Compiled by Martin Williams | |
Chaotic Ana
Director Julio Medem, best known for his 2001 hit Sex and Lucia, creates another story that lives up to its title. Cave-raised Ana (Manuela Velles) is a young artist who accepts an offer to move to Madrid and join a commune. She then suffers mental problems after being attracted to a young painter, and is diagnosed by a hypnotist as channeling the oppression of women through the ages - which she then relives, climaxing in a messy scene that will enrage US neo-cons. Stylish, confusing and deeply personal, of all the films bravely opening against Indiana Jones this week, this is the one that screams "anti-Hollywood." | |
Kids
The concept for this Japanese film is quite grim, even if the treatment is more upbeat. A strange youth has the power to transport injuries between bodies, including his own. He makes friends with another boy, a victim of domestic abuse, and the pair set about healing their friends and acquaintances by moving their wounds to the latter's despised father, now hospitalized. A sequel of sorts to last year's Calling You, this is based on the book by Otsu-ichi, which is part of a series exploring friendship. | |
Art of the Devil 3
Drill-to-the-head torture and tongue-cutting on the big screen amid voodoo babble? Ah, it must be the Art of the Devil franchise from Thailand, ready to disgust all over again. Napakpapha Nakprasitte returns in this hit prequel as the schoolteacher from hell who wreaks bodily disaster on anyone standing in her way, with a little help from black magic of the grisliest kind. Unfortunately, her lust for vengeance seems to have extended to the film's official Web site, which is offline. Original Thai title: Long Khong 2. | |
Gone for a Dance
In this Belgian film, a college professor relates the story of three men who devote themselves to their passion for dance at a cost to their personal lives. Humorous, romantic and filled with dance sequences, this French-language film has yet to make it to English-language markets. Stars Cecile de France (Haute Tension, Around the World in 80 Days) and veteran actor Jean-Pierre Cassel. | |
Raging Inferno
This is trumpeted in local ads as a film released in the US and Germany by Warner Bros. But don't let the grindhouse-distributor hype or the extra theater bookings in Taipei and Taichung fool you; it's actually a German TV movie called Inferno: Das Flammen uber Berlin dressed up for theatrical release. Set in a modern-looking tower that is engulfed by flames, it stars Silke Bodenbender, which can't be a bad thing. Starts tomorrow. |
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
A sultry sea mist blankets New Taipei City as I pedal from Tamsui District (淡水) up the coast. This might not be ideal beach weather but it’s fine weather for riding –– the cloud cover sheltering arms and legs from the scourge of the subtropical sun. The dedicated bikeway that connects downtown Taipei with the west coast of New Taipei City ends just past Fisherman’s Wharf (漁人碼頭) so I’m not the only cyclist jostling for space among the SUVs and scooters on National Highway No. 2. Many Lycra-clad enthusiasts are racing north on stealthy Giants and Meridas, rounding “the crown coast”
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and