3 posts tagged “asian”

MOVIE REVIEW : THREE KINGDOMS (Mandarin)

Category : War/History, Drama / Starring : Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Sammo Hung, Maggie Q

Three Kingdoms_Poster

Directed by renowned Daniel Lee, Three Kingdoms tells the story of a young soldier named Zao ZiLong (Andy Lau) during the history period of China, where the country is suffering from extensive internal wars which divide the nation into three kingdoms, namely Wei(魏), Shu(蜀) and Wu(吳). Zao despite coming from humble roots, fights hard and through his deep courage & passion in believing he could help unite his country, he triumphed and becomes a legend amongst the warlords and armies.

Three Kingdoms_Andy Lau

Three Kingdoms_Maggie Q

Critics have attacked the movie from all angles, starting from the story-line running away too much from the original Three Kingdoms novels, to poorly written scripts and unimpressive fight scenes. It is a war movie and audience will want to see great fight scenes. To me there wasn't much of that. It is still however an entertaining movie for the older generation to go watch, as they can relate well to the best selling epic novels of Three Kingdoms which most of them have read, and have a chance to see some old stars like Ti Lung making cameo appearances in this movie. Newer generation teen idols including Vanness Wu and Andy On also join the impressive list of casts. The movie does boast some grand scenes and beautiful sceneries.  

Three Kingdoms_Poster2

Three Kingdoms movie trailer:

Rating : C+

WHAT JOOLS IS LISTENING TO...

Ivana Wong

Ivana Wong 王菀之 is a Hong Kong all-rounded artist (composer, lyricist & singer) born in 1980. Thanks to a dear friend who introduced her to me 2 years back, now I have another artist to listen to that reminds me of my favourite HK/China artist Faye Wong. Ivana composes really soothing melodies that go well with her vocals. 我真的受傷了 (I'm Really Hurt) is one her best known songs so far.

 And here's Ivan taking on one of Faye Wong's song 執迷不悔 (No Regrets):

And finally, my favourite track from Ivana, 手望:

ASIAN FILM AWARDS 2008 - KOREAN FILM SECRET SUNSHINE SHINES

The 2nd AFA was held on the 17th March 2008 at the Hong Kong Conventiuon & Exhibition Centre, to celebrate the excellence in asian films. The movie Screat Sunshine from South Korean took home the main categories including Best Film, Best Director (Lee Chang-Dong) and Best Actress (Jeon Do-Yeon). This is the 2nd year in a row South Korea became the top winner, where its film The Host swept the most awards in 2007. 

Lust Caution from Taiwan/China's Ang Lee failed again to outdo the rest, and only managed to achieve one award for Best Actor (Tony Leung), losing out on the rest of its 5 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress.

Asian Film Awards 2008_Best Actor Tony Leung (H.Kong) & Best Actress Jeon Do-Yeon (S.Korea)

Asian Film Awards 2008_Best Supporting Actress Joan Chen (China)

To view full list of nominations and winners CLICK HERE