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One of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, the Cannes Film Festival showcases some of the world's best films over the course of just ten days. The film festival's main venue also hosts The Marché du Film, one of the largest film markets in the world. Every May, tens of thousands of film fans, industry professionals and stars flock to this little town in the south of France to celebrate the finest in world cinema. Asian cinema has always had a strong presence in Cannes and 2013 was certainly no exception, with more than 12 Asian films being screened in the main festival and other sidebar programs. The Marché du Film also featured some of the most anticipated Asian films of the... [read more]
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Celebrating the best in Asian cinema, the 8th Asian Film Awards (AFA) were held on March 18, 2013 in Hong Kong. Many of the award nominees and presenters met the press before and afterr the award ceremony to share their thoughts on their work and films. Here's a roundup of our favorite moments from the interviews as well as the Asian Film Awards ceremony and red carpet. THE ACTORS Eddie Garcia (Bwakaw) - Best Actor Winner - The Filipino acting legend admits that he had never planned to become an actor. Before re-enlisting in the army after World War II, Eddie went to a film audition with his friends for fun. That audition would lead to a distinguished career that has been going for over 60... [read more]
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Korean dramas and Hong Kong dramas again take up the top ten spots for the best-selling television dramas on YesAsia's US Site in 2012. JYJ's Kim Jae Joong and Park Yoo Chun brought their idol power to television, launching their series to first and second place. TVB made a strong showing with four of the studio's top dramas of the year also making our bestsellers list. The below rankings are based on video sales on YesAsia.com's US Site from January 1 to December 31, 2012. Sales of all editions and versions of the same title are summed up to determine the total sales. BEST-SELLING TV DRAMAS OF 2012 1. Protect the Boss (Korea) SBS's zippy workplace romantic comedy surprises with its... [read more]
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The best-selling movies of 2012 are almost all Chinese-language movies, but they represent a fairly wide range of genres, from period blockbusters like Flying Swords of Dragon Gate and War of the Arrows to contemporary dramas like You are the Apple of My Eye and A Simple Life. Donnie Yen didn't release an action movie in 2012 and Andy Lau was less prolific than usual, so instead the biggest star of the year is Zhou Xun, who has three films in the top ten. Aloys Chen, William Feng and Lau Ching Wan each have two films in the top ten. The below rankings are based on video sales on YesAsia.com from January 1 to December 31, 2012. Sales of all editions and versions of the same title are summed... [read more]
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For the second year in a row, the girls of Girls' Generation reigned supreme on top of both Japanese music charts. Arashi showed their staying power as the most popular Japanese artist on YesAsia.com with three top ten singles, the best-selling Japanese music DVD and the second best-selling Japanese album. The girls of AKB48 also showed their quickly rising popularity by overtaking Hamasaki Ayumi as the best-selling Japanese female artist of 2012. Check out the charts below to see if your favorites made the list! The below rankings are based on J-pop sales on YesAsia.com from January 1 to December 31, 2012. Sales of all editions and versions of the same title are summed up to determine the... [read more]
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This past year again saw the #1 C-pop album spot taken by a Korea-produced group: SM Entertainment's EXO-M not only ruled YesAsia's 2012 Chinese album chart, they were also the leading debutant. Jay Chou was still the indisputable king with two albums – one of which was just released on December 28 – in the top ten and a best-selling video compilation. Show Luo put on a Good Show on both the album and the concert sales charts and other top stars like S.H.E, Jolin Tsai, Rainie Yang and JJ Lin also delivered the goods. The Canto-pop contingent occupied only the lower positions among the top ten albums, trailing behind the Mando-pop releases, but on the concert chart, it's the other way around.... [read more]
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Similar to 2011, Big Bang and SM Entertainment artists dominated YesAsia's K-pop sales in 2012. Big Bang's fifth mini-album was the best-selling album by a significant margin, turning them into the top-selling K-pop artist of the year. Leader G-Dragon also made a strong solo showing. SM artists combined for seven of the top ten album spots, with Super Junior and Girls' Generation both coming in twice. Girls' Generation was first again on the DVD chart, repeating the previous year's feat. They're also by far the top-selling female artist of 2012, even without releasing a new album, and their subunit Taetiseo managed to rank fourth among female artists on the strength of only one mini-album.... [read more]
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Before we completely say goodbye to 2012, let's take a look back at the music that made our year. Here are YumCha! Editorial Team's picks for the Best Chinese, Korean and Japanese Albums of 2012! BEST CHINESE ALBUMS Deserts Xuan - Games We Play Singer-songwriter Deserts Xuan's latest work is a mature, melancholic and thoughtful album that emphasizes atmosphere over memorable compositions ("Pyrojewel" alone is one of the best Chinese singles of the year). Games We Play slowly draws you in with opening track "Rose-Colored Glasses" and takes you through an emotional musical journey through Deserts' world. Amazingly, Games We Play remains accessible and never experimental to the point of... [read more]
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Our Best of 2012 countdown continues with the time-consuming pleasure that is Asian television dramas. Here's what our editors have picked as the Best TV Dramas of 2012! Making this list makes us feel better about watching too much TV. BEST CHINESE DRAMAS Ex-boyfriend Love in the Buff's Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung aren't the only "Zhi Ming" and "Chun Jiao" of 2012; there's also Ex-boyfriend's Tony Yang and Gina Lee. A first love that began with Mayday's classic song "Zhi Ming and Chun Jiao" and ended in heartbreak gets a second chance years later, but will the ending be different this time? With two natural leads who aren't entrenched in the idol drama style of acting, Ex-boyfriend takes a... [read more]
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With 2012 ending in a few days and the world still around, we're looking back and counting down our favorite releases of the year. Out of all the Asian movies that were released this year on video, here's what our editors have picked as the Best Movies of 2012! ROCKMAN'S PICKS Ending Note (Japan) It takes a special kind of dedication to film to have the ability to commemorate your father's last days with a feature-length documentary, and Sunada Mami has that dedication in spades. In order to capture as much of her father's last days as possible, Sunada not only resorts to secretly leaving the camera on during her parents' tearful farewell, she also fills in the gaps with narration written... [read more]
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Having traveled to Macau and Singapore in previous years, the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), one of K-pop's biggest year-end music events, came to Hong Kong in 2012. PSY, Big Bang, Super Junior, JYP, SHINee, Epik High, Kara, f(x), EXO, B.A.P and many other K-pop artists all made the trip to Hong Kong, making this year one of the most star-studded editions of MAMA yet. Held at the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Centre on November 30, the 2012 MAMA presented over 30 awards to artists and thrilled fans with an exciting rundown of special performances. More than just an awards ceremony, MAMA is well known for its large-scale performances and headline-grabbing collaborations. Besides being... [read more]
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The London 2012 Summer Olympics are here! To get into the Olympics mood, we've picked ten of our favorite Asian sports movies to root for. When you're not watching the games, find time to cheer on the underdog athletes and inspiring real-life stories that are made for the movies. 1. Forever the Moment (2008) Did you know handball is an Olympic sport? Well, it is, and in 2004 the Korean national women's team defied the odds to reach the finals at the Athens Olympics, inspiring this award-winning hit four years later. The film proudly wears its heart and perspiration on its sleeve, chronicling the handball team's turmoil and rebuilding after coaching changes and the addition of older athletes... [read more]
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With 2012 already half over, let's take a quick look back at the best-selling movie and music releases of the year thus far. The below rankings are based on sales on YesAsia.com from January 1 to June 30, 2012. Sales of all editions and versions of the same title are summed up to determine the total sales and ranking of each title. BEST-SELLING MOVIES Chinese-language movies take nine of the top ten spots, with action and period being the order of the day. The unbeatable combo of Tsui Hark, Jet Li, and 3D made Flying Swords of Dragon Gate an easy choice for movie fans, and trusty Hong Kong names like Johnnie To, Dante Lam, and Derek Yee still hold sway. Just like it did theatrically in... [read more]
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Korean broadcaster KBS's popular music program Music Bank touched down in Hong Kong on June 23, 2012 for the one-night-only K-Pop Festival - Music Bank Hong Kong at the AsiaWorld-Arena. The special concert was part of Music Bank's world tour, which kicked off with a show in Tokyo in July 2011 and went west to Paris in February 2012. As the third stop of the tour, Music Bank Hong Kong brought together the formidable lineup of TVXQ, Wonder Girls, BEAST, CNBLUE, f(x), MBLAQ, Infinite, and IU. Music Bank's regular MCs Lee Jang Woo and After School's UEE also made the trip to Hong Kong, and they were joined by TVB's Crystal Li as hosts of the event. The waiting halls of the concert venue were... [read more]
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At the 2012 Asian Film Awards, director Ann Hui received the Lifetime Achievement Award for her 30-plus years of contribution to Asian cinema. Presenting the award to Hui were the lead actresses in the two most important films of Hui's career: Sylvia Chang, who starred in Hui's first feature film Secret, and Deanie Ip, who starred in Hui's most recent and commercially successful film A Simple Life. During her introduction speech for Hui, Ip brought up the fact that despite having spent 30-plus years in the Hong Kong film industry, she had never worked with the director until A Simple Life in 2011. Sharing the commonality of being strong women in a male-dominated industry, Hui and Ip have... [read more]
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In 2011, no Taiwan film was more anticipated than Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale, the two-part historical epic from director Wei Te Sheng, whose previous Cape No. 7 broke Taiwan's all-time box office record and helped revitalize the local film industry. Seediq Bale is based on the true story of the 1930 Wushe Incident, in which the aboriginal Seediq people revolted against the Japanese imperialist army after years of oppression. Though it did not surpass Cape No. 7's box office, Seediq Bale was Taiwan's highest-grossing homegrown feature of 2011 and the winner of Best Picture at the 48th Golden Horse Awards. Seediq Bale's huge cast includes marquee names like Japanese actor Ando... [read more]
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Celebrating the best in Asian cinema, the 6th Asian Film Awards (AFA) were held on March 19, 2012 in Hong Kong. The YumCha! team has been attending the annual AFA award ceremony since the very first edition, and this year we kept ourselves busy covering not only the award ceremony, but also the red carpet, backstage, and media events. Here's a roundup of our favorite moments and soundbites from the 6th Asian Film Awards! THE ACTORS Lawrence Ko (Jump, Ashin!) - Best Supporting Actor Winner - Taiwan actor Lawrence Ko might have won his award as a supporting character, but he has a special way of approaching every role - regardless of screen time: "I always approach the roles as if I'm the... [read more]
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Originally published on LoveHKFilm.com. Reprinted with permission. This is LoveHKFilm.com's Top 100 Hong Kong Films of the Eighties, as voted upon by actual site readers. Each sent in a list of 10-20 favorites, after which we tallied the votes according to some needlessly complex numerical formula. The cold stats: 135 readers voted, 239 films were nominated and 226 films made the final list. The 13 film differential is due to nominated films that were disqualified, e.g. A Chinese Ghost Story 2, which came out in 1990 and does not count in the vote. A note: This list has 101 films because two films ended in a dead heat for #100. There are tie-breakers built into the scoring system, with... [read more]
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Chinese period movies, in particular action epics, is the genre of choice among YesAsia's best-selling movies of 2011. Hong Kong period action films take up a good half of the top ten ranking, and superstars Andy Lau and Donnie Yen headline the top four spots with two movies each. Korean action also made a strong showing, with Kim Jee Woon being the only director to appear twice in the top ten. BEST-SELLING MOVIES OF 2011 1. Shaolin (Hong Kong/China) One of the highest-grossing Chinese films of 2011, Benny Chan's martial arts epic also captivated action fans around the world with its mix of explosive action scenes, splendid martial arts choreography, and deep spirituality. 2. Wu Xia (Hong... [read more]
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Korean dramas lead the pack for YesAsia's best-selling television dramas in 2011, and the top seller is a very familiar title for K-Drama fans. With precious few Mandarin and Japanese television series seeing English-subtitled releases, Korean and Hong Kong dramas easily dominated television sales on YesAsia's US Site. BEST-SELLING TV DRAMAS OF 2011 1. You're Beautiful (Korea) Even two years after its broadcast, the popularity of You're Beautiful is still going strong enough to top our bestsellers ranking. The fan-favorite idol drama spawned a Japanese remake in 2011, not to mention a slew of Pig Rabbit products and Jang Keun Suk fan meetings. 2. Dream High (Korea) K-Drama meets K-pop in... [read more]
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