The Storm Warriors (風雲II)
The Pang brothers, Danny
(彭發) and Oxide (彭順), are back, this time helming a sequel to the 1998 Hong Kong action fantasy Storm Riders (風雲). Returning from that cast is Aaron Kwok (郭富城) as Cloud and Ekin Cheng (鄭伊健) as Wind, though not Sonny Chiba or Shu Qi (舒淇), sadly. Even so, there’s fun to be had as Cloud and Wind battle the evil Lord Godless (Simon Yam, 任達華). Fans of this kind of movie — that is to say, those who can tolerate endless use of CGI — are very happy with the frenetic result. The visuals, updated special effects and studio-bound production design suggest a Chinese version of Zack Snyder’s 300. Part III is on the way.
Jump (跳出去)
“Small town girl” Kitty Zhang (張雨綺) heads to Shanghai with dreams of becoming a dancer. There she falls in with the hip-hop crowd and attracts the romantic interest of a wealthy businessman. As naive and superficial as any dance movie could be, not least because of the East Asian sanitization of American music and dance culture, but its target market would hardly care. More critical to its success is the involvement of Stephen Chow (周星馳), who wrote the story on which the screenplay is based and which is peppered with humor, slapstick and youthful energy.
Super Typhoon (超強颱風)
This profitable disaster movie screened at a recent festival of Chinese product, and seems to have impressed enough people to get a Taiwanese theatrical release ahead of much worthier titles. It may also be trying to ride on the wave of 2012, which would be a big mistake. Still, what’s to hate about a 21st century Chinese film in which the hero is an honest mayor? Super Typhoon Blue Whale bears down on a southern city, and there’s nothing any of the stock characters can do about it, though if Variety is to be believed, most of the damage in this inadvertently funny movie is inflicted on miniature sets and a few reused cars. Oh, and watch out for the creature that lurks beneath.
The Other Man
IT company boss Liam Neeson hunts down and, over chess, conversationally probes a man he believes to have had an affair with his wife, a designer of expensive shoes. The “other man” is Antonio Banderas, which would be enough to worry any level-headed husband. Underwhelmed reviewers scoffed at the film’s twists while wondering what could have been with this cast. Others might ask why they should care about the grim obsessions of such characters when they can tune in for the latest Tiger Woods update.
Tomorrow at Dawn
The promotional materials may suggest a period piece, but this French tale of military role-playing and dueling is mostly set in the present day. Musician Vincent Perez (Queen Margot) gets involved in a Napoleonic re-enactment to bond with his brother Jeremie Renier (In Bruges) and finds that his brother’s weekend warrior pals take their play-acting rather seriously. Mixed reviews greeted this film by Denis Dercourt, himself a professional musician.
Asia Pacific Film Festival
It’s the 53rd time around for this enduring event. Of less interest, perhaps, is the selection of Taiwanese films, which have mostly finished their theatrical dates. Instead, look out for an interesting selection of titles from Iran, Indonesia and South Korea, among other Asian countries. Runs for four days from next Thursday at E-DA World in Kaohsiung County. More details at www.53apff2009.com.
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square meter farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s