In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
German producer-director Uwe Boll gained notoriety for a number of films based on video games that are ranked in the Internet Movie Database's list of worst films of all time. His admirable response to his professional critics was to challenge them to a boxing match. Another video game adaptation, In the Name of the King shows that Boll is fighting back on the big screen, too, with a large budget and a competent crew. That hasn't stopped the critics from drawing and quartering him for this story of a farmer (Jason Statham) in medieval times who searches for his wife after she is abducted by the henchmen of a nasty wizard (Ray Liotta). The king is Burt Reynolds, by the way.
Haunting Me
This could be the ultimate Thai comic-horror film: Four rotund transvestites cover up the death of a young ladyboy and another teen, only to have the ghosts haunt their rural boarding house for young men until the foursome agree to pursue the killers. The slightly grim poster for the Taiwanese release obscures the alternative lifestyle content, whereas the posters for the Thai release look like a cross of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and Austin Powers. A perfect follow-up for those who rushed to see The Adventures of Iron Pussy at the Spot Theater's Underground Heaven Film Festival. Screenings are at the Baixue Theater in Ximending.
The Passionate Life of Edith Piaf
This biopic of legendary French singer Edith Piaf opened here this time last year. It is being revived in limited release thanks to Marion Cotillard winning a Golden Globe on Sunday for her performance as Piaf. Critics were sharply divided on the non-linear narrative structure, but not on Cotillard, who carries the show and is likely to figure at the Oscars. Original French title: La Mome, now released as La Vie en Rose.
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
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located