Compiled by Martin Williams | |
Sleepwalking
Charlize Theron stars in and co-produces this intense American drama about fractured relationships and long-term psychological damage. Theron effectively abandons her pre-teen daughter, leaving her semi-functional brother (Nick Stahl, from Terminator 3) with the job of looking after her. The two bond against all expectations before the film climaxes with their arrival at the old family ranch, whose patriarch (Dennis Hopper) has a horrible family history. Critics in the US blanched at the downbeat tone and script but were largely impressed with the stars, who also include Woody Harrelson and Deborra-Lee Furness.
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The World in Two Round Trips An unusual documentary, this. The rather more functional Schurmann family from Brazil, including director David, sail the world in an epic recreation of a Portuguese admiral’s achievement five centuries ago. Ten years in the making and shot over a period of more than two years, the film features several stops along the way where local people and customs are placed in the spotlight. Also known as The World Twice Around. | |
The Glorious Team Batista
Here’s a Japanese hospital melodrama that revolves around a famed team of surgeons and support staff specializing in the dangerous Batista procedure. After months of consecutive successes three patients die, leading to the arrival of an investigator and a government headkicker, the latter electing to play hardball with the medicos. It’s directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura, who wrote the screenplay for the highly regarded Dark Water, although the diagnosis for this Team is such that you might need a second opinion before entering the theater. | |
X-Cross There’s more than a whiff of The Wicker Man in this Japanese shocker about two girlfriends who end up staying at a resort from hell, which offers not so much bad food and service as pagan villagers, ritual slaughter and amputation. And yes, there’s even some chainsaw action as the heroine kicks into survivalist mode. Directed by Kenta Fukasaku (Battle Royale II), the son of the late veteran director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale). | |
The Spiritual World
The latest Thai horror entry has a young woman with the reluctant power to see ghosts taking up an offer from a doctor and childhood friend to find the truth behind his father’s “suicide.” Bad move, as any sensible person might think. The result: an onslaught of horrible apparitions and poltergeist peril as the mystery unravels. Judging from the trailer, this effort might deliver some effective scares. | |
Two Faces of My Girlfriend Next up in the Baixue Theater’s unofficial festival of South Korean product is a romantic comedy from last year. A 30-year-old virginal man with few prospects falls in love with a woman with a Jekyll and Hyde-style multiple personality disorder (but nowhere near as violent). Comic hijinks ensue, but there’s a kick in the tail as the woman comes to terms with her condition, and heartbreaking choices must be made. Positive reviews just about make this flick worth the trip to Ximending. | |
Legend of the Sea
From the makers of Zodiac: The Race Begins..., Singapore’s first — if undistinguished — 3D animated film, comes this, Singapore’s second 3D animated film. Strictly kids’ stuff as a dragon prince sets off to rescue his father from the clutches of a sinister octopus with sidekick crustaceans in tow. Sounds like submarine stereotypes to us, but at least there’s a starfish with martial arts prowess. 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
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
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