Call Me Left tells the life story of Mr. Left (Anthony Wong), a good-hearted Hong Kong projectionist, who has very strong faith in communism. The production studio, Hong Kong's Sil-Metropole Organisation Ltd., has launched a contest in the mainland China, for the best dialogue and review for each of six "online" posters, designed to look like propaganda posters during the Chinese Culture Revolution. Winners will be offered with a free trip to Hong Kong.

Click here for all posters.

According to Variety, Hong Kong direct Andrew Lau (The Flock, Confession of Pain, Initial D, Infernal Affairs trilogy) will begin shooting his first period martial-art film Gold Bandits, this June or July. The script, penned by Gordon Chan (A-1 Headline, The Medallion, Fist of Legend), "follows an ancient imperial transportation company that teams with bandits to complete an impossible mission." The casting has yet to be finalized. Fox is co-producing the project alone with "Beijing's Ciwen Digital Oriental Film & TV Production and Fortune Star Entertainment, part of News Corp.'s Star TV offshoot in Hong Kong." The Variety article does not mention the story of Gold Bandits is original or adapted. In April last year, Lau talked about his plan of adapting Taiwanese comic artist Cheng Wen's Api Sword (aka. Api Magic Sword) series. I am not sure whether the project is related to Api Sword or not.

Click here for the Variety story.

The Secret of the Magic Gourd is the first Disney movie made specific for kids in China. It is co-produced by China Film Group, the prime state-owned studio of the country and Hong Kong-based effect company Centro Digital Pictures Ltd. (Curse of the Golden Flowers, Kung Fu Hustle, Kill Bill), which also handles the CG works of the movie. I am not impressed by the design of the magic gourd. It looks a rubber glove and reminds me of Flubber, also made by Disney. The film is based on the same title children's book published in 1958 by novelist Zhang Tianyi. The story tells a young boy finds a magic gourd, which can do anything he wants. Then he comes to realizes the magic gourd has become his burden and decides to get rid of it, which proved not easy. The book was adapted to a black and white film in 1963, by Shangha-based Heavenly Horse Film Studios, now part of Shanghai Film Studios.

Three films have been added to Un Certain Regard selection of the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, including Taiwan director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Looking for the Red Balloon (previously known as The Red Balloon / Ballon Rouge), which has also been selected as the opening film of the category.

Hou is also among directors who have been asked to make shorts films to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the festival. The story of his film, set in the  southern Taiwan during the earlier 1960s, is about a married couple, played by Chang Chen and Shu Qi) and their two daughters going to a movie theater. (Shots from the set: A B)

Official festival press release.

YouTube is the devil every studio hates, because it frequently shows what studios are hiding from us. A trailer made for potential international buyers to The Warlords has been made available on YouTube. Retelling the same true incident inspired story told in Chang Cheh's Ci Ma, The Warlords shows friendship, bedrail and revenge among three sworn brothers, played by Jet Li, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau, in the war-torn China during the late 19th Century. The clip shows three sworn brothers, in imperial uniforms, battling the Taiping rebels.

More about The Warlords.

(Milkyway Image Co.)

Several guys was given a treasure map by a mysterious man and the map is only the first of a series puzzle they need to solve. This is what Tsui Hark tells in the beginning of the story of Triangle. We do not know how Ringo Lam is going to develop the story and how Johnnie To is going to end the story. No one what the story is all about. Even the  actors were kept in the dark when playing their roles. The mystery will not be revealed until the movie is released later this year.

Click here for production stills.