Tower Heist
An A-list cast works at this comic crowd-pleaser about a bunch of regular guys looking to get some measure of justice after being fleeced by a Ponzi scheme. The heist that results is adequately suspenseful, but for a film that is clearly supposed to be driven by gags, there is precious little laughter. Put together with an everything-and-the-kitchen-sink abandon, plot devices and gags from a host of other films are haphazardly thrown into the mix. Even with headliners Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, who both have, on occasion, aspired to the heights of comic genius, and strong support from the likes Alan Alda, Casey Affleck and Matthew Broderick, Tower Heist never quite manages to come together as anything other than a pleasing 104 minutes of forgettable entertainment.
Eating Out: Drama Camp
There is more camp than drama in this fourth iteration of Q. Allan Brocka’s rom-com with its host of lovely lads, buff bodies, and heavy innuendo. Eating Out might be thought of as a gay version of the American Pie franchise, and has a thematic focus that is resolutely below the belt. Though the film carries on a story outlined in previous installments, it works perfectly well on its own. The relationship between Casey (Daniel Skelton) and Zack (Chris Salvatore) is in the doldrums, and a stint at an acting school, where Zack gets the hots for roommate Benji (Aaron Milo), increases the strain. There are moments in Drama Camp that are touching as characters work through confused emotions, some well handled sex scenes that provide a hint of soul along with the requisite hot, heaving bodies, but the film sticks pretty much to a strict rom-com formula.
Bunny Drop (Usagi Doroppu)
The idea for Bunny Drop, by Japanese director Sabu, is not new. It traces its cinematic heritage back to the silent era of Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, and through a host of contemporary adaptations of comedies about men coping with children such as Three Men and a Baby. In the case of Bunny Drop, Daikichi (Kenichi Matsuyama), a 30-year-old salaryman, volunteers to raise 6-year-old Rin (Mana Ashida), the love child of his recently deceased grandfather. The reasons for his choice and how he manages to deal with the child are all well-handled, and while there is good chemistry between the leads, the almost complete lack of friction and the manic attempts to keep things light make the whole concoction too bland to be memorable.
That’s the Way! (Korede iinoda! Eiga Akatsuka Fujio)
Madcap Japanese comedy directed by Hideaki Sato featuring Tabanobu Asano as crazed genius manga artist Fujio Akatsuka, who first makes life hell for the young and serious new editor at his publishing company (Maki Horikita), before inevitably teaching her to loosen up and discover her inner joy. The film makes ample use of magical realism that has the characters entering a world conjured up by the artist’s comic creativity. Akatsuka is a real-life cartoonist, and the film is based on a novel by Toshiki Takei, who actually has worked with the cartoonist as his editor.
Little White Lies (Les petits mouchoirs)
Friends come together and in the close proximity of what is supposed to be a relaxing holiday, loyalties, friendships and suppressed jealousies are tested or exposed. Little White Lies is an ensemble piece in the manner of The Big Chill or Peter’s Friends, with a cast of fine actors who are able to develop situations of intense intimacy, humor and sadness. Writer/director Guillaume Canet handles his material with sensitivity, but at 154 minutes, the film drags a little.
Saint (Sint)
Dutch slasher that makes hay with legend. Saint Nicholas comes to the modern day as a renegade 15th-century bishop who is out for revenge after a lifetime of bloody mayhem is brought to a fiery end. In the present day, there are a bunch of pretty young things intent on enjoying life and making out, but for this festive season, the arrival of Sinter Klaus will only bring a horrible death. Although director Dick Maas (who wrote and directed Amsterdamned) keeps the pace engagingly rapid, the lack of any real characters, and an inexplicable avoidance of real gore, give this film a rather dated feel that will cut no ice with audiences expecting any proper and creatively engineered scares.
Tomorrow, When the War Began
Plucky teens take up arms against an invading army in what can only be described as an Australian remake of Red Dawn, a film with many faults but indisputable cult cred (despite the presence of Patrick Swayze). The absence of jingoistic Cold War ideology is sorely missed, as director Stuart Beattie fails to provide anything in the way of philosophical underpinning other than some painfully bathetic lines about fighting for freedom. It does not help that the young stars, most of whose acting credentials come from soaps such as Neighbors and Home and Away, are impressively unconvincing as hardened warriors. A return to old-school commie-bashing can be expected in the remake of Red Dawn due for release next year, with North Korea firmly cast as the villain.
Tekken: Blood Vengeance
Based on the console fighting game Tekken, Blood Vengeance is a full CG animation movie, detailing events that slot firmly into the game’s story development somewhere between releases five and six. Internet comment on the film suggests a poor integration with the feel of the games and some rather hit-and-miss action sequences. If the fans don’t like it, it’s not likely anyone else will.
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
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
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