• Prolific blogger and tongue-in-cheek foreigner "hater" Hung Huang talks about how she agrees with the phrase "One Zhang Ziyi [is] more effective than ten thousand Confuciuses" and why China should focus on its "soft power." [CN Reviews]
• You know why China produces so many clever people but so few geniuses? Because... This. Is. SPARTA!! (In terms of educational similarities) [New York Times]
• It probably doesn't help that the people who do pursue PHDs and think outside of the box enough to go to another country tend to stay in the country they've emigrated to. [WSJ]

Add this to the growing list of reasons we're not down with the old sage, Confucius' Chow Yun-fat starring "patriotic biopic" is coming and the film ministry is using that reason to shove Avatar out of theaters. Apparently, all that talk about analogies between the Na'vi and nailhouses, and perhaps all that whining from the Chinese film community, has caused the Central Publicity Department to determine that the millions theaters are raking in from the James Cameron smash hit just aren't worth it. They'll keep the 3D versions open for now (since there's so little 3D options, its influence will be "limited"), but the 2D version will end its run on January 23. Then anyone who wants to watch the film without the fun special effects can run to their nearest fake DVD store instead. more ›

Yesterday marked the worldwide premier of what's poised to be this year's feel good flick: Disney-produced panda movie 熊猫回家路 (Xiongmao huijia lu). more ›

Tang Wei, the “Lust, Caution” star who was maybe-kinda-banned-but-maybe-kinda-not on the mainland has scored her first role since the 2007 film. She will be playing the female romantic lead, opposite Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung, in the upcoming Chinese comedy “Crossing Hennessy.” The movie is about a friendship that develops between two shopkeepers who are set up on a blind date. Source: AP more ›