Rust and Bone
A film by writer-director Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) Rust and Bone tells a tale of a relationship between Alain, a tough bouncer with little sensitivity for others, played by Euro-hunk Matthias Schoenaerts, and Stephanie (Marion Cotillard), a trainer of killer whales who has suffered a terrible accident that has made her a paraplegic. The narrative at the heart of Rust and Bone could all too easily be a vehicle for sentiment and over-the-top histrionics, but the two leads manage to keep the story grounded, but critics are divided about whether they managed to rise above the basic cliches that fill hundreds of movies about the (spiritually or physically) disabled.
The Silver Linings Playbook
It’s as American as apple pie: baseball, mental illness, infidelity, and finding the girl who was always meant for you. The film, directed by David O. Russell (Three Kings and The Fighter), has won critical and audience favor for its ability to circumvent the predictable tropes of both the rom-com and the oddball movie, delivering plenty of life-affirming messages without ever losing its light touch or its gritty edge. Jennifer Lawrence delivers a gutsy performance, playing alongside Bradley Cooper, who proves there is more to him than what we saw in The Hangover and The A-Team. The stars are brilliantly supported by a cast of A-listers. Weaving through a maze of well-worn cinematic tropes, The Silver Lining Playbook never loses its way.
The Master
A film by director Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood), and with leading players Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, The Master sets up expectations that are almost impossible to reach, and then reaches them. The story of a naval veteran (Phoenix) who returns from war traumatized and uncertain about his future, then finds “The Cause,” led by a charismatic speaker (Hoffman), who may or may not be something more than an inspired charlatan. The Master address fundamental issues of American identity in such a way that some critics have claimed it as the cinematic equivalent of “The Great American Novel.” While the film traces the arc of a man falling under the spell of a charismatic authority figure, it also makes the audience succumb to its own spellbinding magic.
Flight
One of Denzel Washington’s meatiest roles in some time, the actor plays Whip Whitaker, a veteran pilot who saves a plane full of passengers from almost certain death through quick thinking and composure under pressure. He is hailed as a hero until the investigation reveals his dark secret: that he was flying under the influence of a mixture of drugs and alcohol that would floor most people, and that he had been doing this for a long time. Washington manages to keep audience sympathy and although there are many scenes inviting showy emotionalism, Washington holds back to brilliant effect, creating a character who is deeply flawed, admirable, weak, arrogant and all too human.
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
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
Approaching her mid-30s, Xiong Yidan reckons that most of her friends are on to their second or even third babies. But Xiong has more than a dozen. There is Lucky, the street dog from Bangkok who jumped into a taxi with her and never left. There is Sophie and Ben, sibling geese, who honk from morning to night. Boop and Pan, both goats, are romantically involved. Dumpling the hedgehog enjoys a belly rub from time to time. The list goes on. Xiong nurtures her brood from her 8,000 square meter farm in Chiang Dao, a mountainous district in northern Thailand’s