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Cinema

Cinema
Views, news, and reviews of films, from the latest releases to classic oldies.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
Kim Sae-ron at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong in 2017. The South Korean actress was found dead at her home in Seoul on Sunday. Photo: Reuters
Obituaries

South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron found dead at her home in Seoul

Police said there was no sign of foul play. Kim, 24, is best known for her role in the 2010 film The Man from Nowhere.

American cinema

Review | Dreams, chilling film with Jessica Chastain about US-Mexico ties

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How 3 Hong Kong directors in turn-of-the-century Hollywood survived

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Hong Kong economy

Bring on ‘Japanese craze’ for Hong Kong films: Kowloon Walled City movie director

Soi Cheang hopeful others can ride wave of success of Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In that brings to life old Hong Kong for ‘fascinated’ Japanese fans.

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Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is the highest-grossing Hong Kong movie in Japan in five years. Photo: Entertaining Power Co
Asian cinema: Chinese films

Review | Living the Land a captivating tale of upheaval in 1990s rural China

Non-professional actors and stunning camerawork lift this engrossing story of the drastic changes experienced in rural China.

Hong Kong

No Limits arts festival spotlights music, dance, theatre and film

Themed ‘The Human Touch’, this year’s festival is a beacon of inclusivity, promoting understanding through the arts.

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Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Faye Wong, actress, Cantopop diva and twice divorced mum

A ‘natural-born actress’, Wong Kar-wai said. The bestselling female Cantopop artist. Yet Faye Wong left it all behind to be a wife and mum.

Hong Kong singer-actress Faye Wong, wearing a high heel hat, performs in Hong Kong in 2003. Twice married and twice divorced, Wong walked away from her career in 2005, and has appeared only sporadically on stage since then. Photo: Reuters
European cinema

These babies aren’t real? Studio’s ultra-lifelike film and TV props

French special-effects workshop Cinebaby’s lifelike silicone baby props have been seen in productions including Netflix’s Emily in Paris.

Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong’s Golden Harvest to slash movie ticket prices to as low as HK$20

Chain says it will offer the ‘most affordable’ ticket prices starting February 15, to thank movie fans for their support.

Fame and celebrity

Director Lars von Trier admitted to care facility for Parkinson’s disease

Lars Von Trier, known for his disturbing and stylised work, publicly revealed his diagnosis in 2022.

Director Lars von Trier in 2018. File photo: TNS
European cinema

Review | Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy – Renée Zellweger nails the older woman

Bridget Jones is back for a fourth film, and director Michael Morris brings a freshness to the franchise while nodding to the earlier movies.

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Renée Zellweger as Bridget Jones and Leo Woodall as Roxster in a still from Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.
American cinema

Why Captain America: Brave New World doesn’t faze Anthony Mackie

Mackie does not have big expectations of his new Marvel outing, co-starring Harrison Ford – he just wants his children to think it is cool.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Living in Two Worlds: obnoxious teen turns back on deaf parents

Where Oscar winner CODA was warm-hearted, Mipo O’s film makes its child of deaf parents in Japan so unsympathetic he is hard to root for.

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Hong Kong

Tilda Swinton brings star power to a conversation on classic Hong Kong films

Tilda Swinton recently visited Hong Kong’s M+ art museum, shining her A-list light on the vital role of film preservation in connecting audiences to a more authentic version of cinematic storytelling.

Tilda Swinton hits Hong Kong to make the case for film preservation and praise the magic of old cinema. Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

From Initial D to Sausalito, 5 films that show director Andrew Lau’s range

Known for the Infernal Affairs trilogy and Young and Dangerous films, Andrew Lau’s output is wide-ranging. We recall some lesser known films.

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Jay Chou in a still from Initial D (2005), one of five lesser known movies of Hong Kong filmmaker Andrew Lau Wai-keung, director of the Infernal Affairs trilogy and the Young and Dangerous film series.
American cinema

Constantine at 20: why Keanu Reeves film deserves another look

Starring Reeves, Shia LaBeouf and Tilda Swinton, 2005 film was initially poorly received but has gained popularity over the past 20 years.

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What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this weekend, Feb 7-9

Float away your stress, feast on butter chicken pizza washed down with Indian-inspired cocktails, rummage a retro mart and more this weekend.

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European cinema

Netflix reportedly drops Emilia Perez lead actress from Oscars campaign

Streaming giant said to distance itself from best actress nominee, Spain’s Karla Sofia Gascon, over her offensive social media posts.

Spanish actress Karla Sofia Gascon arrives for a presentation of Emilia Perez in Bogota. Colombia, on January 17, 2025. Netflix has dropped Gascon, the film’s lead actress, from its Oscar campaign, reports say. Photo: AFP
Asian cinema: Korean films

Review | Dark Nuns: Korean exorcism horror with Song Hye-kyo, Jeon Yeo-been

Two nuns resort to extreme measures, including exorcism, to save the life of a possessed boy, and in the process defy their church superiors.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Cells at Work!, live-action manga adaptation about body’s workings

Actors depict red and white blood cells in Hideki Takeuchi’s laugh-out-loud movie about how the human body battles cancer and loose bowels.

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European cinema

‘Vain’ and ‘offensive’: Mexico-set Oscars darling Emilia Perez irks many there

Filmed in France with non-Mexican actors, musical about a drug cartel boss who has a sex change angers Mexicans, including LGBTQ community.

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Karla Sofia Gascon, right, and Zoe Saldana in a scene from Emilia Perez. The film has met with criticism in Mexico for its use of non-Mexican actors, implausible story and being filmed in France. Photo: AP
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Review | Ha Ha Ha Happy New Year: Philip Keung hams it up for bizarre comedy

Is it a sci-fi suspense thriller? A nonsense comedy? A family melodrama? Hong Kong-Malaysia co-production’s script so weak it’s hard to say.

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Philip Keung Ho-man (left) and Jessica Hsuan in a still from Ha Ha Ha Happy New Year.
Lunar New Year

China’s box office riding Lunar New Year wave to record Spring Festival haul

Ne Zha 2 and Detective Chinatown 1900 lead the way as billions of yuan in cinema receipts bode well for an industry still looking to bounce back to pre-pandemic numbers.

Fame and celebrity

Obituary | The rise of Meteor Garden star Barbie Hsu, dead at 48

Popularly known as ‘Big S’, Barbie Hsu began her career in 1994 in the pop duo SOS before starring in a number of films and TV series.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

3 of the best Chinese wuxia films made in the 21st century

Sword-fighting films were popular in the 1960s and 1990s. Tsui Hark and Derek Yee were among directors who reinvented the genre this century.

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Lin Gengxin as Third Master in a still from Sword Master. Photo: Bona Film Group
American cinema

Anora star Yura Borisov on Mikey Madison, Sean Baker and playing Igor

Nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar, Borisov talks about filming with co-star Madison and director Baker, and his ‘lighthouse’ Igor.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 21: Jurij Borisov attends the "Anora" Red Carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 21, 2024 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images) Getty Images
Hong Kong celebrities and icons

Profile | Meet Gordon Lam Ka-tung, a movie star decades in the making

An actor who grew up poor and had to wait decades for his first film awards, Gordon Lam has risen steadily to the top of Hong Kong cinema.

European cinema

Update | Hugh Grant, Renee Zellweger light up new Bridget Jones film premiere

Played by Zellweger, Bridget Jones is back, 51, a widow and single parent, in Mad About The Boy, new film about the hapless 1990s singleton.

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