Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Return of the Cuckoo news


wallpaper size pix source
Steven's video interview



Steven: "I was moved by the script after listening to Director Kong's narration.  I know that Lai Shun loved Kwan Ho very much, they even got married but if Lai Shun doesn't die, how can Man Chor and Kwan Ho further develop their love story? They (scriptwriters) had to come up with a (catalytic) explanation, and death is a pretty good one. But how come after he (Lai Shun) died he still reappears, that's Patrick Kong's effort.  I've known Stephen Shiu for 20 years now, even before he was in entertainment we already knew each other, most people don't know that."

TN: Moreover, Kwan Ho as a grieving widow elicits audience's sympathy compares to a divorced Kwan Ho of a failed marriage.
























Edited: So, Steven's participation was not an afterthought, after all. He said movie producer Stephen Shui called him up (on his birthday) to ask if he could shoot a Lai Shun's funeral portrait for the movie. Such timing!  (lol) Guess Steven graciously obliged Shiu's request. But Steven was leaving for Taiwan (eta: he was at the airport) so he postponed their talk. When Steven got back to Hong Kong from his Taiwan trip, Director Kong emailed him the details.  Somehow the proposed photoshoot became a cameo shoot. (or was it always a cameo scene?)  Steven read the script and apparently was moved by the story.  He understood that Lai Shun must be sacrificed (died) to fulfill Kwan Ho and Man Chor's great love story.  There you go, Lai Shun put on the altar as the sacrificial lamb to appease  Kwan Ho and Chor gor gor's shippers. And to add spice, Kwan Ho suspected Lai Shun of infidelity before his untimely death. Ever the understanding husband, Lai Shun comforts a guilt-wrecked Kwan Ho to accept her one great love - her and everybody's Chor Gor Gor. But to add more spice and melodrama, CGG apparently has terminal cancer - dang! this poor guy just can't get a break.

Anyway, because of his long time friendship with Mr. Shiu, Steven accepted his offer as a show of support for Shiu and for the movie. When asked whether he was paid for having his his funeral portrait taken, Steven said he got a "lai si" (red packet) for his performance.

Aside, what's with him wearing his stark white unlaced sneakers with his suit?  It's like the shoes are wearing him instead of the reverse.

Sources:
on.cc東網專訊】蕭定一親邀幫忙 馬浚偉客串演出收利是
藝人馬浚偉以神秘嘉賓身份,出席電影「十月初五的月光」首映禮。他表示戲中有客串佘詩曼亡夫一角,相信電影中亦有以分鐘計的亮相。他表示戲中的出現是佘詩曼的幻覺形式,向她鼓勵與張智霖好好相愛。

馬浚偉憶述早前生日的時候接到電影公司老闆蕭定一的電話,問他可否幫手拍一張「死人相」讓在電影中出現,他表示因為趕着到台灣,要求回港後再傾,其後由導演葉念琛再致電游說下完成這個戲份。問到拍了這張「死人相」有沒有酬勞,他表示演出有收到利是。

客串演阿佘老公 馬浚偉生日拍遺照
張智霖(Chilam)、佘詩曼、薛家燕等出席電影《十月初五的月光》首映禮,在戲中演阿佘老公的馬浚偉以神秘嘉賓現身,笑言之前生日時收到蕭定一電話要他為《十》拍遺照,因他死了阿佘才可與Chilam在一起,雖然當時覺得大吉利是,但為支持阿一都有客串演出。

19 comments:

  1. @tamaya:  Thanks for the info!  While I hate the fact that it WAS indeed an afterthought (maybe the director heard all the complaints we made?), I applaud Steven’s graciousness in agreeing to ‘help out’ (I know I would’ve told them to go take a hike, but that’s just me…haha…luckily Steven isn’t mean like me..lol).  Now I just hope that scene was done well (which, from the way Steven described it, sounds like it was)…

    P.S.: I hate the shoes! Totally detracts from how suave Steven looks in his suit...

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    1. Well, Steven said (video) that he and 蕭定一's relationship goes back a long way, so to show support for Shiu and the movie, and also because he was moved by the script he accepted the invitation. What else could he say, no thank you because I'm still pissed. haha.

      Not just Steven's in-your-face bulky sneakers but also Chilam's shoes without socks are all very detracting and not favorable to them. -- made their legs look shorter.

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    2. For me, suits with sneakers just don't match but guess it is the fashion trend now. I noticed that whenever Steven dressed for publicity events, his dressing will be trendy although it may not look great on him in comparison to his personal style.

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    3. True, Steven has always been a very loyal and righteous person who deeply values his friendships – all admirable qualities that contribute to why we like him so much.  But by the same token, also makes it easy for people to take advantage of him by utilizing those friendships to ‘right’ any ‘wrongs’ they might have done him (same thing happened with TVB where he agreed to film for them again after what they did to him)….ah well – I guess it’s better to take the high road than to burn bridges….

      Haha…I actually didn’t even notice Chilam, as Steven’s shoes were way more distracting.  Man, what is up with guys wearing shoes with no socks when they have a suit on?  Not only that, they also wear pants that are way too short – why?  So they can show off the fact that they didn’t wear socks?  Argh…sorry, kind of a pet peeve of mine….lol…I grew up in the era of guys always wearing socks with dress shoes whenever they don a suit or tux, so it’s hard for me to get used to seeing guys wearing suits with sneakers and/or shoes no socks….

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    4. Not just you disliking guys in suits with bulky sneakers and/or shoes no socks - from lurking in forums, we are the majority disliking that haphazard fashion style.

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  2. In terms of the movie’s plot….three words:  sappy melodrama overload!!!   The more I read about the movie (and more I watch the trailers), the less interested I am in watching the movie itself.  From the beginning, I had felt that it wasn’t necessary to make this movie in the first place and I still feel the same way even now – but whatever, doesn’t matter what I think, as I’m sure this movie is going to do well at the box office no matter what, given all the hype and promotion surrounding it (plus there are plenty of people who want to watch Chor Gor Gor and Kwan Ho reunite, regardless of how lame the plot of the movie is).

    Oh, I wanted to ask…is it just me or does Steven’s scene sound familiar?  When I read the part about how “Lai Shun comforts a guilt-wrecked Kwan Ho to accept her one great love”, the first thing that came to mind was that scene from Point of No Return (also starring Charmaine and Chilam) where Sammul’s character, on his death bed, tells his wife Charmaine to go back to her true love (Chilam)….talk about recycled plot/story arcs!

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    1. Sorry, but I have not watched Point of No Return, but then majority of this kind of sob movies is hackneyed with recycled tear jerky tropes.

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  3. I just read that even Sherming Yiu (who played Michael Tong’s girlfriend Yee Man in the series) got invited to film the movie since the beginning (she turned down the offer though because she had just gotten pregnant).  Honestly, how messed up is that?  Most of the minor characters got invited back to film the movie, yet Steven – who was one of the leads – wasn’t even considered from the getgo…and now when the director finds it would be ‘convenient’ for them or help ‘hype’ the movie, they decide to ask Steven to film a few second scene (AND attend the promo event to boot!) as an afterthought.  If that’s not “using” Steven for their benefit, I don’t know what is!  So lame!  Makes me lose respect for both Stephen Shiu (not that I had much respect for him in the first place, lol) and director Patrick Kong….(sorry, I'll stop ranting now...)

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    1. Don't be sorry, your rant took the words right out of my mouth! But...does that mean Steven is a doormat to be walked all over by other people? He could have said 'no' but he preferred to be Mr. Nice Guy 爛好人.

      Understand that this movie is produced solely for Kwan Ho and Man Chor's shippers, it has no room for Lai Shun's existence. Lai Shun can't appear on screen to engender sympathy for his character- a husband who was but a 2nd best in his beloved wife's heart. A wife who betrayed him in thoughts longing for another man. He must die (divorce is not definitive enough) in order for Kwan Ho and Man Chor to fully consummate their love. Steven has said as much. lol! Just thank God that they did not make Lai Shun out to be a bad and undeserving husband.

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    2. LOL…I will continue my rant then! ;-)

      Well, I wouldn’t necessarily use the word ‘doormat’….I would rather say that Steven is way too ‘nice’ and the reality is, nice guys get taken advantage of.  I would’ve loved for him to say ‘no’, but knowing him, I’m sure he wouldn’t have the heart to say it.  It’s something I admire about him, but at the same time, it’s also very frustrating.   I would much rather hear that Steven was not in the movie at all (so I can continue to yell at the director/production company for their bias) than to hear that, once again, Steven’s ‘niceness’ got the better of him….

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    3. Yes, very frustrating indeed but whatever floats his boat. Yes, I too would much rather he was not in the movie.

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    4. Btw, you can always rant away / vent on my blog over anything.

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    5. llwy12, latest news flash: So, per this latest appledaily report, looks like Steven was actually invited by producer Stephen Shiu last year on his birthday (not this year birthday) to photoshoot a funeral and a wedding portrait. Given this extra, defining information, "my last year birthday" (上年我生日) Steven was not an afterthought after all, so I gladly take back what I said about the whole matter about him being slighted, used and discarded. Just two omitted words, "上年", can so effectively change the whole picture and perspective for me. So Helen Ma's 2014 Dec weibo happily declaring that Lai Shun was in the cast is true after all. Now, I'm all right with Steven agreeing to a cameo in the series.

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  4. I just have these words to add i.e. Both of you are great in penning your thoughts. I like and appreciate the ranting. By asking Steven to take 遗照 on his birthday made me wonder if this Stephen Siu was 攞景定赠慶。What is his intention? So insensitive of him to do that to poor Steven. Bad guy.

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    1. Maybe it did not even occur to Stephen (or that he wasn't aware) that it was Steven's birthday that day. News reports differed on whether Steven was actually paid the lai see fee for his portraits or not, some said yes, some no. So was Steven paid at all for his appearance and photoshoot?

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    2. To be honest, after reading the various reports, it didn’t sound like Stephen Shiu was very sincere in asking Steven to “participate” in the movie.  Didn’t Steven say that SS called him on his birthday but he was at the airport on his way to Taiwan and so he didn’t promise him anything, then when he returned to HK, it was not mentioned again until the director Patrick Kong called him several months later?   If they’re such good friends, why didn’t SS call Steven back? And the reports differ regarding the photoshoot as well – when SS called, he asked Steven to film ‘funeral potrait’ while Patrick Kong asked him to film ‘wedding pictures’?  Maybe I’m reading too much into it but something just seems fishy to me about this whole thing…

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    3. So, it wasn't actually a phone call but a wechat. Haha! But then nowadays, people don't talk on phone anymore. But whatever! Snippet reporting is the trend these days, one has to collate several news reports to get a better picture, and even then, it is not the full picture of the whole situation, so whatever!.

      馬浚偉其後接受訪問,問佢今次喺片中影「遺照」,有冇收利是,佢講:「冇呀!因為唔係拍我死,只不過係阿一打嚟同我講,撞正上年我生日出發去台灣慶祝,阿一wechat叫我幫手,當時我喺機場,阿一話之前冇搵你,係因為你喺片中一開始已經死咗,乜我生日流流講啲咁嘅嘢,阿一話想你喺片中死前影一輯結婚相,之後返嚟冇咗件事,後嚟葉念琛搵我,自己聽到個劇情好感動。

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    4. Here's a more complete video of what Steven said headline news video

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  5. Whatever it is, l agreed with IIwy12 that SS is not sincere in asking Steven to participate in the movie. Call himself good friends with Steven. I " peh". If good friends how can he treat his buddy like that. I have great doubts about this guy's character. His look to me is also one of a kind. Definitely not the 善男信女 type. The way he handled Steven is despicable. Pray n hope that his movie is a big flop!!!!!! Haha haha.

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