Palace of Devotion (previously Poetry of the Song Dynasty) stars Liu Tao as Liu E and chronicles her ascent to power and relationship with husband Emperor Zhenzong of Song (Vic Chou). [Extended]
The 61 episode drama releases 2 episodes every day except Friday on iQiyi/Tencent/Youku.
Teaser 2, Theme song by Tan Weiwei
The Golden Eagle Awards has finally decided to untangle its messy awards categories, and created a Best Actor/Actress award where the nominations are mostly based on merit. You can tell they were trying really hard when it came to choosing winners, though it’ll take a few more rounds before the awards are going to regain its reputation.
Continue reading
Often lauded as director Zhang Jizhong’s best Jin Yong drama, his adaptation of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils has all of his fortes without any of his weaknesses. A perfect combination of solid hand-to-hand combat and artistic license in the action choreography, a stunning cast in equally stunning on-location scenery, a focus on the grandeur of the stories but finally with nuanced relationships and chemistry between the characters. Hu Jun is truly one of the few actors who pulls off the rugged-at-large-soft-in-the-heart Xiao Feng, while Jimmy Lin’s idol-drama-take on Duan Yu makes him much more likable than the original character. Liu Tao’s Ah-Zhu was the first TV character who made me cry, while Jiang Xin’s Mu Wuantong remains her most gorgeous role to date. Chen Hao and Shu Chang also gave amazing performances as two complex female antagonists.
The impeccably cast series stars Hu Jun, Jimmy Lin, Gao Hu, Liu Tao, Chen Hao, Jiang Xin, Shu Chang, Liu Yifei, Yang Rui, Xiu Qing, Tong Chun-Chung, Christy Chung, Diana Pang, etc.
GQ is pretty hard to beat on the creativity front, but at least Harper’s Bazaar had its own lineup of pretty stars. Select list of guests attending include Angelababy, Liu Shishi, Song Qian, Nazha, Zhao Liying, Liu Tao, Song Zu’er, Guan Xiaotong, Yang Zi, Lin Yun, Zhou Dongyu, Zhong Chuxi, Yuan Shanshan, Qin Lan, Ni Ni, Jing Tian, Xin Zhilei, Qi Wei, Yi Yangqianxi, Xiao Zhan and Chen Feiyu.
Which look do you like best?
Continue reading
Segments of the beautiful dance drama The Eternal Wave 永不消失的电波, which made headlines recently for accusing Hu Ge and Liu Tao’s mini play of plagiarism.
Also, if you like dance dramas, the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater has several of its dance dramas, including the highly acclaimed Confucius dance drama, available in full on Bilibili here.
Publishing a collection of old favourites after cleaning up the drafts section:
Liu Tao and Vic Chou are photographed by Chen Man in this Song Dynasty – inspired photoshoot to promote upcoming drama Poetry of the Song Dynasty, where they play the Emperor Zhenzong of Song and his empress Liu E.
I don’t usually post these type of patriotic films since they’re usually just bad films, but the trailer for this actually looks really good. Me and My Motherland 我的我的祖国, a film celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October, consists of eight parts separately shot by eight directors, ranging from veterans like Chen Kaige to rising talents like Wen Yan. Here’s what we know of the cast so far for each part:
Trailer:
Liu Tao and Yao Chen are featured on the July cover of ELLE. Both actresses saw a career resurgence with Daylight Entertainment dramas Ode to Joy and Nirvana in Fire and All is Well respectively. Photos by Li Qi.
Modern drama Hope All Is Well With Us stars Liu Tao as a divorcee who reenters the workforce after her marriage with Xiang Qian (Yang Shuo) breaks down. Jin Chen plays Liu Tao’s new boss, yet finds herself falling in love with her subordinate’s ex-husband. Liu Duanduan plays Xun Zhao’s new love interest.