YESTERDAY ONCE MORE, the new Johnnie To crowd-pleaser which stars Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, lists Jenny Woo as its special guest star. I assume that this is the actress who plays Carl Ng's mother in the movie. Can anyone verify whether this woman also is known elsewhere as Jenny Hu, the star of the Shaw Brothers' TILL THE END OF THE TIME and mother of Terrence Yin?

And on the subject of IDs and family connections: Isn't the similarly Eurasian-looking Carl Ng the son of Richard "Shoehorn-face" Ng and his (British -- if I remember correctly) wife?

(Yvonne -- who had somehow mistook Jenny Woo for Jenny Tseng, Alexander Fu Sheng's wife :huh:, and now has to go and tell her mother otherwise, plus swears that Jenny Woo/Hu looks like an older version of Candice Yu On-On... )

The answer's "Yes" to both of your questions.

Thanks much, Tim. Had a feeling I'd be able to count on you! :)

Back to the news: Wow -- in particular re Jenny Hu/Woo. Checking: This was her first film appearance in years, if not decades, right? If so, do you (or anyone else) know what prompted it?

Also...wahhing some more: 2003 -- Patricia Ha (PRINCESS D) and Lau Kar Leung (DRUNKEN MONKEY). 2004 -- Michael Hui (FANTASIA, THREE OF A KIND) and Jenny Hu (TILL THE END OF TIME). Wonder who else of the Hong Kong cinema's old guard -- and it would seem, the Shaw Brothers faves in particular -- we could see making come-backs soon? Two more I'd love to see again: Connie Chan Po Chu, and Josephine Siao Fong Fong (I think we're allowed to dream...).

There's some info on the hows and whys of Hu's big screen reappearance at the HK Film Top Ten page:

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/2038/041007.txt (7 October, 2nd item)

Do you know when that TV series was?

Can Nancy Sit count (even though she's big on TV)? She's in that upcoming local William Hung flick.

"Do you know when that TV series was?"

I'm afraid not. Heck, I didn't even know that Stanley Kwan had directed a TV series until I read that HK Top Ten report you directed me to. :S

"Can Nancy Sit count (even though she's big on TV)?"

Hmmm...since she was also in 1996's GOD OF COOKERY. But if you're going to count veteran TV stars, there's also Lydia Shum (whose recent movie appearances include in MISS DU SHI NIANG). :)

More re the returning veterans: Lydia Shum really doesn't look like she has aged all that much. But oh my re Jenny Hu and Patricia Ha... :( But, well, TILL THE END OF TIME *was* released some 38 years ago and, say, THE AMOROUS WOMAN OF THE TANG DYNASTY some 3 decades ago as well. So...

Also, must say that I find it more "deal-able" to see someone of Jenny Hu's age playing Carl Ng's mother than, say, Carrie Ng playing Charlie Yeung's mom (like she did in THE LOVERS).

Tim (or anyone else), care to guess how come there seems to be this (granted, still somewhat mini-)wave of veterans returning to Hong Kong cinema? Put another way: From my observations, contemporary Hong Kong movie audiences generally look to be very much skewed towards late teens and early 20-something-year-olds (in Hong Kong and maybe even more so in Malaysia); so much so that there is a whole new generation of East Asian movie goers who have only heard of (Brigitte) Lin Ching-Hsia rather than have viewed any of her films. And have no idea that Kara Hui Ying Hung (who has had supporting roles in the past year or so in such high-profile offerings as INFERNAL AFFAIRS II and JIANG HU along with THE PARK ) is nicknamed "Auntie" (and because, back in 1980, she starred in -- and won a HKFA Best Actress Award for -- MY YOUNG AUNTIE).

When viewed within such a context, it was particularly interesting for me to see that quite a few members of the audience for the THREE OF A KIND screening I attended over in Penang appeared to be middle-aged folks. Indeed, there might well have been more over- than under-30s (or even 40s) in the crowd that day for a change. Similarly, found it interesting to hear a 20-something-year-old colleague of mine confess to me today that she had had no clue who Jenny Hu/Woo when viewing YESTERDAY ONCE MORE but after doing some post-viewing research on the movie and its cast, she has come to realize that she had had the privilege of watching a star of yesteryear in action alongside contemporary luminaries.

Can Nancy Sit count (even though she's big on TV)? She's in that upcoming local William Hung flick.

She always counts in my book! Not familar with her TV work but just last night watched her with Josephine Siao Fong Fong and Kenneth Tsang Kong in My Mother Wants Me To Get Married / Happy Wedlock (1969) , wherein she spins a Ventures A Go Go LP. Not sure how big a pop songstress she was in the day but it seems fitting to team her now with The Hungster.

re: Lydia Shum - How is MISS DU SHI NIANG? And is everyone charitably forgetting the disappointing In-Law, Out-Laws? I'm eagerly awaiting the video release of season 2's SG TV series Living With Lydia which I understand is just concluding on HK TV.

More re Nancy Sit: The thing for me is that she's so darn ubiquituous around here! On TV, hawking her cookbook, appearing with da Twins in concert (Cf. the Twins' Ichiban Concert DVD!!!), etc. that it doesn't feel like she's been away from showbiz the way that Patricia Ha or Jenny Hu have/had been.

"How is MISS DU SHI NIANG?"

I wasn't all that impressed (For more, go to http://brns.com/pages4/drama265.html). But others, including Mr. Naas (go to http://www.brns.com/top10/top10_2003.html and then scroll right down to the bottom), would beg to differ. So...

And Dennis, seeing your name on this thread got me thinking that another star of yesteryear I'd love to see on screen once more would be one of Cathay's brightest stars, Grace Chang. :)

wasn't Stanley Kwan directing a series called "Cheung Han Goh" (Song of Long Hatred is my loose translation)? i heard they were making a movie and a TV series at the same time with Sammi Cheng in the lead for the movie version and Maggie Cheung Ho-Yee (no....not that other Maggie Cheung...not Man-Yuk) as the female lead in the TV series

speaking of Lydia Shum, have you seen her daughter? like...whoa...! what a transformation.

I enjoyed MISS DU SHINIANG a lot, though I admit that I've not thought to revisit it on DVD yet. Its very colourful look, musical numbers and overall theatre-like feel really set it apart from other local films -- it was also in my top ten picks from 2003. (Dennis: Lydia's not got a huge part in this one but I'd say MISS DU SHINIANG's easily the better of the two movies.)

Could it have been related to AS PRETTY AS A ROSE? Kwan had that film lined up in 2002 (for Celestial) with Cheng in the lead but it didn't go ahead.

well, i know Sammi is already in preparations for the movie already. She's been trying to learn the mannerisms of a Shanghainese lady from Poon Dik-Wah (the lady who played Leslie Cheung's mother in Wong Kar-Wai's "Days of Being Wild").

And here's a listing for the movie as GATHER YE ROSE, courtesy of Cinemasie.com:
http://www.cinemasie.com/fiche/oeuvre/gatheryerose/

Carina Lau was also supposed to be in AS PRETTY AS A ROSE so it's no doubt the same film. There's also a listing for a 2003 TV series under Kwan's filmography on the site. Interesting to hear Rebecca Pan's training Cheng - she's elegant on screen.

Going back to Nancy...

I'm curious to know how popular her music was too, as I've liked what I've heard from her. Not all that hot as a singer but her music could be pretty energetic. Pity it's not in print in Hong Kong these days.

A little bit more re the Stanley Kwan-helmed movie project which has Sammi Cheng as its female lead: Heard that it ran into legal difficulties for a time because there was a Mainland Chinese project which had the same (Chinese? Get the feeling that it doesn't have a bona fide English title yet) title as it. However, after the people behind agreed to a change in movie title, the project's now back on again.

I'm curious to know how popular her music was too, as I've liked what I've heard from her. Not all that hot as a singer but her music could be pretty energetic. Pity it's not in print in Hong Kong these days.

I like her old movie songs better than Connie Chan's :blink: . More a go-go. A quick check of yesasia only lists compilations with other singers or newer offerings.

And, Tim, thanks for the warning on Lydia's small role in Miss Du Shi Niang. But I will not be deterred.

tin-lun: I did see some pictures on Sanney's site a few months ago. Pretty remarkable transformation. And I only then learned that she was the offspring of Lydia and Adam Cheng!

i read recently that Lydia Shum and Adam Cheng's daughter, Grace (i think that was her name) had to be taken to the hospital a while ago because she had to get something taken out due to the excess fat she has lost during her diet. but still, i'd have to admire her total transformation.

a little off topic but I have met Adam Cheng once back in November 1988 when i was only 7 years old. I can confirm that he was definitely not great with kids. Not a fun person at all.