Ghosted
In a week with three film festivals, eight new features and three DVD promotional releases, the only film with a Taiwanese connection among them might struggle to compete. This German/Taiwanese co-production is directed by Monika Treut, who returns to Taiwanese themes once more after shooting documentaries on a local schoolgirl in 2005 and three notable women the year before. In Ghosted, a Taiwanese journalist (Hu Ting-ting, 胡婷婷, daughter of Taichung Mayor Jason Hu, 胡志強) looks into the death of a Taiwanese woman in Germany and hooks up with a German woman who knew her to find out what happened. There are ghosts and sexual attraction involved, but that hasn’t stopped the film from attracting terrible reviews.
A Perfect Getaway
Get away from it all with this ironically titled eye-candy-filled suspense film set in Hawaii. A couple (Milla Jovovich and Steve Zahn) hike out into the wilderness and meet two other couples in the process. Eventually the six join forces after it’s revealed that a homicidal couple is loose — and possibly among their number. Any film that keeps critics guessing is probably worth a ticket, but in this case a good sense of humor seals the deal.
The Informant!
Matt Damon plays real-life executive Mark Whitacre, whose bizarre role of self-aggrandizer while acting as an FBI informant makes for a juicy if platonic comedy from director Steven Soderbergh. Damon volunteers information to FBI agents about a price-fixing conspiracy that sends him on a jetsetting journey looking for incriminating evidence, but that’s not the half of it. Soderbergh’s Che films look positively experimental compared with this one, yet even this has elements that many moviegoers will not have seen before. If Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story fails to secure a release in Taiwan, this jaundiced view of corporate America will do just as well.
Skate or Die
Two kids who spend most of their time skateboarding are witnesses to a murder and suddenly find that their acrobatic skills will prove useful if they are to avoid the same fate. A French film with little fanfare and even less critical support, this might be diverting enough for Francophiles and skateboard enthusiasts. But it is the kind of film in which a cellphone goes off at exactly the wrong time.
Evangelion 2.0 - You Can (Not) Advance
The second in the rebooted, theatrical version of Japan’s Neon Genesis Evangelion phenomenon continues the saga of a gaggle of traumatized warrior teens, their nifty biomechanical vehicles and a range of lethal machines from outer space known as Angels that would destroy all humanity. Warning: This film punishes impatient viewers who walk out the moment the credits roll.
Les Destinees
Director Olivier Assayas adds to his impressive CV with an epic — but not bloated — story of how a romantic relationship starts, changes and endures over several decades in early 20th century France. Righteous Protestant minister Jean (Charles Berling) leaves his wife (Isabelle Huppert) after suspecting her of being unfaithful and hooks up instead with admirer Pauline (Emmanuelle Beart), whom he marries. After some time he is forced back into the family business, which offers significant existential challenges. With this cast and director you can’t go wrong, even if it is a lengthy journey. Based on the book Les Destinees Sentimentales, which is the French title for the film.
Goemon
Yosuke Eguchi stars as the titular character in this period piece/action romp. He’s a thief who attracts the attention of some very powerful officials in 16th century Japan when he steals a precious box that contains a valuable secret. This mixture of classic feudal intrigue, melodrama and high-impact combat has been praised for its visual innovation but not for its ability to engage with anything more substantial, which might make this Japan’s answer to Zack Snyder’s 300.
More Than a Game
Anyone who suffered through the Taiwanese basketball doco Attitude (態度) could be forgiven for wanting to steer clear of basketball flicks — no matter where they’re from. But this documentary from the US about LeBron James’ famed high school team might make you think twice. Full of action, personality and real personalities, this pulled some good reviews in its limited theatrical release last year, though the Village Voice did warn of fact sanitizing by Nike and LeBron’s PR team. Still, there’s more to this show than LeBron.
Shanghai Film Festival
The Spot theater, in conjunction with the Taipei City Government, is matching the mood of all things detente with this mini-festival of films under the misleading title of “Shanghai” — the selection has nothing to do with the city, and is more a mish-mash of six films of various themes and vintages, including two animated films. Screens from today until Monday, so get in quick.
Zandalee
No, this is not a remake of the Nicolas Cage potboiler about lust and infidelity in the Deep South — it’s the 1991 original, enjoying a brief DVD promotional release amid a more liberal censorship regime. So now’s your chance to see a much younger Cage and Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop) spar over Reinhold’s smoldering and frequently naked wife Zandalee (Erika Anderson, who hasn’t made a film in the last decade). Real movie buffs will jump at the chance, however, to watch Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix) as a gay confidant. Steve Buscemi and Marisa Tomei also star in this flick, which never made it to US theaters.
Honor
The co-director of the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle Kickboxer offers up another slice of hand-to-hand combat in this feature from 2006, also a DVD promotional release. Eclectic fighting styles are at the fore as a series of real-life wrestlers (Roddy Piper, for example) and other fighters portray badass Los Angeles thugs and war vets looking for or eschewing criminal glory. Notable for starring Joanna Pacula, who seems to have largely gone under the radar — but who has worked consistently — since coming to fame in 1983’s Gorky Park. Starts tomorrow.
Sema, The Warrior of Ayodhaya
Another film focusing on combat, this time from Thailand, Sema tells the tale of a humble rural lad who becomes a soldier and romances a woman betrothed to a powerful rival, triggering jealousy and many fight scenes. Released in 2003, this is the third DVD promotional release of the week. Low-budget, but there’s enough fight scenes and melodrama to impress uncritical fans.
Most heroes are remembered for the battles they fought. Taiwan’s Black Bat Squadron is remembered for flying into Chinese airspace 838 times between 1953 and 1967, and for the 148 men whose sacrifice bought the intelligence that kept Taiwan secure. Two-thirds of the squadron died carrying out missions most people wouldn’t learn about for another 40 years. The squadron lost 15 aircraft and 148 crew members over those 14 years, making it the deadliest unit in Taiwan’s military history by casualty rate. They flew at night, often at low altitudes, straight into some of the most heavily defended airspace in Asia.
Many people in Taiwan first learned about universal basic income (UBI) — the idea that the government should provide regular, no-strings-attached payments to each citizen — in 2019. While seeking the Democratic nomination for the 2020 US presidential election, Andrew Yang, a politician of Taiwanese descent, said that, if elected, he’d institute a UBI of US$1,000 per month to “get the economic boot off of people’s throats, allowing them to lift their heads up, breathe, and get excited for the future.” His campaign petered out, but the concept of UBI hasn’t gone away. Throughout the industrialized world, there are fears that
Like much in the world today, theater has experienced major disruptions over the six years since COVID-19. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine and social media have created a new normal of geopolitical and information uncertainty, and the performing arts are not immune to these effects. “Ten years ago people wanted to come to the theater to engage with important issues, but now the Internet allows them to engage with those issues powerfully and immediately,” said Faith Tan, programming director of the Esplanade in Singapore, speaking last week in Japan. “One reaction to unpredictability has been a renewed emphasis on
Taiwan’s democracy is at risk. Be very alarmed. This is not a drill. The current constitutional crisis progressed slowly, then suddenly. Political tensions, partisan hostility and emotions are all running high right when cool heads and calm negotiation are most needed. Oxford defines brinkmanship as: “The art or practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping, especially in politics.” It says the term comes from a quote from a 1956 Cold War interview with then-American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, when he said: ‘The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is
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