Podcasts about feng xiaogang

In this episode, Joe covers the 2016 Feng Xiaogang directed 'I Am Not Madame Bovary'. They discuss the film's very unique use of aspect ratio and colour, and also the untold case of the lead actress Fan Bingbing's disappearance in 2018.--------The whole RSS feed is available here >https://rss.com/podcasts/thereelthingThe Reel Thing on Social Media:Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/thereelthingpod---------All music by Wise John.Follow them on Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/wisejohnofficial/---------Bergen Filmklubb > https://bergenfilmklubb.no/Bergen International Film Festival > https://www.biff.no/article/om-biff

With her book Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World's Largest Movie Market (New Press, 2022), media scholar Ying Zhu explores the 100+ year relationship between what are now the world's two largest movie markets: China and the United States.  Zhu is a Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University's Academy of Film, and the founder/chief editor of Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images. Hollywood in China (July 2022, The New Press) is her fourth book, and it offers a comprehensive chronology of the Hollywood-China relationship, with numerous specific case studies.  In this podcast, Anthony Kao chats with Zhu about the book, and delves into matters like reactions to "China-humiliation films" during the 1911-1949 Republican Era, Madame Mao's penchant for Hollywood classics, and what the future might hold for relations between China and Hollywood.  Some movie recommendations from Ying Zhu (learn more by listening until the end of this episode): From the 1990s: Zhang Yimou's To Live and Tian Zhuangzhuang's Blue Kite (discussed more in one of Ying's earlier books) From the 2000s: Li Yang's Blind Shaft (analyzed in one of Ying's articles) From the 2010s: Feng Xiaogang's I Am Not Madame Bovary (explored in Hollywood in China) Anthony Kao is a writer who intersects international affairs and cultural criticism. He founded/edits Cinema Escapist—a publication exploring the sociopolitical context behind global film and television—and also writes for outlets like The Guardian, The Diplomat, and Eater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

With her book Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World's Largest Movie Market (New Press, 2022), media scholar Ying Zhu explores the 100+ year relationship between what are now the world's two largest movie markets: China and the United States.  Zhu is a Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University's Academy of Film, and the founder/chief editor of Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images. Hollywood in China (July 2022, The New Press) is her fourth book, and it offers a comprehensive chronology of the Hollywood-China relationship, with numerous specific case studies.  In this podcast, Anthony Kao chats with Zhu about the book, and delves into matters like reactions to "China-humiliation films" during the 1911-1949 Republican Era, Madame Mao's penchant for Hollywood classics, and what the future might hold for relations between China and Hollywood.  Some movie recommendations from Ying Zhu (learn more by listening until the end of this episode): From the 1990s: Zhang Yimou's To Live and Tian Zhuangzhuang's Blue Kite (discussed more in one of Ying's earlier books) From the 2000s: Li Yang's Blind Shaft (analyzed in one of Ying's articles) From the 2010s: Feng Xiaogang's I Am Not Madame Bovary (explored in Hollywood in China) Anthony Kao is a writer who intersects international affairs and cultural criticism. He founded/edits Cinema Escapist—a publication exploring the sociopolitical context behind global film and television—and also writes for outlets like The Guardian, The Diplomat, and Eater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film

With her book Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World's Largest Movie Market (New Press, 2022), media scholar Ying Zhu explores the 100+ year relationship between what are now the world's two largest movie markets: China and the United States.  Zhu is a Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University's Academy of Film, and the founder/chief editor of Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images. Hollywood in China (July 2022, The New Press) is her fourth book, and it offers a comprehensive chronology of the Hollywood-China relationship, with numerous specific case studies.  In this podcast, Anthony Kao chats with Zhu about the book, and delves into matters like reactions to "China-humiliation films" during the 1911-1949 Republican Era, Madame Mao's penchant for Hollywood classics, and what the future might hold for relations between China and Hollywood.  Some movie recommendations from Ying Zhu (learn more by listening until the end of this episode): From the 1990s: Zhang Yimou's To Live and Tian Zhuangzhuang's Blue Kite (discussed more in one of Ying's earlier books) From the 2000s: Li Yang's Blind Shaft (analyzed in one of Ying's articles) From the 2010s: Feng Xiaogang's I Am Not Madame Bovary (explored in Hollywood in China) Anthony Kao is a writer who intersects international affairs and cultural criticism. He founded/edits Cinema Escapist—a publication exploring the sociopolitical context behind global film and television—and also writes for outlets like The Guardian, The Diplomat, and Eater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

With her book Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World's Largest Movie Market (New Press, 2022), media scholar Ying Zhu explores the 100+ year relationship between what are now the world's two largest movie markets: China and the United States.  Zhu is a Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University's Academy of Film, and the founder/chief editor of Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images. Hollywood in China (July 2022, The New Press) is her fourth book, and it offers a comprehensive chronology of the Hollywood-China relationship, with numerous specific case studies.  In this podcast, Anthony Kao chats with Zhu about the book, and delves into matters like reactions to "China-humiliation films" during the 1911-1949 Republican Era, Madame Mao's penchant for Hollywood classics, and what the future might hold for relations between China and Hollywood.  Some movie recommendations from Ying Zhu (learn more by listening until the end of this episode): From the 1990s: Zhang Yimou's To Live and Tian Zhuangzhuang's Blue Kite (discussed more in one of Ying's earlier books) From the 2000s: Li Yang's Blind Shaft (analyzed in one of Ying's articles) From the 2010s: Feng Xiaogang's I Am Not Madame Bovary (explored in Hollywood in China) Anthony Kao is a writer who intersects international affairs and cultural criticism. He founded/edits Cinema Escapist—a publication exploring the sociopolitical context behind global film and television—and also writes for outlets like The Guardian, The Diplomat, and Eater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Famed film director Feng Xiaogang's foodie-female drama struggles.Read the article: ​​https://www.weekinchina.com/2021/07/a-bad-restaurant-review/ Narrated by Elyse Ribbons. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

China's Lunar New Year movie season is like America's summer blockbuster season… on steroids.  And it got that way thanks to THE DREAM FACTORY — a wry 1997 comedy directed by Feng Xiaogang, who'd come to be known as “the Chinese Spielberg.”  Host Rico Gagliano gets a crash course on the movie from experts on Chinese cinema, including City University of New York's Ying Zhu and UCLA's Michael Berry. Our first season, titled “Lost in Translation,” spotlights movies that were massive cultural phenomena in one country, but nowhere else. With episodes spanning nearly every continent, tune in weekly to discover unique film stories from around the globe.Each episode, we publish a complementary piece in a new series called “MUBI Podcast Expanded.” This week, we have an article by film professor Ying Zhu, building on her commentary featured in this episode about Feng Xiaogang's THE DREAM FACTORY and Chinese New Year comedies. Read the article here.MUBI is a global streaming service, production company and film distributor. A place to discover and watch beautiful, interesting, incredible films. A new hand-picked film arrives on MUBI, every single day. From iconic directors, to emerging auteurs. All carefully chosen by MUBI's curators.

Lydia Peckham is a performer who looks at her art through a lens of surrealism, playfulness and off-beat. She is influenced and inspired by her three favourite artists; Lewis Carrol, Charlie Chaplin and Hieronymus Bosch.As well as making her own content, Lydia works in the film and television industry. You might have see her as 'Katerina' from Netflix's 'Cowboy Bebop' or 'Melinda' from Feng Xiaogang 'Only Cloud Knows'.www.theDOC.nzwww.patreon.com/theDOCNZwww.twitter.com/patbrittenden

Brian and Shawn talk the 2016 Feng Xiaogang directed 'I Am Not Madame Bovary' --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Shawn and Brian tee up Feng Xiaogang’s 2016 drama ‘I Am Not Madame Bovary.’ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Grans personatges femenins arriben a la cartellera d'aquest divendres: d'una banda, "Do

非常感谢热心听众【Koey Shum-沈贝妮】对本文稿的贡献Brian: Kind of. But I think actually I don't know if it is last year or the year before maybe was the year when Feng Xiaogang was directing and he with other people were joking and he was joking that the thing to do nowadays isn’t actually to watch spring festival gala as so much it is to watch and tucao and to criticize at the same time. That is actually the highlight of the evening to criticize it. I think that is some truths to a lot of people.Heyang: Same kind of mentality here maybe. Luo Yu?Luo Yu: I think a lot of people nowadays treat CCTV spring festival gala as a background music or back scene of the family re-union. So actually not so many people are watching it. But I think this idea I mean releasing this monkey mascot at this time is probably a very perfect idea by those CCTV marketing team.Heyang：Why?Luo Yu: Releasing the mascot at this time you know it attracted a lot of people’s attention, creating a lot of media hype, and people’s attention have been drawn upon.Brian：OK. See here is the thing. Attention is good when you were not well known. Everybody know CCTV. If you have a TV or something in this country you probably know of them. They don't need the attention. So any news is good news or any press is good press, if you are not well known. If you are well known like they are and you have bad press how is that gonna help them?Luo Yu: No! Just what they concern about this TV industry is just rating, audience rating. And we have this ugly mascot to be played on CCTV gala.Heyang: And people want to watch it?Luo Yu: People are curious.Brian: Actually it maybe kind of in a counter-intuitive way. People are interested in going there to like, mock it, like ‘ahh, see look at our horrible mascot. They just going there for like to watch what they might think is a ugliness or whatever. So maybe there is sort of counter-intuitive kind of backlash to watch this kind of thing.Heyang: Yeah, and I think these days because of people’s sentiment has really changed towards these maga shows. Now people are just sort of saying, well we want to make fun of it. Any why not join in this party of mockery and I think this is part of this self-deprecating humor of Chinese people as well. And I mean sometimes when you see something that is just not meeting your expectation and why not have a field day and just make fun of it and don't feel bad about it? When people are joining in into something it create this snow-balling effect that at first I didn't care about this. And then so many of you guys have been mocking it and I felt a little bit left out. And I thought why not I would join in as well. So I guess there are some people who are kind of thinking in the similar ways as I am.Brian：Yeah, obviously, heck, we wouldn’t be here for that. But it’s kind of like 看热闹, you know everybody is talking about it so you would just go in and add your opinion to add to your own sense.Luo Yu: Yeah.Heyang：Yeah, and in fact that the spring festival gala people have created a mascot. And this is the second one in history, right? It might show, that first of all they want a lot of promotion so creating a special mascot for this yearly event and also maybe just showing that we are CCTV we are a maga place, but we are cute. Can you kind of like us a little bit more?Brian：I think that was the idea and if this is the second mascot, ok, I guess this makes more sense if this was only the second mascot they have done there, because again the original drawing looked good. I am not gonna say this is ugly, it doesn't stand out to me a lot. Perhaps it has to do with, ehh, when I see this, this reminds me of the computer generated animation you see like TV shows and movie theater and there are so many different types of animated things. And none of them strikes me as being very good. At the same time, I have seen a lot of great hand-drawing cartoons and other things. So clearly there is that skill. Occasionally, what was it? The monkey king movie this summer, that was actually pretty good. The animation there. So clearly, there is this animation talent but this, to me looks very computer-generated stuff like whatever those two bears are, that to me just looks ugly and apparently this is kind of a trend here they havn’t gone over.Luo Yu：I am just wondering why didn't CCTV invite the production team from the Monkey King, the film, to create this animation, the 3D version of this Kang Kang. Probably it’ll be very lovely much more.Brian：Yeah, it certainly it might have come out with a better result. But probably they don’t wanna steal their design per se. I think this is supposed to be like, the monkey king belongs to everybody and I will do our own. This is the Monkey King but we will do our own Monkey and they did it, I guess.Heyang：Yeah, and our wechat listener Romantic, she is a designer herself and she offered a piece of insight. She said when the original creator comes up with this brilliant idea and how that’s been translated into an actual product. It’s kind like an product design. That’s a different stage of this whole styling process you need have more investment into that part too. And what’s happened here supposedly, is maybe the relevant, ok, just the CCTV, they didn't really put enough attention to that last part of the designing process. And you need somebody equally as good to create, to finalize that mascot product to make everybody happy but that's the other part of the story. It's impossible to make everybody happy.Brian：It is. But I think they could have done a better job than this.Heyang：Yes, I agree.Brian：It’s like a good idea but poor execution, as both of you have said.Luo Yu：At least CCTV should have talked to Mr. Han Meilin about the design of the 3D version.Heyang：Well, it depends on the contract.Brian：Yeah, it depends. But certainly there are things they could have done better which they appeared not to have done.

Director Feng Xiaogang is known as much for his quick temper as for the fluctuating popularity of his movies. But not many know of the ups and downs in his private life. In Guan Hu&`&s "Mr. Six," Feng takes on a role that shares much in common with himself in age and temperament, and that gig has won him a best actor title at China&`&s 52nd Golden Horse Awards.Mr. Feng plays an old street punk "Mr. Six" in his 50s who has considerable influence over his neighborhood in Beijing. While respecting the official laws and regulations, Mr. Six relies on a special set of rules to govern the underground society within his sphere of influence. Everything seems to work out just fine in his life, until his son gets into a dispute with a group of drag-racing youngsters who have deep pockets and powerful connections.Mr. Six&`&s insistence on solving the matter his own way leads to more complications, but nonetheless his predilection points to a period of time when people used to behave, interact, settle differences and seek justice according to social norms. Such unofficial way of keeping order was common in times of ineffective judiciary, or in an underground society where people had no affection for the righteous authority.In Guan Hu&`&s movie, Mr. Six tries to impose the old ways on a group of young people who have powerful parents in modern day China. What essentially is a gangster feud is deliberately played out as a clash between generations, or rather, a clash between the traditional and the modern-minded members of the society.Feng Xiaogang is very successful in his portrayal of an old man who bemoans the bygone of his glorious days and is reluctant to surrender his privileges in the modernization process. His performance is the highlight of the story.However, the profiling of the antagonists seems less straightforward. In order to beef up the dramatic effect, the storywriter at one point secretly replaces Mr. Six&`&s young opponents with their wealthy and powerful grown-up associates. That puts the rivalry in a different context: the old gangster leader Mr. Six, who has lived a rather successful life bullying others with brutal force, now finds himself on the receiving end of bullying by his rich and powerful contemporaries, who have risen to power by equally unsavory methods.This shift in the latter half of the film puts it in a rather awkward position. What could have been interpreted as a reflection on generation gap almost becomes a direct assault on the effectiveness of the country&`&s judiciary system. Fortunately, misunderstanding is averted when the director chose to be consistent with Mr. Six&`&s character and arranged a final showdown within legal boundaries.Guan Hu&`&s story is certainly impressive with all the authentic Beijing dialect and prevailing male hormone, but the ambiguity of the director&`&s message is still worth a few complaints. A colleague of mine said maybe I&`&ll be able to relate to it much better when I am old. True, when I reach a more mature age, I will be missing a lot of things: my teeth, my straight backbone, or the ability to walk, but make no mistake, I will not want to go back to a time when justice is upheld by the verdict of a gang leader, rather than the rule of law. I guess that&`&s the generation gap between people of my age and the contemporaries of Mr. Six.

【特别感谢华中师范大学热心听友 黄善鋆 帮忙听写本篇文稿】HY: I used to just walk away when that happens... It’s like Oh...I’m thirsty, Oh bathroom break and it always coincides with that sensitive scene. Sam: You didn’t get that urge during 《老炮儿》？ HY: No，because I’m a grown woman, and I have a very mature relationship with my mom. And when we saw that in the cinema yesterday, I honestly wanted to cover my eyes, because I don’t want to see the buttocks of FengXiaogang, I really don’t...Aha... I wish somebody could have warned me of that. So yes... LY: But there’s no difference. Not much difference when it comes to buttocks, so even if it’s FengXiaogang’s, it makes no difference. Sam: Oh, okya, we are slightly off the topic there...Just back to the point that, there should be a rating system, something that tells you before you watch the film, that this is A, B, C in this film, so, make sure you know this before you buy a ticket and going, we all agree that rating system should be there. And I am just going to push the point one last time, guys, I think, this kind of rating is a culture, it’s something that I want to see happen in more in different industries in China, you want to see it in film, you want to see it in alcohol and tobacco sales, and there are a lot of different areas, where, I think, just guidelines, you know, for what we should be ingesting into our lives would be a warm welcome. He Yang: eah, I think that’s certainly something that we have repeatedly been talking about on this show and often it seems like the only way out. On the one hand, you want to encourage creativity, and you want different groups of society to enjoy the kind of entertainment product that they want to see, and on the other hand, you want to protect the kids, youngsters from some things that grown-ups deem vulgar. So, in order to ensure those two things going on at the same time, rating sounds like to be a good idea, but it definitely requires more study into the issue, and also, a more diversified and specified way of conducting policy. And that means the government has more work to do, alright. Luo Yu: Definitely, but, when it comes to the artistic perspective of the movie, I think some of the story lines are just not changeable, because Feng Xiaogang was very worried about some of the foul language used in this movie, and what they tried to do is they tried to replace some of the four letter words with some other four letter words, and it’s not practical and that is just not the way they speak, this is which you have mentioned, hutong vernacular. He Yang: Also I think, as a lot of older Beijing people, locals, have been saying that this is basically just trying to recreate that atmosphere of Beijing hutong hooligans , what (they) speak, so, it’s not about promoting bad language, it’s about... Luo Yu: It’s about character building. He Yang: Yes, part of character building, and also bringing you into that world that the movie is trying to create. Sam: And just to add a little bit of context here, there are a lot of great local British films, (and) the first one that comes to my mind actually is The Full Monty, where certain slightly stronger languages are used to emphasize the local Southern English characters in the film, and it’s done quite eloquently, and it dose enhance the feeling of the film. He Yang: Ok, and there is a few messages that I can only read out a couple, but I’ll try to do this eloquently. There is 李子发芽柳树开花Jerry. Hello. He says, this is what real life is, open up your eyes, guys, basically thinking that Tinghua professor that says that this is dirty, dirty, dirty, we have to protect everyone from it is an argument says that doesn’t hold any water. There is Earring saying that I think it’s OK, it’s necessary, even to have this kind of language in this movie "Lao Pao'er", and it basically contributes to the authenticity of building this characters and that is something that Luo Yu agrees with. And there is also Zhu Huiyao. Is that your name? Ooh, he or she says, anyhow, vulgar language is one essential part of this film. So, it’s sort of like spraying black pepper on your steak that is part of this dish, and without that black pepper, I guess that’s the vulgar language, so to speak, used here, then it wouldn’t be tasteful and wouldn’t be a nice dish that you would enjoy. So, yeah, wonderful analogy there.

Everyone has his own likes and dislikes for films. Even though the action movie Fast & Furious 7 has officially become the highest-grossing film ever in China, it still disappoints renowned director Feng Xiaogang. Recently in a variety show, Feng said: "why can't I see the humanity in this film?"好莱坞大片《速度与激情7》已达到20亿人民币，成为内地票房史上第一。但是导演冯小刚却称自己提前离场，因为他认为这部电影“看不到人心”。

Tomb-Sweeping Day is approaching. People are flocking to pay respects to their family members that have passed away. However, for those who can't be at the cemetery, they can hire somebody to do the work for them. This is very similar to the plot in Feng Xiaogang's film Personal Tailor. Let's have a listen. What is this service?

No.10 Zhang Ziyi wins Best Actress at Golden Horse Awards Iconic Chinese movie star Zhang Ziyi won the best leading actress award at the Golden Horse Awards, for her performance in the film "The Grandmaster." The Golden Horse Awards is considered as the Chinese-language Oscars. Zhang shed tears of joy as she delivered the acceptance speech. "I've been nominated a few times for the Golden Horse Awards. I finally captured one today. Thank you director Wong Kar-wai for allowing me to encounter Gong Er at the most difficult time of my life and for encouraging me to be brave and confident and I made it." No.9 Director Zhang Yimou sued over family planning breach Two lawyers filed a public interest lawsuit against film director Zhang Yimou for his violation of the family planning policy. Family planning authorities in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, found that Zhang fathered three children with his wife Chen Ting before they married in 2011. Under the one-child policy, Zhang can have only one child. (In his previous marriage, Zhang has a daughter with his ex. ) The lawyers filed the lawsuit with the Intermediate People's Court in Wuxi and requested the court fine Zhang 500 million yuan, more than 80 million US dollars in compensation for public resources and another 500 million yuan for punishment. No.8 Feng Xiaogang to helm CCTV annual gala show China Central Television has invited director Feng Xiaogang to helm the Spring Festival Gala 2014, which has more than 700 million viewers. This is the first time for a film director to direct the show in 30 years. At a news briefing of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, Feng admitted that being the general director of the gala is quite demanding. "All my efforts will pay off if half of the audience members are satisfied. I will try my best." The CCTV Spring Festival Gala has been an annual fixture for most Chinese families on the eve of Chinese New Year since 1982. However, its popularity has declined in recent years as Internet users scorned the gala as rigid and outdated which lacks a grassroots foundation. No.7 Li Yuchun wins 2013 MTV EMA Best Worldwide Act Chinese singer Li Yuchun outdid superstar Justin Bieber, winning the award for Best Worldwide Act at the 2013 MTV European Music Awards gala held in Amsterdam in November. Rising from the nationwide singing competition Super Girl, Li has released seven albums, and had 52 No. 1 singles. She was also named "Icon of Chinese Pop Culture" by Time Magazine. No.6 Wang Feng expresses his love to Zhang Ziyi Chinese rock singer Wang Feng openly expressed his admiration to actress Zhang Ziyi during a concert in Shanghai in November. "I imagine one day we can be blessed for our sincere love as celebrities without being criticized and vilified by people. I imagine one day we can tell each other 'I love you' without seeing the tears in each other's eyes." This is the first time Wang has openly admitted his love to Zhang, ending speculation that the superstar duo have been dating ever since Wang's second divorce in September. No.5 Guo Jingming's 'Tiny Times' sweeps box office Best-selling author Guo Jingming's directorial debut "Tiny Times," based on his novels by the same title, has swept the Chinese box office since its debut in June. The movie has grossed 500 million yuan at the Chinese box office. The film, mostly popular among young women, idealizes materialist lifestyles that reflect Guo's super-rich value system. No.4 Faye Wong and Li Yapeng divorced Asian pop diva Faye Wong announced in September that she has divorced her second husband, former actor turned businessman, Li Yapeng. They had been married for eight years. Fans reposted her Sina Weibo microblog announcement more than 100,000 times in the first hour. The post read: "Our destiny as husband and wife ends here. I'm well. You take care, too." Li later confirmed the news on his microblog, posting: "I wanted a normal family, but you are a legend, referring to The Legend, her famous song. Li continued to say that "I miss the good days we spent together over the past 10 years." The posts received 200,000 comments and more than 700,000 reposts. No.3 Leehom Wang discloses romance Chinese-American singer-songwriter Leehom Wang for the first time disclosed that he has a girlfriend. The superstar said in his micro blog that his girlfriend is named Li Jinglei, 27 years old, and now studies in Columbia University. Wang wrote in his micro-blog (to his fans ) that "I'm very lucky to meet a girl who can hold hands and enjoy the future with me. She's not a person in showbiz, so you don't know her. And I don't want you to know her by other means. My dad and mom love her, hope you love her too." The 37-year-old singer later revealed that he got married on November 27. At Wang's first concert after his marriage, he talked about his wife to his fans for the first time. "You've always stood up for me, so I will always stand up for Jinglei". No.2 Reality show "Where are we going, Dad" become a hit One of this year's hottest Chinese reality shows is "Where are we going, Dad?" produced by Hunan Satellite. The show which based on a similar show in South Korea features five celebrity fathers taking their young children out to explore the real world in front of cameras. No.1 Ang Lee wins best director Oscar Director Ang Lee from Taiwan won the Best Director Academy Award for "Life of Pi" in Los Angeles in February 2014.

Personal Tailor is definitely the most topical film of the week. First of all, its director Feng Xiaogang also helms this year's New Year gala on China Central Television. The show used to claim the attention of all Chinese people around the world, so Feng is getting a lot of media attention. Secondly, Personal Tailor marks Feng's return to comedy, after his two previous attempts at the disaster genre in the form of "Aftershock" and "Back to 1942". With the amount of promotions on his odyssey, the audience has naturally got their hopes up. And when they finally see the thing and are disappointed, their voices of complaint are most certainly loud. A lot of the complaints are well-grounded though. On a quick glance, "Personal Tailor" is a remake of Feng's 1997 urban comedy "Dream Factory", and a lousy one at that. Both films revolve around a company that grants wishes to people who want to escape their current life. But the 1997 original has a smooth storyline, while the new one is divided into 3 parts that hardly connect with each other. To make matters worse, the 2013 "Personal Tailor" also includes a part where the characters apologize to the environment. That is definitely not the perfect ending for a comedy film, imagine how the audience would feel when they've paid the ticket for a bellyful of laugh but end up being upset by the ugly truth around them. But after the initial shock, I've come to believe "Personal Tailor" will go down in film history nonetheless. Not because of its many flaws and the viewers' complaints of course, but because the motion picture somehow manages to capture one shot of the Chinese society of our age. Ours is an age when we are obsessed with our petit or huge discontents and forget to dream for something bigger and better. We complain about corrupt officials yet hunger for their power; we loath the rich for their squandering and show-off yet we covet their wealth; we haunt ourselves with these obsessions so hard that only pure vulgarity could cheer us up. Feng Xiaogang and screen writer Wang Shuo on the other hand, have realized the dangerous trend in the society and throw it at our face. Call it mockery or whatever you like, you will not look for a solution unless you realize there is a problem, and "Personal Tailor" has shown you the problem. The last part of the film is an apology to the environment. To many viewers it may look suspiciously like an advertisement for public interest, but I believe by appealing to common interest, it is calling for common understanding. Personal Tailor is at least a record of our current society, and if appreciated, may also be a call for bigger, better dreams.

The key to making a box office hit in China is controversy. "Police Story 2013" may not have provoked as much discussion as Feng Xiaogang's latest movie "Personal Tailor", but there are still many issues that have got filmgoers talking. The police action thriller stars Jackie Chan as a Chinese police officer caught in the machinations of a criminal gang. The owner of a nightclub kidnaps a group of partygoers, including the officer's daughter, played by Jing Tian. Chan must play along with the villains until he finds a way to release the hostages. But as the story unfolds a connection linking all characters is revealed. The majority of comments focus on Jackie Chan's performance. The 60-year-old star announced his retirement from action films when he released "Chinese Zodiac" in 2012, but as his cooperation with director Ding Sheng developed, more action scenes were added. As a result, viewers can witness Chan getting beaten up real bad and challenging his limits at such an advanced age. Most critics appreciate Chan's efforts. And remembering his energetic roles in the previous installments of the Police Story franchise set in Hong Kong, movie fans commend Chan on his latest outing, this time set in Beijing. The other talking point of the film is much more controversial. The quality of Jing Tian's acting has been questioned in previous roles, yet she's always come back with ever bigger roles. In 2013 she sent shockwaves through the movie industry by teaming up with megastars Donnie Yen, Chow Yun-fat, Jackie Chan and Liu Ye in "Special ID", "Police Story 2013" and "The Man from Macau". Working with so many stars has helped her lift her acting skills from lousy to… well, still below average. At least that's the opinion of many filmgoers who have jumped on her back yet again after what they see as a below par performance. Police Story 2013 has generated over 270 million yuan in just 6 days and is now sitting on top of the charts in terms of daily grossing. Further proof to the theory controversy creates cash.

China's domestic film productions raked in 12.7 billion yuan in 2013, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the total box office takings with a growth rate of 54.32 percent year-on-year, an official data has revealed. According to data from the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, the figure compares with a 2.3 percent increase of box office takings from imported films from a year earlier. Four of the top five highest-grossing films in the year were Chinese fare, with action-comedy "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" co-directed by Stephen Chow topping the list by taking 1.2 billion yuan. The other three homegrown movies that have made the top five list, namely nostalgic youth drama romance "So Young", crime-action film "Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon" by legendary action director Tsui Hark and "Personal Tailor", the latest comedy from Feng Xiaogang, pulled in over 500 million yuan each at box office. Other popular domestic films included Seattle-set romantic comedy "Finding Mr. Right", martial arts drama film "The Grandmaster" and novel-to-movie adaptation "Tiny Times". The huge growth of box office revenues from Chinese films as a whole compared with a year ago, experts said, can be attributed to an improved structure of the film industry and a growing number of homegrown movies that are more accessible and fun to watch. Restrictions on the imports and distribution of US-made films into China are also cited as a contributing factor. Meanwhile, it is expected that China's "youthful" film market, the world's second-biggest after America, will continue its rapid growth in years to come. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts is known worldwide for its annual Academy Awards, or the Orscars officially. Sid Ganis is the former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "The Chinese film market place is in a certain kind of youthfulness. Not infancy, but youthfulness. It's now blossoming out, it's growing at this amazing rapid rate." According to the media reports, China's box office takings in 2012 exceeded 17 billion yuan, with domestic movies contributing 48.46 percent of the total.

In the final installment of Spiraken Movie Review's theme month of Karate Kempo & Krazed Kung Fu Master (brought to you by Kung Fu & Titties), Xan & Zorro indulge in a weird Chinese Kung Fu Comedy Known as 功夫 (Gung Fu) or Kung Fu Hustle. This film was directed and stars Stephen Chow and also stars Danny Chan Kwok-kwan, Yuen Qiu, Yuen Wah, Leung Siu-Lung, Xing Yu, Chiu Chi-ling, DOng Zhihua, Lam Chi-Chung, Eva Huang, Tin Kai-man, Gar Hong-hay, Fung Hak-on, Lam Suet, Yuen Chenung-yan and Feng Xiaogang. ----more---- Enjoy as our two hosts discuss the quirky cartoonish nature of this movie and the awesomeness of The Buddhist Palm Strike. Remember to check out our sponsor, the upcoming film Kung Fu and Titties directed by Spiraken guest host Joseph "Odie" McConnell, it's a movie that any red blooded man should see. Please send us any comments concerns and ideas on how to make this podcast better. Let us know so we can do something about it. Also check out the facebook fan group Spiraken Movie Review, And finally, listen to the primary podcast, The Spiraken Manga Review and check out Xan's sidekickery on the fightbait.com podcast Hope you enjoy. Music For Episode: Ending Music -Fisherman's Song of the East China Sea by Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (Kung Fu Hustle OST) Our Website http://www.spiraken.com Our Sponsor http://www.kungfuandtitties.com Our Email Spirakenmovie@gmail.com My Email xan@spiraken.com Cohost's Email Zorro.spiraken@gmail.com Our Twitter Spirakenmovie Our facebook fan group Spiraken Movie Review Xboxlive Gamertag Xan Spiraken Our Voicemail 206-350-8462 Random Question of the Week: Do you like this type of Kung Fu Movie?