Fan Bingbing's star is glowing ever so brightly

By Siewaun

Chinese actress and singer, Fan Bingbing’s star has been glowing brightly ever since she starred as Jin Suo in the ever popular TV drama series “Huan Zhu Ge Ge”.

And she became popularly known in the international film scenes after starring in the controversial Chinese film by director Li Yu, “Lost in Beijing” (苹果). The film was banned by Chinese authorities in January 2008, even though it was successfully released internationally by French company Films Distribution.

Bingbing has a very busy schedule this year filming several high budget movies. After “Shinjuku Incident”, in which she starred alongside Jackie Chan was released in April, she starred in director He Ping’s US$6 million historical drama film “Wheat” (麦田).

She also starred in a Chinese-Korean film, “Sophie’s Revenge”(非常完美), which also starred Zhang Ziyi.

In the upcoming all-star film “Bodyguards and Assassins” (十月圍城), Bingbing will star alongside Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Nicholas Tse, Tony Leung Ka Fai and Eric Tsang. The movie is scheduled to be released December 18 this year.

Next, she will be starring in director Wong Jing’s US$20 million sci-fi actioner “Future X-Cops” (未来警察) alongside Andy Lau.

In the latest news, it was announced that Bingbing will also be starring as the female lead opposite Nicholas Tse as the male lead, in the US$29 million budget kungfu action epic, new “Shaolin Temple”. Andy Lau, Jackie Chan and Wu Jing would also be co-starring.

Joan Chen feels there are no secret formulas to success

Source: sg.news.yahoo

Xin.sg - Tuesday, October 6

Two-time Golden Horse Best Actress award winner, Joan Chen, is a renowned American-Chinese actress with a vast repertoire of experience. Joan participated in various renowned productions such as The Last Emperor, Lust, Caution, The Home Song Stories, and The Sun Also Rises, garnering an accolade of acting awards and nominations from her 32 years in the entertainment industry.

Recently in town as a special guest for the Singapore Sun Festival, Joan will take on the responsibility of introducing good film productions to the local crowd.

Apart from that, the actress hopes to make use of this opportunity to gain a better sense of understanding on the local film and arts scene.

Joan made her first debut in the entertainment industry when she was a 15-year-old adolescent. In the eyes of young budding actors and actresses, Joan's wealth of experience and achievements has made her a respectable actress in this industry.

When asked if she has anything to impart or share with young ones, the veteran artiste honestly felt that there are no secret formulas for her success.

"Actually, it is pointless to impart such things. What people talk about is all rubbish because we each have to walk out our own journey. Everyone's strengths and weaknesses are different, how a person would like to fully make use of it is up to each individual.

"It is impossible to impart something from a few words. Even if it is a curved road, it is a path that we each have to take. Many curved roads are also actually a form of experience," she earnestly shared

With her fair share of ups and downs in the industry, Joan revealed that there were moments where she felt like giving up and changing industries however, her passion for the movies would often bring her back to work two months later.

The actress smilingly commented, "If I were to talk about giving up now, I would be referring to my retirement."

Ron Howard on his first comic-book film project: 'This is new territory for me'

Source: latimesblogs

EXCLUSIVE

After releasing two films this year, Ron Howard is planning his next move, and this week he sounded most excited about directing a big-budget adaptation of "The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft," based on the Image Comics series.

"It very cleverly uses H.P. Lovecraft in a fictional way, but there's some loose biographical elements. But it certainly has the flavor and the tone of Lovecraft," Howard told me during an interview for an upcoming story on a different topic. "The character is a very young Lovecraft."

I told the two-time Oscar winner that I had already seen the comics (conceived by Mac Carter with Adam Byrne as producer and cover artist) and liked them, and he got excited. "Oh you did! Oh, good, good. I haven't talked to that many people that have seen it so it's good to get that feedback."

"Look, it's challenging, but if we get it right, it could be really original and psychologically interesting and scary in a great way. And it's a graphic novel, this is new territory for me."

The comics present a somewhat timid writer transformed by cosmic creepiness into a reluctant player in the machinations of ancient evil. The young action-hero vision of Lovecraft feels not that far removed from the new-look detective in the Guy Ritchie version of "Sherlock Holmes" or perhaps a not-so-distant relative to the occult-savvy characters portrayed by Johnny Depp in the period pieces "From Hell" and "Sleepy Hollow." As far as real-life authors being used as fictional characters in tales of the fantastic, there's plenty of tradition there, with some close cousins to this project being the William S. Burroughs adventure in Interzone in "Naked Lunch" or the upcoming "Drood," Guillermo del Toro's planned film adaptation of the novel that takes Charles Dickens into dark corners of Victorian England.

"It is kind of fun, but you know Freud has been used that way and Einstein in the past," Howard said. "I'm very encouraged by it so far, the approach and the possibilities."

Howard showed he could delve into ominous antiquities and deliver crowd-pleasing films with his two Dan Brown adaptations, and as for fantasy visions, don't forget that he directed "Willow," "Cocoon," "Splash" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," all forays into the fantastic with very different textures and, he would probably admit, varying levels of success. But where exactly is "Lovecraft" on Howard's presumably long list of things to do?

"It's a really fascinating time because I worked on three movies in basically three years," Howard said, referring to "Frost/Nixon" (which earned a best-picture Oscar nomination) as well as "Angels & Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code," which stand as the two highest-grossing movies in Howard's 27-year directing career ( $1.2 billion in combined global box office).

"During that time, I didn't really get to attend very much to my development [of new projects] but I did initiate a lot of things. So what happened is, I didn't have finished scripts ready to go, but I have a lot of things that are sort of two-thirds of the way through and a really wide variety of them, including this Lovecraft project. So I've got literally half-a-dozen projects where essentially I'm waiting for [script] drafts to come in, and there's something I love about all of these ideas. We'll just have to wait to see what comes to fruition. I sort of can't bear the thought of letting any of them go. So maybe I've got the next five years spoken for."

Some of those projects Howard will likely hand off to other directors as some point after a chat with his producing partner, Brian Grazer. "Here at Imagine, I develop a lot of things full-throttle for me to direct and then, occasionally, my schedule doesn't cooperate or circumstances shift, and Brian will come to me and say, 'Hey there's this other director and he wants to do this,' and I usually take a producing credit then."

It didn't sound like "Lovecraft" would be slipping into that category, and, just based on Howard's enthusiam, I'm guessing the comic-book adaptation will be the next movie set for the 55-year-old Oklahoma native. "You just never know," Howard said, "development is a minefield or a high-wire act or whatever you want to call it, but yeah, hopefully that it moves along and I will be directing that one."

-- Geoff Boucher

EXCLUSIVE: Keanu Reeves Says 'Cowboy Bebop' Movie Getting A Rewrite

Source: splashpage.mtv

We haven't heard anything from the live-action "Cowboy Bebop" movie front in a while, so when MTV News had the chance to chat up Keanu Reeves, the actor bringing main character Spike Spiegel to the screen, we made sure to check in on the adaptation of the beloved anime series.

"There's a draft of the script, but the writer did such a great job [that] in order to make the movie, you would need half a billion dollars," Reeves told MTV News during a press event for "The Private Lives of Pippa Lee," his recent film with Robin Wright Penn.

The writer in question is likely Peter Craig, who previously spoke out about how "extremely faithful" his screenplay was to the original anime series. Craig reportedly met with the anime's producers back in December and went home with a detailed letter regarding the adaptation.

However, Reeves indicated that the writer's adherence to the galaxy-spanning adventure of the full entire series might prove a little daunting for production.

"So the studio went, 'This movie is fantastic and it would cost half a billion dollars," laughed Reeves, "so he's doing a rewrite."

As far as who'll be appearing in the film, Reeves hinted that everyone from Spike to Ein could factor into the movie's storyline.

"Everyone is in there," said Reeves.

"The only challenge was to make a satisfying western narrative out of the kind of storytelling that happens," he added. "There's a great draft, so we're just trying to pull it back a little bit now."

Warrior Princess Finds Her Style

Source: english.cri.cn

By Michelle Zhang

Zhao Wei used to attach little importance to how she appeared off-screen, letting her TV and film work speak for her. But now the actress has learned to take care of her image, as Michelle Zhang reports.

Fame came quickly for Zhao Wei. In 1998, the actress became a household name almost overnight for her leading role in the popular TV series, "Huan Zhu Ge Ge" (Princess Returning Pearl). She has remained as one of the most successful Chinese actresses ever since.

Zhao was in Shanghai recently for the launch of a new line of cosmetics and despite an unexpected storm which erupted when Zhao was supposed to show up, her loyal fans chose to wait in the heavy rain for more than an hour.

"I'm very grateful and touched by my fans," she said. "For more than 10 years, they have always been there for me, accompanying me to get through all the ups and downs in my life."

Zhao is easygoing, relaxed and approachable. She cares about people around her, smiling at everyone, listening carefully to "boring" questions and responding accordingly.

It was hard to relate the slender figure to the roles she has portrayed on screen lately, most of which are linked with yellow sands, battle horses and combat, such as Hua Mulan in "Mulan" and Sun Shangxiang in "Red Cliff" -- both are wartime heroines in ancient Chinese tales.

Zhao described "Mulan," which is scheduled to hit the big screen in December, as "the toughest film I have ever worked with."

It was an unforgettable experience. For three months, she had been working under the scorching sun and in massive sandstorms in northwest China, dressed up in armor that weighed as much as 25 kilograms almost every day.

But she liked the role a lot.

"Hua Mulan is such a legendary character that everyone has his or her own understanding of the great heroine. Through the character, I'd like to demonstrate all the good qualities of a woman -- kind, independent, thoughtful, humble, forgiving ?"

She also became "thinner, tanned and stronger -- like Angelina Jolie," thanks to the hard work in filming the epic.

When she was in her 20s, she was just like any other girls of her age and did not understand the importance of taking care of her skin and the importance of resting.

Now, even if she was in the middle of endless filming, she would insist upon applying a facial mask every other day.

She rejects heavy makeup even when attending formal events.

"Compared with where I was born, northern China is much dryer -- so moisturizing is very important, especially in the upcoming winter time," said the Anhui-native who lives in Beijing most of the time these days, when asked about her skincare tips.

For the Shanghai event, where she was an ambassador for Aqua Sprina, a new line designed by Japanese cosmetics manufacturer Kanebo for Chinese women from 25 and 40, Zhao wore an elegant yet slightly edgy black Alexander McQueen dress, which was nicely complemented by her exquisitely done hair.

She was once known for her fashion faux pas on the red carpet until earlier this year, when she impressed the press with her sweet, feminine Christian Dior strapless gown at the Cannes Film Festival.

Her sense of style has been impeccable ever since.

"I have always been working hard on presenting a better image to the audience," she said. "Personally, I like evening gowns in light pink the most.

"I didn't attach so much importance to my looks in the past because I thought it's my film work that counts the most, instead of the clothes I wore," she said. "However, nowadays I have come to learn to take more care about my image, so that the audience will feel more pleasant when they see me."

Recently, the 33-year-old was elected as the youngest vice president of the Chinese Academy of Film and Performing Arts, an organization set up in 1985 to improve the standards of Chinese film. Today, it has more than 1,000 members.

"Starting from kindergarten and elementary school, I have never held any kind of position. So this is my first, and it's for the Academy of Film and Performing Arts -- I'm very excited."

Apart from acting, Zhao also sings and her seventh album, "We Are All Great Directors," is released next month.

There are rumors she married recently. "I'm not married yet but I do have people wooing around," she laughed. "The rumors only made me long for marriage more. Anyway, my 'market' is not bad at all, so don't worry about me!"


Zhao Wei's life and times

Born in March 1976, in Wuhu, Anhui Province, Zhao Wei is considered one of the leading young actresses in China today, along with Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun.

In 1996, Zhao was recruited by the Beijing Film Academy. She studied at the Performance Institute of the film academy and graduated in 2000.

Zhao's breakthrough was playing the lead in 1997's "Princess Returning Pearl," a popular television series. Two years after it aired, Zhao began her singing career with the first album, "Swallow."

In 1999, Zhao won Best Leading Actress at the 17th Golden Eagle Awards -- the highest television awards of China. In 2002, she was nominated Best Supporting Actress in the 39th Golden Horse Award.

In 2004, Zhao was nominated as Best Actress and won Favorite Actress at the 11th Beijing College Student Film Festival. She also nominated Best Actress in the 27th Hundred Flowers Awards the same year.

In 2005, Zhao won the 8th Shanghai International Film Festival's Best Actress Award. That year, Zhao also won Outstanding Actress of the 11th China Movie Awards.

Zhao has collaborated with many famed filmmakers including John Woo, Wong Kar-wai and Jiang Wen in works including "Painted Skin," "Red Cliff," "The Postmodern Life of My Aunt," "Chinese Odyssey 2002" and "Green Tea."

Good girl, bad girl, smart girl

Source: thestar.com

Her growing body of work shows actress is not just another blond.

Sep 18, 2009 04:30 AM
Peter Howell
Movie Critic

Amanda Seyfried doesn't have to worry about typecasting, at least for the moment. She plays polar opposites in her two movies at TIFF, the horror film Jennifer's Body and the erotic drama Chloe.

In Jennifer's Body, opening today, she's a mouse named Needy, the angelic ying to Megan Fox's devilish yang, although it's a stretch that Seyfried could ever really be a wallflower. In Atom Egoyan's Chloe, opening later this fall, Seyfried plays the title hottie, a hooker hired by Julianne Moore's jealous spouse to tempt her husband, played by Liam Neeson.

"It's an actor's dream," says the 23-year-old blond from steeltown Allentown, Penn., who first rose to prominence five years ago as a high school bitch in Mean Girls. "I get to celebrate two completely different movies with two completely different characters."

Q Do you see any parallels between Needy and Chloe?

A Oh, yes. They've both got vulnerable sides, but I think every human being does, unless they're psychotic. And they're both naive. I think they suffer from being in a limited world, especially Chloe.

Q Don't you hate it when hot girls put on glasses to pretend they're homely, the way you do in Jennifer's Body?

A It was so wonderful not being so glamorous! Because most parts you take are the big-boobed, long-legged blond-hair girl and you try to make her look glamorous. It's very easy to be typecast as a young woman with my proportions. But it's way more fun to play the characters that I've got to play in these two movies.

Q How did you manage to escape typecasting so early in your career?

A I have a really good agent who knew from the beginning that she had to be specific and careful with the roles that I chose from Mean Girls on. And a lot of scripts came my way to play dumb blonds that really didn't have much character in teen movies that I ended up not doing, because it would have really been only for money and work. Instead of being desperate I took my time. Then certain roles came and I would audition for something and I'd get it, and it would ... be the perfect movie at the time for me.

Q You also made a big impression playing Meryl Streep's daughter in Mamma Mia!

A That movie put me into a whole different realm. People all over the world know who I am because of that movie, and children all over the world idolize me, and people think I'm marketable.

Q Were you a horror fan prior to making Jennifer's Body?

A I don't enjoy being scared out of my mind. I saw The Haunting In Connecticut, because a friend was in it. I was sitting there and I kind of wanted to leave the theatre ... .

Q Were you familiar with Atom Egoyan's work before Chloe?

A Just that he is one of the most respected indie directors of all time and, of course, he was nominated for The Sweet Hereafter, which I saw right away. I knew he was really smart in a way that would have been intimidating, but I knew the way he edited the movie and the way he filmed it, it would be quite unique. He's a genius.

Q You have a nude scene in Chloe. Your first one?

A Yes. A real nude scene, that is. But then I realized, this guy (Egoyan) knows what he's doing, I trust him more with my life. I know it sounds weird, but he's a remarkable person. And a bit crazy, in the most attractive way.

Q You're on a roll. Any other film genre you want to do?

A I'd like to do a period movie. Not a movie about my period!

Korean star Rain goes on 'torturous' diet for new film

Source: channelnewsasia.com

SEOUL : South Korean superstar Rain had to put himself on a strict diet for his latest role in action flick "Ninja Assassin" in which he plays an orphan who becomes a ninja warrior.

The new, Joel Silver-produced movie, promises plenty of stunts, sword fights and of course, the leading man himself, Rain.

Describing the food he took as "terrible", and just thinking about it makes him shudder. Now that he no longer has to subject himself to a strict regimen, he is glad that he is able to resume a normal diet, reported Korean media.

For the sake of the movie’s role which required him to be in perfect and lean condition, the singer-actor said that he underwent intensive training two months before filming commenced.

Admitting his preference for junk food, French fries and hamburgers, his diet during the eight months of filming and training was replaced by mainly steamed fish and chicken breast with vegetables. During the process, the 27-year-old managed to lose 22 pounds (10 kilograms).

When asked if he would undergo another round of intense dieting for another role in a movie, Rain, whose name is Jung Ji Hoon, shook his head in disapproval.

"It feels scary just thinking about that period. I don’t think it’s possible for me to go through the process again. It was painful especially for someone like me who worships food."

Rain made his American movie debut with last year's "Speed Racer" and "Ninja Assassin" marks his first Hollywood leading role. The movie is scheduled to open in theatres later this year.

Viggo Mortensen Talks The Road

Source: blogs.indiewire.com

So many of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars seem like overgrown kids that the studios often turn to Brits and Aussies for their manly men. Viggo Mortensen, however, is that rare American actor who is both muscular and humane, tough and sensitive, fighter and lover. He seduces us with a threat of danger, his chiseled Nordic physique and stunning blue eyes. Never over the top, for Mortensen, less is more. His performances are slow reveals of hidden information and emotion.

Having landed one Oscar nomination for playing a Russian hitman in David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises, this fall Mortensen takes on another degree of difficulty with John Hillcoat’s film version of Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel The Road, in which he fights to survive with his young son in a grim post-apocalyptic landscape. Another Oscar nomination seems likely, if only because Mortensen feels overdue. (The NYT features him here.) At this year’s Telluride Film Festival tribute to Mortensen, the range and quality of his work since the mid-80s was striking.

In his peripatetic youth, the poet/artist/musician moved around the globe, from Argentina and Venezuela to his father’s native Denmark to his mother’s base in New York State. He started out in Manhattan theater and in 1985 landed a juicy supporting role as a young Amish farmer in Peter Weir’s Witness. It makes sense that actor-turned-director Sean Penn would lean on Mortensen’s athletic sensitivity as a damaged Vietnam vet trying to control his emotions in The Indian Runner.

Mortensen broke through in Hollywood as a seething Navy lieutenant caught in an epic battle between rival officers Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington in Tony Scott’s 1995 submarine epic Crimson Tide. He shines in other military roles such as the Master Chief in Ridley Scott’s G.I. Jane, who whips recruit Demi Moore into shape—with compassion.

The actor choses his films carefully, putting craft above stardom. His son talked him into playing the iconic noble warrior Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings saga, which increased Mortensen’s options as a globally bankable star. The actor used his new clout to play an American cowboy racing his steed across the Arabian desert in the period western Hidalgo, and to deliver fluent Spanish dialogue as a swashbuckling 17th century swordsman in Alatriste.

A character actor with range who fits into any time frame, Mortensen is equally convincing as a 60s hippie sexily romancing Diane Lane in A Walk on the Moon, a gunslinger trading quips with Ed Harris in the western bromance Appaloosa, in a drawing room as well-spoken Casper Goodwood in Jane Campion’s adaptation of A Portrait of a Lady or a careerist struggling to find his place in Nazi Germany in Good.

Mortensen followed up the Lord of the Rings trilogy with two layered performances for David Cronenberg that explored man’s propensity for gentleness and violence. The actor wowed critics in 2005 as a happy family man trying to bury his former identity in A History of Violence, and earned his first Oscar nomination playing a hardened Russian Mafioso in 2007’s Eastern Promises. Critic Roger Ebert was not alone in his praise for Mortensen’s infamous nude fight in a steam room.

Mortensen keeps himself steady with other outlets of expression: poetry, publishing, photography among them. But he has indicated that he is tired. With his nakedly vulnerable performance in The Road, it feels like Mortensen may be coming into his own.