Killers
The lineup of uninspiring films released this week begins with Killers, which early critical reviews have mercilessly panned and may signal the demise of the promising actress Katherine Heigl from Grey’s Anatomy as a serious contender for the epithet of Hollywood leading lady. The film stars Ashton Kutcher as Spencer, a secret agent, and Heigl as the unsuspecting spouse living a lovely middle-class life until, of course, Spencer’s past revisits him and the action begins. Heigl’s character is at first appalled by the guns and car chases, and then delighted. Unfortunately, Killers doesn’t take the audience along for the ride.
She’s Out of My League
Genre fodder of the rom-com persuasion that is less objectionable and derivative than Killers, but is certainly not about to rock anybody’s weekend. The premise is simple: nice geeky guy with low self-esteem meets super gorgeous woman who doesn’t care that he ain’t cool. Alice Eve proves that for her, being beautiful is a cinch, and Jay Baruchel is perfectly adequate as an inadequate guy. Any bets on whether it will end happily ever after?
Please Please Me! (Fais-moi plaisir!)
By master comedian Emmanuel Mouret, who both directs and stars in this French bedroom comedy. The story has Mouret as Jean-Jacques, a man in a happy relationship with girlfriend Ariane (Frederique Bel), but confesses that he has lustful thoughts for another. In the manner of French films of this type, Ariane encourages her boyfriend to quench his desires by indulging them. This provides plenty of opportunity for clever physical comedy, and while Please Please Me! is likely to please some with its sexual innuendo, it is far from being Mouret’s best work.
Letters for Father Jacob (Postia pappi Jaakobille)
Low-key Finnish film by director Klaus Haro that tells the simple story of Leila (Kaarina Hazard), a woman recently released from prison where she served a life sentence for murder. She finds work with a pastor who spends his days responding to letters from people in need. His compassion for others does nothing for her, until the letters stop and Father Jacob looks into the abyss. The story takes place against beautiful, if sometimes rather bleak, Finnish scenery. Fine cinematography and a solid script give this minor release, originally made for Finnish television, a life that lifts it above many more ambitious features.
Rabbit Without Ears 2 (Zweiohrkuken)
Following on from the success of Keinohrhasen, which enjoyed some popularity here as a cute little romantic/sex comedy for the European movie set, Til Schweiger’s sequel seems to have tripped up. The movie finds most of its humor in the lavatory. There is a kindergarten element to assist with this, and contrived romantic jousting as a couple use their former boyfriend and girlfriend as weapons to fight their way out of their disintegrating relationship. The combination of gross-out situations and sexual innuendo may work for some.
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
A fossil jawbone found by a British girl and her father on a beach in Somerset, England belongs to a gigantic marine reptile dating to 202 million years ago that appears to have been among the largest animals ever on Earth. Researchers said on Wednesday the bone, called a surangular, was from a type of ocean-going reptile called an ichthyosaur. Based on its dimensions compared to the same bone in closely related ichthyosaurs, the researchers estimated that the Triassic Period creature, which they named Ichthyotitan severnensis, was between 22-26 meters long. That would make it perhaps the largest-known marine reptile and would