Django Unchained
Ever since Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino has been out in the wilderness, a recognized master of his craft unable, despite access to funds and some of the best actors in Hollywood, to put together a half decent film. With Django Unchained, the buzz is that Tarantino is back in form. This is not to say that Django Unchained, with its appealingly psychotic take on the western and race relations, is everybody’s cup of tea. The story of a freed slave (Jamie Foxx), who, with the help of a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz), sets out to rescue a maiden in distress (Kerry Washington) from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio), Django Unchained rides a crazy, violent course, making the best of Tarantino’s willingness to take wild risks. Roger Ebert describes Tarantino as having “an appreciation for gut-level exploitation film appeal, combined with an artist’s desire to transform that gut element with something higher, better, more daring,” and in Django Unchained both the bad boy and the artist come together to mesmerizing effect.
Faithball 天后之戰
Debut feature by Lin Li-shu (林立書), who was assistant director on local hits Winds of September (九降風) and Au Revoir Taipei (一頁台北), Faithball brings together baseball and Taiwan grassroots temple culture in an amusing take on the real-life story of a backwoods school baseball team that overcomes all kinds of obstacles to make it into the national championships. The film stars ABC singer Anthony Neely (倪安東) who hit Taiwan screens after his success on CTV’s One Million Star (超級星光大道) talent program. He is joined by Chantel Liu (劉香慈), who has emerged as a major star following her success in the TV soap Rookies’ Diary (新兵日記). There is plenty of gentle humor, and the background of the team’s faith in the goddess Matsu (媽祖) presents a more interesting picture of Taiwan’s religious culture than many more serious flicks.
Jack the Giant Slayer
The endless mining of fairy tales for action fantasy films carries on apace, with Jack the Giant Slayer, loosely based on Jack and the Beanstalk following close on the heels of the competent but eminently forgettable Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Predictably enough, the film rejigs the story to provide plenty of opportunity for CGI effects, combat sequences and of course romance that succeeds against the odds. The film tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand (Nicholas Hoult) unwittingly opens a gateway between the human world and that of a fearsome race of giants. He joins up with spritely princess Isabella (Eleanor Tomlinson), and there are supporting parts by the likes of Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, and Eddie Marsan, giving this B-film fantasy an A-list gloss.
Warm Bodies
An appealing spin off the zombie movie, Warm Bodies sees how this pure horror genre can be worked together with romantic comedy. It is an unusual mix, but one that works remarkably well in a low-key way. The relatively unknown cast, with Nicholas Hoult (also appearing in this week’s Jack the Giant Slayer) as R, a remarkably sentient zombie, and Teresa Palmer as Julie, a girl he saves from an attack and develops a relationship with, are appealing and amusing in equal measure. The film is given some ballast by John Malkovich, but it is the young leads who provide much of the warmth (if you can say that about a zombie flick), and director Jonathan Levine (50/50) keeps the pace just right for a comfortable 98 minutes of light, assured entertainment.
This is Forty
More Judd Apatow humor in this sequel to Knocked Up that takes the story of Pete and Debbie on to age 40, when all the issues of middle age, marriage, sex and children provide plenty of material for humor. If you like Apatow humor, This is Forty will be enjoyable, but it holds few surprises. Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are on firm ground, and work well with Apatow’s mix of bawdy humor rooted in the real issues of long term intimacy, and though the film is rather shapeless, there is a vital energy and appreciation of the absurd ups and downs of life. That said, if you are not into the humor of the less hygienic of bodily functions, This is Forty could be off putting.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
Peter Brighton was amazed when he found the giant jackfruit. He had been watching it grow on his farm in far north Queensland, and when it came time to pick it from the tree, it was so heavy it needed two people to do the job. “I was surprised when we cut it off and felt how heavy it was,” he says. “I grabbed it and my wife cut it — couldn’t do it by myself, it took two of us.” Weighing in at 45 kilograms, it is the heaviest jackfruit that Brighton has ever grown on his tropical fruit farm, located