[2020.01.28] CARLOS CHAN TRIES SINGING BUT HAS TO RECORD A VERSE 100 TIMES

courtesy of on.cc

Carlos Chan Ka Lok and Gladys Lee Ching Kwan in the past year made great strides in their careers as they were both promoted to make the Emperor Lunar New Year film YOU ARE THE ONE (NGOR DIK SHUN POON NAM YAU). Ka Lok last year released three movies and one series, while Gladys stepped onto the music scene and won rookie awards. However neither were satisfied as they looked forward to continuing improvement in the Year of the Rat!

Ka Lok two years ago with his character "Grandpa" in the series DADDY COOL successfully became a household name. He hoped to play memorable characters again this year. "When people call me by the character name on the streets, I am happier than being called my real name!" Would he attempt to try singing? He said that he has already tried for YOU but realized that actually it was not easy. "I thought my singing was OK, but recording required singing every verse. For one verse I recorded 100 times, that was such a setback! (Have you been scared off from singing again?) No! I became addicted. After that I feel that I have grasps of its secretes. (Would you become a singer?) Not necessarily, I can sing some theme songs."

Romantically, Ka Lok has already been single for over a year. Would he be in any hurry to date again? He said, "Let fate decide! I haven't been deliberately looking. (Aren't you dry?) I don't need to be nourished for a long time. I rather enjoyed eating and binging shows alone, my family hasn't rushed me either."

Playing a couple for the first time, Ka Lok and Gladys clicked right away. However they joked that their romantic spark was only limited to the movie. Ka Lok said, "After (Michelle) Wai Sze Nga she has become another friend that I kind of trust! I feel that she is very direct. Instead I would hide a lot of stuff." Gladys said that Ka Lok like his character was cold on the outside and hot inside. "He normally likes to be a bully like Gian, but inside he has a fragile side!"

[2020.01.27] LOUIS CHEUNG SPENDS THE LUNAR NEW YEAR WITH HIS FAMILY

courtesy of mingpao.com

Louis Cheung Kai Chung and DaDa Chan Jing happily performed in ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2020 (GA YAU HEI SI 2020), hoping through this classic Lunar New Year film to continue to bring joy to the audience. Although each ALL'S WELLS ENDS WELL before were all critical and commercial hits, they had no pressure from taking the baton. Ah Chun even did not dare to say that he took the baton. "I never thought about taking the baton, all of the previous films were classics. It is hard to replace classics, but remake certainly have its reasons. With different era comedy elements are also different. ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL is a part of the domestic culture, which is very valuable. ALL'S influenced my impression of comedy and brought me a lot of happy memories."

DaDa said that each actress of ALL's film series have been very outstanding and left deep impressions with the audience. Her favorite was the ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL (GA YAU HEI SI) Maggie Cheung Man Yuk played Hor Lei Yuk. She said, "I don't dare to compare with past characters, there is no comparison. Classic has certain value, many memories, I hope that ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2020 would bring viewers joy and bring back past memories." DaDa during the Lunar New Year would remain in Hong Kong to promote ALL'S, at the same time she would invite friends to play mahjong and other parlor games at home. She felt that a little gambling with everyone together would have New Year atmosphere. She said, "Only in the New Year would I play fish prawn crab. In the past I would let others play house. This year I have to get it back because I feel the house is more likely to win. I want to get some good luck."

Ah Chung's entire family would spend the New Year in Japan. "I want to fight for more time with the children. I really enjoy being with them, as I am very afraid of missing each stage of their growth. Time flies, children would grow up in the blink of an eye. When you want to be with them, they may not be willing especially boys. In their teens and 20s they want to see the world and very rarely stay at home. Since right now my son still needs me, I would be stuck to him more. I am afraid that he would kick me out, but I don't get to be scared. I have experienced that before myself, I hope now I have a good foundation with my son and wait for him to turn around in his 30s to spend more time with family."

DaDa was envious of Ah Chung's perfect family. She also looked forward the arrival of another stage in life. Was her biggest goal for the Year of the Rat to find a good man? She said, "My friends are more worried about it than I am, even male fans who didn't want me to date before now are telling me to hurry up and get married. Maybe they all found their other halves in life and started to panic for me. Instead they are encouraging me." DaDa was not in any hurry to date and get married, before fate's arrival she would prepare herself.

As for Ah Chung, this year aside from hoping to keep making more movies he also planned to create songs and perform concerts.

[2020.01.26] PATRICK TAM CELEBRATES A NARCISSISTIC BIRTHDAY

courtesy of on.cc

Rarely in comedy, Patrick Tam Yiu Man in the Lunar New Year film ALL'S WELL ENDS WELL 2020 (GA YAU HEI SI 2020) played a mob boss on the receiving end of Raymond Wong Pak Ming, Julian Cheung Chi Lam and Louis Cheung Kai Chung's team con. Tam Yiu Man's costumes were extreme superficial, with curly hair and an alternative bird's nest hairstyle he looked just like "Hanawa". In addition he often used a diamond massage baton on his face, which made him extremely funny.

He stated that he had his fill of acting from this new attempt. In an extravagant birthday party scene, the giant portraits of him were hung on the walls of the hall. "That day of the shoot really was very pleasant, I felt like I became the focus and got all the attention. Thank you team for gratifying my narcissist sense of satisfaction!"

[2020.01.26] PAUL CHUN CELEBRATES THE NEW YEAR WITH HIS BROTHERS

courtesy of on.cc

Veteran artist Paul Chun Pui, his brother John Chiang Dai Wei and their half brother Derek Yee Tung Sing celebrates with a Lunar New Year's Eve dinner. Chun Pui's daughter Lesley Chiang Lai Man also came home to eat and posted photos from the dinner, including the valuable photo of three brothers.

[2020.01.24] MICHAEL HUI IS NAMED THE 44TH HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FILMMAKER IN FOCUS

http://www.hkiff.org.hk/news/detail?id=444

The 44th Hong Kong International Film Festival Filmmaker in Focus will be the Hong Kong "Comedy Heavenly King" Michael Hui Koon Man. With almost half a century in the film industry, Hui Koon Man has been a writer, a director and an actor all in one. With his distinct stone faced comedy and extraordinary creativity, he repeatedly set domestic box office records. Still active today his luster still has not been lost.

The Hong Kong International Film Festival Association director Albert Lee said, "Hui Koon Man is a Hong Kong film legendary figure, as well as the trailblazing founder of Hong Kong comedy. Hui Koon Man's 'stone faced comedian' image is deeply memorable. His agile creativity has also inspired countless filmmakers and comedy actors. We are very honored to be able to invite this comedy genius to be the 44th Hong Kong International Film Festival Filmmaker in Focus."

[2020.01.24] OUTBREAK POSTPONES MAINLAND FILM RELEASES

DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3 backs out of the Lunar New Year in the Mainland and delays its Hong Kong release

LOST IN RUSSIA and VANGUARD also retreat
courtesy of singtao.com

Director Dante Lam and Eddie Peng promoted THE RESCUE earlier
courtesy of on.cc

As Wuhan, Hubei's new corona virus pandemic persisted, in order to get it under control and reduce risks, seven films DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3, LEAP, THE RESCUE, LOST IN RUSSIA, LEGEND OF DEIFICATION, VANGUARD, BOONIE BEAR: THE WILD LIFE have announced that they would back out of the 2020 Spring Festival slot and change their Mainland release dates. In addition, Taiwan singers Jolin Tsai, Jonathan Lee and Penny Tai have also announced that their Mainland concerts would be postponed.

This year's New Year and Lunar New Year slots would be less than a month apart. Two major film golden period would be in a relay to continue to ignite the passion of film viewers. As the most important slot of the year, the 2020 Spring Festival period the Mainland had seven film releases. Each one was a big production, as the industry joked that it was the strongest "deity fight" in history with LEAP, DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3, THE RESCUE, LOST IN RUSSIA VANGUARD and animated films LEGEND IN DEIFICATION and BOONIE BEAR: THE WILD LIFE. According to data, as for January 20th at 8PM, the Lunar New Year's Day advanced ticket sales have already reached 275 million yuan RMB. Among them DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 3 came in first in advanced sales and created the fastest advanced sales to break 100 million in Chinese film history. Some organizations predicted that many films would accumulate over 7 billion yuan RMB at the box office.

However, as the new corona virus pandemic persisted, the aforementioned seven films have announced schedule changes. Film companies said that with the pandemic, everyone would put prevention and life first. Film companies expressed that they would launch a ticket refund process through various channels to reduce viewers losses to its minimum. BOONIE BEAR: THE WILD LIFE issued a statement. "We don't want to see our viewer friends in order to watch BOONIE BEAR: THE WILD LIFE to bear any risk to their health, we want even less to see the possibility of the pandemic spreading further. To BOONIE BEAR, nothing is more important to the safety of family and children! We hereby announce that BOONIE BEAR: THE WILD LIFE will officially drop out of the Spring Festival slot and be released on a later date." Because THE RESCUE will drop out of he Mainland Spring Festival slot and postpone its release, its Hong Kong release will also be postponed. The January 31st premiere in Macau will need to be delayed.

In addition, due to the persisting Wuhan pneumonia pandemic, many Taiwan singers including Jolin Tsai, Jonathan Lee, Penny Tai and others who originally planned to perform in the Mainland during the Lunar New Year have postponed their shows.

Jolin Tsai and Jonathan Lee's Mainland concert organizer recently issued a statement on Weibo that in response to the pandemic management request, Join Tsai's Ugly Beauty concert tour Wuhan stop on March 7th and Jonathan Lee's Hubei concert on March 8th have been postponed. Once the date and time have been confirmed further notice will be made. The original tickets would still be valid after the delay and the organizer would accept refund request.

Penny Tai's February 14th Chengdu and February 16th Wuhan concerts have been postponed according to their organizer's Weibo announcement. Refund requests will begin after the Lunar New Year.

As for Andy Lau Tak Wa's April Wuhan show, Wa Jai's company is in communication with the Wuhan organizers. As soon as they have any news they would make an announcement to everyone.

[2020.01.23] FOR THE WEEK ENDING JANUARY 19 2020

For the week ending Sunday January 19 2020

Photos courtesy of Yahoo! Movies Hong Kong

10 RICHARD JEWELL
    d. Clint Eastwood
    Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Paul Walter Hauser

  9 JUDY
    d. Rupert Goold
    Renee Zellweger, Jessie Buckley, Finn Witrock

  8 STAR WARS THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
    d. J.J. Abrams
    Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega,
      Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson,
      Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong'o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo,
      Kelly Marie Tran, Ian McDiarmid, Billy Dee Williams

  7 JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL
    d. Jake Kasdan
    Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan,
      Nick Jonas, Awkwafina

  6 IP MAN 4 THE FINALE
  AKA : IP MAN 4
    d. Wilson Yip Wai Shun
    Donnie Yen Chi Tan, Wu Yue, Vanness Wu (Ng Kin Ho), Scott Adkins,
      Kent Cheng Juk Si, Danny Chan Kwok Kwan, Pierre Ngo Ka Nin,
      Chris Collins, Vanda Margraf (Lee Yuen Tan),
  Rating : IIB
  Length : 105 mins.
  Opening December 20 2019
  Trailer : https://youtu.be/YrtreI7lkys

[ THE FILM CATALOGUE ]
    Ip Man has been living a peaceful life teaching Wing Chun. One of Ip’s students, Bruce Lee decides to open a Wing Chun school in the States. The local Kung Fu masters are not happy about it. Ip goes to the States and helps Lee to resolve the problems. Meanwhile, Ip also teaches Lee how to become a real Wing Chun master. Ip gains respect from China town and all across the States. He spreads the theory of Chinese Kung Fu to society and makes it popular in the world...

  5 UNDERWATER
    d. William Eubank
    Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, T.J. Miller, Jessica Henwick,

  4 LITTLE WOMEN
    d. Greta Gerwig
    Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen,
      Laura Dern, Timonthee Chalamet, Meryl Streep

  3 ASHFALL
  Can : Bak Tau Shan: Shan For Ho Gip
    d. Lee Hae-Jun, Kim Byung-Seo
    Lee Byung-hun, Ha Jung-Woo, Ma Dong-Seok, Jeon Hye-Jin, Bae Suzy
  Rating : IIA
  Length : 128 mins.
  Opening January 1 2020
  Trailer : https://youtu.be/nVOCzfVPwoU

[ BROADWAY CIRCUIT ]
    An unexpected eruption of Korea's tallest volcano, which straddles the China-North Korea border, leaves the Korean peninsula in shambles. Seismologists warn this is only the preliminary eruption – A devastating super-eruption is still to come. Yoo-kyung is Chief Secretary to the President of South Korea. She meets renowned Korean-American seismologist, Bong-rae. Bong-rae presents a theory that could possibly stop the volcanic explosion. In-chang is only days away from completing his service with the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit of the South Korean Army. He is called way to his last mission before returning home to his wife, Ji-young. In-chang's team secretly reaches out to a North Korean elite officer, Jun-pyong, who holds the key to the mission to stop the volcanic eruption. However, Jun-pyong keeps acting erratically. With doom looming, everyone must work together to avoid imminent devastation.

  2 BAD BOYS FOR LIFE
    d. Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah
    Will Smith, Martin Lawrence

  1 1917
    d. Sam Mendes
    George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman,