Sex, toys, action! Comedy spotlights China's adult shops – Arts & Entertainment

I've had Mao's Last Dancer on my "to watch" list for a while now, and finally sat down and gave it a look the other night.

At a time when many other American performers have been banned from China, Bob Dylan was allowed to play Wednesday night in Beijing, but with a program that omitted Dylan's most famous ballads of dissent.

Observers have been paying close attention to production on [...] "The Karate Kid" since the movie was announced last year; this has been, after all, more just an attempt to update a quarter-century-old pop classic but Hollywood's largest co-production with China to date. [W]e couldn't help but notice what will quickly jump out even to casual viewers: the cultural tourism that pervades the film.

Original film soundtracks have never been considered a potential source of profit by mainland Chinese filmmakers. Their movies, especially the big-budget blockbusters, favour orchestral scores to leave the viewer breathless with emotion during key scenes. Taiwanese and Hong Kong films tend towards gentle, sweet tunes to convey more subtle sentiments.