*
If you got this page by Googling a film quote, you'll find it right at
the bottom of the page. Don't phone in, it's just a bit of fun! *
PLEASE NOTE: Due
to my hosts wiping the entire contents of this site by accident, I am
slowly rebuilding these pages. In
all likelihood, the pictures pages will take me a looooooong time to put back. Please
bear with me. I
would say I'm sorry, but the fact that the entire site was wiped had
absolutely nothing to do with me.
OK
here we go, about Aaron...
Everything
you wanted to know about Aaron Kwok * [*
but were afraid to ask]
Name: Aaron Kwok
Fu-Sing. Place of birth: Hong
Kong. Profession(s):
dancer, singer, actor, Ambassador for the Hong Kong Tourist Board
(April '03 - March '04), Patron of Save the Children (2005), head of
The Aaron Kwok Charity Foundation (they build primary schools in China,
dontchano). Also endorses Clarins Men's, XDLong running shoes, Physical
Gym, Miyura fitness foods, D Wolves clothing, Longines Watches and more
... Hobbies:
concerts, album signings, answering stupid questions from the press,
playing snooker, car racing (he has a rather impressive
personal collection of prestige cars), and of course spending half the
day in the gym, keeping those abs in lovely shape... Misc:
Up until May 14th '03 he had a restaurant in Causeway Bay, the Studio
Workshop and Cafe. It was a great place for good food, good music and
just a nice quiet place to go for lunch, until SARS pretty much
devastated all retail trade in HK. I still miss the place, and wish they
would set up a new one... Oooh, Didn't Know Thats: They've started up dance classes again ~ same staff, same prices, I think. Check the official site for more information.
This
cheeky chappie really is something of a find... Born "Kwok Fu-Sing" in
Hong Kong October 26th '65, and then raised in HK, "Sing-Sing" (a
nickname; Fu-Sing is his first name) graduated from the TVB dancers
training class in 1984. Now
I have my own personal theory about blokes who can dance really well
and keep rhythm: they must be gay. Not that that's a bad thing by any
means, but it does mean they cease to be purely a sex object in my eyes
and I have to start treating them as people that need respect and
attention. However, this doesn't apply to men who've been TRAINED to
dance well... Suffice to say, he can really move, and remains an object
of lust. Can you say
"studliest of studlies"?
He
was moved to the TVB actors class and graduated that one in 1987, while
making commercials and general background entertainment TV for mega
stars like Anita Mui Yim-Fong. It was when he made a Taiwanese
commercial for a certain make of moped/scooter-thing that he was
noticed, so off he went to Taiwan and released three albums (in
Mandarin Chinese).
Confident
he was Somebody now, he returned to Hong Kong, was already using the
European-sounding name "Aaron" (coincidentally, it sounds suspiciously like one of
his Cantonese nick-names - Ah Wong), and began the whole "getting into
films" thing. His first credited role (that lasted more than 5 seconds)
was in a film whose title was interpreted as Close Escape (1989).
All
foreign films have their titles translated for export to non-production
language countries, sure. But Hong Kong is one of those markets where
the titles can either be straight translations or local phrases that
have the same kind of meaning. This is why the same good old fashioned
kung-fu flick is re-released regularly on crappy old VHS with different
names (and where's the DVD, anyway?).
Anyway,
he began working his way up from Saviour of the Soul (1991) and it all
went from there. Due to films like Somebody Up There Likes Me, The
Storm Riders and 2000AD, his film career has had it's highs. One gripe:
apparently he doesn't repeat a role, so there's no hope of a Storm
Riders sequel with him in it, no matter how much we want it. But he did
promise and deliver two new films in 2004: "Heat Team" opened 24th June
'04 and "Throwdown" opened in Hong Kong 8th July '04. Head to the films pages for my
mini-reviews...
The
most recent film, entitled "Divergence", also starring Cheng Yi-Kin
(with whom he co-starred in StormRiders) and Daniel Wu (Benny from
2000AD: we like!), held the opening lens ceremony on July 24th
'04. It opened 28th April '05 in HK, and was heavily promoted
over
the Chinese-speaking world. You have to watch this one, it's his best
performance to date. The DVD was released June 17th, '05 and had lots
of lovely extras including the MV for the theme song! Go to www.divergence.com.hk
(also in English) to see the trailer... This is the movie for which he
won the Best Leading Actor Award at the 42nd Golden Horse Awards,
Taiwan, on November 13th, 2005. BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!! Unfortunately, he didn't win Best Actor at the 25th Hong Kong
Film
Awards, but he DID get his first nomination, so at least people realise
he's an "Ac-tor" these days. He won again for "After This, Our
Exile" ("Father and Son") in Taiwan, 2006. A harsh tale of
abusive fathers and adultery, he was nominated for his role at the Hong
Kong Film Awards 2007, but did not take home the elusive local prize.
Maybe next year, with his role for his latest "The Detective" ("C+
Detective"), eh?
But
what of his music? During all this time his music has been developing
too and going from strength to strength. From his first forays into
music, using Mandarin to reach a much wider audience, he has returned
to Hong Kong and Cantonese (mostly) to take his place as one of the
four great Heavenly Kings, the HK music version of the US movie Brat
Pack of the 80's.
He
does still record some songs in Mandarin (normally sponsoring or
promotional songs, for the mainland market too), even though it seems
to be universally agreed that his spoken Mandarin sounds much like his
spoken Cantonese... When asked recently why he hadn't recorded a
Mandarin album since maybe 2000, he was quoted as saying that he felt
no pressing need to record in Mandarin: "If a song sounds better in
Cantonese, then I'll sing it in Cantonese. Similarly, if it sounds good
in Mandarin, I'll sing it in Mandarin." Well,
obviously he felt it was time to sing in Mandarin again,
because his
next album "My Nation" came out in Mandarin.The
second track, "Love", was written for him by Jay Chau Git-Lun (Taiwan
star and musical genius ~ seriously, invest in a few of his CDs if you
have the time and cash).
Along
with Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Leon Lai-Ming and Jacky Cheung Hok-Yau, he is
and will always remain one of the four great Heavenly Kings of HK
music. (Who are the four Heavenly Kings? See below!)
His
preceding original album (i.e. not a compilation), "In The Still of the
Night" (no Chinese title), was released August 29th '03 (in Hong Kong)
and it's fab (thanks for signing it for me in Mong Kok, Aaron!). I've
got to say I like the mix of slow and fast songs on an album... and
nice to see no songs repeated in Mandarin! Not that I'm against
Mandarin songs, its just that I don't like finding that 4 of the 12
tracks on a CD are the same, but 2 of them are the Mandarin version. His EP "Thematic" was
released 26thDecember
'05. Then
there was a re-release of the "My Nation" album, this time including
videoes for a lot of the newest stuff for a change. Bloody marvellous. The
preceding CD release: "Trilogy: Yours Truly Greatest Hits" compilation
is
great - and released soon after, 24th September '04, was the
accompanying VCD set. It doesn't have all the tracks present on the
triple CD Greatest Hits, but it does have 2 VCDs (waa!) of golden
oldies
as well as new ones. One complaint: it doesn't have Figuring You Out
(track 4 from In the Still of the Night) or Wild Grass (track 2 of the
2nd CD of Yours Truly Trilogy) on there. But it does have the videos
for "Summer Consciousness" (one Cantonese version, and one slightly
different Mandarin version), which is FANTASTIC TO WATCH....
Unfortunately, it doesn't have the MV for "Flight", which is shame cos
he doesn't wear a shirt, officially making it the most AB-TASTICmusic
video ever filmed. But
hold on my friends, don't fret just yet - this
music video, along with "I Am Aaron Kwok", appears on the new AVCD
"Thematic"! Yay! Don't hold your breath for any more music just yet ~ he has movies to make right now...
But
there was the spectacular concerts of 2004 and 2005, not to mention the
ones he's literally just finished here in Hong Kong, on 22nd November
2007. How fab were them nights? How amazing? Very. Really very very!
RIGHT: The
four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop (left to right), looking very baby-faced in this picture from about 1995:
Jacky
Cheung Hok-Yau (張學友), Andy
Lau Tak-Wah (劉德華), Aaron
Kwok Fu-Sing (郭富城) and
Leon Lai Ming (黎明).
(Aaron
showing his penchant for changing his hairstyle as often as his socks.
While Leon looks the same as always. Apologies to Andy and Jacky - who
DO change their hair from time to time!)
Most of my pages are back online here. However, some still need a lot of attention ~ the legendary pics pages will be back, just not yet!
First published February
'01.Over-hauled
September '05, wiped clean by my host's error 15th Feb, 2007, this
edition 1st March 2007, updated 23rd November 2007.
He may have been Aaron Kwok,
but I've been Akfsnut... goodnight!Stick a fork in me, it's been
grand. Don't let the
door bang your arse on the way out. You've been a lovely
audience, we'd like to take you home with us! We're gonna need a bigger
boat...One of us always tells the
truth and one of us always lies - OOH what a lie!Workshed!Me biscuit's fallen
in me brew!Crackin' toast Gromit!It's all fun and games till
somebody loses an eye...I have many skills...We named the DOG
"Indiana"! Packed it, booked it, f**ked
off! I'm a
professional cynic but my heart's not in it. Hello, my name is Inigo
Montoya. You killed my father: prepare to die. 1.21 Gigawatts!You keep saying that
word ~ I do not think it means what you think it means. I'm Spartacus! That's
what I love about you, Laura ~ you're so thoroughly tedious...
no, wait - tediously thorough... Flash!
Flash! I love you! But we only have 14 hours to save the
Earth! Come
walk
the night, come fly by day, something is sweeter, cos we met on the
way... Rule of
Acquisition #285: No good deed ever goes unpunished. Give me some sugar baby! I wouldn't live
with you if
the world were flooded with piss and you lived in a tree! You shouldn't value your
arse so much! Joxer
the Mighty and his fighting mighty women fighters! Luckily, right at that moment
an unconscious
Argentinian fell
through my roof.Are we done yet? I need the
toilet... It's full of stars! I'll be your
huckleberry. Nice
one bruv! Ah haven't felt that guid since Archie
Gemmill scored against Holland
in 1978! But why is
the RUM GONE? A woman should never learn to sew, and if
she can she shouldn't admit to it. Okay hard drinkers, let's
drink hard. I'm buyin'. They got everything here from a
diddle-eyed-joe to a damned-if-I-know. He did not identify himself
as a police officer: I thought he was a mugger... And that's "kickin' your
ass"! I love it when
a plan comes together. And
remember, we keep our subesophageal ganglians to ourselves ~ that means
you, Jimmy. After I
fell off my toilet, I drew this... Looks like we got ourselves a
Mexican stand-off... except we ain't got no Mexicans. Hide
the rum! Excuse
Comet... he's still not convinced he's a horse. On the contrary ~ I've had a
very nice experience. Very nice indeed. Let's go Fred. And let's not
linger a lot at the lights. What's
true is that in 48 hours you and I will have more money than God.
For you, baby, I could be... Duct
tape is like the Force ~ it has a dark side and light side, and binds
the Universe together. "Close"
is a lingerie shop without a front window. Oooh, I do like a bit of
Gorgonzola. I would
question why anyone would want to run 26 miles without being chased. And X never, ever marks the
spot. No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die! She always did enjoy a good
squeeze... I aim to
misbehave. Now the world's going to know you died
scratching my balls! Well my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle... Rubber soles! Swear by'em! You're very fortunate - not everyone can turn their vices into charitable works. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole. This is my Timey-Wimey Detector. Goes 'ding' when there's stuff. It's a trick - get an axe! Dude... you said 'do-do'. Sad is happy for deep people.
This
cheeky chappie really is something of a find... Born "Kwok Fu-Sing" in
Hong Kong October 26th '65, and then raised in HK, "Sing-Sing" (a
nickname; Fu-Sing is his first name) graduated from the TVB dancers
training class in 1984. 
RIGHT:
