The Laundryman 青田街一號
The Laundryman is the directorial debut of Taiwanese writer Lee Chung (李中), who apparently cannot be mentioned without referring to his famous father, writer and screenwriter Hsiao Yeh (小野). It seems to be a mishmash of genres, as the trailer opens with a laundry shop that doubles as an assassination service, but things turn paranormal when a hitman with a troubled soul starts seeing ghosts and seeks help from a cutesy, pink-haired psychic medium who turns into the vehicle for these ghosts to interact with the hitman. Like many Taiwanese movies these days, the dialogue and action seem to take place in a constant manic state, which actually could be an endearing national trademark after you get used to it. It’s an irreverent black comedy with lots of violence that is sure to entertain, but also takes a look at human nature through the absurd.
Hitman: Agent 47
The genetically-engineered assassin protagonist of the popular first-person shooter video game Hitman: Codename 47 hits the big screens again in this reboot of the 2007 adaptation. This time, Agent 47 goes up against an organization that wants to find out the secret to his powers, and replicate them. Not surprisingly, he teams up with a young woman, also with secret origins, who may have the key to it all. There’s just one problem here. In the game, the player can choose to advance by way of an all-out bloodbath, but earns more points for tactical efficiency such as conserving bullets, not triggering alarms and killing targets without collateral damage. Yet, the trailer shows Agent 47 choosing the former path (such as ramming enemies with cars) which may indicate that the movie kind of misses the point of the game, or of an assassin movie at all.
Marvel Stories
If you’re feeling blue that there won’t be any Marvel action movies until Feb. 2016, take solace in the fact that Taiwan is the only country in the world that will be showing the French television documentaries Marvel Renaissance and Marvel Universe in one setting as Marvel Stories. The first film tells the story of how Marvel recovered from its 1996 bankruptcy to take over Hollywood and become an entertainment industry trendsetter. Descriptions of the film promises juicy tidbits and insider information that would surprise the casual fan, and the audience will hear from Hollywood producers, comic book writers and Avi Arad, former head of Marvel Entertainment and founder of Marvel Studios. Not sure what the second film is about, but hey, it’s 70 more minutes of Marvel screen time you’ll get to enjoy this year.
Pixels
If you grew up playing classic arcade games like Donkey Kong and Centipede, you’ll probably be ecstatic about the film’s premise of giant, pixelated characters from these games attacking the earth and its promotional posters featuring Pac-Man devouring its way through San Francisco. The US government doesn’t know what to do, so the illiterate president (Kevin James) turns to his best friend, a former video game child prodigy-turned-sad sack loser played by, if it isn’t obvious enough, Adam Sandler. Such a promising premise seems to have been turned into a formulaic Sandler bro-comedy with him playing the same person he’s played in most of his films. Worst thing is, it’s not even an original idea — the movie was inspired by a two-and-a-half minute YouTube short film by French filmmaker Patrick Jean, which critics say is better than its feature-lenght counterpart. I won’t lie, though, the special effects are pretty cool.
The Tribe
Set in a school for deaf children, The Tribe is an innovative reason to make a silent film — all dialogue is carried out in Ukrainian sign language, and there is no music. “You don’t need subtitles or voiceovers, because for love and hatred you don’t need translation,” the trailer declares. The effects are haunting, fitting for the grim portrayal of human brutality in a school ruled by a gang of students, “The Tribe,” which deals in organized crime and prostitution. When a member of the tribe breaks all the unwritten rules in the name of love, things turn nasty. The Guardian calls it “one of the most disturbing films of the year,” presumably in a way completely opposite from The Human Centipede 3, yet hitting on the same theme of how depraved people can be.
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
Toward the outside edge of Taichung City, in Wufeng District (霧峰去), sits a sprawling collection of single-story buildings with tiled roofs belonging to the Wufeng Lin (霧峰林家) family, who rose to prominence through success in military, commercial, and artistic endeavors in the 19th century. Most of these buildings have brick walls and tiled roofs in the traditional reddish-brown color, but in the middle is one incongruous property with bright white walls and a black tiled roof: Yipu Garden (頤圃). Purists may scoff at the Japanese-style exterior and its radical departure from the Fujianese architectural style of the surrounding buildings. However, the property
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