Golden Network sells Chow Yun-Fat movie

From Variety

Asian stars get Golden
Sales agent picks up films from Chow, Rai
By PATRICK FRATER
Chow Pics from thesps Chow Yun-Fat and Aishwarya Rai have joined the slate of Hong Kong sales agent Golden Network.
Chow stars in "The Postmodern Life of My Aunt," a Chinese drama by veteran arthouse helmer Ann Hui. Pic, which preemed at Toronto, was previously repped for international territories by its producer, Cheerland Entertainment Organization, and by CAA in North America. Golden Network now has world rights.
Bollywood's biggest female star, Rai stars in "Umrao jaan," drama remake helmed by J.P. Dutta about a beautiful courtesan and her forbidden love for a prince. Rai shares top billing with Abhishek Bachchan, her real-life fiance.
Additions come only days before Berlin's European Film Market gets under way.
Golden Network, whose prexy Carrie Wong has pioneered international representation of pics from Southeast Asia and greater China, also recently picked up rights to "Thirteen Princess Trees," a drama about adolescence in rural China.
Date in print: Thurs., Feb. 1, 2007, Los Angeles

New pictures released from Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

Chow Yun-Fat and Keira Knightley

More new pictures on POTC At World's End page

Picture from IESB.net

John Woo's video action game Stranglehold with Chow Yun-Fat as Tequila from Hard Boiled

Stranglehold Hands-on
All hell breaks loose in a Chicago museum and yes, it's our fault.
by Jonathan Miller
January 26, 2007 - Inspector Tequila is one pissed off, um, inspector. Surrounded by four thugs in the Chicago Historical Museum, Tequila sprints up the spine of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, dives through the air and takes one enemy out with a headshot. Landing on the upstairs balcony, he blasts a skeleton of a pterodactyl hanging from the ceiling. He jumps and grabs the swinging fossil with one hand, shoots another thug in the chest on his right, plugs one in the chest on the left. Tequila swings off the skeleton back to the balcony, takes careful aim at a thug across the room and fires one bullet. The bullet rips through the thug's throat, sending a shower of blood into the air.

More about this video action game on IGN.COM

Pictures from the game in Picture Galleries

Chow Yun-Fat again shows he is an actor with no airs or attitude

Article in The Star on December 22, 2006

Versatile actor
By NOORSILA ABD MAJID
When you talk to Chow Yun-fat, you don’t feel that he’s an international movie star. He has no airs, no attitude and no ego to flaunt. Punctuating every sentence with highly contagious laughter, the youthful 51-year-old is extremely affable, down-to-earth and lovable.
Naturally a joker, Chow teases every journalist who fires questions at him during this fun-filled press conference for his latest outing, Curse of the Golden Flower, held at the Shangri-la hotel in Singapore recently.
While he flatters a Dalian female reporter by saying that every girl from that Chinese city (famous for producing some of the top catwalk models in China) are pretty, he makes yours truly blush by asking the entire hall to applaud my impressive Chinese language skills.
WANNA FIGHT, AH?: Chow Yun-fat as the fearless emperor in Curse of the Golden Flower.Not even a probing question on his flopped Hollywood career can upset this livewire.
“Every actor will have to go through the process (of making good films and bad films),” he reasons. “But I feel good about all my films. Ten years in Hollywood isn’t a long time for me. You need time and good script to build your acting. I believe that I still have the time to take on the roles that I like in Hollywood.”
Stressing that his type of roles do not have to be major roles in big-budget movies, Chow adds: “Getting more major roles or major movies does not mean that you are a good actor.”
Well said. All his previous major flicks in Tinseltown – be they The Replacement Killers, Anna and the King and Bulletproof Monk – have underused him as an actor. So now, the seasoned actor has settled for a supporting, but meatier role in Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, playing what else if not a pirate alongside Johnny Depp.
He has also reunited with his long-time collaborator and friend, John Woo, in the Chinese historical war film, The Battle of Red Cliff. (Both films are to be released next year.)
Thanks to the non-stop action in Pirates of the Carribbean: At Worlds End and The Battle of Red Cliff, the previously bloated Hong Kong actor has managed to transform himself from fat to fit.
“I’ve been doing a lot of horse riding, running around and jumping about,” Chow has been quoted saying in an interview with a Chinese daily.
And after a six-year hiatus from making Chinese films (his last was the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), the incredibly talented actor is back with a vengeance via Curse of the Golden Flower, a film directed by acclaimed mainland Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Already generating Oscar buzz around the world, the epic features Chow in his darkest role to-date – a power-crazy emperor who is willing to kill anyone who stands in his way – even if they are his wife (played by the magnificent Gong Li) and children (one of them played by Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou).

Essentials of Chow Yun-fat
BORN into a farmer’s family in the tiny Lamma island, the 1.85m actor spent his early life in poverty. His luck took a turn for the better when he was accepted into TVB’s acting academy, the place to be for aspiring Hong Kong actors back in the 1970s and 80s. Below are his must-watch TV series and films:
God of Gamblers
Man in the Net (TVB series/1979) – Playing Ching Wai had pushed Chow’s loverboy stock higher.
The Bund (TVB series/1980) – As the suave Hui Man Keong, Chow re-defined Chinese gangster hero. We loved his fashion sense, too.
A Better Tomorrow (1986) – Chow plays Mark Kor, a gangster with a heart. He made two-gun standoff and bloodshed movies the in thing.
God of Gamblers (1989) – Chow plays super cool gambler Ko Chun. Gosh, he made gambling look sinfully good.
Once a Thief (1991) – Still a stylish actor here, Chow got to flex his humour muscles as Joe.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) – His first martial arts epic, Chow proved that tall guys could fight on bamboo trees as gracefully as shorty Jet Li.
“I was very surprised that Zhang Yimou wanted me to play such an important role in his film,” Chow says humbly. “I’ve always wanted to act in his films – even if it’s just a small role.”
His ruthless alter ego, according to Chow, is a far cry from his real self. “In US, they rate this film as absolute brutality. But as a king in feudal times, you have to kill or be killed.”
In reality, the happily married actor says he will never mistreat his children – if he is fated to have any, that is. (Word has it that his wife, Jasmine, had suffered a miscarriage before and the loving couple never talked about having babies since.)
“Kids today are difficult to manage,” Chow brings out the fatherly figure in him. “But if I were a father, I would let my kids run around. I wouldn’t be the typical Chinese father who loves to control his kids’ life. My son, for instance, doesn’t have to be a businessman and his wife doesn’t have to be an accountant.”
A firm believer that behind each successful man, there will always be a woman, Chow has only love and praises for Jasmine, whom he has been married to for 20 years. The Singaporean socialite also doubles as his personal manager.
“My wife is an amazing woman. She’s a tai chi master. So, she has got her own method in handling me,” he says with a laugh.
When asked whether Curse of the Golden Flower would repeat the phenomenal success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the 2007 Academy Awards, Chow’s parting words are: “I don’t care. Why put pressure on yourself?
“As an actor, I’ve done my job. I have no control over the Oscars. I’m not part of the selection committee. But if Curse of the Golden Flower were to be nominated as Best Foreign Film at the Oscars and they were to send me tickets, I would go because they give you good food and good stay at first-class hotel.”

The Hollywood Reporter says Chow Yun-Fat has signed with CAA

CYF shown here with Geoffry Rush in POTC At World's End

Chow doing battle at CAA

By Tatiana Siegel
Jan 25, 2007
Chow Yun-Fat has signed with CAA for representation. The international boxoffice star, who had been repped by Endeavor, recently wrapped "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." He next will star in "Battle of Red Cliff," directed by his frequent collaborator John Woo. Together, Chow and Woo have made an indelible mark on Asian cinema with such action classics as "A Better Tomorrow," "Once a Thief," "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer." Chow, who also starred in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," has won the Hong Kong best actor award three times and Taiwan's best actor award twice.

- Hollywood Reporter

NOTE: When CYF first began filming in the US he was represented by the William Morris Agency.

Some information about his new agency that will represent him:

Creative Artists Agency, Inc.
9830 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90212-1825 (Map)
Phone: 310-288-4545 Fax: 310-288-4800
Overview
This agency wants nothing more than to foster creativity. Arguably the most powerful talent agency in the business, Creative Artists Agency (CAA) represents clients working in film, TV, theater, music, and literature. The firm represents a gaggle of the day's top female stars such as Cameron Diaz, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Renée Zellweger, and Julia Roberts (who made news when she defected from rival ICM in 2003). Other heavy-hitting clients include actors Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, and musicians Sting and Bruce Springsteen, as well as corporate clients such as Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble. Other services include strategic counsel, financing, and consulting. CAA was founded in 1975.

Curse of the Golden Flower nominated for Golden Reel awards

MPSE announces Golden Reel noms Sound editors to honor Eastwood

By DAVE MCNARY
The Motion Picture Sound Editors have handed out 40 nominations in half a dozen categories for the org's Golden Reel awards.
Winners will be announced at the 54th annual MPSE Golden Reel Awards Feb. 24 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Org's also honoring Clint Eastwood as filmmaker of the year and Richard L. Anderson with its career achievement trophy, noting his work on "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "The Color Purple," "Madagascar" and "Flushed Away."
Domestic feature f/x noms went to "Flags of Our Fathers," "Blood Diamond," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "World Trade Center," "Superman Returns," Mission: Impossible III" and "The Prestige."
Noms for domestic dialogue/automated dialogue replacement went to "Flags of Our Fathers," "World Trade Center," "The Last King of Scotland," "Letters From Iwo Jima," "Apocalypto," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Da Vinci Code."
Foreign feature mentions went to "Casino Royale," "Pan's Labyrinth," Babel," "Children of Men," "United 93," "Curse of the Golden Flower," "Lucky Number Slevin" and "The Black Dahlia."
"Cars," "Happy Feet," "Over the Hedge," "Flushed Away," "The Ant Bully" and "Ice Age: The Meltdown" drew feature animation f/x noms.
Mentions for film music went to "Apocalypto," "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," "Babel," "Children of Men," "Click," "Lucky Number Slevin," "Bobby" and "The Proposition."
Musical feature noms went to "Dreamgirls," "Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny," "Copying Beethoven," "Take the Lead" and "A Prairie Home Companion."
Org also will present awards in seven TV categories along with direct-to-video, special venue and computer entertainment.
Date in print: Fri., Jan. 26, 2007 - Variety

Hong Kong Film Critics Society's Best for 2006

Hong Kong Film Critics Society Announced Its Best List for 2006
January 24, 2007

Best Film - Election 2: Harmony Is a Virtue
Other Nominees: The Heavenly Kings, Exiled, Confession of Pain.

Best Director - Johnnie To (Exiled)
Other Nominees: Daniel Wu (The Heavenly Kings), Johnnie To (Election 2: Harmony Is a Virtue), Patrick Tam (After This Our Exile), Lau Wai-Keung and Mak Siu-Fai (Confession of Pain).

Best Screenwriters - Wong Jing and Tang Tui-Hei (Wo Hu)
Other Nominees: Yau Nai-Hoi and Yip Tin-Shing (Election 2: Harmony Is a Virtue), Daniel Wu (The Heavenly Kings), Lau Wai-Keung and Mak Siu-Fai (Confession of Pain), Herman Yau (On the Edge).

Best Actor - Jet Li (Fearless)
Other Nominees: Francis Ng (Wo Hu), Chow Yun-Fat (Curse of the Golden Flower), Leung Chiu-Wai (Confession of Pain), Nick Cheung (On the Edge), Anthony Wong (Exile).

Best Actress - Gong Li (Curse of the Golden Flower)
Other Nominees: Zhou Xun (The Banquet), Teresa Mo (Men Suddenly in Black 2), Qi Hailu (After This Our Exile, Shu Qi (Confession of Pain).
Monkey Peaches

Academy Awards nominates Curse of the Golden Flower for costumes

Curse of Golden Flowers is nominated for Best Costume Design. Congratulations to Yee Chung-Man (Ci Ma, Perhaps Love, Comrades: Almost a Love Story, A Terracotta Warrior). The film is not in Best Foreign Language list, as is Volver. The other films nominated in this catagory are:

The Devil Wears Prada, The Queen, Marie Antoinette, and Dreamgirls.
Other Asian nomination: Ruby Yang and Thomas Lonnon's The Blood of Yingzhou District is nominated for "Documentary Short". It follows the story of a little boy named Gao Jun, from Yingzhou, Anhui Province of eastern China. He is one of 75,000 so-called AIDS Orphans now living in China. His parents died after being infected with HIV through blood seller. After he was rejected by his relatives, he was sent to live with two foster parents, who were also HIV positive. A year after, his HIV symptom appeared and he had to take medication made for adults because medication for children was hard to find in China. His foster parents could not afford his medical expense and he had to move to a another foster family. - Monkey Peaches Edited for this blog

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

Another report on the Children of Huang Shi press conference:

(01/22/07) On January 21st, a press conference of The Children of Huang Shi was held in Hengdian, where the production has been taking place since last month. It was attended by some of the children actors and all of the lead actors except for Michelle, who has already finished her scenes and currently in Europe filming Babylon A.D.. Although Chow Yun-Fat, who plays a supporting role in the film, tried to get the reporters' attention to shift to Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell, the two main leads, reporters kept their focus on Chow. Most of the questions toward Chow were not about The Children of Huang Shi but about a recent "fight" he's involuntarily involved with a Chinese producer on another project. Even with translators' help, Meyers and Mitchell had no idea what they were talking about. About three minutes of footage from the film was played to the press. The world premiere of the film is currently scheduled to be held in Huang Shi (Hubei Province) in November. The children characters in the film are supposed to come from Huang Shi, although no filming is planned to take place there. - As shown on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre

UPDATE: The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt

The Ann Hui movie The Postmodern Life Of My Aunt will premiere on March 1, 2007. It has been reported that Chow Yun-Fat has said he will attend the opening of the film.

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

Regretfully Michelle Yeoh could not attend the press conference.

Article: January 22, 2007 Source: http://www.takungpao.com/news/07/01/22/UL-681843.htm

The stars are all there except one who is filming for another movie.The reporters kept chasing after Chow Yun Fat about Zhang Wei Ping's attack on him and Chow finally responded, "Actually this is something said by the press. He says his part and I do my part. Audience do the watching part. I would not personally be affected and it would not affect my development in the mainland because I have my wife. I believe she could do many things." He also joked and said that it doesn't matter how much fees he charges because they all go to his wife. Some said that he charge different fees for different persons as in one year, for Xu An Hua's case, he charged very low fees. He said, "Oh? I didn't know. Did that happen? "This new movie is about fighting against the Japanese and the English reporter which reports on the Nanjing Massacre was captured by the Japanese and he would be rescued by a soldier (Chow's role). In the process of escape, they joined 60 children left orphans by the Japanese who killed their parents and so they had to look after the kids too.It was said that this soldier role is not suitable for Hong Kong or Taiwan actors and Chow said that whether it was suitable or not, it is not up to himself to decide. It is the director's decision. He smiled and asked everyone to watch his performance first before making conclusions. He also said that today he is in a supporting role only and so it was not difficult and still had time to go shopping with his wife. Asked if he brought the new wave of Hollywood film making (with Asian actors) he said, "Actually it is the right time. This year it's Year of the Pig and I have been told my luck is not bad. I hope everyone will have good luck too."

Permission to repost this article is granted only if this article is accompanied with this message, the text is not altered, and credit is given to this site as follows:

Credit: http://z2.invisionfree.com/la_creme_d_asie

More pictures of the press conference in Special Events Pictures　

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

About the train explosion scenes: [Spoiler] It was filmed at a train station in Lanzhou. In the story, a train which was full of KMT (Kuo-Min-Tang, the Nationalist party) soldiers was about to depart when a Japanese air-raid struck. Chow Yun-Fat's character, a communist military officer, advised the KMT officer to let the soldiers out and get into shelter. The KMT officer refused. Bombs dropped on the train and the cars caught fire. Chow and Jonathan Rhys Meyers's characters rushed to the rescue. They unlocked the door, which was locked from the outside, and let the soldiers escape. As shown on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre - More pictures

Chow Yun-Fat excited about playing a pirate

A pirate's life for Chow Yun-Fat
By Bob Strauss, Film Writer
Article Launched: 01/18/2007 09:00:00 PM PST

He's played the most romantic of martial artists ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), the coolest of crime-world characters (John Woo's "The Killer," "Hard Boiled" and "A Better Tomorrow") and even the King of Siam.
But Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat is really, really, really excited about being a pirate. In May's third installment of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, "At World's End," Chow is duplicitous Capt. Sao Feng, the leader of a band of Chinese buccaneers whose dicey cooperation is instrumental in rescuing Capt. Jack Sparrow from watery damnation.
"It's a major change in my film-business career," the 51-year-old Chow enthuses, grinning like an eager kid. "Myself, I'm a fan of parts one and two, so it's like a dream come true to work with Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. And it's a very interesting character. Without this guy, Johnny Depp will be locked up in Davy Jones' Locker. (My character is) the key guy! He's got the only real directions that will save Jack Sparrow." - As shown on SBSun

Curse of the Golden Flower not nominated for Oscar's Best Foreign Film

Zhang Yimou's Epic Fails to Garner Oscar Nod

2007-01-17 14:57:43 AFP Nine films have been shortlisted ahead of nominations for the best foreign film prize at this year's 79th edition of the Academy Awards. China's "Curse of the Golden Flower" is, surprisingly, not found on the list. Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" was, on Tuesday, named among the nine films. The veteran Spanish director's movie is one of the favourites for the Oscar prize but will have to wait until the January 23 Academy Award nomination announcement to discover whether or not it will make the final five. Other notable movies included on the shortlist released by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are Mexico's entry "Pan's Labyrinth", a fantasy from Guillermo Del Toro and Germany's "The Lives of Others". But a surprise omission was China's "Curse of the Golden Flower". The Zhang Yimou's epic had been tipped to vie for the top prize at the Oscars, which will take place in Hollywood on February 25. The nine films are: Algeria, "Days of Glory," Rachid Bouchareb, director; Canada, "Water," Deepa Mehta, director; Denmark, "After the Wedding," Susanne Bier, director; France, "Avenue Montaigne," Daniele Thompson, director; Germany, "The Lives of Others," Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, director; Mexico, "Pan's Labyrinth," Guillermo del Toro, director; The Netherlands, "Black Book," Paul Verhoeven, director; Spain, "Volver," Pedro Almodovar, director; Switzerland, "Vitus," Fredi M. Murer, director

http://english.cri.cn/3086/2007/01/17/60@186062.htm - As shown on La Creme D' Asie Forum

Chow Yun-Fat does some sight-seeing in China

While filming Children of Huang Shi at the Hengdian Studios in China, Chow Yun-Fat took the opportunity to do a little sight-seeing around a picturesque area while he was not needed at the studio. Underneath a beautiful tree CYF took pictures with some of the local people.

Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End will try to rescue Jack Sparrow

Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End's director Gore Verbinski talks about the film:

When we saw Jack Sparrow (Depp) last summer in "Dead Man's Chest," he was paying the price for selling his soul to the devil (in the form of Davy Jones), and the fey buccaneer was left stuck inside a giant sea monster when the credits rolled. For the third film, the challenge is to get Sparrow out. The cast of characters continues to expand. For the third movie, Chow Yun Fat joins as Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore, who is battling the ruthless East Indian Trading Co., headed by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander). Where computer-generated sea and pirate creatures shared screen time in last summer's film, water itself will have a costarring role in the new sequel. L.A. Times article

The complete article is on the POTC At World's End page

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

(01/14/07) On January 12th, the production team for the Children of Huang Shi, including Chow Yun-Fat, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Radha Mitchell, was seen in Tiecheng, Xiandu, where they did three days of filming back in last December when Michelle was in Hengdian. An old ancestral temple in Xiazhang Village is used as the orphanage in the film. 27 children actors who came to Xiandu are chosen among more than 60,000 candidates from Los Angeles, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. A "Chuzhou Evening" reporter visited filming set and described a scene with Chow Yun-Fat, who dressed as a farmer, in an abandoned old house in Xiazhang Village. Filming in Xiandu will last for another three days, and the team may return to the location later this month for more shooting. After Hengdian, production will move to Shanghai.

As shown on Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre

UPDATE: Filming Children of Huang Shi

(12/22/2006) Michelle Yeoh (Yeung Chi King) earlier worked on the film THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI (FU HOI) in Hengdian. She was dressed in a Chinese dress and appeared in a rich woman look. After CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON six years ago Yeung Chi King is reunited with Chow Yun Fat, yet they have no scene together in the film. Even in Hengdian they missed each other. Yeung Chi King sighed that she was unable to see Chow Yun Fat. She honestly said that she really wanted to work with Fat Gor but this time they did not have any scene together. She said, "He truly is the best, too bad he stayed for a week and left, one of us arrived the other one left and we did not run into each other." She also pointed out that Fat Gor and Fat Soh's (wife) relationship for many years was rare. When the film opened, the local temperature was only five degrees Celsius. Yeung King Chi still had to hold on a hot water bag even though she had a down jacket on. She said, "Yet when compared to earlier when Chow Yun Fat, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Radha Mitchell worked in Lanzhou, Jinsu without any hot water, this is not considered much." She pointed out that this shoot has also been "bitter", but luckily she only had to work for week and did not considered it to be too tough.

As shown on Hong Kong Film Top 10

Time magazine selects Curse of the Golden Flower as one of top 10 films

(12/25/2006) The latest issue of TIME magazine has selected its top ten films. Zhang Yimou's CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWERS (MOON SING JUNG DAI WONG GUM GAP) is one of them. The magazine has provided high praises for the film and pointed out that the Zhang Yimou directed film was shockingly elegant. At the same time the film seemed to be a gong fu film but actually was a mad drama; charismatic masters Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat's exchanges were absolutely exciting. The magazine even pointed out that the Zhang Yimou directed film seemed to be under four Shakespearean tragedies' influence, the conniving wife is Lady Macbeth, the jealous man is Othello, the angry father and the struggle with the three children comes from KING LEAR and the royal family's struggle on the verge comes from HAMLET. The film expressed the duel and conflict between the ids and egos. People who enjoyed the classical Chinese flavor of CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON may find this film very comfortable as its tone is very strong; however, all of that just demonstrates the difference between the two films. CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER is extremely brilliant, not only in its color but also its wild emotions. Chow Yun Fat displayed a top notch performance in CURSE, a viciousness that he has never emitted before; Gong Li's reunion with her old friend 11 years later also showed an explosion that was never before seen lively and tear inducing. - As shown on Hong Kong Film Top 10

Captain Sao Feng in Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

As shown on Orlando Bloom Multimedia

Other cast pictures on POTC At World's End page

Costume Designers Guild nominates Curse of the Golden Flower designs

By Gregg Kilday LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Meryl Streep's over-the-top designer duds in "The Devil Wears Prada" and Helen Mirren's sensible walking outfits in "The Queen" have earned nominations from the Costume Designers Guild, which announced nominees Thursday for the ninth annual awards. For excellence in contemporary film, the group nominated Patricia Field for "Prada," Consolata Boyle for "Queen," Nancy Steiner for "Little Miss Sunshine," Lindy Hemming for "Casino Royale" and Michael Wilkinson for "Babel." The period film nominees are Milena Canonero for "Marie Antoinette," Sharen Davis for "Dreamgirls," Chung Man Yee for "Curse of the Golden Flower," Ngila Dickson for "The Illusionist" and Penny Rose for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." Winners in these and TV and commercials categories will be announced during the guild's awards ceremony on February 17 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Jane Kaczmarek will serve as host, and Sandra Bullock and Mirren will receive honors. - As shown on Admiring Gong Li

GET READY.........SET........GO!!!

ON JANUARY 12TH

CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER

WILL BE IN MORE THEATERS IN THE U.S.A.

Curse of the Golden Flower runner-up for cinematography

The National Society of Film Critics announced their winners today. From The Hollywood Reporter:
Quote:
For best cinematography, the voters singled out Emmanuel Lubezki for "Children of Men." Runners-up were Guillermo Navarro for "Pan's Labyrinth" and Zhao Xiaoding for "Curse of the Golden Flower."

Chow Yun-Fat will leave his money to charity

Hong Kong veteran actor Chow Yun-Fat is planning to donate his fortune to charity after he passes away. Chow says that he and his wife have no plans to have a child after their baby girl was unfortunately miscarried. As for his roughly one-billion-yuan property, the 52-year-old actor says that they plan to donate all their money to charity. He says that since the fortune was given by the society, it was natural to use it for the good of the society. However, the couple has not decided how to use the money for charity. Chow Yun-Fat reveals that his wife wanted to set up a foundation to help the needy and she was talking with their lawyer about the specific measures. Besides Chow Yun-Fat, another Hong Kong superstar Jackie Chan also announced last year that he would donate half of his property to charity after death. - Crienglish

Chow Yun-Fat comes back to China

Chow Yun Fat's Comeback Takes China by Storm - Still True to Roots, Admits to being a TVB FanOver two years ago, Chow Yun Fat stopped working. To Rest and to nurse his illness. Upon his return, his comeback production "Curse of the Golden Flower" has grossed a massive RMB 270 million in just 20 days since its release, breaking the records for any Chinese language film in history. Since his return, he has filmed a number of films already and has made himself an estimated HK$260 million. The film seems set to overtake the previous highest grossing film in China "Titanic" which made RMB 350 million. Dubbed as the highest grossing Chinese Actor ever, Chow says modestly: "There are higher peaks yet. (You have been estimated to have earned over $200 million last year?) Don't count! Only Mrs Chow knows about this and I just act for the fun of it." As for Mrs Chow Jasmine Tan, she laughs: "Hahaha... this is a commercial secret. "After filming "Bulletproof Monk" in 2003, Chow returned to filming in 2006, shooting three movies, including "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" and two Mainland productions "Curse of the Golden Flower" and "Aunt's Postmodern Life". Is he suggesting that he will be returning to the Mainland market? Chow says: "I have not said I will not return, as long as there is a good role and a good script, then no matter if it is a Mainland production or a Hollywood production, or even a Hong Kong production, then I will take a part." Chow will be filming this year for Hollywood's "The Bitter Sea" and John Woo's "Battle of Red Cliff". Is he making up for lost time after two years away? Chow says: "Go with the flow! I have rested for two years and been very happy. Taking photos, learning English and Mandarin - very happy!

"2003 was Bad and Depressing - Although he is now a Hollywood star, Chow is as normal in Hong Kong as a local neighbour and happily spends each day with laughter, so when he tells of how he suffered depression in 2003, this is a little surprising. Now fully recovered, he lightly tells his story: "Men have the menopause too! This is a biological imbalance of the hormones and you can see that Liza Wang and Frances Yip have had it! When women stop menstruating, then it is like that, it is just a stage in life. After taking hormones, I am fine. If I did not treat it, I would have turned into an old man. Or maybe I would have killed someone with a hammer or become aggressive and violent. If you can treat this illness early, then you are fine. It is like having a cold or flu, everyone gets it at some point in their life. "Chow admits that his illness was related to his work: "Having worked for so long, stopping and not doing anything affected my psychological state a little. I never imagined that SARS would break out in that year and society turned very grim. Leslie [Cheung] and Anita [Mui] both passed away. It was terrible and very depressing. "A Wish from 30 Years AgoIn an interview, thirty years ago, Chow once said that he hopes to sit alone beside a house alongside a lake, wearing a cap and smoking a pipe, watching the lake with a blanket over his lap. Thirty years later today, his wish is still there, but now he has someone beside him - Mrs Chow. Chow says: "I don't go out much usually. I will either read at home or go shopping in Kowloon City, but when I get on set, I love my work and after work, I will go and seek some leisure time with my friends. "On a one day trip to the country, Chow can be heard commenting to himself as he sees the sea and the lakes: "If I build a house here, it would be so good." Chow has seen a lot of the world, but his ambition of many years remains unchanged. He says: "My roots have always been here and in the future, I only want to be in Hong Kong or China, which truly belongs to the Chinese and has mountains and water and things for me to photograph. (In the past you were on your own, now you have your wife beside you?) Ha... if she doesn't mess around, then she can stay beside me. She must not disturb my creativity."

TV Space

Chow Yun-Fat overlooking the sea

Perhaps looking for scenery to take photos, Chow Yun-Fat looks at some of his favorite views of the sea. He once said he would like to retire to a house looking over the sea, but because he is making so many movies lately he may have to postpone early retirement.

A synopsis of plot for Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End Movie Synopsis: In the follow-up to the record-breaking smash 2006 hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," we find our heroes Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) allied with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) in a desperate quest to free Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) from his mind-bending trap in Davy Jones' locker – while the terrifying ghost ship, The Flying Dutchman and Davy Jones, under the control of the East India Trading Company, wreaks havoc across the Seven Seas. Navigating through treachery, betrayal and wild waters, they must forge their way to exotic Singapore and confront the cunning Chinese Pirate Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat). Now headed beyond the very ends of the earth, each must ultimately choose a side in a final, titanic battle – as not only their lives and fortunes, but the entire future of the freedom-loving Pirate way, hangs in the balance.

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Gore Verbinski from a screenplay written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, our beloved cast sets sail once again on a fresh new adventure in May 2007. Director: Gore VerbinskiWriter(s): Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, Chow Yun-Fat, Stellan Skarsgård, Jack Davenport, Kevin R. McNally, Lee Arenberg, Mackenzie Crook, Andy Beckwith, Reggie LeeRelease Date: May 25 2007 Official Site: Pirates.Movies.com Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy Rating: Not Available - Empire Movies

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