Posted on

Tony Leung and Carina Lau join Weibo

With more and more celebrities and other public figures joining day by day, Weibo (Asian Twitter) has definitely taken the entertainment industry by storm!

The newest celebrity to join Weibo is multi-Best Actor winner Tony Leung Chiu Wai (who only joined day before yesterday). On his first Weibo postings, Tony indicated that currently, in addition to being busy with the filming of The Grand Master, he has also been working on a commercial – in his posting, he uploaded a picture of himself with cinematographer Xia Yong Kang as well as other crew members. After only 1 day, the popular actor already has over 26,000 fans “following” him and one posting alone already has over 2,200 replies.

Tony’s wife, actress Carina Lau, also joined Weibo yesterday and posted 1 message so far, stating “Hi Everyone, I am Carina Lau”. Tony and Carina have yet to “follow” each other on Weibo – in fact, so far, both of them have only added production company Jet Tone Films to their “Follow” lists.

http://www.mingpaoweekly.com/htm/20100529/mae1.htm
http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/722644-weibo-news-tony-leung-and-carina-lau-join-weibo%3B-charmaine-sheh-celebrates-35th-birthday/

UPDATE: Links to Weibo accounts added.
Tony Leung: http://t.sina.com.cn/n/梁朝偉
Carina Lau: http://t.sina.com.cn/n/劉嘉玲
Jet Tone Films: http://t.sina.com.cn/projecthouse

Posted on

The Grand Master filming break

Director Wong Kar-Wai has been busy working on his own movie about the legendary Wing Chun master Ip Man. They recently completed shooting in the Northeast region of China and will soon head South to Guangzhou. Before filming resumes for The Grand Master, his all-star cast gets a one-week break while the crew is moving the set.

Korean star Song Hye-Kyo will be one of the cast members participating in the Guangzhou filming. She was previously rumored to have gained weight, but the actress looked very slim when she was spotted in Hong Kong shopping for some DVD’s. According to the news, she has been working hard on her moves as well as her Chinese, and hopes to complete the film with her own voice.

On the other hand, “Ip Man” Tony Leung didn’t get much of a break as he had to film a commercial in the mainland. When asked about working with Song Hye-Kyo, he said they actually met each other back at the premiere of his film 2046. He was also asked if they share any intimate scenes, Tony Leung responded, “How would I know! There hasn’t been any in the script so far. (Will there be some later?) We’ll know when the time comes!”

Their co-star Chang Chen hasn’t been home for months since filming started, therefore he returned to Taiwan during the break to get some summer clothing. Meanwhile, actress Zhang Ziyi will also take part in the Guangzhou filming, but the production remained tight-lipped concerning what role she is playing.

http://news.sina.com.tw/article/20100525/3181954.html
http://www.nownews.com/2010/05/26/340-2607400.htm

Posted on

Song Hye Kyo in Hong Kong

Actress Song Hye-kyo was sighted shopping in Central, Hong Kong, a few days ago. She has been staying in a rented apartment costing HK$93,000 per month in Happy Valley, she occupies one room and the other for her assistant. She has been secretly training for her role in “The Grand Master” and has also been learning Cantonese to make communication easier with Wong Kar-wai and Tony Leung. She was tired and bored with training and took a rest to go shopping and was spotted in The LandMark near Oriental Mandarin Hotel.
The report also mentioned about her thick waist and thighs.
The movie is expected to be released in December this year.

http://stars.zaobao.com/pages9/songhuiqiao100522.shtml
Video report: http://hk.dv.nextmedia.com/template/dv_channel/index.php?fuseaction=dv15.player&mode=section&range=d&dv_iss=20100522&sort=promo&id=462&iss_id=20100522&sec_id=462&art_id=14055181&av_id=14056466

Posted on

Madonna is a fan of Wong Kar Wai

In a conversation with director Gus Van Sant for Interview magazine, Madonna spoke about her admiration for Wong Kar-wai:

MADONNA: I look at movies like Wong Kar-Wai’s films, and they all have such a familylike feeling about them. He just keeps working with the same actors and art director and DP, and the stories don’t change that much. There seems to be this familiarity there that must be such a nice luxury.
VAN SANT: Wong Kar-Wai is a really great inspiration. He’s always referred to as the Jimi Hendrix of filmmaking.
MADONNA: What does that mean?
VAN SANT: It means that he’s so loose and familiar with his craft that he can sort of do anything.
MADONNA: I was actually watching In the Mood for Love [2000] again last night because I love the music. And I mean, how overused is slow motion in film? But, for some reason, he gets away with it. Every time the characters pass each other on the stairs, there’s that same piece of music. It’s so beautiful. He has these two married couples living next door to each other, and you never see the wife of one couple or the husband of the other, but you always hear them talking. And it’s not so much of a story, but you’re so sucked into it. It’s something to be envied. While the stories seem simple, you really end up feeling kind of devastated and moved and melancholic every time you watch one of his movies-well, I do, anyway.
VAN SANT: I do too.
MADONNA: But maybe there’s something wrong with me. Maybe I’m just a sucker.

VAN SANT: No, I think they’re very strong films.

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/madonna/4/

Posted on

Lau Kar Leung an advisor on The Grand Master

Legendary director Lau Kar-leung, was given a Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, long overdue in my opinion. Lau sifu is currently working with cult director Wong Kar-wai on his long-awaited kung fu film called “The Grand Master”.
Although director Wong’s Ip Man film was in development long before the Donnie Yen hit, both that movie and its sequel beat Wong Kar-wai into the cinema.
“The Grand Master”, which stars Tony Leung  as Ip Man, will detail the challenge matches between the different kung fu styles in 1960s Hong Kong. Wong reveals that he is using different masters to choreograph the arts of the different school, with Lau Kar-leung providing guidance on the Hung Gar style used in the film. No time frame given yet as to when the film will be scheduled for release.

http://asiancultcinema-drees5761.blogspot.com/2010/05/lau-kar-leung-lifetime-achievement.html

Posted on

Filming The Grand Master in Liaoyang War Museum – report 2

Filming continues on “The Grand Master” at Liaoyang museum.
Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi filmed scenes in the courtyard. Zhang Ziyi was reported as being thin and wearing big sunglasses that covered half her face.
Security aroung the museum is really tight.
Antiques from a local shop were rented as props for the film.

http://www.chinanews.com.cn/yl/yl-dyzx/news/2010/04-28/2252435.shtml
http://fun.china.com/zh_cn/movie/news/205/20100429/15915838.html