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】
Cinema box office
According to Lighthouse Professional Edition, as of 17:00 on May 2, the total box office of the May Day period in 2025 (including previews and pre-sales) reached 340 million yuan, among which "Dumpling Queen", "Gold Hunting Game" and "Thunderbolt*" ranked in the top three.
This week marks the super-crowded May Day period, with the film market covering a variety of genres including comedy, animation, suspense, action, etc. Whether you want to have a good laugh, experience a thrilling adventure, or feel a warm and healing story, you can find your favorite choice in the cinema.
→ May cinema movie list: It all depends on the performance of the May Day schedule
"The Dumpling Queen", which currently ranks first in the box office during the May Day holiday, is not only an inspirational biography of a woman, but also a picture scroll of the times that carries the spirit of Hong Kong.
→ "Dumpling Queen": Fate is like a knife, she fights back with dumplings
→ Hong Kong, the city that created the “Queen of Dumplings”, is also a city shaped by immigrants
"The Wind Kills", which won the Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor awards at the Beijing Film Festival, is an alternative crime film. The strong wind trapped the desolate towns and also trapped the people who changed with the times.
→ Bai Ke said that filming this movie was the biggest challenge since he started acting
Comedies on May Day are always a popular choice for movie watching. Does the title of "The Vast Horizon is My Love" make you want to sing? The movie is also funny.
→ Zeng Yi from “Phoenix Legend”: I am serious about making movies
Can another comedy "A Good Start in Life" continue the popularity of the thousand-year-old "Life Is Not Familiar"? The reality and absurdity behind live streaming are all in this movie.
→ "A Good Start in Life": Behind every joke is a case
【TV drama】
Bamboo Pavilion on the Huai River
Starring Liu Shishi, Zhang Yunlong, Wu Xuanyi, and Zhai Xiaowen, the Chinese drama "Huaishui Bamboo Pavilion", adapted from the comic book of the same name "Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Bamboo Industry" created by Tuo Xiaoxin, is currently being broadcast on iQiyi. The drama tells the story of how Dongfang Huaizhu (played by Liu Shishi) and Wang Quan Hongye (played by Zhang Yunlong), the leaders of the two major families, the Dongfang family and the Wang Quan family, work together to stabilize the situation in order to revive the Yiqi League in a situation where humans and demons are irreconcilable.
As the second part of the "Fox Demon Trilogy", "Huaishui Bamboo Pavilion" has a long production and broadcasting cycle. Its supporting cast has also changed from the "collection of showmen" that was criticized at the beginning to almost every supporting role having a chance to shine and become a new generation of traffic stars, such as Hou Minghao, Shen Yue, Ding Yuxi, Zhang Ruonan, Meng Ziyi, Zhou Jieqiong, etc., all of whom have their own representative works. It has to be said that Wang Yixu's ability to find screenwriters is not very good, but he still has the ability to code actors.
Due to the strong appeal of the actors, the first six episodes of "Huaishui Bamboo Pavilion" were broadcast, and the peak popularity on the site reached 7569 on the same day, breaking the premiere record of all dramas on iQiyi since 2022, surpassing the previous "White Moon and Brahma Star" (7466) and "Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Moon Red" (7225). But on the second day, it caused controversy with "Wuyoudu" on the same platform because of "Which drama is the fastest to break 8000 on iQiyi", and netizens questioned the platform algorithm to control the popularity.
On the second day of the broadcast of "Huaishui Bamboo Pavilion", its popularity value on iQiyi exceeded 8,500, and then began to move sideways.
In fact, judging from the popularity value and cloud data trends on the second and third days, "Huaishui Bamboo Pavilion" basically achieved a sideways trend, which shows that there are not many new viewers, and it was even ridiculed by netizens as a "small moon red trend". The reason is that the original part of the comic adaptation does not seem to meet the wishes of fans of the original work.
At the same time, some drama fans believe that what seems to be a "magic change" is actually a "divine change". For example, the part where the heroine is controlled by the celestial demon and turns into a witch has attracted the attention of some non-fans of the original novel.
To be honest, the content of the original comic is relatively thin. If it is to be adapted into a film and television series, it will inevitably face the problem of expansion. The two sides disagreed, so the reputation of the series was also polarized.
Eastern "Bad Bamboo" and Wang Quan Hongye
"Top Secret Contest"
The suspense drama "Top Secret Contest" directed by Liu Jiang, written by Zhang Yang, and starring Zhang Luyi and Gao Yuanyuan is currently being broadcast on CCTV.
The play tells the story of Yang Guang, deputy director of the third department of the Yanping National Security Bureau, who accidentally got involved in a conspiracy involving an international spy organization during an operation. During the investigation, a woman named Zhao Yazhu caught Yang Guang's attention. Her identity and behavior are full of mysteries and are inextricably linked to the whole incident. As the incident escalates, Yang Guang and Zhao Yazhu, who seem to be from different camps, are both involved in a complex vortex.
After the series was aired, it received relatively little attention online, with Yunhe and Dengta ranking 8th and 11th respectively, and Vlinkage ranking 4th to 6th on the TV series playback index. Some viewers said that the series had a tense plot and a fast pace, but the aesthetics were a bit old-fashioned, but overall it was worth watching.
Other recommendations:
"Sandstorm": A suspense drama shot with images and performances close to life
Short drama fans | "Power and Favor" is out, "The Favor"
【Variety Show】
Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV's "Singer 2025" will meet with the audience every Friday at 19:45 starting from May 16. This year, "Singer 2025" will customize more interactive gameplay based on the platform user attributes, so that off-site audiences can also have the opportunity to deeply participate in the program content. The singer lineup has not yet been officially announced.
"Singer 2025" finalized poster
On May 2, the second episode of "Running Man 13" was broadcast at 20:00 on Zhejiang Satellite TV and 20:30 on ZTV. "Brothers" members Li Chen, Zheng Kai, Sha Yi, Zhou Shen, Fan Chengcheng, Song Yuqi, Times Youth League-Zhang Zhenyuan, "Running Friends" Meng Ziyi, flying guests Zhou Chuanxiong, Angela Zhang, Charlene Choi, Wang Heye continued to sprint towards Y2 coins in the neon lights of Wuhan, the city of rivers.
Song Yuqi
The series "Searching for Ancient China: Exploring the Mysteries of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum" has aired its first episode "The Mausoleum Is Like a Capital" on CCTV-1 . It explores the site selection, planning layout, and construction concept of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum. Relying on new archaeological research results, it will unravel the mysteries of Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum with you.
This week, Jiang Qilin joins the Five Ha Group. The Hahahahaha program sets up a confrontation between the home team (Deng Chao, Chen He, etc.) and the guest team (Chen Xiaochun, Zhang Zhilin, Jiang Qilin, etc.). Jiang Qilin, who is well-known to the audience as an actor (representative works include Go Princess Go and The Past by the Water), shows the collision of cold-faced tough guy and funny behavior in a variety show for the first time. The program will be online at 12 noon on May 3rd and 4th.
"Let's Start Reasoning 3" has started airing, and the first case in the market, "Blood-stained Candy", has been launched on Tencent Video. A homicide case was raided at the Tuitian Food Factory, and strange events occurred frequently. Bai Yu, Dilireba, Jin Jiuli, Liu Yuning, Zhang Linghe, and Zhou Keyu all started a new copy to clear the fog and explore the truth.
Stills from "Let's Reason 3"
Teacher Tang Guoqiang is on the trend again, and this time it’s hard to tell that he’s from Times Youth League!
The second episode of Youku variety show "This is My Journey to the West" will be launched this weekend. Times Youth League, Yang Di, Xie Na, Tang Guoqiang, Yu Yang and others came to "Very Awesome Internet Company" to start the Journey to the West workplace copy. The upper and lower episodes will be updated every Friday and Saturday at 12:00.
"Riding the Wind 2025" ushered in the seventh episode. Maggie Cheung returned to the first place in the third public performance, and Li Sheng and Wu Xuanyi were very popular in the fourth public performance. In this week's program, the sisters will cooperate with the senior sisters who helped them in previous seasons. The cooperative songs are as follows:
Vocal songs: "Flower Field Mistake" (cooperated with Chen Haoyu and Chen Lijun) "Death Love" (cooperated with Sa Dingding and Mei Yili Ya)
Dance songs: "My Way" (cooperated with He Jie and Li Sidani) "My Territory" (cooperated with Wang Feifei and Meng Jia)
The program will be broadcast on Mango TV at 12:00 noon every Friday and Saturday, and the official performance will be aired next week.
Interestingly, in the third episode of “The Voice of God 6” to be aired on Zhejiang Satellite TV on Friday night , there will also be two sisters who have “ridden the wind”, Wang Rong and Ella, who will perform a collaboration song “Heartbeat”.
The lineup of this issue is very interesting, including Ella Chen, Huang Zihongfan, Liu Yuning, Tan Weiwei, Wang Heye, Wang Rong, Wang Yuan, Xiao Jun, Yang Kun, Yao Xiaotang, Zhang Bichen and Jane Zhang. Each of them has shown their trump card. Who will win the Golden Melody Award?
Wang Rong
