Viva Baseball (球來就打)
Big budget baseball movie from Taiwan, Viva Baseball tells a story that looks at the dark side of of the sport, including game fixing, mafia money and the misuse of government subsidies, mixed in with a tale of the redemptive power of sport, topped off with a splash of romance.
Young Dudes (騷人)
Written and directed by Chen Ying-jung (陳映蓉), who came to prominence back in 2004 with the gay comedy Formula 17 (17歲的天空). This trippy new film mixes up slacker comedy and fantasy sci-fi, has some cool music and attitudes, plenty of silly ideas and nothing to hold it all together.
Sadako 3D
The first 3D release from the classic Japanese Ringu horror franchise directed by Tsutomu Hanabusa. Rumors spread round a school that there is actual footage on the Internet of someone’s suicide. People watch it, people die.
The Possession
A young girl buys an antique box at a junkyard sale. Directed by Ole Bornedal, the story moves along with the comforting predictability of clockwork, reworking many well worn tropes. Inside the box lives a malicious ancient spirit. Of course, the girl opens the box; of course people die.
Eclair (Okashi hourouki)
Adapted from a best selling novel by Shigeru Nishimura and featuring the debut of Hajime Yoshi, a child actor who has shot to fame on the back of this movie. A bittersweet tale of life in post-war Japan with a strong strain of nostalgia for the bad old days.
Fabulous 30
Empowerment chick-flick from Thailand about a woman who gets dumped by her longterm boyfriend after she turns 30 and then faces the challenge of finding love and commitment with a much younger man.
Rainbow Fireflies
Sequel to the popular Japanese anime feature Grave of the Fireflies, this film continues the story from Akiyuki Nosaka’s novel to its heartwarming conclusion. Directed by Konosuke Uda Rainbow Fireflies is stylistically indebted to the work of anime master Mamoru Hosoda.
Simon and the Oaks
Based on a best-selling Swedish novel, Simon and the Oaks is an epic tale of two families from 1939 to 1952. The film paints a picture of life in Sweden during World War II. Stars Bill Skarsgaard, brother of Stellan Skarsgaard.
Thermae Rome
The top grossing film in Japan this year, Thermae Rome is a wacky tale of an architect from ancient Rome (under the Emperor Hadrian) who discovers a time tunnel in his local bath house that leads to a bath house in contemporary Japan.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built