https://www.scmp.com/rss/322296/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Tribune News Service Tribune News Service By Glenn Whipp Cailee Spaeny looks at Charles Melton, her co-star on the second season of Netflix limited series Beef, asking for help: “Wait a minute … how long were we attached?” Melton smiles and reaches for her hand. “We’ve been attached our whole lives.” Have they? Given how they tease and finish each other’s sentences, it sure feels that way. Spaeny and Melton were cast as Ashley and Austin, a Gen Z couple working at a country club, dreaming and scheming towards upward mobility, a good 18... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355910/beef-stars-cailee-spaeny-and-charles-melton-gen-z-vs-millennial-angst-kfc-and-60-soup-cans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355910/beef-stars-cailee-spaeny-and-charles-melton-gen-z-vs-millennial-angst-kfc-and-60-soup-cans?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:15:06 +0000 Pierce Conran Pierce Conran Lead cast: Kim Mu-yeol, Lee Sung-min, Jin Ki-joo This summer, Netflix Korea returns to the evergreen subject of school bullying with Teach You a Lesson, a limited series based on the popular webtoon Get Schooled, which launched in 2020 and remains popular today. Much like the past hits Weak Hero Class 2 and The Glory, this is a story that mines the vicarious thrill of seeing vicious school bullies receive their just deserts. However, unlike many of its predecessors, Teach You a Lesson does not... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3356023/netflix-k-drama-teach-you-lesson-corporal-punishment-bullies-alarming-school-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3356023/netflix-k-drama-teach-you-lesson-corporal-punishment-bullies-alarming-school-show?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:00:08 +0000 Lisa Cam Lisa Cam This is the 78th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. At a press conference on April 20 at Hong Kong’s MacPherson Stadium, the warm, easy banter onstage between veteran Hong Kong actors Michelle Yim Wai-ling and Ricky Lau Wai-man was the kind that can only be produced by decades of shared history. Yim ­– better known by her stage name, Mai Suet, which phonetically inspired her English moniker – was there to announce a June music... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355768/how-hong-kongs-wuxia-drama-princess-michelle-yim-has-kept-her-star-shining-55-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355768/how-hong-kongs-wuxia-drama-princess-michelle-yim-has-kept-her-star-shining-55-years?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jun 2026 23:15:05 +0000 Pierce Conran Pierce Conran Lead cast: Lee Jae-wook, Shin Ye-eun Latest Nielsen rating: 5 per cent After his cameo as a dreamy doctor in the fantasy romcom Boyfriend on Demand earlier this year, Lee Jae-wook is back on screens slinging a stethoscope as the lead of the rural medical drama Doctor on the Edge, based on the webtoon Endurance Doctor by Kim Tae-poong. Starring alongside him as a chipper local nurse is Shin Ye-eun, who last appeared in A Hundred Memories and The Murky Stream, which aired at the same time last... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3355939/disney-k-drama-doctor-edge-lee-jae-wook-shin-ye-eun-lead-island-medical-romcom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3355939/disney-k-drama-doctor-edge-lee-jae-wook-shin-ye-eun-lead-island-medical-romcom?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:01:34 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram Liminal spaces are blowing up. Backrooms, indie film company A24’s latest horror release, has been setting all kinds of records this week. Its US$118 million at the worldwide box office on its opening weekend saw it become A24’s biggest hit ever, while director Kane Parsons became the youngest-ever filmmaker to have a film hit number one at the US box office, at just 20 years old. Costing just US$10 million to make, Backrooms is undoubtedly in a race with the also recently released Obsession to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355521/how-films-backrooms-and-exit-8-are-turning-liminal-spaces-horror-trend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355521/how-films-backrooms-and-exit-8-are-turning-liminal-spaces-horror-trend?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jun 2026 07:15:04 +0000 Paul Kay Paul Kay As he prepares to celebrate his 80th birthday on June 10, it is fair to say that Anders Nelsson has witnessed more of Hong Kong’s evolution than most. Since arriving in the city in 1950 aged four, the California-born son of Swedish missionaries has found fame as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, concert promoter, record producer and actor, all against the backdrop of a city emerging from post-World War II gloom to become a vibrant global metropolis. Along the way, he has helped shape Hong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355632/fascinating-life-hong-kong-musician/actor-anders-nelsson-who-once-fought-bruce-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355632/fascinating-life-hong-kong-musician/actor-anders-nelsson-who-once-fought-bruce-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jun 2026 04:45:05 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 3.5/5 stars Beloved 1980s action hero He-Man returns to the big screen in his first live-action feature in almost four decades. Helmed by Bumblebee director Travis Knight, Masters of the Universe is a gloriously camp sword-and-planet adventure that feels less concerned with bringing in new fans than revelling in unbridled nostalgia. Nicholas Galitzine provides the glistening torso of Adam, Prince of Eternia – He-Man’s unassuming alter ego – who returns to his homeworld after years in exile on... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355549/masters-universe-movie-review-he-man-returns-glorious-campy-nostalgia-trip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355549/masters-universe-movie-review-he-man-returns-glorious-campy-nostalgia-trip?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:00:07 +0000 Pierce Conran Pierce Conran Lead cast: Lee Jun-young, Son Hyun-joo, Lee Joo-myoung, Jeon Hye-jin, Jin Goo Latest Nielsen rating: 5.16 per cent An ageing corporate mogul and an up-and-coming football star trade places in the body-swap drama Reborn Rookie. If the name and concept sound vaguely familiar, that is because the show is based on a web novel by San Kyung, who also penned the story of the smash-hit fantasy drama Reborn Rich. While Reborn Rookie takes place against a similar backdrop and was made by the same... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3355705/k-drama-reborn-rookie-lee-jun-youngs-corporate-body-swap-fantasy-hums-melodrama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3355705/k-drama-reborn-rookie-lee-jun-youngs-corporate-body-swap-fantasy-hums-melodrama?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:15:04 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service On the second weekend of May, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel gave the New York Philharmonic a salsa shock. He gleefully brought the startled players together with the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, an uptown salsa and jazz band, for concerts at the city’s Lincoln Centre and United Palace. New York’s classical music fans treated it as a cultural breakthrough; Dudamel is expected to transform the orchestra as a cultural institution when he returns in autumn as its music and artistic director. A... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3354975/gustavo-dudamel-his-enduring-love-los-angeles-he-prepares-lead-ny-phil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3354975/gustavo-dudamel-his-enduring-love-los-angeles-he-prepares-lead-ny-phil?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 May 2026 07:15:05 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Sharla Cheung Man was one of Hong Kong cinema’s most popular actresses in the early 1990s. A Shanghainese beauty with classic film-star looks, she focused on commercial dramas rather than art films and awards, leaving behind solid, unpretentious performances that have weathered well. Here we look at a few of the highlights of Cheung’s 60-film career. God of Gamblers (1989) Cheung only had a small supporting role in the trendsetting Chow Yun-fat/Wong Jing gambling smash, but her cool glamour... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355116/how-sharla-cheung-excelled-next-stephen-chow-during-hong-kong-cinemas-1990s-golden-age?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355116/how-sharla-cheung-excelled-next-stephen-chow-during-hong-kong-cinemas-1990s-golden-age?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 May 2026 03:15:05 +0000 Pierce Conran Pierce Conran After a busy spring, June welcomes a relatively thin crop of new Korean dramas as current shows continue filling the airwaves. Still, the month offers several exciting new titles, including a pair of classroom-based dramas from Netflix, the world’s largest streaming platform. 1. Doctor on the Edge Lead cast: Lee Jae-wook, Shin Ye-eun While most South Korean men enter the barracks for active duty before their thirties, a select few fulfil their mandatory service through alternative regional... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3355164/5-best-new-k-dramas-watch-june-2026-including-see-you-work-tomorrow?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3355164/5-best-new-k-dramas-watch-june-2026-including-see-you-work-tomorrow?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 May 2026 11:15:05 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu Theatre emphasises the principle of directorial intention, a specific creative vision and message that a performance aims to communicate. Hong Kong-born actress Kaja Chan applies this theory to her life. She has known she wanted to act for as long as she can remember, and has steered her career with unwavering focus. Chan, 25, was born to a Polish mother and Chinese father and grew up in Sha Tin and Tai Po in Hong Kong’s New Territories. Now based in London, Chan is making her mark across every... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355254/hong-kong-born-actress-kaja-chan-her-burning-desire-she-rises-tv-video-games?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355254/hong-kong-born-actress-kaja-chan-her-burning-desire-she-rises-tv-video-games?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 May 2026 04:15:04 +0000 Pierce Conran Pierce Conran Lead cast: Shin Ha-kyun, Oh Jung-se, Heo Sung-tae Latest Nielsen rating: 3.6 per cent In the new hard-knuckled action-comedy Fifties Professionals, three men who formerly held prominent positions in their respective fields are forced into hiding. For 10 years, they work menial jobs and reluctantly pretend they cannot stand up for themselves, all the while not realising that they are lying low on the same island. Centred on middle-aged bruisers reclaiming their youthful glory, Fifties... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3355246/hbo-max-k-drama-fifties-professionals-shin-ha-kyun-action-comedy-revisits-hits-old?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3355246/hbo-max-k-drama-fifties-professionals-shin-ha-kyun-action-comedy-revisits-hits-old?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 May 2026 13:15:05 +0000 Matt Glasby Matt Glasby This is the latest instalment in our From the Vault feature series, in which we reflect on culturally significant movies celebrating notable anniversaries. Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge turns 25 this month and remains as divisive as when it first came out. The film is so gleefully over the top that you wonder why the title’s official stylisation – Moulin Rouge! – is limited to just one exclamation mark. Blending Bollywood, Broadway, old Hollywood and MTV stylings, the final part of the Australian... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355018/why-moulin-rouge-remains-divisive-masterpiece-25-years-after-its-release?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355018/why-moulin-rouge-remains-divisive-masterpiece-25-years-after-its-release?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 May 2026 11:15:05 +0000 SCMP SCMP Rickshaw rider Sly comes in for some tough questioning By Alison Wiseman This article was first published on May 30, 1994 Tough-guy Sylvester Stallone came in for some even tougher questioning as he drew up to the Planet Hollywood launch party in a maiden drawn rickshaw last night (May 29, 1994). But when compere Paul Fonoroff asked him if his entrance was politically correct he managed to come up with an answer. “Politically correct? I don’t know ... but it felt great,” mused Sly. “Anyway, who... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355112/jackie-chan-sly-stallone-among-stars-1994-planet-hollywood-opening-scmp-archive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355112/jackie-chan-sly-stallone-among-stars-1994-planet-hollywood-opening-scmp-archive?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 May 2026 00:15:05 +0000 Associated Press,Enid Tsui Associated Press,Enid Tsui Looking to take off into a new era after nearly two decades under the charismatic Gustavo Dudamel, the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced on May 26 that it had hired Daniel Harding, a British conductor who is also an Air France pilot, as its next music director. Harding, a 50-year-old who is known mostly for his work with European orchestras and is highly sought-after in Asia, agreed to a six-year contract starting with the 2027-28 season. His first appointment by an American orchestra is with... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3355147/meet-daniel-harding-new-la-phil-music-director-deep-asia-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3355147/meet-daniel-harding-new-la-phil-music-director-deep-asia-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 May 2026 09:23:09 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 4/5 stars Twenty-year-old YouTube creator Kane Parsons delivers an astonishing debut with the unsettling analogue horror film Backrooms. Adapted from his own web series that was inspired by a popular online “creepypasta” recounting labyrinthine liminal spaces, the film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve as a pair of unfortunate souls trapped in a network of seemingly impossible subterranean rooms. Revered tastemakers A24 greenlit the film, with horror veterans James Wan (The Conjuring)... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355106/backrooms-movie-review-chiwetel-ejiofor-renate-reinsve-star-liminal-space-nightmare?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3355106/backrooms-movie-review-chiwetel-ejiofor-renate-reinsve-star-liminal-space-nightmare?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 May 2026 03:18:52 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu Sitarist and composer Anoushka Shankar’s latest work, Chapters – a deeply personal trilogy written and released between January 2023 and March 2025 – was born from an intense post-pandemic creative block. “I had this notion that after the pandemic I needed to make the most significant work of my life,” Shankar says. “So, of course, as a result, I had nothing.” The paralysis broke on a New Year’s morning in India. Staring at the ocean with her journal, she decided to strip away the pressure of a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3354982/how-sitarist-anoushka-shankar-broke-her-creative-block-after-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3354982/how-sitarist-anoushka-shankar-broke-her-creative-block-after-pandemic?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 May 2026 09:15:05 +0000 SCMP SCMP Hong Kong ‘Happy Ghost’ actress Sheree Lo dies after suffering heart attack By Christy Leung This article was first published on May 27, 2016 Former Hong Kong actress Sheree Lo Ming-chu died from a sudden heart attack on Friday morning. The news shocked many of her friends and supporters as the 47-year-old film star had been in good health with no signs of illness. Several of Lo’s relatives appeared sad after identifying the body at Victoria Public Mortuary in Kennedy Town on Saturday... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3354984/hong-kong-happy-ghost-actress-lo-ming-chu-dies-47-2016-scmp-archive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3354984/hong-kong-happy-ghost-actress-lo-ming-chu-dies-47-2016-scmp-archive?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 May 2026 04:45:08 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 2/5 stars Unexpected Courage sees an ambitious workaholic learn on her 45th birthday that she is pregnant and will need to be in hospital for the remainder of her term. Drawing heavily from personal experience, Taiwanese writer-director Shawn Yu Shao-hsiang’s well-meaning but poorly conceived drama examines the conflicting expectations faced by women in today’s career-driven society. In a performance that earned her a Golden Horse Award nomination, Rene Liu Ruo-ying stars as Le-fu, a successful... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354836/unexpected-courage-movie-review-rene-liu-lacks-agency-flawed-pregnancy-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354836/unexpected-courage-movie-review-rene-liu-lacks-agency-flawed-pregnancy-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2026 07:15:04 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times By Pyo Kyung-min Three years after their first full-length record, K-pop girl group Le Sserafim are ready to tell a different story about fear. The five-member group dropped Pureflow Pt.1, their second studio album, on May 22, built around a premise that inverts the group’s debut message. While the group’s first record declared strength through fearlessness, this one argues the opposite – that fear, faced directly, is what makes you stronger. “When we first debuted, the message was that we were... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354760/new-album-pureflow-pt1-le-sserafim-are-facing-their-fears-and-are-stronger-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354760/new-album-pureflow-pt1-le-sserafim-are-facing-their-fears-and-are-stronger-it?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2026 04:15:04 +0000 Fionnuala McHugh Fionnuala McHugh The writer Kit Fan likes his readers to know, at least initially, where – and when – he is taking them. His first novel, published in 2021 and set in 1987, is called Diamond Hill, and its location is mostly confined to the Hong Kong neighbourhood it is named after. Diamond Hill was Hong Kong’s equivalent of Hollywood during its heyday after World War II. But by the late 1980s, it had lost its movie glamour. In that book, Fan played with a colourful, often profane, cast of nuns, triads and drug... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3354739/hong-kong-author-kit-fan-food-identity-and-reverse-migration-goodbye-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3354739/hong-kong-author-kit-fan-food-identity-and-reverse-migration-goodbye-chinatown?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 May 2026 23:15:09 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram The 79th Cannes Film Festival may yet be a watershed moment. Hollywood stayed away – there was not a sniff of a blockbuster to be found – confirming that the studios now see legacy movie marathons like Cannes as irrelevant in the influencer age. That did not stop film stars such as John Travolta, Rami Malek and Penelope Cruz from attending, and the oxygen usually taken up by studio fare meant more indie films had room to breathe. Whether there will be a breakout film like last year’s Sentimental... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354753/cannes-2026-10-festivals-best-movies-fjord-minotaur-and-all-sudden?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354753/cannes-2026-10-festivals-best-movies-fjord-minotaur-and-all-sudden?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 May 2026 13:15:04 +0000 Enid Tsui Enid Tsui Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan has just made headlines as the first woman to be named music director designate of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS). Many in the classical music world had expected her to succeed Gustavo Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As Chan herself acknowledged in an interview with the South China Morning Post on May 22, that was also what she expected, but – using a dating and marriage analogy – the courtship with the LA Phil went on for too long without the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3354519/i-am-hungry-elim-chan-taking-lead-san-francisco-symphony?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3354519/i-am-hungry-elim-chan-taking-lead-san-francisco-symphony?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 May 2026 04:45:04 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis Car action has always been a defining ingredient of Hong Kong cinema’s hell-for-leather stunt work. Here, we look at some stunt car classics from over the decades. 1. Aces Go Places (1982) Aces Go Places may have been a wacky comedy – but it was a wacky comedy with cars, motorcycles… and hang-gliders. Legendary daredevil, stuntman and car stunt choreographer Blackie Ko Shou-liang doubled for Sam Hui Koon-kit in the motorcycle scenes and became instantly famous when he drove straight through a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354225/classic-car-stunts-hong-kong-cinema-jackie-chans-police-story-initial-d?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354225/classic-car-stunts-hong-kong-cinema-jackie-chans-police-story-initial-d?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 May 2026 10:15:05 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times From an early age, Ahn Hyo-seop has had a burning passion for music. After school, he would talk about music and even produce tracks with his friends for fun. This passion led him to train under JYP Entertainment with the hopes of becoming a K-pop idol. However, Ahn decided to follow a different career path as an actor, becoming a household name in South Korea with performances in Dr Romantic (2016) and Business Proposal (2022). After starring in films and shows for over 10 years, Ahn recently... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354461/k-drama-actor-ahn-hyo-seop-something-special-his-new-single-us-rb-star-khalid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354461/k-drama-actor-ahn-hyo-seop-something-special-his-new-single-us-rb-star-khalid?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 May 2026 08:15:05 +0000 Tribune News Service Tribune News Service “Coachella!” exclaims Geena Davis, cradling her head on the table in front of her. When she straightens up, her face is flush with a wide-eyed glow: “Oh my God!” The veteran actress is still reeling from the electric response to her cameo appearance a few weeks earlier during headliner Sabrina Carpenter’s second weekend set at the popular music festival. The young audience roared when they spotted Davis on mammoth screens sitting in a drive-in, playing an older version of Carpenter in a skit... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354447/its-geena-sance-geena-davis-netflixs-boroughs-and-coachella-skit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354447/its-geena-sance-geena-davis-netflixs-boroughs-and-coachella-skit?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 May 2026 11:15:04 +0000 Pierce Conran Pierce Conran Several busy stars have been linked to coming projects in this week’s round-up of K-drama casting news, including a sports comedy, a time-travel political drama and a pair of thrillers. Read on for the latest news. Ma Theresa Following her role in the ENA mystery-thriller Climax alongside Ju Ji-hoon and Ha Ji-won, Nana is being courted for another major drama, having received an offer to lead Ma Theresa. The series will depict the struggles of characters attempting to take back control of a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3354498/k-drama-casting-news-about-nana-lee-jong-suk-kim-seon-ho-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3354498/k-drama-casting-news-about-nana-lee-jong-suk-kim-seon-ho-and-more?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 May 2026 07:15:04 +0000 Chloe Loung Chloe Loung This is the 77th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. If your radar picked up even a blip of K-pop in the mid-2010s, you probably encountered Jackson Wang Ka-yee long before you realised he was a Hong Kong native. To overseas fans, he was first known as the magnetic, mischievous rapper of Got7, a boy band that debuted under JYP Entertainment in 2014 and quickly amassed a loyal international following. Among the seven members, Wang was... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354172/how-got7s-jackson-wang-went-hong-kong-fencing-prodigy-global-music-icon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354172/how-got7s-jackson-wang-went-hong-kong-fencing-prodigy-global-music-icon?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 23:15:05 +0000 Enid Tsui Enid Tsui Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan has been named music director designate of the San Francisco Symphony, capping months of intense industry speculation over her next permanent posting. The orchestra announced on May 21 that Chan will officially begin her tenure in September 2027. She will serve an initial six-year term, becoming the first woman and 13th music director in the institution’s 115-year history. The announcement marks a significant milestone for the conductor and places one of Hong... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3354429/hong-kong-born-conductor-elim-chan-becomes-first-woman-lead-san-francisco-symphony?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3354429/hong-kong-born-conductor-elim-chan-becomes-first-woman-lead-san-francisco-symphony?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 17:54:00 +0000 Christopher DeWolf Christopher DeWolf When Winston Churchill stood in the House of Lords in October 1943 and made the case to rebuild the bomb-ravaged House of Commons exactly as it was, he had just the thing to say: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” The dogged British leader was no architectural scholar, but he was a master of the turn of phrase. His quote has lingered ever since as a concise reflection of how we relate to our built environment. In that particular case, Churchill believed the oppositional layout... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/interiors-living/article/3354321/how-buildings-and-cities-shape-our-lives-ancient-rome-hong-kong-today?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/interiors-living/article/3354321/how-buildings-and-cities-shape-our-lives-ancient-rome-hong-kong-today?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 10:15:05 +0000 SCMP SCMP We have selected seven lifestyle stories from the past seven days that resonated with our readers. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Saunas, sure. But sleep? A couple stays overnight at a 24-hour spa in Shenzhen A writer and her husband visit Shenzhen’s Tenz spa to see what it offers besides massages and how easy it is to get a good night’s rest there 2. Photographer’s snaps of 1970s Hong Kong given life by grandson 5 decades on During the Christmas... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3354199/shenzhens-24-hour-spa-glimpse-1970s-hong-kong-7-lifestyle-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3354199/shenzhens-24-hour-spa-glimpse-1970s-hong-kong-7-lifestyle-highlights?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 08:15:06 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 4/5 stars Unfolding in near real-time, Kaouther Ben Hania’s riveting docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab recreates the desperate efforts of Red Crescent workers to rescue a young Palestinian girl trapped in a car in the Gaza Strip after her family is attacked by the Israel Defence Forces. Seamlessly blending actual voice recordings with dramatic reconstructions, the film is a harrowing and politically potent thriller about the true price of war. On January 29, 2024, volunteers at a Red Crescent... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353968/voice-hind-rajab-movie-review-harrowing-gaza-docudrama-breathless-vital-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353968/voice-hind-rajab-movie-review-harrowing-gaza-docudrama-breathless-vital-cinema?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 04:32:42 +0000 Phoebe Zhang Phoebe Zhang In the past weeks, China’s film market witnessed the unlikely rise of an independent film. Made on a shoestring budget of just 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million), Dear You was filmed entirely in Teochew, a southern dialect, with a cast of mostly regular people and not one celebrity. Yet it became the top hit in China, pulling in more than 600 million yuan (US$88.12 million) since the Labour Day weekend. On Douban, the Chinese culture forum, the film was rated 9.1 out of 10, putting it in the same... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3354043/teochew-hit-film-shows-whats-ailing-chinese-entertainment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3354043/teochew-hit-film-shows-whats-ailing-chinese-entertainment?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 May 2026 01:30:05 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 4/5 stars Kiyoshi Kurosawa launched his directorial career in the mid-1980s by turning one of the staples of Japanese cinema, the erotic “pink film”, into something steeped in style, politics and cinephilia. Four decades on, the 70-year-old has taken another much-loved Japanese genre, the samurai drama, and stripped it of its swashbuckling conventions to deliver an atmospheric – and mostly action-free – suspense thriller that debunks myths of honour, reverence and reckless bravery in war. An... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354188/cannes-2026-samurai-and-prisoner-movie-review-kiyoshi-kurosawa-back-top-form?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354188/cannes-2026-samurai-and-prisoner-movie-review-kiyoshi-kurosawa-back-top-form?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 May 2026 05:56:18 +0000 Matt Glasby Matt Glasby 3/5 stars A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars films were major events. But since George Lucas sold the franchise to Disney in 2012, there have been five variable-quality big-screen outings, innumerable television shows and spin-offs, and this strange hybrid. Intended as season four of The Mandalorian, the material has been retooled into a stand-alone movie, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. Directed by series creator Jon Favreau, and co-written by Favreau, Lucasfilm chief... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354164/star-wars-mandalorian-and-grogu-movie-review-plays-extended-tv-episode?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354164/star-wars-mandalorian-and-grogu-movie-review-plays-extended-tv-episode?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 May 2026 03:01:32 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3.5/5 stars At 76, Pedro Almodovar is in a state of self-reflection – at least that is what you may feel after watching Bitter Christmas, the 24th film of the Spanish director’s career. Receiving its international premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s main competition, Bitter Christmas is a meta movie about the creative process, the film industry and the relationship between life and cinema. It is also terrain that Almodovar has explored before, and more successfully, in 2019’s Pain and Glory,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353510/cannes-2026-bitter-christmas-movie-review-pedro-almodovars-engrossing-meta-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353510/cannes-2026-bitter-christmas-movie-review-pedro-almodovars-engrossing-meta-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 May 2026 19:00:07 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram Yeon Sang-ho sleeps soundly at night – no bad dreams, no night terrors, thank you very much. “When I get to bed, I’m just completely exhausted,” the 47-year-old South Korean director says with a grin. “When I sleep, the next step is just I wake up. So I never dream or have nightmares.” This must have come as a relief given he has spent a decade contemplating zombies on and off following his 2016 mega-hit Train to Busan. It is late afternoon when we meet on the windswept sixth-floor terrace of... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3353976/how-colony-features-new-kind-zombie-reflect-modern-fears?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3353976/how-colony-features-new-kind-zombie-reflect-modern-fears?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 May 2026 11:15:05 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 4/5 stars Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu steps out of his comfort zone with Fjord, a film about a religious couple facing the wrath of Norway’s Child Protection Services. Nineteen years ago, Mungiu won the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or for his second feature film, the stark abortion drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. This latest film, with Mungiu directing the highest-profile actors of his career, is no less provocative. Set in a remote Norwegian village with backdrops so spectacular... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354080/cannes-2026-fjord-movie-review-sebastian-stan-renate-reinsve-lead-child-welfare-drama?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3354080/cannes-2026-fjord-movie-review-sebastian-stan-renate-reinsve-lead-child-welfare-drama?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 May 2026 08:45:13 +0000 Chloe Loung Chloe Loung Growing up in the suburbs of Glasgow as one of only two Chinese children in her primary school, Eliza Chan rarely questioned her identity. Although her thick Scottish accent is the first thing you would notice about her, she says it was simply “normal” to be stopped on the street in her small town and asked where she was really from. “It was one of those childhoods where I don’t think I realised what I wasn’t until other people told me,” she recalls. Chan, 41, admits that this caused her to go... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3353678/she-rejected-her-chinese-heritage-child-now-she-leans-it-through-her-novels?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3353678/she-rejected-her-chinese-heritage-child-now-she-leans-it-through-her-novels?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2026 23:15:05 +0000 Charmaine Yu Charmaine Yu The pipe organ, with its thousands of whistles and massive wooden lungs, is the quintessential voice of Western sacred music. Yet for Hong Kong organist Eric Chan’s latest cross-cultural project, he shares the stage with the piercing cries of the suona – a traditional Chinese woodwind whose melodies have echoed through rural villages for centuries. Played in this project by Guo Yazhi and Chrysoberyl Chan – Eric Chan’s partner in life and music – the suona bridges a vast cultural divide, showing... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3353717/east-meets-west-melodic-concert-hong-kong-musician-eric-chan-blends-suona-organ?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3353717/east-meets-west-melodic-concert-hong-kong-musician-eric-chan-blends-suona-organ?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2026 11:15:06 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 2/5 stars If South Korean director Na Hong-jin had wanted to give his latest movie an even snappier title, it might be Run. Through long stretches of this two-and-a-half-hour action extravaganza, humans and aliens race down small-town streets, through forests and along highways, as if daring the viewer to – sorry – hope when and where this is all going to end. Except that it does not. By introducing a slew of new threads in the final reel, Na seems to be shaping Hope as the first of a franchise.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3353931/cannes-2026-hope-movie-review-wailing-director-na-hong-jin-back-monster-mess?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3353931/cannes-2026-hope-movie-review-wailing-director-na-hong-jin-back-monster-mess?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2026 05:45:22 +0000 James Mottram James Mottram 3.5/5 stars Back in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival for the sixth time, writer-director James Gray returns to his roots with Paper Tiger. The American filmmaker started his career with 1994’s Little Odessa, starring Tim Roth as a Russian-Jewish hitman operating in the Brighton Beach area of New York. His next two films, The Yards (2000) and We Own the Night (2007), kept him ensconced in the world of low-life criminals. Paper Tiger also casts the Russian mob as the antagonists.... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353915/cannes-2026-paper-tiger-movie-review-adam-driver-scarlett-johansson-lead-dark-mob-tale?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353915/cannes-2026-paper-tiger-movie-review-adam-driver-scarlett-johansson-lead-dark-mob-tale?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 May 2026 03:25:07 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Neil deGrasse Tyson has had a lifelong fantasy of being abducted by aliens. That’s right: he actually wants to be taken. “I even picture the scenario in my head: I’m sitting out there alone, and a beam of light comes down,” he says. “It’s not a spacecraft that’s hovering over me. It’s just a beam of light from space. And I just get lifted up into that beam of light, and I appear in a new place.” America’s favourite astrophysicist has turned that lifelong fascination into a book, Take Me to Your... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353430/how-should-we-greet-aliens-neil-degrasse-tyson-has-answer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353430/how-should-we-greet-aliens-neil-degrasse-tyson-has-answer?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2026 11:15:05 +0000 Robin Zebaida Robin Zebaida Ever tried that children’s game of trying to pat your head while rubbing your stomach? Or drawing a circle with one hand and simultaneously a triangle with the other? The key is coordination, of course, and plenty of that is required if you are playing the piano and singing at the same time. Born in the UK, raised in Canada and based in Germany, pianist-soprano Rachel Fenlon is renowned for her self-accompanied concerts. On May 12, she made her Hong Kong debut with a performance of Franz... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3353677/soprano-pianist-rachel-fenlon-blends-intensity-and-innovation-dexterous-hong-kong-debut?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts/article/3353677/soprano-pianist-rachel-fenlon-blends-intensity-and-innovation-dexterous-hong-kong-debut?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2026 09:15:05 +0000 Richard James Havis Richard James Havis The late Hong Kong filmmaker Alex Law Kai-yui is best known abroad for directing Painted Faces (1988), which depicted the early lives of martial arts cinema icons Sammo Hung Kam-bo and Jackie Chan. But with his life partner Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting, Law also wrote or directed several other classic Hong Kong films, such as The Illegal Immigrant (1985) and The Soong Sisters (1997). While their wider filmography captured the grand sweep of history, some of the couple’s most poignant collaborations... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353554/why-hong-kong-filmmaking-couple-alex-law-and-mabel-cheungs-nostalgia-films-are-must-sees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353554/why-hong-kong-filmmaking-couple-alex-law-and-mabel-cheungs-nostalgia-films-are-must-sees?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2026 07:15:04 +0000 Clarence Tsui Clarence Tsui 3/5 stars Hirokazu Koreeda’s best films demand audiences read between the lines to grasp what he is trying to convey. The Japanese director’s fascination with surrogate families is hinted at succinctly in films such as Distance (2001) and Shoplifters (2018); his interest in exploring the malleability of truth drives The Third Murder (2017) and Monster (2023). It is perhaps unsurprising that he would be inspired by the “sheep in the box” sequence in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince,... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353839/cannes-2026-sheep-box-movie-review-hirokazu-koreeda-tackles-grief-sci-fi-tale?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3353839/cannes-2026-sheep-box-movie-review-hirokazu-koreeda-tackles-grief-sci-fi-tale?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 May 2026 15:10:06 +0000 Pierce Conran Pierce Conran Cha Eun-woo fans had to temporarily bid farewell to their beloved idol in July 2025, when he began his obligatory military service. Fortunately, the star completed one show before heading off to the barracks – the superhero comedy-drama The Wonderfools, which launched worldwide on May 15. While the Netflix series can rely on the rest of its cast to market it to fans, including lead Park Eun-bin, losing access to Cha’s Instagram account – which boasts more than 46 million followers and has... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3353644/who-cha-eun-woo-handsome-k-pop-idol-starring-netflix-k-drama-wonderfools?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-drama/article/3353644/who-cha-eun-woo-handsome-k-pop-idol-starring-netflix-k-drama-wonderfools?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 May 2026 04:45:05 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh 3/5 stars Korean superstar Jun Ji-hyun makes her long-awaited return to the big screen in Colony, an action-packed zombie thriller that sees director Yeon Sang-ho revisit the undead mayhem that made his name. The film just had its world premiere in the Midnight Screenings section of the Cannes Film Festival – a prestigious bow that neatly mirrors the debut of Yeon’s genre-defining blockbuster Train to Busan exactly 10 years prior. Set apart from the wider Train to Busan franchise, which also... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3353564/cannes-2026-colony-movie-review-jun-ji-hyun-returns-slick-empty-zombie-thriller?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/k-drama/k-movies/article/3353564/cannes-2026-colony-movie-review-jun-ji-hyun-returns-slick-empty-zombie-thriller?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 16 May 2026 01:00:10 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hollywood star John Travolta was given a surprise lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival Friday as he premiered the first movie he has ever directed. The man who became an icon overnight with Saturday Night Fever was visibly moved as he accepted the honorary Palme d’Or before the screening of Propeller One-Way Night Coach, which is based on a book about his first experience in an airliner. “I just can’t believe it. This is beyond the Oscar, really,” he said as he accepted the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3353781/travolta-gets-surprise-cannes-prize-beyond-oscar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3353781/travolta-gets-surprise-cannes-prize-beyond-oscar?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 May 2026 21:39:59 +0000