Hand Rolled Cigarette is a well-made film, proving something like the Hong Kong version of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino. Although the film starts off slow, its narrative gradually builds strength over time 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
It’s likely that a lot of bars or nightclubs will disappear during the current outbreak—particularly smaller establishments that eke out a living with what few customers they have Read More
Joshua E. Livingston’s Sunrays on the Beachhead of the New Creation, a book with 54 short stories with black and white graphic illustrations that serve the tales beautifully and integrally, deals with what it means to have faith (specifically Christian faith), and what it takes to have faith when our daily reality is decidedly secular. When secularism is practically a religion, what does it mean to believe, be spiritual, and attempt to see beyond ourselves? Does life have no meaning beyond what we are capable of understanding? Read More
Through the lens of its intersex protagonist, “Born to Be Human” explores the harmful impacts of coerced surgeries and transition for intersex people Read More
Based on Yoko Ogawa’s popular novel, “Hotel Iris” is the latest movie that highlights Taiwan-Japan relations through the lens of love and lust Read More
My Missing Valentine surprised in 2020 when it swept the Golden Horse Awards, Taiwan’s top film awards. The movie took home not only Best Feature Film, but also Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. The film’s two leads, Liu Kuan Ting and Patty Lee, were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, but did not win Read More
New Bloom/No Man is an Island editor Brian Hioe interviewed Lance and Stuart Chen-Hayes, who recently published 兩個爸爸. This follows up on an interview conducted following the publication of Double Dads One Teen in English in 2019. Lance is Taiwan’s first out gay dad and their nonbinary teen, Kalani, became the first Taiwanese citizen with two father’s names on both an international birth certificate and an international marriage license Read More
Madalena, a Hong Kong-Macau co-production, is a romance between two working-class immigrants to Macau from China. Ultimately, the film provides an effective, if dramatized, look at the lives of the working class as they eke out a bare existence in the shadows of the mega-casinos that Macau is best known for Read More
《環保少女：格蕾塔》是一部講述關於格蕾塔·桑伯格（Greta Thunberg）身為 2018 年氣候變遷罷課運動中心人物的紀錄片。時為高中生的桑伯格，抗議政府對於氣候變遷的態度冷漠，開始每個星期五的罷課。這個簡單的抗議行動，一開始只有她一個人，慢慢得到其他學生注意，最後，這個為氣候變遷罷課的運動成為全球性的運動。桑伯格的名聲因媒體炒作，成為全球性知名人物，也因此，聯合國邀請她參與了許多關於氣候變遷的會議。 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
Workers’ Inquiry and Global Class Struggle: Strategies, Tactics, Objectives, edited by Robert Ovetz, is an ambitious book Read More