Photos, posters, and stills that caught our eyes this week. What caught yours?
(more…)Friday Photos
Wang Yaoqing spoofs GQ covers
This might be the most fun photoshoot of the year. As the host of the upcoming GQ Men of the Year event, Wang Yaoqing spoofed all the 2020 covers. Other than being funnier, there are two covers of his that I unironically like as fashion magazine covers more than the original.
2021 bromance drama ships are already competing for fans
Next year has dozens of bromance dramas hoping to make the next big ship, and they’re already competing for fans. Three had pretty high-quality leaks today, including Fan Chengcheng and Wang Anyu’s Run Freely, Tan Jianci and Chen Zheyuan’s Winner is King, and Zhang Zhehan and Gong Jun’s A Tale of the Wanderers. All three are actually kind of cute, and I’m hoping at least one of the bromance dramas next year will be good.
Fan Chengcheng and Wang Anyu has a cute snowball fight for Run Freely:
Bromance drama Winner is King releases stills
Bromance drama Winner is King 杀破狼 has finally finished filming and it unfortunately looks like every other historical drama, with almost no signs the story is set in a silkpunk ancient world. The cast looks cute, though. The series is an adaption of Priest’s BL novel of the same name, and has cast Tan Jianci (The Advisors Alliance) and Chen Zheyuan (The Handsome Siblings) as the leads.
Netflix to produce futuristic “Water Margin” film
Deadline has reported that Netflix has signed on Kingdom-director Shinsuke Sato and Deepwater Horizon-writer Matt Sand for a futuristic adaptation of Chinese novel The Water Margin, a tale of 108 outlaws forced into rebellion by the failing Song government loosely based on historical figures. Unlike Netflix’s The Three Body Trilogy that at least has Ken Liu, this one so far has no Chinese names attached. But hey, at least it’s one step closer to my dream cyberpunk Jin Yong film.
Random fact in case the casting director sees this: the average young male from Shandong, where the story is set and most of the characters are from, is taller than one from the U.S. The most famous Shandongnese actresses look like this and this. Please don’t just cast people who fit your false stereotypes (but please do cast Asians for the roles).
Photographer Friday: Leslie Zhang’s oil paintings
Leslie Zhang Jiacheng is yet another instantly recognizable photographer. His photographs are characterized by an oil painting-like texture and composition. He also has a distinct interpretation of zhongguofeng or Chinese-style that is more muted than, say, the mainstream style of photographers like Chen Man.
Fashion Friday
Sorry I haven’t been posting much, thank goodness there’s still @xdramasx . Haven’t really been able to follow many dramas or variety shows, but I still read weibo, so here are some of my favorite looks recently I want to share with you guys.
Victor Ma got passed by The Maze Runner because his eyes weren’t small enough to be Asian
I know this is old news, but I just saw it today so it’s new to me. Chinese-American singer-actor Victor Ma gave an interview a while ago discussing his Hollywood endeavors, where he says he got passed for roles because he didn’t “look Asian enough.” In particular, he was told his eyes were too large for a role in The Maze Runner (his eyes aren’t even that large compared to most Chinese celebs).
“I auditioned for The Maze Runner. The role went to a Korean-American, his name is Ki Hong Lee. The role was down to me and him. The audition was a last call. The reason why they didn’t want me was first, I was still a minor and it was more difficult to work with night schedules. That’s one thing. Second of all, the casting told me was that “You don’t look Asian enough.” ****. When I asked him why, he told me “Ki-hoon has smaller eyes than yours.” I was like, oh my god, are you kidding me.”
-Victor Ma
This is one topic that I personally find really obvious, but is often difficult to discuss without making it sound like a criticism of certain looks. It’s nice to have someone to actually come out and say it’s definitely true.
(more…)Friday Photos
Ni Ni by Guo Puyuan 
Zhou Dongyu by Chen Man 
Liu Shishi by Leslie Zhang 
Song Qian by Yu Cong
September and October are traditionally the most high-quality fashion covers, but it seems like November is way, way better this year. Perhaps because the magazines don’t feel so pressured to have the biggest (safest) names bound by restraints, November covers so far are so much more modern in aesthetics.
Here’s a round-up of photos that caught our eyes recently. If you haven’t seen it yet, I also love Chen Man’s Zhao Wei photoshoot.
(more…)THE9 practice rooms round-up
I’m still bitter that THE9 hasn’t had a single official practice room dance together, but here’s a round-up of my favorite covers recently.
First up, my bias Lu Keran. Her dancing style and personality is so unique and captivating in every aspect. She has the most sensual dancing style in THE9, but she’s also the shyest. She’s the most babied, the most bullied, but she also can beat everyone up (literally).