Movie Review - Lost in Beijing (2007)

This movie aired on SBS a few weeks ago, I have been meaning to write a movie review and I finally have some time to do so.

This film caused a lot of controversy for the themes it explores (blackmail) and gratuitous love scenes. After delays in the film's release, the film was then banned by Chinese Authorities.

Lost in Beijing, follows the lives of 2 couples and how their lives are forever changed when they cross paths. Liu Pingguo (Fan Bingbing) and her husband, An Kun (Tong Dawei) are a young couple who have moved to Beijing to seek a better life. Liu Pinggao works as a foot masseuse, An Kun works as a window washer. Liu Pinggao works for Lin Dong (Tony Leung Ka Fai), the owner of the massage parlour, his wife, Wang Mei (Elaine Jin) practices Chinese medicine.

One day, Liu Pingguo is incredibly drunk at work and her middle aged boss Lin Dong takes advantage of the situation and rapes her. Her husband witnesses the ordeal and he thinks that she was having an affair. An Kun is furious with her and takes revenge by sleeping the Lin Dong's wife. Liu Pinggao blackmails her boss for a sum of money, telling him she won't report him for rape or tell her husband what really happened. Lin Dong agrees.

There lives get more tangled up when Liu Pinggao finds out she's pregnant and she doesn't know who the father is. Surprisingly, the middle aged couple really wants a child in their lives. They agree to support Liu Pinggao through her pregnancy in return for the baby.

This is one intriguing film. It was fascinating to watch how the dynamic of the relationships changed and evolved throughout the film. We see the barbaric rapist acting like Liu Pinggao's husband, being overly concerned during her pregnancy. Lin Dong desperately wants a baby in his life. We watch An Kun having hope that the baby is his, he starts to regret his agreement in giving up the baby.

I found myself glued to drama that was unfolding between the 2 couples. It was refreshing that the film was not predictable at any stage. It explores the complicatons in life and hard decisions people make in order to survive. The four leading actors took on the roles fearlessly, especially Tony Leung. I started out detesting the character and somehow found myself empathising with him later on in the film.

This isn't a love story, it's a film that will challenge your values.

4/5 stars

Cherriipop Season 4 News

Hello Everyone! Mid Year break is over - I hope you guys had a nice holiday. Now it's back to University. I'm looking forward to semester 2 beginning because that means Radio Monash will resume soon (in a couple of weeks)!

We've got a lot planned for this season: music, stories. I PLAN TO invite more guests on the show. I'm really excited about Season 4 of CherriiPOP.

There will be some new segments on the show - book & restaurant reviews.

If you have any suggestions for the show, please send them in to our facebook page: www.facebook.com/cherriipop

Odd Things I Saw - The 'Bee Beard'

For this week's Odd Things I saw, I came across these odd pictures. Chinese men competed in the 'bee beard' contest held in Shaoyang of the PRC's Hunan Province over the weekend. The aim was to 'wear' as many bees as they can at one time.

The men were unprotected against the large sum of bees, wearing only shorts, goggles and nose plugs. A 42 year old Chinese farmer managed to wear 26 kg of bees. (26kg is the size of a child!!! Can you imagine having that many bees on you???)

Unfortunately, their valiant efforts did not result in breaking the Guinness Record. The title is held by Mark Biancaniello, who wore 39kg of bees in 1998.

Do not try this at home!

Bao Han's shares her thoughts & memories in a revealing blog

Bao Han, the Vpop artist who retired last year has started a persohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifnal blog for her fans. She promised fans that she will remain in touch with them in her retirement. Her blog is insightful, she reveals personal experiences and views.

Visit Bao's Han blog here:
www.loveyourselfbybh.com

I recommend subscribing to Bao Han's blog. It's deep and meaningful. She shows a different side of her personality to her fans. Us fans are used to watching the beautiful and confident Bao Han own the stage and spotlight. To read about her body image insecurities, her dreams of being a butcher as a child... allows fans to connect with Bao Han the person, and not Bao Han the popstar.

YG Entertainment upsets Playboy with trademark infringement

Playboy claimed trademark infringement on YG Entertainment's duo 'GD&TOP' album cover. The resemblence between the two images are obvious. The bow tie, the outline of the bunny head.

YG Entertainment confirmed that the image was inspired by the popular playboy logo. YG will comply with Playboy's demands and stop using the trademark logo. An alternative cover will be used for future album covers.

GD&TOP wanted to use the rabbit logo in celebration of the upcoming year of the rabbit. The 'V' hand gesture was used to represent victory.

This is not the first time a company has claimed trademark infringement. Apple made this claim against Woolworths when they unveiled their apple logo.

Asian Cinema on SBSTWO Friday 6th July, 2011

There are some great movies airing on SBSTWO tonight.

9:00pm - Lost in Beijing (2007) Drama.
Starring: Tony Leung Ka Fai, Bingbing Fan.



10.55pm - The Eye (2002) Thriller.
Starring: Angelica Lee, Lawrence Chou. (MA)


If you want to check out other world films airing on SBS, visit www.sbs.com/film

His Holiness The Dalai Lama on Masterchef this Sunday

Aussie TV Show Masterchef, will have a very special guest appearing on this Sunday's episode - His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama recently visited Australia for his tour. His schedule was packed with interviews, seminars, appearances. He found some time to be a guest on the popular show Masterchef. The episode was filmed last month, will air this Sunday 10.

In the episode, the 7 finalist prepare a special meal for the Dalai Lama.

It is a huge honour to have the opportunity to cook for the Dalai Lama - I wonder how the contestants will handle the pressure?

It is well known that monks are vegetarian. What original dishes will they serve the Dalai Lama.

Another big question is, what is the Dalai Lama like as a food critic?

Find out by tuning in this Sunday 7:30pm, Channel 10

You can subscribe to the Dalai Lama's newsletter by clicking here

Odd Things I saw - Meat Water

Okay, so we're all familiar with vitamin water, mineral water... but have you heard of MEAT WATER???? I'm serious, this drink really exists. Vegetarians and vegans must be put off by the name.

I was reading Hong Kong actor Daniel Wu's blog. He mentioned that he was drinking this product for training. It got me curious so I did a quickie research about it.

Meat contains protein. Protein is made up of amino acids linked together. This drink contains 22 amino acids. Hence for the name 'Meat water'.

Meat water comes in a wide range of odd flavours... when i say odd, I really mean ODD!!!

e.g. stuffed quail, fish and chips, dirty hot dog, spam water, english breakfast, sashimi, bbq wings, venison, italian meatballs......

The list goes on and on... I'm not sure how they taste, I should try it one day... My initial feeling is that it might taste gross... but I hope that I'm wrong!

I should propose to the company to make a Pho flavour meat water!

Cmovie Review: Mr & Mrs Incredible (2011)

In this Hong Kong superhero flick, Louis Koo and Sandra Ng play two retired superheroes living in a small village as normal civilians. None of the villagers know of their crime fighting past, and they work hard to hide their superpowers. It's been 10 years since they retired and sometimes they miss their glory days.

Now Mr and Mrs Flint are starting to feel a bit bored with their ordinary lives. Interesting events unfold, causing the couple to think about coming out of retirement.

I didn't know what to expect when I watched this film. From memory I haven't watched a Hong Kong superhero before (It's always been action, crime, romcom). It's always good to watch a movie without expectations and be open to wherever the movie takes you.

This is a very funny film, Louis and Sandra are equally funny, they have great comic timing and chemistry. They both played the characters so well that I can't imagine anyone else in the role. I really enjoyed watching them on screen and banter each other.

There isn't a lot of action or violence in this film compared to Batman, Spiderman. This is more of a comedy, an exploration in to the lives of retired superheroes. I felt the villains could have been introduced earlier in the movie to create more suspense. Also, the film was too neat for my liking, I would have liked to see the heroes sweat it out a bit more.

Overall, this is a fun and enjoyable film.

3.5/5 stars

Kmovie Review : Haru - An Extraordinary Day in Korea (2010)

Tourism marketing is getting more and more inventive as time goes on. Forget those 2 minute TV ads starring sun tanned models, with odd slogans 'Where the bloody hell are you'. Tourism campaigns are getting more creative, slicker and BIGGER - think Tourism Australia inviting Oprah and her audience for 'The Ultimate Outback Adventure'. That campaign was mammoth - generating huge buzz world wide. I wonder how Tourism Australia plans to top that one.

Korea 'thought outside of the box' and took a unique approach to promoting tourism - by making a Movie. Well a short movie to be exact, the film is 30 minutes. Who should star in this tourism film? The next generation of Hallyu stars, including Kim Bum, U-Kiss, Big Bang, Han Chae Young.

It is an interesting concept for tourism. Hallyu stars - 'Korean wave' are highly popular worldwide, it is ideal for them to star in this film to promote Korean tourism.

The film starts off with a huge bang, literally - a man is running away from missiles shot out of a plan... Not what you would expect for a tourism film. It left me completely puzzled.

The film then bounces around to different scenes with different actors. We see Kim Bum on the train flirting with a girl; Han Chae Young as a secret agent; Big Bang on a playground. It feels like someone randomly put a romcom, an action and a drama movie in to a blender and ended up with a big old mess.

It's all over the place, it felt like a tourism advert that was 28 minutes too long. It did not showcase Korea. The whole time we see the actors smile and smile somem more. The whole time during the movie I was thinking, what am I watching? There'z no storyline, so it's not a film. They aren't promoting anything, it's not an ad. I have no idea what it is.

The film seems to be aimed for young teen girls, they will sure enjoy staring at their idols in this film. All the actors look good in this film.

I was underwhelmed watching this film, the film didn't meet its aim in promoting Korea tourism.