Film & TV

1. Gillian Chung: highlights and low point of singer-actress’ life and career recalled as she celebrates her 39th birthday

   Canto-pop star and actress Gillian Chung Yan-tung, of the duo Twins, celebrates her 39th birthday on Tuesday. She’s come a long way since being picked to form one half of Hong Kong musical duo Twins. These are some of the milestones in her life and career.Birth of TwinsChung and Charlene Choi Tsoek-jin were brought together by Emperor Entertainment Group in May 2001 to front Canto-pop duo Twins, who enjoyed great popularity.They have released close to a dozen albums and toured around the world,…

2. Young directors honoured in 2019 Hong Kong Film Critics Society awards, with top prize going to gay romance Suk Suk

   Melancholic gay romance drama Suk Suk has been voted the best Hong Kong film of 2019 by a panel of critics, the Hong Kong Film Critics Society announced on Monday.The first feature directed by filmmaker Ray Yeung in the Chinese language, Suk Suk was previously nominated in five categories at the 2019 Golden Horse Awards in Taipei, even though it came home empty-handed on that occasion. The film tells of the affair between two closeted elderly men – played by Ben Yuen Fu-wah and Tai Bo – who are…

3. Dolittle film review: Robert Downey Jnr talks to animals in mushy disaster of a children’s film

   1/5 stars What on earth was Robert Downey Jnr thinking? After rehabilitating himself as Tony Stark/Iron Man and becoming the epitome of cool for many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he steps out of character to appear in this mushy disaster of a children’s movie that might even bore kids as much as adults. Rambling along with no discernible plot and a surfeit of lamentably infantile humour, the climax of the jumbled up mess features Downey removing a set of bagpipes from the rear end…

4. Netflix moves into Japanese animation, will start showing 21 Studio Ghibli movies from February

   Online streaming platform Netflix will make more than 20 Studio Ghibli movies available to subscribers outside the United States, Canada and Japan, with a phased release beginning on February 1.Netflix users in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America will be able to watch 21 films by Japan’s most famous animation house that are subtitled in 28 languages and dubbed in up to 20 languages.This is the second time Studio Ghibli films have been made available on an online platform…

5. How Amazon Prime show ‘This is Us’ keeps its plot twists and reveals a secret, even as it road-tests scenes with an inner circle

   Every so often on This Is Us, before a significant twist or reveal is set for prime-time unveiling, about a dozen friends and family members of the show’s inner circle gather inside a small screening room at Paramount Studios for feedback about the big episode. To gain admission, attendees must be caught up with the NBC family drama – and they must be willing to sign non-disclosure agreements.“We don’t give them any preface,” says series creator Dan Fogelman. “We play the episode. And once it’s…

6. With Yanxi Palace: Princess Adventures, Netflix hopes to capitalise on the runaway success of Story of Yanxi Palace

   Whatever it is – nostalgia, soft power, an outlet for national pride – the quasi-historical costume drama with Chinese characteristics is a mighty tool. Maybe the secret is in the headdresses and hairdos. Thus are we dazzled by a vision of an 18th-century China in which the order of the day – particularly in the minefield of love – is chicanery. All imperial court notables have ulterior motives, everyone is working an angle, scheming, conspiring, making and breaking allegiances and visiting…

7. Hong Kong martial arts cinema: Jackie Chan on inventing his Drunken Master kung fu moves – ‘I held my breath when I was punching’

   In this regular feature series on the best of Hong Kong martial arts cinema, we examine the legacy of classic films, re-evaluate the careers of its greatest stars, and revisit some of the lesser-known aspects of the beloved genre. When it was released in 1978, Drunken Master started a new trend for kung fu comedies and made Jackie Chan a star across all of Asia. The movie was the second collaboration between Chan and director Yuen Woo-ping, and expanded on the comedic aspects of their previous…

8. Adventure films: from Spirited Away to Along with the Gods, 10 of the best from Asia in the 21st century

   Adventure in cinema means being transported backwards or forwards in time, from one side of the globe to the other, or even out of our lives into a fantasy realm where anything is possible.Danger is never far away for our dashing heroes, beautiful heroines, dastardly villains or even otherworldly creatures.Since cinema’s earliest days, adventure has been at the forefront of the medium, and what audiences demand. As technologies advance, those stakes are raised higher and higher.Below are 10 of…

9. Oscars 2020: how best documentary and international feature nominee Honeyland changed the life of its filmmakers

   Since they first screened Honeyland at the Sundance film festival in January 2019, directors Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska have toured relentlessly, bringing their documentary to dozens of film festivals around the world. Their efforts paid off this week with two Academy Award nominations, for best documentary feature and best international feature (formerly known as best foreign-language film). “We didn’t plan this,” Stefanov said of Honeyland’s success on the festival circuit, when…

10. Snubbed Awkwafina still grateful despite Oscar disappointment for her role in The Farewell, which won actress a Golden Globe

    Awkwafina isn’t carrying an Oscar grudge.The actress, born Nora Lum, did not snag an Oscar nomination on Monday for her critically acclaimed and Golden Globe-winning performance in last year’s The Farewell. But a day after the snub, she was nothing but grateful for the journey the film took her on.“The Farewell came out last January at Sundance, and we really did not know where that would take us,” she told reporters at the Television Critics Association on Tuesday.“To set the record straight,…