Taiwanese film Night Market Hero (雞排英雄) has continued an impressive run at the local box office, grossing more than NT$90 million (US$3.05 million) and setting itself up possibly as the next blockbuster hit following Monga (艋舺) and Cape No. 7 (海角七號).
Night Market Hero, the feature debut of director Yeh Tien-lun (葉天倫), focuses on the night market culture of Taiwan and follows a group of vendors at a bustling night market whose lives are filled with rivalries and unspoken romances until they find a common cause to resist politicians and property developers eyeing the land on which the vendors have made their living for a decade.
The film features model-turned-actor Blue Lan (藍正龍), Chu Ke-liang (豬哥亮), a popular stand-up comedian and TV host, and -comedienne Lotus Wang (王彩樺).
Photo courtesy of Chinlai Artists Agency
Jackie Liu, from the local office of film distributor Twentieth Century Fox, said yesterday that box office receipts had reached NT$90.93 million by Sunday since the film’s Jan. 28 release.
Although still far behind last year’s box office hit Monga, which grossed NT$258 million, and the 2008 hit Cape No. 7, which amassed about NT$530 million, Night Market Hero has performed well from the start.
In the first weekend following its release, the film earned NT$12.56 million, and within 10 days, it had reached NT$54 million, Liu said.
Local film critic Lan Tzu-wei said on his blog that Night Market Hero might not show many new ideas on an artistic level, but its portrayal of stereotypes of Taiwanese culture has made it a major draw.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
Taiwan’s armed forces have established response protocols for a wide range of sudden contingencies, including the “Wan Chun Plan” to protect the head of state, the Ministry of Defense (MND) said today. After US President Donald Trump on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, concerns have been raised as to whether China would launch a similar “decapitation strike” on Taiwan. The armed forces regularly coordinate with relevant agencies and practice drills to ensure preparedness for a wide range of scenarios, Vice Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told reporters before a
RSS