WHen the 42nd Taiwan Golden Horse Awards nomination was announced recently, it raised quite a few eyebrows. Many were surprised at Hong Kong stars Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng’s omission from the best actor and actress lists.  

According to an Associated Press report, their exclusion may have been due to the eight-panel features judges, half of whom were from the academia. Even so, it is uncertain what their judging criteria were because while they ignored dramas like Cheng’s Everlasting Regret and Lau’s Yesterday Once More, Wait ‘Till You’re Older and All About Love, they consented to mainstream flicks such as Stephen Chow’s uproarious King Fu Hustle, which scored 10 nominations, including best film and best director. Perhaps it boils down to being plain unlucky.