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】
As of press time, the film market this week has exceeded 400 million yuan, and domestic films have "risen" across the board, with "Lychees in Chang'an", "Liao Zhai: Lanruo Temple" and "Malice" ranking in the top three of the weekly box office. This week is the week with the most concentrated efforts of domestic films since the start of the summer season. With Dapeng's "Lychees in Chang'an" and Jiang Wen's "You Can Do It! Go!" being advanced to the release date, the competition for new films in theaters can be described as "white-hot". It can be said that this weekend, you can choose to spend time in the cinema!
July new movies list
On July 18, when many new films were released, the box office champion was the animated film "Luo Xiaohei's Legend 2". The film continues the Chinese style poetic aesthetics of the previous film, and also adds more urban scenes and innovative camera language. In the first film, Xiaohei was protected by his master. After growing up, he will take on the role of protecting his master this time.
→ "Luo Xiaohei's Legend 2": A bigger world view and stronger combat power
"Lychees in Chang'an", which has already topped the weekly box office since its release, is directed by Dapeng and adapted from Ma Boyong's novel of the same name. It brings together the original cast of "Annual Meetings Can't Stop!", including Bai Ke and Zhuang Dafei, as well as many popular actors such as Andy Lau, Yang Mi, and Chang Yuan. The film takes you to experience a different kind of workplace in the Tang Dynasty and feel the struggles and wisdom of small people in the great era.
→ Dapeng, director of the movie "Lychees in Chang'an": What I want to show more is "no one knows"
The story of Chen Peisi's "Stage" is set in a theater troupe during the Republic of China period, and revolves around the preparation and performance of a big play. On the stage, they perform other people's stories; off the stage, they are also performing their own big dramas.
→ From drama to film, Chen Peisi's "Stage" has not lost its soul
Jiang Wen's new film "You Can Do It! Go For It!" depicts Lang Lang's musical growth in a crazy and rock-and-roll way. Just listening to the music is worth the price of admission. Moreover, the film is full of stars, and every face is familiar. The film does not have traditional villains and dramatic conflicts, but it is still exciting and full of climaxes. This is magical.
"The Murder Case of Flower Girl" is a different color in the summer movie. Zhang Zifeng and Ma Yili play the twisted and entangled mother-daughter relationship. Zhang Zifeng practices figure skating hard, and the cruelty behind the elegant beauty is a sober observation.
In the first half of this week, "Liao Zhai: The Deserted" topped the box office for three consecutive days. It is the longest-running work of Light Chaser Animation. Seven directors have put together six chapters, telling stories of strange tales in different styles, with childlike innocence, ghosts, contemporary perspectives and tributes to tradition. Chinese animation is constantly refreshing its technology and innovating its expression.
The "Roller" version of "Superman" seems to be facing "not adapting to the local conditions" in the Chinese market after its release a week ago. The influence of superheroes on audiences in different contexts seems to be an interesting topic.
→ Superman is constantly revised by Hollywood: a new immigrant? A guardian of American values?
【TV drama】
New drama starts
On July 17, the funeral drama "Here Leads to the Stars" starring Guo Qilin, Zhang Xueying and Wang Ou started filming and was exclusively broadcast on Youku. The drama tells the story of Wang Can (played by Guo Qilin) who failed in his business in Beijing and returned to his hometown to work in the coffin loading class of Qingliangshan Funeral Home.
On July 16, the filming of "Xiao Fang Gets Married" starring Wang Yinglu and Xin Yunlai started, and it was exclusively broadcast on Tencent. Ying Er, Fan Ming, Wang Ji, Lin Yongjian, Wang Mian, and Wu Yanshu also starred. The play is adapted from Yi Bei's novel of the same name. It tells the story of a post-00s youth Yang Xiaofang (played by Wang Yinglu) and Qi Xiaowei (played by Xin Yunlai) who got pregnant before marriage. The different attitudes of the Qi and Yang families unexpectedly set off a "marriage storm".
On July 15, the costume drama "Que Gu" starring Hou Minghao, Amy, Wang Yilun, Ma Qiuyuan and Mi Re started filming and was broadcast on iQiyi. Peter Ho, Liu Lingzi, Zheng Yawen, Tao Xinran, Zhao Ke, Zheng Fanxing, Wang Likun, Jin Sha and Pang Bo also starred. The drama tells the story of a devilish general forcibly marrying a daughter of the capital, and the two went from a contracted couple with suspicion and struggle to a rebellious partner in love, uncovering the conspiracy of the court and breaking the chaos of life and death.
New drama finished filming
On July 16, the ancient costume fantasy drama "The Strongest Sect in the World" , adapted from the novel of the same name by Jianghu Goodbye, starring Peng Yuchang, Wan Peng, and Chen Heyi, was completed and broadcasted exclusively on Tencent. Han Haolin, Huang Weide, Liu Haoran, Yao Chen, Yu Jiacheng, Yi Mengling, Qiu Yuchen, Tang Zhenye, and Hani Kezi also starred.
The play tells the story of a group of passionate young people who are despised or abandoned by the outside world, gathering together in a hollow sect, and working together with the help of the system to complete their KPIs, and counterattacking from a useless alliance to become the strongest sect of all ages.
Peng Yuchang finished filming
Liu Haoran guest starred
This week, after the conclusion of In the Name of Law and A Dream of Books, The Record of the Snowy Morning, starring Li Landi and Ao Ruipeng, topped the charts of Yunhe and Dengta. Drug War ranked third and fourth, and Cherry Amber ranked sixth.
From the overall perspective, the second wave of new dramas released during the summer season performed relatively flat. Among the three new dramas, the most popular drama was "The Record of the Morning Snow", but even though it topped the charts, its share on Yunhe was only 15.5%. Although the popularity of these three dramas on their respective sites has been rising steadily, their playback volume has tended to be flat.
Record of Morning Snow
This costume detective drama starring Li Landi, Ao Ruipeng, Yu Chengen, and Shen Yujie is adapted from Bu Yue Qianzhuang's novel "The Powerful Coroner and Medical Concubine". It tells the story of Shen Wan (played by Li Landi), the daughter of the Dali Temple Minister, who relies on superb medical and investigation skills, and joins hands with the prince Yan Chi (played by Ao Ruipeng) to solve unsolved cases, find the real murderer, and finally clear his father's name.
Shen Wan had no choice but to transform himself into Qin Wan and silently wait for the opportunity to redress his father's grievances.
The series is a strong plot type, with each case as a unit narrative, and the heroine's father's unjust case as the main line to string the whole play together. It is a typical "suspense +" ancient idol drama. The heroine, who bears a blood feud, becomes a coroner, investigating the case and redressing the grievances. The hero is a prince + general, mainly responsible for criminal investigation, and the heroine is responsible for autopsy. The two strong cooperation makes the work not tiring.
"Drug Storm"
The drama is directed by Wu Bai and Lin Shuijing, written by Chen Yuxin, and stars Duan Yihong, Qin Hao, Yu Wenwen, Wu Xingjian and Liu Huan.
The story is set in 1995, when anti-drug police officer Lin Qiangfeng (Duan Yihong) ended his undercover career and was transferred to the Xigang City Anti-Drug Brigade to track down drug clues. At that time, smuggler Lu Shaohua (Qin Hao) lost everything overnight, but also discovered the huge profits of methamphetamine, and became evil and went astray in drug manufacturing and trafficking.
The rivalry between Duan Yihong and Qin Hao feels like a duel between two masters. Every line contains hidden meaning, and it feels like the two men are fighting with 800 minds in their minds.
The master's wife passed away and the master was heartbroken. It makes people sigh that poverty is the most difficult hurdle in life.
The plot has developed to the point where Lu Shaohua and his master Deng Jianli start making ice in a dilapidated, no-man's-land factory in a chemical plant, and the concentration is very high. Some comments said that this process reminded people of "Breaking Bad". Seeing that the drug dealer's boss is dead, Lin Qiangfeng also doubts the master and apprentice, and the conflict is about to break out. The story is about to reach a small climax. The show has a Douban score of 7.9, and currently 11,000 people have rated it.
Cherry Amber
This is the second collaboration between Zhao Jinmai and Zhang Linghe after "Du Hua Nian". It is produced by Noon Sunshine, written by Zeng Lu, and directed by Zhang Kaizhou.
In terms of the main creative team, this was definitely a hot topic among the young generation of actors and actresses before the filming of this drama began. After watching the first few episodes, the author believes that the drama has a lot to express, including the huge impact of the original family on a person's growth trajectory and character development; as well as a kind of retrospection and nostalgia for that innocent era.
Stills from Cherry Amber
Cherry Amber has a good sense of CP in dealing with the ambiguous atmosphere. The main creators have done a good job in presenting the different ways of thinking of men and women when facing the same sentence, as well as the misunderstandings and contradictions caused by information gaps. The mother-daughter and bestie lines in the play are also portrayed vividly and touchingly.
However, some netizens also reported that the male lead’s appearance time in the first few episodes added up to less than half an hour, which was like “a guest appearance by the male lead.”
→ "Cherry Amber": The true appearance of youth is slowly unfolding
【Variety Show】
"Escape Room 7" - "Hot Apartment" ended this week. Xu Kai's growth line from "cowardly and responsible" to "garbage yard war god" resonated with the audience. The program is updated on Mango TV every Wednesday, and the theme of the next episode is "The Mystery of the Tube Building".
Xu Kai
Yang Mi
The tenth episode of "Singer 2025" will be aired tonight. Lin Zhixuan became the returning singer through netizens' voting (first in vote rate). He needs to choose one of the top three singers in the ninth episode (Alicia, Shan Yichun, Chen Chusheng) to initiate a 1V1 challenge. If the challenge is successful, Lin Zhixuan will return to the online singer camp, and the singer ranked last in this episode will be eliminated.
Lin Zhixuan will sing Peng Jiahui's "Too Hard to Sing", the lyrics of which reflect the conflict between his artistic pursuit and public recognition, and the technical difficulty is extremely high. In addition, Huang Liling (A-Lin) replaced Zheng Xinyi who withdrew due to injury and joined the competition as a replacement, directly participating in the competition and singing her representative work "Love Is Not Guilty".
Singer 10th Episode Lineup
"Sister-in-law, Please Speak" is a female interview variety show created by Xin Yuxi, inviting male celebrity exes (i.e. "sister-in-law") to share their emotional experiences and discuss topics such as love scams and women's rights protection. The latest guest Du Meizhu caused quite a bit of controversy.
Du Meizhu
From July 12 to August 31, the national recruitment of "Treasures Competition" was officially launched, and a "Cultural Relics Creation Challenge" for all people has begun. Who can tell the "cultural relics" most excitingly? Is it a light-hearted talk show or a short play with ancient poetry? Or is it a heartfelt storytelling, animation technology, or even an immersive performance? As long as you are creative enough, any form is fine! Jiangsu Satellite TV's first national cultural and museum co-creation competition program "Treasure Hunting Creation Group" will play a new trick on "city linkage".
The second season of Tencent Video's "Talk Show and His Friends" will be online on Friday and Saturday, and the results of the second stage will be released soon. In the first part of the sixth episode, Qiu Yue, Meng Chuan, Sun Shuheng, Zhang Jun and others all performed well.
Sun Shuheng
The second season of iQiyi's "The King of Comedy Stand-up Season" will be launched on Friday and Saturday. Entering the second half of the team competition, many new faces have appeared.
The King of Comedy Season 2
Tencent Video's "One Meal to Become a God" is updated every Thursday and Friday, and the first episode is now online. Hundreds of famous chefs, hundreds of dishes, and countless stories behind the food have officially ignited the battle in this "culinary martial arts conference".
Poster of "One Meal to Become a God"
The cross-border travel reality show "Earth Super Fresh" directed by Yan Min's team (director of the first four seasons of "Go Fighting") was officially announced recently. The program is positioned as a fusion of "Go Fighting" + "Chinese Restaurant", focusing on cultural immersion experience + team collaboration tasks + group interaction. The guest lineup includes Liu Yuning, Gong Jun, Chen Xingxu, Sun Honglei, Li Naiwen, Jin Jing, and Lin Yi. The first stop of the recording is Italy (Rome, Pompeii, Sicily), and the second stop is Spain (Madrid, Barcelona). The program will deeply explore historical sites and local culture. Starting from July 27, Tencent Video will update the upper and lower episodes every Sunday and Monday at 12:00.
Sun Honglei
