What do the critics think, I wonder? Any buzz, good or bad, or simply being ignored? I read it's only playing in two screens so not much opportunity I guess.
Not exactly a Christmas holiday film either. So, besides Kung Fu Hustle, what is being anticipated for Christmas/New Year? Is there anything on the horizon?

Also, has Clean been picked up for US distribution yet?

Yes. Palm Pictures, who released DEMONLOVER and an impressive number of Asian films, have acquired it. If my memory of the INDIEWIRE article serves, it will be out in the U.S. next summer or fall.

Ah, thanks. Now I remember first reading about Clean in a Demonlover article. I'd forgotten all about Demonlover.

There's very little being promoted right now on the local movie front, with KUNG FU HUSTLE getting the main cinema promotions here and A WORLD WITHOUT THIEVES already out. There's a poster up and trailer playing for the James Yuen movie CRAZY & THE CITY (out next month) at a few cinemas and there's also Jingle Ma's SEOUL RAIDERS, which has a web site up (though I can't enter it).

I've not seen CLEAN but it appears to have got a decent amount of publicity for a two-screen release. The only review I read was Mathew Scott's in the SCMP, with much praise for Cheung's performance but far less enthusiasm for the movie in general.

Tim.

Boy, that sounds like slim pickings. I looked up the summary for CRAZY and while it looked okay, Eason Chan and Joey Yung in the lead doesn't make my heart jump. Well, I would like to check out Joey having only seen pics of her and only heard a song or two (I think). Maybe Francis Ng and Lam Suet will spice it up though and James Yuen is usually pretty bankable entertainment. SEOUL RAIDERS is the follow up to TOKYO RAIDERS right? Well, it'll be good to see Shu Qi on screen again. She seems to have been missing from action lately. I hope these doldroms are only temporary but all those reports about the poor state of the HK film industry is getting scary.

A movie with Joey Yung in the lead. Another -- this time starring Hsu Chi and directed by Jingle Ma. Urk! Look like early 2005 will be trying times indeed for this Hong Kong movie fan... :(

So here's praying for a miracle...akin to my having been able to enjoy a movie with Aaron Kwok in the lead, courtesy of Johnnie To and THROWDOWN!

I actually enjoyed TOKYO RAIDERS very much (and this has nothing todo with the fact that I'm a Tony fan) and looking forward to SEOUL RAIDERS since it appears to be the same film with Shu Qi instead of Kelly - good move, and Richie instead of Ekin - no matter how I dislike Ekin in many films I think he is better than Richie-.

Also again the majority of the stunts will be made by the actors themselves so there have to be a few unintentionally funny stunts (anyone remember truck jump to car scene in Tokyo Raiders?) I hope this one will repeat the first one's box office - this is because I'm a Tony fan though.


The other Joey + Eason pairing that comes to mind is Demi - Haunted and I liked that one.

I came across this recent Maggie Cheung interview on usenet, not sure what the source is but it's a good read:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.as...0cee7cb0a6a3752

For what it's worth, I thought the trailer for CRAZY & THE CITY looked pretty interesting. Henry Fong and Derek Yee are prominently credited as producers, which might add to the draw here after ONE NITE IN MONGKOK. As for Joey Yung, I didn't care much for DEMI-HAUNTED but did think she was okay in it. She was nothing special in THE ATTRACTIVE ONE more recently, though.

I'm also looking forward to SEOUL RAIDERS - I also enjoyed Jingle Ma's TOKYO RAIDERS plenty.

And Dennis, that interview with Maggie Cheung was in the SCMP.

Tim.

Count me as another fan of TOKYO RAIDERS, so I'd like to see what the sequel will bring.

INITIAL D should be coming in time for January or perhaps February. Last month Andrew Lau said it was in post-production and they were aiming for early '05. Lau is hit and miss, but this could potentially be fun (I live in hope!).

I came across this brief article w/photos today for HIMALAYAN STAR with Cecilia Cheung, Lau Ching Wan, and Francis Ng also scheduled for CNY. I think the director is Wai Ka-Fai.


http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-12/...ent_2366344.htm

Just saw there are some other photos from Wai Ka-fai's newie in the current issue of City Entertainment. The feature also has a shot of Shine on location, and is followed by another report on Tsui Hark's upcoming SEVEN SWORDS.

There's also another new local film getting advertised in the cinemas now: WHERE'S MAMA'S BOY with Nancy Sit, William Hung and Yoyo Mung. Before Chinese New Year, perhaps?

Tim.

[Edited to add: The Wai Ka-fai movie has the English title HIMALAYA SINGH - just popped into a cinema and saw its lobby cards pinned up. And the title I wrote earlier for the new James Yuen flick is slightly off. It should be CRAZY N' THE CITY.]