Ms. Cupid [丘比特女孩]. Dir. Arrow Peng [彭之軒]. National Taiwan University of Arts: 2008.

Rain, a sweet and chirpy young lady, has the special ability to see red "spirit" threads which connect couples in love. Realizing that she also possesses the power to manipulate these threads, Rain does her best friend a favor by hooking her up with the guy she has a crush on. She seems satisfied with her ability to play "Ms. Cupid" until she herself meets someone that she desires. She is able to see the red threads that connect every couple in the world -- except her and the object of her own desire.

A visually appealing movie, with artistic direction by Jimmy Lin. However, the imagery suffered from having been shot in DigiBeta, because the version projected on the big screen was embarrassingly pixellated. Poor acting and rough pacing made it seem amateurish as well. Most two-person dialogues were filmed as shot-reverse shot exchanges, and even I got tired of looking straight on at the face of the main actress, as cute as she was. I was also a bit offended that this fluffy romantic comedy was crafted as something that was supposed to appeal to women. Overall I thought it too cutesy, cheap and superficial, and the director's admission that the bulk of the story had been his producer's idea, with a female target audience in mind, made it seem even more hollow at the end.

The End of the Tunnel [天黑]. Dir. CHANG Rong-ji [張榮吉]. Perf. Sandrine Pinna [張榕容], HUANG Yu-xiang. 2007.

Yu-xiang lost his eyesight when he was a young boy. In spite of his physical loss, he developed a rare depth of emotion and musical talent. A pianist at an art school, Yu-xiang connects with a female classmate at first through music, and then through friendship. A sweet and brilliantly narrated story. Director Chang Rong-ji displays a keen understanding of filmic narration, and I admire his blending of documentary and dramatic genres, black and white and color footage. Like the previous film, this short was filmed in DigiBeta but not once did Chang seem limited by his equipment. The result was visually, emotionally, and even musically arresting.

The two characters were quite well cast. Huang Yu-xiang basically plays himself. Chang had met Huang when he was doing documentary work, and his story inspired this script. According to Chang, Sandrine Pinna, who has previously caught my eye in Do Over, shines in her ability to respond to the other actors she's matched with. You definitely see that in this film.

Family Viewing [闔家觀賞]. Dir. KUO Cheng-chu [郭承衢]. Perf. 桂綸美, 李天柱, 陸奕靜. Ananda: 2008.

A French cameraman steps into a Taiwanese family's home to record the life of a "typical" Taiwanese family for a French reality show. The daughter, father, and mother are excited to participate, but it's not easy to always put on a happy face for the camera...

A very interesting film with a thoughtful script and clear narration. The director was able to procure funds both from French and Taiwanese producers, allowing him to actualize this story in 35mm film -- a detail he insisted on, and a choice which paid off. He also managed to get Lu Yi-Ching for the role of the mom. She's brilliant as always, and it's nice to see her outside of a Tsai Ming-liang/Lee Kang-sheng film.

I was all set to give the previous film, End of the Tunnel, the only top score of the lot in order to boost its chances of winning, but I found myself compelled to give this film a top score as well. These two directors are ones to keep an eye on.

Summer of Magic [光之夏]. Dir. WANG Cheng-Yang [王承洋]. 2007.

Ah Hong, spending a summer with grandma, raises a cat, tries to take piano lessons, and is visited by late night spirits and strange dreams. Nostalgic, slow, moody -- nice effects achieved with black and white film. I thought some of the music was much too intrusive and disrupted the mood of the film, but overall it was pretty nice.

Temptation [勾引]. Dir. Josh Yeh [葉佳鑫]. 2007.

Love and longing as expressed through culinary masterpieces. The filmmakers tried to make this appeal to a wider audience by casting stunningly good-looking actors and actresses, but some of the acting was so bad, audible group guffawing was heard at points. Go to admire the dishes, not the predictable plot or personality-less characters and soulless acting.