Results tagged “movies”

Much like China's ongoing efforts against actual piracy, it seems that the government has been taking steps to curb piracy of the intellectual variety. Shifting from targeting individual sellers to wholesalers and manufacturers, Shanghai's "Cultural Inspection Team" has apparently confiscated over 20,000 pirated cds and 5,000 books in 246 "significant" busts in preparation for the Expo. If you do the math, though, that's about 100 cds/books per bust, which doesn't seem that significant to us. As it seems the goods aren't even made in Shanghai, we're not altogether too impressed.

If you were President Obama, what's the best possible news you could hear from Hu Jintao during your upcoming visit in November? That the Chinese military will agree to keep their agreement to work more closely with the US military? That recent threats to potentially raise tariffs on US automakers were just a big joke? Or were you thinking something perhaps...a bit more...magical?

Not that this should surprise anyone, what with the flash mob tribute, the Chongming Island Neverland Ranch and the myriad of other ways China has shown its love for the King of Pop, but This Is It has proven to be a spectacular hit in the country. Tickets sold out within days of going on sale, severely trouncing the last Chinese megahit, Transformers 2. In case you want to see a gallery of what the premiere in Shanghai looked like, this is it.

We were just alerted to this intriguing website called AsiaPacificFilms.com, a website that's streaming "culturally and historically significant films from Asia and the Pacific." All the films on the site are selected by a panel of scholars, critics and curators, and can be streamed in DVD quality.

Hot off the press from Queer Comrades: this selection of ten of the most well-received Chinese language lesbian films. For those of you queer film aficionados that are interested, many of these films are actually available in your local DVD store.

Daedalum Films released the first half of their excellent documentary, Human Flesh Search Engine, onto the internet a couple of weeks ago. Now the second half is up too, though you'll need a password to access it. Email info (at) daedalumfilms (dot) com for the password and then check the rest of their film out either on Vimeo or on the Daedalum Films' website.

Today was the opening of "建国大业," which seems to have changed its English-language name at some point from "The Great Cause of China's Foundation" to the less bumbling, but also less fun title of "The Founding of a Republic." The movie began showing on theaters everywhere at 2pm today, according to Sina.

In case you missed the screening of Daedalum Films' Human Flesh Search Engine, the documentary is now available on Vimeo. Well, currently half the documentary is available on Vimeo. The second part will be released soon, its directors say.

So we won't front - we were perhaps not the biggest fans of the Transformers 2 movie, despite how well it did in China. And while we'd normally use any opportunity to rag on that ridiculous, over-the-top, cliche-slinging, vomit-inducing pile of crap pretending to be a sci-fi action film, this time we're mentioning it to help segue into a Chinese movie that looks like it'd be much more satisfying on the robot front.

After a rather disappointing Shanghai summer movie season (Terminator Salvation, Transformers 2, Ice Age 3), we're really looking forward to our annual Disney/Pixar pickup with the long-awaited China-release of "Up", hitting theaters tomorrow!

Today marks the 33rd anniversary of the Great Tangshan Earthquake, believed to be the largest earthquake disaster of the 20th century thanks to its immense death toll. The earthquake hit very early in the morning, at 3:42am, which contributed to its extreme deadliness. Chinese official sources stated that it measured a 7.8 on the Richter scale. It was then followed by a 7.8 magnitude aftershock about 16 hours later.

Thought the whole Rebiya Kadeer movie controversy was over after Chinese filmmakers pulled out of the Melbourne International Film Festival in protest? Apparently it's only gotten more ridiculous.

Did we ever tell you how much we love Meiwenti Productions or Juan Vargas' slapstick, pervy sense of humor? We were there for the epic Swat Chicks set in sci-fi Shanghai. We walked out thinking WTF!!! (but in a good way). And we giggled and guffawed through last year's Short Erotic Film Awards.

The latest movie in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opened today all over China (even in "riot-bruised" Xinjiang). According to China Daily, it's expected to be this year's leading box office revenue raiser.

John Woo, hot off the success of his Red Cliff duo of films, will now be directing a World War II epic called 飞虎英雄 "Flying Tigers," about the volunteer American pilots who flew against the Japanese from bases in Yunnan. The $160 million action flick will present the "real history" of the volunteer group and feature "the most spectacular battle scenes ever seen in Chinese cinema." The last time these guys appeared on the silver screen, it was in a 1942 flick by John Wayne that was released just months after the real "Flying Tigers" had been replaced by the U.S. Army 23rd Fighter Group. Source: MTV Movies

Really, Chinese netizens? REALLY? Apparently some Chinese are incredibly upset at the Transformers 2 movie, not because it was a two-and-a-half hour waste of time with an egregiously obscene budget for barely a semblance of a plot, but because the beginning scenes are "an insult to China."

One of the movies we're most excited about seeing is Building 173, a docudrama about one Shanghainese building and the people who lived in it. It'll be airing twice on Saturday, June 20 - once at 6.30pm and a second one at 9pm (with a discussion afterward).

The Shanghai International Film Festival dropped by over the weekend and with it came the standard swarm of celebrities. Most of the sitings were more or less expected - Chinese actresses Fan BingBing and Zhang Ziyi (pictured) were there, as well as freedom hater Jackie Chan and director John Woo (no doubt promoting the uber-sucessful Red Cliff) - but big names from the Hollywood elite also made guest appearances. Halle Berry walked the carpet in a Marchesa lilac gown, and Clive Owen spoke during some sort of press conference. Danwei caught some of the opening ceremonies on Youku and called them "cheesy," but - honestly - what opening ceremony in China isn't? If you want celebrity galleries, check out the one on People's Daily Online.

The national university entrance examination: a rite of passage for many Chinese students, and all important, some might say, in determining much of what happens in your life afterwards. It's a lot of pressure for 17 and 18 year-old kids. This video was taken in Hankou, supposedly before the test. One might be more inclined to celebrate afterwards, though of course those that might not have done so well would perhaps seek solace in Johnny Walker, as one does in times of need.

Jia's film, tentatively titled Shanghai Legend (上海傳奇), is scheduled to be finished towards the end of this year/beginning of next, and will be premiered around April 2010.

If you're interested in catching some of the films, most of the information you'll need is at their official website. Browsing though the schedules, it seems that there an awful number of fairly recent Hollywood releases, such as Eagle Eye and Pink Panther 2. Why you'd want to fork over money to watch these on the big screen is beyond us, but dig a bit deeper and you'll find that there is a very healthy selection of films by two English directors: Alfred Hitchcock and Danny Boyle. Of the latter, little needs to be said: he's the head of the jury this year, which is why so many of his films are being shown. Although you've no doubt seen many of the more successful ones, you can use this chance to see some of his lesser known, earlier works. As for that great benefactor of Freudian film theorists goes, you've got the standard fare: The Birds, Rear Mirror, North by Northwest, Psycho, Rope etc.

Hu Ge, the Shanghai unknown who shot to fame after parodying Chen Kaige's The Promise with a story about a steamed bun, seems to have settled in pretty well to his new role as parodyist for hire. Besides coming out with his own 30 minute spoofy action work, he's gotten some commercial requests on the side.

Sick of hearing about how absolutely awesome JJ Abram's Star Trek is from your friends in the States?Isn't it frustrating, considering it's one of those movies that actually would be better seen in theaters and who knows how long it'll take for a decent copy to be released on DVD here, right? Not really! Turns out we only need to wait one more week before basking in our nerddom, because the movie is boldly going where.... okay, where several big releases have gone before. According to IMDB, the set release date for Star Trek (星际迷航) in China is May 15. Be sure to live long and prosper til then!

We recently caught up with Shanghai-based independent filmmaker Luis Tapia of Daedalum Films, who is currently busy preparing for the May 9 premiere screening of his new documentary short about Shanghai band Hard Queen and the life of indie rock musicians in China. Seats are still available for the screening. Advance tickets can be purchased here.

• On Foot in the Mystical Mountains of Yunnan [NYTimes.com] "It was for a moment like this that I had made the long journey last fall to northern Yunnan Province from my home in Beijing — which has the dubious distinction of being both one of the most polluted and one of the most populous cities in the world. Back home, looking at a map of the rugged Tibetan areas of western China, my eyes had fallen on the deep river valleys of Yunnan, where three of Asia’s great waterways come tumbling down from their glacial sources in the mountains of the high Tibetan plateau."
• Getty’s $100,000 Tab for Chinese Photos Signals Bargain Time [Bloomberg.com] "Wang Qingsong’s theatrical, large- scale photographs have been a hit with collectors, rising in price to $864,943 from $40,000 since 2006. Now, with prices for Chinese contemporary art eroding, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has purchased three prints by Wang and six by Hai Bo, who contrasts photographs of friends and relatives taken during China’s Cultural Revolution with their recent portraits."
• Sichuan Earthquake Memorial Museum To Cost 2.3 Billion [chinaSMACK] "The complete plans for the Beichuan National Earthquake Ruins Museum that has been the subject of much attention by citizens from all walks of life have been released, with a preliminary budget requiring a ~2.3 billion yuan total investment/cost. The moment the design plan was introduced, it immediately caused huge amounts of heated discussion from all walks of life in society. Some netizens have questioned whether using vast amounts of money to construct a museum amounts to an “image project.”"

Hong Kong actor turned scandalous sexy picture taker Edison Chan has braved death threats to promote his new movie, The Sniper, in public - despite being a “little bit afraid.” Edison, who appeared in public in Singapore on Sunday gave AFP a bunch of quotable quotes:

The second career of Chinese diver-turned-actor Tian Liang has so far been received tepidly, but his latest role has sparked a big debate in China. Tian, a gold medalist in platform diving at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and a bronze medalist in Athens, has been chosen to play Lei Feng, a soldier held up by Mao as an example of selflessness for all of China to follow. The choice of Tian for the role has angered a host of Chinese netizens, who basically argue that Tian is too self-centered, materialistic and publicity-loving to play Lei Feng. Tian was kicked off the Chinese diving team ahead of the 2008 Olympics for too enthusiastically pursuing commercial activities.

For all you movie going folks who want an alternative to buying fake DVDs (we know you're out there!), Shanghai might be getting a “free market zone” where controls on imported movies will be relaxed and local film-makers can export their stuff to the rest of the world. Hurrah!

Well, at least no one can say that he isn't versatile. After years of playing bad-ass gangsters and Kung Fu masters, Chow Yun-Fat has most recently popped up in Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and the soon-to-be-released, anime-turned-movie Dragonball Evolution. Soon, however, he'll have all eyes on him in a movie chronicling the life and times of Confucius.

Let's make this as short and sweet as possible. You've had three weeks to pony your lazy arse to Lit Fest, so if you miss it, don't blame us for not keeping you blissfully well-informed. And if you miss out, you really ARE missing out--if not just for the fabulous view out the window of Glamour Bar in broad daylight.