Kungfu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction (機器俠)
Hong Kong’s China-market-friendly (read: suffocatingly naive) version of Michael Bay’s Transformers series holds back until late before the action kicks in. A policeman must look after a cyborg that has joined the force, but romantic complications between the robot and “his” colleagues take the plot hostage before an evil cyborg can do his thing. As the title suggests, there’s more love stuff in this one, but the reviews are even worse than for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which at least had splendid effects. Note: The English title is reversed in some markets. Directed by Jeff Lau (劉鎮偉), perhaps best known for Operation Pink Squad (霸王女福星) and its sequel from the late 1980s.
Looking for Eric
“Eric” is none other than Eric Cantona, retired French soccer superstar and hero to Manchester United fans, and now actor. In this film by working-class-champion director Ken Loach, he is also a key character in the life of another Eric (Steve Evets), an English postman and soccer nut whose life is going down the toilet. Footballer Eric then proceeds to help postie Eric get his life in order, though violence threatens to get in the way. A must-see for United fans and anyone who admires Cantona, who co-produced this strange film.
The Ugly Truth
After a weekend of previews, The Ugly Truth’s season proper starts today. Set in a California news station, producer Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) is required to fix sinking ratings by bringing in sexist consultant Gerard Butler (300), who also acts as a kind of antihero Cyrano de Bergerac for the lovelorn Heigl as she woos some doctor. This one seems to adopt sexism as a source of humor and sympathy rather than villainy. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers suggested that viewers looking for a romantic treat “toss this ugly-ass crap to the curb” and see (500) Days of Summer instead, but Taiwanese audiences will have to wait until Nov. 20 for that privilege.
Pandorum
Intriguing title and poster art give way to an amalgam of classic and not-so-good sci-fi/horror moments in Pandorum, a German-American co-production. Dennis Quaid leads a largely continental cast as two space travelers find themselves on board a vessel whose salvationary purpose they can’t remember and which is afflicted with an Event Horizon-style tendency to induce madness — and a batch of nasty creatures ready to pounce. Oh, and there’s a countdown to a massive explosion. In space, no one can hear the kitchen sink scream.
Whiteout
Kate Beckinsale is a law enforcement officer in the Antarctic who suffers the inconvenience of having to probe the continent’s first homicide. This only brings her tormented past to the surface as she tries to solve the crime and fend off a killer. Despite its lack of sci-fi, this film’s set-up, plot and embellishments merely activate memories of John Carpenter’s classic remake The Thing. Based on a reputedly much tougher graphic novel and directed by Dominic Sena, prominent music video maker and director of Gone in Sixty Seconds and Swordfish.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built