[2020.05.27] FOR THE WEEK ENDING SUNDAY MAY 24 2020

For the week ending Sunday May 24 2020

Photos courtesy of Yahoo! Movies Hong Kong

10 IT FEELS SO GOOD
  Can : For Hau Dik Yi Yun
    d. Haruhiko Arai
    Tasuku Emoto, Kumi Takiuchi
  Rating : III
  Length : 115 mins.
  Opening May 21 2020
  Trailer : https://youtu.be/OBxHQqDizEw

[ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ]
    Naoko is ten days away from getting married when she reunites with her former lover Kenji, who’s divorced and returned to their hometown of Akita, a northern city of Japan. She’d just been going through her things to get ready for her new life, and found an old photo album. She takes out a photograph to show Kenji. It’s a black and white photo of the two of them, complete naked, in front of a giant poster of the rim of Mt. Fuji's caldera. The memories of the lust-filled days of their youth come flooding back to them, and the two former lovers, who are also cousins, start having sexual relationship again- just for five days before Naok's fiance returns.
  Can : Mo Tung Duen Jeh Lei
  Lit : Painless Break Up
    d. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit
    Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying, Sunny Suwanmethanont
  Rating : IIA
  Length : 114 mins.
  Opening March 26 2020
  Trailer : https://youtu.be/TKKttTQUliE

[ BROADWAY CIRUCIT ]
    Jean wants to convert her house into a home office and she needs to majorly declutter and reorganise her entire house. Anything that has been lying around unused, she just simply throws all. However, Jean faces a great challenge when she comes across some items that belonged to Aim, her ex-boyfriend. Although she has no use for the items, each one reminds her of a story that brings back memories, along with unresolved feelings that cannot be easily discarded by just dumping them into the garbage bag. Jean has to decide what to do with Aim's stuff. Should she just throw everything, keep everything, or return the items to their rightful owner to clear them completely from her house and her heart?

  9 BLOODSHOT
    d. David S. F. Wilson
    Vin Diesel, Eiza Gonzalez, Guy Pearce

  8 LES MISERABLES
    d. Ladj Ly
    Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djebril Zonga, Issa Perica

  7 TOOTSIES AND THE FAKE
    d. Kittiphak Thong-Uam
    Araya A. Hargate, Paopetch Charoensook, Thongchai hongkuntom,
      Rattanant Janyajirawong, Pattarasaya Kruasuwansiri
  Rating : IIB
  Length : 109 mins.
  Opening April 16 2020 (Postponed)
  Opening May 14 2020
  Trailer : https://youtu.be/w1mnIYSeuwo

[ THE METROPLEX ]
    The three famously funny tootsies, Gus, Golf, Kim and their resident femme, Natty are on a mission improbable to "fake it until they make it".

    All hilarious hell breaks loose when gayzilla Golf accidentally causes celebrity superstar Cathy to slip and fall unconscious a week before she must shoot a lucrative TV commercial. Faced with a 50-million-baht lawsuit if Cathy is a no-show, they dream up a plan to find a look-alike to pose as the real Cathy. Their wishes come true after they track down a street food hawker named Nam, who had enough plastic surgery to make her an almost perfect match...

  6 TROLLS WORLD TOUR
    d. Walt Dohrn
    English Voices: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake,
      Sam Rockwell, James Corden, Rachel Bloom
    Cantonese Voices: Gin Lee Hung Ngai, Phil Lam Yik Hong

  5 BRAHMS: THE BOY II
    d. William Brent Bell
    Owain Yeoman, Christopher Convery, Katie Holmes

  4 SIBERIA
    d. Matthew Ross
    Keanu Reeves, Boris Gulyarin, Ashley St. George, Elliot Lazar

  3 THE BRIDGE CURSE
  Can : Nui Gwai Kiu
  Lit : Female Ghost Bridge
    d. Lester Hsi
    JC Lin, Summer Meng, Chang Ning, Vera Yen, Ruby Chan,
      Hsieh Yi Hung, Cheng Ko
  Rating : IIB
  Opening April 9 2020 (Postponed)
  Opening May 8 2020
  Trailer : https://youtu.be/HD2o4EZXWX4

[ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ]
    In the leap month in 2016, six Tunghu University students, who were running a camp, held a test of courage on the (in)famous Female Ghost Bridge. The Female Ghost Bridge is a forbidden spot on campus since rumor has it that years ago, a girl jumped off the bridge and drowned herself for the man she loved. Ever since then so many ghost stories about the tragedy have been circulating. In order to promote the test of courage, a group of students daringly did a live stream on the bridge late at night. To their astonishment, they caught the female ghost on camera, and it went viral with millions of viewers online. However, the group of students went missing soon afterwards… Exactly four years later, an investigative journalist Lien Shu-yu comes to the Female Ghost Bridge with a cameraman, trying to find out about the truth. They can never expect that they would stumble upon the hell underneath the bridge, in which several spirits are forever trapped.

[ CINEMA ONLINE MALAYSIA ]
    Based on an urban legend about a haunted bridge at Taichung's Tunghai University, which is said to be haunted by the ghost of a heartbroken girl who killed herself there. The movie follows a group of university students who, while filming a video at the cursed bridge, discover that the supposed evil there might be real after all.

  2 MY HERO ACADEMIA: HEROES RISING
    d. Kenji Nagasaki
    Japanese Animation
  Rating : IIA
  Length : 103 mins.
  Opening May 21 2020
  Trailer : https://youtu.be/yUphru-WY7Y

[ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ]
    Class 1-A visits Nabu Island where they finally get to do some real hero work. The place is so peaceful that it's more like a vacation until a villain attacks them with an unfathomable Quirk! His power is eerily familiar, and it looks like Shigaraki had a hand in the plan. But with All Might retired and citizens' lives on the line, there's no time for questions. Deku and his friends are the next generations of heroes, and they’re the island's only hope.

  1 DIGIMON ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA
    d. Tomohisa Taguchi
    Japanese Animation
  Length : 94 mins.
  Opening April 23 2020 (Postponed)
  Opening May 16 2020
  Trailer : https://youtu.be/spp0aHIDqoQ

[ CINEMA ONLINE MALAYSIA ]
    Set in 2010, Taichi is now a college student while the others are also following their own paths in life. Over 10 years have passed since they met and had their adventure in Digital World. Now the sight of Digimon in the real world is more common and DigiDestined's existence is also gradually acknowledged. But during this time, a powerful Digimon called Eosmon starts robbing other DigiDestined of their consciousness, prompting scholars Menoa and Imura to turn to Taichi and his friends for help. While battling Eosmon, Taichi notices something is wrong with Agumon's and the others' evolutions. He and his friends then learn a shocking truth from Menoa, a Digimon will cease to exist when its DigiDestined becomes an adult. Taichi must decide if he wants to continue fighting, if it means losing his partner much sooner.

[2020.05.27] MARIA LAI REMEMBERS HER UNCLE STANLEY HO

Stanley Ho and his first wife Clementina Leitao

Two years ago at his 97th birthday, Stanley Ho's fourth wife Angela Leong celebrates with their children and Eighth Aunt Ho Yuen Hung.

Luisa Marie Leitao's father was the brother of Stanley Ho's first wife

Liza Wang (center) attended Stanley Ho's birthday banquet and posed for photo with him and fourth wife 

Joel Chan dated Florinda Ho for two years and was sadden to hear the news of her father's passing

Chingmy Yau, Andy Lau and Joey Wang in CASINO TYCOON

Stanley Ho and third wife Ina Chan appeared on Maria Cordero's cooking show
courtesy of mingpao.com

The 98 year old casino magnate Stanley Ho Hung Sun passed away yesterday. His life was a legendary story, and his beginning was even adapted to the silver screen with Andy Lau Tak Wa as "Hor Sun". The casino king in life supported community service, contributing money and effort in fund raising events. Artists who have had contact with the casino king also praised him for not putting up airs and for being humorous. Maria Lai Chi Shan was the casino king's niece; yesterday she remembered her uncle for taking care of her family in the past. When she joined TVB her uncle made the arrangement, so she would have income from a stable job. Lau Tak Wa yesterday responded to the news of the casino king's passing, "Dr. Ho made great contributions to society in this life, I wish him a safe journey."

Lai Chi Shan's aunt was the casino king's first wife Lai Yuen Wa. Her father Lai Chi Chung was Lai Yuen Wa's younger brother. Lai Chi Shan was saddened by the passing of her uncle Ho Hung Sun. Yesterday she said that when she was little every Christmas and Lunar New Year she definitely would attend parties and pay visits to the Ho home. She called her uncle Uncle Stanley, but after her aunt passed away they had less contact. She still was concerned about her uncle though.

She said that uncle has always taken care of her family. When she joined TVB Uncle made arrangements through the then general manager Chan Hing Cheung. She said, "I remember Chan Hing Cheung' secretary called me, asking me what kind of job I wanted. Then I was arranged to join the children's program team because the job was steady and often got overtime. Back then Father passed away, the family was a a lost. Uncle arranged for a job for me to stabilize our lives. He was always attentive and took care of us like this." Chi Shan once worked as a reporter for FOCUS ON FOCUS. Once she handed a microphone to her uncle said that she was Lai Chi Chung's daughter. Because they have not seen each other for awhile, Uncle's response after seeing her was, "Wow! Such a big girl!"

Lai Chi Shan also said that when her younger brother got married, Mommy wanted to send an invitation to Uncle. Everyone thought that Uncle would not attend, not expecting him to personally attend and gave a very generous gift. Chi Shan was a relative of his first wife but she was very familiar with his second family. Maise Ho Chiu Ha was a former classmate and a good friend.

In the 1990s the Andy Lau Tak Wa starred CASINO TYCOON (DOH SING DAI HUNG ji SUN GOR JUEN KEI) and CASINO TYCOON II (DOH SING DAI HUNGII ji JI JUEN MO DIK) were based on casino king Ho Hung Sun's beginning and romance. In the film Lau Tak Wa played Hor Sun, Chingmy Yau Suk Ching played Mrs. Hor. The scene in which Wa Jai lovingly stared at the wheelchair bound Yau Suk Chng reminded people of casino king's first old, the "first beauty of Macau" Lai Yuen Wa. Both movies' stories seemed familiar, like Hor Sun's son in a fatal car accident, Mrs. Hor setting up wives for her husband. They were huge box office hits and made over HK$ 30 million in Hong Kong together. When the film series was released, the casino king was asked to comment. He joked that he did not have so many romances. Lau Tak Wa yesterday responded to the news of the casino king's passing. "Dr. Ho made great contributions to society in this life, I wish him a safe journey."

[2020.05.27] SAMMO HUNG LOOKS MUCH SLIMMER

Sammo Hung's daughter in law Janet Chow says that his diet has been much healthier than before and he has no health problem.
courtesy of mingpao.com

courtesy of on.cc

courtesy of singtao.com

Alan Tam Wing Lun earlier posted two photos with "Big Brother Big" Sammo Hung Kam Bo on social media. Alan praised Hung Kam Bo for his culinary skills. "This afternoon Big Brother Hung personally cooked several of his specialties, it really is delicious......" However the internet focus was on the 68 year old Hung Kam Bo's "shrinkage", in the photo Alan looked "bigger" than Hung Kam Bo but it might be an angle issue. In the other photo was Big Brother Big's side view, from which he indeed looked much slimmer. He was full of smile and in rather good spirit.

Hung Kam Bo in recent years due to kneecap issue had surgery, from which he had to use wheel chair and crutches to recover. He also began his weight loss program for his health as he started to pay attention to his diet.

[2020.05.26] SANDRA NG'S YOUNG DAUGHTER ALREADY HAD THE HPV VACCINE

courtesy of mingpao.com

courtesy of on.cc

courtesy of singtao.com

As the "cervical cancer awareness ambassador" and a mother Sandra Ng Kwan Yu yesterday attended a press conference about HPV. At the event Kwan Yu revealed that her 14 year old daughter Chan Si Chi already had the vaccine to prevent HPV infection under the arrangement of the school. As her daughter entered her adolescence, Kwan Yu said that the school has already begun instructing sex education. She strongly urged her daughter not to engage in sexual activities too early, to at least wait until age 18.

Speaking of the film Kwan Yu produced about former Paralympic Games gold medalist So Wa Wai, ON YOUR MOM, GET SET, GO (MA MA DIK SUN KEI SIU JI), the film was originally scheduled for release this month. She revealed that the film wrapped up production in early January and planned for three months in post production for a May release before the Olympic Games. Yet due to the pandemic, editing and post production voice work would have to wait until the "gathering restriction order" was lifted. So far she still had no idea when the release will be. She said, "Even if the film makes it in time I still would worry about the box office. Maybe it will wait until next year before the Olympics for its release!"

[2020.05.25] STAR CAT "BROTHER CREAM" PASSED AWAY FROM STOMACH CANCER

Cat lover Stephen Au visited Brother Cream in Tsim Sha Tsui East

Brother Cream succumbed to cancer at age 14

Mr. Ko holds a viewing at the pet store for fans to pay their respect to Brother Cream

Joey Man worked with Brother Cream at a Lunar New Year photo shoot
courtesy of mingpao.com

Popular Hong Kong cat star "Brother Cream" has fans all around the world, even CNN invited its owner Ko Chi Sing to bring Brother Cream for an interview. However yesterday the 14 year old Brother Cream passed away. Brother Cream's official facebook "Brother Cream and Cream family" made the announcement. "Farewell, our beloved Cream......Cream today happily went to the Rainbow Bridge." Fans were heartbroken. Yesterday afternoon Mr. Ko held a viewing at the pet store for Brother Cream as fans came to bid farewell. Many succumbed to tears. Mr. Ko revealed that Brother Cream was diagnosed with stomach cancer in September last year. His condition has been unstable in the past month. Yesterday it finally passed away peaceful at 11AM. Stephen Au Kam Tong years ago visited Brother Cream. In response to Brother Cream's passing, Au Kam Tong thanked Brother Cream for all the joy it brought to the people of Hong Kong.

Brother Cream was an English short hair cat. Its round and lovable appearance won many hearts in the neighborhood. It made commercials and attended events. Many stars have taken photos with it. Au Kam Tong and Joey Man Yi Man both visited it before. Brother Cream originally was the "store captain" of the "Shun Wo Convenience Store" in Tsim Sha Tsui East. Later its owner Mr. Ko could no longer afford the high rent. The convenience store was closed in 2016 and it was forced into retirement.

In October 2017, Mr. Ko opened a pet store named "Cream Family" on Nathan Road in Waterloo. Brother Cream again returned to the district until yesterday the news of his passing was announced.

Stephen Au Kam Tong in 2016 visited Brother Cream at the convenience store. When he learned that Brother Cream passed away, he responded, "Thank you Brother Cream for bringing so much joy to the people of Hong Kong, please continue to be happy at the Rainbow Bridge. My Murphy and Innika will be your friends."

The news of Brother Cream's passing came very suddenly. Several dozen fans yesterday visited the Waterloo pet store to bid it farewell. Many fans were in tears. Brother Cream's two cat siblings Cake and Milk were on hand as "counselors" to ease everyone's mood. However fans agreed that "Brother Cream was irreplaceable". They lingered in front of the television to relive Brother Cream's past videos.

The cat owner Mr. Ko revealed that Brother Cream was diagnosed with stomach cancer in September last year. The family has already tried chemotherapy, Chinese herbal medicine and other ways to help it. Unfortunately it did not survive the fight. He said, "Even though I miss it I still have to accept the fact. Cream's condition has been turbulent in the past month. Mommy has been taking care of it 24 hours, but a few days ago it did not have any appetite. We already guessed that it would not be with us for long. We started contacting long time fans to visit. Today morning at 11AM, it took a long breath in Mommy's arms and passed away. It was very peaceful."

Under the novel coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong was still under gathering restriction order. To prevent generating a crowd, Mr. Ko said that Brother Cream's farewell ceremony will be family only. He would arrange for his favorite canned food as burial goods.

As for whether further memorial events will take place, he would decide after the order is lifted and discussions with fans. However he was certain that the pet store will continue its operation and spread Brother Cream's spirit. He said, "Cream did what he should in life. He has already contributed a lot. We hope to spread his spirit and continue to the Brother Cream fund to help street cats and promote animal protection."

[2020.05.24] PRO WRESTLER AND REALITY SHOW STAR HANA KIMURA PASSED AWAY AT AGE 22

Hana Kimura's mother Kyoko Kimura blames herself for failing to protect her daughter and asks the media to respect the dead
courtesy of mngpao.com

The media continues to speculate the cause of death
courtesy of singtao.com

Former TERRACE HOUSE TOKYO cast members like Violetta Razdumina and Ryo Tawatari remember Hana Kimura
courtesy of mingpao.com

courtesy of singtao.com

Hana Kimura two nights ago bid farewell to her cat on social media.

During TERRACE HOUSE, Hana Kimura was linked to Ryo Tawatari

courtesy of mingpao.com

courtesy of singtao.com

Japanese artist Hana Kimura yesterday passed away at age 22 from suicide due to suspected online bullying. Hana Kimura was a reality show star in the latest season of the Netflix program TERRACE HOUSE TOKYO. Previously she was best known as a professional wrestling star.

Born in Okinawa, Hana Kimura's mother is the famous Japanese professional wrestler Kyoko Kimura. Due to her mother's influence, Hana Kimura dropped out of school in 2015 and enrolled in a professional wrestling school. The next year she made her debut. In October 2019 she joined the TERRACE HOUSE TOKYO 2019-2020 cast. While her popularity rose, due to her strong personality she got into a conflict with a fellow cast member and hence became the target of online attacks.

TERRACE HOUSE was a reality dating show that was jointly produced by Fuji Television and the video streaming platform Netflix. Every season 3 men and 3 women were invited to stay in a luxury apartment for the production team and the audience to watch their daily and love lives.

Hana Kimura once said that since joining TERRACE HOUSE she has received nonstop online bullying. Everyday she would receive almost 100 negative messages, calling her "ugly", telling her to "drop dead". Her self confidence was severely impacted as she questioned whether she was living "a life without love". Two nights ago through social media she bid farewell to her cat and posted, "I love you, forever happiness and joy, sorry". Hana Kimura allegedly posted many photos of her waist cutting suicide on social media but her agency removed them.

Hana Kimura's agency Stardom yesterday issued a statement confirming her death but did not revealed the cause of death. It stressed that it would cooperate with the official investigation. In addition, the spokesperson said that the company would discuss the funeral arrangement with her family and comfort its wrestler's emotional state to avoid a repeat of the tragedy.

TERRACE HOUSE earlier due to the novel coronavirus pandemic halted production before resuming broadcast last week. Hana Kimura once said to her fellow cast members that the pandemic has halted all wrestling matches, in turn making her unemployed. Some online speculated that the career setback might be one of the reasons that pushed Hana Kimura to the edge of suicide.

[2020.05.24] IRENE WAN PRAISES KENNY KWAN FOR HIS DARING PERFORMANCE

Deep Ng, Ken Hung
courtesy of mingpao.com

Michelle Wai

Ashina Kwok
couresy of on.cc

courtesy of singtao.com

The Irene Wan Bik Ha and Kenny Kwan Chi Bun starred film THE FALLEN (DOR LOK FA) two nights ago held its premiere. Irene expressed that she was excited as she has been waiting for this day for a very long time. Due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the film release was postponed from Easter. The most regrettable was the inability to participate in Osaka and other film festivals. Fortunately she won the 8th Silk Road International Film Festival Best Actress, the credit of which she gave to the entire film team. Irene praised co-star Kenny for his daring performance, which motivated her to perform even wilder. THE FALLEN's original team would have a chance to work together again.

THE FALLEN two nights ago held a premiere and received support from artists like Carlos Chan Ka Lok, Gladys Li Ching Kwan, Melvin Wong Kam Sun and his son, Alice Chan Wai, Janis Chan Pui Yee, Deep Ng Ho Hong, Ken Hung Cheuk Lap and others. Speaking of her husband, Irene said that he already invited many friends to show their support. "Because he already watched the movie at the Asian Film Festival. He really liked it and praised me for having a big breakthrough, the story was well written and had a lot of room for imagination." Kenny joked that he did not know he would be able to invite his friends. He was very honored to be able to have a premiere of his own. He would wait until the next time when he would work with Irene again to invite friends to the premiere. As for whether they would have a chance to work together, Irene revealed that the director was already writing another script and planned to work with the original team. Kenny was happy to hear the news. Because in the past he mostly played the nice guy or Prince Charming, his role in the new film was somewhat deranged so he put a lot of effort into it. Fortunately he had the director or Irene to communicate with about how to shoot it. Would watching his own love scenes be awkward? Kenny said that the during the shoot they were not awkward because they were very professional, and many people were on the set. Instead he felt awkward at his first screening, because after color adjustment, music score and editing, the entire matter became even more daring than he imagined.

Ashina Kwok Yik Sum in the film also had love scenes with Kenny. She said, "Last time at the film festival I sat to Kenny, when I saw our scene it was really awkward. I kept fidgeting, luckily it went by very quickly. However the director really shot it very prettily." As for work, Kwok Yik Sum revealed that she will work on the television program HOT CHEF's second season. She said that her cooking has improved because she was able to practice on the shoot.

Breaking her left leg during a skiing accident about half a year ago, Michelle Wai Sze Nga still has not completely recovered so she did not dare to appear in high heels. She said, "Lately because I have been busy with the promotion, I had to delay physical therapy. Right now the left side of my posterior still hurt. The doctor said that the recovery time would depend on how much I would behave, but actually I am pretty anxious because for my new film in July I would have to learn to pole dance. Although the director would be able to use a double, I don't want to." Wai Sze Nga said that the pole dancing scene would require at least a month of practice before the shoot. Fortunately her character would not excel in it, so she would shoot scenes of messing up. Now she was only worried whether she would aggravate the old wound. She hoped that the shoot would go smoothly. In addition, Wai Sze Nga's series THE GUTTER has had decent response. She said that many friends have asked her for spoilers but she resisted, even when her mother asked. She never expected that her mother would enjoy this type of series.