Badges of Fury (不二神探)
A crime thriller featuring martial arts superstar Jet Li (李連杰), who plays veteran police officer Huang. His partner is young buck Wang (played by Wen Zhang, 文章) who is constantly getting the two into hot water. There are echoes of the Bad Boys and Lethal Weapon franchises in the mix of high-octane action and buddy movie humor. For those looking to balance out the muscular antics of Li and his police pal, there is also Liu Shishi (劉詩詩), Michelle Chen (陳妍希) and Liu Yan (柳岩), who provide plenty of eye candy and cross-Strait appeal. The story, as far as it goes, involves the duo, who are forced to go undercover to trace a killer, entering the glamorous world of aspiring movie star Liu, and engaging in some very improbable wire-assisted combats with various bad guys. This is the third collaboration between Li and Wen as a martial arts duo, and the film is helped by the good chemistry between the two.
Caught in the Web (搜索)
Based on an award-winning Internet novel, Caught in the Web is this year’s nomination from China for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. The story that starts with a seemly minor infringement of civic etiquette — a young woman refusing to give up her bus seat to an elderly man, caught on video and posted online by an intern journalist — sparks a public outcry and shakes up the lives of the young woman (Gao Yuanyuan, 高圓圓), the intern journalist (Wang Luodan, 王珞丹) and many of their friends and associates. Directed by Chen Kaige (陳凱歌), the creator of classics such as Farewell My Concubine and self-indulgent dross such as The Promise, Caught in the Web shows, despite its heavily melodramatic tone, a certain edginess by being rooted in the digitally savvy, status conscious and wealthy new China.
The Internship
The first problem with The Internship is that it is a bit too much like a two-hour commercial for Google. The second problem is that Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson have done this comedy duo before, and better. The third problem is that director Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum, Date Night) mistakes persistent efforts at charm as a substitute for actual humor. And I could go on, and on, and on. Two middle-aged goofballs find their careers in marketing obliterated by technology, and then find themselves in an intern program for Google as it selects the best and brightest. They form a team with a bunch of other losers, and inevitably, find new self-belief as they struggle against hopeless odds and a total disconnect with the modern digital world. You know the rest.
Monsters University
If you loved Monsters Inc then you will love Monsters University, a prequel with attitude, that happily covers much the same ground as the original film, without much originality or new inspiration but with plenty of energy and good humor. Solid craftsmanship ensures that most audiences are unlikely to be disappointed, and a voice cast that includes Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Helen Mirren provides a depth of characterization that is constantly entertaining. On the other hand, for fans of Pixar’s groundbreaking early work, Monsters University might disappoint, for though it is a return to form following the failure of Cars 2, it is a long way from the cutting edge of animation filmmaking that it once inhabited.
My Awkward Sexual Adventures
Billed as “the funniest Canadian sex comedy ever” in the trailer, which kind of puts the film in perspective. How many Canadian sex comedies have you seen? This one is occasionally funny and occasionally gross, as a conservative accountant enlists the help of an exotic dancer to guide him on a quest for sexual experience so that he can win back his girlfriend. Genitalia jokes get a full workout, but rather than finding inspiration from its characters, the film takes the easy route of working through a variety of stock scenarios that sees the film’s lead being a fish out of water in strip clubs and massage parlors, and attempting cross-dressing and S&M.
May 26 to June 1 When the Qing Dynasty first took control over many parts of Taiwan in 1684, it roughly continued the Kingdom of Tungning’s administrative borders (see below), setting up one prefecture and three counties. The actual area of control covered today’s Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. The administrative center was in Taiwan Prefecture, in today’s Tainan. But as Han settlement expanded and due to rebellions and other international incidents, the administrative units became more complex. By the time Taiwan became a province of the Qing in 1887, there were three prefectures, eleven counties, three subprefectures and one directly-administered prefecture, with
It’s an enormous dome of colorful glass, something between the Sistine Chapel and a Marc Chagall fresco. And yet, it’s just a subway station. Formosa Boulevard is the heart of Kaohsiung’s mass transit system. In metro terms, it’s modest: the only transfer station in a network with just two lines. But it’s a landmark nonetheless: a civic space that serves as much more than a point of transit. On a hot Sunday, the corridors and vast halls are filled with a market selling everything from second-hand clothes to toys and house decorations. It’s just one of the many events the station hosts,
Two moves show Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) is gunning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) party chair and the 2028 presidential election. Technically, these are not yet “officially” official, but by the rules of Taiwan politics, she is now on the dance floor. Earlier this month Lu confirmed in an interview in Japan’s Nikkei that she was considering running for KMT chair. This is not new news, but according to reports from her camp she previously was still considering the case for and against running. By choosing a respected, international news outlet, she declared it to the world. While the outside world
Through art and storytelling, La Benida Hui empowers children to become environmental heroes, using everything from SpongeBob to microorganisms to reimagine their relationship with nature. “I tell the students that they have superpowers. It needs to be emphasized that their choices can make a difference,” says Hui, an environmental artist and education specialist. For her second year as Badou Elementary’s artist in residence, Hui leads creative lessons on environmental protection, where students reflect on their relationship with nature and transform beach waste into artworks. Standing in lush green hills overlooking the ocean with land extending into the intertidal zone, the school in Keelung
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