16 發光的城市 A R O U N D T O W N FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2008 • TAIPEI TIMES

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Compiled by Martin Williams

Bolt This Disney animated feature tells the THE BLACK BALLOON story of Bolt, a pumped-up little doggie whose TV star persona (should that be DIRECTED BY: “canina”?) in an action show is a lot less real than he thinks. When he finds him- STARRING: Rhys Wakefield (Thomas), Luke self cast astray, the challenge is not only Ford (Charlie), Gemma Ward to adapt to the new world and his newfound physical limitations but (Jackie), Erik Thomson (Simon), also to find his true identity. Some have likened this well-received film (Maggie) to The Truman Show and doggone road epics like Homeward Bound, but the most fetching comparison that leaps to mind is Pee-wee’s Big RUNNING TIME: 97 MINUTES Adventure, a tale of innocence supplanted that also ends with an action sequence in Hollywood. With the voices of John Travolta as TAIWAN RELEASE: TODAY Bolt, Miley Cyrus as his owner and Malcolm McDowell as the baddie. Screening in 3D at compatible theaters.

Transporter 3 Jason Statham is back in theaters as Frank Martin, the inscrutable deliveryman of choice for organized crime in Europe. In this entry, thugs kidnap the daughter of a Ukrainian environment official (Jeroen Krabbe from The Fugitive) to force him to do their bidding, and Statham is the man they turn to to keep her out of harm’s way — for the time being. Natalya Rudakova, as the daughter, offers her services as the exotic but irritating female love Sweet interest that Taiwan’s Shu Qi (舒淇) provided in Part 1. Written and produced — again — by Luc Besson. are the uses of adversity Elegy Ben Kingsley is a professor of literary criticism in New York who never got over A welcome strain of tenderness in the bug for seducing students — careful With an autistic child, the an otherwise wrenching story of seductions, so as not to jeopardize his Mollisons face their trials relationships pushed to their limits. tenure — and his next target is Penelope Photos courtesy of new action entertainment co Cruz. The wily bugger isn’t quite prepared and tribulations by tapping for his own primal jealousy, and that’s before Cruz’s Cuban character and, with Thomas in frantic ratchets up the emotional heat. A good supporting cast (Dennis Hopper, seemingly infinite reserves pursuit, dashes through Patricia Clarkson, Peter Saarsgard) helps to sell a story that will put off of love and patience the neighborhood and into a lot of potential audiences from the get-go. The Village Voice called a strange house to use the this adaptation of Philip Roth’s book The Dying Animal “dreary,” but By STEPHEN HOLDEN bathroom. In a supermarket other critics have been kinder. Either way, it’s got Kingsley, who has Ny times news service, new york checkout line he flops seduced movie lovers for decades, and Cruz, whose best movies have onto the floor and begins been the ones that fewer people see. ould you be able to cope? That is bellowing when Simon asks the unspoken challenge laid down him to return some items to The Last Princess the shelves; eventually he Wby The Black Balloon, a harrowing, This is a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s The has to be dragged out of the unsentimental portrait of a middle-class Australian Hidden Fortress, the rich clan warfare store screaming. At one point family whose oldest son has severe autism classic from 1958 that provided Western an angry neighbor summons compounded by attention deficit hyperactivity Down’s sympathetic alter ego is Charlie’s filmmakers with bountiful inspiration child services to the Mollisons’ home. disorder. Would you find in yourself the seemingly slightly younger brother, Thomas (Rhys Wakefield), — not least George Lucas. This version In the most repellent scene, Charlie is infinite reserves of love and patience possessed a shy 15-year-old whose love for Charlie is of hidden gold and epic battles prefers discovered in his room smearing his feces on the by the Mollisons, the movie’s itinerant, highly increasingly compromised by his embarrassment. celebrity and computer-generated special effects to characterization, carpet and over his body. Thomas is expected to stressed army family who have just moved to the As the new kid at his school, Thomas is something which marks it as a would-be classic for the Nintendo era. Those who clean up the mess. His growing sense of being suburbs of Sydney? Maybe not. of a fish out of water himself; barely able to swim, think depictions of samurai are falling apart on the big screen these trapped by his brother’s disability is evoked in The Black Balloon, directed by Elissa Down, he struggles to stay afloat during lifesaving classes. days should check out Kurosawa’s oldies, or even the Lone Wolf and moments when he anxiously listens to Charlie’s was inspired by her experiences growing up in a He is so ashamed of Charlie, who attends a school Cub series for immediate, if even more bloodthirsty, relief. Directed by noises and to the squall of the newborn through the household with two autistic brothers, the younger for the disabled, that when Jackie (Gemma Ward), Shinji Higuchi, whose last effort was The Sinking of Japan, which did door of his room. of whom served as the for Charlie (Luke a sweet, attractive girl his own age, comes calling, reasonable business here two years ago. Ford), a mute who communicates in sign language he futilely tries to keep him out of sight. The blooming puppy love between Thomas and and heaving, wheezing grunts. When calm, Charlie The Black Balloon offers a wrenching portrait Jackie lends The Black Balloon a welcome strain is adorably playful and cuddlesome, but when of the Mollison household. The boys’ exhausted of tenderness. Wakefield and Ward project the The King of Ping Pong agitated, which is often, he makes noises that mother, Maggie (Toni Collette), only days away innocence of shy, sensitive young people for whom An award-winning Swedish drama, assume a feral intensity. from giving birth to a third child, refuses the bed a tentative shared kiss is a very big deal. the king of the title is a very large At his most intimidating, during uncontrollable rest ordered by her doctors. When she goes to the But Collette’s Maggie is the film’s prime mover. youngster with an odd family whose tantrums, he becomes a desperate wild animal, hospital to give birth, her husband, Simon (Erik This wonderful Australian actress, who hasn’t dirty laundry is more hindrance than flailing and spitting and biting. Ford, who was seen Thomson), a gruff, good-hearted army officer, a shred of vanity, virtually disappears into the help to his personal development. earlier this year as the hero’s rambunctious son mistakenly imagines that the house can run complicated characters she plays, and Maggie is But he does have a supportive — if in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, smoothly while she is away. No sooner has she left one of the strongest. With every forceful gesture combative — brother, and his devotion to table tennis is a bonus. makes Charlie a character whose complexity than Charlie begins wreaking havoc. and glaring look, Collette portrays Maggie as an Family secrets emerge over time, and things take a turn from the transcends his disability; you can almost decipher The scenes of Charlie running amok are indefatigable woman of heart and sinew who, slightly whimsical to the dramatic. Likened to My Life as a Dog, the the words he is unable to speak. agonizing. One afternoon he flees in his underwear through sheer determination, holds off chaos. classic Swedish thematic forerunner to this effort, there might also be a touch of the younger Jane Campion (Sweetie, for instance) in the way director Jens Jonsson goes about his business.

Lifestyles of the rich and clueless Festival notes: What: CNEX Documentary Film Festival By Ian Bartholomew foundation of common sense (痴人說夢 — CNEXT主題紀錄片影展) Staff Reporter and a knowledge of the world’s When: From tomorrow through At first blush, Miss Pettigrew harshness that is not shared by Dec. 28 Lives for a Day has a rather the bright young things around Where: Screening rooms at Eslite dated feel to it, and comes Miss Pettigrew her, and more by accident Bookstore Dunnan Branch (敦南誠品), over almost a refugee from Lives for a Day than design finds herself in B2, 245, Dunhua S Rd Sec 1, Taipei City the late 1930s. This could the role of fixer for various (台北市敦化南路一段245號B2) be mildly disconcerting, but DIRECTED BY: Bharat Nalluir romantic contretemps. The film and Eslite Xinyi Store (誠品信義店), quality performances by a is so light and airy that it is 6F, 11 Songgao Rd, Taipei City strong cast of second-tier STARRING: Frances McDormand constantly in danger of drifting (台北市松高路11號6樓) actors bring the whole thing (Guinevere Pettigrew), off. It is anchored by Ciaran Tickets: NT$100 for film screenings together in a delightfully old- Amy Adams (Delysia), Shirley Hinds, who plays Joe, a lingerie and NT$300 for lectures, available fashioned comedy. Henderson (Edythe), Ciaran designer and a counterpoint through NTCH ticket outlets or Hinds (Joe), Christina Cole through www.artsticket.com.tw The Miss Pettigrew of the (Charlotte Warren), Stephanie of studied elegance and title is played by Frances Cole (Miss Holt), Beatie Edney emotional seriousness in a On the Net: www.cnex.org.tw McDormand, who has growing appreciation of Miss (Mrs Brummegan) Clockwise from top left: Hip Hop Storm, Music and Life, The White Diamond, Grizzly Man and Children of God. performed in the supporting Pettigrew’s virtues. PhotoS courtesy of CNEX role in a number of excellent RUNNING TIME: 92 MINUTES Set on the eve of World films and is probably best- War II, director Bharat Nalluri known for her Oscar-winning TAIWAN RELEASE: TODAY provides a base note of sorrow performance as Police Chief that rumbles just beneath Marge Gunderson in Fargo Edythe, played by the ever the frothy surface. It may all Dream on (1996). She has made something delightful Shirley Henderson. end happily ever after when of a specialty of rough diamond There are a number of Pretty Delysia finally finds the courage The second CNEX film festival examines the hopes and dreams of Chinese-speaking societies characters, a loving heart that Woman moments as Miss — instilled by Miss Pettigrew shines out from a somewhat Pettigrew is introduced to the — to walk into the night with world-weary exterior. delights of a decadent world, the right man, but the Lancaster By Ho Yi leaving home to work odd jobs his bid to put Taiwanese hip-hop the world. In Miss Pettigrew she plays a million miles from the soup bombers are already flying Staff reporter in Shanghai view the concept of on the map. The second features In Children of God, War a stern governess, a vicar’s kitchens into which she might overhead, and both Joe and Created with a view to recording happiness; Ancient Species (紅穀 a group of teenage street dancers Dance and Puujee, children daughter who has some trouble fall back at any moment. Miss Pettigrew know that the the evolution of Chinese- 子), in which a group of Yunnan who perform simply for the fun from different cultures wish for dealing with the flighty upper- Miss Pettigrew has a future is anything but certain. speaking cultures, the non-profit Province farmers go organic of it. different things, from reliving crust types she is called upon organization Chinese Next (CNEX) and rediscover an ancient strain lost childhoods, to attending to serve in order to make initiated its documentary project of rice and cultivate it using focus on social injustice school, to escaping the grip ends meet. That is until she two years ago by disbursing revived ancient techniques; and The large number of Chinese of poverty. meets Delysia, an aspiring star money to aspiring filmmakers. Music and Life (音樂人生), a film jury members on the selection Other festival highlights sleeping her way to the top. from Hong Kong that paints an committee limited the lineup’s include four documentaries Delysia leads Miss Pettigrew ideal-oriented festival emotionally-charged portrait of scope to social issues, festival by German director Werner into her high-society world, Last year’s theme was the role of the talented but existentially- director Wu Fan (吳凡) said. The Herzog. Whether it is the airship with its many dirty little secrets, money in society. This year, 10 challenged young piano prodigy selected projects mostly focus engineer in White Diamond, the blackmail and back-stabbing, new films were produced under Wong Ka-jeng (黃家正), now 17. on social injustices rather than Swiss ski jumper in The Great embodied in the character of the rubric of dreams, hopes and The festival’s only Taiwanese experiment with other subjects Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner ideals and will be screened at the production, Hip-Hop Storm (街 and cinematic styles. or the grizzly bear activist in Frances McDormand, left, and Amy CNEX Documentary Film Festival. 舞狂潮), follows the fast-paced Apart from the CNEX-funded Grizzle Man, Herzog turns Adams, right, form an unlikely duo this Highlights of this year’s lives of hip-hop artists from works, the festival showcases his lens, from a critical distance, heart-warmingly old-fashioned romp. festival include: Shanghai two generations. The first group approximately 40 films that to whimsical characters and Photo courtesy of New Action Entertainment Farmers (阿拉民工), which features 34-year-old A-lun on explore the meanings of dreams their daring struggles for examines how Chinese peasants tour, performing in contests in and hopes in different corners of self-realization.