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Coweb movie

Coweb (Review)

Coweb

aka Zhang wu shuang

2009
Directed by Xiong Xin Xin

Coweb is part of several films that showed up around the same time involving a lone female fighter beating the tar out of lots and lots of people. Others include Chocolate, High-Kick Girl, and Fighter. So of course TarsTarkas.NET was paying attention, because we are all about girl power. Or at least

Jiang Luxia is the Chinese Nation-wide Wushu Champion in Shaolin quan. She has a host of other sports accolade and is the Chief Trainer on the Practical Ladies Self-Defense program on CCTV.com. Jiange Luxia is also an expert in Martial Arts Repertoire, Practical Self-Defense, Qiqong, Taijiquan and Crossbow techniques. First showed up on the scene after she started posting online shorts of herself doing wushu moves in 2007 under the name Mao Er Bao Bei (translates as “Cat-Eared Baby.”) I think this is the link to her video blogs, but to get to the older videos you have to go a few pages back because there are a lot of Coweb shorts before that. She was also on a show hosted by Jackie Chan to find new kung fu stars. What is weird is her videos show her being full of energy and smiling and having a positive attitude, but Coweb keeps her in a somber tone the entire film. Completely drains her personality. That is one of several mistakes that hurt Coweb, however, Jiang Luxia is beyond awesome and will be a big star (assuming she doesn’t get horribly injured.)

Coweb was rumored to have a cameo by Edison Chen (fresh of his sex photo scandal) but the mainland DVD version I watched did not have Edison Chen in it at all. I was disappointed because I wanted to see him get beat up, but maybe Mainland China cut him out and he will still show up if this ever gets released in Hong Kong. As mentioned, the only way this film has been released outside of a few festivals is on a Mainland China DVD, dubbed in Mandarin with no subs. That’s not entirely accurate, there are Chinese subtitles, which were ran through an auto-translator thanks to the magic of the internet. Thus, incredibly confusing English subtitles played while I watched this, but I just ignored them (I left them on some of the screencaps for humor’s sake)

Coweb is the directorial debut of Xiong Xin Xin (aka Hung Yan-Yan), who is an action choreographer and stunt double, who also became an actor just to show off his wushu acrobatic moves.

Nie Yi Yi (Jiang Luxia) – Nie Yi Yi is a wushu instructor and mall security guard getting over the death of her father, who becomes a bodyguard for a private businessman’s wife, which then leads to a kidnapping trouble. Nie Yi Yi then beats up everyone everywhere, because they all deserve it. Nie Yi Yi translates as Clinging according to the terrible subs.
Chung Tin (Sam Lee Chan-Sam) – Nie Yi Yi’s childhood friend who recruits her to be a bodyguard. There is more to Chung than meets the eye, but he is not a robot. Sam Lee is one of the “Gen-X” HK actors, most of which were actually in the HK movie Gen-X Cops.
Ho Kwun (Eddie Cheung Siu-Fai) – Ho Kwun is a debonair tycoon who hires Yi Yi to watch over his wife, then is kidnapped along with the wife and becomes the object of rescue.
Susan (Peggy Tseng Pei-Yu) – Susan is the wife of Ho Kwun and is the woman Yi Yi was hired to protect. Yi Yi does such a good job Susan is kidnapped almost immediately. Nobody knows anything about Peggy Tseng Pei-Yu.
Song Li Shan (Kane Kosugi) – The final opponent of Yi Yi and the business partner of Ho Kwun who is originally blamed for the kidnappings. Kane Kosugi is probably the most famous in th US for going all Return of the Jedi in Godzilla: Final Wars and is the son of Sho Kosugi. He was previously on TarsTarkas.NET in DOA: Dead or Alive.

The Furious Buddha’s Palm (Review)

The Furious Buddha’s Palm

aka 如來神掌怒碎萬劍門

1965HKMDB Link
Directed by Ling Yun

Welcome to another adventure down 1960s Cantonese cinema lane! There are no subtitles, of course, unless you count the Chinese subtitles. But we don’t need no stinking subtitles! The character names are translated by my wife. They may not perfect, but all information about the film is in Chinese so this is the best you will get in English.

This is the 5th film in the Buddha’s Palm series, takes up right after the previous films (Buddha’s Palm 1-4.) For an overview of the Buddha’s Palm series, read this article I wrote that accompanies this review. That’s what happens when I get efficient and do research on the films, they spawn additional articles. The film is only sold in a vcd boxed set, but my wife’s parents managed to get a copy from a Chinatown video store that was selling off stock, thus they have this one but none of the other ones. Don’t ask me why, I have no idea. I should try to acquire the set, photos on the internet show that Buddha’s Palm (Part 2) has robot-looking guys, a bird character, and a guy with metallic paint on his face. There is not much other information on the other three parts so I don’t know if they have cool visuals as well.

One highlight of the film is it has both of the teen queen sensations of 1960s Cantonese cinema, Connie Chan Po-Chu and Josephine Siao Fong-Fong. We also have Sek Kin as his usual role as being the villain. This is a Cantonese film in the 1960s, mind you! The rest of the regular players from 1960s Cantonese cinema are present, many of which popped up in How the Ape Girl Stole the Lotus Lamp or Lady Black Cat. Since the last go-round with 1960’s Cantonese cinema, Sek Kin has passed on. He will not be forgotten, nor will this be the last thing he shows up on TarsTarkas.NET in (considering he made hundreds of films, we could be reviewing his films until the end of time!)

Lung Kim-Fei (Walter Tso Tat-Wah) – His father was a great kung fu master who defeated Half-Metal Face and a bunch of other bad guys. He may be the subject of the other four films, I haven’t seen them. Husband knows the 9 Buddha Palm technique, but refuses to use it to harm people after an oath to his departed father/master. This oath gets tested when old family rival Half-Metal Face returns wanting revenge.
Kau Yuk-wah (Yu So-Chau) – wife of Lung Kim-Fei and master of magic rings. She can capture people and fight off flying swords with the rings. Doesn’t want her husband to be branded a coward. Is captured by the evil Half-Metal Face, but saved by Monkey Kid and Dragon Girl.
Monkey Kid (Connie Chan Po-Chu) – Connie Chan is the half-ape child Monkey Kid. We could not figure out if she was supposed to be a boy or a girl, but since no one in their right mind would think Connie Chan was a boy, we’re going to just use “she” as the pronoun. Monkey Kid likes causing trouble, eating fruit, and being loyal to her saviors, Husband and Wife, who adopt her after her parents die.
Dragon Girl (Josephine Siao Fong-Fong) – Student of Half-Metal Face who begins to realize her sifu is a very bad man. Her attempts to turn him good only result in her being tortured by centipedes in her body and sent to do even more evil stuff. Luckily she makes a friend in Monkey Kid and is helped to turn good. Dragon Girl is armed with magic swords that multiply and fly around under her command. Her kung fu powers are so good her master fears her.
Half-Metal Face (Sek Kin) – Sek Kin dons long white hair all over to be evil baddie Half-Metal Face. HMF (as his friends call him) lost a leg battling Husband’s father years ago, and has spent all this time planning his revenge. Now with a giant foot, Half-Metal Face will dominate the kung fu world, unless Husband stops him.

Angel's Mission Hong Kong movie

Angel’s Mission (Review)

Angel’s Mission

aka Xian fa zhi ren

1990
Directed by Godfrey Ho and Chris Li

A Hong Kong Girls with Guns film, starring mainstay Yukari Oshima as well as costars Dick Wei and Phillip Ko. Directed by the infamous Godfrey Ho (though there are rumors that this Godfrey Ho was just a pseudonym for Phillip Ko!) and some random guy named Chris Li. This film followed in the wake of the Angels films and is filled with lots of action thrown together with a cops and triads plot where women beat up and shoot lots of dudes. The fad produced a great deal of these films before the market moved on to other things. So here’s one of them. It’s not the best, it’s not the worst, it just is. And some days, isn’t that enough?

Angel’s Mission is also known as Xian fa zhi ren, as well as Born to Fight, Buddha’s Justice, Kicking Buddha, and Sin faat jai yan. Welcome to the world of renamed Hong Kong movies!

Hing-tse (Yukari Oshima) – A Japanese police officer visiting her mother Song in Hong Kong and finds out her mom is involved in prostitution. Gets attacked by random guys constantly throughout the film, and even takes down a Triad boss for reasons not too clear but related to Japanese phobia of AIDS. See her also in Tomb Raiders, Godfather’s Daughter, and Deadly Target.
Lee San-Mo (Dick Wei) – A former triad who’s boss was murdered and is now searching for lost sister Anna. Gets sucked back into the Triad world while investigating. See him also in Angel Enforcers.
Mr. Ma Sheng-fung (Chen Kuan-Tai) – Crime boss, businessman, and not very bright. Gets killed due to his lack of killing his subordinate Crowbar like he should have. Don’t make that mistake, people! Kill your crowbars.
Crowbar (Phillip Ko) – Assistant to Ma Sheng-fung and planning to eliminate him and take over. Wins an award for having one of the dumbest names in a Hong Kong film, no small feat. Seriously, where’s Tire Iron and Jackhammer? Let’s have an “All Things Found in a Trunk” gang! That would rule. Warning Flare, Jumper Cable, Bag of Sand, all killer triad nicknames. Phillip Ko has been in a billion movies including Fatal Termination, Angel Enforcers, and Deadly Target.
Officer Karen (Ha Chi Chun) – Likes roughing up criminals and is a cop. Her brother was a triad boss, and just happened to be Lee San-Mo’s murdered boss. Ha Chi Chun is also known as Ha Chia Ling or Ha Chi-Jan depending on which translation you use, and was seen here in Angel Enforcers.
Creepy Triad #1 (????) – One of Crowbar’s men, this guy wears big sunglasses, big hats, and has a creepy grin. I could not figure out who the actor was.
Creepy Triad #2 (James Ha Chim-Si) – Another of Crowbar’s men, this guy also wears big sunglasses, big hats, and has a creepy grin.

Edison Chen Death Threat!

The latest twist in the Edison Chan controversy arrives as someone sends a death threat for Edison to a cable station! A cable station? Regardless, Chen had received two death threats last year when the controversy first broke, but this new one is being treated more seriously for reasons unknown.

Firesheepy on Asian Fanatics has translated one of the articles:

Just when the ‘in bed incident’ male lead Edison Chen announced that he was to have a comeback, he received a warning stating that he was ‘chased and killed worldwide’ yesterday! Somebody warn him that if he did not quit the entertainment circle before April 1st, he would be chased and killed worldwide! This incident caused his plans to face mortality, actually he already received death phone threats a year ago, as for the female leads of the in-bed incident, they chose not to answer!

The ‘in-bed incident’ was actually getting to the point of exposure, and there was a big progress in the plot yesterday, Edison received a warning that he would be ‘chased and killed worldwide’! Cable Tv received a warning letter addressed to Edison Chen yesterday afternoon, and warned that he would be dealt with if he did not stop all his function by April! Edison, who just announced his big plans, not only had obstacles to his comeback, but his personal safety was also threatened.

from The Sun

Asiaone is claiming he was threatened with a gold bullet!

Edison Chen threatened with bullet

Hong Kong sex scandal star Edison Chen has been threatened with a gold-coloured bullet, 13 days after making a public appearance in Singapore.

The bullet, accompanied by a warning letter written in English, was sent earlier today to Hong Kong television station, Cable TV.

It specifically warned Edison not to take part in any promotional activities after April 4, reported Shin Min Daily News.

The sender also wanted him to disappear forever.

People take their Hong Kong celebrities seriously!
eddy

Gillian Cheung tv interview snippits

Gillian Cheung did an interview this week that will air Saturday about the photo scandal. We have to wait until the weekend to get the whole interview, but little bits have been leaked out. Clips posted online keep getting taken down due to copyright claims, so it is hard to find anything still up. There is some video of the pre-interview stuff up here (in Cantonese) Thus, we have these stories of what she supposedly says!

straightstimes

HONG KONG – HONG Kong pop star Gillian Chung contemplated suicide after explicit photos of her with another famous singer were plastered on the Internet last year, a report said on Friday.

Chung, half of Canto-pop duo Twins, said she was devastated when photos of her with actor Edison Chen appeared on the Web, the South China Morning Post reported.

Chung said the idea of killing herself was only fleeting, the newspaper said. ‘If I died, all my problems will be passed on to the people around me, the people who care about me,’ she said in a television interview due to be screened on Saturday, according to the Post.

Chung was one of several starlets pictured in compromising positions with Chen, who has told a court the images were posted on the Web after his computer was stolen.

Chung said she lost all her dignity when the photos were released. ‘There’s no privacy any more,’ she was quoted as saying.

‘I showed everything to everyone, and no matter what I do I’ll get the blame. But dignity is the most important.’ Images from Chung’s tearful interview were plastered across the front pages of Friday’s newspapers in celebrity-obsessed but conservative Hong Kong, where the photos caused a storm when they appeared in February last year.

….

‘I blame myself for doing such a foolish thing,’ said Chung, who has kept a low profile over the past year but is hoping to make a comeback in a high-profile ad campaign next week, the report said.


cri.cn

Gillian Cheung was all tears and full of remorse when she first spoke out about the sex photo scandal publicly during an exclusive interview with TVB host Stephan Chan in Hong Kong on Thursday night.

Snippets of the recording and script from the hour long interview were soon circulated via various media outlets and caused a big splash by early this morning.

…..

As much as she has endured, the actress says she harbours no ill feeling for her ex, Edison Chan, but can not figure out why he did not apologize to her in person after the scandal broke. That’s also what Cecilia Cheung, another victim of the scandal, pointed out in a recent interview.

The actress also confessed she was deeply in love with Edison Chan and “didn’t want to lose it”. That answers why she took such intimate photos with him. However, Cheung bluntly says she does not want to see him again, adding “it is over”.

The actress stressed dignity is the most important thing for her.

During the interview, they also touched upon her favourite film making experience. That is ‘Beyond Our Ken’, a 2004 Hong Kong film starring Gillian Cheung and Daniel Wu.

The story centres on Ching (Gillian Chung), who is dumped by her playboy boyfriend Ken (Daniel Wu). After dumping her, Ken allegedly uploads nude photos of Ching to a website. Ken apparently has a hobby of taking nude pictures of his girlfriends.

Cheung finds it has so many similarities with her real life.

…..

Charlene Choi, the ‘Twins’ partner, also said in response to the scandal that she was quite happy to see Gillian now stand up to face herself and the public.

gillian2

Source: The title and content are directly translated from The Sun
Translated by travelbug @ http://asianfanatics.net

Blindly in love to have pictures taken, Gillian Chung thought of committing suicide

More ripples from artists sex photo scandal, after Cecilia Cheung’s i-CABLE interview, in which she denounced Edison Chen as ‘shedding crocodile tears’, another participant Gillian Chung (Ah Gil), appeared yesterday for an exclusive interview with TVB to talk about her true feelings. Ah Gil with tears streaming down her face, admitted that she agreed to the pictures because she was afraid of losing Edison and loved him blindly. She revealed that after the pictures were taken she was in a constant state of anxiety, the exposed pictures were ‘hastening her death’, because she felt desperate about her future, she thought about committing suicide. Because she did not want to leave her problems and pain to loved ones and friends, she finally managed to pull herself back from brink of death. About her old lover Edison, Ah Gil complained that he did not even call to apologize and outrightly said she never wants to see him again.

gillian1

More Edison Chen fun here, here, here, here, here

Part 2 of Cecilia Cheung's interview pulled mysteriousy, Gillian Chung to be interviewed Saturday

So after the first part of Cecilia Cheung’s interview aired, i-CABLE mysteriously decided to pull part 2! What in the world is going on there? No one is commenting, leading to speculation by the bucket full.

i-CABLE calls off broadcast of Cecilia Cheung’s part two interview

Hong Kong i-Cable Entertainment News Channel sent out a press release on Mar 2 to all media, stating that the second part of Cecilia Cheung’s interview will not be broadcasted.

The Channel said, “As some media resorted to different methods and tricks to probe, dig into and even speculate on the content of the second half of the interview, bringing inconvenience to interviewee Cecilia Cheung and the Channel’s staff, we have decided not to broadcast the second half of the interview.”

Their excuse is one of the lamest I have ever seen. So I guess the Edison Chan scandal will continue with more strange things going on.
cc
Meanwhile in Ah Gil land, Gillian Chung will appear on Stephen Chan’s Be My Guest this weekend to discuss the photo scandal. I guess she feels she can due interviews now that Cecilia has started the ball rolling. This one might be interesting as well, because Gillian got the blunt of the blame on the girls’ side due to her company’s horrible mismanagement of the issue. Her “young and naive” speech has been mocked mercilessly for over a year.
Source- AsianFanatics.net


Gillian Chung during a new photoshoot that will hopefully help relaunch her career

Gillian Chung during a new photoshoot that will hopefully help relaunch her career