April 12th, 2007 by dd
Hong Kong actor Aaron Kwok and Chinese mainland actress Xu Jinglei were awarded Most Attractive Actor and Actress by Hong Kong’s Society of Cinematographers.
For mainland actress and director Xu Jinglei, it was also her first award she received in Hong Kong despite many other awards she had received as an actress on the Chinese mainland.
Xu tried not to look disappointed then realized that this was Hong Kong where talent wasn’t a requirement for success in the film industry.
Meanwhile Aaron gazed longingly at his reflection from the shiny award trying to understand why it took so long to get recognized for something he had known for years….
Respect my acting talents, dammit!
Posted in Hong Kong, China, Music, Film, Celebrity, Aaron Kwok, Xu Jinglei | 
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April 5th, 2007 by dd
The stakes are higher, the production budgets are bigger and the competition for movie audiences is more intense. So what’s a studio to do? Get your biggest stars together to share screen time for your biggest hits. If you’re a gambling man, your odds for success have suddenly just increased. It works in the US and now Korea and Hong Kong are looking to replicate that with two new movies….
Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho and Jung Woo-sung, three of Korea’s top gun actors are set to star together in a film tentatively titlted Good Guy, Bad Guy and Weird Guy.
Hong Kong director Peter Chan wrapped shooting on his $40 million epic The Warlords and the war pic, which features three of Asia’s hottest male leads, Andy Lau, Jet Li and Takeshi Kaneshiro, is set for a December 13 release.
The Warlords is the biggest production in China this year, and also features rising mainland actress Xu Jinglei. It is a meaty tale of brotherly betrayal, revenge and murder set in China driven by civil war in 1860 during the Taiping rebellion (1851-64).
And, of course, there was last year’s The Departed which won the Oscar for Best Film and was a remake of Hong Kong’s Infernal Affairs. Hollywood brought out the Big Boys for this one: Jack Nicholson, Leonardo Dicaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg to ensure box office and critical success.
Posted in Hong Kong, Korea, China, Film, Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Lee Byung Hun, Jung Woo-sung, Xu Jinglei, Song Kang-ho, Peter Chan | No Comments »
March 6th, 2007 by dd
Forbes released its lists of Chinese celebrity rankings, with NBA star Yao Ming coming first both on the income and social influence rankings.
Famous athlete Liu Xiang, the 110-meter hurdling world record holder, and blockbuster director Zhang Yimou were second and third on the list of social influence, while their incomes were fourth and sixth respectively.
It is noticeable that in the top 10 in social influence, other than those named above, all the others were females from showbiz.
Gong Li, with an income of nearly US$6m, is fifth both in terms of income and social influence. Her rise in social influence is due to her growing spotlight in Hollywood after starring in “Miami Vice” and “Hannibal Rising” in 2007. Zhang Ziyi is fourth in social influence after her performance in “Memoirs of a Geisha,” but her income dropped to 18th because she had no new releases in the past year due to her studies in the United States.
Rounding out the list are actress Zhou Xun at No. 6, Fan Bingbing at No. 7, singer Li Yuchun at No.8, director and actress Xu Jinglei at No. 9 and actress Carina Lau at No. 10.
It is astonishing to find Twelve Girls Band coming in second in income. They earned about US$18m, after performing 50 concerts on their world tour. However, their social influence was only 37th. [Cri]
Posted in China, Music, Film, Sports, Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Zhang Yimou, Carina Lau, Zhou Xun, Xu Jinglei, Fan Bingbing, Yao Ming, Li Yuchun, Liu Xiang | No Comments »
January 19th, 2007 by dd
Jet Li ain’t got ‘Game’. Lucky for him, he can kick major boo-tay on the big screen.
In a recent interview the international action star admitted that he struggles with love scenes in his movies because of his introverted personality saying he doesn’t ‘know how to have a conversation’ with his leading ladies.
Li made the comment in his blog while shooting the Chinese-language martial arts epic “Ci Ma (Piercing Horse),” in which his character becomes romantically involved with the character played by Chinese actress-director Xu Jinglei.
So what sorts of lines does the star use with the ladies? In this case, Li tried breaking the ice by asking Xu to help promote his charity, The One Foundation, which focuses on disaster relief.
Smooth move, Mr. Superstar… nothing spells romance better than global catastrophes and human suffering. Buddy, just do that flying through the air karate chop thing - chicks totally dig that!
Posted in Xu Jinglei | No Comments »
December 20th, 2006 by dd
Xu Jinglei
Shu Qi
Carina Lau and Tony Leung
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Ayumi Hamasaki
Posted in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, China, Film, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung, Carina Lau, Shu Qi, Hsu Chi, Xu Jinglei, Ayumi Hamasaki | 2 Comments »
December 20th, 2006 by dd
Posted in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Music, Celebrity, Asia, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung, Carina Lau, Shu Qi, Hsu Chi, Xu Jinglei, Ayumi Hamasaki | 1 Comment »
November 15th, 2006 by dd
The story: When his wealthy father-in-law is brutally murdered, veteran cop Hei (Tony Leung) calls upon his old pal, private detective Bong (Takeshi Kaneshiro), to help investigate the case.
Shockingly, all leads point to Hei’s wife (Xu Jinglei).
But when another murder takes place, Bong suspects that the killer is not who she or he seems to be.
The juice: Since the film was announced in July, the HK$80 million ($16m) Confession Of Pain has commanded media attention for its oh-so-gorgeous A-list cast, especially the elusive Takeshi.
Initially, talk was rife that Takeshi was given preferential treatment and paid more, which was rumoured to have upset Tony.
But all has turned out well.
The two leading men play protagonists who are scarred by painful memories - which explains the title.
Takeshi’s alcoholic character is a departure from his usual suave hero roles.
He drinks himself silly to forget the day he found his pregnant girlfriend lying dead in a pool of blood from her slashed wrists.
Tony’s character’s pain, however, is bottled up and he hides it well.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Hong Kong, Film, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Tony Leung, Shu Qi, Hsu Chi, Xu Jinglei, Andrew Lau, Jolin Tsai | 2 Comments »
