Thursday, June 12, 2008

Gushing about Lisa Lu (the Empress Dowager), etc.


As you'll be able to tell from my article on her,
it was a genuine thrill to meet and interview
this acting legend

There's no two ways about it: Working on this latest issue of bc magazine, I experienced both major highs and lows. The negatives came in large part by way of my having -- partly because of illness, partly because of my having gone on holiday to Japan -- just a week to produce the writings that I was responsible for doing and a series of factors having contributed to that week being the longest, most energy-sapping work week I've had since moving to Hong Kong.

On the other side of the coin, the positives, came from my two interview subjects proving to not only be leading representatives of their field but also amazingly nice and fun to talk to. And when one of them is Lisa Lu, whose film credits include The Arch, The 14 Amazons, The Empress Dowager, The Last Emperor, and The Joy Luck Club... :)))))))

Anyways, without further ado -- bar to point out that this may well be the first time in its close to 14 year history that the magazine's put an 81-year-old woman on its cover... ;b

i) Lisa Lu and the Empress Dowager Ci Xi -- the legendary actress plays the imperial personage once again, this time in the fourth revival of a Hong Kong Repertory Theatre classic;

ii) Red, White and... Lilac! -- The Hong Kong Ballet's Artistic Director, John Meehan, talks about the company's upcoming Tricolor;

iii) This issue's Editor's Diary;

iv) A review of The Incredible Hulk;

v) A review of Lawrence Lau (aka Lawrence Ah Mon) and Scud's City Without Baseball; and

vi) A review of Shaolin Girl.

And while the following weren't written by yours truly, I do think that they'll also be of interest -- especially to Hong Kong movie fans :) :-

a) My helpful friend Michael Wells' review of Johnnie To's Sparrow; and

b) My colleague Rachel Mok's article on Silver Ko, whose singing credits include Election I's end song.

8 comments:

Glenn, kenixfan said...

Wow! That's awesome! Lisa Lu was in not only 14 Amazons but an episode of American TV show The Odd Couple which is probably my favorite American TV show of all time!

Great interview. And was that a picture of you with Ms. Lu?

YTSL said...

Hi Glenn --

Yeah, Lisa Lu was in a lot of American TV shows. And to think that her feature film debut was a co-star opposite James Stewart...

Glad you enjoyed the article. I realize that it's on the gushy side but I really couldn't help myself. (And yeah, I couldn't help gushing during the interview itself too... It can be hard to maintain a sense of professionalism when you meet people whose films are among those you have watched and absolutely love.)

But no, that most definitely is NOT a picture of me with Lisa Lu. (I do have one, actually, so you scared me for a while there into thinking it had accidentally gotten out into public circulation!) Rather, that's a picture of Lisa Lu and the playwright of "De Ling and Empress Dowager Ci Xi". ;b

Anonymous said...

wwwwwoooooooooooooooooo YTSL! lucky you! envy.... ;-)

Anonymous said...

and also, re ur review of incredible hulk:

"this movie and its makers have taken the time and effort to infuse its main male and female characters with loving humanity and its stories with enough emotional muscle to make the audience actively care about what unfolds on screen."

i think everyone should read your reviews! right on the spot.

Glenn, kenixfan said...

I hope the Hulk is good -- I liked the Ang Lee movie (it was a good movie but a bad comic book superhero movie if that makes any sense). The new Hulk preview looks great until they actually show the Hulk -- I hope the CGI can convince me.

I just remembered that there was a picture of you on Bordwell's site ages ago so your identity is not totally unknown to us blog fans! LOL! (Did I say too much there?)

YTSL said...

Hi Ho (aka Falling Stones) --

Re your first batch of comments: So... you wanna move to Hong Kong? ;b

Re your second: *Blush*, *blush* and thank you, thank you! :)

Hi Glenn --

Interesting point re a good movie not necessarily being a good comic book super hero movie. After reading it, wonder what you'll think of this new Hulk -- this not least since, for the most part, I'm not too keen on super hero movies.

And teeheehee re your remembering/knowing about my photo on Bordwell's site. The especially funny thing is that on that particular entry, there's also a picture of Lisa Lu... ;b

sarah bailey knight said...

ytsl

Great article on Lisa Lu. What a lovely and interesting woman. This is one of my favorite of your articles. I don't think you sound gushy as much as appreciative and respectful.

Look forward to seeing the Hulk movie.

I was sorry you didn't review Sparrow as I would be interested to read your thoughts on movie.

YTSL said...

Hi sbk --

Glad you like the Lisa Lu article -- and FWIW, it's one of my favorite of my bc articles too. (In fact, I'd rank it among my top 5.)

Hope you enjoy the new Hulk movie. Interestingly, quite a few other reviewers don't seem as enamored of the movie as me... So best to keep your expectations in check -- or low as I did prior to going to check out the film.

Re "Sparrow": Unfortunately, the HK premiere/preview isn't until next week. So I'm just glad Michael could help out and produce a review for us. :)