Ang Lee’s newest film, “Lust, Caution,” which took top honors at this year’s Venice Film Festival, will have to be cut significantly before its China release on October 26th. The “spy-thriller,” according to China’s censors, featured too much nasty boot-knocking. According to a Reuters report Wednesday, Lee cut the edited-for-China version himself rather […]

What do you get when you mix 4 obese Chinese women, outlandish costumes and some microphones? Well, first you get a singing group called Qian Jin Zu He, a gimmick group composed of a 375-pound chick and three others weighing over a deuce and a half. And second, you get a Washington Post […]

If a Western film has a tenuous plot, plentiful stunts and is about robots that can transform themselves, it is shown in every theater in Shanghai cinemas. But if a Western film has a tenuous plot, plentiful stunts and features a black dude mocking a Chinese guy, it is not shown at all. […]

China Daily’s front page headline Saturday said it all: “Chinese Bookworms Going Potty About Potter.” Saturday’s release of the final installment of the kid wizard series is making Chinese kids wish they could read in English. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows became available in China at 7am Saturday morning and is expected […]

In November 2006, I debuted Flumesday’s U.S. election coverage called “Vote Or Don’t.” The name dually describes American political apathy and the difficulty for expats abroad, especially those like myself who don’t live in a democracy, to go through the process of casting an absentee vote. However, with a mere seven months before […]

Well the Sopranos is finally over. And I’d be lying if I said that I was not very sad. It is rare that a TV show comes along with such brilliant dialogue, dark humor, real violence and a storyline that held my attention for 8 years straight. When the screen went black […]

What the fuck. What happened to no special treatment? What happened to treating a celebrity like any other drunk driver? What happened to sticking it to a 26-year-old hotel heiress who thinks the rules don’t apply to her? Paris Hilton was released from prison early Thursday morning after serving just 3 days because of […]

CBS Radio suspended two morning DJs Monday for placing a six-minute prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant laced with anti-Chinese slurs. The call originally aired April 5th, the day after the now infamous Don Imus made his “nappy-headed hos” comment on his own radio show, also owned by CBS Radio. The call was replayed […]

In Shanghai on Friday, five expats launched a new English-language online publication called Small Swords Magazine. In a city with a dearth of well-written magazines or web sites, Small Swords looks and feels like the real deal Shanghai publication. Divided into four sections– life, sound, image and text– the magazine covers all […]

CBS announced Wednesday that the 14th edition of Survivor will take place in China making it the first American television show to be filmed here. Who knew this show was still on? The exact location and production date of the new season have not been announced, but Variety reported Tuesday that this will […]