Legion
God is fed up with mankind and has sent his angels to destroy the world in an apocalypse that takes its cue from horror fantasy rather than the Book of Genesis. Paul Bettany is Michael, an angel who sees the good in mankind and comes to its aid. Firearms training must be part of the drill up in Paradise, as Michael proves himself very able with an Uzi. Though the plot is full of comic and horror potential, Legion has wings of lead. The zombies that attack a diner in the Mojave dessert where the main action takes place are not very frightening, and every horror device seems to have been lifted from another film. When the angels go at it in silver armor and maces, the whole thing descends into camp, but without the benefit of humor.
The Runaways
A musical biopic that harks back to the exciting, dangerous days of rock ’n’ roll just before the dawn of punk, giving us the story of Joan Jett and The Runaways. The stars, Dakota Fanning, as Cherie Currie, and Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, tackle the project with enormous commitment, and director Floria Sigismondi, in her feature debut, shows a sharp awareness of period detail that gives The Runaways its historical heft. Critics have commented that the focus shifts rather uncertainly between the two female leads and that the predictable rock ’n’ roll struggle to find fame story arc is just a tad too predictable. There is all the glamour of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, but the darker side of exploitation and self-destruction are a reminder that fame has always has a price.
Clownfish (小丑魚)
Taiwan’s attempt to get on the 3D bandwagon promises to show off local technical skills, but the story of an inept salaryman who dreams of becoming a circus clown and fantasizes about meeting a mermaid princess doesn’t exactly get the blood pumping. Directed by Charlie Chu (曲全立), who is billed as Taiwan’s foremost 3D director and who has extensive experience in high-definition digital and 3D production, mostly of nature programs, Clownfish should prove an interesting glimpse into what a local director can do with the new technology in a feature film format.
Prayers for Bobby
A made-for-TV drama dripping with social concern and sentiment that nevertheless features solid performances. Based on a true story, Prayers for Bobby has Sigourney Weaver in the lead as Mary Griffith, a devout Christian who takes the hard line with her gay son and loses him to suicide. She subsequently becomes a vocal gay rights crusader. Weaver’s performance as a loving mother whose religious faith is tested against her love for her son and the long and painful journey that is needed to alter entrenched belief are well portrayed by a capable cast, and the film combines heartstring-tugging and the social context of 1980s Middle America with some skill. But this is probably something that doesn’t need to be seen on the big screen.
Don’t Look Back (Ne Te Retourne Pas)
French psychological drama of a sort regularly described in the trade press as “a formal exercise” — in other words, the director is trying to be very clever. In the case of Don’t Look Back, Jacques Akchoti plays with a doppelganger effect on slightly depressed though ever so beautiful Sophie Marceau. Half way through the film she turns into Monica Bellucci, and somehow everyone on screen believes this is the same person. It didn’t work for the primarily festival audiences who have seen the film.
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