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Black and white photos of Zhao Wei
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Song Zuer poses for photo shoot
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Acclaimed Chinese writer sues sexual harassment accuser
Guo's lawyers say they are collecting evidence and are launching a lawsuit. If found guilty, Li could face a jail sentence of up to three years, reports sina.com.
The case relates to comments made by Li on his personal Weibo account on August 21, in which he described events that took place at a hotel room in Chengdu where the two writers were attending book signing ceremonies. Li invited followers to discuss how to deal with such a situation, saying he wanted to protect others from falling into the same trap.
Guo has denied Li's accusations.
According to Yi Shenghua from Beijing's Yingke Law Firm, although same-sex indecency is illegal, Li Feng will need to prove that Guo sexually assaulted him in order to counter the libel charges.
"If other victims come forward, helping to testify against Guo, Li Feng still could win the case," says Yi Shenghua.
Yi said that Guo Jingming wanted Li to face criminal penalties, so as to prove his determination and innocence.
In such 'moral' cases, courts usually advise mediation to reconcile the two sides.
Source: China Plus
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Stills from The Rise of the Phoenixes
The Rise of Phoenixes (Chinese: 凰权·弈天下) is an upcoming television series based on the novel Huang Quan by Tianxia Guiyuan. It stars Chen Kun and Ni Ni.
Source: Drama Panda
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Stills from Nothing Gold Can Stay
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Jackie Chan in a new role
(China Daily) The 63-year-old Hong Kong action star, known for his martial arts skills, shows a different side.
After a long break, Jackie Chan has worked in a Hollywood production. However, this time he avoids the typical "Jackie Chan style", which blends comedy, action and martial arts.
Chan has a serious role in the upcoming thriller The Foreigner, which is co-produced by Los Angeles-based STX Entertainment, Beijing-based Sparkle Roll Media and Wanda Cinemas.
"I look really old and I was asked to hobble in the film," said the 63-year-old Hong Kong action star, known for his martial arts skills, at a recent promotion event of the film in Beijing.
"On the set, I sat for hours just to look sullen," he says.
In the film, he plays Quan, a low-profile Chinese restaurant owner in London whose teenage daughter is killed in a bomb blast.
Quan, a former member of the special forces and a Vietnam War veteran, then seeks revenge.
The Foreigner is to hit Chinese cinemas on Sept 30, and will be screened in North America from Oct 13.
It will also be the first Chan film to be released in the United States after he was bestowed an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement earlier this year.
Chan's opponent in the film is Irish actor Pierce Brosnan, who plays Hennessy, a British government official. This is the first time that these two icons are together on the big screen.
Recalling a scene in which Quan confronts Hennessy via telephone, Chan says: "He arrived at the set at 6 am just to help me with my lines. He had no scenes to shoot that day. That professional spirit should be learned by young actors today."
Chan also says that the duo had to deal with a tough director.
That man is Martin Campbell, the New Zealand filmmaker who worked with Brosnan in the James Bond film Golden Eye (1995).
Casino Royale (2006), the highest-grossing James Bond film in history, is also among Campbell's best-known works.
"He's very serious and stays in front of the camera for almost the whole day," says Chan.
"I've never seen a director as diligent as that.
"He also used to ask us to rehearse in front of him the night before, like we were newcomers to the film industry. But I admire this attitude."
But at the Beijing event Campbell jokes that he "stole" some scenes from a Chan movie when shooting his own productions like a scene of fencing training in The Mask of Zorro.
"I could not imagine someone better than Jackie to play this role," he says. "It's emotional. It's about loss and grief."
The Foreigner is based on a novel from 1993. The director says: "There's no comedy in the action. It's all very serious and has a slight military feel because of the character's background."
In contrast, the fighting scenes in Chan's previous films are full of kung fu.
The New Zealand director also attaches a lot of importance to location shooting.
"Green screens cannot create the Thames or the streets of London," he says.
Campbell took four months to get permission to shoot a scene on Lambeth Bridge in London, where the film's scene involves blowing up a doubledecker bus.
Residents in the area were given notice and paid to move into hotels on the day of the shooting.
And the crew had only four hours to complete shooting the scene, there was no time for a second take.
Still, the stunt caused alarm in London as not everyone could be informed in advance.
The cast of The Foreigner includes Chinese actress Liu Tao and Irish actress Charlie Murphy.
While some actors were making their action film debuts, Chan has a long resume of such films, starting with his 1980 debut in The Big Brawl.
After that, he played the leading role in nearly 20 Hollywood films, including Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon and Rumble in the Bronx.
After 2010's The Karate Kid, he switched his focus back to China.
"I was losing interest because what I did was repeating myself," he says.
"Hollywood filmmakers wanted me to play roles, like a Chinese police officer, but I wanted to try something different."
He turned down proposals, and was waiting for suitable screenplays.
Chan says China's huge film market allows him to try different genres.
In 2012, his Chinese Zodiac focused on the protection of cultural heritage and he used Dragon Blade in 2015 to recall the ancient Silk Road.
Railroad Tigers, which was released earlier this year, touched on the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).
Chan's films have so far earned over $3 billion in total at the box office, making him the most bankable Chinese actor.
"At first I made films to earn money. Then, I wanted fame. Now, I think neither is important."
Chan says he has no particular commercial expectation from The Foreigner. "What really matters is public praise."
Source: China Daily
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Costumes featuring intangible cultural heritages presented
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Wang Ou poses for photo shoot
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‘Dunkirk’ comes to Chinese mainland but faces an uncertain fate
Dunkirk, the hit war film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, is finally coming to the Chinese mainland. While the film was able to crush the competition when it premiered in the US in late July, now that it is facing a group of Chinese moviegoers who have little knowledge of the Battle of Dunkirk, it is unsure whether the reputation of the director or the high reviews from Western audiences and critics will help push ticket sales in the Chinese mainland.
Set for release on September 1, Nolan, together with his wife and the film's producer Emma Thomas, visited Beijing to promote the film from Sunday to Tuesday. Besides holding a press conference and fan meets, Nolan also sat down with Chinese filmmaker Huang Jianxin for a forum on war films after the film's Beijing premiere Tuesday.
A different war film
"For British people, Dunkirk is a story you grow up with," Nolan explained at a Monday press conference, adding that he had grown up with a simplified fairy-tale version of the battle, and so after he learned more about the actual history behind it all, he felt that the Battle of Dunkirk - during which more than a quarter million Allied soldiers were evacuated by sea as German forces closed in - was "a universal story and really compelling to people of all cultures."
During Tuesday's forum, he added that instead of setting out to give people a history or political lesson, he wanted to "do it in a way that felt very personal" to him.
"I really wanted the audience to feel a connection with the characters there are on the beach, in the planes, on the boats. I wanted to really allow the audience to feel a sense of what it's like to live through that history," Nolan explained.
Unlike most war films, which often focus on intense battles between two opposing forces, no German soldiers show their faces in the film. According to the director, that was a decision he made during the very beginning of production.
"It was a decision I made early on writing the script. I didn't want to show the enemy up close. I wanted the effects of the enemy's aggression to be there," he explained, adding that, in his opinion, the evacuation of Dunkirk is an escape story.
"So by not showing the enemy, we stay in the point of view of the guys on the beach who just feel this threat getting closer and closer. For me it was more frightening not seeing it," he noted.
"It reflected my approach to the story, which is [treating it as] a suspense thriller rather than a battle film."
Market potential
Dunkirk has been applauded by industry veterans.
Huang numbers among them. One of China's most experienced, if not the most commercial or popular, Chinese filmmakers, the 63-year-old began Tuesday's forum by giving Nolan a big thumbs up.
"I like Nolan's films very much, so I went to see [Dunkirk] earlier this month in Hong Kong," Huang said as he praised the film. "Though it is set against a real historical background, he is still able to display a strong personal style. The film is very stable when it comes to storytelling and has huge artistic sensibility. The audio and visual experience as well will grab you from the very first moment and thrill you at the end."
Chinese director and actor Wu Jing, whose recent Wolf Warrior 2 is now the highest-earning film in China, was originally scheduled to attend the forum after the premiere, but was unable to attend due to a busy schedule. However, later that night he praised the film in a post on Sina Weibo.
"It was an honor to be able to watch the premiere of Dunkirk. Nolan deserves the fame. From Inception to Batman and on to Interstellar, he never repeats himself. Sorry I cannot spoil the plot. Let's meet in cinemas on September 1."
Wang Sicong, son of Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin, also appeared at the premiere to show his support.
While Nolan has the support of industry insiders as well as his fans, that might not be enough to ensure that Dunkirk reaps the same commercial success in the Chinese mainland that it has had overseas.
"I do think it is a good film," a Chinese film reporter who asked to remain anonymous, told the Global Times Monday.
"But I also think it's not the type of film the Chinese audience will go crazy for. Few of them will really be interested in the technical filmmaking prowess that is on display in the film," he said, pointing out that the film jumps around from different perspectives and different overlapping time periods, which may make it difficult for Chinese audiences to enjoy.
That sentiment was echoed in a report from entertainment blog Huxiu, which wrote that the main charms of Dunkirk - its cinematography and visual language - may not be enough to attract Chinese audiences into cinemas.
Source: Global Times by Wei Xi
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‘S.M.A.R.T. Chase’ Set for Global Premiere on September 30
(CFI) British-Chinese action thriller ‘S.M.A.R.T. Chase: Fire & Earth’ has been set for a global release on September 30, Chinese financier-producer Bliss Media announced on Tuesday.
The Shanghai-set action movie, which stars English actor Orlando Bloom, was made in an alliance between Bliss and London-based production company 42. It’s directed by Charles Martin, best known for the TV series ‘Skins’. ‘S.M.A.R.T. Chase’ is Martin’s feature film directorial debut.
In addition to Bloom, ‘S.M.A.R.T. Chase’ features a lineup that includes Hong Kong-based Simon Yam, Lynn Hung, and Taiwanese star Hannah Quinlivan.
In a statement released on Chinese social media Tuesday, Bliss Media announced that Bloom and the rest of the cast will meet with fans in five Chinese cities ahead of the film’s premiere.
In October 2016, the Chinese film production company was embroiled in a legal dispute with its American producer from Das Films. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Das Films was suing Bliss for ‘fraud and breach of contract’, claiming it had unreasonably cut them out of the production process. The company said Bliss also blocked them from hiring lead actors for the film. Bliss Media denied the claims.
The Superior Court of Los Angeles, California ordered arbitration for the parties involved as of November 30, 2016.
Source: China Film Insider by Fergus Ryan
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China Box Office: 'Valerian' Catches Slight Break With $9.2M Friday Win
(THR) Luc Besson's beleaguered Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets got an ever-so-slight reprieve in China on Friday.
The troubled space opera finished its opening day at around $9.2 million, according to data from EntGroup. That puts it on track for an opening weekend of about $30 million — substantially stronger than Lucy's $20 million debut in 2014, which was Besson's last China outing. But it also looks to be one of the weaker wins of 2017 for a non-Chinese title — possibly better than fellow international disappointments Alien: Covenant ($28.2 million) and Ghost in the Shell ($21.4 million), but behind nearly every other major Hollywood releases in China this year.
Friday marked the first day in over a month that international movies could be found in local multiplexes, as Beijing lifted its annual summer blackout on Hollywood imports.
Valerian was accompanied out of the starting gate by Sony's Baby Driver, which crossed the first-day finish line in third place with $3.8 million, followed by Disney's Cars 3 in fourth with $3 million.
Word of mouth for all three releases appeared reasonably solid as of late Friday, local time. Valerian had ratings of 6.8/10 on reviews site Douban and 8.2 on Weying, with Baby Driver scoring 7.5/10 and 8.1/10, and Cars 3 at 7/10 and 8.4/10, respectively.
After four consecutive weeks of unbridled dominance, Wu Jing's jingoistic action flick Wolf Warrior 2 slipped to second place, taking $3.9 million on its 30th day of release. The film's total now sits at a colossal $797 million — by far the biggest box-office haul ever in China.
Whether Valerian's first-place debut means it will earn nearly enough in the Middle Kingdom to allative its financial strain is another matter. With a production price tag of $180 million, Valerian is the most expensive indie film ever made — not including the additional $60 million that was reportedly spent on marketing and publicity. As recently as Wednesday, the film had earned just $132.8 million worldwide. Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk opens in China next Friday.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter by
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Tang Yan poses for photo shoot
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Fashion queen Angelababy releases fashion photos
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Qin Hailu poses for photo shoot
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Actress Liu Yifei celebrating her birthday
Actress Liu Yifei celebrates her birthday on August 25
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Sing! China hits the right note for Beijing’s soft power in Singapore
(SCMP) ingaporean Olinda Cho kept her eyes shut through most of her performance on popular reality singing competition Sing! China, and it was a good thing she did. When she stepped off stage and could finally observe the studio in Hangzhou, the scene stunned her.
“It wasn’t a studio,” said Cho, 37. “It was like an arena. The place was packed with people. Cameras were flying around the stage. I had never seen anything like this.”
She is no rookie singer, having made a name at home 14 years ago when she took part in Singapore Idol, a competition modelled after its American namesake. “Sing! China is Singapore Idol on steroids,” she told This Week In Asia from Shanghai.
She is one of a small, but growing, band of Singapore residents who have done well in the contest, as the show’s popularity extends beyond Greater China. Their successes have in turn drawn more eyeballs from Singapore, luring the country’s Mandarin-speaking population amid stronger and slicker cultural and entertainment outreach from China.
Besides Cho, four others from Singapore have made it past the blind auditions of the event. Most were scouted by producers and gladly obliged, knowing success on the show could translate into commercial breakthroughs.
One of them, Joanna Dong, for instance, had sung, acted and hosted in Singapore but felt that she was struggling to enhance her popularity.
“I’ve hustled pretty hard in Singapore and I don’t think I can increase my visibility any more,” said Dong, 35. “I’m not that young – this platform is my best chance to let more people know about me, which will hopefully help me remain competitive in the market.”
It is not a shot in the dark. Last year, Singaporean Nathan Hartono, 26, finished second in the competition. It made the previously little-known singer into a household name back home and allowed him to ink endorsements with drink companies and financial firms, who are keenly aware of the show’s reach.
Sing! China broadcaster Zhejiang Television uploads episodes onto YouTube – which is banned in China – on the same day. The clips regularly make YouTube’s list of trending videos. Hartono’s first appearance last year was among the top 10 trending videos in Singapore for the year. The programme is also shown on pay TV in Singapore every Friday, at the same time it airs in China.
Beijing is likely to view the show’s positive reception with glee – and as further evidence that the hub of the Chinese entertainment industry has gravitated from Taipei to Beijing over the last decade.
“Beijing is now the place where the music and entertainment industry is flourishing,” said veteran songwriter and producer Lee Wei Song, a Singaporean who incorporated a music company in the Chinese capital in 2008. “If you want to work in the Mando-pop scene, it is the place to be.”
In the 1990s and early noughties, he sent his disciples, including Mando-pop superstar Stefanie Sun, to Taipei to make a mark on the Chinese music scene. Sun’s first concert in 2000, six months after her debut, was held at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
But Taipei’s draw has been dwindling. Lee, for instance, now sends his people to the mainland, not only for the size of the market but also increasingly for sharper production and creativity.
“China is now the place with the budget and the manpower. Once you have such a vibrant environment, naturally you attract talent from all over, which causes a drain on other parts of the region. This also means China is able to produce programmes on a level that other markets cannot rival,” he said.
“As a singer, you can be successful just focusing on the domestic market in China because it is huge.
That is something you can’t achieve in Singapore – you’ll struggle to even make ends meet.” Dong says the scale of China’s market still overwhelms her. On a live-stream video she did on Monday on Hua Jiao Zhi Bo, a popular app on the mainland, she had 278,000 viewers tuning in to her chatting and singing.
“It’s such an unbelievably huge number. I told the other contestants on the competition about it and they said ‘Oh you better believe the numbers because China is just that big’,” she said.
The success of Cho and co comes as a light patch in an otherwise uneasy year in relations between Singapore and China, which has included the expulsion of a China-born scholar from the city state this month for subversion.
“Such exchanges feel more ground-up than top-down,” said Lye Liang Fook, a research fellow at Singapore’s East Asian Institute. “It shows that the relationship between China and Singapore has broadened beyond officially sanctioned directives and is increasingly mature.”
It also bodes well for China’s soft power.
“When viewers in China enjoy performances by Singaporeans on the show, they feel positively towards the country. The same goes for Singapore viewers,” said analyst Li Mingjiang from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
“The cultivation of soft power goes both ways – it is mutually beneficial because positive feelings are created on both sides.”
Source: South China Morning Post by Pearl Lee
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Cast of “Colour of the Game” hold press conference
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Cao Xiyue poses for photo shoot
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Actor Liu Ye poses for fashion magazine
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You Jingru poses for photo shoot
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