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Propaganda movies are mostly for and against what people stands for, but sometimes it can be for a good cause, for example dreams to come true. The Chinese movie from 2011 "The Space Dream" is a propaganda movie but not about politics but about an old man and his fight for his dream to be an astronaut.  Story: Zhang Tiancong (Liu Zhibing) is a first class trained astronaut together with his team Li Daowei (Wu Gang) Zhu Guanzhong (Zhao Xiaoming), however due to their age the government decides to put them as reserve team, a younger team will take over the project. Li and Zhu choose to early retire but Zhang choose to stay with the young team and train with them. They take him...

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A still from Phoring

Bengali-language film Phoring, directed by Indranil Roychowdhury, has been nominated for the Asian New Talent award at the Shanghai International Film Festival (June 14-22).

The Asian New Talent award is the second competition program of the festival, aiming at discovering and promoting young directors. From the 10 competition films, the winners of Best Film and Best Director are awarded approximately Usd 48,000.

Phoring, the story of an adolescent boy growing up in a back-of-beyond township in North Bengal, released in India in September last year.

The other nominations in the Asian New Talent award category are 10 Minutes by Yong-seung Lee (Korea), Angels Come Together by Hamid Mohammad (Iran), The Blue Bone by Cui Jian (China), Concrete Clouds by Lee Chatametikool (Thailand), Homeland by Nao Kubota (Japan), I’m Not Angry! by Reza Dormishian (Iran), No Smoking by Dong Xinwen and Wu Gang (China) and The Tale Of Iya...

Mostofa S. Farooki’s Ant Story and John Carney’s Begin Again are among the films that will compete for the Golden Goblet Award at this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff).

Begin Again was recently acquired for Chinese distribution by Ivanhoe Pictures and Beijing Galloping Horse, while Ant Story premiered at last year’s Dubai International Film Festival.

Organisers said the full Golden Goblet line-up has yet to be announced but will also include Volker Schlöndorff’s Diplomatie; Thai filmmaker Tom Waller’s The Last Executioner; Greek filmmaker Pantelis Voulgaris’ Mikra Anglia; Maiko wa Lady, from Japan’s Masayuki Suo; Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig’s Predestination (Australia); Jeanne Herry’s She Adores Him (France); Mehdi Rahmani’s Snow (Iran); Zhang Meng’s The Uncle Victory (China); and Marko Nabersnik’s The Woods Are Still Green (Germany).

As previously announced, Gong Li will serve as president of the Golden Goblet jury, which also includes...

In the 1920s, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown in favor a Chinese Republic. With the nation divided into fiefdoms ruled by fighting warlords, chaos seems to rein the nation. The Great Magician focuses on warlord Bully Lei (Lau Ching-wan) whose lieutenant "dog" magician (Wu Gang) uses magic to manipulate convicts into joining Lei's army while also plotting behind Lei's back with the Japanese to bring back the Qing Dynasty.

Lei is too enmeshed in his own special love triangle to notice all the plotting going on. His seventh and most recent wife Yin (Zhou Xun) does not love him because she's still pining after her old fiancé who disappeared three years ago. The fiancé in question has just reemerged, touting his magical skills as Chang Hsian (Tony Leung). He, too, is manipulating all those around him; but his efforts are aimed at winning back Yin (and also finding a special...

“The Great Magician” was one of the more highly anticipated Chinese releases of late, marking actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai’s return to the screen after a break of three years, having presumably been worked in after his turn in Wong Kar Wai’s still unfinished “The Grandmasters” had wrapped. The film also aroused interest for the fact that it saw Leung headlining along with Lau Ching Wan, the two having worked together several times in the past, most notably on Patrick Yau’s classic 1998 noir thriller “The Longest Nite”, with popular and talented actress Zhou Xun as the female lead. Based on a novel by Zhang Haifan, the film was a prestigious, big budget production, with one of Hong Kong’s current top directors at the helm in Derek Yee, best known for recent action hits “Triple Tap”, “Shinjuku Incident” and “One Nite in Mongkok”, and an illustrious supporting...

It might have a silly name, but “Ghost Bullets” actually looks pretty swift. The film, which stars Lau Ching-wan and Nicholas Tse, follows a pair of detectives as they attempt to solve a series of murders in Shanghai. And while that wimpy little synopsis may sound pretty pedestrian, Law Chi-Leung’s execution is anything but. Why take my word for it? Take a minute or so out of your oh-so busy schedule this morning and treat yourself to something intriguing. “Ghost Bullets” also stars Yang Mi, Jing Boran, Wu Gang, Liu Kai Chi, and Jiang Yiyan. The film is slated to open in Chinese theaters this summer. The trailer is nestled below...

A fugitive in Shenyang, China has been caught by police after being recognised on a dating show. Wu Gang, 39, appeared on television under the name Liu Hao and was successful, starting a romance with a female contestant. One viewer, however, thought he looked familiar and rang the local police, according to Xinhua. Wu is a suspect of a 1998 murder case where a 24-year-old man was killed, and although he has aged since then, the viewer said that his "soft features" were (more)...

Chicago – If I were 12 years old, I’d probably think “The Karate Kid” was one of the best Blu-Rays of the year. It’s got everything: a crowd-pleasing feature film, several superb extras, and strikingly sharp picture quality, with colors that pop. Yet since I’m twice as old, I’m cursed with the clarity to see through the splendid spectacle and linger on its utter superficiality.

“The Karate Kid” is barely a film at all, but merely a celebration of brand names, the first of which is the title itself, which makes no sense in the context of this remake. While John G. Avildsen’s 1984 classic was about a sensitive teenager learning karate in California, this film is about a cocky kid learning kung fu in China. When the kid corrects his mother on the precise name of his favored martial art, she goes, “Karate, kung fu, whatever!” This...

The constant influx of reboots, remakes, updates, sequels, spin-offs, prequels and adaptations have undoubtedly begun to wear down the filmgoers of the world. How can we distinguish a by-the-numbers rehash with a fresh cinematic experience? When the lines start to blur I find it hard to care anymore.

With the latest Hollywood update of The Karate Kid, director Harald Zwart reminds us that, by making the right choices, a retread done right can emerge as the most entertaining blockbuster so far this summer, which has, in fairness, been disappointing do far.

Zwart doesn’t simply replay all of what made the original so memorable, nor does he rip out the guts and try something completely new. By keeping a similar structure, updating when necessary and covering the whole thing in a slick polish, Zwart provides viewers with a definitive example of what a remake should be.

Jaden Smith plays Dre Parker,...