Fit Lover a Hit at the Chinese Box Office

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Karena Lam: How could I still have been outshined despite having 12x as much screentime as everyone else? It's back to being under appreciated.

This movie (also known as Call for Love 2) raked in more than its predecessor, Call for Love and signaled the first week of the wave of holiday-friendly movies. There were no actual numbers but according to reports, theaters were 80% full, and some were even sold-out. Also according to reporters, it seemed to be doing better than Desires of the Heart. I really wish there were actual numbers because it’d be interesting to see how these two romanace comedies stacked up against the other two new releases, guy-friendly Beast Stalker/Witness and The Underdog Knight. I predict the action flicks win because there are more men in China. :P

Inside sources say that a script for Call for Love 3 is already in the works.

Also, guess which character audiences liked the most in Fit Lover, according to Sina? I’ll give you a hint…it wasn’t Karena…so which one of the twelve guys?

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Hua Yi Entertainment Releases its 2009 Monthly Calendar

November 30, 2008 | Posted in Mainland China,Music,Television, Tagged ,

Guess who’s February?

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Yup, BoBo, whose tag on this site must be getting enormous. What can I say? These boys are newsmakers and their news will continued to be posted here. More pictures of the calendar with stars under their company here though you may not recognize a lot of them, except Li Bing Bing, Lu Yi and Vivian Hsu. They picked a eclectic mix of from their old and new stars, not necessarily the most famous (or photogenic) ones. Beijing-based Hua Yi Brothers wasn’t nearly as big on the Chinese entertainment scene five years ago but have quickly become one of the most powerful companies in China, and will be shaping China’s entertainment scene for years to come.

As usual, something as simple as a calendar has turned into a big long spiel on China’s entertainment scene in my hands and again a post on why I like BoBo. Bear with me.

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New Chinese Boyband A-One to debut on Happy Camp

November 29, 2008 | Posted in Mainland China,Music, Tagged

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I was going to post this later when this episode airs on 12-6, but I changed my mind. I think my first reaction upon hearing about this group when they first posted on their blog that they were going to debut on Happy Camp a couple of weeks ago, was to be appalled because I thought two were enough (I’ve given up on Seventeen). If the Chinese music scene were a person I’d shake him/her and ask her are you going out of your mind?

Fancam of their song, Insect Whirlwind. (I’ll add better the official vids to this post once this thing airs…after watching this I’m definitely tuning in because their choreography is my favorite of the boybands)

[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMll5pC4RQ"]

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Xue Zhiqian's "Deeply Loved You" MV Part 2 released!

November 29, 2008 | Posted in Mainland China,Music,Photoshoot, Tagged ,

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This one is set in modern day times, featuring the reincarnations of the two main characters from the first MV. Cliched, but always effective I guess. This is the modern version of the song, a bit slower than the classical version. I had thought about waiting to post this MV together with the first MV, but this forces you to give it a second chance yes? Artists who don’t just rely on a pretty face but do their own compositions and lyrics should be recognized more, and I still think it’s ridiculous I didn’t know Xue was the composer for the majority of his songs, especially all his good songs, until his third album. For this album he composed and wrote the lyrics for everything except for track 3 Let You Go and track 6, The Imprisonment of the Universe.

[youtube="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg76e1DkQ4I"]

Also, here are some pictures from a promo photoshoot he did for this album release, where he tries to look cool but just somehow manages to look cute instead. He really tries that cool hip-hop look too much for someone who writes sensitive love ballads. It confuses me.

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Supermodel Lin Zhiling Directs Queen Wei in her New MV

November 27, 2008 | Posted in Music,Taiwan, Tagged ,

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Taiwanese Supermodel Lin Zhiling, who recently turned actress in Red Cliff, is now turning into a director! When she gets going this girl certainly moves fast. Whoever said models were just pretty faces? Queen Wei, from One Million Star Season Two, who just released her debut album, had invited her to direct her new MV, for her song “Mu Guang”. Lin was very excited about it, and said would not hesitate if the opportunity presented itself again. However she obviously was still getting used to the idea, because when crew on the MV shouted “Director, director!” she would not immediately have any reaction, and then after a moment would ask, “Are you calling me?”.

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Chinese News Batch #4: Music Themed

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1. Top Combine is also getting the special treatment with a second MV for their first EP, just like Vicky Liu Yanwei. I remember the Supergirls didn’t get anything like this when they first started out. In particular Jane Zhang got absolutely nothing for her first album. Times are a changing. The MV is of Cotton Candy and is taking place at an amusement park. I’ve only posted one picture of Liu Zhoucheng, but you can check out more pics here and here of the other boys in Top Combine, ones that won’t make you look at your own face and despair at why your skin isn’t as nice and glowing as his. Highlights include Ma Xueyang playing this violin (!) and Jin Ensheng with balloons.

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New Kitty Zhang Yuqi Photoshoots: Guess Jeans and Hotspot

November 27, 2008 | Posted in Mainland China,Photoshoot, Tagged ,

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I expected these pictures to show up on CRIEnglish, due to the tags, but they haven’t and I imagine that is because Zhang Yuqi is not a big star…yet. Stephen Chow knows how to propel girls to stardom despite only giving them shallow vase roles, and after getting that coveted shallow vase role in CJ7, Kitty seems to be doing well in the HK film world, getting to act alongside two experienced female actresses for her upcoming film and she recently shot a series of ads for Guess Jeans’ fall winter line, showing her at her daily routine, including interviewing, photoshoots, and walking the red carpet. More below the cut.

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Chow Yun-Fat in Hard-Boiled: One of the Greatest Movie Characters Ever?

November 27, 2008 | Posted in Hong Kong, Tagged ,

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What do Chow Yun-fat and Johnny Depp both have in common, besides getting to kiss Keira Knightly in a Pirates film? Their characters were both dubbed one of the top 100 movie characters of all time in a poll conducted by British Empire movie magazine.

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Please Take the Reader Survey!

November 26, 2008 | Posted in Uncategorized

I added a survey under the Pages section on the righthand column, so please take it and tell me how you think I can improve the site. I decided to keep this on top of the site for a little while, so remember to check for new posts below when visiting.

Vicky Liu Yanwei's Second MV: Mao Xian (Risk)

November 26, 2008 | Posted in Mainland China,Music,Photoshoot, Tagged

I was extremely surprised she got a second MV, and that’s obvious, because if I had expected it I definitely would have just waited for the MV and grouped it with my first post on her. As it is, I’m making a new post because I really liked this song much better than her first song, even though it is also in a way generic cpop, but in a pleasant way.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH6JU0aaiRs]

Also, since I am making another post on her, here are some pictures of her from a photoshoot that’s supposed to be showing two sides of her. Which two sides I’m not quite sure. The article that accompanied the pictures said it was supposed to be naivete and sexy appeal. Right…

Click the pictures to see up close all the facets of Ms. Liu. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her if Chengtian Entertainment has their say, and I need to stop being so surprised when Chinese entertainment companies actually spend on their artists and just be grateful.

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