News

Barbie Hsu has sadly passed away.

The Taiwanese actress, perhaps best known for her role in the 2001 TV drama Meteor Garden, died after contracting pneumonia following a flu diagnosis at the age of 48.

The actress, also known as “Da S” (or “Big S”), caught the flu while visiting Japan with her family during the Lunar New Year, according to her younger sister, Dee Hsu, who provided a statement.

Keep reading to find out more…

“I am grateful that in this lifetime I was able to be her sister, taking care of each other and being companions. I will forever be thankful for her and miss her!” her sister said, via CBS News.

Barbie first broke into the industry as a teenager in the pop music group S.O.S. with her sister Dee Hsu, also known as “Xiao S,” or “Small S.” The two then moved into hosting gigs on TV.

In Meteor Garden,...

Barbie Hsu, a Taiwanese actor and singer best known for starring in the hit 2001 series “Meteor Garden,” has died. She was 48.

The BBC reported news of Hsu’s death on Monday, citing local media. Her sister, Dee Hsu, told Taiwan’s Tvbs News that she had fallen ill while on vacation in Japan.

“During the Lunar New Year, our family came to Japan for vacation. My dearest sister Barbie has unfortunately left us after getting pneumonia, triggered by influenza,” Dee Hsu said, according to the BBC. Hsu had health struggles in the past and had previously been hospitalized due to epilepsy.

Barbie and Dee began their careers together as a singing duo, releasing the hit song “Ten-Minute Love” in 1994 under the name S.O.S. After a contractual dispute with their agency, the sisters shifted focus to hosting, which included the variety show “Guess” and entertainment news program “100% Entertainment.”

In 2001, Hsu rose...

The cinema of Hong Kong in the ’80s and ’90s, particularly Jet Li’s martial arts films, is renowned for its thrilling action choreography, unique visual styles, and engaging storytelling. Behold the spectacular Hk action classics from prolific actor, martial artist, and producer Jet Li and early works by celebrated filmmakers Gordon Chan, Woo-Ping Yuen, and Corey Yuen when Fist Of Legend (1994), Tai Chi Master (1993), The Legend (1993), The Legend 2 (1993), and The Bodyguard From Beijing (1994) are set to unleash on Digital in 4K on February 18, 2025 by Shout! Studios, in collaboration with Jet Li.

“Thanks to our new partner Shout! Studios. Movie fans can now easily enjoy these entertaining films in stunning 4K on various digital platforms. I hope a new generation of audiences will be introduced to these action classics that give a glimpse to the talent of directors, writers, actors, stunt people, and crew that come from the rich history of Hong Kong cinema,...

1984 signaled the beginning of the “Coming of Age” trilogy that began with “A Summer in Grandpa's”. The film is based on Chu Tien Wen's childhood memories, one of the most renowned theatrical writers and novelists of the country. The protagonists are two kids, a fact that established Hou's ability to direct kid actors. The movie won a Best Director award at the 1984 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, the Golden Montgolfiere award (tied with The Runner (1984)) at the 1985 Nantes Three Continents Festival, and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention at the 1985 Locarno International Film Festival. It was also the first work of the Taiwanese auteur to screen in the US, in 1986. Also of note is the fact that Hou cast Edward Yang in a brief role, with Yang returning the favor by casting Hou in his film “Taipei Story”

Follow our tribute to Taiwanese by clicking on the image below

Two city kids,...

Having graduated from Busan's Asian Film Academy in 2007, Chia Chee Sum (nicknamed Darrel) took his time to hone his patient craft. In 2018, he returned to the South Korean city to present “High Way” (2018), which won the Busan International Short Film Festival's Jury Prize. His gently observational, frequently amusing short film, about a young motorcyclist's hunt for his T-shirt along the corridors of a public-housing flat, was soon followed up by the China-set diaspora short〈烏達烏達〉“Otak-Otak” in 2019.

In October 2023, Oasis of Now competed in the New Currents section of Busan International Film Festival, where it was hailed as “the most beautiful film of this Busan competition”. Situated entirely in a crumbling apartment complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Chee Sum lived, his first feature drops in on the clandestine meetings between a Vietnamese mother, Hanh, and her increasingly distant daughter, Ting Ting. Hanh happens to be an undocumented domestic worker...

Liu Siyi studied Media and Visual Arts at Tong Ji University and Film Production at the Vancouver Film School. Her short film “Cadence” was selected by the China Independent Film Festival. “Flaming Cloud” is her debut feature as writer and director. The project was in the Top 5 projects in the 4th Cfdg China Youth Film Director Support Program. It also has won Most Promising Director, Genre Selection and Producers Jointly Promote Project prizes in the China Golden Rooster Film Project Market.

Flaming Cloud is screening at New York Asian Film Festival

In a story that seems to combine Disney fairy tales and Chinese Folklore, “Flaming Cloud” opens in a casino above the clouds, where a number of deities wager on the lives of mortals to pass the time. Although the bets seem innocent for the most part, the appearance of a newcomer, who is willing to bet on the existence of true love,...

Ming Lee is one of the most significant characters in Pixar’s coming-of-age gem Turning Red, and the actor her voice belongs to is a prolific and recognizable star of movies and television. Turning Red is a cinematic metaphor for puberty in which a 13-year-old girl named Mei who, thanks to a curse she inherited, transforms into a giant red panda every time she experiences a powerful emotion. The heart of the movie is Mei’s relationship with her overprotective mother, Ming Lee. Ming Lee is aware of her daughter’s panda curse, but she’s more concerned about her rebellious plan to attend a boy band’s concert.

Turning Red’s maternal character falls into the familiar parental archetype of coming-of-age movies. Ming Lee is an overbearing mother who won’t accept anything less than perfection from her daughter, making her the closest thing that Turning Red has to an antagonist.

Sales

Studiocanal has sold a raft of global territories on four-part thriller drama series “Ridley Road.” Created by Studiocanal’s Red Production Company, commissioned for BBC One and co-produced with Masterpiece, the series will air in the U.S. on PBS Masterpiece, in France on Canal Plus, and has also been acquired by Now Studio Hong Kong, ABC Australia, Nova Greece, Yle Finland, Svt Sweden, Nrk Norway, Dr Denmark, Rte Ireland, Hot Israel, Canal Plus Poland and Disney Plus Benelux. A sale to Mola Indonesia was agreed earlier this year.

Based on Jo Bloom’s book, the series follows a young Jewish woman who falls in love with a member of the ’62 Group. She rejects her comfortable middle-class life in Manchester and joins the fights against fascism in London, risking everything for her beliefs for the man she loves.

The drama adaption is written, and executive produced by Sarah Solemani...

“Didi’s Dreams”, the Taiwanese-Chinese comedy film written and directed by by Kevin Tsai and starring Dee Hsu, Lin Chi-ling, Jin Shijia, Li Zifeng is now on Amazon Video, Vimeo on Demand.

Synopsis

With this one-of-a-kind fantasy comedy, talent from the most influential Chinese language TV show Kangsi Coming pay tribute to the golden age of Taiwan variety entertainment. Didi is an aspiring actress who keeps having the same dream about a spaceship noodle shop owner’s love affairs. After countless hardships, she finally reaches her career breakthrough, but her life takes an unexpected turn, and the truth about her dreams start to unveil.

A bit of backstory

The privatization of Taiwan TV industry in 1990s driven by government policy resulted in explosive growth in number of working TV stations. The island’s 23 million people who used to watch programs from only 3 stations now can access more...

China’s version of “Saturday Night Live” has been taken down from streaming platform Youku, as has another talk show featuring famous presenters from Taiwan. The removals come during a time of heightened political control of the media by the Chinese government.

The Chinese version of “SNL” on Youku was announced last year. The show has been running for a few weeks on Alibaba-owned Youku, but it is no longer available. The fourth episode was supposed to drop this past Saturday but did not. Previous episodes were also taken down.

Another program pulled from Youku is “Zhenxiang Ba! Huahua Wanwu” (roughly translated as “Truth! Everything”). The variety talk show reunites Dee Hsu and Kevin Tsai, famous presenters from Taiwan who two years ago bade farewell to their long-running show “Kangsi Coming,” one of the most popular talk shows in the Chinese-speaking world.

Youku could not be immediately reached for comment on the removals.