Sing It! (唱歌吧!)
This Taiwanese documentary is being released with little warning or advertising, but the timing is crucial. A Bunun Aboriginal school principal, who cannot read music and has a sports education background, leads the local elementary school choir to national fame and a recording deal. As always, there are challenges along the way, including relationships with parents back home. But the events onscreen now have new currency given that the choir’s home village, Dongpu (東埔) in Nantou County’s Xinyi Township (信義), was badly hit by Typhoon Morakot — making this 64-minute film a valuable time capsule. Starts tomorrow.
G-Force
G-Force is a part-computer animated, part-live action thrill ride about a bunch of guinea pigs and other rodents who team up to defeat an evil big businessman who wants to take over the world using a bunch of malevolent gadgets. This is Jerry Bruckheimer territory, not Pixar, so expect exhaustion and kiddie crudity, not reflective or genuinely emotional moments. Screening in 3D in selected theaters, and featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz and Steve Buscemi.
Coco Before Chanel
This French biopic tracks the childhood and early adult life of Chanel founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, delving into how the fashion innovator who created an empire grew out of a cabaret performer and emotional recluse. As the grown-up Coco, Audrey Tautou (Amelie, The Da Vinci Code) has impressed critics with her latest big role, though some wondered if this film’s sumptuous photography and overall elegance might not have been boosted by more emotional appeal.
Kabuli Kid
The “kid” of the title is a baby boy left behind in a Kabul cab, the driver of which can’t seem to work out how to get rid of the creature. Steering between realism and — perhaps — a hint of black comedy, this is a portrait of ordinary Afghans, the lives they lead and the mundane dilemmas they face — details obscured by the international media’s focus on the wider conflicts in the region and electoral woes.
Sanpei the Fisher Boy
This live-action film based on a classic manga dating back to the 1970s is director Yojiro Takita’s follow-up to this year’s Oscar-winning drama Departures. Sanpei is the grandson of a master fisherman who is happy to pass on his skills and enthusiasm to the youngster. One day Sanpei learns about a possibly mythical superfish — and immediately sets his sights on catching it, along with another fishing ace. It’s hard not to imagine this as a Japanese Huckleberry Finn — energetic and brimming with life, and there’s straw hats too.
On a hillside overlooking Taichung are the remains of a village that never was. Half-formed houses abandoned by investors are slowly succumbing to the elements. Empty, save for the occasional explorer. Taiwan is full of these places. Factories, malls, hospitals, amusement parks, breweries, housing — all facing an unplanned but inevitable obsolescence. Urbex, short for urban exploration, is the practice of exploring and often photographing abandoned and derelict buildings. Many urban explorers choose not to disclose the locations of the sites, as a way of preserving the structures and preventing vandalism or looting. For artist and professor at NTNU and Taipei
March 10 to March 16 Although it failed to become popular, March of the Black Cats (烏貓進行曲) was the first Taiwanese record to have “pop song” printed on the label. Released in March 1929 under Eagle Records, a subsidiary of the Japanese-owned Columbia Records, the Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) lyrics followed the traditional seven characters per verse of Taiwanese opera, but the instrumentation was Western, performed by Eagle’s in-house orchestra. The singer was entertainer Chiu-chan (秋蟾). In fact, a cover of a Xiamen folk song by Chiu-chan released around the same time, Plum Widow Missing Her Husband (雪梅思君), enjoyed more
Last week Elbridge Colby, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, a key advisory position, said in his Senate confirmation hearing that Taiwan defense spending should be 10 percent of GDP “at least something in that ballpark, really focused on their defense.” He added: “So we need to properly incentivize them.” Much commentary focused on the 10 percent figure, and rightly so. Colby is not wrong in one respect — Taiwan does need to spend more. But the steady escalation in the proportion of GDP from 3 percent to 5 percent to 10 percent that advocates
From insomniacs to party-goers, doting couples, tired paramedics and Johannesburg’s golden youth, The Pantry, a petrol station doubling as a gourmet deli, has become unmissable on the nightlife scene of South Africa’s biggest city. Open 24 hours a day, the establishment which opened three years ago is a haven for revelers looking for a midnight snack to sober up after the bars and nightclubs close at 2am or 5am. “Believe me, we see it all here,” sighs a cashier. Before the curtains open on Johannesburg’s infamous party scene, the evening gets off to a gentle start. On a Friday at around 6pm,
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