Latest news with #Jiaozi
NDTV
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Watch: Food Vlogger's Dumpling Cake Leaves Internet Impressed
Recently, chef Elena Zeng, also known as Zenghi on social media, took her love for Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) to the next level by creating a special cake entirely made of these delicious pocket-like treats. In an Instagram reel, the chef demonstrated her method of making dumplings layer by layer and stacking them on top of each other to form the cake. She starts by making the filling by adding minced chicken and cabbage in a bowl, which she then mixes with soya sauce and other spices. Also Read: The next step is to make the dumpling wrappings and fill them with chicken stuffing. Then, she pan-fries the dumplings in a pan and makes a slurry of water, flour, and a tiny pinch of salt to make a crispy dumpling skirt. Repeating the process a few times, she gets different sizes of dumpling skirts which she assembles one on top of another and garnishes them with sauce and edible flowers. Watch the full viral video here: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zenghi - 曾曼琪???? (@elenazeng__) The video went viral, with several people sharing their thoughts in the comment section. One user wrote, "Gonna celebrate my birthday often now." Another added, "Gonna put it to my next CAKE IDEA!!!" A viewer commented, "Grandissima!! This is amazing!!" "Does everyone see the reason why I must get married to her? Yeah, so leave her alone," read a comment. A user remarked, "So pretty!" What do you think of this viral cake? Let us know in the comments section.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.K. Streaming Tax? Netflix Responds: 'Incentivize Rather Than Penalize Investment and Success'
Global streaming giants didn't mince their words on Thursday when they reacted to a call from a U.K. parliamentary committee for a levy of 5 percent of U.K. subscriber revenue on foreign streaming services, including the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+ and Disney+, to help finance British drama production. In a statement, Netflix highlighted that the U.K. is the streamer's 'biggest production hub outside of North America – and we want it to stay that way.' It added a thinly veiled warning that levies or taxes would lead to price increases: 'In an increasingly competitive global market, it's key to create a business environment that incentivizes rather than penalizes investment, risk taking and success. Levies diminish competitiveness and penalize audiences who ultimately bear the increased costs.' More from The Hollywood Reporter Jewish Film Festival Berlin Brandenburg Unveils 2025 Lineup 'Saturday Night Live' Coming to the U.K. With Sky 'Ne Zha 2,' China's Record Setter, Gets Beijing Fest Exhibition of Director Jiaozi's Hand-Painted Posters A source close to the matter told THR: 'Netflix members have already paid the BBC license fee. A levy would be a double tax on them and us. It's unfair. This is a tariff on success. And our members are going to be punished.' The Association for Commercial Broadcasters and On-Demand Services (COBA) also argued that a levy could hurt streamers' investment in Britain. 'Especially in this economic climate, a levy risks impacting existing content budgets for U.K. shows, jobs, and growth, along with raising costs for businesses,' said COBA executive director Adam Minns. 'Ironically, it could actually damage public service broadcaster dramas by reducing co-production budgets at streamers.' As reported, urgent action' is needed 'to protect distinctly British content,' the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons of the U.K. parliament concluded after holding an inquiry via a series of hearings. In its final report, published on Thursday, it called on the government of Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer 'to ramp up support across film and high-end TV.' Among its proposals are additional tax incentives to benefit independent films, support for independent cinemas, and the streaming tax. The recommendation 'for streamers, such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+ and Disney+, which benefit from the creativity of British producers, to put their money where their mouth' called for them to pay 5 percent of their U.K. subscriber revenue into 'a cultural fund to help finance drama with a specific interest to British audiences.' If the industry does not voluntarily establish such a fund, administered by the BFI, within a year, the U.K. government 'should introduce a statutory levy,' the committee recommended. Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire Sign in to access your portfolio
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Ne Zha 2 review – record-breaking animation is tale of demons, dragons and dazzling visuals
Currently the highest grossing animated film ever, this Chinese box-office obliterator is being touted as the long-awaited crossover point for the country's mainstream industry. Forget the adulterated, Communist party-sponsored attempts at blockbusters of the past, self-taught animator Jiaozi's film is an utterly self-assured pageant of Chinese mythology that, with head-spinning visuals, is a fine technical advertisement for what the country is capable of, in this case on a comparatively small $80m budget. Even if, with its hectic flurry, there's still room for improvement dramatically. Demonic tyke Ne Zha (voiced by Lü Yanting) and do-gooder squire Ao Bing (Han Mo) – born from two halves of the same celestial pearl – are rebuilding their physical forms through the power of a sacred lotus. But they're interrupted when their town Chentang Pass is invaded by razor-sideburned demon Shen Gongbao (Yang Wei), colluding with a gaggle of exiled dragons. One of them is Ao Bing's father, who should be embarrassed to find that interrupting the lotus ritual apparently dooms his son. So Ne Zha, with Ao Bing squatting his body, must make for Yuxu Palace to ask ovoid-headed immortal Master Wuliang (Wang Deshun) for help. Yes, keep that Chinese mythology Wikipedia page open while watching. Jiaozi effectively juggles lofty wuxia heroics with down'n'dirty humour among the commoners, like the demon octopus who barbecues his own tentacles for his troops to eat. The main comedy outlet is Ne Zha – a kind of gremlin Astro Boy – bursting back into his own body when his supply of magic suppressant pills runs low. Him and Ao Bing alternating as they battle a gang of club-wielding outlaw marmots is a highlight. Amid a flurry of allegiance-switches and betrayals that only make semi-sense, the film's sympathies increasingly align with demonic idiosyncrasy over immortal righteousness. If the story is Chinese, this rather token plea in favour of misunderstood outsiders and acknowledging difference feels pure Hollywood. But so overwhelming is the artistry, it barely matters. The main characters' sassy mannerisms suggests Jiaozi has basic mastery of the Hollywood school of animation scripting. But his visual range extends thrillingly: there's a sublimeness to the work here, from the pagoda mountain of Yuxu Palace to a dazzling watercourse fight, that builds into almost scary extremes reminiscent of the apocalyptic leanings of Japanese anime. It remains to be seen if the film will become a box-office bridgehead into American cinema, but the global dope-smoking contingent is surely one demographic that will love this wild and funny phantasmagoria. Ne Zha 2 is in UK and Irish cinemas from 21 March.
See - Sada Elbalad
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
"Ne Zha 2" Becomes No. 5 Highest-Grossing Movie Ever
Yara Sameh Chinese phenomenon Ne Zha 2 continues to reach new heights. The Ne Zha 2 total in China through Sunday, according to Maoyan, is a little over RMB 14.86B ($2.054B using today's exchange rate). Adding grosses in excess of $31M from markets outside China, and the global total rises to more than $2.085B. The score moves up the animated sequel to become the 5th highest-grossing movie ever worldwide, ranking just above "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" ($2.071B) on the all-time global chart. In China alone, Maoyan is projecting that NZ2 will final at RMB 15.2B ($2.1B). The follow-up rollout continues in Indonesia on March 21 while several European releases are ahead as well as Japan. In Imax, the running global cume is $155M — the 6th biggest Imax release ever. Of that, $151.6M is from China. In the UK, Imax screens repped 35% of the previews launch this weekend, giving NZ2 the biggest local-language opening for the format in the market. Earlier records set by the film from director Jiaozi include becoming the highest-grossing movie ever in a single market worldwide, the first movie ever to cross $1B in a single market and the first non-Hollywood movie to join the billion-dollar club.
Euronews
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
The biggest animated film of all time heading to European cinemas
'Ne Zha 2', the biggest animated film of all time which has been breaking records left, right and centre this year, is set to get cinema release dates in Europe. Trinity CineAsia has secured theatrical distribution rights for the Chinese animated epic across 37 European territories. ADVERTISEMENT Ne-who now? Ne Zha – a series inspired by the 16th-century Chinese novel "Investiture of the Gods", which combines elements of history, tales of gods and demons from Chinese folklore and plenty of mythology. The films follow how a pearl with spiritual energy is split into the Spirit Pearl and the Demon Orb. The first one is set to be reincarnated into the world as a demon-slaying hero, while the second is fated to be destroyed by heavenly lightning. In comes Ne Zha, who was supposed to be reincarnated as the hero but ends up being reborn as a demon. He must wrestle not only with his nature, but also his preordained fate as he embarks on a quest to obtain an elixir to restore the body of the dragon prince Ao Bing. Sounds like a lot, but it's all rather straightforward when you watch the first film. It's basically all about a wee scamp with an overbite battling demons while defying fate and offering a sly commentary on how the concepts of good and evil aren't determined by origin. Now that you're all caught up, time for the records. The 2025 sequel, written and directed by Jiaozi, has made history. The Chinese animated epic has become the highest-grossing film of all time in China, the highest-grossing animated film worldwide (surpassing Pixar's Inside Out 2 ), the first non-English language film to gross $1billion, and the first non-Hollywood production to crack the global all-time top 10 box office chart. Still with us? Ne Zha 2 currently ranks as the sixth highest grossing film of all time behind Avatar , Avengers: Endgame , Avatar: The Way of Water , Titanic and Star Wars: The Force Awakens . It was released in China on 29 January and it passed the $2bn mark over the weekend. At the time of writing, it currently sits at $2,056,003,774 (for reference, Inside Out 2 has a worldwide gross of $1.69bn) and looks set to surpass Star Wars: The Force Awakens soon. Especially since Trinity CineAsia has secured theatrical distribution rights for Ne Zha 2 across 37 European territories - including the France, Germany, Spain, Ireland and the UK – where it'll debut on 21 March. 'Rarely do you get a film that truly defines the era, shows again the unique power of cinema to move audiences, and makes an indelible mark on culture. This is 'Ne Zha 2,'' said Cedric Behrel, managing director of Trinity CineAsia. 'It signifies a major turning point in further establishing Trinity CineAsia as a pan-European distributor.' An indelible mark on culture that has been fuelled by nationalism in its native country, as Chinese fans came out against Marvel's Captain America: Brave New World to ensure Ne Zha 2 's box office supremacy. Fans have taken to social media to disparage Ne Zha's main rival, with a popular slogan online being: 'I don't care if Ne Zha 2 can survive overseas, but Captain America 4 must die in China.' Ouch. 'It's not Captain America that's dying, but America that's dying', one online post read. 'In reality, the US does not have superheroes and the US is not a peace-loving, peace-defending beacon for humanity.' ADVERTISEMENT Ouch again. Captain America: Brave New World has only taken a total of $370million globally so far, and he's probably feeling red, white and very blue right about now. Ne Zha 2 is coming to a cinema near you very soon.
