MY NEW SASSY GIRL 我的新野蛮女友 Movie Review

Synopsis

A sequel to the 2001 hit romantic-comedy "My Sassy Girl" - Cha Tae-hyun returns to reprise his role as Gyun-woo together with Victoria (member of South Korean girl group f(x)) as the new ‘sassy girl’. 

Gyun-woo (Cha Tae-hyun) is having difficulty forgetting the sassy girl. One day he reunites with his childhood sweetheart (Victoria Song), an elementary school classmate from China who was often teased about her broken Korean. Gyun-woo marry her and goes through a honeymoon which no man would ever dream of.

Movie Details and Casts

Starring      : Cha Tae-hyun, Victoria Song

Directed by   : Jo Geun-sik

Genre      : Romantic-Comedy

Run-time      : 100-mins

Rating      : PG (no consumer advice)

DIRECTOR

JO GEUN-SIK

Born in 1968. Graduated from Seoul Institute of the Arts and KAFA majoring in film-directing.

Past works:
1998 <Wanna be> short film
2002 <Conduct Zero> Starring Ryoo Seung‑bum, 
                Box office: 9.837 million USD
2006 <Once In a Summer> Starring Lee Byung‑hun
Box office: 1.593 million USD


CHA TAE-HYUN as GYUN-WOO

Cha Tae-hyun (born March 25, 1976) is a South Korean actor and singer. Internationally, he is best known for his lead roles in the box-office hit comedies My Sassy Girl (2001) and Scandal Makers (2008).

2001 <My Sassy Girl>
2002 <Lovers' Concerto>
2004 <Two Guys>
2007 <Highway Star>
2008 <Scandal Makers>
2010 <Hello Ghost>
2012 <The Grand Heist>
2014 <Slow Video>


VICTORIA SONG as XING XING

Song Qian (Chinese: 宋茜, Hangul: 송치엔; born February 2, 1987), better known as Victoria Song or mononymously as Victoria, is a Chinese singer, dancer, actress and model. Over the years, Victoria has been active in various Korean and Chinese entertainment outlets.

Following her debut with the South Korean girl group f(x), Victoria gained fame as part of a virtual couple with Nichkhun in We Got Married Season 2, as well as being a cast member of KBS's Invincible Youth. She won the Popularity Award at the MBC Entertainment Awards. She also began to take up acting in China, playing lead roles in dramas such as When Love Walked In and My New Sassy Girl, and won the Best New Actress Award at the China National Drama Awards.

Victoria is very popular in China, with more than 18 million followers on Weibo, ranking fourth most followed K-pop celebrity as of April 2015. She was ranked 80 on The 2013 Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Faces and first on Sohu's 2011 Entertainment World's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 2014, she won the "2014 Goddess of Asia" poll with 579,298 votes. She was also named one of the top ten most popular celebrities on Baidu, ranking at 7.

Review

The sequel rely on the success of My Sassey Girl in 2001, but came short of plot in the movie. The original was funny, comic driven and has a emotional component into it. The new movie is a combined production of Korea and China. With a much bigger China market, the movie hope to capture a large audience who still have memories of the 2001 movie. 

The movie is still funny but when compared to the original, I just smile at it but not with the big laughters I had when I was watching the original movie back then. The winning expression of Cha Tae-hyun ( main actor ) still have the same magic as in the original movie. I guessed we love his sad but pitiful expression. In one scene that kept the spirit of the original movie was when Victoria Song, vent her anger, by whipping Cha Tae-hyun with a wet towel. Somehow, it brings back a strong memory of the tortured character of Cha Tae-hyun. 

Mandarin dialogue are spoken and have been some focus of comedy targeting at the China audience. The beautiful countryside of China does help us to appreciate the beautiful scenery of rural China with China minority race dressed in their traditional colourful costume. An attempt to bring Chinese culture into the movie. 

Overall, the movie is still watchable but with it's weak plot, it was not as fantastic as the original movie back in 2001. The impact felt from this movie is also not as great as the previous one. I shall rate this movie at 2.5 / 5. 

The movie is currently is showing in cinema near you.

Movie Trailer 

Interview

CONJURING SPIRIT 《鬼宅》 Movie Review

Media Invite
Synopsis

Lan, a detective fiction author could not bear the pain due to her husband’s betrayal and decided to leave home and moved to a rented apartment in an old building with her 5 year-old son, Bi. Among her neighbors, there was Thao, who’s living with her husband and their stubborn teenage daughter, Ngoc. Soon after, Vu – an amateur musician, also moved into the building.

The trauma caused by her husband’s betrayal affected Lan badly and resulted in many nightmares. She consulted a therapist and was put on a medication. One day, Bi was given a music box by Mrs. Chu, the building supervisor, and since then, the nightmares became more rapid.

Lan and her neighbor Vu attempted to solve the mysteries happening in the building, and realized that the strange happenings originate from the music box…

Who is the true owner of the music box? Could it be a malicious spirit seeking revenge or otherwise?

Directors

VAN M. PHAM - Director

Van Pham graduated at Washington State University with a BA in TV Broadcast Productions and received his MFA in Film and Television from Chapman University. As winner of the ABC-Komo4 Fisher's Broadcasting Scholarship, he went abroad to study film and production at the University of Wales, where he produced a short documentary, A Different Corner, which was screened and honored at numerous film festivals.

He is the director of Beyond the Mat (2013) which was an official screenplay selection for some film festivals such as Tribeca Film Festival All-Access Program, Vietnamese International Film Festival, and Asian American International Film Festival. Beyond the Mat also won "Best Sports Film" at the Canada International Film Festival.        

Van M. Pham is the co-producer of the horror thriller "Spirits – Oan Hon".

CONJURING SPIRIT is the first film of Van M. Pham since he decided to enter the cinema of Vietnam.

GABRIEL J. LEWIS - Director of Photography

Gabriel and Van Pham collaborated together in the film Beyond the Mat of Van Pham. Gabriel has agreed to give up some other movies in the United States to cooperate with Van Pham for their first movie in Vietnam. Gabriel has worked in the photography team of many large movie projects in Hollywood such as Thor, Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and Transformers.

With professional experiences and empathy in producing film with the director, Gabriel promises to give a combination of experiences of Hollywood entertainment and features of life in Vietnam for CONJURING SPIRIT.

Actors 

PHUONG MAI (as Lan)

Been working in the entertainment industry from a very young age and gained a lot of success includes Golden Award - Vietnam Super Model 2012, Phuong Mai has made unforgettable impression on the runway. 

Phuong Mai’s character is Lan, a 30-year-old detective fiction writer who has just separated from her husband. To overcome this pain, Lan takes her 5-year-old son Bi away from home and rents an apartment in an old building to start a new life. 

HOANG PHUC (as XUNG)

As an actor who has made his name in the 90s, while most of his colleagues have quit acting, Hoang Phuc still has a position in Vietnamese audience’s heart by his impressive roles in films such as Clash, Chinatown...

QUANG SU (as VU)

With a handsome face and acting skills he learned at Korea National University of Arts, Quang Su is now considered the first choice for male leading roles, especially when he has won over many candidates to play along "the king of the box office" Thai Hoa in Fool For Love 2. 

Quang Su's character is Vu, a 30-year-old talented and humorous musician, son of a rich family always wants to be independent. 

HOAI AN (as THAO)

Hoai An has work in the cinema industry from an early age and she has been one of the audience’s favorite actresses. Since she was young, Hoai An has been assigned roles that are older than herself, and that "favor" has helped Hoai An gain a lot of valuable experiences. 

CHI PU (as NGOC)

Known as a hot girl and a teen model, but now, Chi Pu has gradually made a name for herself as a talented girl with a large amount of young fans. 

Chi Pu’s character is Ngoc, a 16-year-old stubborn teenage girl. 

TIEN PHAM (as CUONG)

Tien Pham is a Vietnamese American. He has been participating in a number of television series and movies in the United States. 

Tien Pham’s character is Cuong, a 35 wealthy architect, amorous, ex-husband of Lan. He had an affair with his secretary and Lan detected. 

Review

This is the first time I am watching a Vietnamese produced horror movie. In fact, I have never watch a Vietnamese produced movie if my memory did not fail me. I do have the same feeling as the others who have watch this show. The feeling is like watching a Thai produced horror movie. 

This horror movie borrowed a number of things from other horror movies from Japan, Thailand, Chinese and even from Hollywood movie. Unborn child, ghost crawling, body buried in unnatural location, unsettled Spirit, unexpected ending twist, mysterious musical box, shocked treatment ( although it did not have much effect on me ), mediumship ( bridging the communication gap between the living and dead ), young child ability to communicate with the dead and humour, all brought together to roll out this movie into a reasonably good watchable movie.

The photography and scenes were exceptional impressive given that the Director of Photography, Gabriel, have worked on many famous movies as stated earlier on the profile of Gabriel. One interesting thing is that most of the background scenes are full of texture such as dirty and old wall, interesting wooden bathtub, old but interesting structured building and home decoration. Even the hospital seem to have a lot of texture on the wall and background. Lighting is great since it is a horror movie. 

Mysterious settings such as the musical box further enhances the horror theme of the  movie. The main character, Lan, somehow I felt, bare a keen resemblance to the pop singer, Rihana. The acting is good especially Lan and Thao. But the 5 years old boy was truly the star of the show whom charm me with his adorable role.  

The movie started showing on the 14 May 2015. I shall give the movie a rating of 3/5. If you need some shocks and mysterious moments, grab a ticket and popcorn and enjoy a reasonably good show. If you think you are going to have  weak legs after the show, do go with someone who can help you up your seat when the movie ends. 

Trailers

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4OX16zNfuQ9kP0k8s7Bj0H8dShXhlzGn

Gala Premiere, Red Carpet and Movie Review : Triumph In The Skies

Red Carpet and Gala Premiere

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Julian Cheung and Charmaine Sheh came for the red carpet. As they walked down the glamourous red carpet, for a moment, I felt like I was photographing a wedding couple walking down the aisle. They really look charming and beautiful.

 93.3 radio station DJ, 谢家发 Xie Jiafa (Seah Kar Huat) was the compere. Just before the stars arrive,  Radio DJ holds a quiz with the fans. The rewards were the movie posters.

Here are more photos taken during the red carpet event.

More Photos can be found at : More Red Carpet Photos

Movie Review

Movie Synopsis :

Young pilot Branson (Louis KOO) recently takes over Skylette, his father’s aviation empire, only to realize his old flames Cassie (Charmaine SHEH) is a flight attendant there. Several years ago, he was forced to break up with her and move to New York to take care of his father's business. To this day, the two continue to harbour feelings for each other but decide to keep them bottled up. In an effort to rebrand the airline,Branson invites rock idol TM to star in an upcoming commercial and appoints Sam (Francis NG) as her flying consultant. Incongruent in both tastes and experience, this odd couple gets off on the wrong foot. As the shoot progresses, however, they slowly discover each other's merits, developing a strong mutual attraction.

Jayden (Julien CHEUNG) has left Skylette Airline to become a pilot for private jets. He meets the young and vivacious Kika (KUO Tsai Chieh) during a flight and assumes her to be wayward and shallow. But they turn out to have a lot in common and start falling madly in love. At the height of their romance, Jayden realizes almost too late the secret behind her recalcitrance…

Each of the three relationships comes with its own setbacks. As long as one can accept the imperfection of things, finding happiness—however fleetingly—is a blessing in itself.

Starring: Louis Koo, Sammi Cheng, Francis Ng, Julian Cheung, Charmaine Sheh, Kuo Tsai Chieh,   Oceane Zhu, Liu Jun Xiao

Co-starring: Kenneth Ma, Kong May Yee Elena, Remotigue Joventino Couto, Mark Ma, Liao Jingsheng

Directed by Wilson Yip,  Matt Chow

Distributed by Media Asia Film Distribution

Teaser Trailer : 

Official Trailer : 

Review / Ratings

I have been a fan of this Hong Kong drama television drama, Triumph In The Skies (2003) and II (2013) and naturally I am curious and excited when this new movie came along. Curious as to how the story goes for a movie as compared to the fame television drama.

According to the directors, by adapting a television drama with a 10 years of history, the biggest headache is how can the story move forward while bringing something new to the audience. Both directors took this challenging task together. As they have collaborated in the past, they agree to give this movie a romantic boost and hope to make the movie the year’s biggest romance hit.

In my opinion, it is much easier to understand the background and characteristics of Captain Cool (Julian Cheung) and Captain Sam Tong (Francis Ng) if you have watched the television drama.

It is like a continuation from television drama. The beautiful scenery settings from UK were the winning ingredient for a romantic movie. Just like in the drama I and II, where they were filmed in Rome, Sapporo, UK, France, Hainan, Kaohsiung, Kenting etc.  With the addition of Captain Branson (Louis KOO) and Cassie (Charmaine SHEH) love story, there were three separate romantic couple. Love thus conquers all obstacles. As movie goers, we just love happy endings. In fact, to be more precise, there are actually five love stories. One of them is between Kenneth Ma and Elena Kong. Only those who have watch the television drama 2, will be able to recall their relationship.

In conclusion, there was not much storyline in this movie. Romantic couples simply having a fun time together. One of memorable moment was when Captain Sam Tong and TM (Sammi Cheng) having a laughable time shooting a Skylette airlines commercial. I shall give this movie a rating of 3/5.

The movie will be showing in the cinema on the 19 February 2015.