Chow Yun-Fat as my aunt's new boyfriend and Zhao Wei as my aunt's daughter. The word on the left says "the sadist life is just like this" and the word on the right says "the most beautiful life is just like this". The poster is also making advertising for two corporations (sponsors, maybe?) - China Telecom and China Unicom.
Related stories: September 14, 2006Li Shaohong Wrapped up THE DOOR (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) July 8, 2006Li Shaohong to Build a Thrilling GATE or DOOR (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) March 4, 2006THE AUNT'S POSTMODERN LIFE Press Conference (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) December 20, 2005 First Location Photos of THE AUNT'S POSTMODERN LIFE (SIna.com / Nanfang Daily) December 7, 2005 More Secrets about THE AUNT'S POSTMODERN LIFE (MonkeyPeaches Exclusive) August 11, 2005 Chow Yun-Fat Boards Ann Hui's THE AUNT'S POSTMODERN LIFE (Screen Daily) July 20, 2005 |
|||||
|
|
