[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjm99zfydaM] Our first musical outro of the calendar year comes at the strong behest of contributor Matt, whose love for Faye Wong knows no bounds. You might know Faye from Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express and 2056 2046, but she was famous before those roles and will forever be for her songs, including The Last Blossom 《开到荼蘼》, off the 1999... Read more »
Proving that success can come from unexpected places, the most commercially successful Chinese film to date isn’t a high-production martial arts flick, doesn’t star Jackie Chan, ignores themes of republic-building, and isn’t even set in China. Reports AP: Chinese state media say the wacky road movie “Lost in Thailand” has grossed more than 1 billion yuan... Read more »
China Central Television got itself a pretty good musical lineup for its New Year’s show on Monday night, headlined by the Wonder Girls and Leona Lewis. The entire show can be seen here.
China Digital Times brings us this rap video by Gao Yuan, featuring cosplay, martial arts, and English subtitles… and the line “Go censor your own motherfucker ass.” Via CDT: Artist Gao Yuan has produced a video based on the song “Nunchaku” by Taiwanese singer Zhou Jielun (Jay Chou), rewriting the lyrics to curse government censorship.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR9ova4zG2M] If you haven’t already seen it, our Sunday film recommendation is BBC’s documentary on Ding Yu, host of the extraordinary Chinese talk show Interviews Before Execution. (The good folks over at Reddit recently found the above video.) For just over five years — more than 200 episodes — Ding interviewed prisoners on death row, often... Read more »
Los Angeles filmmaker Long Cuu Phan has lived in Beijing for the last four years, and for at least the last two of them, he’s been working on a script that’s “near and dear” to his heart. Set in modern-day Beijing, Youth is about a college student whose world unravels when she discovers her father’s new wife... Read more »
There are lots of New Year’s parties and shows in the next few days for those of you in Beijing. The Beijinger has a run-down of where to get down, while Beijing Daze has a list of shows coming up. The band we’re featuring here — described by Daze as “the next big band” – will be... Read more »
Did you know the musical Cats has a Mandarin version, and is currently in Beijing? It debuted in Shanghai in August before swinging by Guangzhou and Chongqing, and 100 shows later, is now playing at Century Theater in this city.
Ten violinists at a Beijing concert on Saturday gave their creative take on this year in viral music, with Gangnam Style taking the fore. Explains Sina: “Disturbing”, or “Tan Te” in Chinese, mixing “Gangnam Style”. These violinists really let their imagination go free. And it worked very well. The performance was met with rapturous applause.... Read more »
