The Chinese action film Wolf Warrior 2 continues to set records at the box office and stir online debate in China. The film has raked in nearly $700 million in a little more than two weeks since its opening and looks all but set to become China’s biggest blockbuster.

While some are concerned about the chest-thumping nationalism they feel the film whips up, the movie, which features a Rambolike former special forces hero, is also showing that patriotic films can become big hits.

Realistic fiction

Moviegoers we spoke with liked how the film portrayed situations Chinese have and could face overseas when conflicts arise. They also noted a dispute in China that lands the main character in jail.

At the beginning of the movie, before the film’s hero, Leng Feng, travels to Africa to fight off foreign mercenaries and dodge hundreds (if not thousands) of bullets, he serves a prison sentence for killing a local gangster in China over a forced home demolition.

Forced demolitions, a byproduct of China’s breakneck economic growth, local corruption and greed, is one of the country’s big sources of social discontent.

One woman, surnamed Dong, who has watched the movie twice, said the film was both shocking and interesting. She said it made her think of recent situations when workers from China had to be evacuated from countries overseas by the Chinese military when conflicts arose.

“The director has good understanding of history and politics,” she said. “I heard similar stories (about the evacuation of Chinese citizens from Libya).”

Clearly, the Chinese military’s commitment to keeping its citizens safe overseas was a message the film has driven home. A closing shot in the film features a picture of a Chinese passport and a short message: “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China. When you encounter danger in a foreign land, do not give up! Please remember, at your back stands a strong motherland.”

Atypical patriotic flick

Despite such heavy overtones, and declarations by state media outlets such as the Global Times, which early on said patriotism was giving the action film a boost, those we spoke with say it is how the film was different that made it more attractive.

One woman surnamed Qi said most patriotic films are not believable.

“Usually patriotic movies like The Founding of An Army do not reflect realistic situations of everyday life like Wolf Warrior does, which showed scenes of him trying to stop a forced demolition. These kinds of things are more realistic,” she said.

Another agreed, noting that while some say Wolf Warrior 2 is too commercial and that it is just benefitting from the August lull, the film wasn’t that bad.

“It should be seen as just a regular film. If it was really all about patriotism, then “The Founding of An Army” should be doing well, but it’s not. And the reason for that is that Wolf Warrior 2 is worth watching,” she said.

Floundering military film

The Founding of An Army, a story about the People’s Liberation Army was released about the same time as Wolf Warrior 2 and just days before the Chinese military’s founding anniversary. But unlike Wolf Warrior 2, the film has floundered at the box office.

Part of that might be because censors are running official interference.

The Chinese social networking service Douban forbids users to comment and give marks to The Founding of An Army, a move apparently made to avoid any criticism of the film. Wolf Warrior 2, however, has received four out of five stars and a wide range of comments and opinions.

On the day we saw Wolf Warrior 2, the theater was packed. A ticket clerk let us look at showings for The Founding of An Army. While Wolf Warrior 2 showings were almost fully booked, the seats for The Founding of An Army were largely empty.

The clerk said that in some cases, state-owned enterprises would send employees in large groups to boost the film’s performance. There have also been reports online about moviegoers purchasing tickets for other films, but receiving one with The Founding of An Army on it.

Allegations of box office cheating are not uncommon in China. According to Cbooo.cn, a website that tracks box office revenues in China, the film is lagging far behind with less than 10 percent of Wolf Warrior’s sales.

Game changer

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Wolf Warrior 2 is the third highest-grossing film in a single territory, trailing Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($937 million) and Avatar ($750 million).

The film’s success has some predicting a brighter future for China’s domestic film industry, with some even saying it could pose a threat to Hollywood. But not all are giving the movie an easy pass. Many have expressed concern about the violence in the film.

Others worry about the nationalistic fervor the film’s glorified violence whips up.

One man, surnamed Zhang, said while the movie is just a consumer product and too much should not be read into it, some of the debate the action blockbuster has stirred up online is worrying. He said he will not see the film.

“The movie is like a war mobilization film,” he said. “It’s sensational and whips up feeling of patriotism and national pride to the point that some who have seen it are saying we should wage war, we should do this and that.”

Online, many are urging the film’s director Wu Jing to follow soon with Wolf Warrior 3, even suggesting he focus on conflicts with foreign powers that showcase Chinese-made weaponry.
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Elvis Presley has been dead for 40 years, but the King’s legacy is alive and well in Las Vegas.

Elvis impersonators remain a staple of Las Vegas kitsch, performing at casino venues and wedding chapels and on street stages while decked out in garish jumpsuits, sunglasses and sideburn wigs.

At a recent Elvis convention, performers came from as far away as Japan and Australia to compete in a tribute artist contest that paid $15,000 in prize money.

Elvis performer Tyler James recalls going to Graceland for the first time when he was 5 years old — and immediately becoming hooked.

“I told my mom then I wanted my own show in Vegas as Elvis,” he said.

James now has a regular show two nights a week on an outdoor stage in downtown Las Vegas.

Elvis played hundreds of shows here, year after year — with more sellout crowds in Las Vegas than anywhere else. Sin City and the King became so deeply intertwined that fans across the country have continued to make the pilgrimage even after his untimely death. They travel to Vegas indulge in the many Elvis tribute shows, impersonators and nostalgic memories from his heyday.

Presley rose from poverty in Tupelo, Mississippi, to become an international music and movie star in the 1950s and 1960s. His life ended at age 42, when he was found dead August 16, 1977, at his Graceland mansion in Tennessee. By then, his career had slowed and he struggled with obesity and substance abuse.

But to Sin City, he’ll always be the handsome, hip-swinging, lip-curling crooner who gave the town its Viva Las Vegas anthem.

In the modern-day entertainment capital, his influence has waned in recent years. But Presley remains a larger-than-life pop culture icon in Las Vegas’ history.

To this day, the term “Elvis impersonator” is synonymous with Las Vegas — a term the performers dislike. They prefer to be called “Elvis tribute artists.”
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Pop star Pink has been chosen to receive the 2017 Vanguard Award, MTV’s equivalent of a lifetime achievement honor for video music, the U.S. cable and satellite television channel said Tuesday.

Pink, 37, known for her powerhouse vocals and acrobatic live shows, is being recognized for her impact on music, pop culture, fashion and philanthropy over the course of her 17-year career, the Viacom Inc. unit said in a statement.

The Don’t Let Me Get Me Philadelphia-born singer has released six studio albums since her debut in 2000, and won three Grammys and six MTV Video Music Awards.

She is also a UNICEF ambassador for children’s nutrition worldwide and supports causes dealing with such subjects as autism and human rights.

Pink will receive the honor at the MTV Video Music Awards show in Los Angeles on August 27, where she will perform her latest single, What About Us.

Previous Vanguard recipients have included Rihanna, Kanye West, Beyonce and Michael Jackson.
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Immediately after a jury determined that Taylor Swift had been groped by a radio station host before a concert in Denver, the singer-songwriter turned to one of her closest allies – her mother – and later said she hoped the verdict would inspire other victims of sexual assault.

 

Swift hugged her crying mother after the six-woman, two-man jury said in U.S. District Court on Monday that former Denver DJ David Mueller had groped the pop star during a photo op four years ago. Per Swift’s request, jurors awarded her $1 in damages – a sum her attorney, Douglas Baldridge, called “a single symbolic dollar, the value of which is immeasurable to all women in this situation.”

 

Swift released a statement thanking her attorneys “for fighting for me and anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault.”

 

“My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard,” she said, promising to make unspecified donations to groups that help victims of sexual assault.

 

Nancy Leong, a law professor at the University of Denver, said the verdict is important because “we are getting to the point in society that women are believed in court. For many decades and centuries, that was not the case.”

 

Leong, who also teaches in the university’s gender studies program, said the verdict will inspire more victims of sexual assault to come forward.

 

“The fact that she was believed will allow women to understand that they will not automatically be disbelieved, and I think that’s a good thing,” Leong said.

 

Swift and her mother initially tried to keep the accusation quiet by reporting the incident to Mueller’s bosses and not the police.

 

But it inevitably became public when Mueller sued Swift for up to $3 million, claiming the allegation cost him his $150,000-a-year job at country station KYGO-FM, where he was a morning host.

 

“I’ve been trying to clear my name for four years,” he said after the verdict in explaining why he took Swift to court. “Civil court is the only option I had. This is the only way that I could be heard.”

 

On ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, Mueller he might appeal and insisted he did nothing wrong “and I can pass a polygraph.”

 

After Mueller sued, Swift countersued for assault and battery, and during an hour of testimony blasted a low-key characterization by Mueller’s attorney, Gabriel McFarland, of what happened. While Mueller testified he never grabbed Swift, she insisted she was groped.

 

“He stayed attached to my bare ass-cheek as I lurched away from him,” Swift testified.

 

“It was a definite grab. A very long grab,” she added.

 

Mueller emphatically denied reaching under the pop star’s skirt or otherwise touching her inappropriately, insisting he touched only her ribs and may have brushed the outside of her skirt as they awkwardly posed for the picture.

 

That photo was virtually the only evidence besides the testimony.

 

In the image shown to jurors during opening statements but not publicly released, Mueller’s hand is behind Swift, just below her waist. Both are smiling. Mueller’s then-girlfriend is standing on the other side of Swift.

 

Swift testified that after she was groped, she numbly told Mueller and his girlfriend, “Thank you for coming,” and moved on to photos with others waiting in line because she did not want to disappoint them.

 

But she said she immediately went to her photographer after the meet-and-greet ended and found the photo of her with Mueller, telling the photographer what happened.

 

Swift’s mother, Andrea Swift, testified that she asked radio liaison Frank Bell to call Mueller’s employers. They did not call the police to avoid further traumatizing her daughter, she said.

 

“We absolutely wanted to keep it private. But we didn’t want him to get away with it,” Andrea Swift testified.

 

Bell said he emailed the photo to Robert Call, KYGO’s general manager, for use in Call’s investigation of Mueller. He said he didn’t ask that Mueller be fired but that “appropriate action be taken.”

 

Jurors rejected Mueller’s claims that Andrea Swift and Bell cost him his job.

 

On Friday, U.S. District Judge William Martinez dismissed similar claims against Taylor Swift, ruling Mueller’s team failed to offer evidence that the then-23-year-old superstar did anything more than report the incident to her team, including her mother.

 

 
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Young designers bring African-inspired color and ethical fashion to runways in London where fashionistas and industry professionals participated in this year’s Africa Fashion Week. Mariama Diallo reports.
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Taylor Swift won her trial against a Colorado radio personality on Monday after a jury found that the former DJ assaulted and battered the pop star by groping her bare bottom, and awarded her the symbolic $1 in damages she had sought.

Swift cried and hugged her mother as the verdicts were read in U.S. District Court in Denver and mouthed an emphatic “thank you” to members of the jury as they left the courtroom.

The six-woman, two-man jury, which deliberated for less than four hours following a sensational week-long trial, also rejected claims by radio personality David Mueller that members of Swift’s management team – her mother and a radio station liaison – got him fired from his “dream job” as a DJ by making false accusations.

“I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this,” the 27-year-old singer said in a statement released immediately following the verdicts.

“My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard,” Swift said, adding that she would make donations to organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.

Mueller, 55, showed no reaction as the verdicts were read.

The DJ had initiated the litigation after he was fired from his job after the groping claim was reported to the radio station. In his lawsuit he called the groping accusations false, and he sued Swift, her mother, Andrea, and radio station liaison Frank Bell over his termination.

During closing statements in the case, Mueller’s attorney, Gabriel McFarland, argued that his client was a respected industry veteran who would never have risked his $150,000-per-year radio job by grabbing a major celebrity’s rear end.

But Swift was firm on the witness stand, saying that there was no question in her mind that Mueller had intentionally slipped his hand under her skirt to clutch her bare bottom.

Her attorney, Douglas Baldridge, said during his closing remarks that Swift was seeking only $1 in damages because she had no desire to bankrupt Mueller, but only wanted to send a message.

“It means ‘no means no’ and it tells every woman they will decide what will be tolerated with their body,” Baldridge said of the principle Swift was trying to defend.

U.S. District Judge William Martinez on Friday dismissed Mueller’s accusation against Swift, saying there was no evidence that she had acted improperly. The judge left standing the entertainer’s assault and battery countersuit against Mueller.

He also left intact a single claim by Mueller accusing Swift’s mother and Bell of interfering with his contract and effectively ending his career at radio station KYGO-FM. The jury rejected that claim.

Before the trial, Martinez had tossed out Mueller’s defamation-of-character claim against Swift, ruling that he had waited too long to file a lawsuit on those grounds.
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 A shade of purple named for the late superstar Prince was announced Monday by the icon’s estate.

 

The “Purple Rain” hue created by the Pantone Color Institute was dubbed “Love Symbol (hash)2,” paying tribute to his custom Yamaha piano and the squiggly graphic Prince began using as his name in 1993 in a testy battle with Warner Bros. Records over ownership of some of his biggest hits.

The artist switched back to Prince as a name in 2000 after his Warner contract expired.

 

Prince died in April 2016 at age 57 of an opioid overdose, according to authorities.
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Grammy award-winner Petula Clark sang her global hit “Downtown” about as far from “where the neon signs are pretty” as she could at the weekend — to thousands in a field in rural England.

It was the 84-year-old’s first outdoor festival in a career spanning, well, eight decades.

“I’m always trying new things,” she told Reuters.

Clark’s set at the Fairport Cropredy Convention included some of her other ’60s hits, including “Color My World,” “I Know a Place” and “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” but also new songs from her latest album “From Now On.”

“This is not an old ’60s thing by any means, I don’t do … looking back,” she said.

Indeed, she is working on a new album of French-Canadian songs ahead of a tour next May.

As might be expected, Clark closed her Cropredy show with her biggest hit, “Downtown”, leading the crowd as they sang along with the chorus.

“Downtown” topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, reached number two in the U.K. chart, won Clark her first Grammy and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.

Clark, whose career stretches back to World War II, when she sang on BBC radio to entertain British troops aged nine, has never shied from breaking new ground.

In the 1950s, she moved to Paris and recorded numerous songs in French, working over the years with the likes of Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg and Charles Aznavour. Her website lists 10 “gold record” singles that have sold a million copies, including one each in French and German.

She has appeared in numerous films, including singing and dancing with Fred Astaire in 1968’s “Finian’s Rainbow” directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

The same year, in a U.S. TV special, she sang a duet with African-American singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte. As they sang the anti-war song “On the Path of Glory” co-written by Clark, she touched his arm — to the dismay of the show’s sponsors.

A white woman touching a black man on television was taboo in 1960s America.

To head off the sponsors, Clark’s team destroyed all other takes.

“We were not going to be told what to do and what not to do,” she said. “Maybe I was naive. It seemed to me like a storm in a teacup but of course it was that particular time in that particular country.”

A U.S. tour in November and December takes Clark from California to New York. Then she plays eight dates in French Canada, where she will perform in French.

So no plans to slow down?

“Not at the moment. My voice is in great shape. I don’t really do anything to help it, I just go out and do it,” she said.
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The bongs will soon be gone.

Big Ben — the huge clock bell of Britain’s Parliament — will fall silent next week as a four-year restoration project gets underway.

The bongs of the iconic bell will be stopped after chiming noon on Aug. 21 to protect workers during a 29-million-pound ($38 million) repair project on the Queen Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben and its clock. It isn’t due to resume regular service until 2021.

Steve Jaggs, keeper of the Great Clock, said Monday that the clock mechanism will be dismantled piece by piece and its four dials will be cleaned and repaired. The 13.5 British ton (15.1 U.S. ton, 13.7 metric tons) bell will be cleaned and checked for cracks.

Big Ben has been stopped several times since it first sounded in 1859, but the current restoration project will mark its longest period of silence.

Parliamentary officials say they will ensure that the bell still sounds on major occasions, such as New Year’s Eve and Remembrance Sunday.

The silence presents a problem for the BBC, which broadcasts the bongs every evening before the radio news through a microphone in the belfry.

After testing out the sound of substitute bells, the broadcaster said it will use a recording.
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Four decades since his death, Elvis Presley still reigns as The King — for impersonators.

Few artists inspire people all over the world to dress up and perform passionately on stage like Presley. Impersonators from different generations and various countries paid tribute to their idol recently at a gathering in the Philippines. The Elvis Presley Friendship Club, Philippines International, is one of over 400 official fan clubs around the world honoring Presley on the 40th anniversary of his Aug. 16, 1977, death.

What was it about Elvis that inspires tribute artists around the globe to perform in his name after all this time? Those at the gathering in Manila speak about their motivations:

WHY DOES ELVIS RESONATE FOR YOU ALL THESE YEARS LATER?

Filipino Jun Espinosa, 44, business consultant:

“Everything for Elvis, that’s the only motivation. And for the fans. Up to now I’m having this in my thought and in my mind that maybe without Elvis in me, I could not have survived certain points of my life. … Maybe as long as I can shake, as long as I can do this, and as long as people will love Elvis, it will be there.”

Ramon Jacinto, 72, musician, TV host and founder of Philippine rock `n’ roll radio station DZRJ:

“He crossed over black music roots to you know, to all nationalities. Even the Beatles were influenced by Elvis. Everybody was influenced. He was the real example of an out-of-the-box showman. And he wiggled, he had a different style of singing from the time of Frank Sinatra. … He opened the door to carefree rock `n’ roll and the attitude.”

HOW DO YOU TAILOR YOUR ELVIS ACT FOR YOUR OWN CULTURE AND AUDIENCE?

Filipina Anjeanette Japor, 22, singer:

“I still incorporate my style, like, pop and something that’s modern. Definitely my songs, the arrangements are different from the original Elvis songs so that people, no matter what age you are, can still enjoy my music.”

Douglas Masuda of Japan, 73, retired lawyer:

“Well, I don’t really tailor anything. Just sing it the way you feel it. If you feel it, the audience feels it. It’s real simple. You’ve got to feel it. Because I don’t look like Elvis, I don’t really sound like Elvis, but when I sing, you feel it, you feel Elvis coming out.”

WHY IS ELVIS STILL RELEVANT 40 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH?

Filipino Bam Angping, 21, college student:

“It’s really the fans. Michael Jackson was a big, big star. But they don’t have that kind of community, like, they celebrate every year impersonations. It’s really the fans that caused Elvis to live this long. He was great at his time. But if it were not for the fans, probably he would be, you know, like, `Yeah I remember him. But not really.”‘

Eddie Lombardo of Italy:

“So we try to keep the name of Elvis alive. …. we’re not trying to duplicate Elvis because nobody can “be” Elvis. There’s only one Elvis, you know? And what we’re trying to (do is) bring the memory of Elvis back to people, that’s basically what we’re doing.”

Japor:

“In the music industry, the songs of Elvis remain a classic. Like Bruno Mars, he has a lot of rock `n’ roll songs. Most of them originated from the legends, one of which is Elvis. So I think his songs still have a great impact to the music we have nowadays. There are a lot of songs actually that were sung by Elvis that are being covered right now. And that gives a modern twist to the song. So because of that, Elvis continues to live with the music.”
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In a small studio littered with empty cigarette packets in Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, Abdelrahman al-Habrouk sits hunched over a sheet of paper making portraits with tobacco.

The cigarettes fuel his art; he breaks them in half, painstakingly traces out monochrome images of celebrities or animals with the fine flakes of tobacco, then sprinkles his creations with gunpowder and sets them on fire.

The resulting scorch-marks on the white paper form the portrait.

Habrouk, now 23, started using unusual materials to make images a couple of years ago, experimenting with coffee, salt and sand before settling on the tobacco technique because it is more durable.

“The idea is that I’m trying to make the art live longer,” he told Reuters.

“I wanted to make something good out of something that is considered harmful,” he added.

 
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No American woman climber had sumitted the world’s second largest mountain called, K2, in Pakistan until July 28, 2017 when 52-year old Vanessa O’Brian led a team to the top of one the world’s most dangerous peaks. She described her adventurous trip to VOA’s Ayaz Gul upon her return to Islamabad this week from the northern town of Skardu. The K2 expedition footage was shot her teammate Dawa Gyalje Sherpa and was shared exclusively with VOA.
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City of Ghosts is a new documentary that follows an underground group of citizen journalists from IS occupied Raqqa, Syria, risking their lives and using social media to expose the atrocities of the militants against civilians.

The goal of the group, called Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, is to broadcast information online about IS atrocities in Raqqa, Syria. 

Last year, the Committee to Protect Journalists awarded the group its International Press Freedom Award. In an interview with Voice of America, Abdul Aziz al-Hamza said that Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), was created to protest the activities of the Assad regime. Later, the group expanded its activities to include IS, when Islamic State turned Raqqa into its makeshift capital.

​Waging war on the internet 

Al-Hamza says his group is waging an online war against IS propaganda. 

“ISIS prevented all media organizations to go over there to cover what’s going on, and we ended up watching propaganda coming from our city. All of us have families, relatives, friends, so we decided that we needed to do something for them. The problem with ISIS is the ideology,” he said.

“Defeating ISIS as a group is not going to solve the problem,” he added. “We are fighting against ISIS ideology because it’s not just in Raqqa, Syria, and Iraq. We’ve seen ISIS in Europe, in the U.S., in Asia, so the main goal is to work against this ideology.” 

Al-Hamza said his organization has drawn the attention of international media and has lifted the veil of isolation for the besieged civilians in Raqqa; it has also roused the wrath of IS.

In his film City of Ghosts, Matthew Heineman, follows the underground group and its activities from safe houses in Turkey and Germany, posting videos, pictures and other news about IS-besieged Raqqa they receive from counterparts in Raqqa. He also looks into their private lives, as husbands, sons and friends, and also as refugees. 

“It became an immigrant story,” Heineman said. “It became a story of rising nationalism in Europe. It became a story of trauma and the cumulative effects of trauma. So, it became much more that I thought it originally would be.” 

Exposing the ‘crumbling’ ISIS regime

AL-Hamza says the goal of RBSS is to expose the crumbling IS regime in Raqqa. 

“Everything is getting expensive in the city,” he said. “People are missing medical equipment, there are only three or four pharmacies working, only one hospital working. There is almost no electricity, the water is coming for three or four hours daily.”

Watch: Citizen Journalists Wage Online War on ISIS

RBSS online resistance has galvanized Raqqa’s civilians, he said.

Many people internationally have the idea that most people living in Raqqa or IS territories support the group. But, for example, in Raqqa less than 1 percent of the people joined IS, which means that most people are against IS, he said.

“Most decided to stay civilians and not join ISIS despite the perks that if you joined ISIS you get salaries in dollars, cars for free, oil for free, they would get women, power, whatever they want,” he said. Today, he added, “there are thousands of people providing us with news, and what is happening in IS occupied territories.”

Al-Hamza was not trained to be a journalist. Before the Syrian revolution, he was studying biochemistry. Others like him were studying to be doctors or lawyers. 

“When the Syrian revolution started, I didn’t think I would end up in this situation or here talking with you,” he said. “But it was that kind of duty that all of us had to do, and we’ve decided that we will not stop. So, we’ve lost family members, friends, relatives doing this work,” he said. 

As for their newfound publicity through Heineman’s documentary City of Ghosts, al-Hamza said “it was important to show our faces, because especially when we started, many people started to say that we are a government group or a government organization, we wanted people to know that we are local. We are from the city.” 

How will end? “Either we will win or they will kill all of us,” he said.
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