Butterfly on a Wheel
This thriller barely got released in the US before going to cable (under the name Shattered), but Pierce Brosnan completists might get a kick out of seeing him abduct a couple's daughter and subject all three to various torments.
Ghost of Mae Nak
A British cinematographer helms this Thai ghost story set in present-day and early 20th century Bangkok. A man lies comatose after an accident, and his wife must dig deep (literally) to uncover the secret of the ghost that protects and threatens their lives. Film Threat magazine likens the death scenes to those in the Final Destination series.
Doraemon: The Movie 2007
This, the latest in the decades-old series of animated films for kids featuring our best blue friend, involves a dinosaur egg. Released last year in Japan as Doraemon: The Movie 2006.
Memories of Tomorrow
Ken Watanabe of The Last Samurai fame was the driving force behind this Japanese drama. He stars as an advertising executive who succumbs to Alzheimer's disease as his family struggle to adjust. A weepie, to be sure, but by most accounts very well done.
Nightmare Detective
The most brutal entry for the week comes from director/cinematographer Shinya Tsukamoto, perhaps best known for Tetsuo: The Iron Man. Pop star Hitomi is a detective probing a series of suicides; with the help of a mysterious man who analyzes dreams, she faces her own demons and the demonic killer. Variety describes the film's style as "recalling David Lynch at his most perverse." A sequel is in production.
Photo Album of the Village
This Japanese drama from 2004 is set in a mountainous town threatened by construction for a dam. An aging photographer calls his son back from the city to help him make a record of the people of the community before it is destroyed. In so doing, their troubled relationship changes.
Wooden houses wedged between concrete, crumbling brick facades with roofs gaping to the sky, and tiled art deco buildings down narrow alleyways: Taichung Central District’s (中區) aging architecture reveals both the allure and reality of the old downtown. From Indigenous settlement to capital under Qing Dynasty rule through to Japanese colonization, Taichung’s Central District holds a long and layered history. The bygone beauty of its streets once earned it the nickname “Little Kyoto.” Since the late eighties, however, the shifting of economic and government centers westward signaled a gradual decline in the area’s evolving fortunes. With the regeneration of the once
Even by the standards of Ukraine’s International Legion, which comprises volunteers from over 55 countries, Han has an unusual backstory. Born in Taichung, he grew up in Costa Rica — then one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — where a relative worked for the embassy. After attending an American international high school in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, Han — who prefers to use only his given name for OPSEC (operations security) reasons — moved to the US in his teens. He attended Penn State University before returning to Taiwan to work in the semiconductor industry in Kaohsiung, where he
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
Perched on Thailand’s border with Myanmar, Arunothai is a dusty crossroads town, a nowheresville that could be the setting of some Southeast Asian spaghetti Western. Its main street is the final, dead-end section of the two-lane highway from Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city 120kms south, and the heart of the kingdom’s mountainous north. At the town boundary, a Chinese-style arch capped with dragons also bears Thai script declaring fealty to Bangkok’s royal family: “Long live the King!” Further on, Chinese lanterns line the main street, and on the hillsides, courtyard homes sit among warrens of narrow, winding alleyways and
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