Golden Horse Countdown

Here's Maggie Cheung's commercial (filmed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien) for the Golden Horse awards to be held on November 23rd in Taipei. I have it on good authority that she's saying...

 50 years Golden Horse, happy birthday

I wish I could speak Mandarin and Cantonese.
I also wish I could create sparkler-like effects by waving my arms around. 

Chinese speaking readers should also check out these promos. See, to celebrate their big 5-0 the Golden Horse Awards are interviewing past winners about their classic performances/films. And for those who missed the announcement the Best Picture nominees this year at the Golden Horse Awards are the following features:

Tony Leung, Maggie's #1 screen partner, in The GrandmasterDRUG WAR (Johnny To)
THE GRANDMASTER (Wong Kar Wai) Hong Kong's Oscar Submission, Dan's review which is likely the frontrunner given the huge amount of nominations (11) and the Maggie Cheung-adjacent legends involved
ILO ILO (Anthony Chen) Singapore's Oscar Submission Chen was not nominated for director, replaced by Mong-Hong Chung who directed Taiwan's Oscar submission Soul, but he's up for "New Director" instead
A TOUCH OF SIN (Jia Zhang-Ke) Glenn & Jose's review
STRAY DOGS (Tsai Ming Liang) Venice winner

What's the last Asian film you saw and are you rooting for any of the Asian entries to win a Best Foreign Film nomination in the Oscar race this year (a lot more on that category coming up soon)

Reader Spotlight: Grace Miao

In Reader Spotlight we get to know The Film Experience community one by one. It's taking forever for which you know I'm grateful. Today we're talking to Grace in Toronto.

NATHANIEL: Hi Grace. Why do you read The Film Experience?

GRACE: I originally read it for your Oscar predictions, but I got hooked on the thoughts and insights in your movie reviews - and actressexuality! It's a little Ebert-esque, but love or hate a movie, you have an undercurrent of overall admiration and appreciation for the medium that keeps me coming back.

What's your first movie memory or obsession?

GRACE: E.T.  I'm so blood/gore-averse that I distinctly remember hiding my face behind my hands when Elliot cut his finger on the circular saw. And wanting a flying bicycle.

I know we have a mutual love of Tilda Swinton and Tony Leung since you've told me so. Name three other actors you always love to watch.

Nicole Kidman! I know she's on everyone's list, but her Monster Year in 2000/2001 kind of sealed the deal for me - I loved her in "Moulin Rouge", "The Others", then later in "Dogville" and "Birth". She's always good, but with an auteur director, it's absolute magic to watch her.

Maggie Cheung. I really miss seeing her onscreen, especially since Tony's still working (such amazing chemistry!). I was SO excited to hear that she was going to be in Inglorious Basterds and disappointed that they cut her scenes. She's one actor who, like Tilda, I can buy in anything and any role. Plus very few people can make Cantonese Chinese sound as elegant as she does.

I saw Ralph Fiennes in Quiz Show in a high school English class and it sent me digging through his filmography and my Dad's video library. For years, I just couldn't get enough of him (though I skipped "Maid in Manhattan") - I could be repulsed by him ("Schindler's List"), swoon over him ("The English Patient") and every time he speaks, I just want to curl up and fall asleep in his voice. I could see someone like Tom Hiddleston following in his footsteps.

If I could pick runners-up, I'd choose Peter O'Toole, Kirsten Dunst and Russell Crowe. 

If you were in charge of Hollywood for a year, what kind of movies would you greenlight?

At this point, I think I'd greenlight virtually anything that isn't a prequel or sequel. I'd give the go-ahead to works that put story and character development at the forefront; if Lars Von Trier/Kar Wai Wong/Alfonso Cuaron/Hayao Miyazaki/David Lean's ghost are in any way involved with the project, I'd give it an automatic pass to production. And I'd have Christopher Doyle be the DP for everything.

What's the last movie you watched before answering these questions [note: we had this conversation a couple of weeks ago]

I'm embarrassed to say G.I. Joe: Retaliation, but that wasn't a voluntary choice. Can I redeem myself with No starring Gael Garcia Bernal, which I saw the week before with my BFF?

Yes you may. Good choice. Which movie would you love to live inside of?

The Fall. Specifically in Roy and Alexandria's imaginary world, in Eiko Ishioka's costumes.

Name your three favorite movies from each decade: 80s, 90s, and 00s 

80s: My Neighbour Totoro (I grew up on Hayao Miyazaki - I could have easily filled up this section with everything he produced that decade), The Last Emperor, and Ran

90s: LA Confidential, Porco Rosso, Apollo 13

00s: The Barbarian Invasions (my Dad had cancer years ago and passed away in 2010, so I can't tell you how much this movie resonated with me. I was weeping in my seat), Children of Men and Dogville (Trying to narrow down what I loved from this decade drove me nuts. I want to cram Spirited Away, In the Mood for Love and Amelie in here as well)

Thanks Grace! P.S. This picture you sent is amazing! So I GIF'ed it. I cannot  believe you were an extra in Mean Girls. That is so fetch.

GRACE: I was.  Right after the Mathletes victory is announced. Two Lindsay Lohan movies, one with Hillary Duff, a TV movie with Anna Sophia Robb and a handful of TV series, including "Monk"!

NATHANIEL: Well done!

Previous Reader Spotlights
And our imaginary Honorary Reader Oscars go to...
lovely ladies: Mysjkin, Lynn Lee, Ester, Leehee, Jamie and Dominique 
(and yes we need to hear from more of the girls) 
dashing gents: Peter C, Daniel M, Troy H, Morgan, Patrick, Christian, Lucio, Joey Moser, Zé V, Tony T, Andy H, Ferdi, K.M. Soehnlein, Sergio, Borja, John, Chris, Peter, Ziyad, Andrew, Yonatan, Keir, Kyle, Vinci, Victor, Bill, Hayden, Murtada, Cory, Walter, Paolo, and BBats

Maggie Cheung & The 50th Anniversary of The Golden Horse Awards

For those of you who still miss Maggie Cheung (i.e. all people with good taste who've seen anything she's done) you should know that she's been named the Ambassador for the 50th anniversary of the Golden Horse Awards (one of three major Oscar-like awards for Chinese language films). She's a good choice since she's won five (!) of them (from six nominations, only losing for Dragon Inn from 1992), the most of any actor. Nominations are announced in October with a November 23rd ceremony in Taipei.

Since it's the 50th anniversary they're pulling out all the stops and famous actors and directors are talking about what the awards meant to your career. In this promo video you can see TFE favorite Tony Leung Chiu Wai (only one of the great living movie stars) as well as other recognizable faces like director Ang Lee and hotties like Aaron Kwok and Shu Qi (which...where's she been lately?)

The best news is that elusive Maggie has shot a one minute commercial (though we hope it's more like an abstract short film) with the acclaimed director Hou Hsiao-Hsien and cinematographer Lee Ping Bing (the cinematographer of In the Mood for Love!). It's not available yet but stay tuned...

Maggie Cheung, DJ?

 Every once in a while I remember to miss Maggie Cheung muchly. But she's been gone so long now. We haven't seen her onscreen since 2004 when she cameo'ed in 2046 and grunged her way through Clean as a drug addicted wife in the rock scene. I understand she returned to screens briefly for two Chinese films in 2010 but neither of them crossed the pond. 

Well yesterday in Taipei she cut the ribbon at the new Louis Vitton flagship and look how fresh and kicky she looks ===>

Tony, one of my most trusted reader sources for international film star news, pointed this story out to me and translated a bit of the attached video. I'll let him explain from here:

She even served as DJ of the evening! Wouldn't you just LOVE to know
what kind of music she plays?!

 The host of the event very tentatively asks her about when we might see her on the big screen again. Her answer: 'When the right script comes along, I don't rule out the possibility to work again.'

Arrrrg. Somebody send Ms. Cheung the RIGHT script, please!!!"

I second that. It doesn't even need to be in Chinese, filmmakers. What the hell are all you auteurs waiting for? She speaks English and French (witness her fine work for Olivier Assayas in Clean and Irma Vep) as well as Cantonese and Mandarin so there are a LOT of filmmakers who are missing out and failing us.

Get on it, people. 

If you've never experienced the Maggie Magic here's your quintuple feature assignment. Program yourself a mini Maggie fest:

THE HEROIC TRIO (1993)... because it's insane
COMRADES: ALMOST A LOVE STORY (1996)... melancholy swooning
IRMA VEP (1996) ...Maggie plays herself
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2001) ...one of the greatest films of all time
HERO (2002) ...for the ravishing color and action