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ITMFL on Empire’s 100 Best Films of World Cinema

British magazine Empire picked the 100 Best films not in the english language.
Wong Kar-wai’s “In The Mood For Love” was ranked at number 42.

The entry:

Why so great?
Wong Kar-wai’s achingly romantic account of star-cross’d lovers has a strong claim to be the best-looking film you’ll ever see. The ’60s costumes, neon cinematography from genius DoP Christopher Doyle and unspeakably gorgeous cast will catch the eyes while the tale of two neighbours, who discover that their spouses are cheating on them and fall in love with one another while trying to deal with the revelation, tugs the heartstrings. Melancholic, perhaps, but as inspirational as Yo-yo Ma’s bittersweet performance of the score. 
Hollywood remake?
Not quite, but the film has been riffed on in Lost in Translation, which lifted its famous whispered goodbye from a similar scene here. 

Prizes
No Oscar nomination, but a BAFTA nod and wins at the Césars and Cannes to soften the blow.
http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=42

The top 10:
1. Seven Samurai
2. Amelie
3. Battleship Potemkin
4. Bicycle Thieves
5. Pan’s Labyrinth
6. Battle of Algiers
7. City of God
8. The Seventh Seal
9. The Wages of Fear
10. Spirited Away

The full list: http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/

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Happy Together and Fallen Angels double feature in Tribeca

To celebrate the Blu-ray and digital re-releases of Happy Together and Fallen Angels, courtesy of Kino Lorber, 35mm prints of these two films will be screened back-to-back in downtown Manhattan on Thursday July 22 at the 92Y Tribeca.
Two-for-one tickets.
Apparently there will be freebies and giveaways included as well.

More details:
http://www.92y.org/shop/92Tri_event_detail.asp?category=92Tri+92YTribeca+Film888&productid=T-MM5FJ44

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Lunar New Year release for The Grand Master?

Wong Kar-wai’s “The Grand Master” is said to have completed filming and is now entered the editing phase. Ultimately, Brigitte Lin did not make a comeback appearance. Zhang Ziyi’s role is said to be that of a female killer/assassin. Zhao Benshan and Song Hye-kyo also appear.
The film began shooting in Guangdong last November and has been shrouded in secrecy. A Lunar New Year opening is still anticipated despite some delays.

It will compete against four powerhouse films: Chen Kaige’s Zhao’s Orphan, Zhang Yimou’s Love Under the Hawthorne Tree, Jiang Wen’s Let the Bullets Fly and Feng Xiaogang’s You Are the One 2.

http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2010-06-22/10312994107.shtml

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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

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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

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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