CYF Archive: February 1999

Miscellaneous CYF News and Rumours

This page owes a great debt to Jerry "Wolverine" Chan, who painstakingly translates dozens of articles on the Hong Kong entertainment industry every week at his HK Top 10 site. Please see Wolverine's site for more details and pix. I would also like to thank Sanney and John Charles, who have been circulating lots of neat info recently. Whoohoo!


My Latest GeoPropaganda ... :


Adding this in gets rid of the annoying pop-up ads... What can ya do?


  • For other CYF news, go here

    Media Scrum

    Pic from the Oriental Daily of February 7th: CYF being mobbed as TC opens in HK.


  • February 1999:


    CHOW YUN-FAT NOT HEAVY ENOUGH; NEEDS TO GAIN WEIGHT FOR ANNA AND THE KING

    From the Oriental Daily of February 27th. Many thanks to Sanney's HK Entertainment Review for the translation and transcription.

    Currently in Malaysia for work on ANNA AND THE KING, Chow Yun-Fat has been very secretive about his whereabouts and has kept a low profile. Despite his best efforts to stay away from the media, reporters were finally successful yesterday in getting a picture. According to the Malaysian newspaper KWONG MING DAILY, Fat-Jai's face has become rounder than usual due to his recent efforts at gaining weight.

    According to sources, the movie studio asked Fat-Jai to gain around ten pounds so that he would look more noble. Because Fat-Jai is a tall man, ten pounds does not represent a problem for him.

    While waiting for the film to start shooting, Fat-Jai has been playing hide and seek with reporters. He has also been spending time perfecting his waltz steps and has been seen swimming in the hotel pool.

    In other news, ANNA AND THE KING co-star Bai Ling revealed that she will have to later shave her head for her role. Bai Ling has always kept her hair shoulder-length. She joked that she can't part with her hair all at once so she has cut her hair short for the time being and will cut it all off when the time comes for it to be necessary.

    HK paparazzi at work ...


    CHOW YUN-FAT'S ANNA AND THE KING WARDROBE NOBLE AND SEXY

    From the Apple Daily of February 24th. Many thanks to Sanney's HK Entertainment Review for the translation and transcription.

    Since arriving in Malaysia on the 18th, Chow Yun-Fat has not met with the press. According to sources, Chow Yun-Fat will have many costumes in ANNA AND THE KING. One costume will see him in a gold long shirt and Thai pants. Very noble. Another will show his manliness as he will wear a Thai style sarong that will leave his chest bare. Very sexy.

    According to reports from the production, Chow Yun-Fat tried on the costumes last week and was very satisfied with the results. Especially now that he is extremely fit, no one will be able to say that he does not look like a Thai king.


    Foley gives action film emotional anchor

    By Steven Ribet for the Hong Kong Standard of January 23rd. A great interview, but a disconcertingly clear depiction of Foley's male-centered pseudopsych.

    WITH as many flying bullets as any other Chow Yun-fat spectacular, and a car chase that John Wu has described as the second best after The French Connection, The Corruptor would be the last kind of film expected of James Foley.

    The director has made psychological dramas, like After Dark, My Sweet and At Close Range, and even comedy, but never action movies like his latest _ a story of the degenerating involvement of two policemen (Chow and Mark Wahlberg) with the triads of New York's Chinatown.

    So if Foley's raid into new territory has been successful, not seeing the genre as essentially different may have a lot to do with it.

    "The action scenes were a challenge. I was lucky enough to have the help of a lot of technicians. However, although the audience may call it an action movie, from my end it was always a drama _ another story," Foley says.

    Perhaps so. But for Foley, clad in the casual but designer-everything (jacket, trousers, shirt; even the beard looks expensive) style of Californian power dressing, the name of the filmmaking game has never been to kill the most people or have the biggest explosions.

    "Action is purely a technical exercise: rig a car a certain way, press a button _ it goes like this. But if you want to create an `emotional reality' between human beings, there's no button to push. That's the real challenge," he says.

    Foley's original ambition to be a psychiatrist _ he did one year of pre-med before switching to film _ speaks volumes about his filmmaking style.

    "It's not that studying psychology influenced my films; more that I'm the kind of guy who thinks a lot about what's really going on between people," he says.

    "I'm interested in what Oliver Stone calls `the shadows'. People are following cultural norms when they deal with each other, but under the surface there's the huge hidden unconscious. I think film is unique in being able to expose that."

    Most representative of this is Glengarry Glen Ross, a film directed by Foley in 1992 about back-stabbing real-estate salesmen.

    "I always thought of Glengarry as a nature documentary," he says. "Like one I once saw about the close bonds that exist between the members of a pride of lions, that are re-enforced through certain rituals. These bonds only become frayed when they have made a kill. They start biting and scratching each other to get at the food they need to survive."

    This behaviour is just what Foley looks for in the human species.

    "I loved Glengarry because it's about the same thing, only instead of fighting for food the men are competing for the symbol of food, which is money," he says. "The idea of them being kind, nice and generous is all part of the thin veneer of civilisation that is easily ripped."

    But what does any of this have to do with beautiful whores without any clothes on, or bodies jolting under the impact of automatic gun fire _ the chief ingredients of The Corruptor?

    For Foley, the conflict between social behaviour and instincts becomes most interesting when it occurs in a father-son relationship.

    In The Corruptor, Wahlberg's character is an idealistic police officer who becomes sullied by accepting a favour from a triad kingpin (Henry Lee), who pays off the gambling debts owed by his father to some nefarious loan sharks. The shambolic old man (Brian Cox) was himself a bent policeman.

    "Mark gets involved in corrupt things because of his sense of honour. The resentment he feels towards his father, who was himself corrupt, clashes with the emotional bonds he has with the old man," he says.

    Similarly, this inner turmoil spills over into Wahlberg's relationship with Chow.

    "Perhaps most repetitively my films explore how a man's life will be influenced," says Foley. "Yun-fat becomes a father figure to Mark and this complicates the nature of their relationship because Mark's supposed to betray him."

    Superficially, then, The Corruptor is like any other action film _ all sex and violence. But if it becomes the hit, that for the sake of Chow's career it needs to be, this may be because there's a lot going underneath, out of the light and in the shadows.


    Extremely Funny Oriental Fluff

    From the Oriental Daily of February 23rd. Courteously translated and transcribed by Sanney ... many thanks!


    Balked of the chance to see CYF
    in his new costumes, the KWONG
    MING Daily
    generated this fake
    pic by superimposing CYF's head on a
    promo pic of Yul Brynner from the 1956
    version. Isn't that hilarious?
    Many thanks to Sanney for sending
    over the image.
    Chow Yun-Fat has already been in Malaysia for five days preparing for the shooting of ANNA AND THE KING by trying on wardrobe. Despite the best efforts of reporters, fate has not allowed them to see Fat-Gor. According to sources, Chow Yun-Fat's costumes will be similar in style to the costumes Yul Brynner (SANNEY: The original cool bald-headed guy.) wore in THE KING AND I. Fat-Gor, as sources within the production have revealed to Oriental, is very happy with the costumes. With Fat-Gor's tall frame, no one will be able to say that he does not look like royalty.

    In other news, ANNA producers are having trouble looking for twenty four women to play concubines and thirty six women for other assorted roles. So far, they have not been satisfied with the local talent and have only been able to select five women. The call is out for more talent. [SANNEY: Winnifred, if you got some time and money maybe you should think about going. :-) ] [CANADIAN WOMAN TURNS TO CRIME TO RAISE AIRFARE! "The lure of the harem was too strong," the ex-PhD candidate said, weeping brokenly into the crumpled draft of a rejected manuscript. "How could I turn down the chance to be a concubine in Malaysia?" Ahem. -- WRL]

    One of the lead female roles, that of the king's servant, has already been cast. Bai Ling, who reportedly beat out Christy Chung Lai-Tai for the role, arrived in Malaysia yesterday and took questions from reporters. She revealed that the role was hotly contested by several beautiful Asian actresses and that she is very happy that she won. She says she will take advantage of the opportunity by doing her best.


    Chow Yun-Fat Sighed: Hong Kong Missed Its Opportunity

    By Yi Ling, for the MING PAO DAILY of February 11th, 1999. And many thanks to Wolverine for translating and transcribing the article!

    During an interview on Commercial Radio, Chow Yun Fat was asked about his new role in THE CORRUPTOR, a Chinatown cop who is on the take and seems to swell between good and evil. If he worried that playing a character like this will affect the image of the Chinese people? Fat Jai stressed that it wouldn't because THE CORRUPTOR is actually a commercial film. From a commercial angle there is no problem. The audience would not think about other things once they leave the theaters. [hrmmmm -WL]

    His third foreign film will be ANNA AND THE KING (starring Jodie Foster) and there will be more English dialogue. Some said even though Fat Jai is still considered a new comer in Hollywood he was still lucky enough to land the major production. He interrupted, "Besides luck, I have to thank my agent (Terence Chang). Originally the role required a Caucasian actor, but the director likes Chinese culture, so he came to me. It was quite a coincidence."

    Speaking of the nearly dead Hong Kong film industry, Fat Jai directly said that today's depression actually has many causes. When Hong Kong films took off in the 80s, no one took the opportunity to widen the circle which led to the industry being trapped in Asia and thus missed a great opportunity. With the severe piracy problem recently, the development of the Hong Kong film industry has been affected.

    However, he felt, Hong Kong film still will not die. Even if it does it will return to life again. In the 70s, he too made erotic films or some low budget productions. At the time for survival he was forced to take that road, but after the worst was over, he finally obtained his success today.


    CYF leaves for Malaysia

    From the Oriental Daily of February 19th, 1999. Many thanks to Sanney for courteously translating and transcribing the articles!

    Pix from the Oriental Daily of February 19th!

    Chow Yun-Fat and his wife left for Malaysia yesterday for work on his third Hollywood film ANNA AND THE KING. Chow caused a stir once he entered the airport as holiday travelers flocked to his side for autographs. Chow joked to travelers and reporters alike, "Go ahead and take pictures. I purposefully made myself beautiful just so you guys could take pictures!"

    Chow said that he rented a room at a local hotel during the holidays so that he and his family could take in the fireworks show on the 17th. He also revealed that he and Fat-So spent Valentine's Day at home dancing. However, it wasn't for romantic reasons, he was practising for the waltz scenes in ANNA AND THE KING.

    Chow also announced that at six feet he is much taller than Jodie Foster so there is a considerable height gap to be made up for the dance scenes. Fat-Jai said that people are working on making Foster look taller. He also revealed, "Earlier Jodie tried out her costume. Because it was very thick material and Malaysia is very hot, wardrobe people are trying to think of ways to put a fan in her costume to help her cool down and make the shoot less of an ordeal."

    In other news, work is progressing in Malaysia on the palatial set to be used for the movie. The workers hope to have it completed before shooting begins on February 28th.


    Box Office Info: Singapore Week 1

    The following was posted to alt.asian-movies by Jeffrey Omk (whoohoo!):

    Singapore Chinese New Year Box Office Result

    For the period till 17Feb1999, in Singapore dollar:
    1. LiangPoPo The Movie S$1,387,644 (6 days)
    2. Jackie Chan's Gorgeous S$824,345 (6 days)
    3. The Corruptor (Chow Yun Fat) S$660,648 (7 days)
    4. The Seige 511,909
    5. Fascination Amour (Andy Lau) about S$60,000 (6 days)
    6. King of Comedy (ChowXingChi) >S$10,000 (3 midnight screening only)

    * source from today's evening paper
    * the top grossing movie Titanic is slightly more than S$6,000,000
    * one S$ is about 0.58 US$
    * movie ticket is S$7
    * LiangPoPo is a Singapore production featuring a household TV character


    Oriental blurb on Foster

    From the Oriental Daily of February 17th. Many thanks to Sanney for translating and circulating the report!

    Jodie Foster, upon meeting Chow Yun-Fat, had told him that she wanted to visit Hong Kong before going to Malaysia for work on ANNA AND THE KING. Oriental has learned that Foster arrived secretly on Saturday and left for Malaysia yesterday. Yesterday, Oriental reporters, besides seeing stars like Chan Sau-Chu, Kenny B, and Dik Bo Lai arrive at and leave the airport on their various holiday excursions, spotted an un-madeup Jodie Foster, her assistant, and Foster's daughter leave for Malaysia. She refused to speak to reporters and headed immediately for the restricted area.

    Contacted by reporters yesterday, Chow Yun-Fat did confirm that Foster did indeed visit Hong Kong before heading to Malaysia for pre-filming work on ANNA AND THE KING. He said that he did not host her because they were not too familiar with one another. However, he did say that Fat-So talked to her over the phone. Fat-Gor joked, "Didn't you guys follow her all over the place? I wouldn't dare host her!"

    Foster's visit to Hong Kong was so secretive even Fox executives in Hong Kong did not know she was here. Spokespeople for Fox's Asian offices told Oriental that Foster did not notify them of the visit and that if she did visit it was a private, not business, visit.


    A ROMANTIC MOMENT FOR FAT-GOR AND FAT-SO

    From the Takungpao of February 14th. Courteously transcribed and translated by Sanney!

    Today is Valentine's Day. How will Chow Yun-Fat and his wife spend it? Yesterday, Chow Yun-Fat appeared at an event for the HK chapter of the WWF (SANNEY: That's World Wildlife Fund not World Wrestling Federation). Chow took over the role of "WWF Angel" from To Tak-Wai. Fat-So was also in attendance, and reporters took a red rose from a nearby vase and asked Fat-Jai to give it to his wife so they could get a good picture for today's Valentine's Day editions.

    Fat-Jai had no objections to the reporters' request and gladly obliged. He joked, "Man, it's tough working for the media tody. They've got to find every advantage." Even Fat-So got into the act, posing for pictures of her smelling the flower and complimenting it for its beautiful fragrance. When asked how she was going to spend Valentine's Day, Fat-So replied, "How do you think?" She then added that Fat-Jai does not make any special plans and she does not object as she stresses that what's most important is that Fat-Jai treats her well everyday.

    When asked if Fat-Jai would give her flowers to mark the occasion, she answered, "Well, he won't give me a bunch of cut flowers but he has given me a pot of orchids. I think that's better because a pot of orchids lasts longer."

    When a reporter asked that having been together for thirteen years, what is the most romantic moment you have shared, Fat-So replied, "The most romantic moment was two years after we got married and he told me one day how I still attract him. He said that when we were dating, one morning I took him to the airport at Singapore at 6 am to see him off. Because it was so early, I didn't put on any makeup and only wore slippers. He said that left a very deep impression on him. He said that in his line of work he always is confronted with beautiful girls so the way I looked that day gave him a very special feeling. That was the moment he knew I was the one. I was very moved that he'd tell me this story after we've been married for two years." She then added that when they were dating, Fat-Jai had said that he would not mary again. She said that she didn't mind because she felt that a marriage certificate did not mean much. She revealed that it wasn't until he finished filming AN AUTUMN'S TALE, which may have put an idea in his head, that he proposed.

    For Chow Yun-Fat, becoming the "WWF Angel" is important to him because he feels that protecting the environment is a priority. The first thing he wants to do is to stop people from littering and from spitting on the streets. He says in addition to supporting laws against litterbugs, he hopes Singapore style enforcement of littering laws in most effective. He also urges people to reduce use of disposable goods and plastic bags. Furthermore, he urges people to stop the poaching of endangered species. The species that he has most sympathy for is the turtle because it is so slow it is easy for poachers to kill.

    During the event, Fat-Jai gave his first donation to the WWF and promised to spearhead an event on May 9th, 1999 at the old Kai Tak Airport.


    CHOW YUN FAT HAS A CANDLE LIT DINNER WITH JODIE FOSTER

    From the ORIENTAL DAILY of February 4th, 1999. Reposted here from the HKSAR Top 10 of February 9th ... and many thanks to Wolverine et al for translating and transcribing the article!.

    Currently promoting THE CORRUPTOR in Los Angeles, Chow Yun Fat finally under the special arrangement and the company of his manager Terence Chang (Cheung Ka Chun) had a candle lit dinner with Jodie Foster in a Beverly Hills restaurant.

    Meeting for the first time, Fat Jai's impression of Jodie is that of an intelligent woman. Both her eyes and words flashed the glimmer of intelligence. From their conversations they had Jodie has a certain understanding of the Chinese culture. Actually last year she went on a 3 week vacation in China and even stopped by Hong Kong for a few days. Before heading to Malaysia for ANNA AND THE KING, she even planned to spend three days during the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong and experience the atmosphere of a Chinese New Year. Fat Jai welcomed her and has agreed to do his best to play host when she arrives.

    In order to having a child, Jodie has not accepted any film offer since CONTACT. When she was offered the chance to work with Fat Jai, she agreed without any hesitation. According to Fat Jai she even said, "I believe this movie will be a correct choice for a new start after becoming a mother!"


    Fan account of Singapore appearance

    And many thanks to Technonerd for the additional details!

    You can checkout www.zaobao.com.sg for the pictures of singapore premier and look-like contest news/photo. Basically the contest was from 6pm to about 630pm, Chow Yun-Fat and his wife showed up and he took the stage at around 630pm shaking hands and posing with the 3 winners, two local singaporeans and one hk abc who works in singapore. From that point until about 7pm there was a little private press signing/interview. And at 7pm the star graced his presence with dancing dragons (chinese new year style) greeting him. He attended a private cocktail reception open to the local media and celebrities and then at about 730 he gave a little question and acceptance speech.


    Fan account of Singapore appearance

    And many hearty thanks to Libragirl for sharing the experience with the rest of us!

    Just came back from the Great World City where the TC premiere is being held. It is only open to those who got their tickets via some promotional activities (?) [I think this was the lookalike contest, no? -WL]. CYF arrived around 6:15 pm and stayed about 15 mins to present the 'CYF lookalike' award and mingled with the fans. The 3-storey arcade was packed with people and cheers all over the place. He looked fantastically handsome and younger than he appeared in his latest movie, I must say. Jasmine was there as usual supporting her man and they are the best looking (matching) couple I've ever seen!

    I only found out that he'd be there by accident when I had lunch there, what a lucky day!


    Chow, Chan, Yeoh and Li to star in movie

    From the Hong Kong Standard Entertainment Section of February 9th, 1999. Many thanks to Gil Yeung for courteously forwarding the URL!

    THE fabulous four - Chow Yun-fat, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li - are set to star in a Hollywood movie together.

    Two years ago Columbia Pictures had the idea of having the four make a movie called The Professionals.

    But at the time, the four stars were very busy so the project never got off the ground.

    The Professionals will be a remake of the 1966 black-and-white version.

    Chow will play Burt Lancaster's role, Chan will take Lee Marvin's and Li, Woody Strode's; Robert Ryan's part will be changed into a female role for Yeoh.

    The new movie's setting will be moved to the present-day United States from the film's original setting of the wild west in 1917.

    [I still think this is unlikely, but wouldn't it be great if it *weren't mindless rumour-mongering? ;) ]


    I could handle a CYF/Michelle Yeoh flick ... but what would Jet and Jackie do? ;)

    JACKIE CHAN CHOW YUN-FAT JET LI MICHELLE YEOH MAY APPEAR IN REMAKE OF THE PROFESSIONALS

    From the Apple Daily of February 8th. And many thanks to Sanney for translating and circulating the article!

    [Abridged, THE PROFESSIONALS plot summary omitted] -- If Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat, Jet Li, and Michelle Yeoh each attack Hollywood together, there would undoubtedly be a huge impact. Unfortunately, each of the four have gone their own seperate and busy ways. Their respective schedules will be hard to reconcile. All will depend on the studios willingness to work things out!

    Chow Yun-Fat, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Jet Li have all successfully attacked Hollywood and have earned the respect of filmmakers there. It has been learned that two years ago, Columbia Pictures started making plans to get the four Hong Kong superstars together to remake the 1966 Hollywood movie THE PROFESSIONALS. Due to the busy schedules of the four actors, the plans have not come to fruition. It appears that it will take considerable time and effort to make the plan into reality.

    The 1966 movie THE PROFESSIONALS starred the hot Hollywood stars of the day: Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Woody Strode and Robert Ryan. According to the plans of Columbia, Chow would play the Burt Lancaster role, Jackie would take the role of Lee Marvin, Jet Li would take the role of Woody Strode, and Michelle Yeoh would take over Robert Ryan's character which would be rewritten for a woman. The story, which took place in the American West of 1917 would be rewritten and placed in modern day America.

    The collaboration of the four stars in a Hollywood project would be a dream come true for Hong Kong film fans. Even Jackie Chan often speaks of his wish to collaborate in a Hollywood film with other HK stars. He often says that he hopes to work with Chow Yun-Fat in a Hollywood film.

    Last night, at an event promoting THE CORRUPTOR, Chow Yun-Fat was asked to comment on the issue by reporters. He said, "getting me to participate in a project like that will probably have to wait a while! Not only me, but just getting the four of us to co-ordinate schedules would be a major accomplishment! That doesn't even include salary negotiations!" He laughed and added that his pay would not be as high as Jackie Chan's.

    [Information on THE PROFESSIONALS, including a plot summary, can be found in the IMDb.]


    Apple Fluff

    From the Apple Daily of February 8th. And many thanks to Sanney for translating and circulating the article!

    Last night, Chow Yun-Fat, his wife, and agent Lee Ka-Jun, attended a question and answer session open to the public to promote his new film THE CORRUPTOR. A crowd of approximately two hundred gathered to ask Chow Yun-Fat questions that he cheerfully answered. Questions asked were whether he would be returning to Hong Kong to make movies and how he manages to make each of his death scenes look different. Some of the crowd went to great lengths to attend. Two came in from Shenzhen while one fan flew in from Japan just to attend the session.

    Oriental Fluff

    From the Oriental Daily of February 8th. And many thanks to Sanney for translating and circulating the article!

    Warning! Major TC plot spoiler in this article! Skip it unless you want to know the ending!

    In response to the question about his death scenes, he says that he no longer needs to be killed by forty or more bullets like he did in A BETTER TOMORROW. Chow joked that he's old now and one bullet will do. He also said that he as soon as he found out Maggie Cheung got married, he phoned to congratulate her. He revealed that he plans to have dinner with Maggie Cheung soon. He also said that once he has finished ANNA AND THE KING, he hopes to return to Hong Kong immediately to work on a Hong Kong film. He hopes that at the time a suitable project will be awaiting him. (SANNEY: I guess there's no need to be skeptical anymore.) [Whoohoo! -WL]


    CHOW YUN-FAT'S HOLLYWOOD FILM HAS INTERNATIONAL DEBUT

    From the Apple Daily of February 7th. And many thanks to Sanney for translating and circulating the article!

    Chow Yun-Fat's second Hollywood film THE CORRUPTOR had its gala international premiere at a Causeway Bay theatre the night before last. Chow Yun-Fat and his wife made a special trip back from the United States to attend. The scene at the theatre was very frantic and admist the hubbub, Jackie Chan tried to sneak into the theatre unnoticed. However, he was noticed by reporters and was pushed into taking a picture with Fat-Jai. [SANNEY: Quite a different interpretation of Jackie's precense from Miles' description. I wonder if Apple wrote this to make Jackie look good.]

    However, it was not Fat-Jai who invited Jackie to the premiere, it was the film's distributor that issued the invitation to Jackie. Fat-Jai was busy in America getting accquainted with Jodie Foster before he returned to Hong Kong. In the huge media scrum that surrounded Chow upon his arrival, reporters asked what he thought of the Academy Award winner. Fat-Jai smiled and replied, "She's very polite and very well brought up. She's very intelligent and very pretty. I'm very happy to have the chance to work with her."

    This year's Lunar New Year pictures will be dominated by the cream of the HK film industry: Chow Yun-Fat, Stephen Chow Sing-Chi and Jackie Chan. Fat-Jai hopes that the three films will do extremely well at the box-office in equal measure in order to revive the depressed Hong Kong film market. After shooting ANNA AND THE KING, Chow is seriously considering returning to Hong Kong to act in a film.

    At the premiere, Fat-Jai's agent Cheung Ka-Jun told reporters, "Fat-Jai has seen the poor shape of the film industry for himself. He says he hopes to come back to Hong Kong to do one or two films to help prop up the industry. However, it will all depend on what happens with his Hollywood work. He will be going to Malaysia in March to start work on ANNA AND THE KING. They'll be soon looking for the 6,000 extras they need for just that one film."

    Apple Gala pic

    CYF and Jackie at the Gala

    From the Apple Daily of February 7th! And many thanks to Sanney for circulating the pix!


    Gala pic

    CYF @ Gala

    Pix from the Oriental Daily of February 7th! And many thanks to Sanney for circulating them!

    Oriental Coverage of the Gala

    From the Oriental Daily of February 7th. And many thanks to Sanney for translating and circulating the article!

    As for piracy of his movie, Fat-Gor expressed confidence in the government. He said, "The government and Customs is fighting the problem so well, how will there be any pirates!" Fat-Gor does not deny reports that he is considering returning to Hong Kong to make films. As for rumours that Chow has invited ANNA AND THE KING co-star Jodie Foster to spend the Lunar New Year with him in Hong Kong as his guest, Chow immediately quashed the rumour by saying, "I've met with her earlier, she's a pretty girl and easy to get along with but we're not that close. We're still pretty much strangers. How can I be her host!"

    After the Lunar New Year, Fat-Gor will head to Malaysia to start work on ANNA THE KING. He says that he'll have to work hard to keep in shape and learn English.


    The National College U. Magazine TC Review, by Jamie Pietras (TV star Keri Russell on the cover). (And thanks to Dinh for the heads-up!)

    "A lot of guns and a scene where someone shows off his penis - familiar territory for Mark Wahlberg. But even though this film's got both, it's far from your everyday flick. The pairing of Wahlberg with legendary Hong Kong action hero Chow Yun-Fat and executive producer Oliver Stone is reason enough to get excited. Wahlberg plays an NYPD rookie who learns the politics of Chinatown thanks to a veteran cop (Yun-Fat). Sound like Rush Hour? Don't worry, you won't be laughing at the end of this one."


    A. Magazine TC Review, by Katie McQuerry (February/March issue). (And thanks to Cassie for the heads-up!)

    I haven't tracked this one down yet, but apparently it's lukewarm towards the film & gets the director's name wrong. ;)


    Movieline AATK gossip (March issue). And thanks to Ann Stockho for the heads-up!)

    The latest issue of Movieline magazine apparently has a very positive blurb on AATK in the gossip section. Apparently they're psyched about the Foster-CYF chemistry, and think Tennant is a good choice to direct.


    Entertainment Weekly TC blurb. (And thanks to Cyndy Jones for the tip!)

    The Feb. 12th issue (#471) of Entertainment Weekly apparently has TC listed under the "Sweet Releases and Notable Offerings" section of their spring movie guide, with a short blurb ("No, it's not a remake of RUSH HOUR"). ;)

    Back to Chow Yun-Fat: God of Actors....

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