| Other releases | |
 | Secret Journey Based on a novel set in Ireland, this leisurely paced Italian mystery sets the action in Sicily. A psychiatrist returns to an old family home - the scene of his mother's shooting death - to establish the reasons why it is to be bought for his sister by her beau. Made in 2006, and still unreleased in major English-language markets, critics gave this feature a lukewarm reception. |
 | Body Award-winning special effects mark this, one of two Thai horror movies to open this week. A man suffers recurring nightmares of a woman being dismembered, but it only gets worse. The line between dreamscape and reality dissolves as he and his body become caught up in a campaign of vengeance from beyond the grave. The poster art wants to capitalize on the Saw franchise. Also known as Body #19. |
 | Train of the Dead Withering reviews accompanied the release of this ghosts-on-a-choo-choo flick, also from Thailand. Its release here points to a rule of marketing for local audiences in recent years: There's no such thing as an unsalvageable Thai horror movie. If a bunch of ill-fated bandits hitching a ride on a spooked caboose is your thing, then watch this, and be ready for cheap special effects and non sequitur motorbike races. |
Jan 13 to Jan 19 Yang Jen-huang (楊仁煌) recalls being slapped by his father when he asked about their Sakizaya heritage, telling him to never mention it otherwise they’ll be killed. “Only then did I start learning about the Karewan Incident,” he tells Mayaw Kilang in “The social culture and ethnic identification of the Sakizaya” (撒奇萊雅族的社會文化與民族認定). “Many of our elders are reluctant to call themselves Sakizaya, and are accustomed to living in Amis (Pangcah) society. Therefore, it’s up to the younger generation to push for official recognition, because there’s still a taboo with the older people.” Although the Sakizaya became Taiwan’s 13th
Earlier this month, a Hong Kong ship, Shunxin-39, was identified as the ship that had cut telecom cables on the seabed north of Keelung. The ship, owned out of Hong Kong and variously described as registered in Cameroon (as Shunxin-39) and Tanzania (as Xinshun-39), was originally People’s Republic of China (PRC)-flagged, but changed registries in 2024, according to Maritime Executive magazine. The Financial Times published tracking data for the ship showing it crossing a number of undersea cables off northern Taiwan over the course of several days. The intent was clear. Shunxin-39, which according to the Taiwan Coast Guard was crewed
China’s military launched a record number of warplane incursions around Taiwan last year as it builds its ability to launch full-scale invasion, something a former chief of Taiwan’s armed forces said Beijing could be capable of within a decade. Analysts said China’s relentless harassment had taken a toll on Taiwan’s resources, but had failed to convince them to capitulate, largely because the threat of invasion was still an empty one, for now. Xi Jinping’s (習近平) determination to annex Taiwan under what the president terms “reunification” is no secret. He has publicly and stridently promised to bring it under Communist party (CCP) control,
One way people in Taiwan can control how they are represented is through their choice of name. Culturally, it is not uncommon for people to choose their own names and change their identification cards and passports to reflect the change, though only recently was the right to use Indigenous names written using letters allowed. Reasons for changing a person’s name can vary widely, from wanting to sound more literary, to changing a poor choice made by their parents or, as 331 people did in March of 2021, to get free sushi by legally changing their name to include the two characters
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