HKSAR Film No Top 10 Box Office

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

[2022.02.09] THE 40TH HONG KONG FILM AWARDS WILL ANNOUNCE ITS NOMINATIONS AS SCHEDULED

Patrick Tse already won the 28th Hong Kong Film Critic Society Award Best Actor with TIME. His son Nicholas Tse received many votes in the first round Hong Kong Film Award first round balloting. Father and son may share the stage to compete for Best Actor.

ZERO TO HERO's Leung Chung Hang and Fung Ho Yeung, ANITA' Louise Wong have a good chance at the Best New Performer nomination.

Hong Kong Film Awards Association president Derek Yee would announce the nominations as scheduled. Earlier he urged voters and professional jury members to vote on social media.
courtesy of mingpao.com

The 40th Hong Kong Film Awards due to the pandemic announced its suspension in 2020. The Hong Kong Film Awards Association decided to postponed the event until 2021, any 2020 and 2021 film releases that have met the Hong Kong Film Award qualifications would compete together for the first time this year. As the fifth pandemic wave cases rose to very severe levels, the government yesterday announced further tightening of pandemic prevention measures until the 24th. The Hong Kong Film Awards president Derek Yee Tung Sing would announced the nominations as scheduled on February 16th. Since the awards would be difficult to postpone again, yesterday the board of directors met to discuss responses. The 28th Hong Kong Film Critic Society Awards presentation that would take place in March would also be affected, a spokesperson revealed that it would very likely take place online.

The Hong Kong Film Awards president Yee Tung Sing yesterday revealed that the board of directors met to discuss details and responses and decided to announce the nominations as scheduled on February 16th. ViuTV, which would broadcast the award show live, would make a venue available for the Hong Kong Film Award Association to hold the press conference.

As for the April 17th award show, currently it would still take place the Cultural Center in Tsim Sha Tsui. However the event would continue to pay close attention to the government social distancing measures. He said, "The earlier seating restriction was an empty seat for every six. Due to the restriction on the number of people permitted, nominees would come first. However the government has been updating the rules, now only those who have been vaccinated would be admitted. This year's scale definitely would not be as grand as in the past."

Siu Bo said that this year's situation has been even more complicated than last year's; because of the decision to suspend the event they did not need any planning. Now since they decided to go ahead they would have to begin preparing and raise the large amount of the funding that it would require. Any change would lead to severe damages. He said, "Last year the 40th award show was postponed a year. Actually it could not be postponed for another year. If we would go two years without it, keep pushing back is not the answer and not healthy either. This year would have around 70 films in competition between the two years. I hope it would happen."

Due to the pandemic, cinemas have been "closed" for months over the past two years. However many films were still released. Critical and commercial hits included RAGING FIRE (NO FOR), DRIFTING (JOOK SHUI PIU LAU), TIME (SAT CHOOK GOR WONG FUN), SHOCK WAVE 2 (CHAK DAN JUEN GA 2), ANITA, ZERO TO HERO (MAMA DIK SUN KEI SIU JI), LIMBO (JI CHI) and SHOWBIZ SPY (GA MO NUI TUEN).

Playing Anita Mui Yim Fong in ANITA, Louise Wong Dan Nei would have hope for "double nominations" for Best Actress and Best New Performer; MIRROR member Anson Lo Hon Ting with SHOWBIZ SPY and ZERO TO HERO's Fung Ho Yeung and Leung Chung Hang would also be the Best New Performer favorites.

In addition, the 28th Hong Kong Film Critic Society Awards presentation would take place in March. Spokesperson Ng Siu Nam said that currently they were not confident that the presentation would take place, because even if they wanted they would have no venue. Thus it would very likely take place online. The awards would be presented to the winners and their acceptance speech would be recorded.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

[2022.02.07] EDAN LUI CLAIMS HE IS ONLY A "LITTLE COMEDY STAR"

Edan Lui says that he likes working on comedy and variety programs because he would be able to bring joy to the audience

Edan Lui has enjoyed comedy film since childhood. Ronald Cheng is one of his idols and he is pleasantly surprised that he would be able to work with him.

Making his directing debut, Coba Cheng says that each of the leads have their own uniqueness and comedic rhythm

CHILLI LAUGH STORY is based on Coba Cheng's journey of being chilli sauce to the market during the pandemic
courtesy of mingpao.com

MIRROR member Edan Lui Cheuk On with the Hong Kong version OSSAN'S LOVE rose with his exaggerated and hilarious performance and has been called the "new generation comedian". He caught producer and actress Sandra Ng Kwan Yu's eyes as she asked him to participate in the Lunar New Year film CHILLI LAUGHT STORY (HOP GA LAT) and play Ronald Cheng Chung Kei and Gigi Leung Wing Kei's son. As for being called the "new generation comedian", Edan went "wow" and said that he did not deserve the title. He felt that at most he was just as "little comedy star". "Don't say that, this title is too much. I absolutely can't live up to it. I hope in the future I would be able to, but it is still so far away. Now I can't even say I know how to act, how can I be called a 'comedian'. Comedy actually is even harder to grasp. I have a sense for comedy and pace, but I am not great at it. I am still studying."

Edan felt that a successful comedian would make people laugh as soon as he opened his mouth, his jokes and topics would have to tightly follow trends and the general public would be able to relate to them. "Why do so many people say comedy is hard? Because everyone's definition of funny is different. Even in different eras everyone's sense of humor and definition of funny would change. Some movies that people felt were very funny might not be funny anymore when watching them now."

A fan of comedy since childhood, Edan was a fan of Stephen Chow Sing Chi and Ronald Cheng Chung Kei and saw them a role models and targets. Being able to work with Cheng Chung Kei this time, he was pleasantly surprised.

Constantly appearing in comedies, Edan was not worried about being typecast and affecting his MIRROR's singer image. He said, "I like to be funny and work on variety programs. Being able to bring joy to the audience isn't a bad thing, so I never think about it too much."

He revealed that his character in OSSAN'S LOVE might be too extreme. He would not be funny in his upcoming movies GOR SI GOR JIK and series i.SWIM. Even in the Lunar New Year film CHILLI LAUGH STORY he was not as crays as he was in OSSAN'S. He said, "After watching all those, no one would be typecasting me so easily. Instead they would feel Edan has a lot of potential, not just in comedy." He described himself as a chameleon. He could be funny, but he could be serious and integral. He looked forward to even more different challenges in the future.

As for idol baggage, Edan said that he absolutely did not have any. He felt that in music he already had a lot of burdens, his position has not been too idol so he did not need to think about this type of baggage in other areas. However he said that he had a bottom line, if he had to be fully nude he would not agree right away. Edan said, "My journey can't be just one thing, not because I feel I am talented in both acting and singing; if I am great at one thing I can just do that, the problem is I am not good enough. So I have to work on both."

CHILLI LAUGH STORY would be Coba Cheng Chun Hin's film directing debut. He felt that the hardest part about directing was on the set decisions. "As soon as I yell cut, everyone would stare at me and listen to whether I say good or not. Would we need another take? If we do, then I would have to explain why we would and anything that was lacking. Fortunately producer Ng Kwan Yu gave me a lot of confidence. On the first two days I really was hesitant, after yelling cut I didn't dare to express my opinion; gradually they helped me a lot. They gave me a lot of room to create. Each of the 4 actors have their own uniqueness and comedic rhythm, as they were able to interpret the funny spots I wrote."

CHILLI LAUGH STORY used Cheng Chun Hei's story not being able to see a way out during the pandemic and making chili sauce for the market as blue print. He said, "Ng Kwan Yu was very interested in my story, she asked to meet me and hear the story again. At the time (Peter) Chan Ho Sun and (Matthew) Chow Hoi Kwong were on hand as well; after listening, Chan Ho Sun asked me to direct as well. My mind went blank for 45 minutes, but they gave me a lot of confidence. So I mustered up the courage and gave it a try. For me this year has been an accelerated class. From creating to wrapping up production, I would give myself 70 points. My shortcoming is with some things I didn't handle them mature enough."

[2022.02.07] CHILLI LAUGH STORY'S CARTOON MUSIC VIDEO SENDS WARM AMID THE PANDEMIC

Ronald Cheng, Gigi Leung, Sandra Ng, Edan Lui
courtesy of singtao.com

courtesy of mingpao.com

The Ronald Cheng Chung Kei, Gigi Leung Wing Kei, Edan Lui Cheuk On and Sandra Ng Kwan Yu starred Year of the Tiger family comedy CHILLI LAUGH STORY (HOP GA LAT) has been itching in preparation to meet the audience and shared all the flavors under the pandemic. Although currently cinemas still had no idea when they would open up again, CHILLI LAUGH STORY's team still promoted hard. Yesterday the film released its theme song music video, which Gigi, Edan and Ng Kwan Yu sang together. The four leads' cartoon images appeared in the music video. The amateur illustrator Yo!'s Playground drawings of the four leads were exactly like the characters in the film: the scruffy Chung Kei with newspaper in hand, Gigi in an apron and with a chili pepper in her hand, Edan in a smart track suit and crocs and Aunt Kwan Yu with a microphone in her hand as they made chili sauce together in a warm family scene.

Saturday, February 5, 2022

[2022.02.06] EDAN LUI IS ABLE TO FOLLOW HIS ELDER CO-STARS' IMPROVISATION

Edan Lui praises how easy going elders like Sandra Ng, Ronald Cheng and Gigi Leung have been. He would ask them anything he would have a problem with.
courtesy of singtao.com

Edan Lui Cheuk On and Coba Cheng Chun Hin are both film new comers, the formerly acted in his first movie, the later directed his first. Two new comers for their first time in the film industry already worked with Sandra Ng Kwan Yu, Ronald Cheng Chung Kei and Gigi Leung Wing Kei on the new film CHILLI LAUGH STORY (HOP GA LAT). They both said that the three were very professional and friendly, and they learned a lot from them. Edan even boldly stated that he was still able to follow and trigger even more comedy from the elders' improvisation.

The new film CHILLI LAUGH STORY's director Cheng Chung Hin and actor Lui Cheuk On earlier promoted their film. The film was based on Coba's own story. During the pandemic he was working from home, between the family's friction and cooperation they invented a welcome chilli sauce. Coba said that since he was able to turn his own story into a movie, he would like to thank Ng Kwan Yu the most. "By chance I met Kwan Yu. At the time she asked about my job. I said that under the pandemic I sold chilli sauce, I started to tell her my story and my relationship with my parents. After listening she thought it was interesting and suggested for me to turn my story into a movie. First she told me to write a script, then she asked me to direct. This time for me was an enormous challenge. Although I have directed commercials, they only lasted 10 minutes at most. This time would be a 90 minute movie. When I started to explore it was very hard, especially when this was a comedy. The story had to progress and still had funny elements. The most important was to getting it past Kwan Yu."

As for Edan although he had music video, television series and variety show host experience, he still felt worried and stressed from his first time on the silver screen. He said, "Of course I was excited about making my first movie; but because my role wasn't minor, if I didn't perform well everyone would feel I perform very poorly. From the non no one would ask me to make a movie. In addition I lack experience, before the shoot I was a little worried. Luckily Coba is young as well. Our frequencies are very close. If I faced a mature and respected director I might be scared, but we were like friends. If I had any question I would directly ask him. If he felt I didn't perform well enough I would direct tell him too. We had a lot of exchanges, I can say we were on the same boat." Since all the young people were on the same boat, were they able to until against the 3 elders? They said, "Not against, but uniting to finish this thing together!"

CHILLI would talk about family friction during the pandemic. Edan said that due to the work format he was very rarely at home, so he had less friction with his family. He said, "What makes me relate to this film is everyone's parents nag, but their nagging has love inside. Like that type of nagging between the director's parents, inside is flirting, a way to communicate and get long with each other. After the shoot I even felt that my family is great nd I have to properly love them more. (Do you no longer mind your parents' nagging?) I still would mind the nagging, haha! Only now I would understand more their intention." As for his plans in the new year, Edan hoped to continue to develop in multiple areas. Coba wanted to work with Edan again, stating that he already conceived a "Romantic Melodrama Chunibyo Syndrome" Korean drama style film. However because Edan had difficulty with crying, he would not write crying scenes for him. He said that the "dog blood (melodramatic) Korean drama" could be very funny too.

In addition, as the fifth wave of the pandemic raged on, three Lunar New Year films that were originally scheduled for Lunar New Year's Day release had to be postponed due to pandemic prevention measures being tightened. However their casts still promoted hard. CHILLI LAUGH STORY was no exception, for days it kept promoting online, raising awareness in hopes of cinemas to open as soon s possible. The CHILLI LAUGH STORY team originally planned a tramway parade event on the Lunar 6th from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay and wish everyone a Happy New Year on the way. Yet due to the rising pandemic the team considered public and participants' safety, the tramway promotional event could only be postponed.

Thursday, February 3, 2022

[2022.02.04] IVANA WONG AND PETER CHAN ARE HAPPY TO WORK WITH DAYO WONG

Peter Chan and Ivana Wong play a couple in TABLE FOR SIX. They already spark off a lot of spark despite it being their first collaboration.
courtesy of singtao.com

Ivana Wong (right) jokes that she wants to dance to lose weight, s she is envious how co-star Peter Chan can eat all he wants without getting fat.

Dayo Wong plays the big brother in TABLE FOR SIX
courtesy of mingpao.com

Ivana Wong Yuen Chi and Peter Chan Charm Man in the new film TABLE FOR SIX (FAN HEI GUNG SUM) played a couple who has been dating for years. Among their co-stars were Dayo Wong Tze Wa and Louis Cheung Kai Chung. Being able to work with Wong Tze Wa, both were very excited. They praised Tze Wa for being full of presence, on the first day of work he already set the tone for the entire production. Wong Yuen Chi said, "If Tze Wa wants people to be afraid, our entire production would have watched our every step. Thus from the beginning he released the feeling of 'everyone is welcomed to play', then everyone relaxed, would become carefree and improvise, and release everything."

Were they able to follow Tze Wa's improvisation? Chan Charm Man said that they probably were. Even if they were not, Tze Wa would save them. He also said that in comparison to Wong Yuen Chi, Cheung Kai Chung, Stephy Tang Lai Yan and others, he did not have much acting experience. Thus when he started he felt very nervous. Actually the Performing Arts Academy graduate was full of stage experience. No wonder Wong Yuen Chi joked that he was being too humble. Chan Charm Man replied, "When you started I was still at school, my experience wouldn't be as rich as yours. So I am a little afraid. However fear is a type of motivation, the best was that everyone were very willing to play together and setting off a lot of spark."

Wong Yuen Chi in the film was a kitchen goddess. Because her family operated a catering business, she was raised to inherit the family business as well as her Mama and Grandma's tough personality -- feeling that cooking a good meal was her duty. She said that in real life it would not be difficult for her to cook a meal, but whether it would be delicious or not to each its own. She also said that she was not a "no rice" housewife, occasionally she would cook. "I wouldn't always cook, my husband hasn't asked for that. However if I haven't cooked for while I would feel a little guilty. I would be alert myself. After too many days of take out it would be time to do something. However I would just cook one dish nd rice. This has become something that I like to do recently. I feel instead of cooking several dishes that some would be cooked well and some not, I might as well put all my effort into making one good dish then finishing it." Chan Charm Man said that girls who knew how to cook would absolutely get more points. His wife is also a great cook.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

[2022.02.03] LUNAR NEW YEAR FILMS INSIST ON OPENING AS SOON AS CINEMAS RESUME OPERATION

Sandra Ng gave away lai see and tossed the holy up for others
courtesy of singtao.com

CHILLI LAUGH STORY may not open as scheduled but the cast still plans to promote with a tramway on the Lunar 6th

Dayo Wong's TABLE FOR SIX was scheduled for a Lunar New Year's Day release, but now its release date is up in the air.
courtesy of mingpao.com

The Sandra Ng Kwan Yu, Ronald Cheng Chung Kei, Gigi Leung Wing Kei and Edan Lui Cheuk On starred Lunar New Year film CHILLI LAUGH STORY (HOP GA LAT) has yet to have the chance to be released, the stars still took the opportunity to pay a Lunar New Year visit to everyone. They even held a live stream with everyone on Lunar New Year's Day. Kwan Yu turned into Lady Heavenly Queen and answered every prayer, first she tossed the holy cup for everyone then she gave a lai see over the screen. ERROR member Dee asked if he would able to release a solo record. Kwan Yu tossed the holy cup for him and it turned faced up, conceivably his wish would be able to come true this year. However when everyone asked about the pandemic, she stated that tossing the holy cup for everyone would be very stressful. Edan in the live stream said that he would spend the Lunar New Year playing mahjong with the family and make some New Year riches. The star even said that they would promote on the Lunar 6th with a tramway ride.

Both CHILLI LAUGH STORY and the Dayo Wong Tze Wa, Louis Cheung Kai Chi and Ivana Wong Yuen Chi starred Lunar New Year film TABLE FOR SIX (FAN HEI GUNG SUM) were scheduled for a Lunar New Year's Day (February 1st) release, the casts would have visited various cinemas to pay Lunar New Year visits to the audience. However as the government tightened the pandemic prevention measures cinemas would be closed until the 17th. Recently as the Omicron variant further spread, many cases of unknown origins appeared. Whether cinemas would be able to open again on the 17th no one knows. However film companies have continued to promote. Reportedly after the Lunar New Year holiday would end, the two films' casts would promote in different ways.

Although the pandemic progress remained uncertain, film companies still have no plan to postpone Lunar New Year films to other slots for release and pull them for the Lunar New Year next year. They still insisted on opening as soon as cinemas would open up again. Ronald Cheng Chung Kei joked on social media that while everyone would be waiting to see CHILLI LAUGH STORY, they would watch the 2007 Lunar New Year film he wrote, directed and starred in, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (SUM SEUNG SI SING).