Winners Announced for 2011 Asian Film Awards

The Thai film "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" was named best picture at the fifth Asian Film Awards on Monday in a ceremony overshadowed by the absence of Japanese filmmakers who stayed home in the wake of a deadly earthquake and tsunami.

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's mystical drama follows a dying man from Thailand's rural northeast who explores his past and the idea of reincarnation in his final days. Apichatpong said it was especially sweet to win in his home region, a year after he took the top Palme d'Or award at France's Cannes Film Festival.

Charlene Choi tired of comedies

Hong Kong singer-actress Charlene Choi revealed that she is tired of doing comedies and hopes to some day do a romantic tragedy, reported Chinese media.
"A lot of people approach me to do comedies and I generally don't turn them down, but I hope a director will ask me to do a romantic tragedy," she said during a promotional event for her new film "Jade Pearl" - yet another comedy - in Shanghai on Sunday.
When asked if this preference was due to her own 'romantic tragedy', her very public divorce from singer Ronald Cheng, Choi quickly denied it.
"You are too sensitive. It just made me become more mature," the actress told reporters, before explaining that her relationship with Cheng had allowed her to understand the different facets of love.
During the event, the 27-year-old who is one half of the now defunct Canto-pop duo Twins, also complained that she is being asked to crossdress too often in her films.
"Jade Pearl" was no exception.
"In almost every film, the director asked me to dress like a man," Choi lamented. "Maybe I just look like one."

Yao Ming in talks to star in NBA-approved basketball movie

Basketball has seen a significant rise in popularity in China in recent years, with several Chinese players going to play in the NBA in America. Hong Kong's Apple Daily reports that the NBA, seeing an untapped market with plenty of expansion potential in China, will be teaming up with the Shanghai Film Group to produce the basketball film Amazing, with Yao Ming, Huang Xiaoming, and Shawn Yue all in talks to star.

To be directed by stage director Sherwood Hu, Amazing follows a group of aspiring basketball players in China who become the disciples of NBA stars Yao Ming, Kobe Bryant, and veteran Magic Johnson. The young players would eventually go up against their mentors when the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers are invited to play exhibition matches in China. While Huang has never acted in a sports-associated role before, Yue was a member of the Hong Kong youth basketball team, making him an appropriate choice for the film.

Cecilia Cheung makes comeback in CJ7 animated movie

The animated movie spin-off of Stephen Chow's 2008 sci-fi comedy blockbuster CJ7 is opening July 6 in theaters in Mainland China, and the press conference for the movie was held on June 13 during the Shanghai International Film Festival. Besides Chow and child star Xu Jiao, the event saw the surprise attendance of long-dormant Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung and her two-year-old son, Lucas, who effortlessly captured attention with his innocent toddler manners. The mother-son duo is set to record a Mandarin duet as the movie's theme song. Cheung famously rose to movie stardom with her debut film, Chow's King of Comedy in 1999. She has been absent on the silver screen since Wai Ka Fai's The Shopaholics and Wong Jing's My Kung Fu Sweetheart in early 2006, opting to stay away from the spotlight to mother two sons for husband Nicholas Tse. Directed by Toe Yuen (My Life as McDull), the animated CJ7 movie is not only the first film released under Chow's new production banner, but also marks the cinematic return of an acclaimed actress - and potentially the debut for a new-generation star in the Tse family.

Rain’s Coming To Los Angeles

A representative from Rain’s company J. Tune Entertainment recently stated that Rain will be heading to Los Angeles, California on June 3rd. Well it’s been revealed that Rain has received an invitation from MTV to attend the upcoming 2010 MTV Movie Awards. Rain is nominated for Biggest Badass Star for his role as Raizo in the 2009 action flick Ninja Assassin.

The MTV Movie Awards will air live from the Gibson Amphitheatre on June 6th. You can vote for Rain here (registration required).

Korean Artisits Drug Abuse scandal puts a movie maker in panic

We reported today that singer/movie actor Mr. Kim was charged for use of marijuana and methamphetamine. It was also revealed that he was about to star in a new movie, which drove the makers of that movie into a panic.


The makers of this movie that Mr. Kim was supposed to be the main actor for are facing an emergency situation as they must find a new main actor. Everything was good to go up until now, and they were supposedly only a few days away from crank-in; they had even performed traditional rituals to ward off any bad luck. A staff commented, “Mr. Kim even put on a mini concert at the ritual to show his initiative… this is so unfortunate.”

Neither Mr. Kim or his management company can be reached at this moment and they are said to be having a meeting on damage control.

Netizens had suggested that police description for Mr. Kim, which is 24-year-old singer/movie actor, perfectly fits Taegoon. We had reported back in April that Taegoon was selected as the main actor for upcoming new movie Piano Above the Sea.

Poster, Movie Trailer For Tsui Hark’s ‘Detective Dee’ Released

Detective Dee & The Kingdom of the Phantom Flame (Di Renjie) are now out. The crime thriller stars Andy Lau, Carina Lau, Li Bingbing,Tony Leung Ka-Fai and Lau Ching-Wan. The plot summary below.

An exiled detective is recruited to solve a series of mysterious deaths that threaten to delay the inauguration of Empress Wu.

Detective Dee & The Kingdom of the Phantom Flame drops in theatres on September 23rd.