It’s vacation time for LoveHKFilm.com - or at least, the person who runs it - so that means another 2 or 3 weeks of hand-wringing as we wonder if the site will ever get updated again. I’ll break the suspense by revealing that it will, indeed, get an update someday. After all, where else will I publish my review of KING OF SPY 2008?

This movie could be playing on You Tube right now

Also, Kevin Ma plans on reviewing Super Duper Communist Movie THE FOUNDING OF A REPUBLIC, which details the rise of Communism in the great country of China. I will not be around to see the movie, or I would review it myself. As has been noted on fine Internet publications, everyone who works at this site loves China. *whistles innocently*

Some photos from FOUNDING OF A REPUBLIC:

Donnie Yen and Vicki Zhao as a couple who celebrate
their 10th anniversary by joining the Communist Party

Eva Huang as the Cutest Member of the Communist Party™

Actually, what I’d really like to do is live blog the movie, so I can record the time that every single star appears. Such a list will surely help a ton of potential viewers who want to fast-forward through the film to see the stars (this is probably 80% of the Internet). Sadly, I don’t expect to see Huang Bo in the film, which is a travesty of cinema. Every film needs Huang Bo.

Huang Bo: making movies awesome since 2006

When I return from my trip, there will be a couple of new Hong Kong films on offer, namely the Herman Yau double feature SPLIT SECOND MURDER and REBELLION.

If you’re not Chinese and can name everyone
in this poster, you win a prize

The highlight of REBELLION: a leapfrog competition

The first is an idol-packed Halloween picture while the second is a long-in-the-can triad picture that was teased for release back in 2008. It’s sad the film actually didn’t get a release in 2008  since it stars Shawn Yue, who at this time last year was considered the Hardest Working Man in Hong Kong Cinema. The man had 10 features released in 2007 and 2008, and his only one so far this year will be a holdover from last year. What happened?

“People, hire me for your movies! I’ll work for food or tips.
Hell, I’ll work for you if you can recognize me on the street.”

When I return, the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival will be in full swing too. I may or may not review a slew of movies from it, as it’s been my recent pattern to only review Hong Kong films while carefully picking among the rest. I’d leave more to Kevin, but he’s a busy guy, what with school, his blog, the East-West Screen podcast and also his personal life. That he even visits LoveHKFilm.com must take precious minutes out of his day. He won’t get those minutes back either.

“Come on…who has time to waste at LoveHKFilm.com?”

Takeshi has a point. Anyway, here are my planned screenings at the HKAFF:

THE WARRIOR AND THE WOLF (with Joe Odagiri in attendance)
THIRST (with Park Chan-Wook in attendance)
INTO A DREAM
LOVE EXPOSURE (again!)
CROWS ZERO 2
AIN’T NO TOMORROWS
BE SURE TO SHARE
AIR DOLL (with nobody in attendance)
KIMJONGILIA
BICYCLE SIGHS
HAZARD
FINDING HER
SUMMER WARS
DAD, HOW ARE YOU?
WHEAT (starring Fan Bing-Bing)
WEAVING GIRL (Starring Yu Nan and Guo Tao. Guo Tao!)
PASTRY
BEIJING IS COMING
COW (starring Huang Bo!)
AT THE END OF DAYBREAK
SEVEN 2 ONE (Directed by Danny Pang)
…plus maybe some short films and some Bollywood, if I can squeeze it in. You can check out the complete list on their just-launched website.

That’s quite a list, huh? If you’re going to the HKAFF and select these films for your viewing pleasure then you risk running into me. If I do see you, I promise not to spit on you, but besides that, everything is fair game.

“Ha ha, people spitting at me is nothing! I’m used to much worse!”

Let’s wrap up this obligatory September post with a look at Leon Lai’s last concert, entitled DREAM WEDDING. The concert occurred a couple of months ago, but I’m only blogging about it now. It was a simple affair, with a small stage rather than one of those crazy stages inspired by TRANSFORMERS. As expected, Leon was all professional charm, meaning he was suave and punctual. At the end of the concert here was a Typhoon Signal number 8 and he practically sprinted off the stage.

“Typhoon warning? Screw the encore - I’m out of here!”

While at the concert, I snapped some pictures. Here’s a good shot of my vantage point:

 
Once again, Leon Lai is upstaged by cables

And here’s a photo of Leon Lai and special guest Janice Man, who wowed the audience with her red dress if not her actual talent.

The cables are still the most interesting part of this photo

And, finally a cable-free photo:

Leon gives the cheap seats some love

Overall, the concert was enjoyable but a little on the low-energy side. Then again, Leon Lai is not one of those “go all out, bust my ass” performers like Aaron “I almost die in concerts” Kwok. Leon is more of a suave customer or cool cat, which comes off charming at concerts but kind of dull on the big screen.

At least at concerts he’ll do his own stunts:

Is it hot in here or is it just Leon? Oh, it’s the fire.

My favorite song that evening was the wonderfully titled, “I Love You OK”, which is a lyric and song title that confuses me. Does “OK” represent the measurement of Leon’s love? If so, then the poor girl on the receiving end should look for someone who actually loves her more than just “OK”. Saying that you love someone “OK” is like saying that you love someone “somewhat”. Is that what girls are looking for nowadays?

Janice Man is looking for that number on Leon’s left leg

The other reading of the title is “I love you, okay?!?”, which implies that Leon Lai is impatient in declaring his love for his girlfriend. She probably asked for his feelings while he was busy playing BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM for his PlayStation 3, and right before he got the coveted 40-hit Freeflow Combo, she annoyed him by asking “Hey, how do you feel about me?”. Well, if that’s the case - that Leon was going to get another Trophy to show off his leet status on the PlayStation Network, and then was rudely interrupted - then we fully sympathize with his impatience.

Either way, we know the truth: Leon Lai is not much of a boyfriend.

“Don’t bother me when I’m eating fruit, woman!”

Check out the song for yourself. BONUS: the video also features Athena Chu.

By the way, seeing Leon Lai in concert means that I have now seen every single one of the Sky Kings - Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai - after arriving here in Hong Kong nearly five years ago. This accomplishment brings me ever closer to getting the hell out of Dodge. Seeing all the Sky Kings in concert was one of the biggest things I wanted to accomplish during my stay in Hong Kong, and with that out of the way probably the most glaring thing not yet completed is meeting Ekin Cheng. If I can accomplish that, it may spell the end of LoveHKFilm.com in Hong Kong. Don’t worry, we’ll still review DVDs.

“You’ll still review DVDs? That was NOT what I wanted to hear!”

Oh, sorry. Well, off to Japan. See you in a few.

I should not call what I’m doing blogging, because I don’t actually blog. I just post every month or so.

I would apologize for this long absence from Damn You, Kozo!, but that would assume that people actually read this thing. In many ways, LoveHKFilm.com is what it is because I assume nobody ever reads it. Our lack of attentiveness to our visitors is also why we’re totally behind, and why many other sites have leapfrogged us in traffic, popularity, and online self-congratulation. It’s also why I named this blog Damn You, Kozo!, because aside from completely usurping another person’s real name and identity, Kozo simply can’t keep up with the Joneses.

Bruce Lee said it best:

“DAMN YOU, KOZO!”

Ah, that feels better.

Anyway, in recent Hong Kong news, this person is getting married:

NOTE: Not an actual wedding photo

Everybody loves Kelly Chen - provided that you talk to the correct six out of ten people. Chances are that the four out of ten people who actually liked An Empress and the Warriors can be found in those six, and why not? The film features Kelly in heavy armor, plus the wonderful sight of Leon Lai spitting on Kelly’s bare back:

The magic of the movies!

This picture cracks me up:

You could interpret this photo at least three different ways

About Empress, someone should really talk about the genius casting one day. Thanks to the triumvirate of Donnie Yen, Kelly Chen, and Leon Lai, every audience member is guaranteed to dislike at least one person in the starring cast. Could it have killed them to cast a single actor who doesn’t have active detractors?

If you hate Hui Siu-Hung, you will go to hell

Empress and the Warriors also marks the first Mei Ah Blu-ray Disc. Ownership of a PlayStation 3 has put me on the Blu-ray bandwagon, and despite not being entirely enthused about Empress, I will be buying it. Other titles on my Blu-ray to buy list include the Infernal Affairs Trilogy, Chungking Express, and nearly anything with Tsui Hark’s name on it - short of Black Mask 2 and Missing, that is. I’d still pick up The Legend of Zu.

“Wow, I’m really sorry about Missing!”

He better be.

I doubt that the victory of Blu-ray over HD DVD will inspire a flood of Hong Kong catalog titles onto Blu-ray Disc. Such a flood did occur during the late nineties when DVD first hit the market, but even now, Hong Kong home video is beset by a terrible, terrible scourge that has destroyed home entertainment:

This logo is evil

Illegal downloading is the evil stepchild of the above, and is responsible for far more lost revenue, but I sincerely believe that crappy VCD quality - and its willing acceptance by Hong Kong consumers - is indicative of how the populace as a whole thinks of entertainment. Basically, everyone here is okay with watching movies with poor resolution, bad color, and zero features. Given that, is it a surprise that everyone’s okay with watching the latest and greatest in Asian Entertainment on You Tube?

Everyone in this photo illegally downloads

Back to Kelly’s concert:

Probably one of Kelly’s more conservative outfits

Kelly announced her upcoming marriage at the final show in her recent Hung Hom Coliseum concert series - a nice touch, since hers was the final appearance from a big star before the venue undergoes at least a year of renovation. I actually attended an earlier show (a.k.a. not the one where she said she was getting married), and here was my vantage point:

Kelly has always been a decent, if not spectacular singer - and really, she’s much better at singing than acting. The main draw here was her eye-popping assortment of wacky costumes and themes, which ranged from the cute bear-headed thing:

Love the boots

To the mermaid thing:

Hopefully Disney won’t sue

To the midriff-baring thing:

I think this was my favorite

To the white futuristic outfit with mega-huge goggles thing:

In the future we’ll all dress like this

Here’s one with Leon Lai as an accessory:

Too bad Donnie wasn’t there

Special mention must go to Kelly for her various yoga poses and exceptional good humor, which was evident because she didn’t act bothered by the people leaving their seats during her concert. For some reason, it seemed like every number was a new excuse for a bathroom break for the audience. Some people even got up to leave early. I felt like I was at a Laker game.

“Is this concert EVER going to get any better?”

In general, the concert was a fine diversion, but it was also curiously low-energy. Having attended a few other concerts in my time in Hong Kong, I must rate Kelly’s as the most non-crucial of the bunch - at least, from an audience standpoint.

About her marriage, it managed to occupy all the newspapers for a good 2-3 days here in Hong Kong - a nice change, since the news was entirely positive, and had nothing to do with scandal, judgmental mud-slinging, or accidental exposure. Sadly, it’s the exception to the norm over here.

Anyway, seeing Kelly allows me to check off yet another on my “Stars I Want To See Live, But Not Necessarily Meet” List. Now that Kelly is out of the way, my number one is sadly Leon because I’d like to see him, but yeah, meeting him is not a priority at all. If a meeting ever occurred, this could be my reaction:

An actual photo from the Kelly Chen concert

If someone asked which celebrity is the one I would most like to meet, that’s obvious: Ekin Cheng is still the number one. I hope it occurs one day, simply so we can take a picture and I can send a general “nyah-nyah” in the direction of those who think I don’t like Ekin Cheng.

Ekin and Charlene Choi on the set of Storm Warriors:

I think they’re made of wax

By the way, I still have not written about my Aaron Kwok concert experience. It may never happen now. I’m sure he’s all broken up.

Here’s a pic of him anyway:

“Tetsuooooo!!!!!”

Aaaand one last photo of Kelly:

She has something in her eye

Photo credits: As usual, thanks to Apple Daily - with an assist from Ming Pao, Sina.com, plus the World Wide Web.

I have yet to share my experience at Aaron Kwok’s recent Hong Kong concert, though this picture is likely worth a thousand words:

“I’m just acting! Really!”

I’ll remember to talk about it in detail one day, but I can probably sum it up right now in one word: fabulous.

Back to the main subject of this post: Ekin Cheng’s manager, Sandy Lamb San-San reportedly told media today that Ekin would hold a concert somewhere in Hong Kong to celebrate his twentieth(!) year in the entertainment industry. It likely won’t be at the Hung Hom Coliseum because sadly, Ekin probably isn’t big enough for that venue anymore.

But who cares? It’s an Ekin Cheng concert and I’m in Hong Kong to see it. I can’t begin to tell you how long I’ve waited for this day.

I predict my experience at the concert will involve the following:

- The concert will start late because all Hong Kong concerts start late. I predict at around 8:15 pm.
- Ekin will wear something shiny.
- Jordan Chan will be the guest performer and they’ll talk about how old they are.
- I will bring a neon sign with “梁詠琪” printed on it.*
- At 8:18 pm, I’ll attempt to throw a DVD copy of For Bad Boys Only at Ekin’s head to let him know that I’m still upset about paying to see it in the theater. Thanks to YesAsia.com’s previous “Buy 3 Get 1 Free” campaign, I now own multiple copies of the DVD so I’ll have multiple chances to tag him in the noggin. If I bring some VCDs, I can double my ammunition.
- I’ll hire someone to run up on stage to heckle Ekin for every single time he killed or help kill Roy Cheung or Francis Ng in a movie. I count six times, for Young and Dangerous, Young and Dangerous 3, Young and Dangerous 4, Born To Be King, A Man Called Hero, and Heroic Duo. I’ll throw in a seventh and eighth time for Infernal Affairs 2 because both Roy and Francis died in that, and I believe Ekin was responsible even though he didn’t appear in the film.
- At 8:23 pm, I’ll fend off my first attack from irate fans. I may bring pepper spray.
- At 8:27 pm, I’ll be escorted out by 4 security guards, one of whom will say to me, “I love your site, even though I don’t always agree with your reviews.”
- On my way out I’ll buy a ticket for the second concert to continue pursuing my dream.

Sadly, I probably won’t even be able to make it inside the second concert because members of the Ekin Cheng Forum will show up in force to stop me, likely assisted by their irate boyfriends, who have been forced to skip a PSP ad-hoc wireless party to beat up some guy outside the Ekin Cheng concert.

I cannot predict the outcome of the ensuing melee, but I hope Roy Cheung or Francis Ng appear to back me up. Roy and Francis, if you’re reading this, please show up. Thanks to Exiled and Once Upon a Time in Triad Society 2, I believe you both have the ability to kick ass.

If you’re in Hong Kong at the time, I welcome you to show up and support my cause. If anyone needs extra incentive, I found this photo on my hard drive:

T-shirts don’t lie

Actually, I would like to own a shirt like that too.

*梁詠琪 = Gigi Leung Wing-Kei

Happy Lunar New Year!

Former softcore pin-up girl with current hardcore pin-up guy

Oh wait, the above photo has THAT GUY in it! You know, the one who’s at the center of Hong Kong’s bizarre media circus that needs its own Wong Jing parody film. Frankly, the “thing involving the pictures that resemble people who’ve worked with Charlene Choi” is all anyone can talk about over here. I would add to the constant buzzing in your ears, but it’s still not over and it seems that I change my mind about it every single day. Maybe I’ll say something afterwards.

A week or so ago, I said I wouldn’t make fun of it because it involved criminal activity and frankly, I was tired of the media coverage. I’m still tired of it, but now the whole thing has escalated to the point where I have to make fun of it simply because it’s the only way I can deal with the constant barrage of news and gossip related to He Who Shall Not Be Named.

No, not Voldemort. I’m talking about this guy again.

“I’m a good person!”

Um…no, you’re not.

At this point, everyone will come out of this debacle looking bad, including the participants, the victims, the media, the police, and the overexcited and frankly overjudgmental public. I’d give everyone a giant raspberry, but it’s so cold that I feel drained of the required energy to complete such an action. Instead, I’m providing this picture to illustrate how I see the entire mess:

I’m betting on the kangaroo.

Sudden subject change: some weeks ago, I blogged briefly about my Andy Lau concert experience. Basically, it consisted of me marveling at the man’s endless energy, willingness to put himself in danger, and his unparalleled pitchman abilities. The concert was fun, because Andy Lau was Andy Lau. Accept no substitutes.

“Thanks, Kozo!”

However, Andy Lau’s concert was only the second I’ve attended in my three years since moving to Hong Kong. The first one was Sammi Cheng’s back in May. Actually, I’ve seen her in concert twice before in the states, so basically this latest Sammi concert I attended was just like old home week. The fact that Sammi and I have both aged adds to the metaphor.

I actually wrote a Life with Kozo column about my Sammi Cheng Hong Kong concert experience back in May 2007, but it never saw print because I never got around to posting it. It’s buried somewhere on my hard drive along with some, uh, pictures I don’t want anyone to see.

These pants no longer contain any mysteries

Thankfully, I attended my third concert just recently. I lucked into a ticket to one of Jacky Cheung’s remaining concerts here in Hong Kong. Here are some shots from Yahoo HK:

“This one’s for you people in the crappy seats!”

Only Jacky is allowed to wear a jacket.

 

Jacky said during the concert that the dancers were all masked in order to make him look better. Personally speaking, I don’t think Jacky is all that bad looking, though someone I once knew had him classified in the “ugly guy, good singer” category, the implication being that there’s a category called “pretty guy, bad singer.” You can figure out who goes into that category yourself.

But I enjoyed Jacky’s concert a bit more than Andy Lau’s, to be honest. Andy is pure entertainment, but as a singer, Jacky clearly wins. Also, I sat in the cheap seats so I had no choice but to appreciate Jacky for his vocal range and ability to act effeminate without ever threatening his manhood. The man is multi-talented.

A sample of my perspective that evening:

The lightsabers were free

Sadly, Jacky did not have a guest performer - which really sucked because I was expecting something like this:

The number of people in this photo also attended Nick Cheung’s last concert

Now that I’ve seen Jacky Cheung, I’ve officially attended concerts for two of the Sky Kings. That’s two down, and two to go. Who are the remaining two? Well, there’s this guy:

He’s been at this all morning

And this guy:

Aaron Kwok and a, uh, Golden Horse

I’m actually betting that Mr. Golden Horse will be the next one I see. After all, Aaron Kwok does have a concert going on right now in Hong Kong. Maybe I’ll luck into some tickets, and hopefully he won’t wear something like this:

Insert your own caption here

By the way, we just had Valentine’s Day here in Hong Kong. Two years ago on Valentine’s Day, I went and hung out with a friend - who we’ll call Mr. G - in Lan Kwai Fong. We went to a party attended by other single people who had no Valentine’s Day dates. I actually didn’t want to go, but I went as his wingman. I still paid for my own drinks.

The highlight of the evening came when he introduced me to a pretty girl who worked in Central. Mr. G said to her, “This guy runs a famous website! It’s all about Hong Kong movies!”

“Really,” she said. “About Hong Kong movies?”

“Yep,” was my reply. My beer was warm.

She arched an eyebrow. “But Hong Kong movies are shit.”

Kenichi Matsuyama will tell you how I felt:

“You suck, Kozo.”

Being single is tough.

A final dating tip for all the guys. If you want to do well with the ladies, you need one of these:

Just learn how to repair it yourself.

Photo credits: Yahoo HK, Apple Daily, a borrowed digital camera, and my hard drive.