Chinese director Zhang Yimou's (張藝謀) highly anticipated film Memoirs of a Geisha (藝妓回憶錄) had a grand preview screening last Saturday in New York City. Judging from the less than enthusiastic response from the press after the screening, the film is probably not going to do too well at next year's Oscars.
Attention mainly focused on the performances given by Zhang Ziyi (
Most critics seem to agree that Gong's supporting role as a crazy villain stole the show, leaving leading lady Zhang in the shadows.
Zhang struck back with her improved language skills at an interview session with the international press, held after the screening .
Zhang's marketablilty has been rated in an online poll that used various indexes such as remuneration, endorsement fees and advertisement to assess female stars on both sides of the strait.
Zhang took first place, worth a cool NT$480 million, followed closely by Maggie Cheung (
Mando-pop singer Elva Hsiao (
After Hsiao spent NT$2 million making a pilgrimage to Los Angeles to learn fresh dance moves for her new album originally planned for release next month, Warner Music suddenly decided to pull the plug on the project.
The reason is said to be that Singaporean Stefanie Sun's (
Sun's lackluster record sales have made music giants and pop stars quiver in their boots, with even smash-hitter David Tao (
Dubbed as the new teen boy killer, Yang put on her trademark sweet-doll smile to fend off the criticism, saying she didn't believe Tao would say something so bitter and the comments were a paparazzi ruse.
Spoiled rich girl Paris Hilton may come to Taiwan for New Year. Chinese Television System (CTS, 華視) has been working its ass off to invite the star to promote her TV series The Simple Life which currently airs on CTS. Her agent is said to be satisfied with CTS' plan and the possibility of her coming is high. If the Hollywood social butterfly decides to come, then local high society dames and stars will surely have a hell of a time searching for high-end luxu-ries to vie with the heiress.
Newly endorsed movie queen Shu Qi (舒淇) was spotted at a temple in Keelung thanking the Goddess of Mercy for helping her wish to become the best leading actress come true. Shu said she had gone through a period of mild depression after Three Times (最好的時光). The shrink didn't work so the star turned to Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity for spiritual comfort. It looks like the piety paid off and even won her a secular reward.
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless