Three Kingdoms receives thumbs down by critics

In the past week, Daniel Lee's much anticipated Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon had been heavily promoted by its all-star cast including the likes of Andy Lau Tak Wah, Sammo Hung, Maggie Q and even pop singer Vanness Wu. Helmed by such big names, it was expected to be given an equally grand response by critics and fans alike. Unfortunately, even the film's star quality failed to impress many viewers, and that includes Lau's own fans.

Critics slammed Three Kingdoms as being "lacklustre", "aesthetically beautiful but astonishingly shallow" and containing fight scenes that were described as "confusing, blurry and stale" to "hilarious exaggeration of fast and slow motions". Fans of the Three Kingdoms novels were outraged and had a field day tearing the film's inaccuracies to pieces, while Lau's fans felt disappointed that his "regal and brilliant acting" was squashed by a poorly written script that was both boring and heavily lacking in character story. Critics who were given special viewing before Three Kingdom's day of release gave mixed responses, however, the majority delcared the film was a "hastily and poorly pieced together epic-wannabe that relied on its star power but failed".

There was also mention of Maggie Q's out of place pan-Asian appearance in an ancient Chinese pic and her noticeable synching of Mandarin lines while an alien voice patches over. Even her Hollywood status was not enough to impress the audience, with one citing her to be akin to a "mannequin" who often "liked to hiss and squint throughout" the film and lacked the required cunningness and brilliance of Cao Cao, her character's grandfather. A Maggie Q fan mentioned she was "a definate pleasure to the eyes", while another disappointed viewer claimed that was "all she had to offer" as her portrayal of a vicious general vixen was "nothing more than the same cold expression she always has" reminiscent of her acting in Die Hard 4.0 and Mission Impossible 3. The sexy actress was, however, given a nod in the right direction for her well executed action sequences.

It seems despite boasts of thousands of extras used to replicate the drama and glory of epic battle scenes, Three Kingdoms is all beauty and no substance

source: incinemas sg

Shu Qi joins Hollywood movie with Maggie Q

Critically acclaimed Taiwanese actress Shu Qi has joined the cast of Hollywood movie New York, I Love You. The sultry star will be starring in one of the 12 short love stories.

Previously, HK-turned-Hollywood actress Maggie Q was seen filming scenes with Ethan Hawke but it seems she is not the only Asian star in this production. Only time will tell which actress will grab the attention of more viewers and critics.

Amongst the 12 directors, Japanese director Shunji Iwai and Chinese Jiang Wen are included. Other cast members are Kevin Bacon, Natalie Portman, Rachel Bilson, Ugur Yücel, James Caan and others yet to be named.

Shu Qi is famously known for her achievement in moving from her humble beginnings as a nude magazine model to winning Best Actress at Asia's most prestigious movie awards show. She was also given the honor as a jury at this year's Berlin Film Festival.

In other news, Shu Qi is set to film a movie named "Street of Dreams" alongside Robert De Niro and Andy Garcia.

ent sina
translated by WK Lee

No Maggie Q in HK, Andy feels something is missing

Yesterday Andy Lau & Andy On were @ Tsing Yi shopping city for the movie promotional activity called 'Three Kingdom Resurrection of the Dragon Andy Lau Meeting fans with Wushu.'

As for the absence of the female lead Maggie Q, due to her alleged Hollywood diva attitude, Andy did not deny that if he were the boss, he would think what she has done is wrong.

Andy who had not made any public appearance for a long time, attracted a hundred over fans & onlookers. The shopping center was packed to the brim. Andy Lau & Andy On both played games with the fans. In one of the games, 'Get it With One arrow', a male fan twice shot Andy on his abdomen.

Andy had indicated earlier on that he will be taking a 9-month-long leave, but after a month rest he is back to work.

Andy denied that he had said he will rest for 9 months, just that in these 9 months he will be more free, as there is no filming of movie.

Smiling he said, "Actually in between the months I will still come out, end of this month my concert DVD will be out, I shall come for the promo."

He is filming a movie with Shu Qi soon, but he has not received the script yet. At the moment he is not sure when filming will start.

When asked what he thinks about the absence of Maggie Q, Andy said, "I read it from the papers, thus I am not sure what happened, in actual fact, without her is just like somethingis missing, as her role is also v important in the movie, perhaps it is due to work schedule, I respect artiste & her managerial company's decision."

Is Andy worried about box office with her absence? Andy indicated helplessly that there is nothing that can be done, as during contract signing there was no mention of a particular date that the actor must go for the promo, but Andy said during shooting, all of them were wholeheartedly into the filming.

kklee

Diva Maggie Q reluctantly accepts Korea, shuns HK

Maggie Q has not appeared at all since the links to Edison Chen and his obscene photos. The movie she acted with Andy, ROTD, will be screened on Apr 3.

Movie company had previously said she would be in HK for the promo of the movie but of late she suddenly changed her mind, refused to come to HK, instead, she will be in Korea Seoul on Sunday, (23rd) for the movie promo, & attend the movie premiere the next day.

This will her first public appearance since Edison's scandal, & will be interviewed in Seoul to talk on the shooting of this movie & her upcoming work, but the focus of the media looks like to be on the explicit photos.

Maggie Q was said to have too many demands & behaves like a prima donna since becoming a Hollywood star, not attending the promo in HK & TW even though contracts have been signed, but now that she agrees to be interviewed in Seoul by the Taiwan media, it is as if the company wants to quash the rumor that she is being too picky.

On Maggie Q picking place of her choice to promote, one of the investors, SunBeam movie promotion section spokesman said, "We are only in charge of HK part, we were told by her managerial company that she has confirmed not coming to HK due to time schedule, she is filming in NY."

But she is going to Seoul, "Maybe she can find time, I am not sure." He added.

Maggie Q has many scenes whereby she had her army surrounding Andy in the battle, Andy praises highly of her performance, said that she is diligent in learning Mandarin & horse riding, very professional.

qianlong
translated by kklee105.com

THREE KINGDOMS

His country torn asunder by civil war, ZHAO, a commoner, heeds the call of duty and from the humblest of roots and rises through the ranks on wings of courage to command an army charged with liberating the land from an evil warlord. Inspired by action, honour and a dream of unifying his divided nation, ZHOU’s heroism becomes a legend. But as the years pass and the throne changes hands the war still rages on. When a newly enthroned king decides peace can only be achieved by defeating the warlords once and for all, ZHAO embarks on his final and greatest campaign, a road to adventure that will crown his name in glory for all time.

(Source: Grand Brilliance)

We don't need Maggie Q, we need Andy Lau

Thinking that she is now an international superstar, Maggie Q, who is to come to HK, China, TW & Korea for the promotion of Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, has been left out by all the movie companies in these 4 areas, as she opens her lion mouth asking for 5 stars hotel of her choice, a 24 hr round-the clock body guard & others.

Maggie Q was to come to HK for movie promo on March 25 to 27, though it was only a short 3 days, just the lodging, transport, clothing, & food she negotiated for a month with the movie company. She & her entourage together with her manager other than the usual demands, such as first class air ticket, has included many other unreasonable demands, for example 5 star hotels, 24 hr bodyguard, a low rough estimate it will cost at least $250,000 in 3 days!

Other than HK, Maggie Q has to go to China, TW & Korea, she again asks for a lot of things.

For mainland, most movie promo has to go to different provinces, from BJ to Shanghai, Guangzhou & others, but Maggie Q stipulated that she will go to only one of the places, this gives headache to the local movie company!

For Taiwan, Maggie Q also asked for top class treatment, if her demands were met, the expenditure will hit NT 1 million (about $250,000)

TW movie industry is hitting is downturn, box office is always far from ideal, in addition, Maggie Q is not the important actress, she has no box office guarantee, so the concerned party does not concede to her demands. Also, she said she will not take on Edison Chen or respond to the scandal on the 'suspected explicit photos'! But these are must-ask questions of the reporters, the movie company finds it too difficult to handle!

After discussion, all the movie companies decided not to use Maggie Q for movie promo in Asia, the reporter on this confirmed with the company in HK, who disclosed that M Q will not be in HK for any promo activity, & admitted they cannot meet her demands. The movie company too will have some losses such as booking of air tickets & lodging!

Is it a pity that she cannot come to HK? SunBeam company indicated, "A pity, but there is male lead Andy Lau, this is enough, Andy himself is a box office guarantee, in addition, ROTD is a movie of substance, so we are not worried!"

M Q gives the excuse that she has movie commitments in NY & has no time to come to HK.

translated by kklee105.com
original article SING TAO

In-depth Profiling of Edison Chen Reveals Why He Is The Man He Is Today

In-depth Profiling of Edison Chen Reveals Why He Is The Man He Is Today. A bisexual father, divorced parents & a betrayal by a former gf & best fren?

Media reports are reporting that Edison Chen had at earlier advice and arrangement by his mother, sought help from a local psychiatrist for sex addiction during his stay in Vancouver. It is also reported that the divorce of edison's parents during his early childhood years has more or less led to his deviated and unnatural perception of love, sex and relationships and that the psychiatric treatment he sought in Vancouver was aimed at correcting his warped perceptions.

It has been said that before the age of 9, Edison hardly saw his father and only discovered that his parents had actually divorced at the age of 14. Upon the discovery of his parents' divorce, he felt cheated and hurt that he had such a truth hidden from him and from that point on, found it very hard to place his trust in people. Edison was also reported to have been very rebellious throughout his teenage years, starting from the age of 10. He was said to basically ignore his parents, skip classes and often went home only when it was already early morning at around 5 A.M or so.

Apart from his parents' divorce, it was also revealed that Edison's father's sex orientation has also been the subject of debate for a long time now and that the media has many a time caught the elder Chen behaving intimately with other male celebrities. The doubt cast over Edison's father's sex orientation over the years has no doubt played a part in affecting Edison adversely as well.

To add to all these circumstances, it was also reported that Edison himself admitted to being hurt deeply by a girlfriend who admitted to cheating on him with his best friend when he was 15. There is little doubt that the double betrayal played a part in further warping Edison's already somewhat warped views of love, sex and friendship.

In 2003, Edison reportedly fought with co-star and former friend Shawn Yue over fellow celebrity Gillian Chung. It has also be said that edison's relationship with former good buddy and classmate nicholas tse cooled off a lot over the years thanks to his dalliances with Nicholas' estranged lover Cecilia Cheung.

Edison has always been a rebel and an extreme character. He is famous for being brash and outspoken. He has wooed numerous women over the years and used to enjoy picking up random women he got to know over the internet. After he broke into the Hong Kong entertainment industry in year 2000, his old habits stuck with him and he wooed one female celebrity after another, resulting in a scandal list that was rapidly growing longer by the month. A Taiwanese media report made a list of the women Edison was said to have been involved with throughout the time he has been in the entertainment industry and the list had a grand total of 23 female celebrities which included a string of famous artistes like Cecilia Cheung, Gillian Chung, Stephy Tang, Amanda S, Maggie Q, Jolin Tsai and Elva Hsiao. He was also widely regarded as being too bold and outspoken for his own good, to the point where he even admitted to an interview held in 2006 that his favorite activity is to "make love".

-MaGGie Q-

-GiLLiaN cHUnG-

Cherrie Ying

- JolIn TsaI-


Source: Translated from chinese from Chinanews.com and ifeng.com by Cocolove

Maggie Q in Ancient War Film

The latest stills for the "Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon," released by one of its producers, Beijing Polybona Films, feature actress Maggie Q as an ancient wartime heroine. In the film, Maggie Q acts opposite Hong Kong veteran Andy Lau. A work by martial-arts director Daniel Lee, the war epic is slated to open in China in April. [Photo: rednet.cn]

source: CRI

Three Kingdom - trailer released; Maggie Q to attend film promo

Credits: Leonard @http://andylausounds.blogspot.com/
news from: Ta Kung Po, Wei Wen Po

Directed by Daniel Lee and an adaption from Romance of the Three Kingdom, Three Kingdom - Resurrection of the Dragon will open in the cinema in April, the trailer of the movie was revealed earlier.

In the 2 minutes trailer, other than the war battle scenes, most of the scenes are around Maggie Q, she seems to snatch the limelight from Andy Lau, it's believed that it's partly due to the popularity of Maggie Q in Hollywood. It's also attracting watching the fighting scene between Maggie Q and Andy, you could see the beauty of her "dancing" with the spear and fighting against Andy.

It is known that Maggie Q will come to Hong Kong to promote the movie next month, before other promotions in South Korea, Taiwan and Mainland China.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild had many discussions and think that the song they recorded for the Mainland China snowstorm victims are not enough thus they decided to held a large scale concert to catch the attention of Hong Kong citizens, they also gained the support from the Hong Kong government. The concert can only be held after the festive holidays as it need time to contact the respective departments, discussing of the date of the concert, contacting major movie and record companies and contacting TV stations for their artistes to participate in the concert. The guild chairman Alan Tam and Eric Tsang had put in their best efforts for the charity concert and major companies had shown their support, Media Asia will be financing the event and sending out their artistes which include Andy, Leon Lai, Sammi Cheng, Miriam Yeung, Andy Hui and others to participate in the event.

Maggie Q is victim No.8 of Edison Chen sex photos scandal?

Credits: Alvin Lim @coolsmurf

There was a leaked Maggie Q picture posted early this morning on some forums. Some eagle-eyed netizens have linked some items in a laundry basket found in the picture to Edison Chen because apparently he has been photographed before wearing the exact same things. Some netizens though pointed out that this could be coincidental as the photo was from a photoshoot she did for Edison Chen’s clothing line. What do you think?

Gillian Chung who was implicated in the Edison Chen sex photos scandal, became the first female starlet to step out yesterday and admit that it was her in the photos indirectly. But many remained unconvinced of her statement which seems to be deflecting all the blame to Edison and her smiling face throughout the event was a big turn-off for many. This was a big contrast to the big teary scene when she spoke publicly a few months ago after photos of her naked back while changing in a dressing room was leaked.

Where’s the logic, you wonder?

Some say that Albert Yeung might have already struck a deal with the mysterious “Kira” which might explain the relaxed nature of Gillian and most of the EEG people at yesterday’s event. The non-show of the video as promised by “Kira” yesterday was also a talking point among many netizens who was stalking the forums the whole day and came up disappointed.

Unsure if it’s a hoax or what, but “Kira” apparently posted on Hong Kong forum stating that the video was held up and would be posted at 3am instead. But several hours later, we still see no sign of any on any forums.

Most netizens are hopeful and think that “Kira” is just biding his time. There are so many hoax reports of him being killed or caught everyday so it’s pretty chaotic keeping tabs on his actual status. So I think he’s just waiting to strike.

Meanwhile, the main lead of this whole scandal, Edison Chen is apparently flying back to Hong Kong either on Thurday or Friday (throw the media off?). Hmm, maybe things have really been settled with “Kira”? The story goes on…