Life Style

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein might be the earliest example of body horror, a subgenre of horror that focuses on mutation, destruction and transformation of the human form.These ideas were explored further in classics like The Wolfman and Phantom of the Opera, or intertwined within science fiction in everything from The Fly to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.Body horror hit its heyday in the 1980s, where advances in practical effects work helped realise the tactile, sanguineous visions of filmmakers like David Cronenberg (Videodrome), John Carpenter (The Thing), George A Romero (Day of the Dead) and Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator).Recently, body horror has seen a resurgence in popularity. The Covid-19 pandemic reacquainted everyone with the vulnerabilities and limitations of their corporeal forms. C...

When Jona Xiao was first called to audition for Marvel’s new animated series Eyes of Wakanda, she did not know what role she was playing. Marvel, notorious for its secrecy, simply said the character would be a “strong, badass female”, Xiao recalls.Only after she received the script did the reveal come: Xiao was in the running to be the first-ever female Iron Fist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.“It was very exciting,” she says of the moment. “You read the words, and then she whips out the Iron Fist.”Xiao stars in the third episode of Eyes of Wakanda, a four-part animated anthology series that premiered on August 1 on Disney+.Each episode is set in a different time and place across the Marvel universe, exploring the global legacy of Wakandan vibranium. Her episode features a battle between...

Born in Hong Kong in 1954, Josephine Cheung Shuk-fong died in 1989 just as she was starting to make a mark on the art world. The painter grew up in Sheung Shui, then a rural part of the city, and died in Toronto, Canada, from lung cancer at the age of 35.Cheung moved to Canada in the 1970s and spent the rest of her short life there, apart from a year in New York.The paintings she left behind either went into storage at her husband’s Montreal gallery or were sold privately, while others were kept at her family’s home in Toronto. They disappeared from view completely.That changed in June, when Alisan Fine Arts’ New York gallery held a commemorative exhibition of Cheung’s works that blend abstract expressionism and figurative painting.Untitled (1984), by Josephine Cheung. Photo: Josephine Che...

China’s tropical island province of Hainan is accelerating its push to become a leading medical tourism hub, aiming to attract more nationals to use local healthcare services instead of seeking treatment abroad – after South Korea announced plans to scrap tax rebates for foreigners undergoing cosmetic surgery.The popular tourist destination in southern China plans to draw more than 1.5 million domestic medical tourists annually by 2027, up from the current level of over 400,000, according to a local government document issued on Monday.Hainan has also pledged to reverse the outflow of overseas medical consumption. It aims to approve two to four real-world research pilot products for domestic market entry each year and introduce at least 40 international innovative drugs and medical devices...

4/5 starsA lowly government official puts his life on the line to attempt the impossible task of transporting fresh fruit across China in the comedy drama The Lychee Road, set in the Tang dynasty and featuring a sprawling cast of raucous supporting players.The film is directed and written by Da Peng, who also stars as Li Shande, the man cajoled into delivering fresh Lingnan lychees to the capital Chang’an in time for the imperial consort’s birthday.From its opening moments, audiences are aware that nobody wants Inspector Li to succeed in his fruitless endeavour, least of all the scheming Eunuch Yu (Chang Yuan), to whom the emperor made his impossible request.Desperate to pass the buck, the dubious honour is assigned to Li, a dedicated employee from the Bureau of Imperial Gardens.Having jus...

Ewa and Jeromy Ko met while working at a Chinese restaurant in Cleveland, in the US state of Ohio. Ewa, who was 18 and waitressing, and Jeromy, a 20-year-old busboy, grew up in the food industry.“My father worked in restaurants, and Jeromy’s family owned a restaurant, so we’ve been in the food space since we could hold a tray without falling over,” says Ewa.The couple, who recently celebrated their 10-year wedding anniversary, are still in the business of food today, but in a slightly different capacity – one they could never have envisaged.“We feel so fortunate and never imagined that we would be here doing this as a career,” says Ewa via Zoom from New York, where the couple is now based.Ewa and Jeromy Ko eat a meal at a branch of Chiu Hing Fishball Noodle Rice in Hong Kong. Photo: Nom Li...

The high point of the August 1 concert by the newly formed Asian Modern Symphony Orchestra turned out to be neither particularly symphonic nor modern.Deep into the second half of the Hong Kong concert, principal violin Gyoon Kim intoned the slowly paced, melancholy motif that opens the second movement (Andante non troppo) of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no 2 in G major.The tentative phrasing – which might have been deliberate – gave the solo section a diaphanous quality. Principal cello Joonho Shim then responded with rhythmically less imaginative, yet unerringly paced, versions of the same melody.In keeping with his unassuming manner, guest star Bruce Liu added the piano to this ethereal interplay with great tact and discreetly filled out the texture with subdued dynamics and an impeccabl...

This is the 68th instalment in a series on dementia, including the research into its causes and treatment, advice for carers, and stories of hope.A team of scientists from Duke University and Harvard University in the US, and the University of Otago in New Zealand, has just unveiled a new MRI-based tool that reads the brain’s “hidden ageing clock”.The DunedinPACNI takes the front of its name from the Dunedin Study, a long-running health research project in New Zealand that began in 1972, while PACNI stands for Pace of Ageing Calculated from NeuroImaging.It has been tracking 1,037 babies born in Dunedin from birth, continuing through their entire lives. Think of it as a 50-year time-lapse study on human health; it is often called “the world’s most detailed study of human development”.The Du...

Directed by Tony Ching Siu-tung and produced by Tsui Hark, A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) set the style for the colourful fantasy martial arts films of the 1990s.The story, set in a mythical China, featured Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing as a naive debt collector who falls in love with a beautiful ghost played by Joey Wong Cho-yee.Here we look at two very different sequels Tsui produced.A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997)Animations have never been a favourite of Hong Kong producers, despite the popularity of Japanese anime in the city. This 1997 Tsui Hark-produced production, coming a few years before the McDull films, was the first local animated film.It keeps the bare bones of the original storyline, but makes it more appealing to younger teens by focusing on a virginal romance,...

Suyin Looui has a faint memory of visiting Oxbow Restaurant as a child. The diner was opened by her grandfather, Louie Ser Dour, in the Canadian town of Oxbow in southeast Saskatchewan, and served dishes such as chop suey and chow mein.But it was not until decades later that she thought about the restaurant again. The London-based creative producer and director was on maternity leave after having her first child and became interested in learning more about her roots.She decided that she wanted to go on a road trip in Canada to visit the cafe with her father, Steffan, and ask about his memories of growing up there.That turned into an idea to also speak to other Chinese-Canadian immigrants who have operated cafes – which Suyin defines as small family-owned restaurants – along the Canadian Pa...