Wu Bai rocketed out of the underground music scene powered by his uniquely Taiwanese mixture of local culture and blues rock to become the figurehead of the country's rock mainstream
By Yu Sen-lun
"I pursue light and heat. I like this kind of beautiful lavish life. So I push myself, burn myself, and see how far I can go." So writes Taiwan's star rocker Wu Bai (伍佰) about himself in the preface of a new book titled Moonlight Symphony (月光交響曲).

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Lin Chung went from pop stardom at the end of the 1980s to being the mainstream's black sheep. Now he's back with a soon-to-be-released electronica album, but this time around, fame is the least of his ambitions
By Yu Sen-lun
It takes strength and resolution to destroy oneself and begin again from scratch. But Lin Chung (林強) has done just that. Once a teen idol rock singer and spokesperson for new Taiwanese music in the late 1980s, Lin has refashioned himself as DJ Lin Chung, or simply as the electronic musician Lin Chung.

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'Mosquito' is a technical, but fascinating look at the danger the flying pest has posed to humans in the past and its potential hazards in the future
By Bradley Winterton
One of Taiwan's many extraordinary features is that it is entirely malaria-free, and has been since 1965. In view of the fact that the disease is prevalent in much of the rest of Asia, even 8,000 feet up in the Himalayas, Taiwan's eradication of the disease remains a considerable achievement.

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Works by European designers who challenged the concept that 'less is more' during the 1980s and 1990s can be seen in a new show at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum
By Vico Lee
After the German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe put forward the concept that "less is more," stark simplicity and rigidly geometrical structures dominated design and architecture in the second half of the 20th century. During the 1980s, however, some designers opted out of this trend, triggering lively discourse between followers of van der Rohe's dictum and supporters of deliberate ornamentation.

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Some of Taiwan's most prominent contemporary artists are featured in the inaugural exhibition of Main Trend, a new art space geared toward exhibitng middle-aged artists
By Chang Ju-ping
Now is certainly an exciting moment for contemporary art in Taiwan. Last year's flamboyant Taipei Biennial 2000, in which 31 artists from 20 countries were showcased at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (TFAM), energized the arts community, and the opening in May of the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) added a vibrant new space for local artists to exhibit their works.

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Rated PG, directed by Robert Rodriguez, with: Antonio Banderas (Gregorio Cortez), Carla Gugino (Ingrid Cortez), Alex Vega (Carmen Cortez), Daryl Sabara (Juni Cortez) and Alan Cumming (Fegan Floop), running time 88 minutes, in English with Chinese subtitles.
By Max Woodworth
Spy Kids is a family movie that parents, as well as the kids, can enjoy. The story follows two children, Carmen (Alex Vega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara), as they take on a spy mission that parallels their parents' former lives as secret agents. The kids are attempting to foil a plot by an evil TV show host, with the ridiculous name of Fegan Floop, who has kidnapped their parents and wants to overrun the world with a master race of robot children. Much of the film's humor is based on the children's incredulity that their supposedly lame parents, played by Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino, led secret lives of mystery and derring-do. The rest of the jokes are relentless spoofs of James Bond and Banderas' silly jabs at his Iberian swagger.

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PG-13, directed by Simon West, with: Angelina Jolie (Lara Croft), Jon Voight (Lord Richard Croft), Iain Glen (Manfred Powell), Noah Taylor (Bryce) and Daniel Craig (Alex West), running time: 100 minutes, in English with Chinese subtitles.
By Yu Sen-lun
Director Simon West made it clear Angelina Jolie's on-screen glamor in the role of Lara Croft would be a major selling-point for the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. And sure enough, Jolie looks hot as she tramps around the globe battling all manner of bad guys in a revealing tank top or fur-lined coat. Unfortunately, West only succeeded in half of his endeavor. Aside from Lara Croft, there aren't any cool characters in this movie and they're all hamstrung by a rather dull Indiana Jones-like plot in which a doomsday group wants to gain hold of a mystical power that will render its holder omnipotent. There are some thrilling moments and viewers will be swept away by many of the settings -- Iceland and Cambodia being two prominent ones -- but the film lacks the explosive excitement of the computer game that inspired it. [ FULL STORY ]

Rated PG , directed by Steve Carr (III), with Eddie Murphy (Dr. Dolittle), Kristen Wilson (Lisa Dolittle), with the voices of: Steve Zahn (Archie), Norm Macdonald (Lucky the Dog), running time: 81 minutes, in English with Chinese subtitles.

By Yu Sen-lun
Following on the US$300 million success of Dr Dolittle, Eddie Murphy again shows his power to communicate with animals, thanks to an army of animal trainers and computer graphics professionals in Dr Dolittle 2. This time, he plays with 70 kinds of animals, including 300 cows. He also carries out a mission to save the forest. In this sequel, Dolittle has become a star among the media, as well as his animal friends, which keeps him unusually occupied. He has to prescribe Viagra to impotent turtles. He has to help an endangered female bear to find a boyfriend. He also has to help his friends: wolves, giraffes, raccoons and owls with their different ``personalities'' in the fight against deforestation. By working with animals, Dr Dolittle works out his own family problems too.

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Rated PG 13, directed by Ding Yar-ming (丁亞民), with: Rene Liu (劉若英, Funny), Huang Pin-yuan (黃品源), Kuo Wen-liang), Gua Ah-lei (歸亞蕾, Mom), Yueh Hua (岳華, Father), running time: 87 minutes, in Chinese with one English-subtitled screening every evening at Majestic Theater.
By Yu Sen-lun
Migratory Birds is another melodrama about Chinese immigrants in a Western city, but this one breaks from the genre by not being tragic. Rather, it has humorous takes on the sexual repression of Chinese people as in Ang Lee's (李安) films. When the immigrants fly between Taipei, Shanghai and Vancouver like migratory birds, how do they deal with loneliness and desire? Funny (Rene Liu), left at home in Canada brings her parents to stay with her because she feels lonely. She then meets a Canadian man, while her husband, meanwhile, makes the acquaintance of an attractive Shanghai lady, following the cliche of Taiwanese businessmen. Their affairs trigger a string of sexual problems and family crises -- grandma suspects grandpa is gay and the two teenagers on a home-stay at Funny's are trying out the forbidden fruit.

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