Friday, June 29, 2007

The Pride of China






http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Arts/english/news/enews_20070401_5.html


As part of the celebrations commemorating the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, the Museum of Art opened this show last night.

Unlike so many "greatest hits of Chinese antiquities" exhibitions that tour the world, the items that China loaned to Hong Kong this time are really some of the finest specimens of calligraphy and painting owned by Beijing's Palace Museum.

These works are so valuable and so prized that they are only rarely ever seen by the public and certainly not together. Scholars devote good portions of their careers exclusively to studying some of these pieces.

And if words could be worth a thousand pictures, the opening ceremony said plenty. All the speeches and introductions were in Mandarin. No English and no Cantonese were used. Hong Kong's chief executive Donald Tsang, whose first language is not Mandarin, gave his remarks in the impressive formal declamation style favored by the mainland's political elite.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Why Oh Why Shanghai?


Cinema tickets in Hong Kong are half-price on Tuesdays. So, last night, a friend and I saw "Fantastic Four 2," also known as "The Rise of the Silver Surfer." We enjoyed it. He loves anything featuring fighting women, especially when they have superpowers.

Jessica Alba has an amazingly small waist. I was also amazed by the huge Shanghai scene because I didn't expect it and because most of the Chinese signage actually seemed to be in Chinese.

I don't like reading reviews before I go see a movie because I like to make up my own mind. Even for half-price Tuesday sorts of pictures. This is why the Shanghai bit was a surprise. Now I am exploring a theory, based on FF2, Mission Impossible 3 and Tomb Raider 2. Because three makes a trend?

This evening, I was IMing with Ms. B, who works in the film business in Beijing...


6:51 PM me: ms. b?
6:55 PM ms.b: hey
6:56 PM
me: i just saw fantastic four 2
6:57 PM ms.b: and?
how was it?
7:00 PM me:it was entertaining7:01 PM and that chick has a really small waist
ms.b: haha
me: anwyay
ms.b: jessica alba?
me: is it going to be shown in china?
yeah, her
ms.b: i'm not sure
me: was mi3 shown?
ms.b: yes, edited
spidey 3 was shown
shrek 3 will be shown
7:02 PM me: coz it occurred to me: how come with so many big action movies these days
ms.b: transformers will be shown
pirates 3 is showing
me: the world always ends in shanghai?
ms.b: ha
me: does spidey have a shanghai end of the world scene?
ms.b: huh?
7:03 PM me: coz there is always a big dramatic action scene set in shanghai
ms.b: really?
me: in ff 2
in mi3
ms.b: i c
7:04 PM me: i think there was one in tr 2
its like at the end of the world, all action heroes save us from armageddon while in shanghai
at least according to hollywood
ms. b: interesting
7:05 PM
me: well...
i bet the next bond film will have a shanghai scene

Monday, June 25, 2007

Simply Actors, Simply Hong Kong

"Simply Actors" reminded me of the kinds of movies that Hong Kong made in the 1980s. They were films that were unapologetic for just having a good time. The success of "Simply Actors" at the box office speaks for the Hong Kong zeitgeist. Like Robin Williams said in "Dead Poet's Society": "Carpe diem." Property prices are up, enjoy while you can.

"Simply Actors" is distributor Golden Scene's first foray into production. The film is basically a love letter to the craft of acting and to Hong Kong movies. It is funny, it is entertaining. It just makes you feel good. It doesn't pretend to save the world, but that is ok. All this works very well for a local crowd, though not yet sure how it will play to non-Hong Kongers. (We'll know in a few months when it opens in 100+ screens in mainland China.)

Respected theatre performer Jim Chim carries the movie though at times his stage training becomes a bit over-bearing on screen. And like I wrote in the IHT, Charlene Choi was a revelation -- she showed potential of going beyond the decorative function that she is usually assigned.

One of the traits I love about Hong Kong's people is that it is a culture that doesn't wallow too much in the forensics of problems, in inadequacies and could have beens. Folks here get angry, they get their hearts broken, they celebrate triumphs when they happen. Best of all, they just get on with life. And they laugh.

Alex.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

IHT: Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin Profile


By Alexandra A. Seno

HONG KONG

Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin remembers when she was "just a normal
teenager." She went to a typical Hong Kong high school and did a
little modeling on the side.

"One day, my manager asked me if I wanted to go into
entertainment. Just like that,'' she said in an interview. ''At
that time I just wanted to grab the chance."

Seven years later, as half of the pop duo Twins, Choi has sold
tens of millions of CDs and she has made over 30 movies. Earlier
this week, the 24-year-old promoted her latest film, "Simply
Actors," in a suburban Hong Kong mall. Her fans, mostly young
women, wielded placards and camera phones snapping her photo; when
she turned their way, they screamed her nickname: "Ah-sa! Ah-sa!"
She gave them a smile and the throng strained the metal barricades.

In "Simply Actors," an old-fashioned Hong Kong slapstick comedy,
Choi becomes Dani Dan, a soft-porn starlet who attends acting
school. When she shows up in class for the first time, she poses
at the door bathed in light. Her role is a thinly veiled reference
to Taiwan's Shu Qi, who transcended early soft-porn roles
to become a respected acting talent.

Choi is currently the biggest female Hong Kong pop idol of her
generation, a status she has earned through much hard work, and
for which she makes no excuses. "I just hurt my back while
promoting the movie dancing on a TV show," she said, when her
entourage finally sneaked her away to a nearby Thai restaurant.

Choi sat very straight, perfectly lip-glossed smile unwavering
throughout the interview. Her success clearly comes from the
iron-clad poise needed to survive Hong Kong's entertainment
industry, and the energy to promote films by doing things like
good-naturedly gyrating to a theme song in front of hundreds of
onlookers at shopping centers.

"Because the film is a comedy, I don't think people will really
think I am a porn star. They will laugh," she said with a girlish
giggle, neatly folding her silver-manicured hands. She wore a prosthetic in the film to
give her a 34D chest, which made for many jokes on the set and
back aches at night.

So carefully cultivated is her public persona, that the thought of
Choi as anything but wholesome makes Dani Dan her most daring
role so far. The real surprise, however, is that unlike her
previous predominantly ornamental film appearances, in this movie
she is given a chance to act. While for much of her on-screen time
she works the cuteness factor, in several scenes she breaks away
to become believable and watchable.

The film's producer, Winnie Tsang, managing director of Golden
Scene, said Choi was chosen because "it is long overdue that
Charlene should be able to express herself in a genuinely mature
role. Not only is she able to provide the glamour and vibrance
that is necessary for the role, she also brings a sensitivity that
is rare among Hong Kong actresses her age."

Speaking about her career in films, Choi said: "I never thought
that one day I could make more than 30 movies. I didn't really
like every single one of them, but it is experience. I never went
to acting school. I am learning though experience." Past films
include "My Wife is 18," "The Twins Effect, and "The Attractive One."

One of the perks of starring in "Simply Actors," she said, was the
chance to work with the veteran comedian and acting coach Jim Chim
Sui-man. He plays her classmate, a wannabe undercover cop.
"Before, I focused on my facial expression,'' she said. ''After
Jim gave me advice on how to use body language, my acting has been
different."

As a teenager, Choi didn't have a clear idea about what she wanted
to do with her life, she said. "If watched CSI, I wanted to become
a member of CSI. If watched a movie about airline pilots, I wanted
to become a pilot," she said. Then show business happened.

When Choi was 17, Emperor Entertainment Group paired her with
Gillian Chung Yun-tung, another anonymous but attractive Hong Kong
teenager. The duo became "Twins," a stylish, skillfully
manufactured and outrageously profitable musical act. In Hong
Kong, singers often make movies, so the duo did, first together,
then independently. Chung prefers doing action films, while Choi
specializes in romantic and comedy roles.

Her next big project, which will likely open in early 2008, is
"Slam Dunk," in which she plays the female lead opposite Jay Chou
Chieh-lun, Taiwan's biggest young star. One of Choi's publicists
said: "A cheerleader." The actress quickly cut in: "No. I am the
manager of the basketball team."

She might like to have more say in the roles she is offered, and
hopes that after she turns 30 people might take her seriously
enough to cast her as someone "evil." For now, she is preoccupied
with moving away from the schoolgirl stereotype that has made her
famous. "You know, I put on a uniform for six years. It is kind
of embarrassing,'' Choi said. ''I'm getting older and I still
have to wear a student uniform and sing the songs."

International Herald Tribune

Introducing ... the new Alexandra A. Seno Blog...

Ok, Ramon, Rafe and Norman finally convinced me to at least try this blogging thing. Let's see if I'll like it. Or if it makes any sense.

Alex.