The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
- Jackie Chan's China appointment draws Hong Kong ire
- Richard Burton immortalized in Hollywood next to Taylor
- Final movie in 'Hobbit' trilogy moves to December 2014
| Jackie Chan's China appointment draws Hong Kong ire Posted: 01 Mar 2013 08:35 PM PST HONG KONG: Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan this week joins China's top political advisory body in a move analysts say highlights Beijing's growing "soft power" efforts to project unity between itself and the former British colony. But the 58-year-old actor, famous in the West for "Rush Hour" and "Police Story", faces a backlash in his hometown where the mainland is viewed with increasing suspicion. According to professor Sonny Ho, co-director at the Centre for Greater China Studies, Chan was selected to appear at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) because his stardom could help promote ties. "Jackie Chan is acting under the soft power and united front of the PRC (mainland) government," he said. The "united front" strategy, he said, was a campaign to promote a strong and peaceful homeland, unified with Taiwan. China's growing clout over the past decade has seen actors from Hong Kong and Macau drafted into patriotic movies that glorify the country's past, from the mighty Han Dynasty to the early Communist Party era, Ho added. The appointment of the martial arts star however was met with derision online in Hong Kong where Chan's reputation has taken a nosedive in recent years over his pro-Beijing stances such as calling for limits on the right to protest. Dissatisfaction towards Beijing has risen in recent years over a range of issues from alleged political interference to an influx of mainlanders blamed for driving up property prices and for shortages of baby formula. The announcement of Chan's appointment was greeted with online derision. "Yet another movie star turns into a CPPCC member. Since when did this negative social trend become so popular?" one user posted on the Sina Weibo microblog site. "Sure, add another big dope to a veritable congregation of big dopes," 'ianson' commented on the website of the South China Morning Post newspaper. The CPPCC is a 2,000-strong advisory body which includes China's other token political parties and a few celebrities, including former NBA basketball star Yao Ming. The conference, which convenes on Sunday, functions as a high-profile organisation but it is more toothless than China's essentially rubber-stamp legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), which opens its annual session on Tuesday. However the NPC, with nearly 3,000 delegates, has a higher profile this year as it will confirm the completion of China's once-a-decade power transfer. At the meeting, new Communist Party boss Xi Jinping will be installed as Chinese president, taking over from Hu Jintao. Chan, who is known for his martial arts skills and daring comedic stunt work, provoked a furious fight-back last December after reportedly suggesting in a Chinese magazine interview that protests in his native city should be restricted. And in 2009, he landed in hot water for telling a forum that "we Chinese need to be controlled". Pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmaker Emily Lau said his appointment was more evidence that Beijing was not prepared to take the city's concerns seriously. "Maybe he represents a certain segment of the population but he has also upset quite a number of people. So if Beijing decides to appoint him, it shows you what kind of views they want to listen to, which is quite unfortunate." But while increasing numbers of entertainers have allowed themselves to be co-opted by Beijing, Lau was not hopeful many would be willing to voice dissent. "The last time Hong Kong artists came together was on June 4, 1989 (after the Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protests)," she said. "Now, many of them are very frightened of upsetting Beijing. The mainland is also now the biggest market so they cannot afford to let go of those commercial opportunities." - AFP |
| Richard Burton immortalized in Hollywood next to Taylor Posted: 01 Mar 2013 07:36 PM PST LOS ANGELES - British actor Richard Burton finally received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to that of his two-time wife, Elizabeth Taylor, on Friday, nearly 30 years after his death. Welsh-born Burton, who died in 1984, received the career honor as part of the 50th anniversary of ancient Egypt movie drama "Cleopatra," in which he and co-star Taylor began their storied and tumultuous love affair. The couple's adopted daughter, Maria Burton, accepted the honor of the iconic terrazzo and brass star along Hollywood Boulevard in the historical heart of the U.S. film industry. Burton was nominated for an Oscar seven times between 1953 and 1978 but never won the prize. Actor and fellow Welshman Michael Sheen spoke at the unveiling and recalled the awe he felt when Burton and Taylor, one of Hollywood's most famous couples, visited the village where Sheen grew up. "The same beach that I built my boyhood sand castles (on) and learned to flailingly swim - it was that same beach, that one legendary day, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor descended from the heavens, like gods from Olympus, in a helicopter ... and landed on those sands," Sheen said. "They stepped out swathed in luxurious fur coats - it was the '70s - and walked among us for too short a time," he added. Burton, whose star is the 2,941th installed, starred in 11 films with Taylor, including "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" in 1966 and "The Taming of the Shrew" in 1967. The couple's scandalous love affair during 1964's "Cleopatra" was made into a U.S. television movie "Liz & Dick," starring Lindsay Lohan, last year. Burton and Taylor wed for the first time in 1964 and divorced in 1974. They remarried the following year, but that marriage lasted just nine months. Burton, who was born Richard Jenkins, was married five times and died in 1984 from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 58. Taylor, who married eight times, died in 2011 at age 79. - Reuters |
| Final movie in 'Hobbit' trilogy moves to December 2014 Posted: 01 Mar 2013 04:30 PM PST The final installment of "The Hobbit" film trilogy will be released on December 17, 2014, five months later than planned, Warner Bros. said on Thursday. "The Hobbit: There and Back Again" had been set to debut in July 2014. It will follow "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," which came out in December 2012, and "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," is scheduled to be released on December 13, 2013. "We're excited to complete the trilogy the same way we started it, as a holiday treat for moviegoers everywhere," said Dan Fellman, president of distribution for Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc "The Hobbit" series is a prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy "The Lord of the Rings," which director Peter Jackson made into three Oscar-winning films about a decade ago. The first "Hobbit" film was a blockbuster with global sales of $981 million, according to the Box Office Mojo website. The trilogy is financed by Warner Bros. New Line Cinema and MGM. - Reuters |
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