Taking Back the Legislature, produced by the Hong Kong Documentary Filmmakers group, is a powerful document of one of the most dramatic events of the Hong Kong protests of summer 2019 Read More
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Anima depicts the human effects of unfettered development in China, while also featuring elements of Chinese ethnic minority film. The final results are passable and the film’s technical merits are impressive, but the work does not break new ground Read More
I Am Greta is a documentary film about climate activist Greta Thunberg, the central figure of the 2018 climate strike movement. Thunberg, a high school student, started protesting the inaction of the government in regards to climate change by skipping school and going on strike on Fridays. This simple act of rebellion, at first done only by Thunberg herself, slowly caught the attention of other students, and eventually grew into a global climate strike movement, participated by students around the world. Thunberg’s reputation was catapulted to celebrity status by the media, and as a result, she was invited to many UN climate meetings Read More
Get the Hell Out is an absurdist zombie comedy that starts out well enough Read More
有時，我會隨意查看電影時刻表，好知道有哪些電影可觀賞。令我驚訝的是，一部美國邪典電影進入了台灣的電影院。《阿比阿弟尋歌大冒險》是《阿比阿弟大冒險》系列的第三部，其中第一部於 1989 年製作，第二部電影是 1991 年。電影製片人過了將近 30 年的時間製作了第三部電影《阿比阿弟尋歌大冒險》。《阿比阿弟》絕對不是什麼嚴肅電影，但在文化上還算是有其重要性的，美國偉大的導演之一亞歷山大·潘恩也可算是這部電影的影迷，因為在佩恩的電影《選舉》（Election) 中，也能找到非常類似基努·李維（阿弟）的角色。原版的《阿比阿弟》電影也被滾石(Rolling Stone）和爛番茄（Rotten Tomatoes）列為史上前十大經典「ㄍㄧㄤ片」（Stoner Film 譯注：此種片意指適合抽大麻之後看的電影）之一。有趣的是，就一部經典的ㄍㄧㄤ片電影系列來說，因為阿比阿弟角色本身並沒有抽大麻，電影也沒有顯示出任何毒品使用。但是，阿比和阿弟的角色卻是基於抽過大麻後的設定。在前兩部電影中，傻笨但善良的二人穿越時空拯救世界。而時間指導人魯弗斯（Rufus），則是最出色但已逝的美國喜劇演員喬治·卡林（George Carlin）。 Read More
The following Taiwanese animated shorts for children were reviewed as part of the “Formosa Fantastica” section of the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland. The film festival will be held from July 2nd to July 10th in a hybrid format, with simultaneously live-streamed events in Neuchâtel and Taipei Read More
The short film, Night is Young, directed by Kwok Zune, follows a Hong Kong taxi driver on one night in 2019, sometime during the protests that broke out in reaction to a proposed extradition bill that allowed for the deportation of criminal suspects to China. It was feared that this bill would be deleterious to political freedoms in Hong Kong, with the bill used to deport pro-democracy advocates to China to face charges Read More
The Soul stands out among recent Taiwanese film as an effective and well-executed commercial thriller. Though the film fails to stick the landing, with its convoluted and messy conclusion undoing some of the movie’s other merits, The Soul proves an entertaining watch—even a rather evocative one Read More
Island Nation 2, the second season of 2020’s historical drama Island Nation, continues the first season’s dramatization of recent Taiwanese history. Though the season is off to a stronger start in its first two episodes than the shaky first few episodes of Island Nation, whether or not the show can find a broader audience outside of Taiwan is still up in the air Read More
The Story of Southern Islet, the debut of Malaysian director Chong Keat Aun, is a stunning film on every level. It is a film that is not only technically accomplished but which has an intricate and distinctive beauty to it Read More
In the hands of a lesser director, Wrath of Desire would not be the sum of its parts. In fact, the film would be something of a train wreck. However, in Zero Chou’s capable hands, Wrath of Desire is not only a stylistically distinctive film, but one which is thought-provoking. The film is one of six about LGBTQ-related issues by Chou, which she plans to shoot in East Asian cities. Chou is one of Taiwan’s best-known contemporary queer film directors Read More