翻滾吧! 阿信 - Jump Ashin! - Upcoming

翻滾吧! 阿信 (Jump Ashin!) is being released in Taipei today! The movie stars Eddie Peng, Lin Zaizai and Lawrence Ko. The movie is the product of Lin Yu-hsien, whom also worked with Eddie on Exit No. 6 a few years back.

The movie is mainly the story of Ashin, played by Eddie Peng. Ashin is a gymnast in his hometown of Yilan. Not having much success, Ashin gives up gymnastics and starts to get into trouble. So much trouble that he flees to Taipei. However, the troubles follow and Ashin heads back home determined to put gymnastics number one.

Seems like a very compelling story and I am a big fan of mista Peng so I am on board. I wonder when I'll be able to get my hands on a Blu-ray version here in Los Angeles. Who knows, but I look forward to watching this film.

第36個故事 - Taipei Exchanges

第36個故事 (Taipei Exchanges) is a 2010 film out of Taiwan. The film stars Kwai Lun-Mei, Lin Zaizai, and Chang Han.

Kwai plays Doris, a pastry chef that opens a cafe in an art district type neighborhood. Doris opens the shop with her younger sister, Josie, played by Lin Zaizai. Doris has grand dreams of her cafe where she can serve drink and desserts. For her grand opening, her friends and ex-coworkers give her a bunch of weird items. Instead of getting rid of the random junk, Doris decides to put the stuff around the store. Josie strikes up an bartering system one day. From that point on, its a exchange system. And the items are required to come with a story.

The movie's Zhong Wen title is actually "The 36th story". In the movie, there's a significance of that number. However, with or without that number, the movie will make sense.

I wasn't so sure about the movie, but it plays well as a story that tries to stay away from the usual. There isn't really a "love story" presented. But one does develop and you wonder about Josie's role in all this.