Whip It
There’s a real-life Rollerball-type sport in the US, but without all the killing: It’s called Roller Derby. This directorial debut from Drew Barrymore fuses sports drama, youth interest, updated (pragmatic) feminism and teams of girls whacking each other on skates. Ellen Page (Juno) is the newbie in a highly competitive social and sporting environment, but it should come as no surprise that this sassy actor then takes the sport by the horns and hurls it across the stadium. Barrymore co-stars in what may be as big a stepping-stone for her as it is for the awesome Page. Also stars Juliette Lewis.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
Surprisingly positive reviews greeted this squeakquel to the lucrative original from 2007, but there were also tired notices that should keep childless adults away. If male crooning chipmunks never did it for you, then maybe a rival female troupe might; this is the chief distraction in an otherwise derivative movie as Alvin, Simon and Theodore do their chipper shtick. Still, some of the effects are great — though they have to be these days.
Old Dogs
If you thought the fag jokes in Wild Hogs were the funniest thing since ... well ... humor was invented, then good news: There are more of them in this largely despised comedy from Hogs director Walt Becker and returning star John Travolta. Slapstick maneuvers abound as Robin Williams comes to terms with his unexpected fatherhood; he and biz associate Travolta suddenly find themselves babysitting — and the rest you can imagine. This pair of well-loved stars just can’t help confounding their fans by putting sub-DVD projects into theaters. Bernie Mac also appears; he died soon after completing work on this project.
The Hedgehog
A girl decides to kill herself when she turns 12 so she can avoid becoming like all the adults around her, documenting the countdown on video and commentating along the way. This pretty grim premise was the basis for a bestselling book in France; here the result is appropriately quirky and loquacious. The girl, Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic) eventually opens up to the concierge (the prickly “hedgehog” of the title) in the family’s apartment block and is further inspired by a perceptive Japanese gentleman who makes her acquaintance. Notable for visual flourishes and presenting a child in such sophisticated terms; Taiwanese films rarely allow children such a complex voice. Original title: Le Herisson.
Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva
Anime time again, though this one is based on an interactive Japanese video game, not a manga. Archeologist Layton gets tangled up in a mystery involving a beautiful opera singer, a missing persons case, a child claiming immortality and — naturally — lots of puzzles. He is joined by two youthful acolytes in this first of a promised series of puzzling theatrical excursions for kids.
Ting Shan-hsi Retrospective
This Tuesday SPOT — Taipei Film House (台北光點) is featuring another of its interesting retrospectives on Taiwan-based filmmakers. This time it’s in honor of prolific writer-director Ting Shan-hsi (丁善), who died two months ago aged 73. Ting covered many genres, including time capsule-worthy movies recounting the exploits of the Republic of China’s military. The five titles on Tuesday include The Battle for the Republic of China (辛亥雙十) from 1981 and 1977’s Eight Hundred Heroes (八百壯士). There’s also a symposium at 4pm. See www.spot.org.tw/time for session details.
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
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
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
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located