The Three Musketeers
The cinematic version of the story goes all the way back to 1948 with Gene Kelly as the young D’Artagnan and Lana Turner as the evil Milady de Winter. The 1993 film, with Kiefer Sutherland and Charlie Sheen headlining, did little to replace Richard Lester’s classic from 1973, and now we have a version of this much told tale for the 21st century. Now the role of the intriguing Milady de Winter is taken over by action star Milla Jovovich, and the whole movie has left Alexandre Dumas’ Paris far, far behind, sporting battles between zeppelins equipped with cannon and lots of wire-assisted acrobatics. The occasionally stunning action sequences are not sufficient to make up for the flabby middle section, in which the filmmakers try, not quite successfully, to reproduce something akin to a plot. Unlike Lester’s earlier version with its bawdy streak, this new outing is aimed at a mid-teen audience, playing out like a high school adventure story with swords and lovely clothes.
In Time
“Time is money” is a phrase that gets a real working over in In Time, a film with a very pretty cast in the shape of Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. The story is set in a future in which the clock runs out for people when they hit 25, and then they need to get more time; and time costs. Only the rich can purchase time, living to a great age (though without aging). Will Salas (Timberlake) gets given a whole bunch of time by a rich man who has had enough, but this newfound temporal wealth makes Salas a target for criminals and other assorted nasties. Plenty of action, but the lack of chemistry between the leads just about sinks the film. High production values and a veneer of sophistication mean that In Time has its moments, but they simply don’t last long enough.
Warrior
A film in which the inspirational uplift of Rocky meets the new fight medium of MMA (mixed marital arts). Tommy (Tom Hardy) is an ex-marine who has been engaged in Iraq and is still looking for a fight. He hires his father, a former coach gone to seed (Nick Nolte), to train him up as an MMA fighter. His estranged brother Brendan (Joel Edgerton), a physics teacher, engages in street fighting to earn extra money. Unbeknownst to each other, they are both eyeing a big prize fight in which they will find success, redemption and possibly revenge. The two brothers are clearly destined to go head-to-head. There is plenty of teary turmoil among big, strong men, but there is physical turmoil as well, with some stunning fight sequences.
Pick the Youth (皮克青春)
Riding the wave started by Cape No. 7 (海角七號), first-time director Chen Ta-pu (陳大璞) joins forces with producer Yee Chih-yen (易智言), director of Blue Gate Crossing (藍色大門), to make yet another movie of youthful rebellion and rock ’n’ roll dreams. There are plenty of familiar themes, from the geeky music prodigy and the school bad-boy to the pretty girl who vacillates between the two, and, of course, a host of variously disapproving or sympathetic adults. Though largely derivative, there are some solid performances and moments when shredding guitar riffs pass adequately for an expression of adolescent frustration.
Sleepwalker in 3D
A new release by Oxide Pang (彭順), this time taking his vision of the dark places in which dreams and reality meet into a new dimension — 3D that is. Yi, played by Sinje Lee (李心潔), is a young woman who suffers from recurring dreams and also has a problem with sleepwalking. When a man walks out of her dreams and into her life, the boundary between sleep and waking blurs into a terrifying belief that she may actually be a murderer. Pang is a master of this style of occult horror, and this new release is unlikely to disappoint his fans.
If Not Us, Who? (Wer wenn nicht wir)
Bernward Vesper and fellow university student Gudrun Ensslin begin a passionate love affair in the stifling atmosphere of provincial West Germany in the 1960s. They become the core of what was to become the Red Army Faction, and in many respects If Not Us, Who? can be seen as a prequel to the The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008). Though the drama of its protagonists gets bogged down by dense scenes of political debate, the film scores well for its painstaking attention to detail, which was provided by eminent documentary filmmaker Andres Veiel, and strong performances by the cast members.
The Ways of Wine
Interesting stylistic experiment in which Argentine director Nicolas Carreras uses a documentary style to tell the story of a world-famous sommelier who must reconnect with the grape after losing his sense of smell. It follows the story of real-life sommelier Charlie Arturaola, and combines techniques taken from reality TV and drama in chronicling his journey through Argentina’s famous Mendoza wine region, where Arturaola uses every possible technique to stimulate his senses. A sure hit for oenophiles with its real grasp of the subtleties of wine tasting, but its lack of dramatic punch might limit its audience.
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Stars of Milos
The second feature film based on the Fullmetal Alchemist manga and anime franchise that presents what is a substantially original story with characters that feature only in the movie.
2011 Documentary Film Festival, New Taipei, New Vision (2011機不可失主題紀錄片影展)
The fifth edition of the CNEX Documentary Film Festival opens tomorrow with a lineup of more than 55 nonfiction works from around the world. Organized around the theme of “crisis and opportunity,” the festival has put together four sections showcasing works that explore issues ranging from global financial crises and natural disasters to personal challenges and change. Highlights include several award-winning documentary films by China’s Jia Zhangke (賈樟柯). The nine-day event takes place at several venues across Taipei, including the auditoriums at Eslite Xinyi Store (誠品信義店) and Dunnan Eslite Bookstore (誠品敦南店) as well as Banciao Cultural Center (板橋多功能文教館) in New Taipei City. For more information, visit cnexff.pixnet.net/blog. Tickets cost NT$100 per screening and are available from 7-Eleven ibon and Hi-Life (萊爾富) Life-ET kiosks, NTCH ticketing and online at www.artsticket.com.tw. Read page 16 in tomorrow’s edition for full coverage of the event.
Wooden houses wedged between concrete, crumbling brick facades with roofs gaping to the sky, and tiled art deco buildings down narrow alleyways: Taichung Central District’s (中區) aging architecture reveals both the allure and reality of the old downtown. From Indigenous settlement to capital under Qing Dynasty rule through to Japanese colonization, Taichung’s Central District holds a long and layered history. The bygone beauty of its streets once earned it the nickname “Little Kyoto.” Since the late eighties, however, the shifting of economic and government centers westward signaled a gradual decline in the area’s evolving fortunes. With the regeneration of the once
Even by the standards of Ukraine’s International Legion, which comprises volunteers from over 55 countries, Han has an unusual backstory. Born in Taichung, he grew up in Costa Rica — then one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — where a relative worked for the embassy. After attending an American international high school in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital, Han — who prefers to use only his given name for OPSEC (operations security) reasons — moved to the US in his teens. He attended Penn State University before returning to Taiwan to work in the semiconductor industry in Kaohsiung, where he
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
Perched on Thailand’s border with Myanmar, Arunothai is a dusty crossroads town, a nowheresville that could be the setting of some Southeast Asian spaghetti Western. Its main street is the final, dead-end section of the two-lane highway from Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city 120kms south, and the heart of the kingdom’s mountainous north. At the town boundary, a Chinese-style arch capped with dragons also bears Thai script declaring fealty to Bangkok’s royal family: “Long live the King!” Further on, Chinese lanterns line the main street, and on the hillsides, courtyard homes sit among warrens of narrow, winding alleyways and
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