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Happy Times (2000 Film)
''Happy Times'' () is a 2000 tragicomedy film directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou, starring Zhao Benshan and Dong Jie. It is based loosely on the short story, ''Shifu: You'll Do Anything for a Laugh'' () by Mo Yan; the story appears in English translation in the collection of the same title translated by Howard Goldblatt. Though the story and the film share a common opening, they begin to diverge almost immediately. Plot In the city of Dalian, an old and laid-off factory worker (played by Zhao Benshan) seeks to marry an obese and divorced middle-aged woman (Dong Lifan), who he hopes will bring him warmth and comfort in life. So he sets out desperately to find a way to make money for the posh wedding he has promised. The hapless man and his friend (Fu Biao) decide to renovate a broken bus on top of a hill that is popular for romantic couples. He turns this bus into a small dwelling he names "Happy Times Hotel," which he will rent to willing couples visiting the hill. As he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retrieved 21 August 2008. He is a part of the Cinema of China#Rise of the Fifth Generation, Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, Honorary Doctorate of Boston University and Yale University, Distinguished Professor of Beijing Film Academy. He made his List of directorial debuts, directorial debut in 1988 with ''Red Sorghum (film), Red Sorghum''. Zhang has won numerous awards and recognitions, with three Academy Awards nominations for Best Foreign Language Film for ''Ju Dou'' in 1990, ''Raise the Red Lantern'' in 1991, and ''Hero (2002 film), Hero'' in 2003; a Silver Lion, two Golden Lion prizes and the Jaeger-LeCoultre Glory to the Filmmaker Award, Glory to the Filmmaker Award at the Venice Film Festival; Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival), Gran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filmmaker
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casting, pre-production, shooting, sound recording, post-production, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a film release and an exhibition. Filmmaking occurs in a variety of economic, social, and political contexts around the world. It uses a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques. Although filmmaking originally involved the use of film, most film productions are now digital. Today, filmmaking refers to the process of crafting an audio-visual story commercially for distribution or broadcast. Production stages Film production consists of five major stages: * Development: Ideas for the film are created, rights to existing intellectual properties are purchased, etc., and the screenplay is written. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derek Elley
Derek Elley (born c. 1955) is an American film and music critic and author, best known as the resident film critic for ''Variety'' until his departure in March 2010. With over 1200 reviews to his credit as of December 2014 on ''Rotten Tomatoes'', he specialises in reviewing Asian films and joined '' Film Business Asia'' as chief critic upon its inception after leaving ''Variety'' in 2010. Elley was a music critic in the 1970s and 1980s, and authored the annual International Music Guides. In 1986 he published ''Dimitri Tiomkin: The Man and His Music'' in conjunction with the National Film theatre. In 1977 he published ''World Filmography'' with Peter Cowie, and began authoring the annual Movie Guides for ''Variety'' from the 1990s. He co-founded the Udine Far East Film Festival and was its artistic director for the first three editions, starting in 1999. In 2013, Routledge published his ''The Epic Film: Myth and History'', a detailed insight into the making and history of epic films. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Review Aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users can view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies, and creating databases for companies to learn about their actual and potential customers. The system enables users to easily compare many different reviews of the same work. Many of these systems calculate an approximate average assessment, usually based on assigning a numeric value to each review related to its degree of positive rating of the work. Review aggregation sites have begun to have economic effects on the companies that create or manufacture items under review, especially in certain categories such as electronic games, which are expensive to purchase. Some companies have tied royalty payment rates and employee bonuses to aggregate scores, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang. Although the name "Rotten Tomatoes" connects to the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes in disapproval of a poor stage performance, the original inspiration comes from a scene featuring tomatoes in the Canadian film ''Léolo'' (1992). Since January 2010, Rotten Tomatoes has been owned by Flixster, which was in turn acquired by Warner Bros in 2011. In February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcast's Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, including Fandango. History Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12, 1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His objective in creating Rotten Tomatoes was "to create a site where people can get access to reviews from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fan Wei (actor)
Fan Wei (born 2 September 1962) is a Chinese skit, sitcom and film actor best known for his performances with Zhao Benshan and Gao Xiumin (actress), Gao Xiumin in CCTV New Year's Galas since 1995. In recent years, he has been featured in such films as ''Cell Phone (film), Cell Phone'', ''A World Without Thieves'', ''If You Are the One (film), If You Are the One'' and ''City of Life and Death''. He has also acted in several television series produced in mainland China and is a member of the Fan (surname), Fàn family. Early life Fan was born in Dadong District of Shenyang, Liaoning, on 2 September 1962. His father was a publicity officer in a factory and his mother was a salesperson. He has an elder sister and a younger brother. In 1978, by age 16, Fan studied acting from Chen Lianzhong (), an actor of Shenyang Ballad Singers Troupe in which Fan officially joined five years later. In 1986, he took part in the National ''Xiangsheng'' Competition, leading him became widely known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sun Honglei
Sun Honglei (; born 16 August 1970) is a Chinese actor. Early life Sun was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, on 16 August 1970. Sun developed an interest in acting and performances at a young age. He often skipped school to learn breakdancing on the streets and eventually gave up his studies entirely to pursue dancing as a career, eventually performing with a modern dance troupe for several years. Later, Sun became a popular local nightclub singer and host before going into acting. In 1995, Sun attended the Central Academy of Drama, where he graduated in 1997. He has since gone on to star in numerous TV dramas and films, winning many awards for his stage work. Sun is probably best known to Asian cinema fans for his supporting performances in ''Seven Swords'', ''Triangle'' and '' Blood Brothers''. Since October 2011, Sun has played the starring role in the popular Chinese series 'Nanren Bang' (男人帮), portraying urban romantic life from a male perspective. Acting career In 1998, S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tao Hong (actress, Born 1972)
Tao Hong (; born 15 January 1972) is a Chinese actress and former synchronised swimmer. A National Games of China champion, Tao was part of the Chinese national team at several synchronised swimming competitions from 1987 to 1991, including the 1991 World Aquatics Championships. As an actress, Tao has received wide acclaim for films like ''Colors of the Blind'' (1997) and ''Forgetting to Know You'' (2013), though she is better known for hit TV dramas like '' Sunny Piggy'' (2000), ''Nothing in the Mirror'' (2002), ''Chuncao'' (2007) and ''The Red'' (2014). Internationally, Tao is probably best known for her small role in the Academy Award-winning film ''The Red Violin'' (1998). Athletic career Tao Hong began practicing with the Beijing Synchronized Swimming Team in 1983 when she was 11. In 1984, she officially made the team. She made the national team for the first time in 1987. At the 1991 World Aquatics Championships, China finished 6th, which would remain China's best fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niu Ben
Zhang Xuejing (张学景, Tianjin, 1935-), stagename Niu Ben (牛犇) is a Chinese film actor. Biography He lost both of his parents at the age of six, then lived with his oldest brother, who worked as a driver at the third film factory in Beijing. In 1946, 11-year-old Ben was chosen to act as a village boy "little ox" and became a child star. His stage name Niu Ben is composed of Niu the Chinese character of "牛" (ox, a common surname) and Ben " 犇" (three oxen together, a less common personal name). He later played child roles in old Chinese films, and went to Hongkong. After the foundation of People's Republic of China, he returned to mainland China and became an actor of the Shanghai Film Studio, and one of the members of the 5th China Film Association. In his 60-year career, he has been in hundreds of films and TV plays, and is still active in Chinese film. Personal Awards * Golden Rooster Awards = Best Supporting Actor1983 ''The Herdsman'' * Hundred Flowers Awards = ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Li Xuejian
Li Xuejian (; born February 20, 1954) is a Chinese actor. He played the role Song Jiang in ''The Water Margin'', a 1998 television series adapted from the Chinese classical novel of the same title. Li also played the roles of military personnel in television series set in the Chinese Civil War, and he acted in the 2006 film ''The Go Master'', based on the biography of '' go'' player Go Seigen Wu Quan (), courtesy name Wu Qingyuan ()His courtesy name was created based on his real name (''Quan'' means "spring, fountain" and ''Qing Yuan'' means "clear and pure source of water"). (June 12, 1914 – November 30, 2014), better known by .... Personal life In 1983, Li Xuejian married Yu Haidan (), an actress from Kongzheng Art Troupe. The couple has a son, Li Gen (). Filmography Film Television Film and television awards References External links *Li Xuejianat the Chinese Movie Database 1954 births Living people Male actors from Shandong People from J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masseuse
Massage is the manipulation of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In European countries, a person professionally trained to give massages is traditionally known as a masseur (male) or masseuse (female). In the United States, these individuals are often referred to as massage therapists, because they must be certified and licensed as "licensed massage therapists". In professional settings, clients are treated while lying on a massage table, sitting in a massage chair or lying on a mat on the floor. There are many different modalities in the massage industry, including (but not limited to): deep tissue, manual lymphatic drainage, medical, sports, structural integration, Swedish, Thai and trigger point. Etymology The word comes from the French 'friction of kneading', which, in turn, comes either from the A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fu Biao
Fu Biao (September 27, 1963 – August 30, 2005) was a Chinese actor. Biography Fu Biao was born in the family of an army officer on September 27, 1963, in Beijing. After graduating from high school, he entered a film academy in Beijing to learn acting. As a film actor, he acted for the first time in the ''Shanghai Triad'' (摇呀摇,摇到外婆桥). From 1997 he acted in several New Year films directed by Feng Xiaogang and became a recognizable actor. He died from liver cancer after having his liver transplanted twice Fu's funeral was attended by some of the biggest names in Chinese entertainment, including Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, Xu Fan, Sun Haiying, Lü Liping, Xu Zheng, Tao Hong, Zhang Guoli, Deng Jie, Feng Gong, Han Hong, Liu Zhenyun, Cai Ming, Yu Quan, Hou Yaowen, Alex Man, Zhang Jizhong, Liu Xiao Ling Tong, etc. Personal life Fu Biao married actress Zhang Qiufang (张秋芳) in 1989. They portrayed a married couple in several films, including '' The Dream Factor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
