MANILA (AP) ― Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, who plans to make a movie in the Philippines, said Thursday that independent Asian filmmakers have a better chance these days of finding audiences around the world.The Taiwan-born director of “Brokeback Mountain” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is in the country as a guest of Taiwan’s de facto embassy, which honored him with a special screening of “Life of Pi.” Lee told a forum with filmmakers and media that he was inspired by how the wo

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― A Lithuanian artist who angered Malaysian officials with a street mural depicting a knife-wielding Lego robber has found unlikely admirers across the border in graffiti-averse Singapore for his works on a softer theme.Ernest Zacharevic, who has been likened to British graffiti artist Banksy, has seen photos of his murals depicting children playing go viral on Facebook as Singaporeans unused to seeing art on outdoor walls expressed their approval.Zacharevic received permission f

HONG KONG (AFP) ― A south London council raised millions of pounds Wednesday after controversially selling Chinese antique ceramic items at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong. The collection, including vases, bowls and boxes, fetched a total of HK$102.4 million ($13.2 million) for Croydon Council ― with a blue and white Ming dynasty moonflask the most expensive item at HK$28.1 million.The 24 items, seven of which were left unsold, had been on public display after being purchased from a local busi

LONDON (AFP) ― Britain’s Monty Python comedy troupe on Wednesday announced five further dates for their reunion tour, after tickets for their first joint performance in three decades sold out in under a minute.John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin will play the new dates at London’s O2 Arena on July 15-16 and 18-20, bringing the total run of shows to 10.They delighted their cult following last week by announcing a “one-off” show on July 1 at the 20,000-capacity are

The 2013 remake of “Oldboy” is under harsh criticism after its release on Wednesday, dashing hopes for those who were anticipating it to surpass the original 2003 film. The new remake of Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy” was directed by the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Spike Lee. On the first day of release, 23 left negative comments on the U.S. film review website Rotten Tomatoes, while 17 reviewed the film positively though not for comparison with the original. One film watcher evaluated the film as “one