District 13 — Ultimatum (Banlieue 13 — Ultimatum)
Luc Besson gives us plenty of style and some good action sequences held together in what might generously be called a plot that is about nefarious dealings in the French government put right by an alliance of street gangs under the guidance of super cop Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli). Don’t expect it to make too much sense. All the racial stereotypes also come out of the woodwork, with Arian Nation, Asian, Latino, black and Islamic crime syndicates all sporting ethnic/punk fashions. It’s pretty good humored, and Tomaso and sidekick Leito (David Belle) have some seriously appealing moves. The pace is frenetic and at 101 minutes, it’s over before you start asking yourself too many questions.
The Back-up Plan
Originally scheduled to open last week,
this Jennifer Lopez vehicle about a single woman who finalizes
her artificial insemination plans on the same day
as she meets the man of her dreams — in this case Australian hunk Alex O’Loughlin — seems off-puttingly gynecological, and
is only made worse by a script and acting that has made-for-TV written all over it. Some good supporting performances, but
no chemistry in the
lead roles.
The Maid (La Nana)
A Chilean film about the lot of a domestic helper, this low-key work has impressed critics. In addition to a slew of Latin American awards, it also picked up the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema category for director Sebasian Silva and Special Jury Prize for lead actress Catalina Saavedra at the Sundance Film Festival last year. The story of a maid who has been with the same family for 23 years, facing rivalry from a new, younger home helper looks deeply into the tensions of an intimate and yet unequal relationship. Violence simmers beneath the surface and little household secrets make life uncomfortable for all.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
If you haven’t had enough of Freddy Krueger, then here is yet another dose. It is 25 years and a million miles from the original Wes Craven feature, and the primal fear once inspired by Krueger has now become the stuff of pop culture. Directed by Samuel Bayer and produced by Michael Bay, the volume is turned up on all the familiar riffs from the previous Nightmare movies, but really it’s just more of the same. The addition of CGI effects in this latest version is generally agreed to be less than successful, and while the rest of the movie is perfectly competent, Freddy Krueger is no match for the weight
of history.
Romantic Women Film Festival (善變女人心影展)
A film festival organized by the art house Wonderful Theater (真善美戲院, formerly The Majestic) brings together a gaggle of recent art house releases under a single banner, all relating to love, however tenuously. Films include Breakfast on Pluto, A French Gigolo, Facing Window, Black Ice, Irina Palm, The Valet, The Unknown Woman, Rabbit Without Ears, and Whatever Lola Wants. The festival runs until May 28. Books of four tickets are available for NT$600, and eight tickets for NT$1,080. For more information about screening times, visit the festival Web site at www.movie.com.tw/wonderful.
Welcome
This French film with dialogue in French, English and Kurdish, Welcome has had a successful run on the European festival circuit. A drama dealing with love amid the chaos of the largely Middle Eastern refugee camps around Calais, Welcome tells the story of Kurdish boy Bilal, who, after a massive trek across Europe, faces the final hurdle of reaching England. He decides to swim the Channel, and gets help from swimming instructor Simon, who is in the throes of a divorce. A strong script and acting, along with sensitive handling by director Philippe Lioret, make a topical issue come to life.
Nov. 11 to Nov. 17 People may call Taipei a “living hell for pedestrians,” but back in the 1960s and 1970s, citizens were even discouraged from crossing major roads on foot. And there weren’t crosswalks or pedestrian signals at busy intersections. A 1978 editorial in the China Times (中國時報) reflected the government’s car-centric attitude: “Pedestrians too often risk their lives to compete with vehicles over road use instead of using an overpass. If they get hit by a car, who can they blame?” Taipei’s car traffic was growing exponentially during the 1960s, and along with it the frequency of accidents. The policy
Hourglass-shaped sex toys casually glide along a conveyor belt through an airy new store in Tokyo, the latest attempt by Japanese manufacturer Tenga to sell adult products without the shame that is often attached. At first glance it’s not even obvious that the sleek, colorful products on display are Japan’s favorite sex toys for men, but the store has drawn a stream of couples and tourists since opening this year. “Its openness surprised me,” said customer Masafumi Kawasaki, 45, “and made me a bit embarrassed that I’d had a ‘naughty’ image” of the company. I might have thought this was some kind
What first caught my eye when I entered the 921 Earthquake Museum was a yellow band running at an angle across the floor toward a pile of exposed soil. This marks the line where, in the early morning hours of Sept. 21, 1999, a massive magnitude 7.3 earthquake raised the earth over two meters along one side of the Chelungpu Fault (車籠埔斷層). The museum’s first gallery, named after this fault, takes visitors on a journey along its length, from the spot right in front of them, where the uplift is visible in the exposed soil, all the way to the farthest
The room glows vibrant pink, the floor flooded with hundreds of tiny pink marbles. As I approach the two chairs and a plush baroque sofa of matching fuchsia, what at first appears to be a scene of domestic bliss reveals itself to be anything but as gnarled metal nails and sharp spikes protrude from the cushions. An eerie cutout of a woman recoils into the armrest. This mixed-media installation captures generations of female anguish in Yun Suknam’s native South Korea, reflecting her observations and lived experience of the subjugated and serviceable housewife. The marbles are the mother’s sweat and tears,
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