The Transporter Refueled
Another sequel/reboot this summer — and at this point we’re just going to sit back and accept it. This time it’s the fourth Transporter installation, but unlike Mission Impossible and Terminator, which have retained their signature stars over the past decades, Jason Statham is gone, replaced by British rapper-turned-actor Ed Skrein. The two couldn’t be any more different, Skrein being scrawnier, more personable and lacking the rugged, cool vibe that made fast-driving courier-for-hire Frank Martin such a memorable character. Will he make it work in his own way, or will he try too hard to be Statham? Nevertheless, the film promises what it has always promised since 2002: fast cars, femme fatales (four of them!), ridiculous driving and fighting stunts and an unlimited supply of adrenaline. Also, we get to see Martin’s father in action in this film.
Vacation
Another sequel … nevermind. The Griswolds are back, but since Chevy Chase doesn’t have the age-defying powers of Tom Cruise (or simply because the first film was released more than 30 years ago when Chase was already 40 years old), this time the protagonist is Rusty Griswold, who was a child in the family’s ill-fated first trip to Walley World, America’s “favorite family fun park.” Given all the mishaps that happened during their 1983 cross-country drive, it’s puzzling why Rusty would want to replicate the trip with his own family. Perhaps it’s the fact that he never made it into the park, which was closed for repairs when the family finally arrived. Now with Walley World about to close for good, it’s Rusty’s last chance — but unfortunately he’s inherited his father’s penchant for getting into trouble. Chevy Chase does make an appearance in the film, reprising his original character.
Corrections Class
Like last week’s The Tribe, this film also focuses on dysfunctional special education students in the former Soviet Union. It revolves around wheelchair-bound Lena, who is assigned to a special class of students somewhere in Russia with a wide range of physical and mental disabilities — epilepsy, Down syndrome and even stuttering. Lena fits right in with her classmates, and they spend time hanging out and messing around like normal teenagers. One of their pastimes is lying on the train tracks as the train passes over them, which sets the tone for the chaos that is to come. When Lena falls in love with handsome Anton, things turn ugly and bleak, not only with the school faculty and the students’ families, but the students themselves, who are cruel and brutal as ever in this type of “social lesson” films.
Mr Holmes
This is not a sequel, despite the popularity of timeless sleuth Sherlock Holmes in recent years. It’s a unique take on the story, featuring a 93-year-old Holmes played by Ian McKellen who is spending his old age in a cottage by the sea with a widowed housekeeper and her son, who is a fan of the detective. Holmes’ sidekick Watson has passed on, and Holmes is much more humble than his usual incarnations, attributing much of his famous traits to embellishments by Watson, and he even visits a theater to watch a movie based on himself. Yet, there is still unfinished business, and Holmes tries to set things right as his memory fades. It’s an interesting take, as we see Holmes as the real person here, not the fictional version narrated by Watson. The film is slow-paced and mostly introspective, but hey, after so many action-based Holmes productions in recent years, why not?
Return to Sender
Starring Rosamund Pike, Return to Sender tells the tale of a woman, whose life is ruined after a brutal rape, starts visiting her attacker in prison regularly, seemingly to gain closure as she is unable to move on. She even starts inviting him to her house after he’s released from prison, but what are her true intentions? Most critics have denounced this film, mostly along the lines of Roger Ebert, who says it’s a “sleazy exploitation film that is all the worse because it has somehow convinced itself that it is thoughtful and profound.” Yet, many agree that Pike’s performance is great as usual as she walks on the darker side, and is the lone bright spot of the film.
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,
Among Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) villages, a certain rivalry exists between Arunothai, the largest of these villages, and Mae Salong, which is currently the most prosperous. Historically, the rivalry stems from a split in KMT military factions in the early 1960s, which divided command and opium territories after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) cut off open support in 1961 due to international pressure (see part two, “The KMT opium lords of the Golden Triangle,” on May 20). But today this rivalry manifests as a different kind of split, with Arunothai leading a pro-China faction and Mae Salong staunchly aligned to Taiwan.
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
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