District 13 — Ultimatum (Banlieue 13 — Ultimatum)
Luc Besson gives us plenty of style and some good action sequences held together in what might generously be called a plot that is about nefarious dealings in the French government put right by an alliance of street gangs under the guidance of super cop Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli). Don’t expect it to make too much sense. All the racial stereotypes also come out of the woodwork, with Arian Nation, Asian, Latino, black and Islamic crime syndicates all sporting ethnic/punk fashions. It’s pretty good humored, and Tomaso and sidekick Leito (David Belle) have some seriously appealing moves. The pace is frenetic and at 101 minutes, it’s over before you start asking yourself too many questions.
The Back-up Plan
Originally scheduled to open last week,
this Jennifer Lopez vehicle about a single woman who finalizes
her artificial insemination plans on the same day
as she meets the man of her dreams — in this case Australian hunk Alex O’Loughlin — seems off-puttingly gynecological, and
is only made worse by a script and acting that has made-for-TV written all over it. Some good supporting performances, but
no chemistry in the
lead roles.
The Maid (La Nana)
A Chilean film about the lot of a domestic helper, this low-key work has impressed critics. In addition to a slew of Latin American awards, it also picked up the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema category for director Sebasian Silva and Special Jury Prize for lead actress Catalina Saavedra at the Sundance Film Festival last year. The story of a maid who has been with the same family for 23 years, facing rivalry from a new, younger home helper looks deeply into the tensions of an intimate and yet unequal relationship. Violence simmers beneath the surface and little household secrets make life uncomfortable for all.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
If you haven’t had enough of Freddy Krueger, then here is yet another dose. It is 25 years and a million miles from the original Wes Craven feature, and the primal fear once inspired by Krueger has now become the stuff of pop culture. Directed by Samuel Bayer and produced by Michael Bay, the volume is turned up on all the familiar riffs from the previous Nightmare movies, but really it’s just more of the same. The addition of CGI effects in this latest version is generally agreed to be less than successful, and while the rest of the movie is perfectly competent, Freddy Krueger is no match for the weight
of history.
Romantic Women Film Festival (善變女人心影展)
A film festival organized by the art house Wonderful Theater (真善美戲院, formerly The Majestic) brings together a gaggle of recent art house releases under a single banner, all relating to love, however tenuously. Films include Breakfast on Pluto, A French Gigolo, Facing Window, Black Ice, Irina Palm, The Valet, The Unknown Woman, Rabbit Without Ears, and Whatever Lola Wants. The festival runs until May 28. Books of four tickets are available for NT$600, and eight tickets for NT$1,080. For more information about screening times, visit the festival Web site at www.movie.com.tw/wonderful.
Welcome
This French film with dialogue in French, English and Kurdish, Welcome has had a successful run on the European festival circuit. A drama dealing with love amid the chaos of the largely Middle Eastern refugee camps around Calais, Welcome tells the story of Kurdish boy Bilal, who, after a massive trek across Europe, faces the final hurdle of reaching England. He decides to swim the Channel, and gets help from swimming instructor Simon, who is in the throes of a divorce. A strong script and acting, along with sensitive handling by director Philippe Lioret, make a topical issue come to life.
In Taiwan’s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned for this year, but with the Jan. 1 resignation by the currently indicted Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) two parties are now in play. If a challenger to acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) appears we will examine that race in more depth. Currently their election is set for Feb. 15. EXTREMELY
Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (肖千), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao’s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His “Seven truths on why Taiwan always will be China’s” presented a “greatest hits” of the litany of PRC falsehoods. This includes: Taiwan’s indigenous peoples were descended from the people of China 30,000 years ago; a “Chinese” imperial government administrated Taiwan in the 14th century; Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), “recovered” Taiwan for China; the Qing owned
Jan. 20 to Jan. 26 Taipei was in a jubilant, patriotic mood on the morning of Jan. 25, 1954. Flags hung outside shops and residences, people chanted anti-communist slogans and rousing music blared from loudspeakers. The occasion was the arrival of about 14,000 Chinese prisoners from the Korean War, who had elected to head to Taiwan instead of being repatriated to China. The majority landed in Keelung over three days and were paraded through the capital to great fanfare. Air Force planes dropped colorful flyers, one of which read, “You’re back, you’re finally back. You finally overcame the evil communist bandits and
They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America’s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself. Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy. “An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said. He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk
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