Is there nothing white people can’t/won’t/don’t ruin?
Before this film, I wanted to retire to Hawaii. I love the climate, the heat, the ease and pace of life. Just a place to spend the rest of my days enjoying a beverage, a book, a view, and the smell of warm salt in the air. I could live like that indefinitely. The thing is, I’m not alone. Not even close. Being white, I share this dream with half the state of…

Crossing the fine line between school and horror
History tells us China and Taiwan don’t get along so well. Even those of us who know why this is the case might not know some of the uglier details. Like, for instance, the White Terror, a period in Taiwan between 1947 and 1987 in which even a cat’s plaint better not sound too much like “Mao.” During this time, all free thinking was discouraged to the tune of death. Fascists aren’t…

Why make one mediocre film when you can make four?
Have you ever played Hearts? In the card game of Hearts, you deal out all the cards, everybody looks at their hand and proceeds to give three cards to somebody else. The rule-of-thumb is you tend to get pretty much what you gave away. That’s what Story Game feels like: you consume a story, you pass it along, and the one that fills its spot is pretty much the same…

Congratulations, film student. You found me.
Part of me will always appreciate when a nothing film grabs my attention. My brain will look at the nobody cast, the crappy production values, the limited sets, and say, “Holy smokes! I wonder how this film school final project got to me?” I will appreciate the unlikely chain of events from word of mouth to somebody’s “big pocket” parent to perhaps the greasing of a palm or two to get a shot at…