Asian Entertainment News & Celebrity Gossip

Cannes best actor winner Tony Leung Chiu-wai has worked with some of the top directors in ethnic Chinese cinema, and he says Taiwan’s Ang Lee is the toughest.

Leung worked with mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou on “Hero,” fellow Hong Konger Wong Kar-wai on several movies, and just finished shooting Lee’s spy thriller “Lust, Caution.”

Asked to compare the three directors, Leung said, “director Ang Lee’s demands are the strictest.”

“He has high expectations for himself, so he has very high demands for actors. He hopes you can deliver 200 percent. It’s tougher for the actors when they shoot and prepare for their roles. Ang Lee asks you to do things that are impossible,” Leung said. “But when you accomplish something that resembles what he asked for, you feel that it’s a very big achievement.” [IHT]

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]

Curse? What Curse! Huge Opening Box Office:

Zhang Yimou’s $45 million Oscar contender Curse of the Golden Flower is shaping up to be China’s biggest pic ever after it scored a record-breaking opening weekend box office of $12.5 million.

At this rate, Curse is expected to contend with James Cameron’s Titanic which is still the most popular film ever shown in China with receipts totaling $44 million in 1998.

Of course, it helps when China film authorities cleared the schedule of foreign and domestic openers to make sure nothing would get in the way.

Jay Chou Loses Staring Contest with Gong Li:
Taiwanese pop star and acting novice Jay Chou, 27, says he couldn’t look Chinese actress Gong Li in the eye when they started shooting scenes for Curse of the Golden Flower.

“Initially I was nervous, so my line of sight wasn’t directed at her eyes. After doing a few scenes with her, she helped me relax slowly. She made me feel like she’s my big sister. It was much more relaxed.'’

Chou acknowledged limitations as actor, saying he is not very good at handling roles that don’t bear some resemblance to his actual personality, “It’s hard for me to grasp a character that isn’t like me. I can’t portray him at all.”

Gong Li Relishes the Hollywood Challenge:
Gong Li says the biggest challenge she faces in Hollywood isn’t the language barrier, but rather tackling non-Chinese characters.

Gong, best known for her collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou in films like Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern and To Live, has shot a series of English-language movies lately, including a Japanese escort in Memoirs of a Geisha; an ethnic Chinese money launderer for a south American drug kingpin in Miami Vice; and a Japanese woman married to the uncle of serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the upcoming Young Hannibal, a prequel to the thriller The Silence of the Lambs.

“I very rarely portray a real Chinese character, like a native Beijing resident, in Hollywood.” Referring to her character in Miami Vice, Gong said, “even though she looks Asian, her character, her thoughts, her thinking aren’t Asian at all. That’s hard to master.”

“Hollywood films are more challenging. I like the challenge,” she added.

(Photo: KFCCinema)

Yes, it’s official. Asia and Asians are in again. This awards season, Hollywood is taking notice of some outstanding performances of or relating to Japan. The biggest accolades were showered on Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima, the second accompaniment to his Iwo Jima saga, which received a Best Foreign Language Film and Best Director nomination.

Since its opening, Rinko Kikuchi has been getting non-stop praise for her portrayal as a deaf teen in Babel and was officially recognized again with a Best Supporting Actress nod. Kudos to this newcomer who we’ll be hearing about for quite some time.

Another actor whose buzz factor has been receiving non-stop coverage since his debut on Heroes is Masi Oka whose character in Heroes has been the talk of the US television season. This “zero to Hiro” fan favorite received a Best Supporting Role in a Series.

Hollywood’s earlier infatuation with all things Chinese, including Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Chow Yun Fat and Zhang Yimou, seems to have waned for now. Most surprisingly was the omission of Korean-Canadian, Sandra Oh, a Golden Globe winner last year for her role in Grey’s Anatomy.

Oh how fickle fleeting infatuation can be in LaLa Land…

No, it’s not the release date for ‘Curse of the Golden Flower’. It’s more likely the night this movie will be going home with Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Epic, Shakespearean undertones, China, Gong Li, Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Yimou, visually spectacular… it’s got all the elements. Check out the final trailers on Sony Pictures Classics:

Quicktime Trailer

Windows Media Trailer

Also looking forward to a slate of other great films including ‘Confessions of Pain’ with Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro, ‘Protege’ with Andy Lau, Ang Lee’s ‘Lust, Caution’, and Stephen Chow’s ‘Long River 7′… can’t wait!!!

Gong Li, Zhang Yimou and Chow Yun-Fat help close the AFI Festival 2006 with a bang at the gala showing and after party of ‘Curse of the Golden Flower’ in Hollywood, California.

Don’t call it a comeback. After several high profile films in recent years, including Miami Vice, Memoirs of a Geisha and just as many standout performances, Gong Li is at the top of her game with both critics and audiences. And now she has a very influential supporter for her upcoming collaboration with Zhang Yimou, in the form of Sony. According to the LATimes:

Sony Pictures Classics is so impressed with the final cut of Curse of the Golden Flower that the studio has officially decided to launch an Oscar best-actress campaign for Gong Li and to promote Zhang Yimou for best director.

Click Here to see the trailer for “Golden Flower”. I would have included a YouTube video but after seeing this, you’ll thank me for the visual quality of Apple.