Is Cecilia Cheung your Spring Festival fantasy? If so, the new film 'Fantasia' could be just for you. The Hong Kong actress brings the screen to life as a clumsy fairy that gets everyone's wishes wrong. For more recommended movies, look at the following.
While we are busy preparing for the Spring Festival, filmmakers both at home and abroad are sparing no effort to get ready for the festive season. They're turning out dozens of light-hearted films for us to choose from. In keeping with the spirit, 21st Century is offering a list of recent Hollywood and Hong Kong releases in hopes of giving you a little something else to enjoy with your family - besides just the high-calorie food intake.
Big Fish It tells of Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), a big-talker who has always exaggerated his exploits and experiences as a young man (Ewan McGregor), when he left his small town in Alabama for adventures near and far. Nearly everyone has been spellbound by Edward's terrific tall-tales over the years - everyone, that is, but his estranged son (Billy Crudup), who has come home to take care of his dying dad and separate fact from fiction.
Chasing Liberty
Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) just cannot experience life like any other 18-year-old, all because she is the only daughter of the president of the United States (Mark Harmon). Secret Service bodyguards follow her everywhere. While she's accompanying her father on a trip to Europe, she manages to escape from her security detail with the help of a handsome stranger (Matthew Goode), and the two start an adventurous whirlwind romance. A modern-day homage to "Roman Holiday".
My Baby's Daddy
Three young bachelor buddies (Eddie Griffin, Anthony Anderson, Michael Imperioli), after a lifetime of hard partying, are in for a rude awakening when their respective girlfriends all get pregnant at the same time. The fathers-to-be embark on an hilarious and touching journey while learning as much about themselves as they do about love and fatherhood.
Calendar Girls
This film tells the true (but slightly fictionalized) story of 11 middle-aged women, aged 45 to 60, from the small village of Rylstone in Yorkshire, England, who posed naked for the annual calendar of the local branch of the Women's Institute, to raise money for medical research after John Baker (John Alderton), the husband of one of the members, Angela Baker (Julies Walters), is found to be ill with leukemia.
Cheaper by the Dozen
This movie tells the story of small-town college football coach Tom Baker (Steve Martin), who tries to run his crazy bunch (12 patience-trying kids) according to the same principles he uses with his team. When Tom gets offered a better job coaching at a major university, he and his wife, Kate (Bonnie Hunt), must move the entire family. Chaos rules because Kate is on the road promoting her just-published memoir, leaving Tom in charge of the out-of-control clan and overwhelmed with work, at home and away from it.
Fantasia
The story is set in Hong Kong in 1969. Wen (Lau Ching Wan), Jie (Louis Koo) and Jipao (Jordan Chan), three employees of a small private detective agency, follow their target down Molo Street, where they run into an antique store and break some priceless antiques by accident. To everyone's surprise, a fairy, Bobo(Cecilia Cheung), appears out of a broken lamp and ask them each to make a wish. There's a slight problem: it's the kind of fairy that's forgetful and careless. She mixes up their wishes and even forgets how to use her magic power. Just might be the funniest Chinese holiday movie.
Magic Kitchen
Murong You (Sammi Cheng), the chef and owner of a private restaurant, is famous for her cooking skills. However, she surprisingly declines the invitation from a renowned Japanese cooking contest TV show because she actually never invents dishes on her own. Instead she has been living under the shadow of an old curse since her great-grandmother stole a famous chef's recipes and passed them off as her own. Her assistant Xiao Ke (Jerry Yan), who has a hidden passion for her, remains quiet by her side, encouraging her to get out from under her shadow.
Love Don't Cost a Thing
An unpopular but super-intelligent teenage boy, Alvin Johnson (Nick Cannon), hires a cheerleader (Chiristina Milian) to pose as his girlfriend so that he can improve his reputation in school - he pays to fix her mother's car which she has recently wrecked. This leads to silly behaviour that is both romantic and comic.
(21st Century February 4, 2004)
