Trail of the Panda (貓熊團圓路)
Here’s another panda movie, this time from China. An orphan (naturally) finds that a cute panda cub is his only true friend, and this leads to the pair traipsing alone through the lovely, but dangerous, Sichuan countryside. For the Taiwan release, distributor Buena Vista International, a Disney company, has changed the Chinese title from “panda on the road home” to “panda on the road to reunion” in a pun on the names of the Taipei Zoo pandas. Walt Disney, who was famously anti-communist, would surely have been aghast. Also known as Touch of the Panda — and perhaps Curse of the Panda to independence activists.
Kung Fu Chefs (功夫廚神)
Legendary Hong Kong writer-director-actor-martial artist Sammo Hung (洪金寶) provides desperately needed backbone to this otherwise derivative action comedy from China. Hung’s disgraced chef takes on a young pup (Vanness Wu, 吳建豪) as an apprentice and the pair battle thugs and rival chefs before a cooking competition brings the episode to a close. Hung may acquit himself in this retread, but fans would really be better off watching an old copy of Pedicab Driver.
The Accidental Husband
Agony aunt of the New York airwaves Uma Thurman is married — not so happily — to publisher Colin Firth. Enter working class love interest Jeffrey Dean Morgan and we have a problem on our hands. This received rotten reviews on its British release early last year, which presumably had Firth’s name to recommend it, but Thurman’s star power has not been enough to secure screen bookings in the US. Directed by actor Griffin Dunne.
Beloved Clara
The strange relationship between composers Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms is the focus of this German-language film. Like the Beethoven yarn Immortal Beloved, this biopic prefers to treat its gifted subjects with the utmost respect, which is why it can’t be as entertaining as Amadeus or any of Ken Russell’s composer movies. Still, the story is compelling enough, there’s plenty of music and audiences may be inspired to seek the DVD of the stage production of the same name, which contains readings from actual letters between Brahms and the Schumanns.
Family Rules
A German black comedy from 2007 introduces us to Oliver, whose orphaned upbringing did not lead him to pandas in the wild, sadly. As an adult, he tries to make up for his lack of family by abducting several suitable-looking individuals (and a dog) and confining them in a derelict building. Now happily “married” and with kids and grandparents in tow, Oliver discovers that families aren’t as ideal as they sound. This won a few minor awards in Germany, though it had little impact elsewhere. Original title: Wir Sagen Du! Schatz.
Grave of the Fireflies
This is the latest, live-action version of the book by Akiyuki Nosaka about two Japanese siblings coping with the US bombing of Kobe at the end of World War II and the disorder that followed. There hasn’t been much attention paid to this release outside Japan; it may disappoint those enraptured by the celebrated animated version from 1988 (which Roger Ebert called one of the greatest war films).
Running the Sahara
Taiwanese ultra-marathon star Kevin Lin (林義傑) has been in the news a fair bit lately. This welcome documentary covers his attempt with two colleagues to cross the Sahara in a journey of nearly 7,000km. Along the way the men gain insight into themselves and the African predicament, not least desertification. Narrated by Matt Damon and directed by Oscar winner James Moll (The Last Days).
Love N’ Dancing
The good news about this, the latest American dance movie to hit Taipei, is that it’s in the mold of Japan’s Shall We Dance? rather than Flashdance. Amy Smart has a nice boyfriend in the shape of Billy Zane, but she can only fulfill her ambitions with another nice chappie (writer-producer-dancer Tom Malloy) on the Swing Dance floor. Screening at the Baixue theater in Ximending.
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