Somewhere I Have Never Traveled (帶我去遠方)

Director: Fu Tien Yu (傅天余)

Actors:
You Xin (游昕)
Li Yun Yun (李芸妘)
Lin Bo Hong (林柏宏)
Zhou Yong Xuan (周詠軒)
Lin Mei Shiu (林美秀)
Mei Fang (梅芳)
Li Yong Feng (李永豐)

A coming of age movie about cousins living in a coastal town itching to get out. Ah-Hsien (Lin Bo Hong) is saving money to escape the small town to New York with his boyfriend; while Ah-Gui (Li Yung Yun & You Xin) wants to go to a secluded island promised by Ah-Hsien. Ah-Gui becomes extremely jealous when Ah-Hsien becomes involved with someone and spirals downward into becoming a snappy melodramatic diva. Somewhere I Have Never Traveled is about adolescents discovering who they are and journeying down a new path in life.

Somewhere I Have Never Traveled is beautifully shot with vibrant colors and there's an innocence and purity to the cinematography that feasts the eyes. Li Yung Yun was so great playing the young Ah-Gui. She possess the innocence of a young girl when she's sharing the screen with Ah-Hsien. When she's alone she's melancholy and exudes old soul when she speaks. Lin Bo Hong also did a good job playing a teenager who's discovering his sexuality when a foreigner from japan (周詠軒) visits the small remote coastal town to visit the temple-church with a painting of the last supper with chinese mythology icons. I'm afraid this is another not-so-happy ending for the gay boy. Don't hesitate to watch this. It will definitely keep you engaged.

Prince of Tears (淚王子)

Director: Yon Fan (楊凡)

Actors:
Fan Chih Wei (范植偉)
Terri Kwan (關穎)
Joseph Chang (張孝全)
Oceane Zhu (朱璇)
Lin Yo Wei (林佑威)

Set in the era of White Terror in the 50's in Taiwan, Prince of Tears is a movie about anti-communist witchhunt and two generations connected by a children's story book "Prince of Tears." One autumn afternoon pilot Han Sun (Joseph Chang) and wife Ping (Oceane Zhu) were arrested for treason and association with anti-communism. The daughters given to Ding (Fan Chin Wei) to care and the sisters lives will never be the same again. Love, friendship and betrayl is the theme of the movie.

Prince of Tears is OMG so slow. Picture is beautifully shot and lots of eye candies but OMG did it move so slow; they even walk really slow in the movie. The dialogue is poetic which compliments the picture but it felt a bit dragged out. It's nice to see Fan Chin Wei and Joseph Chang collaborate again after Crystal Boys. Joseph Chang is also known for his excellent performance in Eternal Summer who struggles managing his relationship with his gay best friend and girlfriend. Highly recommended if you like Joseph Chang and wonders what he may be hiding underneath those fabrics. Lin Yo Wei is another pretty boy you may want to keep an eye out for. He was introduced to Taiwan entertainment as a boybander and have appeared in numerous TV series. Aside from feast for the eyes with astounishing picture and beautiful people, Price of Tears is only a treat for the eyes. The voice over got annoying and I really didn't care what happens to anybody in the film but can't wait for it to end. Prince of Tears is also inspired by a true story with a hint of lesbian flair. I want to like this movie so much, especially with Fan Chin Wei and Joseph Chang but dullness of the story trumped anything good associated with the movie.

The Treasure Hunter (刺陵)

Director: Chu Yen Ping (朱延平)

Jay Chou (周杰倫)
Lin Chi Ling (林志玲)
Eric Tsang (曾志偉)
Chen Dao Ming (陳道明)
Will Liu (劉畊宏)

Bounty hunter Ciao Fei (Jay Chou) and novelist Lan Ting (Lin Chi Ling) embarks on a journey to seek lost treasure hidden in the northwest desert of China protected by mysterious guardians.

The Treasure Hunter looks to have pulled inspiration from Indiana Jones with Jay Chou using a whip as his choice of weapon and The Mummy with desert as the primary location and resurrection of a general from the grave. I thought the movie also pulled in a little inspiration from He-Man with one of the characters wearing a skeleton mask; taking in resemblance to Skeletor. The Treasure Hunter has it's moments with some unique fighting sequence and special effect with battle between Jay Chou and Will Liu. unfortunately the fighting and special effect was not good enough to carry the movie or mask the chessy dialect, chessy staging and bad acting. The final battle scene between Jay Chou and the mysterious guardians was a snoozer. The majestic treasure the team are hunting for and finally found displayed only a few gold bars Eric Tsang had holding in his hands or tucked away in his coat. "treasure is hidden in the water" is just a lame excuse to cut corners in feasting the audiences' eyes with jaw dropping blings. I want to like this movie but I didn't laugh at the punch lines but when they're trying to be emotional. It's such a half baked movie that you can't take it seriously. Only give the movie a try if you have nothing better to do on a saturday night when there's nothing better on tv.

Miao Miao (渺渺)

Movie Title: Miao Miao (渺渺)
Director: Hsiao-tse Cheng (程孝澤)
Stars: Yung-yung Chang (張榕容),
Wing Fan (范植偉),
Jia-yan Ke (柯佳嬿), 吳慷仁

How do you express your feelings to your crush? Do you ask a friend to be a mediator or do you bluntly tell them? Miao Miao is a movie about expressing feelings to the person you love and coming to terms with your sexuality.

Miao Miao (Jia-Yan Ke) is a foreign exchange student from Japan studying in Taiwan. Miao Miao meets Xiao Ai (Yung-Yung Chang) by running to her for aide while escaping a couple of male classmates from asking her out. The bakery Miao Miao was searching for is now a 2nd hand CD store and meets a melancholy CD store owner Chen Fei (Wing Fan). She becomes immediately intrigued by him and quickly develops a crush on Chen Fei. Being too shy to ask Chen Fei out she ask Xiao Ai to help her express her feelings for Chen Fei. Little did Miao Miao know Xiao Ai has feelings she want to express as well.

Chen Fei's story was too rushed and too short. Chen Fei was once a musician/producer who produced a demo for Jia Ying (吳慷仁). The lead singer Jia Ying is blunt about his feelings for Chen Fei and does not hesitate to let Chen Fei know. Chen Fei's life changed dramatically with a fatal motorcycle accident. He lost the person he could have possibly loved along with his dreams and aspiration of becoming a producer. Chen Fei takes us along for a ride to a road of recovery and finding closure for his past.

Wing Fan (范植偉) is probably best know for his breakout role in Crystal Boys (孽子), the first gay Taiwan television series to be broadcast on prime time. He won many gay boy's heart with the role in Crystal Boys. Wing Fan did a great job portraying an empty shell with nothing to live for with a pair of eyes with painful past. The casts are easy on the eyes and the story was moderately engaging. More of Wing Fan and 吳慷仁 may bring the appeal of the movie up couple of notches. The tragic ending of gay love is just becoming extremely snoozer and we sure can use a breath of fresh air.