Waz
Non-existent promotion is likely to sink the local box office for this film, which is sad because advance reviews from European festivals are well above average. Veteran Swedish actor and Lars von Trier regular Stellan Skarsgard (Breaking the Waves) plays a cop on the hunt for a different kind of serial killer. The torture scenes have been putting even jaded horror fans to the test - perhaps a useful distraction from a non-US cast that apes American accents as they flit around Belfast, er ... New York, anyone?
Saturno Contro
"Saturn in Opposition" in English, this Italian-French-Turkish production revolves around the lives of a disparate group of friends, some homosexual, some straight. Director Ferzan Ozpetek had another feature, Facing Windows, released here with some success. Saturno Contro adds to a growing list of films from around the world with a positive homosexual theme to find an audience among Taiwanese.
End Game
Before directing this straight-to-DVD effort, Andy Cheng (鄭繼宗) did stunts for Jackie Chan (成龍) when the Hong Kong legend started swapping his own famous stunts for mugging and bad comedy. Cheng also did work for some decent Hollywood pieces. He may have to return to stunts after this assassination thriller and a subsequent feature bombed. Presumably released in Taiwan on the strength of its cast (Cuba Gooding Jr, James Woods, Burt Reynolds, Anne Archer) and as a promo for the DVD release.
Catch a Wave
Claims to be the first Japanese surfing movie, which seems to overlook 2004's Bondi Tsunami, the "first Japanese surfing road movie in Australia." This flick aims squarely at youngsters. A high school student finds an endless summer of love courtesy of a semi-autobiographical screenplay written by a 16-year-old. More Beach Boys than Big Wednesday, then. Directed by Nobuyuki Takahashi, editor of the Ringu and Grudge horror series.
Garuda
This Thai flick turns the mythical titular creature into every Bangkok resident's nightmare as Godzilla gets a run for his money underground. A not-very-successful film featuring an unusual monster, but one not likely to frighten audiences as much as the killer mosquitoes at the Caesar theater (formally the "Oscar," one of two surviving grindhouses in Taipei) where it's playing.
March of Millions
Another offbeat release at the Caesar, this expensive made-for-TV film from Germany depicts the expulsion of German civilians from territories occupied by Soviet forces at the end of World War II. Its nationalism and timing are noteworthy, with Poland rejecting renewed claims by refugee families on property long forfeited. Originally three hours long, it's not clear how long the version in Taiwan will be. German title: Die Flucht.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the largest animals ever on Earth. Researchers said on Wednesday the bone, called a surangular, was from a type of ocean-going reptile called an ichthyosaur. Based on its dimensions compared to the same bone in closely related ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the Triassic Period creature, which they named Ichthyotitan severnensis, was between 22-26 meters long. That would make it perhaps the largest-known marine reptile and would