西門町 - Westgate Tango

西門町 (Westgate Tango) is an 2012 film out of Taiwan. The movie stars Dylan Kuo, Anthony Wong, and Amber An. The film takes place almost entirely in Taipei's Ximending.

Amber An takes to the shops of the infamous Ximending of Taipei. There she finds a shop owner that takes in all sorts of pretty gals to help hawk all the crazy stuff you find there. Dylan Kuo is a shop runner and fortune teller in training. When their world's collide, Amber takes to Kuo right away. When the bad guys come running in to take some real estate properties, the life and death sakes of living in Ximending are escalated. Will the two be able to break on through to the other side, especially with Dylan's mysterious background.

The movie was slow, mysterious, and a hard watch. I liked the way the movie was shot as it did highlight Ximending I've not seen in other variety shows. As the premiere counter culture area of Taiwan, it attracts tourist, locals, and other Taiwanese to the area. In the movie, the various people land there and make a living there due to a past they are running away from. Others are just trying to make a living. This movie was a brief look into the lives of those that make it run.

熊熊愛上你 - Bear It - Upcoming

熊熊愛上你 (Bear It) is being released in Taipei this weekend. The movie stars Dylan Kuo and Alice Ko. Something about bears and a love story. The bears have something powers to do stuff. To make dreams come true. What?!



I might watch this movie for its insane premise. Insanity. And its from the same director of the well made Hear Me (聽說).

The Longest Night in Shanghai - 夜.上海

The Longest Night in Shanghai (夜.上海) is a 2006 out of China. The movie stars Vicki Zhao and Motoki Masahiro. The supporting cast includes Sam Lee, Dylan Kuo, Takenaka Naoto, and Kitty Zhang.

Vicki Zhao plays a taxi driver that drives recklessly. Masahio Motoki plays a Japanese make up artist. On one faithful night, they meet for The longest night ever in the history of Shanghai!

I think the description from Netflix does it more justice:

A successful Japanese make-up artist collides with a tough-talking Shanghai taxi driver in this romantic dramedy that twists traditional roles by making the beauty expert a male and the cab driver a feisty female. Although he works in a glamorous industry, Naoki Mizushima (Masahiro Motoki) can't help but notice that his life is anything but beautiful. Can the uncouth Lin Xi (Vicki Zhao) help him make over his life for the better?

While watching the film, its funny that Naoki speaks to Lin in English, but Lin speaks to Naoki in Chinese.

The majority of the film is Japanese with it switching to Chinese when Lin is around.

An interesting international feel.

Shamo - 軍雞

Shamo (軍雞) is a 2007 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Shawn Yue, Annie Liu and Francis Ng. Dylan Kuo, Terri Kwan, Bruce Leung, and Masato have supporting roles. The story is based on a Japanese manga.

The movie is about Shawn Yue. Shawn murders his parents at age 16 and is sent to juvenile prison. He gets out when he turns 18. But while in prison, he's picked out and raped. A fellow inmate decides to train him in a form of karate. Shawn gets really good at it and survives prison. Out of prison, Shawn is drawn to the world of kick boxing while searching for his sister.

Man! I don't know where to start with this movie. Its all over the place and completely hard to follow. One moment, Shawn is kicking ass, the next, he's getting his ass kicked in. One moment, he seems sane, the next, he's a crazy lunatic.



Other than Annie Liu's character, no one has any redeeming value in this movie. There's no good guy to take sides with.

Some may say its a guilty pleasure, I say to skip it.

敲敲愛上你 - Knock Knock Loving You - Update

I wrote about 敲敲愛上你 before here, here and here.



I can't find out much info as some google digging didn't net me any results. But 敲敲愛上你 (Knock Knock Loving You) has finished broadcasting in China. That's why I was able to pick the series this week. But in Taiwan, they just showed episode 10 and have another month of broadcast.

敲敲愛上你 - Knock Knock Loving You - Upcoming Part 2

I wrote about 敲敲愛上你 before here and here.

It's a day away from debuting in Taiwan (April 12). But the hype and promos for it are abundant on youtube. From the looks of a 9+ minute preview, the drama looks like it'll go from Shanghai to Taipei. With Jacqueline Li in Shanghai and Coco Jiang in Taipei. The three main leads are apparently in all the locations.

I am now looking forward to this more and more. So, I am guessing I'll get my hands on this in June or so here in LA.

敲敲愛上你 - Knock Knock Loving You - Upcoming

I wrote about 敲敲愛上你 a week ago here. Today, I noticed that CTS has a mini site for the drama and posted a couple of clips via its YouTube profile. Set to air on April 12 in Taiwan.

They've also changed the name from "Quietly Falling in Love with You" to "Knock Knock Loving You".

Check out the mini site at CTS and YouTube clips below.

敲敲愛上你 - Quietly Falling in Love with You - Upcoming

The much anticipated release of Taiwanese Drama, 敲敲愛上你 (Quietly Falling in Love With You) is soon. Set for broadcast in March or April around Taiwan. I think they started filming in 2007. I saw the TV ad spot on youtube and it looks good.

Starring Ming Dao, Dylan Kuo, Li Xiao Lu, We Ya Xin, and Coco Jiang. It looks sorta funny and a bit of a re hash at the same time.

Let's see if it lives up the hype. Check out the trailer.