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NEWS ITEMS MARCH 2009 March 26: The premiere of director Wong Kar-Wai's "Ashes of Time Redux" was held in Beijing yesterday, and will be released in theaters in China tomorrow. The late Leslie Cheung starred in the original 1994 version. He and Gong Li worked together on "Farewell, My Concubine" and "Temptress Moon". Gong Li's manager asked me to post on this site her tribute to Leslie Cheung: "沒有人可以代替你的光采，你的笑容永遠陪伴著我們。想念你--張國榮! " 鞏俐. Translation: "No one can replace your brilliance, your smile is with us forever. Missing you, Leslie!" Signed Gong Li "Collins", one of the people who saw the recent test screening of "Shanghai", answered Cocoa's questions via email about Gong Li's performance: "I think her performance was good. She did a very good job as the wife of Chow-Yun Fat who obviously had different view points of the Japanese than she did. She was very believable as her character. She really got into the part. A lot of movies you can tell the actress is just acting, but Gong-Li became this wife, became this leader, became this activist and you truly believe in her fight. She does an excellent job with her English in this movie, and she is very seductive with it. She makes the accent very attractive. You first see her in a casino in the film, and she flirts with the camera a whole bunch. She makes smoking look sexy again, and yet she is so mysterious that it makes you anxious to know what she is up too. Good thing John Cusack discovers what she is up to for us. But she did add a lot to this film, and without her or her character in this film it wouldn't have been a decent film. She made this movie great." (Thanks, Cocoa) March 24: "Raise The Red Lantern", the 1992 Zhang Yimou / Gong Li masterwork, is on the Yahoo! Movies list of "100 Movies To See Before You Die". (Thanks to Cocoa for the tip.) ->Link March 22: Three of the people who saw the "Shanghai" test screening last Thursday have written about their reactions on blogs and forums� "Collins" wrote on his blog: "It was overall a good movie to watch." In response to questions about Gong Li's performance, he wrote: "She has a pretty meaty role. I would say her best scenes are towards the end of the movie. She truly shines then. I like the fact that she's so secretive in the movie, and is part of an underground thing... It's nuts how hot she is. It drives you up the wall, no joke." He added: "Cusack, Gong and Fat do a stellar job." "insp_likening" described the film as a "suspense/drama" and noted the credits order: John Cusack, Gong Li, Chow Yun-Fat. He wrote: "The film as a whole is enjoyable, dragged a little in some parts and the story has too many motivational conflicts to really engage the audience... I must say the production setting of Shanghai is quite impressive and captured the intensity and the chaos of international settlement section very well... I'm sure they will tweak it for the final release. Overall, it looks more expensive than the reported $45m budget." He added: "Gong Li and John Cusack work off each other just fine" and "GL and JC has [a] few passionate scenes but all got interrupted before the heat settles in." "Patrick-988" also saw the test screening and felt "the story took a while to unfold. The pacing was off ... something essential was missing - but what? ... I would have loved some screen time to see their [Cusack's and Gong's] love interest develop and add conflict to the plot... I sincerely hope that Hafstrom gets a chance to give the characters more room to breathe." Regarding the performances: "John Cusack as Paul Soames and Chow Yun Fat as Anthony Lan-Ting were great only to be topped by the brilliant Gong Li, playing Anna, who keeps surprising me by adding yet another spellbinding performance to her already immense array of characters." March 14: According to the folks at CurbsideBooty, a test screening of "Shanghai" will be held on Thursday, March 19 at a Manhattan movie theatre. Go HERE for more details.
She was named Best Dressed by Fashion Week Daily: "Shanghai Smile: Gong Li made a dazzling appearance at the Louis Vuitton show today. While posing with Yves Carcelle, the Shanghai starlet beamed for the paparazzi - how unfashion and how refreshing. Li's billowing silhouette was paired with just the right amount of colorful accessories and a to-die-for oversized clutch.� There is also a mention of Gong Li's appearance on the French Elle magazine site: "Of all the people who attended the last [runway] show of Paris Fashion Week, it is no doubt that it was Gong Li who was the most noticed! At the Louis Vuitton show, the 43-year-old actress arrived in 100% denim: a light blouse and ultra-large pants of the Louis Vuitton brand. Accessorized in a colorful way, her allure made all of the "street-stylers" in the capital city go crazy!" ->Photos are posted on our forum March 9: Watch for an appearance by Gong Li at an event in Europe later this week... March 3: International Women's Day 2009 is March 8, and the members of the L'Oreal Chinese "Dream Team" have each issued a message: Gong Li - Fearless Confidence: "The world is changing, and women have changed as well. You know more and more clearly what you want, what you do not want. I appreciate your fearless confidence, daring to listen to your inner voice. Always strive to become what you want."
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