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. |
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
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
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