Editor's note: There are a huge number of movies, TV series and variety shows broadcast every week. How do you choose? You might as well take a look at the recommendations of The Paper.
【Movie】
According to Lighthouse Professional Edition, this week (May 26-June 1) the movie box office was 120 million yuan (as of press time), with "Mission: Impossible 8: Reckoning", "Lilo and Stitch" and "The Dumpling Queen" ranking in the top three of the box office list.
Mission: Impossible 8 topped the single-day box office charts on its first day of release, and the box office has now exceeded 23 million. The film also topped the Dragon Boat Festival box office charts. Tom Cruise is still strong and continues to work hard, and his upside-down biplane flight at an altitude of 2,500 meters has truly "rolled" to a "new height".
Stills from Mission: Impossible 8
In addition to Tom Cruise, Stitch and Blue Fatty are the hottest stars in the cinema this week. The childhood friends are celebrating Children's Day together. "Doraemon: Nobita's Painting Adventure" will be released on May 31.
The Dragon Boat Festival is coming, and a batch of new films are on the way. The domestic original animation "Children of Time" is based on the theme of time travel, telling the story of the protagonists traveling through different eras to protect and redeem each other. Wang Junkai, Liu Xiaoyu, Zhou Shen and other powerful actors form a strong dubbing team, and "Comedian" directors Yu Ao and Tie Nan use the high concept of playing with the timeline to tell a story with a sad background.
"I Still Am Here", which won the Best International Film Award at the 97th Academy Awards, is currently being screened in theaters in mainland China. The film is adapted from the memoirs of Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the son of the Paiva couple, which depicts sensational political past, but the forty-year timeline is not entirely tense with panic and grief. There are also records of warm scenes such as beaches, ice cream, and family dinners.
→ When a woman received her husband's death certificate, she smiled with relief
From May 31 to June 6, the Shanghai Art Film Alliance will hold the "Belgian Film Festival" at Shanghai Cinema SHO. This "Belgian Film Festival" will bring 8 excellent works by many film masters such as Chantal Akerman, Jacques van Dormayer, and the Dardenne brothers. Among them, three rare works by Chantal Akerman are restored and premiered in Asia.
The first Shanghai Film Festival was officially launched this week. Hong Kong movies 4K restored classics and old Shanghai times were shown in different theaters. While reminiscing about the past, perhaps the door to a new world was opened. In addition to watching movies, there are also a variety of check-in, stamp collection, and store joint activities to participate in.
→ Shanghai Film Festival! It’s so exciting!
Other recommendations:
【TV drama】
New drama starts
On May 25, the urban inspirational short drama "Miracle" launched by CCTV started filming and released the first batch of main creative lineup. The drama is directed by Shen Yan, Liu Haibo and Han Tian are unit directors, Liu Hua is the unit screenwriter, and the unit starring actors are Bai Yu, Hu Ge, Lei Jiayin, Lin Xiaojie, Ou Hao, Song Jia, Tong Yao, Wang Jiajia, Wang Xiao, Wang Yuwen, Yan Ni, etc. The drama focuses on the great changes in the development of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in the 45 years since its establishment, telling the vivid stories of the city and people.
Hu Ge
On May 28, the costume drama "Qiao Chu" directed by Yang Long, written by Li Min, and starring Chen Duling and Zhou Yiran officially started filming. The drama is adapted from Xi Xing's novel "Queen of Chu", which tells the story of Chu Chao, the daughter of a general, who wants to change her tragic fate of becoming a victim of the Chu prince Xiao Xun's power grab. She finds that taking the initiative is the only way to change her fate. In the twists and turns of the fight against fate, she met Xie Yanlai, the illegitimate son of the Xie family, and later worked together to successfully stop Xiao Xun's ambitions and plans.
On May 29, the 30-episode short drama "Return of the Pearl", adapted from Qiong Yao's classic IP "Princess Pearl", officially started filming, starring Hu Lianxin, Luo Yizhou, Yan Xujia, Jin Zixuan, and Yuan Ziming, and exclusively broadcast on Mango TV. The drama tells the story of the popular female star Lin Suisui who travels into the world of "Return of the Pearl" and embarks on a journey of counterattack to change her fate, completing her transformation and growth.
New drama starts
This week, "The Broken Waist" and "If Life Is Like First Sight" ushered in the finale, "In the World" and "Falling in Love with Us" started airing, and "Lychees in Chang'an" was scheduled to be broadcast on CCTV-8 on June 7.
→ How would you rate "Lychees in Chang'an"? The creators are arguing
In the World
The drama is directed and written by Xu Bing, and starred by Zhao Liying, Yin Fang, Zhang Yishan, Zhou Yiwei, Dong Zijian, Sun Qian, and Ge Zheng. It tells the story of online car-hailing passenger Jia Xiaoduo (played by Zhao Liying) and self-lost part-time driver Xu Tian (played by Yin Fang), who enter the "virtual space" together to embark on a spiritual journey.
Zhao Liying as Jia Xiaoduo
The first three episodes are very imaginative and cover a wide range of characters. In the various roles and frequent scene switching, the protagonist completes self-exploration again and again. Compared with Zhao Liying's previous choices of realistic themes or ancient idol themes, this time the multiple personalities playing copies in the virtual space is indeed a bit unusual.
The plot with Yin Fang has been getting better since the fourth episode. How can the emotional entanglement between the main personality and the secondary personality not be considered another kind of Narcissus drama? Or the kind where a woman disguises herself as a man. Xu Bing's script is quite interesting.
However, because of the wild imagination, some viewers said that the first few episodes were confusing and too suspenseful. Some viewers also thought that this drama has a certain threshold for watching. The word of mouth is polarized.
→ Episode 1｜"In the World": A conversation with one's own soul
Falling in Love with Us
This idol drama, starring Liu Haocun and Wang Anyu, is adapted from the novel of the same name by Erdong Rabbit, a contracted author of Jinjiang Literature City. It tells the romantic love story between Xu Zhi (played by Liu Haocun), a "sweet and cool girl who hits the target accidentally", and Chen Luzhou (played by Wang Anyu), a "spoiled and arrogant king who pursues self-conquest", from the extreme tug-of-war during the ambiguous period to the two-way love after the relationship is confirmed.
The double contrast of "Zi Zong"
The combination of Liu Haocun and Wang Anyu was a bit good when the drama "Hello, Saturday" was announced. After watching a few episodes, the author has to sigh that Cunmei's seductive skills are still as stable as ever.
The shooting technique of the main plot is quite standard. Audiences of this sweet drama may consider watching two episodes first.
Other recommendations:
Episode 1｜"Youthful Beauty": Good looks are the only necessity for a sweet drama
This week, the "Revisit Classics Channel" is broadcasting classic works such as "I Love My Family", "The World's Granary", and "The Happy Life of Poor Mouth Zhang Damin".
【Variety Show】
The third episode of "Singer 2025" will usher in the "Top Chart Battle" tonight (May 30), and American pop singer "Broken Eyebrow" Charlie Puth will come to the top chart. If the singer who tops the chart wins, the online singer ranked last in this competition will temporarily leave the stage. If the singer who tops the chart loses, the online singer of this competition will be temporarily safe, and the elimination will be postponed to next week.
Charlie Puth will bring two songs "Attention" + "See You Again"
As an all-round singer, Charlie Puth has a clear and transparent voice, a wide range of voices, and great plasticity. He became popular on foreign social media in his early years for covering many classic songs. He not only has excellent imitation skills, but also has excellent creative talent. In 2015, he became popular all over the world with the song "See You Again".
The third playlist
The Voice of God team up to listen to you! Starting from May 30th, fans can participate in the God-given stage pairing voting for three days. Bai Xiaobai, Chen Bing, Chen Zhuoxuan, Gao Wuren Band, Huang Zihongfan, Liu Fengyao, Li Jiage, Liu Yuxin, Wang Heye, Wang Yuan, Wang Zhengliang, Yao Xiaotang, Zhang Bichen, Zhang Liangying, waiting for you to "arrange"! The team with the highest number of votes will sing on the same stage in the eleventh episode.
Shizuka Kudo joins the second season of "The Voice of Asia" as a witness of the new voices. She will also have a collaborative stage with Jane Zhang and Jeff Chang. Chinese new voice singers Aisin-Gioro Mei, Ke Lou, Pan Hong, Wang Honghao, Yang Runze, Zhou Feige and Japanese new voice singers Mei Nakabayashi, Mi Yuna, Xiaohua Luo Meng, Ikko, and Yui Hori will perform on iQiyi at 18:00 tonight.
This week, Mango TV's "Old Interesting Travel Agency" went to Jianxi Town, Nanping. The time tunnel has been opened. Wu Kequn, Angela Chang, Wen Lan, Wu Yi, the landlord's cat, Si Wai Ge and the second group of passengers traveled through time and became retro hipsters in seconds. Orange-flavored soda, black and white TVs, and old objects were collectively "resurrected". The silver-haired group started "memory killing".
"Wuha" mud fight
The fifth season of "Hahahahaha" will be launched on iQiyi and Tencent at 12 noon on May 31 (Saturday) and June 1 (Sunday). Guests such as He Haonan and Zhuo Yuan will participate in the mud racing segment, and the interesting interactions between Chen He, Gong Jun and others have aroused expectations.
Poster of "The Racer"
"Fengchi Racer" is an all-star racing competition reality show launched by Youku, which was officially launched at 12 noon on May 29. The program focuses on racing culture and invites seven stars, Huang Jingyu, Huang Minghao, Jin Chen, Li Zhiting, Lin Yi, Jiang Qilin, and Li Chengxuan, as reserve drivers to show speed and passion through high-energy competition and teamwork.
Let's Start Reasoning 3
Finally, they are targeting the entertainment industry! The fifth case of "Let's Detective 3" "Death Notice" has been released on Tencent Video. Bai Yu, Dilireba, Jin Jing, Liu Yuning, Zhang Linghe, and Zhou Keyu entered Tuibaiyi Film and Television Company, but Tuibaiyi himself died mysteriously. What is the connection between them? Why did Tuibaiyi "die" here?
The cultural documentary program "Zhonghua Academy" will be available on Jiangsu Satellite TV and AI Lizhi in June. Through on-site visits to famous ancient Chinese academies such as Yuelu Academy, Bailudong Academy, Anding Academy, Yingtian Academy, and Songyang Academy, the spiritual core of traditional academies, "studying things to gain knowledge" and "unity of knowledge and action", is activated in the original historical context, and the deep roots of the spiritual bloodline of Chinese culture are explored, opening up innovative paths for the contemporary inheritance of Chinese culture.
