Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Rise of the Planet of the Apes back in 2011 was a hugely successful reboot of an old movie property, and this sequel takes the franchise to a whole new level of sophistication. The story picks up from the first movie 10 years on with the Alpha chimp Caesar (Andy Serkis) leading a community of genetically enhanced apes who inhabit a simian utopia in the erstwhile San Francisco area. Humans have effectively been removed from the scene by a global virus until the arrival of an exploratory group that enters the area. Mutual distrust leads inevitably to conflict, though Caesar’s affection for human kind creates deep rifts within the chimp community. Serkis does a splendid job bringing Caesar to life, and the power of this motion capture holds its own, or even surpasses, that of the human cast that includes Gary Oldman and Jason Clarke as the leaders of the human intruders. Dawn is fundamentally a war movie, with some really amazing combat set pieces, but it is enlivened by the emotional sympathy that the careful crafting of the ape characters generates. Female speaking roles on either side of the species divide are rudimentary, and the emotional turmoil is primarily masculine, with the themes of brotherhood, betrayal, and patriarchal responsibility at the fore.
22 Jump Street
Another big-budget sequel, this time on the comedy front, with 22 Jump Street following the non-too-competent officers Schmidt and Jenko as they are moved from the undercover operation in high school to an eerily similar operation in college. Once again they are to pose as students to roust out a drug distribution network. Inevitably, college proves to be a place of self-discovery, and the bromance between the two comes under pressure when new friendships develop. None of this is taken too seriously, but there is just enough heart to give the gags a slight emotional tug. The action and the raunchiness have been upped considerably, and while not everything works in this ambitious comedy, the film is much better than it has any right to be. Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum are a hugely effective comic duo, and directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller let the zaniness of the script follow its own logic. 22 Jump Street doesn’t want to do anything more than entertain, and its mix of adolescent silliness, salaciousness, knowingness and energy ensures that despite the occasional misstep, there is more than enough laughs to fill its 112-minute running time.
Under the Skin
This is Scarlett Johansson stepping out from her blockbuster Natasha Romanoff persona and taking on something much more arthouse. Director Jonathan Glazer has already won a reputation for bold, unconventional movies with the likes of Birth and Sexy Beast, but with Under the Skin, he is taking on the greats of cinema, and has even earned some comparisons with Stanley Kubrick for this atmospheric, enigmatic gothic horror story about alien predators who lure humans, through the suggestion of sex, into a secret lair where their skin is harvested. One day, an emotionless alien sees her human form in a mirror and she experiences human emotions and feelings, and subsequently makes a terrible discovery. There is a lot more atmosphere than action, and the story unfolds through hints and suggestions. The overall effect has had some critics raving at Glazer’s skill, while others see little beyond a wacky avant-garde sensibility at work. It is generally agreed that Johansson owns the movie, with a strong if strange performance. You might get to the end of the movie without really knowing what you have seen, but images and ideas are inclined to linger after the credits have rolled.
As Time Goes by in Shanghai
A documentary that focuses on the Old Jazz Band which has its home at the Peace Hotel in Shanghai. Established in 1980 from veteran jazz musicians who had survived the turmoil of China’s Cultural Revolution, and with an average age of 75, the band became a public relations success story, delighting many visitors to Shanghai, including many heads of state. The old men of the band have many tales to tell, but the film is undermined by the sheer charm of the band members, who never see it as their place to be anything more than delightful raconteurs, even when touching on difficult historical times past. The film offers few insights, but fortunately, the repertoire of jazz favorites performed by these delightful old times means that this is not really missed, and they do what they have done so well for so many years: taking the focus from the real world and into a softer, cozier world of entertainment.
Dancing in Jaffa
Renowned ball-room dancer Pierre Dulaine takes his program, Dancing Classrooms, back to his city of birth, Jaffa, to teach Jewish and Palestinian Israelis to dance and compete together. The format is predictable, as the children, under the guidance of an openminded and sympathetic mentor, work their way toward a dance competition, overcoming prejudice and fear along the way. But the documentary, by director Hilla Medalia, is tackling intractable questions of mistrust, not just between young boys and girls whose conservative upbringing have given them little contact with the opposite sex, but also with the constraints of conflicting political ideologies embodied in the conflict between Islam and Judaism, and between Palestinian and Jewish racial identities. The film is probably not as deep as it thinks it is, brushing over complexities in the interests of a dubious warm cozy feel that is at odds with the harsh reality of the ongoing disputes between Palestinians and Jews, but all the same, it is hard not to feel uplifted by the transformation in the children, who find a new way of understanding themselves and each other as they learn to dance.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built
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