Bolt
This Disney animated feature tells the story of Bolt, a pumped-up little doggie whose TV star persona (should that be “canina”?) in an action show is a lot less real than he thinks. When he finds himself cast astray, the challenge is not only to adapt to the new world and his newfound physical limitations but also to find his true identity. Some have likened this well-received film to The Truman Show and doggone road epics like Homeward Bound, but the most fetching comparison that leaps to mind is Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, a tale of innocence supplanted that also ends with an action sequence in Hollywood. With the voices of John Travolta as Bolt, Miley Cyrus as his owner and Malcolm McDowell as the baddie. Screening in 3D at compatible theaters.
Transporter 3
Jason Statham is back in theaters as Frank Martin, the inscrutable deliveryman of choice for organized crime in Europe. In this entry, thugs kidnap the daughter of a Ukrainian environment official (Jeroen Krabbe from The Fugitive) to force him to do their bidding, and Statham is the man they turn to to keep her out of harm’s way — for the time being. Natalya Rudakova, as the daughter, offers her services as the exotic but irritating female love interest that Taiwan’s Shu Qi (舒淇) provided in Part 1. Written and produced — again — by Luc Besson.
Elegy
Ben Kingsley is a professor of literary criticism in New York who never got over the bug for seducing students — careful seductions, so as not to jeopardize his tenure — and his next target is Penelope Cruz. The wily bugger isn’t quite prepared for his own primal jealousy, and that’s before Cruz’s Cuban character ratchets up the emotional heat. A good supporting cast (Dennis Hopper, Patricia Clarkson, Peter Saarsgard) helps to sell a story that will put off a lot of potential audiences from the get-go. The Village Voice called this adaptation of Philip Roth’s book The Dying Animal “dreary,” but other critics have been kinder. Either way, it’s got Kingsley, who has seduced movie lovers for decades, and Cruz, whose best movies have been the ones that fewer people see.
The Last Princess
This is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, the rich clan warfare classic from 1958 that provided Western filmmakers with bountiful inspiration — not least George Lucas. This version of hidden gold and epic battles prefers celebrity and computer-generated special effects to characterization, which marks it as a would-be classic for the Nintendo era. Those who think depictions of samurai are falling apart on the big screen these days should check out Kurosawa’s oldies, or even the Lone Wolf and Cub series for immediate, if even more bloodthirsty, relief. Directed by Shinji Higuchi, whose last effort was The Sinking of Japan, which did reasonable business here two years ago.
The King of Ping Pong
An award-winning Swedish drama, the king of the title is a very large youngster with an odd family whose dirty laundry is more hindrance than help to his personal development. But he does have a supportive — if combative — brother, and his devotion to table tennis is a bonus. Family secrets emerge over time, and things take a turn from the slightly whimsical to the dramatic. Likened to My Life as a Dog, the classic Swedish thematic forerunner to this effort, there might also be a touch of the younger Jane Campion (Sweetie, for instance) in the way director Jens Jonsson goes about his business.
With the inauguration of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) William Lai (賴清德) today, the DPP has already announced plans for increased social spending. Meanwhile the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is pushing east coast infrastructure spending bills through the legislature, in part to feed and water its local patronage networks. The KMT plan is old: the first planning studies for it were done in 2012 under the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration. Even then the head of the highway administration, Wu Meng-feng (吳盟分), pointed out that on a typical weekday only 20 percent of the capacity of the east coast highways 9
Gaotai Mountain (高台山) and the three Daotian Peaks (小中大島田山回來) afford visitors a truly rewarding hike in Hsinchu County (新竹). Located in the foothills just beyond the charming Neiwan Old Street (內灣老街), the hike is well suited for hikers in a fair to good physical condition. It’s also a good introduction to the foothills of northwest Taiwan, along with some more adventurous — but still not terribly dangerous — rope and scrambling sections. As a bonus, there are Japanese ruins, hot springs and river tracing destinations such as Meihua Waterfall (梅花瀑布) and Bilin Waterfall (比麟瀑布) all located nearby. WHISPERING PINES The first section of
Like many young Taiwanese men who recently graduated from university, George Lee (李芳成) isn’t quite sure what he’ll do next. But some of his peers surely envy what he’s already achieved. During the pandemic, while staying with his brother in California, Lee started an online food page, Chez Jorge. At first, it was a straightforward record of what he cooked each day, with many of the dishes containing meat. Lee soon began to experiment with plant-based dishes, specifically vegan versions of Taiwanese dishes he was already familiar with. “Very often, I found myself awed by not only how delicious they were,
May 20 to May 26 The two American HU-16 seaplanes hovered helplessly above the roaring waves, unable to save their seven comrades who had parachuted into the Pacific Ocean after their plane malfunctioned. As they were discussing the next plan of action over the airwaves, a Taiwanese plane overheard the conversation and told them to contact Chin Moon Fun (陳文寬) — “because that guy can land a plane on any water surface!” On March 18, 1954, Chin, who co-owned Foshing Airlines (復興航空, renamed TransAsia in 1992), hurriedly flew one of the company’s two amphibious PBY Catalina planes to the scene. Even though