Rated PG-13, directed by Bill Eagles, with Susan Lynch (Dorothy), Iain Glen (Tony), Jake D'Arcy (Train Guard), Rachel Weisz (Petula), Tom Mannion (Brian McMinn), Maurice Roeves (Ronnie McMinn), running time: 86 minutes.
A so-called comedic thriller, Beautiful Creatures shows that women can win in a world filled with misogynistic men. Dorothy just barely escapes her house after a beating from her boyfriend, Tony, when she stumbles upon Petula, who is herself taking a pounding from her boyfriend, Brian. Dorothy leaps to the rescue, knocking Brian over the head with a steel pipe. The two women drag him off, but he later dies when he falls out of the bathtub they've placed him in. They set up his death to look like a disappearance, all the while stirring up Thelma and Louise-sized problems that they predictably manage to overcome. Problem is, there's nothing comedic nor thrilling about watching the women become as sadistic as they men they struggle against.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LONG HSIANG
In Taiwan’s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned for this year, but with the Jan. 1 resignation by the currently indicted Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) two parties are now in play. If a challenger to acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) appears we will examine that race in more depth. Currently their election is set for Feb. 15. EXTREMELY
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Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (肖千), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao’s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His “Seven truths on why Taiwan always will be China’s” presented a “greatest hits” of the litany of PRC falsehoods. This includes: Taiwan’s indigenous peoples were descended from the people of China 30,000 years ago; a “Chinese” imperial government administrated Taiwan in the 14th century; Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), “recovered” Taiwan for China; the Qing owned
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