BY Ian Bartholomew
With The Second Goodbye (重別), which opened at the National Experimental Theater last night, the Taiyuan Puppet Theater Company (台原偶戲團) takes another step in its journey toward making puppet theater an established part of Taiwan's contemporary art scene. Taiyuan, with its many original shows that combine Western opera, Italian marionettes, various regional Chinese opera styles, and contemporary experimental theater, pushes the boundaries in fascinating ways, and has done more than any other group to open up puppetry and take it outside the framework of folk performance. The company explores puppetry as a medium for serious expression in contemporary theater.

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By Ron Brownlow
Like many blues fans, David Chen vividly remembers when he first heard Muddy Waters, the Mississippi guitar man whose raw and gritty sound paved the way for rock 'n' roll.

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By Noah Buchan
Taiwan has seen a string of musicals over the past month performed by local theater companies, most recently My Daughter's Wedding performed in Mandarin and Hakka and April Rain in Hoklo (Taiwanese) and Hakka. Beginning tomorrow night, LAN Creators' (嵐創作體) brings I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, an off-Broadway musical performed entirely in English (with Chinese subtitles) by a Taiwanese cast, to the stage.

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Compiled by Ho Yi
The nomination list for the 44th Golden Horse Awards (金馬獎) was announced last Saturday and the controversy it's stirred up augurs bickering for weeks to come. Naturally, Ang Lee's (李安) Lust, Caution (色,戒) leads the pack with 11 nominations including best film, best director and best leading actor and actress, but the rest of the list has raised film critics' eyebrows. All the major categories are dominated by Chinese productions that have shoved Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies into minor categories.

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By Ho yi
The annual Open Air International Arts Festival, Taipei (2007兩廳院廣場藝術節) will transform the plaza in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall with a weekend big top.

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By Diane Baker
Next weekend, an eclectic gathering of Taiwanese dancers will perform works by Taiwanese, Japanese and American choreographers in honor of dance legend Tsai Jui-yueh (蔡瑞月) outside the rebuilt Japanese-style studio that was her base in Taipei for decades.

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'The Most Distant Course' is a passable debut effort that explores the quest for identity
By Ho Yi
Lin Jing-jie's (林靖傑) directorial debut, The Most Distant Course (最遙遠的距離), is one of the most talked-about art-house movies of the year, attracting attention with a high-profile cast led by actress Guey Lun-mei (桂綸鎂) and a story about lone individuals struggling to find their inner selves.

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By A. O. SCOTT
"S o what do you think of the Second Amendment now?" This is one of many thought-provoking questions asked, between barrages of gunfire, in the course of Shoot 'Em Up. I won't answer the question here - I get enough angry e-mail, thanks - but I'm happy to affirm my general devotion to the whole Bill of Rights, in particular the First Amendment, which protects Michael Davis's right to make this movie, New Line Cinema's right to market it and, best of all, my right to tell you what a worthless piece of garbage it is. (I interrupt this burst of patriotism to note that Shoot 'Em Up was filmed in Toronto.)

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By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Over the course of two sequels, the Saw franchise took a novel, if distasteful, idea and basically tortured it to death. While the clever, low-budget execution of the original's Darwinian premise - kill or be killed - commands a queasy respect, its creators, James Wan and Leigh Whannel, should have rejoiced in their unexpected success and moved on.

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By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
There was a time when Ashley Judd seemed poised to take on, if not great roles, then at least interesting ones. Her 1993 breakthrough in the delicate drama Ruby in Paradise suggested that she could go far in films that called for vulnerable young women with steely underpinnings. Instead she strayed into mediocre thrillers (Kiss the Girls, High Crimes) that not even Morgan Freeman's dignified presence could salvage.

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An award-winning movie produced in China has been withdrawn from Taiwan's annual Golden Horse Film Awards, reports said earlier this week.

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By Martin Williams
The Romance of Astrea and Celadon

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Theater

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By MATT ZOLLER SEITZ
In Woodcock, a self-help author named John Farley (Seann William Scott) returns to his Nebraska hometown and learns that his long-widowed mother, Beverly (Susan Sarandon), is dating the title character, a coach who made John's life hell.

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Taipei's Top Five

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By Queen Bee

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By Ho Yi
Mala Yuanyang Hot Pot (馬辣鴛鴦火鍋)

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By Noah Buchan
Qunxiangpin (群香品)

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