The Blue Tiger
Children’s fantasy from the Czech Republic that mixes actors with animation in a manner that has become pretty familiar over the years as a way of accessing the land of a character’s imagination. In The Blue Tiger, an inner city botanical gardens, a small patch of green in a concrete jungle, becomes the target of a nefarious development scheme by a diabolical mayor. Creatures great and small that spring from the mind of the central child character help take on the villain and his henchman with predictably heartening results.
I Miss U
Thai flick about love that transcends the grave, mixing romantic and horror elements in what seems a rather incongruous style. Horrific car accidents, pining for a loved one and the terrible things that can happen when you actually get what you ask for are the main meat of the story. A good-looking cast, which includes Jessadaporn Pholdee from the successful The Iron Ladies franchise, does a workmanlike job in this nuts-and-bolts genre piece that is unlikely to do much for anyone who is not a diehard fan of the Thai horror revival.
Keep the Lights On
A sensitive and keenly observed portrayal of a intense relationship that springs up between Erik (Thure Lindhardt), a Danish expat in his 30s trying to complete a documentary on the legacy of pioneering queer filmmaker-photographer Avery Willard, and younger lawyer Paul (Zachary Booth), set against a backdrop of late 1990s New York. A deeply personal work by director Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On has richly drawn characters who defy gay stereotypes, and provides ample appeal outside the gay-interest film circuit for its portrayal of shifting mores and gay politics from the 1990s into the first years of the new millennium. The film won a Teddy for Best Feature at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2012, and further proved its mettle with a nomination at Sundance in the same year.
Cracks in the Shell (Die Unsichtbare)
Outstanding German film that unfortunately seems to echo Black Swan in its storyline. Nevertheless, it still manages to hold its own through fine acting and a highly accomplished script. Aspiring actress Fine (Stine Fischer Christensen) moves back to Germany to pursue her acting career, and despite the disdain of her drama coach, she lands a meaty, and sexually promiscuous, role with the notoriously demanding director Kaspar Friedmann (Ulrich Noethen). Fine explores the new sexual horizons her character offers and begins a dangerous relationship with Friedmann. A classy, demanding film that repays audiences’ attention.
Seer II (賽爾號大電影2雷伊與邁爾斯)
A Chinese take on various Japanese animation movies, Seer II has strong echoes of various Pokemon movies, though obviously with Chinese characteristics. The first film in the series was a box office hit in China, and the sequel clearly has an ample budget and goes for as many big effects as it can fit into its 92-minute running time. Cute monsters square off against nasty mechanical creatures in an against-the-odds battle. Want to know what happens? Take a guess, you’ll probably be right.
2012 Singapore International Film Festival (2012新加坡影展)
A romp through a selection of comedies from the notoriously unfunny island-state of Singapore. The lineup includes Petaling Street Warriors (大英雄小男人), Nasi Lemak 2.0 (辣死你媽), Dance Dance Dragon (龍眾舞), The Wedding Day (結婚那件事), Ah Beng the Movie: Three Wishes (阿炳心想事成), and Greedy Ghosts (貪心鬼見鬼). All films will be screening at Cinema 7 (絕色影城), 52 Hanzhong St, Taipei City (台北市漢中街52號), starting today until August 9, 2012.
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50