Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
The pick of this week’s other releases is an award-winning film from legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away). Sort-of-mermaid Ponyo longs to know more about the world out of the ocean and soon becomes the pet of a boy who lives in a seaside home. Her disappearance triggers a hunt that results in wonderful sequences that will captivate adults and children alike. Miyazaki’s box office hit is glorious proof that possibilities still exist for traditional animation techniques. It’s being screened in Taiwan in both Mandarin and Japanese-language versions.
Yes Man
In this comedy outing, Jim Carrey transforms from a soulless loan officer who will only say “no” into an increasingly havoc-stricken man who can only say “yes.” TV director Peyton Reed manages to wring some physical humor and smutty gags out of Carrey, but for most who saw Liar Liar it will be same old, same old — though co-star Zooey Deschanel (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) got the big “yes” from male critics. Maybe the film should have been called “Yes Woman.”
Bride Wars
Ah, the latest wedding-themed movie. Budding brides Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson end up at each other’s throats after their receptions are double-booked. The rest is marzipan-tinged color-by-numbers with standard American comedy-turned-hand-wringing in the final reel. Marketed at the undiscriminating teenager and her girlfriends or luckless boyfriend in tow, Bride Wars should be packed off to a galaxy far, far away.
Life for Sale
This Switzerland-Luxembourg co-production revisits the legend of Faust as three losers come up with the idea of respectively selling their past, future and soul online. At first swimming in cash — by itinerant standards — the three friends discover that money isn’t everything (they must have dropped out of school before that lesson was taught). Purportedly inspired by a true story. Original title: Luftbusiness.
Rabbit Without Ears
A German reporter gets busted for excessive paparazzi-like behavior and is sentenced to 300 hours of community service. Schwarzeneggeresque fish-out-of-water romantic comedy hijinks ensue when the reporter is forced to play Kindergarten Hack and answer to a woman whom he once dissed as a child. The rest writes itself. This Rabbit is a German box office smash and deserves a local audience. The Taiwanese poster, by the way, adds cutout rabbit ears to our reluctant hero’s slumbering head — presumably to make the literally translated title more comprehensible.
Caravaggio
The groundbreaking painter and compulsive troublemaker is the subject of this European made-for-TV production from 2007. His painting, brawling, lust and political machinations are all here. Appropriately shot by master cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, this version of the artist’s life and times is gorgeous to watch. Originally three hours long in two episodes, this theatrical version has been cut down to two hours.
Flashbacks of a Fool
Daniel Craig makes a sensational new James Bond, but if he keeps making non-007 films like this, he may need to stay with the franchise a little longer than expected. In Flashbacks, Craig portrays a dissolute celebrity on the verge of stateside self-destruction. His flashbacks in England as a teenager tell us why — sort of. Directed by music video ace Baillie Walsh (Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy, for example), the film is big on melancholy and period atmosphere but not so on psychological credibility. Starts next Friday.
Naruto the Movie Vol. 5
The latest in the Naruto series of manga-based films is the second in the Shippuden cycle that covers the youthful ninja’s later period. In this episode, rival ninja launch a major attack on our hero’s homeland, and Naruto and his companions must brave various dangers — including a romantic subplot — to come to its defense. Also known as Naruto Shippuden: Kizuna. Starts next Friday.
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50