The Bullet Vanishes (消失的子彈)
Hong Kong take on Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes movies, with director Law Chi-leung (羅志良) indulging in all kinds of cinematic trickery to give the film a roller-coaster feel as it wends its way through a complicated tale of death and betrayal. Detectives Song (played by Lau Ching-wan, 劉青雲) and Guo (played by Nicolas Tse, 謝霆鋒) are the Holmes and Watson duo, and they must deal with a series of execution style shootings. The mystery turns out to be that the bullets in all these incidents cannot be found. Is something supernatural at work? Is there a conspiracy? Law is so caught up in making sure that there is not a single dull moment on screen, that he over eggs the pudding with all kinds of action sequences, tense stand offs and technical CSI-type exposition that there is no time for the characters to establish themselves.
When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep (南方小羊牧場)
Light-hearted romance set in Taipei’s cram-school street — Nanyang Street (南陽街) — near Taipei Railway Station, by director Hou Chi-jan (侯季然). It stars a list of well-known celebrities including the infamously buxom Kuo Shu-yao (郭書瑤), aka Yao Yao (瑤瑤), and veteran of stage and screen Tsai Chen-nan (蔡振南) doing his usual world-weary avuncular role. The central romance stars Kai Ko (柯震東), who made his musical and acting debut with last year’s hit You Are the Apple of My Eye (那些年，我們一起追的女孩), and new talent Jian Man-shu (簡嫚書). They are slotted into a storyline about young love and broken hearts that is as cliched as it is implausible.
Due West: Our Sex Journey (一路向西)
Following on from a string of dubious Hong Kong softcore movies such as the Sex and Zen franchise, Due West: Our Sex Journey offers not much that is new. Director Mark Wu (胡耀輝) wrote and starred in last year’s 3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy, and his efforts to up the ante do not really come off. The film tells the story of Frankie (played by Justin, 張建聲), a young man looking for love, and good sex, after escaping from a domineering mother. His journey has a few laughs, plenty of crude jokes, but enjoyment relies heavily on one’s ability to stomach a crass objectification of women portrayed in a variety of outdated sex-doll stereotypes.
Magic Mike
Steven Soderbergh may well have his tongue in his cheek with Magic Mike, a film about a male stripper (Channing Tatum) who takes a young performer (Alex Pettyfer) under his wing and shows him how to party and make easy money. This is a movie for which there is a template, so it comes as no surprise that Magic Mike wants more; he wants something real (yawn!). He has an artistic bent, he finds a girl who is serious and doesn’t appreciate his lifestyle. Amid the acres of well-muscled and oiled bodies, there is a story about friendship, loyalty and self-realization. And then again, you can just enjoy the beefcake.
Trouble with the Curve
An amiable film with an amiable cast starring Clint Eastwood in a role of grouchy old man that he has made as much his own as he did Dirty Harry in his younger days. Trouble with the Curve is set against the background of baseball, but wants to be about father-daughter relationships, and to this end the ever likeable Amy Adams does her best. Perhaps it is just that she is a bit too nice, and there is none of the bitterness that might have given the film a bit of depth. That said, there is enough intelligent dialogue and an understated humor to make this above average entertainment.
April 28 to May 4 During the Japanese colonial era, a city’s “first” high school typically served Japanese students, while Taiwanese attended the “second” high school. Only in Taichung was this reversed. That’s because when Taichung First High School opened its doors on May 1, 1915 to serve Taiwanese students who were previously barred from secondary education, it was the only high school in town. Former principal Hideo Azukisawa threatened to quit when the government in 1922 attempted to transfer the “first” designation to a new local high school for Japanese students, leading to this unusual situation. Prior to the Taichung First
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
The Ministry of Education last month proposed a nationwide ban on mobile devices in schools, aiming to curb concerns over student phone addiction. Under the revised regulation, which will take effect in August, teachers and schools will be required to collect mobile devices — including phones, laptops and wearables devices — for safekeeping during school hours, unless they are being used for educational purposes. For Chang Fong-ching (張鳳琴), the ban will have a positive impact. “It’s a good move,” says the professor in the department of
Article 2 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China (中華民國憲法增修條文) stipulates that upon a vote of no confidence in the premier, the president can dissolve the legislature within 10 days. If the legislature is dissolved, a new legislative election must be held within 60 days, and the legislators’ terms will then be reckoned from that election. Two weeks ago Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) proposed that the legislature hold a vote of no confidence in the premier and dare the president to dissolve the legislature. The legislature is currently controlled
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