Asia-Celebs.com - Hot celebrities of Japan, China, and Asia

Cape No. 7 avoids Chinese Censorship

Cape No. 7 gets a green light for a Valentine's Day release in China from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).

Due to Cape No. 7's plot references to Japan's "colonialist foreign policy" from the era of World War II, it wasn't certain at all if the film would make it through the Chinese film censorship. The latest batman film, The Dark Knight, wasn't allowed a theater screening in China. I think the reason it ended up on their forbidden in China -list, is this:

The film represents a Hong Kong (=a real city) business man collaborating with the criminal underworld of Gotham (=a fictional city), which consequently represents China (=a real country) in a bad light.

I don't know what to think, when I imagine the local film censors tagging film plots for clearance or censorship in this kind of pattern, or western film censors comparing wild and naughty scenes with books based on developmental psychology.

Well I try and maintain an unbiased attitude, let's not forget that every country has its' own censorship laws, which is demonstrated by these two randomly picked examples, French media and sales of Nazi items and US Government vs. television networks in Jackson and the nipple hysteria.

Then again, the censorship of films in China isn't taken place too effectively as most people who want to see Cape No. 7 or The Dark Knight, can purchase a perfect digital copy from their local DVD vendor.

Photo by dbmboise (Flickr)

Yes, what they do isn't exactly legal, but I have to say some of the Blu-Ray/DVD street vendors really do come off as honest, hardworking and peaceful business people and - cats like in this rare photo, that displays the scene in some back alley of Shanghai.

I don't recommend the practice as no intellectual property laws are respected, but how to introduce them to a nation that seems to lack the whole concept altogether? To not come off as an anti sinophile, I should add that this applies to many, if not most, other Asian countries as well, and always remember:

A moving picture, movie, film, is a very dangerous drug, it fulfills one of mankind's most primitive desires - it changes fantasy into pseudo-reality. Why don't the world governments tag DVD and Blu-ray covers with such disclaimers? Similar information is found on most other consumer products.

Poster for Cape No. 7, directed by Te-Sheng Wei.

I'll sign off with a brief comment on Cape no. 7, the film is about music, love and laughs on a small village on the southern peak of Taiwan. Not the best of what Asian cinema has to offer, but well worth watching and if you're not a cynic, you might find it enjoyable, in a matine film way of appreciation type of thinking. You can read more about the role of Chie Takana in Cape No. 7 on one of my previous posts.

Rosa Kato - Japanese / Italian actress

Rosa Kato - born June 22, 1985, in Naples, Italy - is an actress and TV commercial model. She was born to an Italian father and a Japanese mother, but they all moved to  Japan when she was six years old. She spoke fluent Italian when still a child, but has forgotten the skill by time.

Rosa Kato appeared in numerous TV commercials before starting her acting career. She became popular after a TV commercial for Zexy because of her brown Italian eyes. Most of her TV advertisements and commercials are usually colorful and lively like this Glico ice cream commercial. 

Video from video.filestube.com

Later in 2005, she started to appear in Japanese television dramas in supporting roles. A year later, she won the Best Newcomer Award for her performance in the Japanese television drama, Dance Drill from the most prominent entertainment magazine in Japan. Rosa Kato was then cast for a female lead role in a Japanese TV drama, Jotei (photo below).

Smile (2007) a Japanese film starring Rosa Kato, directed by Takanori Jinnai.

Source: Wikipedia

Japanese trailer for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

New Japanese trailer for Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li, which will have its' US release on the 27th of February. 

Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li, directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, is a live-action feature film based on Capcom's video game. The film is focused on female fighter Chun Li and her quest for justice.

Omega and Zhang Ziyi's beach photos

Chinese Actress Zhang Ziyi was signed up by Omega for their advertising campaign for 2009, alongside with Nicole Kidman, Georgy Clooney and Michael Phelps. It didn't take many weeks after when private beach photos of Zhang Ziyi appeared all over the Internet drawing a lot of attention.

In my opinion, the photos weren't really not much to write home about, nor to upload online for that matter. There's public nude beaches all over Scandinavia and many other European Regions, where these things take place all the time.

It seems that Kevin Rollenhagen, a top executive for Swatch Group's China operations takes the "incident" calm as well.

Mr. Rollenhagen points out to a similar incident which took place years ago with the Omega brand. Not long after signing American supermodel Cindy Crawford to represent the brand, she appeared on the cover of Playboy. While awkward at the time, it “never really made any long-term impact,” Mr. Rollenhagen states.

“Now are Chinese superstars held to a higher standard than Western ones? Maybe, but there’s no sign that this incident was inappropriate,” he said. “She’s a beautiful woman, on vacation with her boyfriend on a private beach. And some photographer climbed over a fence and took some photos that shouldn’t have been taken.”

You can read more about it here.

I don't know what else to say but any publicity is good publicity.

Everybody wants a better contract

The Korean government and entertainment industry are looking for ways to revive the popularity of Korean pop culture in other Asian countries, which has been declining steadily, meanwhile Korean celebrities are getting frustrated about their agents being overly controlling.

Last year the Korean Fair Trade Commission surveyed 350 celebrities about their contracts. About 200 said that they were forced to report on their whereabouts even when they were not working. More than 100 said they totally lack a private life. One Korean singer told that her agent constantly rings her up to check her whereabouts.

Oppressive contracts and intrusions into personal lives create unsatisfied stars, and conflicts between agents and celebrities do have an impact on the entertainment industry, and not a good one.

The agencies response was that this monitoring is necessary because they have made big investments in their stars and need to prevent celebrities defecting to another agency.

Yeah right, if my supervisor would ring me up on my mobile on weekends and holidays, just to check up on me, to make sure I'm not looking for a better job nor contemplating on handing over my resignation letter, there's no doubt I'd entertain myself with the idea of defecting to North Korea.

And if he would dare to copy my SIM card, or let alone tamper with my mobile, it'd be war, I'm talking  software vulnerability exploitations, bot farms, DoS attacks, redirecting history to /dev/null, db injections...

3D Sex and Zen from Hong Kong

Inspired by a nude 3D sequence in My Bloody Valentine 3D, a Chinese filmmaker has announced plans to make the world's first 3D sex movie.

Stephen Shiu Jr. has big plans for 3D Sex and Zen, a sequel to the 1991 hit Sex and Zen.
Quoted in The China Post, Shiu said.

- 3D erotica, just imagine that you'll be watching it as if you were sitting beside the bed...

The film will be based on the 17th Century Chinese erotic classic 'The Carnal Prayer Mat', and study the way overindulgence in carnal pleasures can lead to tragedy and decadence.

Stephen Shiu Jr. is planning to use adult movie actresses from Japan and Taiwan, although admits that finding guys is more difficult. Should Shiu find a suitably actor, 3D Sex and Zen will shoot in April for a Xmas release.

Source:AFP

Japanese actress in Italian TV

A TV crime drama starring a Japanese actress is getting top ratings in Italy. Part four of the series, which was broadcast last year, had viewer ratings of less than 15 percent, but the first episode of the new season earlier this month earned a rating of 26 percent. Although the airtime of the second episode coincided with the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama, it gained the highest rating in Rome in the same time period.

Jun Ichikawa plays a forensic scientist specializing in entomology in the Italian TV series -  which apparently has a contract with Sony's marketing department - RIS Delitti Imperfetti 5.

A native Japanese, Jun Ichikawa has lived in Rome since she was 8 years old, where she started to learn theater acting at the age of 16. 

Source:JT

Jeon Ji-hyun in a film industrial espionage escapade

The Korean My Sassy Girl actress Jeon Ji-hyun's mobile phone SIM card was duplicated by her agent, Sidus HQ, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency confirmed on Thursday.

 - We have confirmed both through Jeon and her mobile phone company that her phone had been duplicated, local police said in an interview with Yonhap News.

The agent, Sidus HQ had hired a private detective for some 5000 USD to spy on Jeon Ji-Huyn, but the detective got caught and arrested for violation of the Communications Privacy Act, which protects the anonymity of private individuals from electric interception.

Sidus HQ is one of top South Korean entertainment agencies, with head office in Seoul and a branch in Beijing. The Seoul Cyber Police Force Unit raided all the Sidus HQ's computer hard drives in two hours time.

Our source doesn't tell us if Sidus HQ kept their system administrator in the loop about the sensitive data, so he would had the time to wipe it clean with powerful electric magnets or some secure format tools? Maybe it was all written in a database that he managed to migrate off to the Beijing Branch servers?

Zhang Ziyi and Year of Ox

The Chinese Spring Festival festivities are about to begin as the current year of Rat changes to Year of Ox, which is why actress Zhang Ziyi poses with an ox toy and sends her Spring Festival wishes to fans on her official (and mandarin language) website www.helloziyi.com

For your curiosity, I have assembled the below list of Spring Festival aka Chinese New (Lunar) Year beliefs that vary according to dialect, groups and individuals.

Opening windows and/or doors is considered to bring in the good luck of the new year.

Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional Chinese funeral color.

Sweets are eaten to ensure the consumer a "sweet" year.

It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year.

Wearing a new pair of slippers that is bought before the new year, because it means to step  on the people who gossip about you.

The night before the new year, bathe yourself in pomelo leaves and some say that you will be  healthy for the rest of the new year.

I have never heard of the last one, probably not a local Shanghainese custom. 

Jiang Wenli & Best Actress nominees - Asian Film Awards 2009

Jiang Wenli, born 1969 in Bengbu, Anhui, is a famous Chinese actress. She is a native of Tianjin, and graduated from Beijing Film Academy in 1992.

Jiang Wenli is nominated for the Best Actress award for her performance on And the Spring Comes (2008), directed Changwei Gu, at this years Asian Film Awards Ceremony on March 23rd, televised across Asia.

Actress Michelle Yeoh will lead the jury and the awards gala will open the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong, which also includes the Hong Kong International Film Festival, the Hong Kong and Asia Film Financing Forum and the Hong Kong Filmart.

Best Actress nominees - Asian Film Awards 2009

FUKATSU Eri, "The Magic Hour," Japan

JIANG Wenli, "And the Spring Comes," China

Deepika PADUKONE, "Chandni Chowk To China," India

YOSHINAGA Sayuri, "Kabei - Our Mother," Japan

ZHOU Wei, "Painted Skin," China/Hong Kong

Zhou Xun, "The Equation of Love and Death," China

You can find more info about AFA 2009 on their website.