Life Style

Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau Tak-wah’s matinee idol looks were a good fit for romances and dramas early in his career, although his frequent roles playing “sensitive” triad gangsters were complemented by action scenes.In the early 2000s, Lau tried his hand at bona fide action and proved exceptionally good at it in spite of his slight figure.We recall the actor-singer’s portrayal of three very different action heroes on screen.1. Shaolin (2011)Lau’s stature in the Chinese film industry was put to good use in Benny Chan Muk-sing’s Shaolin Temple drama, which was inspired by Jet Li’s 1982 Shaolin Temple – the Chinese title translates as New Shaolin Temple.The actor brings some much-needed gravitas to the role of a ruthless warlord who takes shelter in the fabled Shaolin Temple after he is dep...

By the time her younger son Dan was 16, the online world had already transformed the landscape of the average teenager, both inside and out, Fiona Spargo-Mabbs says.“It meant Dan and his friends – without me knowing about anything other than the party nearby he’d asked permission to go to – could message one another online to meet, find their way to an illegal rave that had been organised through social media, and on the way there take a drug I’d never heard of, which was easily available by messaging a dealer, and affordable with a bunch of boys’ paper-round and pocket money.”That specific occasion was the first time Dan had gone to such an event. He died three days later from multiple organ failure caused by taking a dose of MDMA (Ecstasy) that, unknown to him, contained a lethal amount ...

Around the world, aficionados may sip on a wee dram, ask for a Scotch on the rocks, or grab a ハイボール haibōru, Japanese for “highball”, even in a can from a kombini (Japanese convenience store).This spirituous liquor, originally distilled in Ireland and Scotland from malted barley – with or without unmalted barley or other cereals – is, of course, whisky, or whiskey, the latter the spelling common in Ireland and the United States.Whisky is a clipped version of whiskybae, which is a borrowing from Gaelic uisge beatha – literally “water of life”. Old Irish uisce “water” traces back to the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root *wed- meaning “water, wet”, plus bethu meaning “life”, from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwei- “to live”.The earliest appearance in English of the word is in 1715, in A Book of ...

Her hair is red, voluminous and wild. She walks with a swagger. Her voice is raspy, and not in a sexy kind of Lauren Bacall way but more like Peter Falk.Long before finding her groove with unconventional roles in Orange Is the New Black, Russian Doll and now Poker Face, there were not many options for a free spirit like Natasha Lyonne, especially when she aged from a pliable child actor into a self-aware adult.“It’s weird that all of a sudden, one day, everybody looks at you differently and you’re aware of it,” says Lyonne, 46.“I remember the Lolita audition, and it was like, ‘Will you slowly eat this apple?’ And I was like, ‘I know what you’re asking of me. I can eat it for you comedically’. But no, I will not simulate sex with an apple on camera.“I mean, I’d studied the history of film. ...

4/5 starsIn Renoir, hardly anybody cries. Its eerily calm characters shed barely a tear even when caring for the dying, mourning the dead or struggling with their lifeless marriages.Yet Chie Hayakawa’s second feature isn’t set in the kind of dystopia seen in her debut film Plan 75, in which the elderly are encouraged to participate in a state-sponsored euthanasia programme to make the country young again.Set in Japan in the 1980s and revolving around the life of a schoolgirl whose father lies dying in hospital from cancer, Renoir is an empathetic portrait of a child’s rite of passage in a society beset by very real moral dilemmas.More importantly, Hayakawa offers a subtle, yet spot-on critique of the twisted social norms which would have made the inhuman scheme in Plan 75 a very distinct r...

A growing number of South Korean celebrities are openly discussing their cosmetic procedures, signalling a cultural shift in how stars engage with the public about beauty standards.This week, Shinji of K-pop trio Koyote posted on her personal social media, “Whatever. It’s obvious anyway, so I’ll just say it,” admitting she had undergone double eyelid surgery. Her visibly more prominent eyelid crease immediately caught fans’ attention.“It’s only been a week, but I’m grateful for the last-minute schedule I was able to attend,” Shinji wrote, pre-emptively addressing potential criticism. “Once the swelling goes down, it’ll look similar to before. So, no saying ‘You looked better before.’ Wait until it heals.”Broadcaster Jang Young-ran also drew attention recently for revealing she has had four...

Young Korean star Lee Jae-wook’s cool gaze and pouty lips are front and centre once again in the stylish period drama Dear Hongrang, his first lead role in a Netflix original series – and he is already hard at work on his second.Unlike many of his peers, Seoul native Lee did not dream of seeing himself on the screen from a young age. He was in his second year of high school when he caught the acting bug, but it came on fast and hard, and before long he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life.Lee practised and studied hard and was accepted to a number of universities, eventually choosing Chung-Ang University in central Seoul, where he enrolled in theatre and film.From there he was drawn to the entertainment industry, auditioning for a major K-drama series in his first year. The rest...

3.5/5 starsWhile he shifts gears for his new movie, Eddington, finding a lower register, he still manages to recreate a moment of global stress. The film begins in late May 2020, with the world in lockdown as the Covid-19 pandemic has taken a grip and coronavirus is spreading.Premiering in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Eddington is billed as a modern-day western, set in New Mexico, where the eponymous town’s Sheriff Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) comes to blows with local mayor Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal).The asthmatic Cross refuses to wear his mask in local stores, a decision that sets in motion a vendetta between the two men.The backstory is that Garcia and Cross’ wife Louise (Emma Stone) have a troubled history. But with concerning mental health issues she has further worries, esp...

A gleaming spiral staircase protruding from the roof of a former Dutch warehouse overlooks a port where millions of Europeans, among them Albert Einstein, once boarded ships bound for a new life in the United States.The staircase, called The Tornado and intended to represent migrants’ unexpected journeys, sweeps up from the ground floor of the Fenix Museum of Migration, with the city of Rotterdam, water and people reflected in its whirlwind of shiny metal surfaces.The newest attraction on Rotterdam’s waterfront, the museum tells the story of migration in 16,000 square metres of exhibits including artworks, photos and personal items.Among the exhibits is a labyrinth of thousands of travellers’ suitcases, portraits of refugees and a colourfully painted city bus from New York.Chinese architec...

Russian filmmaker Roman “Roma” Liberov had long been fascinated by writers who fled his country after the 1917 Russian Revolution. He never imagined that he would one day become an exile himself.In January 2021, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, Liberov left Russia because of a powerful conviction that its people had become “hostages of the state” and that a long-simmering conflict with Ukraine would erupt into full-scale war.Thirteen months later, his fears became reality when Russia invaded its neighbour.In 2023, he was designated a “foreign agent”, making it very risky to return. Yet even now, he says he suffers doubts, and wonders whether he should have stayed.Russian pianist Pavel Kushnir died in a Siberian prison in July 2024, where he had launched a hunger strike while awaiting tr...