A good week for a date

Cinema in Taiwan seems to be evolving in two opposite directions. Film festivals have experienced rapid growth in the past decade, with experimental and large-scale international festivals catering for all kinds of movie-goers and communities. Art houses and venues such as Spot -- Taipei Film House and Majestic Cinema also provide alternative channels to help withstand the cultural invasion from Hollywood.

Meanwhile, talk about the death of the Taiwanese film industry can still be heard every now and then. Professionals in the industry and government agencies have knocked their brains out to lure audiences back to local movies but the box office performances of local films remains disappointing, except for the occasional surprises, such as Formula 17 (十七歲的天空), The Wayward Cloud (天邊一朵雲) and the documentary Let It Be (無米樂).

According to a comprehensive survey on the film industry in Taiwan conducted by the Department of Broadcasting at National Chengchi University, the number of Taiwanese movie-goers attending local films has dropped from 2 percent to 0.5 percent over the past 20 years, while the number of local films produced annually fluctuated between 20 to 35 in the past 10 years.

Statistics compiled by the Government Information Office show that the number of licensed movie theaters has decreased from 229 in 1998 to 180 this year, while the number of screening rooms has risen since huge cinema complexes have become the norm in recent years.

Movie theaters are earning more money than ever before. Since the 1980s theaters have enjoyed a 20 percent increase in profits. And when the first Warner Village Cinema Complex opened in Taiwan, it grossed over one quarter of the total ticket sales in no time. So, it's good news for international enterprises, but bad news for local filmmakers.

This week it's another of those slack times for local films. However, two idol-packed Asian movies aiming at hopeless romantics and teen-movie lovers are set to brighten up this Chinese Valentine's Day weekend.

One is the Japanese love story Heaven's Bookstore (天國的戀火), the other is Hong Kong teen-movie Bug Me Not (虫不知).

Heaven's Bookstore recruits two popular stars from Japanese soaps, Tamayama Tetsuji and Yuko Takeuchi, to co-star in this Platonic love story. The movie develops along two parallel storylines: one in heaven, the other on earth.

For those who are tired of the bombardment of Japanese soaps on TV, Bug Me Not can provide an escape from the reality, in which a group of high-schoolers possessed of super powers take up a mission to save the world.

Directed by Law Chi-leung, who has gained fame from horror flicks such as Inner Senses, the film incorporates animation techniques to create a gang of animated bugs and insects to spice up the comic-book-styled story. Fans of Hong Kong teen-idols such as Chen Bo-lin (陳柏霖), and the girl and boy groups Twins and Boyz will surely enjoy the 90-minute show packed with comedy, action, romance and lots of cute bugs.