Entertainment News For Week Of Dec 2 - Dec 8

Gigi Leung Releases New Album

Gigi Leung has released a new album and some cover shots can be found at the link below. The album was released on December 3, 2006.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Gigi Leung Releases New Album

"The Banquet" Will Not Compete At Golden Globe Awards

Zhang Ziyi will not be a nominee for best actress for her role in "The Banquet" for the Golden Globe Awards because the film did not participate in the competition. The distributors for the film were asked why they didn't want to be included in the Golden Globes, but refused to answer. With "The Banquet" out of the running, it makes "Curse Of The Golden Flower" a stronger competitor.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Zhang Ziyi Will Not Compete For Golden Globe

The #1 Chinese Celebrity Mansion

The #1 Chinese celebrity mansion belongs to Jet Li. The mansion is being built near Shanghai, near Jet Li's wife's family and took two years to construct. The mammoth mansion consists of three separate buildings and is close to 54,000 square feet! The property will have underground passages.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Jet Li's Mansion The Number One In Celebrity World

Top 10 Hottest Females In China

This list was compiled by a newspaper in China. Click on the link to view the complete list. The list includes familiar names such as Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, and Zhao Wei. Also check out what the Chinese people in China have to say about the women on this list.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Uniqueness Of 10 Hot Female Stars In China

Joey Yung Nearly Injured On Set

Joey Yung almost had a large lighting pole strike her on her face while filming an advertisement. While filming on a glass surface, the light pole started coming down and almost hit her face - fortunately crew members were able to catch the pole before any damage was done. Joey shook it off and stated "Before I was tired, but now I'm wide awake!"

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Joey Yung Nearly Disfigured In Accident

Cathy Tsui & Lee Ka Shing To Marry

Actress/model Cathy Tsui will be marrying wealth heir Lee Ka Shing in Australia this year. Not to be confused with Li Ka Shing, Lee Ka Shing will be the successor to the Henderson Land Developement Company. Their relationship has been a high profile one in an on again, off again relationship for the past two years.

Story courtesy:
JayneStars: Celebrity Weddings: Cathy Tsui & Lee Ka Shing

Chow Yun-Fat To Play A Role In Upcoming Pirates Of The Caribbean III

Next year in May, the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will be released. Be on the lookout for Chow Yun-Fat, who will play a Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng. Keith Richards (from the band Rolling Stones) will also make an appearance in the film.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Chow Yun-Fat Plays Chinese Pirate In Pirates Of The Caribbean III

Fiona Leung In Serious Car Accident

While filming in Australia, Fiona Leung was injured in a serious car accident that sent her to the ICU. She was in a van carrying film equipment and several of the crew, who were also injured in the accident. As of this writing, Fiona's condition has stabilized.

Story courtesy:
JayneStars: Fiona Leung Ngai Ling in Car Accident; Sent to Hospital Intensive Care Unit

Lydia Sum Flies Back To Canada To Celebrate Mother's Birthday, Christmas

Lydia Sum has flown back to Canada to be with her mother on her birthday and to celebrate Christmas. Lydia's daughter did not accompany her. Lydia Sum, who is recovering from a serious illness, responded to questions only from TVB's official crew members.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Lydia Sum Flies Back To Canada For Mother's Birthday

Tony Leung Trying To Pick Up Mandarin For Ang Lee's New Movie

Tony Leung said that he spent 2 months trying to learn the script for Ang Lee's new movie "Lust, Caution", which is all in Mandarin. Tony's native tongue is Cantonese, so he had to spend a significant amount of time trying to memorize and learn Mandarin in the script.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Tony Leung says he spent 2 months memorizing script for new Ang Lee movie

Entertainment News For Week Of Novv 19 - 25

Movies To Be Made Available On Net In China & Free Movie Downloads

Several movie studios, including 6 Hollywood studios have signed an agreement with BestTV (a unit of Shanghai Media Group) to distribute movies through the Internet in China. This will allow Hollywood to boost distributions of their popular movies (which is currently limited). BestTV will charge users a fee and studios will make some money from this fee as well as on royalties and advertisements embedded in the movies.

In related news, a new Chinese website quacor.com is allowing free movie downloads of movies - including movies that were released only a few weeks ago. Some titles include "Still Life" and "This After Our Exile". The website's revenue will come from advertising on their site and those embedded in the movie.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Studios Cast Net In China
CriEnglish: 1st Legal Website For Legal Downloads

Zhang Ziyi Named In Top 10 Women In Business By Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal recently released it's "Top 50 Remarkable Women In Asian Business Circles" and Zhang Ziyi came out in the top 10. Others in the top 10 include: Zhou Kaixuan (from Li Ka-shing Foundation), Hu Shuli (editor-in-chief at Caijing (财经) Magazine), and Li Yifei (chief representative at Viacom China).

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Zhang Ziyi Ranked Top 10 By Wall Street Journal

HK Director Wong Kar-wai Going To Hollywood

The director of "In The Mood For Love", "The Chungking Express" and "2046" is wrapping up his first English language film called "My Blueberry Nights". Wong Kar-wai (王家衛) had his English language directorial debut on the film starring Jude Law and Norah Jones. The movie will be released sometime in 2007.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: The Master of Time: Wong Kar-wai In America

Jackie Chan To Start Cosmetics Line

Jackie Chan has teamed up with Maggie Chu, a business woman, to launch The Jackie Chan Organic Skin Care Line. Jackie adds this to his diverse businesses including restaurants, cookies, fitness clubs, and clothing lines. The products will be made in Hungary and will use all natural ingredients with the packaging being made of recycled material.

Story courtesy:
The Daily Dumpling: Jackie Chan Inc - Fight Like A Master; Look Like A Supermodel

Annual Golden Horse Award Results

On Saturday the 43rd Annual Golden Horse Awards were held in Taiwan. Best Film went to "This After Our Exile", Best Director went to Peter Chan Ho Sun for the film "Perhaps Love", Best Actor went to Aaron Kwok in "This After Our Exile" and Best Actress went to Zhou Xun in "Perhaps Love". For list of all other award winners, please visit the link below.

Story courtesy:
Jayne Stars: Aaron Kwok & Zhou Xun Winners At 43rd Annual Golden Horse Awards

Sammi Cheng's Year Of Absence

Since filming "Everlasting Regret" over a year ago, Sammi Cheng seemingly disappeared from the entertainment scene. Sammi recently answered questions surrounding her absence. There were many rumors of her "disappearance" - everything from illness to fading popularity. But when answering media questions, she simply stated that she needed extra time to recharge - reading books, vacationing, and watching movies. She also stated that she's back into full working mode and will be in the recording studio soon.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Sammi Responds To Media's Queries About Her Negative News

Ella Koon Denies Rumors About Ron Ng

For the past two years it has been rumored that Ella Koon and Ron Ng were a couple. Lots of evidence seemed to point to this including Ella staying over at Ron's apartment and many photographic evidence. But when asked again, she still denies these rumors, saying instead they are good friends and that she was collecting a few things from Ron's apartment.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Ella Koon Still Denies Rumors With Ron Ng

Anthony Wong Making US Debut

Anthony Wong will be making his US debut in the film "The Painted Veil", which will also star Naomi Watts, Ed Norton, and Liev Schreiber. The film is about a dissatisfied young English couple who, out of frustration, moves to Shanghai. The film has a $35 million USD budget and will be released on December 15, 2006 by Warner Independent Pictures.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Anthony Wong Goes To The US

Entertainment News For Week Of Nov 12 - 18, 2006

Jay Chou Says He Has No Feelings For Hebe Tien

It is rumoured that Hebe Tien (from the girl group S.H.E.) is Jay Chou's girlfriend. Jay had picked her to film in a music video with him for his new album "Still Fantasy". When a reporter recently asked why he didn't kiss Hebe in the music video, Jay responded that he has no feelings for her and that any reports out there are fake.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Jay Chou: I Have No Feelings For Her!

Battle Of Wits Premieres

On Nov 16, 2006 the highly anticipated movie "Battle of Wits" premiered in Beijing. The movie stars Andy Lau, Fan Bingbing, and Sung-kee Ahn and is a movie jointly funded by China, South Korea and Japan. The movie is based on the historic Warring States period is China and the film is based on a Japanese cartoon book. Click on the story link below for lots of pictures.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: "Battle of Wits" Premieres In Beijing

F4 To Film A Reunion Drama

The popular Taiwanese group F4 are preparing to film a new drama where the roles are going to be equal among them. Since filming the Meteor Garden series, the four haven't been on screen together. All four have had somewhat solid careers after the Meteor Garden craze.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: F4 Is Preparing To Film New Drama, Roles Are Going To Be Equal

Supergirl Shang Wenjie Critisized For Her Language Skills

2006 Supergirl winner Shang Wenjie was a French language major in University before winning the singing competition, however after she published a French poem on her blog recently, many have found simply grammatical mistakes with the poem. Many on the Internet blasted her and her language skills, saying that even elementary school French students wouldn't make those mistakes.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Super Girl Jeered Online

Car Accident Injures SuperGirl Contestant He Jie

On Wednesday, 2005 SuperGirl contestant He Jie was injured in a car accident. From the pictures, it looked like it was quite serious, but fortunately He Jie, she only suffered an injury that required 20 stitches. He Jie's publicist and assistant were also in the car and were also slightly injured.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Super Girl He Jie Injured In Car Accident

Film "This After Our Exile" Getting Rave Reviews

The film "This After Our Exile" has recently been getting rave reviews by critics and recently held a special press screening for the media in Hong Kong. "This After Our Exile" has been screening around the world in various film festivals. In fact, it was here in Toronto this past Wednesday, as it was participating in the 10th Annual Asian Film Festival. The family drama stars Charlie Yeung and Aaron Kwok. It opens in China on November 30, 2006.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: "This After Our Exile" To Screen

Vanness A Charitable Kind Of Guy

Vanness, a member of the popular group F4, has had a busy schedule since his Meteor Garden days. He believes in charitable causes and has donated 10% of his income from concerts to charity! He even sponsored 8 children via World Vision. For 2006, it is believed he had an income of 10 million from his various concerts.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Vanness Donated 10% Of His Income From Concerts To Charity

CCTV To Give Lin Chiling Her Own Show

One of Taiwan's top models and TV talk show host will be getting her own show on the CCTV network. No details about the show have been released.

Story courtesy:
CriEnglish: Lin Chiling To Be Host On CCTV

Businessman Apologizes For Photos Of Gillian Chung

Jimmy Lai, a businessman from Hong Kong, apologized for voyeuristic photos of Gillian Chung (half of pop duo Twins) taken backstage in a concert in Malaysia back in August. Lai is the owner of a media company that published the photos. Lai also said that no one will be fired because of the photos, which were published in the weekly gossip magazine "Easy Finder".

Story courtesy:
The China Post: Hong Kong Businessman Lai Apologizes For Voyeuristic Photos

Four Albums From Four AMusic Artists Released On Same Day

AMusic, a record company, has decided to release four albums from four of it's artists. Albums were released for Chapman To's album "Hapkido", Janice's album "Do U Know...", Leon Lai's album "Looking", and Jill's album "Diamond Love" on November 17, 2006.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: AMusic Albums To Be Released On Same Day

Highest Paid Chinese Actresses List

Xinhuanet has recently announced the top ten highest paid Chinese actresses. The list includes the usual suspects such as Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Hsu Chi. Zhang Ziyi took top spot in 2006 with earnings of over $15 million. For complete list, please click on the link below.

Story courtesy:
The Daily Dumpling: Top 10 Highest Paid Actresses In China

Another F4 On The Way?

A group called Fahrenheit is rapidly gaining popularity. Fahrenheit has filmed a drama called "KO One" and has also released an album. Both the F4 and the Fahrenheit TV dramas have not been broadcast in China, however many have seen their shows via the Internet. However, when fans were asked what groups are most popular, most answered other groups such as S.H.E. and Katun. Only time will tell if Fahrenheit can have the same success as F4.

Story courtesy:
AsianFanatics: Fahrenheit, the Next F4?

Trailer For "Curse Of The Golden Flower" and "The Banquet"

Here are some trailers for some movies that I want to watch. Both have won critical acclaim and have impressed critics at various film festivals from around the world. Both movies also have some big names starring in them.

The first trailer is for "The Curse Of The Golden Flower" starring Chow Yun-Fat, Gong-Li, and Jay Chou. Earlier this week it premiered in New York and has a release date of December 22, 2006.




Here is the trailer:



The next trailer is for "The Banquet" which stars Zhang Ziyi. This movie was involved at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals and has already been released (though I haven't seen it yet).




Here is the trailer: