Three Pictures X’mas Party (3P聖誕ALL夜)
A glimpse at the alternative edge of Hong Kong cinema for a sexy Christmas viewing experience, the Three Pictures X’mas Party showcases the work of three young Hong Kong-based directors. The three movie mini-festival, which runs today, tomorrow and Sunday, is screening Innocent (只愛陌生人), End of Love (愛到盡) and The People I Have Slept With (姣妹日記). The three films share a common interest in steamy sex, both gay and straight (only the last of the three is specifically straight), and promiscuous living in general, as well as a moderate level of festival circuit exposure. They aim for the racy end of the European art house spectrum, and for those who want to get into a sexy mood with someone special, you could do worse. The films will show at in89 Digital Cinema (in89豪華數位影院), 89, Wuchang St Sec 2, Taipei City (台北市武昌街二段89號). Tickets are available at the venue for NT$160 per screening and NT$499 for a set of three. Detailed information about the films can be found at mypaper.pchome.com.tw/3pxmas.
Love and Other Drugs
Taiwan’s film distributors clearly believe that this is the season for sex, and the recently released Love and Other Drugs fits the bill perfectly. It stars two very beautiful people, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, who spend a large segment of the film’s 113 minutes getting naked. That would seem a good enough reason to see the film, but there is even more to recommend it. Director Edward Zwick has packed the film with sharp dialogue, a critique of the pharmaceutical trade, and a disease-of-the-day tearjerker. While a hasty assessment would suggest that the film could fall apart under its own weight, an old-fashioned sense of theatrical good humor holds it together, making it an ideal date movie for those who don’t think getting blown away by the special effects of Tron: Legacy 3D is all that romantic.
Anything for Her (Pour Elle)
This 2008 French movie served as the model for the recently released The Next Three Days, and for anyone who wants to watch this rather improbable thriller, the substitution of Vincent Lindon for Russell Crowe can only be a good thing. A married couple’s life is turned upside down when the wife is arrested for murder. Her husband, with no legal recourse, learns to become a criminal in order to bust his wife out of prison. Inevitably, he gets caught up in the dark side of humanity. The film received strong reviews for its solid acting and the tension created by director Fred Cavaye.
Home for Christmas (Hjem til Jul)
Based on a series of short stories by award-winning Norwegian writer Levi Henriksen, Home for Christmas manages to weave its separate elements into an organic whole. Beautiful to look at and with a hint of darkness that occasionally cuts through the feel-good festive surface, the film might serve as a welcome antidote to the more aggressively saccharine Christmas features offered by the big US studios. The movie tells a number of interlinked stories of people trying desperately to reconnect with family and friends, or indeed anyone who will listen. An excellent feel-good option for those who don’t want the sentiment laid on too thick.
Ohoku
Also distributed under the more expressive title The Lady Shogun and Her Men, Ohoku is an historical costume comedy that derives most of its humor from role reversal. In 16th-century Edo, a population decimated by disease sees women rise up the political structure, and female shogun Yoshimune (Kou Shibasaki) finds herself at the head of a harem of 3,000 men, all vying for her favor. The film has been a great hit with Japanese audiences, but Variety magazine, though lauding its production values, does not believe the plays on various gender stereotypes will draw many laughs from non-Japanese audiences.
Naruto: The Movie 7
The seventh feature movie in the ongoing Naruto franchise, the film has also, confusingly, been released as Naruto Shippuden 4: The Lost Tower. The Naruto manga tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires for high status through participation in various missions. The story mixes fight and comedy elements and has proved a successful export to North America and other Western markets.
La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet
The film follows the productions of seven ballets at the famed Opera House in Paris, giving viewers an inside look at the dancers, the choreographers, the rehearsals and performances, as well as the costumers and other backstage crew members. Among the ballets included are those by modern-dance choreographers Wayne McGregor and Emmanuel Gat, who both have appeared in Taipei as part of the Novel Hall Dance series, and Angelin Preljocaj, whose company has appeared at the National Theater. The film is in French, with Chinese and English subtitles.
Last week the government announced that by year’s end Taiwan will have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world. Its inventory could exceed 1,400, or enough for the opening two hours of an invasion from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Snark aside, it sounds impressive. But an important piece is missing. Lost in all the “dialogues” and “debates” and “discussions” whose sole purpose is simply to dawdle and delay is what the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) alternative special defense budget proposal means for the defense of Taiwan. It is a betrayal of both Taiwan and the US. IT’S
March 16 to March 22 Hidden for decades behind junk-filled metal shacks, trees and overgrowth, a small domed structure bearing a Buddhist swastika resurfaced last June in a Taichung alley. It was soon identified as a remnant of the 122-year-old Gokokuzan Taichuu-ji (Taichung Temple, 護國山台中寺), which was thought to have been demolished in the 1980s. In addition, a stone stele dedicated to monk Hoshu Ono, who served as abbot from 1914 to 1930, was discovered in the detritus. The temple was established in 1903 as the local center for the Soto school
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” was crowned best picture at the 98th Academy Awards, handing Hollywood’s top honor to a comic, multi-generational American saga of political resistance. The ceremony Sunday, which also saw Michael B. Jordan win best actor and “Sinners” cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw make Oscar history as the first female director of photography to win the award, was a long-in-coming coronation for Anderson, a San Fernando Valley native who made his first short at age 18 and has been one of America’s most lionized filmmakers for decades. Before Sunday, Anderson had never won an Oscar. But “One Battle
In Kaohsiung’s Indigenous People’s Park (原住民主題公園), the dance group Push Hands is training. All its members are from Taiwan’s indigenous community, but their vibe is closer to that of a modern, urban hip-hop posse. MIXING CULTURES “The name Push Hands comes from the idea of pushing away tradition to expand our culture,” says Ljakuon (洪濬嚴), the 44-year-old founder and main teacher of the dance group. This is what makes Push Hands unique: while retaining their Aboriginal roots, and even reconnecting with them, they are adamant about doing something modern. Ljakuon started the group 20 years ago, initially with the sole intention of doing hip-hop dancing.
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