“Doing business in Hong Kong is lot of fun”

One of the most expensive Hong Kong movies ever made (HK$350 million or 41 million euros), “The Goldfinger” also brings together Felix Chong, Tony Leung and Andy Lau after “Infernal Affairs”, where the first co-wrote. Set in the 80s, the script is based on the story of Carrian Group, a Hong Kong corporation which rose rapidly before collapsing shortly afterwards due to a corruption scandal.

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The movie actually starts with Henry Ching’s arrest, who is based on Carrian Group founder George Tan, Lau Kai-yuen, principal investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). A bit later, the timeline changes to the mid-70s, with Henry Ching arriving in Hong Kong and trying to get a job as an engineer. Considering the place is filled with people of the particular profession, he has no luck. Although so it seems, since he is eventually employed by K.K. Tsang, one of the heirs of a rather rich family, who has him posing as a buyer for his property, in order to convince Wu Reshong, an actual potential buyer, to increase the price he is offering. The plan eventually succeeds, and Tsang takes Ching under his wing, eventually giving him the capital to open his own company, which he ends up naming after his first hire, Carmen Cheung. Their luck, though, truly changes when Ching gets swindled in the stock market by Wu Reshong’s broker, Chung and decides to hire him. An initially reluctant to leave his employer Chung, is eventually convinced when Ching “offers” him Carmen, with the two eventually becoming a couple.

As they manage to manipulate the stock market and buy property by giving their stocks as contraband for increasingly bigger loans, the group, which eventually also includes Wu Reshong, starts becoming more and more successful. Eventually, they reach international level, with their stock being considered even more valuable than blue chips, but the handover changes everything. The second axis, of the present, also moves forward, showing Ching as a cruel man who does not shy from murdering his opponents, and Lau being continuously on his heels, despite his many failures and the strain his efforts place in his relationship with his family.

First things first. The classic style of Hong Kong cinema, with its permeating nonsensicality and the focus on individual scenes rather than the movie as a whole is not exactly ideal to present true stories. The fact becomes quite evident by the way the story progresses in a fashion that frequently does not make sense, with the back-and-forth in time not helping with the overall sense that the viewer is missing something. The scenes in the court, the presentation of the foreigners, and the ending suffer the most from this approach.

On the other hand, there are definitely enough elements here to make the film rise beyond its issues. First and most obvious, the cast and the acting. Tony Leung as Henry Ching gives another splendid performance, with the way he transforms through the years being a treat to watch. Andy Lau as Lau Kai-yuen is equally good as a character that is essentially the exact opposite of Ching, although the two share an obsession to achieve their goals against all odds. Simon Yam adds even more star quality as the benefactor who eventually becomes part of the group Ching heads. Michael Ning as Chung, and the way he falls for Carmen is one of the best aspects of the movie, while Charlene Choi, who plays her, is an impressive presence but in a role that is rather badly written. Lastly, Tai Bo as Wu Renshong, who will be forever remembered for eating two plates of spaghetti on his face in “Project A”, concludes the overall great cast, as an individual who is the top boss, but eventually is surpassed by Ching.

Furthermore, the comments about corruption, which actually start with the police in the first scenes in the movie, and the relationship between them, the capital, the stock market, and the crime world become quite evident. It is also worth noting that Ching was probably involved with people from the Philippines (Imelda Marcos), Indonesia and Malaysia, and the script actually includes them, giving the corruption an international scale. All in all, this is a great story and the fact becomes quite evident throughout the movie, even with the aforementioned shortcomings.

In that regard, what is actually equally impressive with the casting, is the amount of scenes presented through the 126 minutes of the movie, which is truly exuberant, highlighting both the big budget of the production and the amount of work that was put in the film. Occasionally, the audiovisual approach reminds intently of “The Wolf of Wall Street”, while there is a scene that will definitely make one think of “Sin City”. For the most part, though, “The Goldfinger” is its own animal, with the technical aspect finding its zenith in scenes like the one with the battle in the Golden Triangle, the one with the models dancing in glass cages, and the murder attempt on Lau. Overall, the visuals here, as captured by DP Anthony Pun are nothing short of impressive.

Again as usual in HK blockbusters, William Chang and Curran Pang’s editing results in a rather frantic face, which manages to hide the narrative issues to the point, also through the mixture of the timelines.

Overall, I am not sure how much the particular approach of HK cinema still applies here, particularly in real stories, but the fact remains that “The Goldfinger” is an outstandingly casted, audiovisually impressive film that offers entertainment aplenty.

Paramount Global Chief Executive Bob Bakish is expected to be ousted from the company, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Bakish’s departure comes as Paramount’s future hangs in the balance.

The company is currently in a 30-day exclusive negotiating period with tech scion David Ellison, whose Skydance Media has teamed up with investment firms RedBird Capital and KKR to acquire Paramount controlling shareholder Shari Redstone’s National Amusements holding company. That exclusive negotiating period ends in early May.

Under a complicated two-step proposition, Ellison would gain control of the media company, which includes the storied Melrose Avenue Paramount movie studio, broadcast network CBS and various cable channels such as MTV and Comedy Central. Ellison’s camp would pay $2 billion for National Amusements, and Paramount would then absorb Skydance.

But shareholders have balked at reports of Ellison’s proposal, arguing that it would value Redstone’s shares at a premium while diluting the value for them. Several shareholders have said they’d prefer a deal with private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which is offering $26 billion, including the assumption of Paramount’s debt.

Bakish is said to have been opposed to the Skydance transaction. Redstone, according to one person familiar with the matter, has also been frustrated with certain of Bakish’s decisions, including not selling Showtime. The company, meanwhile, has lost massive amounts of money on its streaming service, Paramount+.

The company now known as Paramount Global formed in 2019 from the merger of Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. But the combination never convinced Wall Street of its promise. In the last year alone, Paramount Global’s stock has lost nearly half its value.

Recently, Sony has engaged in talks with Apollo to potentially join its bid, which could give the Japanese entertainment and electronics company a significant majority stake in Paramount.

CNBC and Variety first reported the news of Bakish’s ouster. CNBC, in its report, said Bakish could be fired as soon as Monday, citing anonymous sources.

Representatives for Paramount declined to comment.

Bakish was named CEO in 2016, after a tumultuous year for the company then known as Viacom. At the time, the company’s stock had fallen 45% in two years as Viacom faced declining ratings at some of its key networks, including Comedy Central and MTV, as well as struggles at its Paramount Pictures film studio.

After Redstone orchestrated the merger of Viacom with CBS, Bakish became CEO of the combined enterprise.

Bakish had been a Viacom executive since 1997. Before that, he was a management consultant with an MBA from Columbia Business School.

In 2016, Redstone described Bakish as “an exemplary forward thinker” who “embraces disruption and brings teams along with him.”

I’ll watch anything with Zendaya in it. Even without the genius-level marketing that was the Challengers press tour — complete with those tennis ball Loewe heels — I still would’ve rushed to the theater to watch Challengers. Due to last year’s strike, its delayed release made one thing obvious: anticipation really does make the reward that much sweeter. Challengers finally comes out on Friday, April 26th and after watching an early screening, I can confirm, it’s well worth the wait.

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What is Challengers about?

Challengers is about tennis. Challengers is about a love triangle. Challengers is about Zendaya’s bob. Directed by Luca Guadagnino of Call Me By Your Name, it’s no surprise that this movie is also about sex. It follows three young tennis players — two lifelong friends who are rising stars and superstar prodigy Tashi Duncan with whom they are massively enamored — over their messy love lives and careers.

Zendaya leads as Tashi Duncan, the intense and intensely ambitious woman at the center of this story. After a devastating injury, Tashi goes from the top of the game to her husband’s coach, trying to recall what she felt at the height of her career.

Ambition battles desire as the love story between the three twists and turns over the course of time. Shifting between time periods and storylines, it feels like a Christopher Nolan film if it slayed. And with Luca’s expert directorial eye, styling from JW Anderson’s Loewe, and Zendaya as heroine, it’s a cinematic feat — tense, vivid, and utterly irresistible. Zendaya herself recommends watching the movie at least three times while “viewing” it from each character’s perspective each time. Well, what Z says, goes.

Clearly, Mike Faist (Dear Evan Hansen, West Side Story) as Art and Josh O’Connor (The Crown, God’s Own Country) as Patrick have been inducted into the exclusive club of Luca’s muses. If you weren’t in love with them before, you will be by the movie’s end. The film has confirmed them as the white boys of the month. But they’re more than just pretty faces. They are Actors — with a capital A.

And Challengers is their launch pad for Hollywood’s latest leading men. Their performances are masterful, their characters are tight and consistent, and their chemistry is unmatched.

While their chemistry with Zendaya is electric, it’s their chemistry together that keeps the film pulsing with anticipatory tension. Whether they love each other or hate each other, the best scenes are those when Faist and O’Connor can play off each other — whether it’s literally tennis or a battle of wits and the battle for Zendaya’s heart.

Of course: we have to talk about that scene. Teased in the trailer and the promo images alike, everyone is all aflutter over the film’s alleged menage a trois. Appearing early on, it’s a taste of what the film does well: emphasizes sex appeal without denigrating any of its characters — especially Zendaya — as mere sexual objects.

Sex in this film is often implied. Yet, sensuality and the power exchange of desire are foregrounded. It’s about power. But it’s also a game. And, like tennis, Zendaya is a master. “You don’t know what tennis is,” she tells Art and Patrick. “It’s a relationship.” For the three of them, this certainly proves true. The central question here is: who will win?

This is a movie about tennis, actually.

The internet has noticed a strange trend: the women who’ve played Spiderman’s love interest in the major Spiderman franchises have all gone on to do movies about tennis. Kirsten Dunst did the underrated rom-com Wimbledon. Emma Stone portrayed Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes just three years after her term as Gwen Stacey. And now, Zendaya is playing her own version of a tennis star.

@jessthereporter The Spider-Man to Tennis pipeline – EXPLAINED #spiderman #challengers #zendaya #emmastone #kirstendunst #movienews #movietok ♬ original sound – Jess Lucero❤️🔥☕️

But this isn’t just a film about tennis players. It’s a movie deeply in love with the game of tennis itself. It plays with the form of the game by mirroring a tennis match — each act of the film feels like a set of a match. It moves through scenes and time periods like perfect volleys. The key scene that ties it all together is a tennis match. We watch the ball go back and forth as we are transported to and from the past, wondering which player will get the upper hand.

“What do you want?” The boys ask Tashi early in the film. “To watch some good fucking tennis,” she says.

In the end, the sentiment is repeated. In tennis, love means zero. And that’s the Challengers’ conceit. Sitting across from the umpire (who is — fun fact — played by her real-life assistant Darnell Appling) in the central tennis scene, her judgment is all. It’s like the final scene of Love and Basketball — they’re playing for her heart. And her heart is always with the game.

Challengers will make a tennis fan of you. While you don’t need to know the game in order to follow the plot, its artistic representation of the game — from the writing to the directorial shot list — will satisfy the superfans and intrigue the newbies.

Let’s get to the point (pun intended): Is Zendaya’s Tashi a triumph?

Earlier this year, Timothee Chalamet achieved the impressive feat of starring in two of the year’s highest-grossing films — Dune: Part Two and Wonka. I predict that by the time they stop this weekend’s Box Office count, Zendaya will achieve the same feat with Dune: Part Two and Challengers.

While she’s the heart of Dune: Part Two, she’s finally taking her rightful place as a leading lady with her turn as Tashi Duncan. After playing high schoolers for decades from Spider-Man to Euphoria, the role of Tashi is the perfect transition. We meet Tashi the summer after high school, before she heads to Stanford, and watch her grow into an adult in real-time. Zendaya and her character get similar arcs.

Zendaya deftly handles Tashi’s youthful confidence with her jaded older self while rocking that damn bob. It’s up to you to decide whether you love this character or despise her. There’s a viral interview in which an interviewer remarks that as much as he loves Zendaya, this character kind of made him hate her. Meanwhile, I — lover of maneaters and female manipulators — am pinning photos of Tashi to my vision board as we speak.

Audiences are split on their takes on Tashi but everyone agrees: Zendaya played her with the chill-inducing complexity she deserves. EGOT soon! This is Zendaya’s magnum opus — so far. She’s proven she’s a movie star, a leading lady, and an adult woman ready to play older roles. I can’t wait for what she does next.

Challengers will hit theaters on Friday, April 26th. Watch the full trailer here: