Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull schooled the competition last weekend as the fourth appearance of Harrison Ford in the role of the adventuring archaeologist raked in nearly US$127 million at the North American box office, contributing to an estimated US$312 million worldwide. But the film, which takes place in Peru, has many Peruvians angry after seeing the movie’s many clumsy — and often insulting — mistakes about their country. Peruvians are also angry at seeing Maya warriors from Central America speaking Quechua in the Peruvian jungle, where hundreds of native languages, but not Quechua, are spoken. The movie also shows quicksand, man-eating ants and enormous Hawaiian waterfalls, all of which do not exist in the Peruvian Amazonia.
In what is perhaps the biggest insult, director Steven Spielberg and writer George Lucas place the Maya pyramid of Chichen Itza, located in Mexico, in the Peruvian jungle.
Historian Manuel Burga, the former head of the University of San Marcos, said that Spielberg and Lucas were given bad advice.
PHOTO : AP
“Even if it is fiction there are many incorrect facts,” Burga said. “This is going to be damaging to many people who do not know our country, because it shows a Peruvian landscape that is not real.
Historian Teodoro Hampe is scathing in his view of they way Americans view the geography of Latin America: “For them Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia or Peru are all the same.”
French fashion house Christian Dior said yesterday it has dropped Sharon Stone from its Chinese advertisements and released a statement from the actress apologizing for saying the earthquake that struck China may have been the result of bad “karma” over its treatment of Tibet. The 50-year-old actress said she was “deeply sorry” for causing anguish and anger among Chinese people with her remarks in an interview last week. Stone models for Christian Dior, and the company’s Shanghai office issued the statement. A public relations manager for Dior in Shanghai said Stone would no longer appear in the company’s advertisements in China.
“Due to my inappropriate words and acts during the interview, I feel deeply sorry and sad about hurting Chinese people,” Stone said in the statement. “I am willing to take part in the relief work of China’s earthquake, and wholly devote myself to helping affected Chinese people.”
On TV, the fate of brutal North Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano may have been unclear when hit TV series The Sopranos ended last year, but his wardrobe is headed for a certain ending: it’s being auctioned for charity.
James Gandolfini, who played Soprano for six seasons over eight-and-a-half years, is selling his personal costume wardrobe in a Christie’s pop culture auction in New York on June 25, with all proceeds going to a charity that helps wounded US troops.
The 24 lots include a bloody outfit worn when Soprano was shot at the beginning of season six by Uncle Junior in a fit of dementia, which is estimated to fetch up to US$3,000, and his signature white tank top, light blue striped boxer shorts, striped short robe and leather scuffs that could make US$1,500.
Also up for grabs are a selection of costumes worn by other Sopranos characters, including Junior Soprano, Paulie Walnuts and A.J. Soprano.
As for the movie Sex and the City, which will be released in Taiwan May 20, the big question is: Do Carrie and Mr. Big marry or don’t they? Despite the success of the TV series, Sarah Jessica Parker said it was still a struggle to get the movie made.
“To make a movie about four women over 40 is really not the way Hollywood likes to spend their money,” she said, adding that the studio was swayed by the devotion of the show’s fans.
But there was also the problem of signing up all the stars, especially Kim Cattrall, who plays Samantha and was initially unwilling to make a film — but not because of a supposed rift with Parker, which both women laughed off.
“What a difference four years makes,” said Cattrall, who blamed exhaustion, a divorce, the end of the series, and her father’s diagnosis with dementia for her initial reluctance.
Kristin Davis, who plays Charlotte, and Cynthia Nixon, who plays Miranda, both said the movie was a dream come true. “We thought we were dead and we were resurrected,” Nixon said.
On April 26, The Lancet published a letter from two doctors at Taichung-based China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) warning that “Taiwan’s Health Care System is on the Brink of Collapse.” The authors said that “Years of policy inaction and mismanagement of resources have led to the National Health Insurance system operating under unsustainable conditions.” The pushback was immediate. Errors in the paper were quickly identified and publicized, to discredit the authors (the hospital apologized). CNA reported that CMUH said the letter described Taiwan in 2021 as having 62 nurses per 10,000 people, when the correct number was 78 nurses per 10,000
As we live longer, our risk of cognitive impairment is increasing. How can we delay the onset of symptoms? Do we have to give up every indulgence or can small changes make a difference? We asked neurologists for tips on how to keep our brains healthy for life. TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH “All of the sensible things that apply to bodily health apply to brain health,” says Suzanne O’Sullivan, a consultant in neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and the author of The Age of Diagnosis. “When you’re 20, you can get away with absolute
When the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces 50 years ago this week, it prompted a mass exodus of some 2 million people — hundreds of thousands fleeing perilously on small boats across open water to escape the communist regime. Many ultimately settled in Southern California’s Orange County in an area now known as “Little Saigon,” not far from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where the first refugees were airlifted upon reaching the US. The diaspora now also has significant populations in Virginia, Texas and Washington state, as well as in countries including France and Australia.
May 5 to May 11 What started out as friction between Taiwanese students at Taichung First High School and a Japanese head cook escalated dramatically over the first two weeks of May 1927. It began on April 30 when the cook’s wife knew that lotus starch used in that night’s dinner had rat feces in it, but failed to inform staff until the meal was already prepared. The students believed that her silence was intentional, and filed a complaint. The school’s Japanese administrators sided with the cook’s family, dismissing the students as troublemakers and clamping down on their freedoms — with
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