Favorite Hong Kong actresses

Karen Mok Milan Fashion Week

2018-02-26T15:14:00.002-08:00

Karen Mok also made the trip to Italy's design center for Fashion Week, looking good in a zebra-stripped jumpsuit while waiting for things to begin.

Dilraba Dilmurat in Milan for Fashion Week

2018-02-26T15:02:00.001-08:00

Dilraba Dilmurat, often described (at least in the English coverage of Chinese movies) as "a Chinese actress of Uyghur ethnicity, was in Milan for Dolce & Gabbana, joining the rest of the gang (Li Bingbing, Karen Mok) in celebrating Italian design. She was outfitted with a crown-like tiara and lots of signature D&G fashion.

Sina

Gong Li in Saturday Fiction by Lou Ye

2018-02-24T22:18:00.000-08:00

Gong Li returns to the big screen with in Saturday Fiction a new film by Lou Ye, also starring Pascal Greggory and Mark Chao as well as Joe Odagiri and Ayumu Nakajima from Japan and German actor Tom Wlaschiha. Set in Shanghai in during the first week of December, 1941, the film follows an actress who is working undercover gathering intelligence while starring in a new play. She discovers the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor but chooses not to share the information.

The cast and Lou Ye had a press conference to announce the film.

Lou Ye, Gong Li and Pascal Greggory discus things:
:

Mark Chao with Gong Li and Lou Ye:

:
The poster:

And a closer look:

Screen Daily Sina

Li Bingbing in Milan

2018-02-24T10:20:00.001-08:00

Li Bingbing flew to Milan for Fashion Week. She got off the plane looking a lot more pulled together than anyone should be after a flight spanning a couple of continents.

And a bit later:

Sina

Angelababy to attempt world domination?

2018-02-09T16:15:00.001-08:00

Sina reports that Angelababy was recently a guest on a Chinese reality show about robot competition. The most notable aspect of the article was the sliced and diced googlespeak translation from Chinese to English of the show's title. It came out as "Robot Hegemony".

Fan Bingbing tries on new glasses

2018-02-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

Fan Bingbing is getting ready for the lunar new year with some new specs.

Infoseek China

Hong Kong Film Award nominations

2018-02-06T16:49:00.000-08:00

Three of the five nominees for Best Director for the Hong Kong Film Awards are women--Ann Hui for "Our Time Will Come", Karean Pang for "29+1 and Sylvia Chang for "Love Education".

Zhou Xun--also nominated for best actress--aims a pistol in "Our Time Will Come", a drama concerning World War II resistance to the Japanese occupation.

Hui is on familiar ground--this is her 13th nomination as best director. She has won five times.

Follow the links for full list of nominees.

China Entertainment News
SCMP

Vivian Chow on tour

2018-01-29T13:40:00.003-08:00

Vivian Chow is on tour and stopped in Hong Kong for her 30th anniversary concert. Lots of costume changes including plenty of beads, feathers and sequins, plenty of props and a cadre of dancers.

And a bit of nostalgia:

Some rehearsal shots from an Indonesian site:

Sina
WowKeren

Li Yuchun--eclectic footwear at Weibo event

2018-01-25T05:37:00.000-08:00

Li Yuchun won a few gongs at the recent 2017 Weibo Awardt, mixing and matching her shoes and outfits.

Athletic shoes with a traditional cheongsam:

Stiletto heels with half-androgynous (top half) outfit:

cfensi

Karen's back

2018-01-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

Karen Mok announced a concert tour the other day:

Sina Slide
Sina

Li Bingbing for "Guardians of the Tomb"

2018-01-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

Li Bingbing has been doing press for Guardians of the Tomb. the Chinese/Australian production she is stars in. It will be released in China, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia the first week of February and includes actors from the PRC, Oz and Sarawak along with a couple of Americans. Since the plot hinges on a groups of adventurers getting lost in a cave full of deadly (and apparently really big) funnel spiders, Li Bingbing brought a non-toxic eight-legged pet to one of the press appearances.

A still from the movie--Li Bingbing gets a good view of a several thousand year old corpse about to come to life.

Principal photography was finished two years ago it was delayed while the Australian special effects house finished the scary CGI spiders, resurrected partially mummified corpses and winding caves.

Chopflix (more stills, trailers, interviews)
Screen Daily review

China wants to export movies with Chinese values. Washington Post freaks out.

2017-12-30T14:09:00.001-08:00

Some movers and shakers in the Chinese movie industry attended a one day seminar on how best to
tell stories rooted in "Socialism with Chinese characteristics". The Washington Post clutched its
pearls and called for the fainting couch at the idea that "propaganda" might find its way onto
the Jade Screen, ignoring the decades of production of Hollywood in which truth, justice and
the American Way were confirmed before the final credits rolled. I don't know if anyone pays
attention to concepts like cultural hegemony these days but it is useful when analyzing the output
of a dominant political and economic power.

Among those in attendance were Angelababy, Yang Mi and Zhou Dongyu, a couple of young idols and
several directors and writers.

Zhou Dongyu at the Toronto International Film Festival:

Angelababy at Cannes:

Washington Post Global Times Telesurtv

Yeung Chin-wah (Miriam Yeung) gives a concert

2017-12-26T17:21:00.000-08:00

Five or six costume changes with songs and dance numbers give concert goers their money's worth on Christmas Eve. Some of the looks that mean the backstage dressers need flying fingers and hands like lightning to get Miriam Yeung off and on stage in some intricate gear. According to the sliced and diced googlespeak machine translation the concert was at the "Red Hall" in, according to her schedule, Hong Kong.

Sina

Fan Bingbing celebrates the Solstice

2017-12-22T12:45:00.002-08:00

Fan Bingbing gets goofy and then super-glam in honor of the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The caption on the first picture was an exhortatory ""Get up and go out! Happy solstice! Friends!" And off she went.

Sina slide

"Forever Young" with Zhang Ziyi set for release

2017-12-22T11:01:00.001-08:00

If Zhang Ziyi had to wait much longer for the release of her film Forever Young she might wish the title referred to her in real life. Written seven years ago and filmed five years past, it has been sitting on the shelf since 2012.

Zhang Ziyi, Huang Xiaoming, Leehom Wang, Chang Chen and Chen Chusheng attended a press conference on Wednesday in Beijing to announce the release date as Jan. 12 next year. The story covers four generations spanning a hundred years of modern Chinese history since World War II.

Her next film is Godzilla: King of Monsters. It is due out in 2019 or possible 2026.
A couple of stills from the film:

And the poster:

Global Times China Daily

Michelle Yeoh helps British Airways launch daily flights between London to Kuala Lumpur.

2015-06-12T15:39:00.001-07:00

Michelle Yeoh, proud daughter of Malaysia, Jimmy Choo, a noted cordwainer of note born in Penang and Georgia May Jagger, known only for being the daughter of Mick, got together the other day to lend some glamour an otherwise humdrum corporate announcement that British Airways was reestablishing direct flights to the capital city. Yeoh has very strong connections to the land of her birth--Jean Todt, her husband to be/significant other/consort has been given the title of Datuk, a federal title that is outranked by Yeoh's designation as a Tan Sri.

That's Jagger in a seat from the first class section of the a Boeing 777. The shoot was based on a "Cinderella" theme, making Choo the handsome prince and Yeoh the fairy godmother. If the idea behind the image was that the Petronas Twin Towers would overwhelm and dominate the picture they succeeded.

New Straits Times British Airways

Zhang Ziyi and Cecilia Cheung in “Dangerous Liaisons”

2014-08-12T12:59:00.003-07:00

Setting Dangerous Liaisons in Shanghai during the 1930s and opening it out slightly to include glimpses of the social and political unrest of the time and place was an interesting and not altogether successful decision by its creators. One of the reasons that the 330 year old French novel remains such a rich source for cautionary tales of amorality, libertinage and emotional cruelty is the confined hothouse atmosphere the characters inhabit in Paris and in various chateaux. While Les Liaisons dangereuses was set seven short years before the storming of the Bastille, Choderlos de Laclos, its author, was secretary to Louis XVI’s cousin and hardly one to bring the Paris mob into his account of aristocratic licentiousness.

So making Du Fenyu the widow of a hero of the struggle against the Japanese and the warlords, including having her make an impassioned fundraising pitch at an haute-bourgeois party was a distraction—it also telegraphed to the audience that she would still be around when the closing credits rolled. Zhang Ziyi was excellent as Du Fenyu, gliding through most of the movie on a cloud of moral superiority while helping activists who were her husband’s students escape the police and rebuffing the advances of the cad Xie Yifan until she finally succumbs to him.

Zhang Ziyi as the too good to be true Du Fenyu

I feel that Jang Dong-Gun played Xie Yifan much too broadly with constant smirks and knowing leers as he stalked his prey, planning to seduce Du Fenyu to win a bet with the imperious and beautiful Mo Jieyu. Du Fenyu neither knows nor understands the level of his duplicity although he underlines his amoral behavior whenever given a chance.

One would not want to be on the wrong side of Mo Jieyu, perfectly portrayed by Cecilia Cheung. She is more than a match for any of the men around her is obviously the strongest although most repellent character onscreen. One hated Madame Mo while marveling at Cecilia Cheung’s pure talent and screen presence. In on short, memorable scene she essentially seduces the lingerie clad Beibei when convincing her to model for Dai, setting in motion her plan to use the innocent, convent raised Beibei to hit back at Beibei’s new fiancé, a wealthy businessman formerly Madame Mo’s suitor.

Cecelia Cheung as the formidably evil Mo Jieyu

The opulent interiors and elegant costumes were very well designed and rendered as was the evocation of Shanghai in the late 1930s. There are a lot of notable parts to” Dangerous Liaisons” but they don’t really add up to a compelling film.

Li Bingbing on red carpet in Hong Kong for "Transformers: Age of Extinction"

2014-06-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

Li Bingbing accompanied by director Micheal Bay and co-stars hit the red carpet for the world premier of the most recent Autobots vs. Decepticons classic, "Transformers: Age of Extinction" while a 20 foot Optimus Prime robot stood guard over the city. One look at her outfit made on realize that she must suffer from NGF (No Gay Friends). It was a hodgepodge of sheer panels and odd looking craft-store inspired foliage, accessorized with platform ankle strap pumps that would go with exactly nothing. That she could wear this strange creation without embarrassment or a hint of self-consciousness and actually sell the look shows just elegant and confident she is.

There was at least on angle which looked fine:

Although it took a lot of stoop labor by fashion assistants to get it there:

Looks like the same two aides were responsible for getting her up and down stairs:

One of Li Bingbing's co-stars at the press conference, ignored by the diva-starved masses:

In an interview with Yahoo Singapore, Li Bingbing said that the only really daunting part of the roll was after she had memorized her dialog in English so that she could authoritatively deliver her lines in a language not her own telling the reporter that, "I am not a native speaker, but I had to perform as if I am fluent in the language." This was made even more challenging when the script was changed on the fly by the director or someone else who thought he had a good idea. It brings to mind the difficulties that Gong Li had on the "Miami Vice" set where pages of the script would be rewritten during the shoot followed by Michael Mann telling the cast, "OK let's do a take in Spanish this time." "Transformers: Age of Extinction" assembles itself worldwide on June 26.

Yahoo Singapore; CRI English; Sina

Hong Kong, June 4, 2014. Remembering 1989

2014-06-05T00:22:00.000-07:00

There are dates that resonate with meaning; in North America there is September 16, 1810 and July 4, 1776. In France it's July 14, 1789.

June 4, 1989 isn't celebrated in the People's Republic of China but the citizens of Hong Kong do quite a job in making sure it won't be forgotten by the Chinese people. As usual on this day we direct you to Webs of Significance for the right in the middle of things observations of the exemplary Hong Kong blogger YTSL.

Gong Li to head Shanghai Fest jury

2014-05-30T19:33:00.000-07:00

The 17th Shanghai International Film Festival will run from June 14 to June 22. Gong Li is the first actor as well as the first female to serve as the jury's president. She knows her way around film festival politics, having served on juries at Cannes, Tokyo, Berlin and Venice.

Film Business Asia

Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi are all smiles in Cannes

2014-05-21T19:59:00.003-07:00

It may have been Monaco; I recognize neither the Beaux-Arts pile, complete with a battery of cannons, in the background nor the guy in the blue suit that both Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi seem to be happy to see. The absence of a crowd of photographers following them around also indicates the setting isn't the film festival.

No matter what part of the Riviera they graced, both of them looked exquisite wearing outfits that could be called casual only in a place where evening dresses and dinner jackets are worn at 11:00 AM. Together, looking as if they are about to do a grip and grin:

Sina

Isabella Leong back in Hong Kong for short run play

2014-05-20T19:39:00.001-07:00

Isabella Leong is returning to the Hong Kong entertainment world and is currently in rehearsal with Jim Chim for his play "Sign of Happiness". She plays a deaf-mute woman while Chim portrays a speech therapist who tries to bring laughter into her life. Leong has been rehearsing for 12 hours per day, working especially hard since she has to interpret the character using movement, body language and facial expression with no dialog. Based on some of the images from rehearsals she and Chim could be a mixed gender Vladimir and Estragon:

One hopes that Robin Williams doesn't get his hands on the rights to "Sign of Happiness":

For those interested, Jim Chim seems very politically knowledgeable and willing to discuss it at length. Here is an interview from a couple of years ago. He discusses how Hong Kong residents view Mainlanders, the (at the time) upcoming election, internet censorship and much else.

Opening night is May 30 at the Hong Kong Culture Centre, scheduled for only three performances.

Sina; Jaynestars; Time Out; xin.msn

Fan Bingbing shares Blink make-up snapshots while storming through Australia on X-Men tour

2014-05-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

Fan Bingbing while flying around the land down under publicizing "X-Men: Days of Future Past" took time to post some photographic self-portraits to her eight million or so followers so that they would know she hadn't forgotten them:

Leaving Singapore for Melbourne, she didn't try to go incognito but went with the lovably goofy look--huge sunglasses, oversize jacket, baseball cap with crossed pistols (?)

And a cloth doll stuffed in her back pocket:

Hitting a movie star pose and then working the rope line, giving adoring fans a chance to take selfies.

FBB Weibo; Forbes; SMH

More from Cannes: Angelababy out and about, Jane Zhang sings, Zhang Ziyi hobnobs.

2014-05-17T18:12:00.001-07:00

Angelababy showed up at a number of Cannes venues--at the opening of "How to Train Your Dragon II" on the arm of Mark Chao:

There were some photoshoots using the Cannes beachfront as a completely generic backdrop, pictures that could have been taken anywhere that has some sand and an ocean:

Jane Zhang sang for her supper (or at least her flute of Champagne) and headlined China Night at the festival, wearing a dress with a huge panda appliqued or embroidered on it:

A typical scrum of reporters and photographers pins Jane Zhang against a backdrop:

Zhang Ziyi had her hand kissed by Spanish director Pedro Almovodar and got a side hug from queen of all she surveys Cate Blanchett, who seems taller than most people she encounters on a movie set:

One more of Cate Blanchett with her co-star:

Sina; xinhuanet; xin.msn

Cannes opens without FBB; Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi are stunning on red carpet

2014-05-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

The 67th Cannes Film Festival got underway with the premier screening of "Grace of Monaco" and Fan Bingbing never looked better. But she was half a world away at the Beijing opening of "X-Men: Days of Future Past", appearing with Hugh Jackman and Peter Dinklage at the Chinese capital before scooting off to Singapore for for another red carpet rendezvous:

The distaff side of the Chinese film industry was well represented by Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi. Zhang Ziyi flew in from London (and yes, her arms were really tired) and made it from the airport with the help of a bodyguard and a Mandarin speaking minder:

Gong Li got from the Nice airport to the Cap d Antibes without assistance--she knows her way around, having come to Cannes since 2004. One expected to see Yves Carcelle since he has been her permanent escort at the film festival but he has moved on from running Louis Vuitton to helping give away some of Bernard Arnault's billions.

They made it to the red carpet for the opening, a showing of "Grace of Monaco". Both actresses were (as usual) devastatingly gorgeous, Gong Li in Roberto Cavalli and dripping with diamonds and pearls from Piaget, for whom she is a major brand ambassador and Zhang Ziyi in a gown by Stéphane Rolland that was a hint of art deco and a prince's ransom in diamonds from Chopard.

People,s Daily; Harper's Bazaar UK; CRI; Piaget-cinema; Sina