Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Undoubtedly the major cinema event of the week, if not of December, and for fans, probably the most anticipated picture of 2013. Part two of a trilogy based on what was the slimmest of JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth novels, the massive three part treatment of a relatively simple story has provided director Peter Jackson the kind of freedom he never had in the densely plotted Lord of the Ring adaptations. He also has the kind of budgetary reach that any director would kill for, based on the massive success of those earlier movies. And Jackson delivers in spadefuls, creating a second installment that surpasses the first in its energy and momentum. The story is mysterious and exotic, but it is told with a geniality that was buried under the portentousness of the first series. Running two hours and 40 minutes, the action never sags, and for fans and newcomers alike, The Desolation of Smaug offers the kind of rollicking adventure story that we have not seen since the best of the Indiana Jones movies.
Oshin
Oshin was originally a TV series that proved one of the most watched Japanese TV dramas of all time when it was first released in the mid-1980s and was hugely popular in Taiwan and around Asia. It is the story of a young girl who grows up in impoverished circumstances and endures through many, many, many hardships (the original series ran for 297 episodes), and is set at the end of the Meiji era and into modern times. Oshin has become an iconic character recognized around Asia even by people who did not watch the series, a symbol of endurance through hard times and forbearance in the face of adversity. In the movie, the role of the young Oshin is played by Kokone Hamada, who according to publicity material, was selected from 2,471 applicants for the role. Oshin is unapologetic melodrama, and it is advisable to have a plentiful supply of hankies or tissue to see audiences through to the end.
I’m So Excited
A new Pedro Almodovar film is always to be welcomed, though it has been a long time since the master of the neurotic has achieved the kind of unsettling weirdness of Law of Desire and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which made him an international name. In I’m So Excited it is clear that the director and the cast are having the time of their lives in an entertaining romp that follows the crew and passengers of an airplane that is experiencing technical problems on a journey that is likely to end in flames. Death is looming, and this being an Almodovar film, the thing that is on everybody’s mind is sex. Death and sex are the foundations of Almodovar films, and in I’m So Excited, neither has seemed so much fun. Taken for what it is, there is plenty to keep fans entertained.
Delivery Man
Sometimes it just isn’t that easy to hate Vince Vaughn, who comes up with some truly terrible movie ideas, but also occasionally manages a mix of comedy and sentiment that is difficult to loathe. Such is the case with Delivery Man. The story follows David, an affable underachiever who discovers that he has fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic 20 years ago. Now he must decide whether or not to come forward when a number of them file a lawsuit to reveal his identity. Family, fatherhood, responsibility and bonding all get a workout, and David discovers something about how life can be made to have meaning. Vaughn’s usually snarky tone has been smoothed out with mid-life crisis philosophizing, and curiously enough, this is what makes Delivery Man an above average comedy.
Love, Marilyn
No one epitomizes the rise of celebrity culture more than the character of Marilyn Monroe, and Love, Marilyn, a documentary in which the great and good of Hollywood read from newly discovered journals and letters left by the actress and speak about her, takes a revealing look into the personality behind the icon. There is also archive footage from those who knew her and worked with her. Director Liz Garbus has brought together a list of Hollywood royalty that ranges from Lauren Bacall to Glenn Close, Joe DiMaggio to Lindsay Lohan. The picture of Marilyn Monroe revealed here is something utterly different from the dumb blonde of popular mythology, and fleshes out a character who worked relentlessly, overcoming what even friends suggest was somewhat limited acting skill, to be a great actor and a happy person. Both were incredibly difficult tasks.
A few weeks ago I found myself at a Family Mart talking with the morning shift worker there, who has become my coffee guy. Both of us were in a funk over the “unseasonable” warm weather, a state of mind known as “solastalgia” — distress produced by environmental change. In fact, the weather was not that out of the ordinary in boiling Central Taiwan, and likely cooler than the temperatures we will experience in the near-future. According to the Taiwan Adaptation Platform, between 1957 and 2006, summer lengthened by 27.8 days, while winter shrunk by 29.7 days. Winter is not
Taiwan’s post-World War II architecture, “practical, cheap and temporary,” not to mention “rather forgettable.” This was a characterization recently given by Taiwan-based historian John Ross on his Formosa Files podcast. Yet the 1960s and 1970s were, in fact, the period of Taiwan’s foundational building boom, which, to a great extent, defined the look of Taiwan’s cities, determining the way denizens live today. During this period, functionalist concrete blocks and Chinese nostalgia gave way to new interpretations of modernism, large planned communities and high-rise skyscrapers. It is currently the subject of a new exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Modern
March 25 to March 31 A 56-year-old Wu Li Yu-ke (吳李玉哥) was straightening out her artist son’s piles of drawings when she inadvertently flipped one over, revealing the blank backside of the paper. Absent-mindedly, she picked up a pencil and recalled how she used to sketch embroidery designs for her clothing business. Without clients and budget or labor constraints to worry about, Wu Li drew freely whatever image came to her mind. With much more free time now that her son had found a job, she found herself missing her home village in China, where she
In recent years, Slovakia has been seen as a highly democratic and Western-oriented Central European country. This image was reinforced by the election of the country’s first female president in 2019, efforts to provide extensive assistance to Ukraine and the strengthening of relations with Taiwan, all of which strengthened Slovakia’s position within the European Union. However, the latest developments in the country suggest that the situation is changing rapidly. As such, the presidential elections to be held on March 23 will be an indicator of whether Slovakia remains in the Western sphere of influence or moves eastward, notably towards Russia and