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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Real Martial Arts Behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

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This article contains some minor spoilers for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

In the pages of Marvel Comics, Shang-Chi is known as the “Master of Kung Fu.” So when Marvel Studios announced the character to help usher in MCU Phase 4, the one thought on every fan’s mind was that whoever gets cast in the lead role better really know Kung Fu.

In the wake of Netflix’s Iron Fist, Marvel’s other Kung Fu master, there was a lot of skepticism. Marvel had scored with the previous Netflix series Daredevil, which delivered some of the best small screen fight choreography we’d ever seen. But Iron Fist was sorely lacking. Finn Jones just couldn’t sell a punch as Danny Rand, leaving fans of Marvel martial arts masters overwhelmingly disappointed. If there’s one thing that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings had to nail, it was the Kung Fu.

Like Jones, Simu Liu had little martial arts experience before taking on the role of Shang-Chi. However, he already had the physique, so much so that appearing shirtless was a running joke when he played Jung in Kim’s Convenience. What’s more, Liu bulked up, added 10 more pounds of muscle while training for the film.

Unlike a character like Daredevil, Shang-Chi doesn’t wear a mask, so Liu had to quickly pick up enough cinematic Kung Fu to appear masterful on screen. Fortunately, he was backed by a top-notch team of stuntmen and surrounded with a cast of veteran film fighters including Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Star Trek: Discovery), Tony Leung (Hero, The Grandmaster), Yuen Wah (Kung Fu Hustle), Florian Munteanu (Creed II), Andy Le (The Paper Tigers), and others. Even though Liu was new to Kung Fu, he carries the action scenes with panache.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is not only a good Marvel movie, it’s a good Kung Fu movie. It has the best fight scenes seen in the MCU so far. And although the movie doesn’t get bogged down in the specifics of Kung Fu style, there are telling nods throughout the film that shows the filmmakers knew their Kung Fu too. “We knew the martial arts had to be authentic,” says Director Destin Daniel Cretton. “In order for that to feel real, we worked with people who understood Chinese Kung Fu.”

Let’s take a look at some of the Kung Fu roots and martial arts Easter Eggs underlying Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Ringsdone..

The Ten Rings are Real…Kind of

Wenwu (Tony Leung) is the villain of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and he wields ten magical rings that he wears on his forearms. These are the source of his power, as well as the name of his criminal organization. The origin of these rings is a prevailing mystery in the movie; however, their inspiration is not.

Traditional Kung Fu practitioners use rings akin to these while training, particularly in Southern Chinese styles. Such rings are called tit waan in Cantonese, which literally means “iron rings” or “iron bracelets.” Iron rings are constructed of heavy metal, typically brass or steel, and are worn loosely on the forearms when practicing solo forms and doing arm drills.

They serve two purposes. Firstly, they are heavy, usually weighing over a pound a piece, so they act like wrist weights. Secondly, unlike Wenwu’s magical rings which conform to fit his forearms perfectly, real iron rings are looser. They must be narrow enough so that they stay on when the practitioner makes a fist, but they are far from form fitting. This gives them play to bang against the practitioner’s forearms when they are shadowboxing. The banging conditions the user’s forearms, hardening them to withstand the impact of blocking. Some iron ring practitioners have forearms that are so tough they can severely damage an adversary’s punch with their ring-hardened blocks.

Although iron rings are not conventionally considered as weapons, Kung Fu practitioners have figured out ways to weaponize just about everything. Some wield iron rings like brass knuckles, holding them in their fists for punching.

Kung Fu Hustle

Weaponized iron rings are used in the 2004 comedy Kung Fu Hustle. The character Tailor (Chiu Chi Ling) fights with them. Chiu is a genuine master of Hung Ga Kung Fu, a southern style that uses iron ring training extensively.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton claims that Kung Fu Hustle is one of his favorite martial arts movies so there are other nods to it in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, including when a Kung Fu Hustle poster can be seen on a bedroom wall in the background. What’s more, Yuen Wah also appears as the warrior leader of Ta Lo who oversees Katy’s (Awkwafina) archery training. Yuen played the Landlord in Kung Fu Hustle and is a veteran martial arts actor with nearly 200 film credits. He is also the Kung Fu brother of Jackie Chan.

Yuen Qiu, who plays the Landlady in Kung Fu Hustle is a mutual Kung Fu sibling. Jackie, Yuen Wah and Yuen Qiu were all pupils of Yu Jim-Yuen, a master of Chinese opera who trained them all from childhood. They all took stage names that included the “Yuen” part of their master’s name (Jackie Chan was known as Yuen Lau as a child). Others among that troupe were many of the movers and shakers of Hong Kong’s golden age of Kung Fu films, such as Sammo Hung (a.k.a. Yuen Lung) and famed action choreographer, Yuen Woo-Ping (The Matrix, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Kill Bill).

Tiger Head Hooks

The signature weapons of the Ten Rings are Tiger Head Hooks. These are those black glowing hooked swords that the gang members wield. They also appear on the Ten Rings banner. It’s an excellent choice because Tiger Head Hooks are one of the most distinctively Kung Fu weapons of all.

In Chinese, these are called Hu tou shuang gou, which literally means “Tiger head paired hooks.” “Paired” because they are typically used in pairs. Sometimes they are just translated as Hook Swords. They have a sword blade with a hooked tip, a crescent-shaped blade for a knuckle guard, and a dagger blade for a pommel. Every edge is sharp. The only place they are not sharp is the handle. This makes them very difficult to wield. Consequently, Tiger Hooks are considered an advanced Kung Fu weapon.

The reference book Ancient Chinese Weapons by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming dates Tiger Head hooks back to China’s Spring Autumn Period (771-476 BCE), however those ancient hooks likely took on a different form. The modern style of Tiger Head hooks as seen in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings rose to prominence around the 1800s. They are still practiced today, mostly by Northern schools of Kung Fu.

What Style of Kung Fu Does Shang-Chi Practice?

Kung Fu is renowned for its diverse collection of styles like Shaolin, Wing Chun, Tiger style, and countless others. There’s even Drunken style and Toad style. In the movie, Shang-Chi doesn’t adopt a particular style of Kung Fu. Some of his moves have characteristics of Wing Chun or Bajiquan, but there’s nothing in the choreography to indicate a very specific style.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The warriors of Ta Lo are different. While their style is not explicit, their peacekeeping philosophy is expressed through the soft, internal styles of Kung Fu like Tai Chi. When Ying Nan (Michelle Yeoh) schools Shang-Chi in their first match, it’s reminiscent of how airbending is depicted in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

However, the connection is deeper than that. Despite its fantasy elements, Avatar based its martial arts sequences on authentic Kung Fu by mo-capping Sifu Kisu, a renowned martial arts master. Kisu designated specific styles for each school of bending. Airbending was based upon an internal style of Kung Fu known as Baguazhang, or Eight Diagram Palm. Like Tai Chi, it has a soft expression. It relies on circular movements and pivoting evasions. Several of Yeoh’s techniques are plucked straight out of Baguazhang.

The Masters Behind Shang-Chi’s Martial Arts

Credit for Shang-Chi’s Kung Fu authenticity falls on the film’s top notch stunt team. Two are leading graduates of the legendary Jackie Chan Stunt Team. The fight on the hi-rise scaffolding is a homage to Jackie’s parkour-inspiring choreography. Andy Cheng worked on around half a dozen of Jackie’s films including his first two Rush Hour films, Shanghai Noon, The Tuxedo, and Who Am I? where Jackie does one of his all-time greatest stunts, sliding down the Willemswerf skyscraper in Rotterdam. He was also the action director for Into the Badlands. When Jackie inevitably stepped back from doing his own stunts, Cheng stepped in for him.

“We were very concerned [about Kung Fu] from the very beginning,” says Cretton. “Marvel was also concerned and wanted to get it right. [They] knew that Marvel fans, wouldn’t have let it slide if we did a Hollywood version of a whitewashed Kung Fu movie. To be able to, we brought in Brad Allan.” Brad Allan was the first non-Asian to make Jackie’s stunt team. He also worked on around a dozen of Jackie’s films (this is approximate because stunt work wasn’t always credited).

Who Was Brad Allan?

You can’t miss the credits in any MCU film. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, there’s a prominent dedication to Allan at the very end. Tragically, on August 7th, 2021, Brad Allan died unexpectantly at the early age of 48, sending the martial arts world reeling from the loss of one of its brightest stars. Beyond Shang-Chi, Allan leaves behind an exemplary legacy of action films where he served as the Second Unit Director including Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Cuban Fury, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the Kingsman trilogy.

Allan was obsessed with the martial arts from childhood and rose to compete internationally in Wushu, representing Australia where he was born and raised. Through a chance encounter, he was able to demonstrate his skills to Jackie, and Jackie liked what he saw so much that he took Allan under his wing.

In 1999, Allan played Alan, the villain in Jackie’s film Gorgeous, which coincidentally also stars Tony Leung. With Allan clad in black and Jackie in white, their finale fight is, well, it’s gorgeous. It’s two of the greatest masters of the craft delivering top notch fight choreography. Allan spent most of his career modestly behind the scenes, so Gorgeous is the outstanding example of his speed and agility. It’s heartbreaking that Allan didn’t get to see the premiere of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Allan’s final work will be seen in The King’s Man later this year.

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is now playing in theaters.

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watchingalotofmovies · 3 years

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Beyond the Dream

Beyond the Dream [trailer]

Lok is a recovering schizophrenic who yearns for love. One day, he encounters the young and beautiful Yan and quickly falls in love with her. Just when he struggles whether to tell her about his illness, he has a relapse.

Well photographed, serious look at mental illness wrapped in a love story. It starts out to be a little mysterious, and for a while I expected some more turns. But it turns into a personal melodrama that was too much for my personal taste.

And I know that love let's you do dumb things. But it's always been clear that her behaviour is inappropriate and highly unethical. Which proved to be a bit of a problem for me to truly care for the pair.

I like that recording "trick". Very useful in his case, but I like the thought of using it in general to verify if something is really happening.

#Beyond the Dream #Chow Kiwi #Lau Chun Him #Cecilia Choi #Hee Ching Paw #Poon Chan Leung #Cheung Moon Yuen #foreign #Hong Kong

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slotsjuice444 · 2 years

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God Of Gambling

Dnd God Of Gambling

God Of Gambling Twitter

God Of Gambling Chinese

Caishen (simplified Chinese: 财神; traditional Chinese: 財神; lit. 'God of Wealth') is the mythological figure worshipped in the Chinese folk religion and Taoism.He has been identified with many historical figures, viewed as his embodied forms, among whom Zhao Gongming (趙公明, Wade–Giles: Chao Kung-ming; also known as Zhao Gong Yuanshuai 趙公元帥 'Lord Zhao the Marshal'), Fan Li. Hermes is the Greek god of gambling, profit, hazard, and gaming. Hermes was the winged messenger of the gods. He was the god of flocks, road, trading, commerce, thieves. He is also known as Mercury in Roman Mythology. His father is Zeus, the ruler of the Greek gods. Thoth is the Egyptian god of gambling.

Started in 1989 by the prolific Wong Jing, the God of Gamblers series has been continuing to entertain audiences for the past 27 years. Starring some of the biggest stars in Hong Kong cinema, Chow Yun Fat, Andy Lau, Stephen Chow, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Ng Man Tat, Leon Lai, Nick Cheung, Donnie Yen and a lot more, the series has had its ups and downs, but each film usually has something for most Hong Kong cinema fans. Incorporating sequels, spinoffs, unofficial spinoffs and even spinoffs of spinoffs, the God of Gamblers series is truly one of a kind.

God of Gamblers – 1989

This is where it all started. Probably the best film from Wong Jing (some would argue that it wouldn’t be difficult), God of Gamblers is a multi genre film including high comedy, drama, action and even more comedy. Chow Yun Fat plays Ko Chun, the God of Gamblers of the title. After an accident knocks him seven shades of silly, he is taken in by Knife, played by Andy Lau. After Knife realises the idiot savant’s gambling powers, he decides to exploit him for all he’s worth. Like most Hong Kong comedies, there are major tonal shifts. One minute you are laughing at one of Chow’s many pratfalls, only to have his wife murdered and raped (and I did get that the right way round) in the next scene. Fans of Hong Kong cinema will not be surprised by these tonal changes, as it really is the norm with these films. It is not hard to see why Chow Yun Fat would have been interested in the role of Ko Chun, as it gives him a chance to show his range. He gets to be his usual suave self at the beginning of the film, until he becomes like Dustin Hoffman’s Rain Man. He also still gets a number of action scenes, which after his success with John Woo was probably expected. Andy Lau is also good, considering his character is a bit of a dick. Considering the only reason that he initially helps Ko Chun is because he caused his accident, he is not exactly what heroes are made of. Fortunately his character is quite funny and has good chemistry with Yun Fat and his leading lady Joey Wong. Throw in a decent supporting cast of Charles Heung, Ng Man Tat and the always welcome Shing Fui On all go to make God of Gamblers a film not to be missed.

All for the Winner – 1990

The first of the unofficial spinoffs. After the success of God of Gamblers a number of Hong Kong movies went in to production to cash in. All for the Winner was one of these. What sets it out from the crowd of imitations was down to the rising star power of Stephen Chow Sing Chi. Due to this film he went on to become the biggest box office draw in Hong Kong. All for the Winner also went on to become the highest grossing film in Hong Kong history at the time of its release. The plot concerns mainlander Sing (Chow Sing Chi), who travels to Hong Kong to visit his uncle played by the excellent Ng Man Tat. Like Andy Lau’s character in God of Gamblers, Man Tat can’t really be bothered with Sing until he finds out about his gifts, which in this film is his ability to see through objects. From that all matter of hi-jinks ensues, with Man Tat exploiting his nephew’s gift. Co-Directed by Yuen Kwai (Cory Yuen) and comedy king Jeff Lau, All for the Winner is nowhere as slick as the film it takes inspiration from, and is quite uneven. The film does have a number of great action scenes, unsurprisingly as they are directed by Yuen, and the laugh ratio is very high. This was also the first film to realise the great partnership Chow and Ng Man Tat could make. The reason All for the Winner is included in the main God of Gamblers series as Chow and Man Tat took their characters into the main series in God of Gamblers 2.

God of Gamblers 2 – 1990

The first official sequel to the smash hit God of Gamblers unfortunately doesn’t star Chow Yun Fat. On the plus side his replacement is Stephen Chow, which makes this sequel somewhat sillier and than the original. It is also a lot funnier. Chow; along with Ng Man Tat play the same characters from All for the Winner. This is where the series starts to get slightly confusing in terms of what films are deemed cannon, as this movie is both a sequel to the original God of Gamblers and the unofficial spinoff/rip-off All for the Winner. Andy Lau returns as Knife, and is this time along with Chow, is promoted to lead duties. The plot is just an excuse for Lau and Chow to get into comedic situations. The addition of Chow to the film means that there is slightly less action than the previous movie, but there is still enough to keep you entertained, with Charles Heung showing up in his shell-suit to kick ass when needed. It is best not putting too much though into this series as actors do appear in multiple films, sometimes as different characters, such as Ng Man Tat who appeared in the first God of Gamblers as a villain but is now on sidekick duties.

God of Gamblers 3: Back to Shanghai – 1991

This is when the God of Gamblers series went totally bonkers. Probably the best of the three Gamblers films to star Stephen Chow, it is also the most like a full on Stephen Chow comedy. The plot includes time travel, doppelgangers, musical numbers and a number of extremely violent action scenes. This time round Sing is accidentally sent back in time to 1930’s Shanghai. Whilst there he meets up with the effeminate grandfather of his Uncle (also played by Ng Man Tat), and gets himself involved in a triad war by befriending gang boss Ray Liu. The film ends up like most of the God of Gamblers in a large gambling tournament, with Chow using his magic against the villains. God of Gamblers 3 had everything fans of the series had come to expect, with more thrown in for good measure. The film also has a bit of gravitas by having mainland star Gong Li show up in a dual role. This wasn’t the only film she made with Stephen Chow, as she also showed up in Flirting Scholar, so she obviously enjoyed working with him. Unfortunately this is the last of the God of Gamblers to date to star Stephen Chow.

The Top Bet – 1991

Technically not officially part of the God of Gamblers series, but it has been included as it is a spinoff/sequel to All for the Winner. Chow Sing Chi sadly doesn’t return but Ng Man Tat does along with Directors Jeff Lau and Yuen Kwai. The film concerns Man Tat looking for a suitable replacement for his nephew. This time round there is more of a female focus with Carol Cheng and Anita Mui being the stars of the film. Unfortunately The Top Bet can’t live up to the original, with a lot of the jokes not hitting their target. It is just another typical 90’s Hong Kong comedy, livened up a bit by its game cast, and some good action scenes.

Return of the God of Gamblers – 1994

After five years, Wong Jing finally tempted Chow Yun Fat back to his signature role of Ko Chun. Although not as entertaining as the original, the sequel is still great fun and has a great supporting cast including Tony Leung Ka Fai, Chingamy Yau, Wu Chien-Lien and the scene stealing Elvis Tsui. The story involves Ko Chun, who has now immigrated to France, living with his pregnant wife (Cheung Man). The usual bad guys show up to challenge Ko Chun. Typical of a Hong Kong comedy, this challenge includes killing Ko Chun’s wife and cutting out her unborn child from her stomach. They then proceed to put the foetus in a jar. Even I thought this was too much. Fortunately the film does get somewhat lighter after this, but still does involve a number of violent action scenes. Tony Leung is great in a purely comedic role. Wu Chien-Lien seems to be brought in to add a bit of dramatic weight to proceedings. Charles Heung also shows up in his obligatory role of Lone Ng. Add in the always excellent Elvis Tsui and you have a cast that is almost every bit as good as the original. There seems to be more ridiculous comedy throughout this sequel compared to the original. I think this may have been done to keep it more in line with the sequels that starred Chow Sing Chi. On a side note, Cheung Man once again plays Ko Chun’s wife. She also played his wife in the original God of Gamblers, but that was a different character. It always seemed strange to me that they got Cheung Man to play this part in the sequel as it implies that Ko Chun is a bit twisted and married a woman because she was identical to his first wife. Cheung Man also appeared in All for the Winner and God of Gamblers 2 and God of Gamblers 3 each time playing a different character. That makes five appearances in this series as a different character. This is just par for the course with this series.

The Saint of Gamblers – 1995

A lesser film in the God of Gamblers series. Wong Jing attempted to resurrect the franchise with a new actor replacing Chow Yun Fat and/or Chow Sing Chi. Unfortunately he cast the mugging Eric Kot. Luckily Ng Man Tat returns as Uncle Tat to at least make the film enjoyable. Donnie Yen also makes a brief appearance as Lone Seven, brother of Lone Ng. Must be bad when you can’t get Charles Heung to make an appearance. There isn’t really much of a plot to speak of, just the usual story of the lead being challenged and ending up in a gambling competition. Kot’s character has magic powers like Chow Sing Chi in the previous movies, so the card games are played for laughs. There is fun to be had with Saint of Gamblers, but fans of the previous movies should lower their expectations.

God of Gamblers 3: The Early Stage – 1996

A prequel to the original God of Gamblers, this one does have a confusing title, being the second film in the series to have the name of God of Gamblers 3. Don’t let this put you off, as this is one of the better entries in the series. Leon Lai subs for the absent Chow Yun Fat, as Ko Chun. Lai has never been the greatest of actors but is great here and has the right look for the young version of the God of Gamblers. The plot involves Ko Chun being betrayed by his partners and coming back for revenge the only way he knows how. By gambling with them. Jordan Chan shows up to steal the film as Lone Ng, replacing Charles Heung. There is a bit of ret-conning going on in the movie, as Ko Chun and Lone Ng meet for the first time in God of Gamblers, but meet for the first time in this prequel, which contradicts the original film. This is a minor complaint considering the other things that have went on in this series. The movie also seems to have higher production values than some of the previous movies in the series and a quality supporting cast including my favourite Francis Ng and Anita Yuen. The prequel also is less reliant on comedy than previous entries. Sure there are funny scenes, but nothing as crazy as Stephen Chow’s additions. The action scenes are great, with Jordan Chan doing most of the hard work, although Leon Lai does get involved. This would be the last proper God of Gamblers film although there would be spinoffs and rip offs. I have covered some of them below as they do tie in to the main series but others such as the Conman, Conman in Vegas and Conman 2002 I have left out as it is unclear if they are actually canonically part of the franchise although do share elements. All I can say about them is that Conman is quite boring, Conman in Vegas is slightly better and Conman 2002 is crap.

Conman in Tokyo – 2000

Wong Jing takes a backseat in this addition to the God of Gamblers franchise, handing over directing duties to Ching Siu Tung. The film is pretty much more of the same, with Louis Koo now taking over as the lead. Koo plays Cool, who is the successor to the Knight of Gamblers, which was played by Andy Lau in the God of Gamblers film. This is the only part of the film that actually ties this to the main series, other than the usual crazy hi-jinks that are expected in a Hong Kong gambling movie. Koo is great in the lead role, and it is easy to see how he has become one of Hong Kong’s best leading men. Although he should lay-off the sun beds. Sidekick duties are taken up by Nick Cheung, who is great here and would only go on to better things. Cheung was also part of Wong Jing’s Conman films, but plays a different character in this. Yusuaka Kurata also takes part and proves that he can still kick ass. Some of the comedy scenes miss the mark completely, although some parts can be hilarious. Action scenes are good, but are a bit lacklustre considering they had the great Ching Siu Tung behind them. Although a fan movie, it doesn’t compare to the greats of the franchise but is heads above the Top Bet and Saint of Gamblers.

From Vegas to Macau – 2014

Essentially a God of Gamblers film in everything but name. Chow Yun Fat is back, along with Wong Jing, co-directing with Billy Chung. Yun Fat stars as former gambling King Ken who gets involved with Nicolas Tse and Chapman To, who want to be his apprentices. This just gives the film the usual excuse to have the cast get involved in crazy situations and action. This is a big budget production as it was co produced with China. This means that the films content could never match up to the original God of Gamblers, as the censors have to be appeased. In this day and age adjustments have to be made, and at least this enabled the production to get Chow Yun Fat back in the starring role. The film still has that Wong Jing flavour with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in. Some of the action scenes are especially well done with Philip Kwok and the excellent Zhang Jin showing their worth. The main other reason that it fits into the God of Gamblers series is down to the film’s final scene having a cameo from Ko Chun, also played by Chow Yun Fat. This is a fun scene but also makes you wonder why Wong Jing and Chow Yun Fat didn’t just go ahead and make a proper God of Gamblers sequel.

From Vegas to Macau 2 – 2015

Wong Jing returns once again to the gambling den. Co-directing this time with Aman Cheung, he delivers more of the same, which is not as enjoyable as the first From Vegas to Macau, but still makes for an enjoyable time at the movies. This time round there seems to be even more money thrown at the screen, with quite a bit of globe-trotting going on. A large part of the film takes place in Thailand, and the action scenes are much larger in scale. It also seems to have learned from the first, that fans really like to see Chow Yun Fat with a gun in his hand, preferably one in each hand. The sequel is also much sillier than the first with Ken this time having a Robot butler, who he shouts abuse at. Some critics moaned about this addition. I though as silly as it was, it was quite amusing. Nicolas Tse doesn’t return for the sequel and is replaced by Shawn Yue as an Interpol Agent. This is a fair trade, and Yue actually seems to get more to do than Tse did in the first film. Other additions to the cast are Nick Cheung, who seems more than happy to be back in comedy mode after years of doing purely dramatic roles. This is probably the funniest he has been in a long time. Carina Lau is also on hand as Ken’s old girlfriend/villain. The only drawback of this is the scenes Lau and Fat share drag the film out, and add to an already unnecessary run time. If you were a fan of the first From Vegas to Macau there is no way you are going to miss this one. The final scene this time has both Ko Chun (Chow Yun Fat again) and Knife (Andy Lau) appearing.

From Vegas to Macau 3 – 2016

From Vegas to Macau 3 proved to be the most controversial of the series, with a lot of critics and the public seemingly boycotting the film over Wong Jing’s supposed political leanings. I don’t really understand some peoples thinking. Of course Wong Jing isn’t going to bad mouth China. That is where he makes his living. The film also garnered some extremely poor reviews which I suspect were written before even seeing the movie. I am not saying that it is an excellent film, but it is still good fun, and is no worse than the previous two in the series. If anything it is slightly better than the sequel, with the added bonus of Andy Lau returning in a leading role as Knife, from the God of Gamblers. Out of the three movies, From Vegas to Macau 3 has the most ties to the Original God of Gamblers, with Ko Chun as a main character this time round starring alongside himself as Ken. It is also the silliest out of the three, including a robot romance and a transformers style fight scene. From Vegas to Macau 3 also has the most star power with Chow Yun Fat, Nick Cheung, Andy Lau, Shawn Yue, and Carina Lau from the previous movies and with the new addition of superstar Jacky Cheung and Charles Heung reprising his role of Lone Ng from the original God of Gamblers. Everyone involved seems to be enjoying themselves, and although it none of their best work, you can’t help being taken in by it all. Behind the camera, there isn’t only Wong Jing. He is assisted by Andrew Lau of Internal Affairs fame and also by Billy Chung. I suppose it is a bit confusing that this needed three directors, as sometimes it seems that the actors were left to their own devices. Some of the special effects are also poor, but kind of compliment the overall wacky tone of the film.

Bible verses about gambling

Many people wonder is gambling a sin? Although there might not be a clear cut verse from what we learn in Scripture I strongly believe it is a sin and all Christians should stay away from it. It is terrible to see that some churches are bringing gambling in the house of God. The Lord is not pleased.

Many people are going to say, well the Bible doesn’t specifically say you can’t do it. The Bible doesn’t specifically say you can’t do a lot of things that we know as sin.

Many people find any excuse they can give for what is wrong, but just like Satan deceived Eve he will deceive many by saying, did God really say you can’t do that?

Quotes

“Gambling is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and the father of mischief.” – George Washington

“Gambling is a sickness, a disease, an addiction, an insanity, and is always a loser in the long run.”

“Gambling can be just as addictive as drugs and alcohol. Teens and their parents need to know that they’re not just gambling with money, they’re gambling with their lives.”

“Gambling is the sure way of getting nothing for something.”

Gambling is of the world, it is very addicting, and it will cause you harm.

Gambling is loving something that is part of the cruel world, not only is it dangerous especially back in the days where many were being plotted on and murdered for their money. Gambling is very addictive, you can go into a casino one day thinking I’m going to spend this much, then leave without your car. For some people it’s that bad and it can become even worse.

I’ve heard many stories about people losing their lives for owing money and people losing their lives by committing suicide because of the money they lost. Many people have lost their houses, spouses, and kids over their gambling addiction. You might say that I don’t gamble that much, but it doesn’t matter. Even if it is small fun gambling it is sin and it should not be done. Always remember that sin grows overtime. Your heart becomes harder, your desires become greedier, and it will turn into something that you never saw coming.

1. 1 Corinthians 6:12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say–but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”–but I will not be mastered by anything.

2. 2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity–for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”

3. 1 Timothy 6:9-10 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

4. Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.

5. Proverbs 15:27 The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live.

Gambling leads to more sin.

Not only does gambling lead to deeper and deeper covetousness, but it leads to different types of sin. When you go to the movie theater and buy popcorn they make it extra buttery so you will buy their expensive drinks. When you go to casinos they promote alcohol. When you are not sober you will be trying to kick back and spend more money. Many people who are addicted to gambling are also living in drunkenness. Prostitutes are always near casinos. They entice men who seem like high rollers and they entice men who are down on their luck. It is not a surprise that most casinos promote sensuality and women.

6. James 1:14-15 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Scripture teaches that we are to be on guard against covetousness.

7. Exodus 20:17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

8. Ephesians 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.

9. Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

As Christians we are to fix our attitudes on money.

Dnd God Of Gambling

10. Ecclesiastes 5:10 Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.

11. Luke 16:13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

What is your eye gazing upon?

Your chance of winning the lottery on a single ticket is one in 175 million. That means that someone has to really be greedy and have dreams of riches to still try and play the lottery. You have to pay for more and more tickets because of your greed and what you are really doing is emptying your pockets because of your covetousness.

Most gamblers throw money away. Most people who go to casinos lose money that could have been used for paying bills or on the less fortunate, but instead people would rather throw it away. It is wasting God’s money on evil, which is similar to stealing.

12. Luke 11:34-35 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

13. Proverbs 28:22 Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty.

14. Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.

15. Proverbs 28:20 The trustworthy person will get a rich reward, but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble.

We are to be hard workers.

The Bible teaches us to work hard and worry about others. Gambling teaches us to do the opposite. In fact, many of the people who play the lottery are poor. Gambling destroys something that God intended for good. You have to understand that the devil is using it to destroy the foundation of work.

16. Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

17. Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.

18. Proverbs 10:4 Lazy people are soon poor; hard workers get rich.

19. Proverbs 28:19 Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty.

Gambling and betting is giving the appearance of evil.

What would you think if you went inside a casino and you saw your pastor holding money in one hand and rolling dice in another? That picture just wouldn’t look right would it? Now picture yourself doing the same thing. Society does not look at gambling as being honest. The betting industry is a dark world filled with crime. Google treats gambling websites like pornography websites. Gambling websites contain a lot of viruses.

20. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Many churches want to turn God’s house into a place to play bingo and other gambling activities, which is wrong. God’s house is not a place to make profit. It is a place to worship the Lord.

21. John 2:14-16 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

Gambling is not trusting in the Lord.

One of the greatest problems of gambling is it takes away from trusting in the Lord. God says I will provide for your needs. Satan says roll the dice there might be a chance that you win and become filthy rich. You see the problem. When you trust in God nothing is by chance. God provides for our needs and God gets all the glory. Gambling is showing that you don’t really trust in the Lord.

22. Isaiah 65:11 But because the rest of you have forsaken the LORD and have forgotten his Temple, and because you have prepared feasts to honor the god of Fate and have offered mixed wine to the god of Destiny.

23. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Reminders

24. Proverbs 3:7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

God Of Gambling Twitter

25. Proverbs 23:4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.

In conclusion.

God Of Gambling Chinese

You have a higher chance of being struck by lighting than winning the lottery. Most gambling is not made for you to win. It’s made for you to dream about what if I did win. Gambling fails in its attempt to give people hope because most people spend thousands of dollars for nothing. Just take a thousand dollars and throw it in the garbage that is exactly what gamblers do over the course of time. When you have greed you will always lose more than you gain. Gambling is bad for your health and it violates many Scriptures as seen above. Seek hard work and trust in the Lord with your income.

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sinetheta · 6 years

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C’est La Vie Mon Chéri (新不了情). dir. Derek Yee (爾冬陞). 1993.

C’est La Vie Mon Chéri, roughly translating to “That’s life my dear/love,” is a Hong Kong romance, melodramatic film directed by Derek Yee. Its alternative title is Endless Love. The Chinese title, 新不了情 refers to the 1961 Hong Kong film, Love Without End (不了情) starring Lin Dai and directed by Doe Chin (陶秦). Both films have a similar plot, with both female protagonists being diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Kit (Sean Lau) is a jazz musician struggling to find success. After having just broken up with his singer girlfriend, Tracy (Carina Lau), he befriends Min (Anita Yuen), who works for the Cantonese street opera. Min’s bubbly personality and optimism in life strongly influences Kit and motivates him to continue pursuing his music career. As Kit and Min’s friendship eventually evolves into romance, they face many challenges along the way, including winning the acceptance of Min’s family, and Min being re-diagnosed with bone cancer.

The film was nominated in multiple categories at the 30th Golden Horse Awards and the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards. It won six awards at the 13th Hong Kong Film awards, including Best Film. Derek Yee received Best Director and Best Screenplay, Anita Yuen received Best Actress and Paul Chun and Fung Bo Bo received Best Supporting Actor and Actress respectively.

In 2008, Derek Yee and CCTV produced a television adaptation of the film, starring Fiona Sit and Chen Kun.

Follow sinθ magazine for more daily posts about Sino arts and culture

#derek yee #lau ching wan #anita yuen #hong kong film #hong kong cinema #chinese cinema #c'est la vie mon cheri #endless love #nc #week 80

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dramaclover · 3 years

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Ending & Thoughts: The Witness

I was pretty excited for this drama. And you might think I’m crazy since a lot of people thought airing this drama is a waste of a slot. And I get it they could’ve aired bigger dramas. Chances are TVB only aired it so Him Law could get a Best Actor Nomination which they need to fill out the quota for it. Or else it’s gonna end up being saturated with supporting actors from Come Home Love again like last year. But the premise of it is interesting! Instead of a Prince Charming protecting the gorgeous female witness (like all witness protection type dramas). We get a down on the luck rookie cop protecting a straight forward OCD guy. It’s a cute twist to it and the start of bromance.

Plot

Ah Kei (Him Law) saves Ah Fan (Willie Wai) after he witnesses a murder. Ah Fan is placed in witness protection program but because of his strange personality that makes it hard to trust others he wouldn’t allow anyone but Ah Kei who saved his life to protect him. Ah Kei ends up living with Ah Fan to protect him. That’s how he gets entangled with Chris (Kelly Cheung) and end up falling in love. Ah Kei’s older sister Miss Ko (Pinky Cheung) gets involved by falling for Ah Fan. The main case of this drama is finding Ah Fans missing memories from years ago which is also connected with Ah Kei’s fathers death.

The drama is fun to watch. The acting was great from everyone. Kelly is still a bit stiff and has a slight accent but she was still super enjoyable to watch. But the storyline started to falter a bit. It got plagued with annoying side characters and the main leads themselves are dumbed down when the story started focusing more on the mystery behind the fathers death.

- Annoying character #1 belongs to Kam Chi Sing (King Lam). I know every drama there has to be a rival. But boy, he’s just so annoying. All he cared about was getting a promotion. And always arguing with Ah Kei cause he’s such a proud guy that he’s always undermining him. Always getting in the way for Ah Kei to solve cases and he would bring up Ah Kei’s dead father just to rile him up. I’m so glad that even his followers under him stopped listening to him. That was such a good moment for him to realize everyone is tired of his shit and moved on from him. He was despicable from beginning to end. There was no redemption from him. His smirk is downright cocky.

- Annoying character #2 goes to Ah Kei’s ex-girlfriend Yuki (Sammi Cheung). She’s always spending her time shopping which is how she always racks up her credit card debt. In which she decides to borrow money to pay it off. It causes loan sharks to chase after her & always needing Ah Kei’s help to solve it. Her character is infuriating. She lives with Ah Kei rent free, eats for free & has been with him for 10 years. Yet she goes and cheats on him. And when she gets caught she makes up a lie to get him to believe her. In the end when Ah Kei finds out the truth she blames him. WTH. She blames him for not caring about her enough & how she doesn’t defend her when her sister calls her out on things. Nevermind the fact that he’s always running around scraping for money to pay off your debt. Nevermind how he’s always treated you well despite your spending habits. It’s HIS FAULT that she ended up cheating. It’s disturbing that while she’s cheating she’s finding all these ways to hide it while still living with him. And when she witnessed something that could save Ah Fan from wrongly getting arrested she chooses to ignore it so she can continue her affair. Ugh. I hate cheaters especially ones that feign innocent and blames the other partner. Like own up to your wrong doings.

- Annoying character #3 is given to Yip Cheung Lok (Lau Kong). He’s always flip flopping on his emotions. Years ago he finds out his son Gordon (Tsui Wing) was involved with a kidnapping- murder case. He decides to protect him by sending him to America. And years later when he finds out his son has done more horrible things like committing more murders. At first he’s like “I’m gonna call the cops, you’re going to jail” and then the next minute he shuts his mouth to protect his son. He’s always apologizing and trying to “fix” things which just made things worse. Instead of leaving Chun Po (Helen Ma) alone he instead tricks her to live with them. This is the reason why she died cause she kept spouting details about what happened in the past to Gordon. When he realized all the wrong doings of his son. He does nothing to stop it. I get it he’s sick in bed. But he was able to leave and walk. His son isn’t watching him 24/7. He could have easily picked up the phone and call Ah Fan to warn him about Gordon. He didn’t even have to call the cops to get Gordon arrested. The bare minimum for him to do would be at least try to stop Gordon from taking over Ah Fans fathers company. But he did nothing. In the end he died because his own son attacked him & basically left him to die. Sad but fitting end for him considering he’s the one that let his son spiral this out of control. Gordon committing the first crime could be a mistake, but committing a second and third? That’s no longer a mistake but a choice.

The Love Triangle

Pretty annoying. Chris and Ah Kei has cute chemistry. And I really like how it developed they saw each other in a different light. I was disappointed that they dragged out the triangle though. Ah Kei bothered me with how he handled Yuki. I understand that you dated Yuki for 10 years so it’s hard for him to just abandon her. But really? Letting Yuki live with you while dating Chris? Anyone would be pissed. Chris has the right to get mad. Yuki & Ah Kei didn’t have a amicable breakup she cheated and threw a fit about how she’s right and he’s wrong. The next time they saw each other she slaps Ah Kei believing he assaulted her new boyfriend. Yuki girl. You dated Ah Kei for 10 years and you’d rather believe your new boy toy then the guy that stood by you all these years? This is an example of why Ah Kei doesn’t need to go that far to help Yuki. Ah Kei is so oblivious to how Yuki is trying to break apart his relationship with Chris. She sabotaged almost all their dates. I thought Yuki would redeem herself wholly once she realized how much Ah Kei loved Chris but instead she runs to find a Chris & demands her to leave him and stop stringing him along. Then they try to redeem Yuki by having her do the bare minimum to help Chris find Ah Kei. In the end they become good friends which I find unnecessary. I rather have it end with them bumping into each other & wishing each other well. Yuki has made one too many mistakes to earn the right to stay in their lives.

The Randomness

Apart from the annoying characters & love triangle. The character development of Ah Fan went downhill. Ah Fan goes through three amnesiac phases. And the first two involved him forgetting what happened during specific time periods. The third one, he forgets his sister and his friends including Ah Kei & Miss Ko. Now at first it was endearing of him trying to re-learn his past but then it turns awful when he gets used by Gordon. Which I don’t understand. Miss Ko lies to him about her being his fiancé & his sister went along with it. This gets him mad that they lied to him & he goes to live with Gordon. He wouldn’t even listen to their explanations. When Chris tells him that he never dated Gordon he refused to believe her & thought she was playing Gordon with Ah Kei. It was very hard to watch from here on. Seeing him turned into someone different. By that I meant he was no longer the smart thinker he once was. No matter what happens Chris is your sister. Your only blood relative left & yet he chooses to believe Gordon? Ignoring the fact he no longer cares or trusts Chris. He should at least sympathize the fact that this company that he chose to sign over to Gordon was the last of his fathers hardwork. Even if Ah Fan doesn’t want to be involved with the company, he could’ve passed it on to Chris his blood sister. And I’m just so confused and find it random. Before he lost his memories he doted and loved his sister, always wanting to protect her. He even moved out of their house to live with Ah Kei to protect his sister from getting hurt. They had a tight bond. Even if he loses his memories wouldn’t the familiar feeling stay? The way he tells Chris that he chooses to trust & picks Gordon over her was so heartbreaking. I refuse to believe Ah Fan would ever do that memory loss or not. Also Ah Fan is incredibly smart. He’s able to recognize smells, footsteps and even sound of voices. He’s also able to tell if someone is lying at times. You want me to believe all this time he stayed with Gordon he didn’t find anything suspicious with Gordon & his father? He lost his memory, not his brain. Gordon literally hasn’t even done anything ground breaking for Ah Fan to trust him so deeply. I was also convinced that Ah Fan was faking amnesia to get close to Gordon to build a case on him. But turns out he was just dumb & easily fooled. Even at the very end it caused him getting his memory back for him to finally realize Gordon is evil. Ah Fan went way out of character after the amnesia.

Final Thoughts

I don’t know how I feel about whether or not I’d re-watch. The beginning and middle was fun and hilarious. I think it would be better if you watch it solely for the comedic side that involved friendship, sibling bond & relationships. If you want to watch it for the crime aspect you’d be disappointed. As for this drama they dumbed down the heroes to drag on the cases to fit the 20 episode quota. They could’ve written more cases instead of dragging the three cases but I guess the writer got lazy. The writer chose to prolong it instead of writing a fresh case. The final case involving the mystery of the parents death was dragged on way too long. Ah Kei didn’t even realize Gordon killed them until the very end. He just believed Gordon is involved but not the mastermind. Also I’m shocked that Gordon would end up being such a hardcore villian. In the beginning he was just another spoiled rich boy. I always thought he made mistakes because he was pampered & wanted more money. The fact Gordon killed years ago and went on to kill more people & even offed his own father was something I didn’t expect happening. Especially since this is supposed to be considered a light comedic cop drama, I never thought it would go as far as family killing. I also hoped that there would be more bromance between Ah Kei & Ah Fan. I was sorely disappointed that their interactions afterwards just involved him pressuring Ah Fan to regain his memory instead of an actual friend bonding LOL. All in all it was a good watch. Willie Wai gave an impressive & eye catching portrayal. Honestly if we’re talking about TV King, Willie should win. He has always been a solid actor & his performance was great and he recieved a lot of praises. He didn’t come off as annoying with his OCD & strange personality. Despite his character going off the walls in the later episodes he still acted very well. Unfortunately the drama got sub par ratings so him winning is very unlikely. Also along with the fact TVB has no plans on promoting him. (He only got this role cause TVB literally ran out of older actors). But my vote goes to Willie to win nonetheless. I guess I’d probably re-watch the beginning again and just skip the unnecessary amnesia arc.

#tvb #tvb drama

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fayewonglibrary · 4 years

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HAPPY TOGETHER (2002)

By Vivienne Chow

PUT FOUR STARS in a movie together, add a history of strained working relationships and light the blue touch paper with a hectic shooting schedule. It’s just a matter of time before the fireworks begin.

Or not, according to Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Faye Wong, Chang Chen and Vicky Zhao Wei. Contrary to Chinese press reports of a sour atmosphere on the set of the comedy Chinese Odyssey 2002, the four stars insist they got along splendidly - and more, that the intensity of the shooting enabled them to get to know each other well. “We were just like a big family,” says Leung, still hot property after winning best actor at Cannes in 2000 for his portrayal of a news reporter in In The Mood For Love. “We ate and drank together. It helped get everybody involved in their characters.” Leung’s relief is palpable. Nine years ago, when he and Cantopop diva Wong starred in the off-beat and gritty romance Chungking Express, the pair hardly made eye contact once the cameras had stopped rolling. Leung says the new Wong is a different woman.

“Last time we worked together, we didn’t talk much,” he says.

“This time, she was very friendly and cheerful. She joked with me all the time. I never realised she could tell jokes. Unlike other experienced actors, she doesn’t act according to a formula. She is unpredictable - acting with her is definitely fun.” Wong, too, admits to a more mature outlook. “This was the first time for me to get to know Tony,” she says. “I didn’t speak to him at all during Chungking Express. Now I realise communication between actors is essential. I was always seeking advice from him.”

Communication had to take a back seat in favour of hard graft, however. Leung, Wong, Taiwan’s Chinese Odyssey 2002 star Chang and mainland actress Zhao, who recently shone in Shaolin Soccer, were bound together in Shanghai with only two frantic months for filming.

The abrupt schedule which ended last month was timed to allow the film’s release in Hong Kong and across the mainland for the lucrative Lunar New Year period. Chinese Odyssey 2002 is a comedy set in the Ming dynasty and is produced by award-winning director Wong Kar-wai (In The Mood For Love, Happy Together) and directed and written by Jeff Lau Chun-wai, who revealed his talents in comedies such as A Chinese Odyssey (no relation to the new film) and The Legendary La Rose Noire.

A classic tale of tangled love, it is the story of Princess Wu Shuang (Wong) who, with her older brother Emperor Zheng De (Chang), often sneaks out of the palace dressed as a man.

They meet Li Yilong (Leung) and his younger sister Phoenix (Zhao), vicious gangsters from a small town. Confusion reigns when the princess falls for Li just as his sister Phoenix finds herself head over heels in love with the princess in her guise as a man. Naturally, Zheng De is in turn smitten with love for Phoenix.

Even the experienced Leung says the film provided a whole new experience for him. He admits he had to throw in everything he learned over the past 20 years. “I had to sing, dance, cry, laugh and ride a horse. I have never been in any film like this before,” says the 38-year-old. “I have no confidence when it comes to singing, but I had to perform three duets with Faye Wong.” As most of Leung’s recent films have been melancholic dramas, he sees Chinese Odyssey 2002 as a breath of fresh air. “I enjoy making comedies because I can be happy every day,” he says. “I prefer films with good gags and a touching and solid storyline, like this one. Good comedy scripts are rare in Hong Kong. This one is complete and detailed. Without a script like this, there is no way we could have finished the film so quickly.”

For Wong, 32, Chinese Odyssey 2002 is a comedy debut. She is better known for her somewhat serious and aloof image. To imagine her making an audience giggle seems, well, inconceivable. “Don’t think that I don’t have a sense of humour,” she protests. “Comedy is difficult for me if I have to do those exaggerated facial expressions but my role is not required to do that. The comical effects come from the story itself.” Comedy was also new to Chang, who played Zhang Ziyi’s love interest in Crouching Tiger. The 25-year-old says he was worried before shooting began. “My friends say I don’t have any sense of humour so I didn’t understand why I was chosen. And having to play Faye Wong’s older brother was very strange because I’m younger than her and I am less experienced.

Fortunately, the costume helped a lot.” Chang admits he was intimidated by the Cantopop queen, his long-time idol. “I have been listening to her music since I was in school. I secretly took my Walkman when I did my military service just to listen to her songs.

[On the set] I dared not talk to her. All I managed to say was: ‘Hi, are you working now?’ and: 'Bye, you off?”’

Wong says she did her best to be friendly and natural. “I noticed [Chang] didn’t come up and talk to me much. He was very shy. But I tried my best to be as normal as possible. What can I do?” she says.

Leung says Chang has grown up a lot since they worked together on Happy Together in 1997. “The last time we worked together he was just a kid but now, with more life experience, Chang is getting better,” he says. Chang in return says Leung helped boost his confidence. “He taught me a lot. He kept telling me: 'Don’t worry, you can do it.”’ For Leung, time was the key pressure (apart from the singing). Over the previous six months, he had been working in Hanzhou on the set of Hero, a martial-arts extravaganza by critically acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou, and had to get permission to take time out to shoot Chinese Odyssey 2002. Although the tight schedule allowed him to take part, he says it still came as a shock when he realised he had only 20 days to shoot his scenes.

“It sounded impossible but I understand this is the style of Wong Kar-wai’s film company, Jet Tone - making impossibilities become possible. We worked almost 20 hours every day. They only took two takes for each shot. I nearly returned the money to the company and quit after the first few days. I didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye to the crew [when his filming finished]. I was dragged to a coach back to Hanzhou immediately after the last shot at 6am. It was very sad.”

Working under Jeff Lau Chun-wai’s direction is in contrast to Leung’s usual style, he says. “For instance, shooting a Wong Kar-wai-directed film can last up to two years, where the first six months are just the warm-up exercises. I’m so used to the slow filming progress.

’'Usually I have two shots in the morning, then I hide in the coach eating and resting during the day, followed by two shots in the evening. Making this movie was just like fighting in a war.”

Inevitably, there were looser moments. Zhao says getting a little drunk in the interests of the film was one of them. “There was a scene in which Tony, Faye and I were getting wasted,” she recalls.

“It was hard, so we really had a few drinks before shooting that scene. All of us kept giggling.” It was the first time Leung had worked with Zhao and even amid the drunken takes he was impressed with the 25-year-old Beijing star. “She is very professional,” he says. “She didn’t challenge the director’s instructions as I did when I started out. She delivered all of her performances very well.”

Wong and Zhao were at pains to play down press reports during the shoot that they didn’t get on with each other. “One day I was sitting on my own, far from Faye, Tony and Chen but that moment was caught by the press and they started making up stories of me not getting along with them,” Zhao says. Wong also dismisses such suggestions and says she even sought advice on acting from the Beijing Film Academy-trained Zhao. 'She is a very simple girl, not fussy about anything,“ Wong says. ’'As we share the same language, we talked a lot.” It is Wong, arguably, who has learned the most from the brief but intense experience, notably a joy in film-making.

“Filming Chungking Express was a nightmare for me,” she says. “I didn’t have the confidence to act at that time. I had no idea what I was doing and I had to act out many embarrassing situations. ’'But Chinese Odyssey 2002 has been such good fun. Jeff’s direction was very clear and he taught me how to do it. I want to know more about acting.” Leung agrees. “The spirit and atmosphere throughout the whole film were incredible,” he says. “I really hope there will be a sequel. It just depends on whether the boss is willing to invest.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCE: SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

#2002

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tatselk · 7 years

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Shin PSOH: Final Chapter

I'm currently reading Volume 10 of the Chinese version of Shin PSOH/ PSOH Tokyo. Here's a summary of what happened in the final chapter, just because this is too good (also, I apologise for any mistakes as I am simultaneously reading and translating this):

1. Taizu/ Lau Wu Fei's father is dying and wishes to see him married.

2. Taizu lies to him that he already has someone in mind.

3. Count D offers to "lend" him a woman from the pet shop whom he can pass off to his father as his intended wife, and promises that Taizu will find the person whom he truly desires/ wishes to see/ hopes for.

4. Taizu meets a total of 5 different potential "spouses" in 5 different rooms. At first, Count D accompanies Taizu in these meetings. However, before the meeting with the last potential “spouse”, Count D is called away to attend to some urgent business, as there is someone who wishes to see him at the shop. Count D asks Taizu to proceed to the final room alone, tells him that “the person this time should satisfy Taizu’s wish/ hope” and said, “Then, Taizu, please take care” (hold that thought).

5. During Taizu’s meeting with the last potential “spouse”, things got abit weird/ supernatural and somehow Taizu discovers that what he apparently wants is to commit patricide. 0_0 There were also some tantalising bits about how Taizu does not want to marry anyone as the only woman he cares about is his step-sister Chun Li and how Taizu is angry at his father for ruining the lives of his first wife, Taizu’s mother (the second wife), Chun Li and Taizu. Unfortunately, these points were not further explored.

6. The last potential "spouse" says that if Taizu takes her hand/ picks her, he will be able to achieve whatever he wants, whether it is to supersede his father or to rule a nation. Taizu rejects her offer and says that he will not depend on others to achieve his aims.

7. The last potential "spouse" laughs and suggests that what Taizu really needs is a friend who is not calculative, with whom Taizu can meet on equal terms, whom Taizu can confide in and trust etc. Then, the last potential "spouse" directs Taizu to go with the words, “Isn’t there someone like that in the pet shop now?” (again, hold that thought).

8. As Taizu leaves the room, he ruminates about what the last potential "spouse" said and wonders whether she is referring to Count D. But Taizu is pretty outraged with this idea as, amongst other things, he feels that that Count D got him involved in random crap and frivolously uses his credit card to waste his money. Oh, and Taizu doesn’t trust Count D’s “supercilious” smile. But then, Taizu considers that Count D might be a valuable business partner if he continues to do more business in Japan.

9. As Taizu reaches the door to the front of the pet shop, he is confused at someone shouting, “So slow!! How long are you going to keep me waiting!?”

10. DUN DUN DUN. Taizu meets Leon! They are confused about the identities of each other. Taizu asks his assistant, Chen, “Old Chen, where’s the Count? He should be back by now?” Chen replies, “Ah, n-no? I haven’t seen him come back.”

11. At this point, Leon pushes pass Taizu whilst shouting, “Move aside!”. He pushes the door to the back of the pet shop open and it is shown that there is nothing there but a small office-like space. Taizu is bamboozled, “What’s happening? I walked through maze-like corridors just now. Is this a trap door!?”

12. This is the rest of the conversation between Taizu and Leon.

LEON: *Sigh* Of course. Damnit, he ran off again?

TAIZU: Ran off … !?

LEON: Sorry for the disturbance. Bye bye.

TAIZU: Wait, wait, hold on a moment! Who are you? Are you familiar with Count D?

LEON: I’m Leon Orcot, a former police officer with LAPD. When Count D was operating his pet shop in the Chinatown in L.A., he gave me quite a bit of trouble.

TAIZU: T-then does this mean you are apprehending a criminal? No?

LEON: When that fellow left, he forgot something. I want to return it [NOTE: this is Chris’s drawing!] to him, but he gave me the slip every single time. I’m afraid this means that this shop would be closed down too.

TAIZU: Eh?

LEON: By now, he would have flown off.

TAIZU: *realises that when Count D said to him, “Please take care.”, that was his final farewell.”

LEON: I guess the Count stringed you along too, eh? Please accept my condolences. Bye bye.

TAIZU: W-wait a minute!

LEON: Eh—What do you want?

TAIZU: There are so many things I want to ask you!!

13. The next scene cuts to Count D who is escaping on a plane with his trusty suitcase. As Count D looks out of one of the windows of the plane, his final thoughts are about how he will return to Japan someday.

And now for my initial thoughts on this chapter:

1. I have waited years to see Leon again! Thank goodness, he is still alive. :D

2. OMG, Leon actually tracked down Count D to his shop!

3. HOLY CRAP, does this mean that Leon and Taizu are meant to be BFFs? Is this something, which is going to be explored in a future PSOH series?? What does this all mean??? My headcanon is that Leon and Taizu are going to work together somehow to chase down Count D. :)

4. What is up with Taizu’s family troubles stumbling out all at once at the end of the series? Does this mean we are going to see more of Taizu??

5. As a LeonxCount D fan, I’m totally vindicated that Count D’s farewell to Taizu here is about as neutral and bland as it can possibly get, whereas the parting with Leon at the end of the original PSOH was nothing short of being fraught with emotions. Haha.

#pet shop of horrors #petshop of horrors #shin pet shop of horrors #pet shop of horrors tokyo #psoh #shin psoh #psoh tokyo #Count D #Leon Orcot #Taizu #Taizuu #Lau Wu Fei

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chirrutimwe-rogueone-blog · 7 years

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Interview: Donnie Yen

This interview is a real treasure!!!

Acting isn’t a form of putting a mask on. When you’re done with a role, how do you usually get out of it? Is there a specific method?

Actually, that’s a very good question. I actually have a lot of discussion [about this] with my colleagues in Hong Kong, like Anthony Wong– I don’t know if you know his work. I focused a lot on crafting my acting in the last six years, and I go around trying to find different perspectives from everyone, including somebody like Anthony, well-regarded actors in Hong Kong. They tell me sometimes when you’re acting– You know, there are a lot of bits to acting, right? Where you have to be in the character, you can’t get out of the character. To [Anthony], and I agree with him, you don’t really have to be stuck in the character. At the end of the day you’re acting. If you’re playing a killer, you’re really not going to pick up a knife and just kill somebody. For me, it’s just having that control, knowing that this is my job. I want to focus into the character. Once [snaps] the cameras are off, I try to become myself again.

And how do you do that?

It’s just years of practice, right. Like, I’ll give you an example. When I did Painted Skin, I was prepping. I had all these films lined up. When I was doing Painted Skin, I was ready to go on to do Ip Man. Playing Ip Man was a tremendous amount of pressure on me, as you probably guess, right? So I was prepping in the middle of my film. So what I do is I try to be in that character for that particular film for the first half of the shoot, and then knowing that after the film I have to jump right into another character, I will get into that character on the second part of the previous film. So I remember there were a couple incidents where I was on the set of Painted Skin and I was getting into my wing chun practice in my Painted Skin outfit, right?

[laughs]

And the director caught me! We had a shot over a hill, a shot of me walking away from a hilltop or something, alone. And he spotted me with this camera on the monitor, and when I came back to him he was asking me, “What are you doing?” Well, I gotta do another film. [laughs]

[laughs]

You know, I can’t do this film forever, so I’m prepping for my next film. That’s how I usually do it, you know. I kind of pace myself. And speaking of pacing yourself, when you play different characters… Yip Man the character is very skinny, so I have to be on a constant “not-eating” diet.

[laughs] Right, right.

Really skinny. I probably ate a meal a day – no carbs – while Sammo Hung is cooking for everyone, you know?

[laughs]

Basically I’d sit in a corner.

While everybody else was eating?

Yeah, you know, just kind of not letting the scent of good food come this way, and just try to focus – this is the job, you got to do this [kind of thing]. And then for example, doing The Lost Bladesman, I was constantly eating. I’m not really a heavy/stacked guy but to play that role I wanted to be as heavy as possible. Constantly trying to adapt to what are the character’s requirements. It sounds really abnormal and difficult for someone not in the industry, but I’ve been doing it for many years; my mind tells my body how to turn into that role.

You’re known to experiment a lot in your movies with your direction and action choreography, like Legend of the Wolf and Ballistic Kiss. You’re also the first to integrate MMA into fighting scenes with SPL and Flash Point. For Wu Xia, what was your approach?

Back to the basics. Back to the Shaw Brothers. You know, when I action direct, especially in the last six years, I pay a lot of attention to the acting. I’ve been doing these action films for what, 30 years, right? And I find that to truly elevate the level of action movies, the level of action actors, at the end of the day you still have to be a great actor. It’s a proven fact, right, because there are a lot of great martial artists out there, a lot of great fighters, but that doesn’t mean that if you put them in a film, the film can work, or that they can have that kind of magic within themselves and for the audience.

So I said to myself, “Where do I go from there,” you know, six years ago. All martial arts actors talk about bettering their acting, but once they start getting to the project, they go back to staying true to the martial arts. So you basically get all the martial arts that you learned and stay true to the acting. [Editor’s note: Part of the recording was fuzzy/muffled, so parts of the last two sentences are reconstructed from memory and context.]

So you kept martial arts choreography back to basics–

Well, you know, the key is whatever character you’re playing, you link them to a particular martial arts style. Like I’ll be playing a cop, an undercover cop, I wouldn’t be posing in the middle of stopping a crime, right? [laughs]

[laughs]

I would be more hands-on combat, realistic. They all connect together, right? But if I’ll be doing a period film, then the limit is a little bit more expanded, like in Crouching Tiger[, Hidden Dragon]. So basically the farther away from modern days, I think the physical possibilities are a lot greater. Like if I do Hero – Hero was 2,000 years ago – you can fly and you can’t really challenge that. You understand what I’m saying?

Yeah, yeah.

So what I did when we shot Wu Xia, I said, “What am I going to do? I cannot do MMA, it wouldn’t look like, so what should I do?” Let me go back to the basics because, number one, again, stay true to the character. I believe that character would be doing something of that genre, traditional, kung-fu, Shaw Brothers. At the same time, the audiences haven’t seen that for a while. It’s been a while, you know, I wanted to bring that, but with a couple of tricks here and there, maybe a little bit of– one or two shots of CGI, like dissecting the body. I was inspired by watching Discovery Channel.

[laughs]

Really, I was inspired. [Director] Peter Chan asked me, “How are we going to shoot this stuff?” And I said, “You know, actually, let’s try this.” So that’s how we did it.

Is there anything you’d want to experiment with? For example, I know that you’ve done mocap before for [the game] Onimusha [3], are there any ideas that you want to try in your future films?

I want to try anything, really. Of course, as a filmmaker, you constantly have to reinvent yourself. Always throwing things back and saying, “Okay, you did this pretty good in this movie, but it doesn’t mean that you’re going to continue to do good in your next movie.” So you always have to be on your toes, you know. You have to be on top of the game and really try to stay grounded and really hear the audience, the majority of which is the younger generation. A younger audience will tell you what’s going on, you know? I communicate a lot with my kids because children are the most direct. You know, they get things from TV, and they tell me. I don’t want to be outdated because at the end of the day you’re still making a movie. A movie is for entertainment, and entertainment evolves from a lot of pop culture – pop culture influences.

But as an actor, again, the past years six, I’ll continue to craft– I’ll set a good example of what someone who started off as a martial arts actor can become. Again, at the end of the day, martial arts should be one of my advantages, packaging, but you are just an actor like any other actor. So last two years I’ve tried comedy. I just finished a romantic love movie with no action at all, you know. I will probably try more comedy – comedy-action, or more comedy less action, or more action a little comedy; 3D movies, CGI. I want to shoot a black and white movie. Actually, when I shot Legend of the Fist, I insisted on trying to have the picture in black and white. I really wanted that whole look, right? But I never got my way. [laughs]

[laughs]

I told [screenwriter] Gordon Chan and director Andrew Lau. We had daily meetings, discussion of how the film’s going to look like. In the beginning, it was more of just a remake of Fist of Fury. But then Gordon Chan came in and said he wanted to do something fresh. But then Andrew Lau said, “For marketing, you’ve got to do this.” So we always have these big debates about how the film’s going to turn out, so we kind of combined the two elements, which I thought at the end really didn’t work as well as if we focused on just one element. Instead of two elements, you know. Just too many things going on in one film.

But in the beginning with Gordon Chan– Actually, no Andrew Lau and myself, we wanted to just have a remake of Fist of Fury and I wanted it black and white like Schindler’s List. You know, let’s make a classic, heavy-drama, Fist of Fury in black and white, but then Gordon came in and he wanted [something else]… But maybe in the future.

Do you see a point where you give up action – you were talking about comedies and stuff – and say doing drama?

I wouldn’t call it giving up. I would do non-action for just the sake of having the opportunity. I mean, not many action actors are being offered to play in non-action movies.

But just like watching you in Bodyguards and Assassins and Wu Xia…

Right.

The parts I remember are your scenes, you know, with your kids, not the fighting. One of the biggest parts in Bodyguards and Assassins is you breaking everybody’s heart trying to do the right thing.

Well, maybe what I did in the last six years was working. [laughs]

[laughs] It’s fantastic!

Thank you.

So I was wondering if you [had thoughts about purely dramatic roles]?

You know, I would try, but at the end of the day, I don’t forget the business model of making a movie. At the end of the day, you’re talking about reaching out to as many people in the audience as possible. People come to see a Donnie Yen film, they want to see action. You know, I understand that, I accept it, I respect it. So, if I’m being offered to play a non-action movie, yes, I’d take the opportunity. Why not? I just finished a romantic movie, right? I get paid, I don’t sweat. [laughs]

[laughs]

It was a good experience for me, right, but I will never forget my roots and will continue to make action movies.

You mentioned shooting in 3D. I was wondering if you thought about how your action direction would be affected by 3D.

You know, I shot Monkey King – I finished Monkey King. We shot in 3D. There are a lot of restrictions shooting action, or movies themselves, in 3D because the camera is so humongous. Certain angles you can’t really– Because in action you want to have many possibilities with the angles, right? But with 3D, for example, you can’t place the camera flat on the ground, so you can’t shoot a person [from a low angle]. So if I want to shoot a low angle of a person, I have to set up a platform for the actor to stand on. So Chow Yun-Fat would jut be standing on top of a platform if I’m going to get a shot like this. Something like that. And the cameras are very heavy, so if you want to do a dead stop or fast cuts like The Bourne Identity [laughs], you know, kinda wild, it’s very difficult.

[laughs]

But you have to understand what you’re working with. I learned a lot doing Monkey King. We had a wonderful team. We hired 30 people from the Avatar team, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Really experienced experts coming [to the production], and we did that together. I learned a lot and yes, I certainly will explore doing 3D martial arts and kung-fu movies. We’re talking about Ip Man 3… D!

[laughs]

They’re talking about it, but we’re in the stage of finding out what it needs, you know? Budget, etc. Wilson Yip, our director, is exploring that possibility.

What is the most difficult role that you’ve ever tackled?

I’d break it down to two. One, obviously, is the Monkey King because, one, the nature [of the role]. It’s tough to put on that monkey make-up and outfit. You’re talking about four hours a day to put the make-up on, another hour of taking the make-up off. I remember the first day of putting the make-up on, I said to myself, “How am I going to sit through the next three months?” Just sitting there, you know, you have to be a really patient person.

And then, nevermind controlling your expression, because once you have all this prosthetic make-up on your face, you can’t really move the way you [normally] move with your expressions, right? So you have to kind of learn [how to do] your facial movements for the first maybe two weeks. Then the outfit, it’s very heavy. And that was the nature of carrying that role. Second, Monkey King has been played successfully by I recall at least two people. One is Stephen Chow. He attacked it in a comedy way, right?

Right, right, right.

You know, when I was doing Monkey King, I kind of understood why he attacked it in the form of a comedy way because there was another person before him. Older, Beijing Opera, like a TV series, very classic. [Editor’s note: Yen might have been referring to Jinlai Zhang’s portrayal here, but that’s complete conjecture on my part.] So I studied both of them and said to myself, “How can I make a difference? How can I compete with these two established, great works?” I spent at least three weeks on daily shoots readjusting the way I move my body, the way I project my– The gesture and expressions. You can be totally like an animal, like a monkey, or, like Planet of the Apes. You can be a monkey but at the same time you kind of have to retain the classical Beijing Opera because people are used to looking at the Monkey King. You can’t just totally throw that away. I’ll give you a good example. I remember when I was younger I watched Godzilla.

Yeah.

And then I was really disappointed because I wanted Godzilla to be that Godzilla using that [rubber suit]. Not to [take away credit from] the Hollywood way of making Godzilla, but I understand there will be lots of audience members coming to watch The Monkey King and they have certain expectations – you know, they way he rolls the eyes, certain Beijing Opera [gestures]. He plays with the, they [pointing to his head].

Antlers?

Right, the helmet and the two things sticking out. Certain things that I studied from the classics. Particularly I made sure that I would keep those elements and make sure when our Monkey King is presented, it’s a least like the classic Monkey King. [Editor’s note: The recording here is a bit muffled, so this is my best reconstruction from memory and context.] But at the same time, [I’m] adding new elements. Adding new elements was the biggest challenge, imitating the old [portrayals] wasn’t as much because I had a lot of confidence in my body control. I was imitating how all those Monkey Kings, on stage, Beijing Opera, how they move. But adding something new, it was something completely out of my game. So at the end of the day I created four stages of the monkey performance. The beginning, totally monkey-like, animal. I was literally sucking my toes.

[laughs]

I was rolling around, I’d grab my toes, it was a lot of improvisation, plus I was the action direction, so I had a lot of freedom for acting. I didn’t want to rehearse that much. Sometimes I didn’t rehearse at all, and I would tell my director, I’d say, “Let’s just roll it.” I felt it in my heart, let’s try it. And I was acting as I was experimenting, the way to project that moment of monkey. I don’t get it every time when I watch the playback, but I was pretty much on cue. Every time I thought of an image in my head and I acted it out and we shot it, it usually turned out…

It was pretty good, you know, it was pretty good. So in the beginning, I thought how would a monkey– Because I did a lot of research, you know? Watched a lot of Animal Channel, Discovery Channel, studied that. What would a monkey do? What would a monkey do with a banana? So I was imitating all that stuff, recalling all my childhood memories watching monkeys, watching Bugs Bunny, a lot of cartoon characters would go through my head, and when the camera rolled, I just kind of let everything go. Just be free and act.

[Editor’s note: At this point the interview had to wrap up, though I still wonder what that second difficult role for Yen was.]

http://www.flixist.com/interview-donnie-yen-211150.phtml

#donnie yen #interview #i'm laughing

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fuforthought · 7 years

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RIGHT! You've got a time machine and an unlimited budget. Your goal: Make the greatest martial arts film of all time. You can use anyone from any period in time. Who are the good guys? The villains? the old masters? Who fights who? what styles? Where? what? WHO!? 321go.

I’d have an 80′s set kung fu film, so there wouldn’t really be any old masters. Maybe have Phillip Ko Fei (who recently passed away) play someone’s father as a cameo. Maybe he can bust out some old school shapes at some point.The main plot would involve Jackie Chan as the good guy and Sammo Hung as the bad guy. Sammo’s main henchman would be Yuen Biao meaning that, at some point, you’re going to have a Sammo, Jackie, Yuen Biao showdown which has only happened on screen once and, even then, it was a comedic fight. I’d have those guys go at it.I’d make the Korean super-kicker Hwang Jang Lee a good guy, along with Jackie, and I’d have him go against another Korean super-kicker, Kim Won-Jin. That fight would be fucking bonkers.While most fights would be in that 80′s kickboxing style Jackie et al are known for, I’d have to have at least one old school shapes fight. Maybe I’d have Lau Kar Leung star as the police chief who gets into it Kuo Chui from the Venoms crew. Kuo Chui could be hired to kill Lau Kar Leung and they end up having an old school clash of styles in the police station: Snake fist, Mantis style, Drunken boxing, wing Chun...all the classics. Maybe even a brief pole fight just to throw in some weapons.Then there are the ladies. Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Yeoh would team up to go against Moon Lee and Yukari Oshima. I’d maybe throw in some weapons here, too. Moon and Yukari would definitely be the bad guys.The setting would be an 80′s style film similar to “Dragons Forever” or “Police Story”. Just a fun cop adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’d throw in a few crazy stunts for extra measure.The fights would be choreographed by Sammo Hung and Lau Kar Leung. Maybe Kuo Chui as well. Oh and to add to the talent, I’d have the guys from Martial Club and Young Masters star as henchmen. Those guys are so talented and need a full-length film to star in.To be honest, the possibilities are endless. I want to see so many fights I’ll never get to see. But this comes close to perfection, I think.

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seduniablog · 5 years

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Be A Star & Steal the Show at Madame Tussauds, Hong Kong

Located at Victoria Peak, the Hong Kong branch of the world-famous Madame Tussauds is the first Madame Tussauds museum in Asia. Get up close and personal with famous icons in film, television, music, sports, politics and history. Featuring over 100 fantastic lifelike wax figures and 12 interactive zones, Madame Tussauds offers a world of unique, interactive experiences and fantastic memories that last a lifetime! See you there!

Compile and rewrite by Ilona

Meet Asian VIPs at the Hong Kong Glamour zone

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Inspired by a traditional Zen monastery, the Kung Fu Zone is Hong Kong’s first permanent tribute to martial arts and local Kung Fu films! Bruce Lee, one of the greatest martial arts masters of all time, is immortalized with his signature flying kick through a dojo wall! Donnie Yen appears as Ip Man, the legendary Wing Chun master to Bruce Lee.

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Go wild over the Avant-garde art of Yayoi Kusama at the Art Gallery zone

The Avant-Garde Japanese contemporary artist, Yayoi Kusama will make you go wild over one of her insanely popular infinity room concepts! Decorated in iconic yellow polka dots and gourd motifs, this art installation invites you to embark on a visual journey you won’t forget!

Parallel mirrors, along with dramatic lighting effects, instantly create a sense of infinite space and dissolve the border between space and oneself, inviting visitors to get lost in a visual journey of “self-obliteration.”

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Madame Tussauds Hong Kong offers the hottest backstage pass to music icons you know and adore! Meet platinum-selling girl power icon, Ariana Grande and show off your moonwalking skills with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

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Embrace your “inner child” at the Animated World Zone

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How to get to the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong

The museum located inside Peak Tower, at Victoria Peak. Take the MTR and take Island Line or Tsuen Wan Line to Central Station. Walk to Peak Tram Lower Terminus on Garden Road for the tram up to the Peak. Another way is to take Bus 15C or Bus 15 to the top of Victoria Peak. Alternatively, you can take a bus or a taxi to get to The Peak.

Insider tips:

Children under 12 are allowed into the museum only if accompanied by an adult.

No food is allowed in the museum.

Professional photographers are provided to take photos for visitors with their favourite wax icons.

Open from 10 am to 10 pm, Monday to Sunday and public holiday

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