Pan
With the abundance of Peter Pan films in cinema history, 1991’s Hook was notable for its original story featuring a middle-aged Peter who had become a “real world” corporate lawyer and had forgotten about Neverland. The next major Pan production, 2003’s Peter Pan, was probably the most faithful to the original 1911 play, exploring themes — such as Peter and Wendy’s romantic tension — that were otherwise dulled down to cater to a juvenile target audience. The latest version, Pan, is an origin story, back in the days before Peter could fly and a young and dapper Captain Hook was an ally against Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). This version of Neverland looks colorful and fantastic enough (despite the pirates inexplicably singing Nirvana and Ramones songs), but will its simple plot with Peter as the “chosen one who needs to discover his true potential” live up to its production?
The Walk
Wasn’t there just a film about the exact same person and event? Oh, that was seven years ago, but most people will still remember James Marsh’s excellent Man on Wire, which won an Oscar for best documentary. This new, fictionalized version tells the same story of Philippe Petit, who in 1974 illegally wire-walked between New York’s Twin Towers eight times. Yet Marsh’s version, being a strict documentary, wasn’t able to show the grandeur of this “art coup of the century.” As a docudrama, however, and with abundant use of 3D visuals, The Walk director Robert Zemeckis is able to transport the audience to the scene of the breathtaking stunt. It just takes a while, as the Zemeckis employs a slow buildup from the moment the idea arises in Petit’s head through his preparations, all in dramatic, crime-heist fashion. But most critics say it’s worth the wait. Just do yourself a favor and watch it in 3D.
Office (華麗上班族之生活與生存)
Hong Kong director Johnnie To (杜琪峰) takes a cinematic stab at Sylvia Chang’s (張艾嘉) acclaimed musical Design for Living, and with Chang and Chow Yun-fat (周潤發) as the stars, the film marks the trio’s first collaboration in 25 years. The film takes the audience through a charming and vivid song-and-dance look at a finance company before and after the 2008 global financial crisis. It portrays the near-absurd every day drama of Hong Kong’s working environment by following various characters in the company. True to its musical roots, the film is minimalistically shot on a revolving set and features songs by Taiwanese veteran composer and singer Lo Ta-yu (羅大佑) and prolific Hong Kong lyricist Albert Leung (林夕). If you understand Chinese, though, you might wonder why such a lavish name, which translates to “the life and survival of glamorous office workers” is given such a simple English translation.
Knight of Cups
A long time ago, a prince from the east was sent westward by his father to retrieve a pearl. After drinking from a cup, he fell into a deep slumber. But what is Terence Malick’s latest film really about? Like Malick’s recent work (such as Tree of Life), it’s hard to describe this film. The trailer doesn’t show much narrative, mostly portraying Christian Bale as a wildly successful Los Angeles screenwriter who is clearly unhappy and lost in life. The first part is full of scenes of him indulging in Hollywood’s hedonistic lifestyle to a dark thriller soundtrack amidst depressed musings, then turns to what seems like hope and redemption. It’s grandiose, impressionistic, philosophical stuff without a straightforward narrative yet featuring a big name cast (Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Antonio Banderas), something you just have to go watch to make or not make sense of.
Fathers and Daughters
After making a movie about fatherhood in 2006’s Pursuit of Happyness, Gabriele Muccino’s latest film revisits the topic, featuring Russell Crowe as a Pulitzer Prize winning author struggling with the death of his wife and mental illness as his relatives try to take custody of his daughter. Twenty-something years later, we see the daughter struggling to form relationships as a result of her childhood. Fathers and Daughters is the title of Crowe’s character’s award-winning book, written about the daughter whom he calls “potato chip.” The trailer shows pretty standard tear-jerking dramatic scenes that border on cheesiness, moving back and forth between Crowe’s worsening condition and his daughter as an adult struggling to maintain a relationship with this wonderful guy who is trying to open up her heart and help her let go. Just don’t cringe when you hear lines like “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
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
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
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