Major hotels around Taipei are going head-to-head with a vast array of good food and wine to help you get festive
By Ian Bartholomew
Christmas is a time for getting together and enjoying good food in a convivial atmosphere. Many of Taipei's hotels are all eager to provide a venue for this wining and dining, laying on banquets and preparing hampers of every description to meet every celebratory need. Whether it's a takeout turkey with a bottle of wine to be enjoyed at home or a full multi-course dinner with a room, it's all there, and all at very competitive prices, as hotels vie with one another to produce the best combination of quality and price. It all depends on what you want, but here follows a brief rundown of what's available in Taipei for the prospective Christmas reveler.

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By Noah Buchan
Vis-a-Vie Theatre's (對．面劇坊) newest production, Papa (第二波新聞稿 ), looks at the lives of soldiers and their families during China's civil war. The production - one of few to examine early 20th-century Taiwanese history - opened last night at the National Experimental Theater (國家戲劇院實驗劇場).

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By Ho Yi
Against Again Troupe (再拒劇團) was founded five years ago by a group of young, aspiring theater workers. Its members have distinguished themselves from typical socially and politically apathetic 20-somethings by devoting themselves to exposing society's ills.

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Compiled by Ho Yi
The biggest stars of Saturday's 44th Golden Horse Awards (金馬獎) were, of course, Ang Lee (李安), with his erotic spy thriller Lust, Caution (色,戒), the flick's cast and crew and veteran actress Joan Chen (陳沖), who plays Tony Leung Chiu-wei's (梁朝偉) wife in the film.

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By Diane Baker
American dancer-choreographer Casey Avaunt is finishing up her three-month residency at the Taipei Artist Village (TAV, 台北國際藝術村鋼琴室) tomorrow night with Thin Glass, Bright Light (薄玻璃), the theme of which should hit home for lots of people: miscommunication.

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By Tom Leeming
Formed by Briton Simon Watkin and Costa Rican Esteban Carballo in October 2005, the United Nations of Funk (UNF) has established a groovy and loyal fan base by specializing in intimate parties with quality house music. Tomorrow night, UNF is throwing Open House at Plan B featuring Space Ibiza resident Tony Haze on his first Asian gig.

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By Noah Buchan
The Taiwanese know how to use space - especially when it comes to small businesses. A quick wander through Ximending, Gongguan or Shida reveals that shopkeepers can and will use every available nook and cranny to sell anything from food or the latest clothing to knick-knacks and gewgaws. As storefronts go for a premium in these bustling areas, landlords are willing to rent every available ping to anyone who wants to try their luck.

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By Ho Yi
Chicken Den (雞窩) is the younger sister of Gi Yuan (驥園), a restaurant well known by gastronomes for its clay pot chicken soup and Sichuan-style cuisine. To keep up with the changing times, the establishment has reinvented itself through the new store, which opened earlier this year, wooing the younger demographic with a chic look, friendly prices and chicken casseroles straight from the mother ship.

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In 'The Golden Age,' Queen Elizabeth controls her country with an iron fist, and brings another to its knees

By Manohla Dargis
A kitsch extravaganza aquiver with trembling bosoms, booming guns and wild energy, Elizabeth: The Golden Age tells, if more often shouts, the story of the bastard monarch who ruled England with an iron grip and two tightly closed legs. It's the story of a woman, played by the irresistibly watchable Cate Blanchett, who sublimated her libidinal energies through court intrigue until she found sweet relief by violently bringing the Spanish Empire to its knees.

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So far only television has suffered from the Hollywood writers' strike, but feature films could be next if negotiations drag on much longer

By David German
Indiana Jones, Captain James T. Kirk and other movie heroes may have to use more ad-libbed wisecracks next year. By 2009, they could be positively tongue-tied if a strike by Hollywood writers drags on for months.

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The Berlin Film Festival announced the first of the movies that will compete for top honors at this coming February's festival with a raft of films from China, Brazil, Mexico, Britain, the US, Poland and Germany.

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Compiled by Martin Williams
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Taipei's Top Five

By TAIPEI TIMES STAFF

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Top Five Mandarin Albums

BY TAIPEI TIMES STAFF
Nov. 30 to Dec. 6

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Highlight

Actor Will Smith waltzes into the press conference as if he were the living embodiment of his character in his latest film, I Am Legend - here to save Hollywood from a bad case of the box office flu.

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