VietNam Life Style

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Beautiful faces to light up screens during Tet

“Bóng ma học đường” delves into issues faced by teens with relation to family, love, and school violence

Three eagerly awaited Tet releases -- “Thien su 99”, “Bong ma hoc duong,” and “Co dau dai chien” -- all star hot actors and actresses.

“Bóng ma học đường,” the first Vietnamese 3D film, produced by Thien Ngan Movie JSC and directed by Le BaoTrung, delves into issues faced by teens with relation to family, love, and school violence.

The horror-comic flick narrates the story of horror writer Nam Linh played by renowned comedian Hoai Linh.

After killing himself, Linh becomes an old ghost under a ghost lord who also controls a group of super-bad teenage ghosts. Elly Tran plays a teen ghost who always bullies Linh.

Linh is ordered by the ghost lord to kill his son if he wants to save his soul. In the process of grappling with this cruel dilemma, Linh discovers the issues facing children, including his son.

This film also seeks to shed light on the causes of school violence, a burning topic last year after many video clips of fights between teenage girls were posted online.

Elly Tran appears in a bikini along with other beautiful ghosts played by Ngoc Diep and Quynh Anh. The Vietnamese-Chinese beauty is well known to netizens for boasting about her bust and hip measurements.

Elly Tran

The film also stars Hoang Son, Wanbi Tuan Anh, Truong Quynh Anh, Thien Minh, Dinh Ngoc Diep, and Tim.

The film will be released nationwide January 26.

‘Thiên sứ 99’

“Thiên sứ 99” (Heavenly messenger 99), produced by Phuoc Sang Company, is a humorous and gentle love story of Thien Minh, the son of a Love Goddess, who is banished to the earth to look for a love arrow that he lost.

Thien Minh must obtain 99 love expressions from girls to regain the arrow and his power. When he is about to complete his mission, he recognizes he is in love.

thien su 99

Will he return to heaven or stay back?

Thien Minh is played by hottie Huynh Anh.

Critics have, however, panned his acting as awkward, the film as lacking humor, and Diem My’s dialogues for not being smooth.

The film also stars singers Ngo Kien Huy and Khong Tu Quynh.

The critics also said the screenplay is sloppy and the photography modest. But Phuoc Sang believes its film, released nationwide January 21, will be successful.

‘Cô dâu đại chiến’

“Cô dâu đại chiến” (Bride in a big fight) is a laugh-a-minute about a love story between five girls and a guy named Thai played by Huy Khanh.

Thai is the only son of a rich family and leads a fast life. He flirts with four girls with different personalities and backgrounds at the same time.

All of them eventually fall in love with him and seek various ways to express their love, leading to a series of funny happenings.

co dau dai chien

One day Thai falls in love with a gentle, beautiful girl named Linh, played by Ngoc Diep. Linh is a painter. She believes in Thai’s love and he decides to say goodbye to his other girlfriends and marry Linh.

On their wedding day, Thai’s four former lovers appear with weapons in their hands. A fight breaks out among the girls, causing chaos.

Critics and many artists think this is the best film to be released during Tet. The film also features several attractive actors and actresses.

Beautiful faces to light up screens during Tet

“Bóng ma học đường” delves into issues faced by teens with relation to family, love, and school violence

Three eagerly awaited Tet releases -- “Thien su 99”, “Bong ma hoc duong,” and “Co dau dai chien” -- all star hot actors and actresses.

The horror-comic flick narrates the story of horror writer Nam Linh played by renowned comedian Hoai Linh.

After killing himself, Linh becomes an old ghost under a ghost lord who also controls a group of super-bad teenage ghosts. Elly Tran plays a teen ghost who always bullies Linh.

Linh is ordered by the ghost lord to kill his son if he wants to save his soul. In the process of grappling with this cruel dilemma, Linh discovers the issues facing children, including his son.

This film also seeks to shed light on the causes of school violence, a burning topic last year after many video clips of fights between teenage girls were posted online.

Elly Tran

The film also stars Hoang Son, Wanbi Tuan Anh, Truong Quynh Anh, Thien Minh, Dinh Ngoc Diep, and Tim.

The film will be released nationwide January 26.

‘Thiên sứ 99’

Thien Minh must obtain 99 love expressions from girls to regain the arrow and his power. When he is about to complete his mission, he recognizes he is in love.

thien su 99

Will he return to heaven or stay back?

Thien Minh is played by hottie Huynh Anh.

Critics have, however, panned his acting as awkward, the film as lacking humor, and Diem My’s dialogues for not being smooth.

The film also stars singers Ngo Kien Huy and Khong Tu Quynh.

The critics also said the screenplay is sloppy and the photography modest. But Phuoc Sang believes its film, released nationwide January 21, will be successful.

‘Cô dâu đại chiến’

“Cô dâu đại chiến” (Bride in a big fight) is a laugh-a-minute about a love story between five girls and a guy named Thai played by Huy Khanh.

Thai is the only son of a rich family and leads a fast life. He flirts with four girls with different personalities and backgrounds at the same time.

All of them eventually fall in love with him and seek various ways to express their love, leading to a series of funny happenings.

co dau dai chien

On their wedding day, Thai’s four former lovers appear with weapons in their hands. A fight breaks out among the girls, causing chaos.

Critics and many artists think this is the best film to be released during Tet. The film also features several attractive actors and actresses.

'King's Speech' crowned head of Oscar nominees

Colin Firth

Photo: AFP

British historical drama "The King's Speech" has been crowned the Oscar frontrunner, earning 12 nominations for the multibillion-dollar film industry's top honors.

The understated royal film starring Colin Firth as a stammering King George VI beat rivals including "True Grit" and Facebook film "The Social Network," in nods for the 83rd annual Academy Awards to be held February 27.

"True Grit," the Coen brothers' take on the classic Western, garnered 10 nominations while eight each went to hi-tech thriller "Inception" and "The Social Network," which had been tipped as Oscar favorite.

"Your head spins when you hear the news," Firth told the Today Show after the nominations were announced, joking that his career had gone into orbit since he was first nominated for best actor Oscar last year.

"It's almost like I was fired out of a cannon this time last year and I'm still orbiting Pluto,' he joked, adding: "It's quite extraordinary."

Firth's rivals on the shortlist for the best actor Oscar are Javier Bardem for "Biutiful," Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network," James Franco in "127 Hours," and Jeff Bridges in "True Grit."

The British actor, who lost out to Bridges for best actor last year, joked when asked whether he would have to kneecap the "True Grit" star to prevent the same thing happening.

"Something has to be done," he quipped.

Best actress nods went to Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right," Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole," Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter's Bone," Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" and Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine."

"The King's Speech" won Oscar nods for best film, three acting categories, as well as for directing, editing, musical score, art direction, cinematography, costume design, sound mixing and original screenplay.

Firth, who won a Golden Globe earlier this month for his performance in the British movie, is widely tipped for a best actor at the Oscars show next month, the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season.

And Helena Bonham Carter, who plays his royal wife, was nominated for best supporting actress, while Geoffrey Rush, who plays the speech therapist who helps the king, was also nominated, for best supporting actor.

"That's the best thing about it, to be going together, to have the royal flush thats the most gratifying," Firth told the Today Show.

Rush added: "As an Australian, I'm as excited to be recognized and honored by the Academy as my character must have been when his London speech therapy business flourished when the future King of England happened to pop by."

The British movie's Oscars nomination success was welcomed by the Stuttering Foundation, saying the film "has brought overwhelmingly positive attention to the plight of people who stutter.

"'The King's Speech' gives the stuttering community a hero who inspires and a movie that promotes understanding and acceptance of the complexities of stuttering," said its president, Jane Fraser.

Facebook blockbuster "The Social Network" had been tipped to earn the most Oscar nominations, after winning four awards at the Golden Globes on January 16.

But industry observers had noted that the British royal movie could do better at the Oscars because it is better suited to the tastes of the 6,000-plus members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The British movie also got a small boost over the weekend when it won best picture award at the Producers Guild of America awards.

The Oscar nominations were announced by last year's supporting-actress winner Mo'Nique, joined by the Academy president Tom Sherak.

The 10 films nominated for best picture Oscar were: "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "Inception," "The Kids Are All Right," "The King's Speech," "127 Hours," "The Social Network," "Toy Story 3," "True Grit," and "Winter's Bone."

Nominated for best animated film -- an increasingly high-profile award as technology helps create stunning blockbuster family movies -- were "How to Train Your Dragon," "The Illusionist" and "Toy Story 3."

Festival to see selection of national flower

HA NOI – A Spring Flower and Drinks Fair which has opened in Ha Noi will see some last-minute politicking for the selection of Viet Nam's national flower.

The fair will also feature a photo exhibition by HCM City-based photographer Tran Bich dedicated to the lotus, a leading candidate for designation as the national flower.

Bich is dedicated to photographing the lotus, and his images capture many shapes of the lotus, from bud to faded flower.

Orchids, peach and apricot blossoms are also in contention for the title of national flower, however.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will gather votes on the national flower, national costume and national wine during the festival, and the national flower will be announced on Friday at the Viet Nam Lotus Spirit Gala.

At the Lotus Spirit Gala, artisans from Ha Noi, Hue and HCM City will create crafts and artworks celebrating the lotus, including lotus lanterns and sculpture and silk lotus.

"We have used many materials to celebrate the lotus," said Ha Noi-based artist Nguyen Manh Hung. "Since it's not the season of the lotus in the north now, we have received fresh lotus from the southern province of Dong Thap."

The competition to select the national costume hasn't gone as smoothly.

"The ao dai is already the national costume for women, but it's difficult to choose the national costume for men," said Vi Kien Thanh, chief of the ministry's art, photography and exhibitions department.

Meanwhile, the selection of a national wine plan is still in the survey stage, Thanh said. Over the past three years, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Viet Nam Alcohol, Beer and Beverage Association have nominated ruou can (wine drunk from a jar), rice wine, coconut wine and apricot wine for the honour.

The Spring Flowers and Drinks Festival will continue through Sunday at the Culture and Art Centre at 2 Hoa Lu Street.

The fair will exhibit and offer prizes for wines and spirits made by both traditional and modern methods, offer opportunities to sample wines, tea and coffee, and will feature performances, folk games, an ao dai (traditional long dress) fashion show, and calligraphy exhibition, as well as recreate customs such as the Kitchen God Festival. At least 50 enterprises will also display products for Tet, including decorations and ornamental trees.

Ha Giang Province will take the spotlight, recreating a provincial market day with local specialities, cuisine and festivities of the province's ethnic people, including pan-pipe dance and folk duets. – VNS

Tet gala cheers up stranded city workers

Spring is in the air: Singer Cam Ly and her dancers perform at the Mai Vang (Golden Ochna) Gala, a music event for migrant workers organised by the HCM City Labour Federation and its partners. — File Photo

HCM CITY — More than 25,000 migrant workers at HCM City's Pou Yuen Company and Tan Tao Industrial Park attended a special performance on Monday featuring "a happy taste of Tet".

The event, called Mai Vang (Golden Ochna) Gala Welcomes Tet, is part of the HCM City Labour Federation's charity and cultural activities for the holiday.

Dozens of local and foreign organisations and sponsors are involved in the federation's community work.

More than 50 singers, dancers and actors participated in the gala, including the year's winners of the Mai Vang Award, an annual event that honours local performers in different fields of entertainment.

Famous dancer Linh Nga and young members of the dance group Little Stars opened the show by performing Tinh Dat Phuong Nam (The Love of the Southern Land), a traditional dance choreographed by Vuong Linh and Dang Hung.

Pop stars Dam Vinh Hung, Ha Anh Tuan, Thanh Thao and Cam Ly highlighted the show when they performed popular songs, including Buoc Chan Mua Xuan (Spring Steps), Xuan Da Ve (Spring is Coming) and Xuan Que Huong (Homeland Spring).

For their first time before larger audiences, young singers Noo Phuoc Thinh, Cao Thai Son and Dong Nghi left a strong impression by singing and dancing Xuan Ben Em (Spring and You), Hoa Co Mua Xuan (Spring Flowers) and Ngot Ngao (Sweet).

Singer and movie star Ly Hung, 2010 Golden Ochna winner in film, performed a series of folk songs together with martial arts.

For many young workers, this was the first time they had seen these icons on stage.

Doan Van Nghi, who moved from his hometown in Kien Giang Province's Rach Gia City, said: "Hearing traditional tunes on the radio through the voices of skilled artists like Cam Ly keeps my soul at peace."

"Through the gala, my co-workers, who have no chance to return home for Tet, will feel a happy spring because of these entertainment activities," said Nghi, who added he believed music and theatre can improve the intellect and lighten the heart.

Both Nghi and his younger sister decided to stay in their rental rooms on a tiny alley in Binh Tan District this Tet because "we wanted to save more money to support our big family in Rach Gia."

Cu Phat Nghiep, chairman of the Pou Yuen Company's labour union, said his staff spent a month working hard with the organisers and artists to bring migrant workers closer during Tet.

Nguyen Huy Can, chairman of the Labour Federation, said the music programme's organisers hoped to encourage people to pay more attention to the lives of poor, migrant labourers.

"We are here to share our love and support," he added.

The artists will perform in other industrial parks in HCM City as well as in neighbouring provinces during the Tet holiday. — VNS

Exhibition focuses on ever-changing Indochina

Everyday people: An image by Sebastien Laval displayed in the exhibition Communities Through Time.

HA NOI — A photo exhibition by French photographer Sebastien Laval, entitled Communities Through Time, has opened at L'Espace, the French cultural centre in Ha Noi.

The black-and-white photos portray the life and culture of people in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, as well as Cambodia's Angkor Wat and Luang Prabang in Laos. Laval's treatment of floating houses, flickering cooking fires, the innocent smiles of kids, the austere expression on the face of an ethnic man, or a tobacco pipe between a woman's lips, captures the enigma that endures in this region.

The photos include portraits and depict both traditional customs and changes in people's lives. Images in opposition, such as traditional clothes and satellite dishes, old roofs and asphalt roads, reflect the changes in the lives of the ethnic people. The images have no titles, allowing the viewer to freely think, feel and discover the characters, to "try to meet them, talk to them, look at them and understand them," Laval said.

"The way I take photos is not to tell people that I am taking photos," Laval said. "I make no arrangement for the images."

One morning, Laval said he came to a Lao village and met a young girl carrying her brother in front of her house. By the afternoon, she had become acquainted with Laval, who was able to capture a photo of her sitting on sand with a radiant smile.

"If I hadn't come closer to her, I wouldn't have had that smile," he said. "I realised that people still speak and have a mutual understanding even if they don't use the same language."

Born in 1973, Laval discovered photography when he was given a camera by his father. He moved to Paris to work as an assistant for a photo studio in 1992 and subsequently began working as a professional in Poitiers.

Laval visited Viet Nam for the first time in 1995 and has accumulated thousands of images of people in about 20 Vietnamese ethnic groups, which he intends to publish in a book.

The current exhibition runs through February 11 at L'Espace, 24 Trang Tien Street, in Ha Noi. — VNS

Tourism year sets sights on south central region

Picturesque: Da Nang is one among leading coastal destinations in Southeast Asia. — VNA/VNS Photo Huy Hung

HA NOI — The 2011 national tourism year will focus on promoting tourism in the south central coast region, it was announced at a press conference held in Ha Noi yesterday.

This year's events will for the first time be hosted by not one, but eight central and southern coastal provinces and cities including Da Nang, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Phu Yen.

Phu Yen, celebrating its 400th anniversary this year, will host a range of events including the Da Bia mountain climbing competition (March); a Viet Nam-South Korea cultural exchange and the Viet Nam Sea and Islands tourism month (April); ASEAN folk music festival (June) and the 17th Viet Nam Film Festival (November).

Many other activities have been lined to take place throughout the year in co-hosting provinces and cities including the International Firework Exhibition in Da Nang, the fifth Nha Trang sea festival.

"The tourism year will be professionally organised. It is expected to help take full advantage of the coastal provinces and cities as well as promoting the heritage of the Cham people and provide a new image for Vietnamese tourism," said Huynh Vinh Ai, deputy minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Phu Yen will host the opening ceremony on April 1st. — VNS

VietNam Life Style

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Beautiful faces to light up screens during Tet

“Bóng ma học đường” delves into issues faced by teens with relation to family, love, and school violence

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'King's Speech' crowned head of Oscar nominees

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