Rated R, directed by Marc Forster, with Billy Bob Thornton (Hank Grotowski), Peter Boyle (Buck Grotowski), Heath Ledger (Sonny Grotwoski), Halle Berry (Leticia Musgrove), Sean ``P. Diddy" Combs (Lawrence Musgrove), running time 108 minutes.
The Grotowskis are prison people. Three generations of men have served as wardens and overseen the executions of dozens of people. Hank Grotowski, like his father Buck, was raised to believe in the necessity of law and order and the worthlessness of African Americans. When he becomes involved with a black woman whose husband he helped put to death, it draws sharp lines of confrontation between him and his family. The hatred his father feels toward him surfaces, as does his own hatred for his son. The film earned Halle Berry a Best Actress Oscar and a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, but Billy Bob Thornton's performance is no less riveting as he earns the audience's good graces despite the despicability inherent in his
If one asks Taiwanese why house prices are so high or why the nation is so built up or why certain policies cannot be carried out, one common answer is that “Taiwan is too small.” This is actually true, though not in the way people think. The National Property Administration (NPA), responsible for tracking and managing the government’s real estate assets, maintains statistics on how much land the government owns. As of the end of last year, land for official use constituted 293,655 hectares, for public use 1,732,513 hectares, for non-public use 216,972 hectares and for state enterprises 34 hectares, yielding
The small platform at Duoliang Train Station in Taitung County’s Taimali Township (太麻里) served villagers from 1992 to 2006, but was eventually shut down due to lack of use. Just 10 years later, the abandoned train station had become widely known as the most beautiful station in Taiwan, and visitors were so frequent that the village had to start restricting traffic. Nowadays, Duoliang Village (多良) is known as a bit of a tourist trap, with a mandatory, albeit modest, admission fee of NT$10 giving access to a crowded lane of vendors with a mediocre view of the ocean and the trains
Traditionally, indigenous people in Taiwan’s mountains practice swidden cultivation, or “slash and burn” agriculture, a practice common in human history. According to a 2016 research article in the International Journal of Environmental Sustainability, among the Atayal people, this began with a search for suitable forested slopeland. The trees are burnt for fertilizer and the land cleared of stones. The stones and wood are then piled up to make fences, while both dead and standing trees are retained on the plot. The fences are used to grow climbing crops like squash and beans. The plot itself supports farming for three years.
For many people, Bilingual Nation 2030 begins and ends in the classroom. Since the policy was launched in 2018, the debate has centered on students, teachers and the pressure placed on schools. Yet the policy was never solely about English education. The government’s official plan also calls for bilingualization in Taiwan’s government services, laws and regulations, and living environment. The goal is to make Taiwan more inclusive and accessible to international enterprises and talent and better prepared for global economic and trade conditions. After eight years, that grand vision is due for a pulse check. RULES THAT CAN BE READ For Harper Chen (陳虹宇), an adviser
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