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Many movies have used scenes set in seemingly deserted parking garages to unnerve viewers, but this flick is set mostly inside one - underground. A New York executive leaves work late and alone and fails to start her car in said garage; unfortunately for her, a security dude turns up but doesn't live up to his job description. Positive reviews have lauded the intelligence of the heroine in the face of bloody danger - when the Hollywood cliche would have required her to make stupid mistakes every step of the way. Written and produced by the French team that made Haute Tension and the remake of The Hills Have Eyes.
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 | Enchanted
Disney pokes fun at itself by sending one of its princesses to Times Square for a few lessons in the school of hard knocks. Lesson one: don't wear pink crinoline, puffy sleeves or glass slippers in New York City. Ok, not really. The main lesson is about love. She's already fallen in love with Prince Charming in her own world (which is why she's been banished by an evil queen). Once in this one, she falls for a divorced lawyer who lets her crash at his place (which she tidies up nicely with a CGI clean-up crew of critters). The really enchanting lessons, according to Variety, though are the emotions she learns in a world not always happily ever after, although things seem to work out well enough for her. Opens tomorrow.
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 | What My Eyes Have Seen
Moviegoers who thought The Da Vinci Code was a bit overblown might prefer this similarly themed and visually sumptuous art-as-mystery feature about an obsessive student in France who investigates hidden meaning in works by Antoine Watteau and Gilles-Marie Oppenordt from the 18th century. Stars Sylvie Testud as the art student; Testud also played Edith Piaf's childhood friend Momone in La Vie en Rose, currently in re-release. Also known as The Vanishing Point. Opens tomorrow.
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 | L: Change the World
This is a follow-up to Japan's popular Death Note films, in which the strange teen super-detective known as "L," who locked horns with the metaphysical vigilante of the first two episodes, embarks on an ill-fated trans-Pacific investigation. Variety magazine said the first two films invite Hollywood remakes, though their dark underbelly did not impress incensed schoolteachers in Taiwan. Parents who would fall apart if their kids came home dressed as Goths are duly warned. Based on a manga and directed by Hideo Nagata, who made the original Ringu films. Opens Saturday.
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Seven hundred job applications. One interview. Marco Mascaro arrived in Taiwan last year with a PhD in engineering physics and years of experience at a European research center. He thought his Gold Card would guarantee him a foothold in Taiwan’s job market. “It’s marketed as if Taiwan really needs you,” the 33-year-old Italian says. “The reality is that companies here don’t really need us.” The Employment Gold Card was designed to fix Taiwan’s labor shortage by offering foreign professionals a combined resident visa and open work permit valid for three years. But for many, like Mascaro, the welcome mat ends at the door. A
The Western media once again enthusiastically forwarded Beijing’s talking points on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment two weeks ago that an attack by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Taiwan was an existential threat to Japan and would trigger Japanese military intervention in defense of Taiwan. The predictable reach for clickbait meant that a string of teachable moments was lost, “like tears in the rain.” Again. The Economist led the way, assigning the blame to the victim. “Takaichi Sanae was bound to rile China sooner rather than later,” the magazine asserted. It then explained: “Japan’s new prime minister is
NOV. 24 to NOV. 30 It wasn’t famine, disaster or war that drove the people of Soansai to flee their homeland, but a blanket-stealing demon. At least that’s how Poan Yu-pie (潘有秘), a resident of the Indigenous settlement of Kipatauw in what is today Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), told it to Japanese anthropologist Kanori Ino in 1897. Unable to sleep out of fear, the villagers built a raft large enough to fit everyone and set sail. They drifted for days before arriving at what is now Shenao Port (深奧) on Taiwan’s north coast,
Divadlo feels like your warm neighborhood slice of home — even if you’ve only ever spent a few days in Prague, like myself. A projector is screening retro animations by Czech director Karel Zeman, the shelves are lined with books and vinyl, and the owner will sit with you to share stories over a glass of pear brandy. The food is also fantastic, not just a new cultural experience but filled with nostalgia, recipes from home and laden with soul-warming carbs, perfect as the weather turns chilly. A Prague native, Kaio Picha has been in Taipei for 13 years and
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