liaoyusheng.com

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle

Just watched 宮崎駿/Hayao Miyazaki's latest—ハウルの動く城/Howl's Moving Castle and it didn't disappoint. (Well... I did think the ending was a bit too deus ex machina for me, but that's a minor quibble. I mean it is a fantasy after all.) I won't know how I'll rank this amongst Miyazaki's masterpieces until I've had some more time to mull it over and watch it again. I do know this: I was spellbound by this magical tale for 2 hours.

Unlike most of his other works (i.e. My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke), this movie's not an original story. Instead it's based on Diana Wynne Jones' novel of the same name. I've never read it (or even heard of it until today) and supposedly this is a loose interpretation. Anyway, in this story you'll find: a young girl in a 90-year-old's body, a fire demon who powers a moving castle (my favorite character!), a kid who can transform into a tiny old man with a huge beard, an old witch with a neck that looks a little like Jabba the Hutt, a wizard who turns into a giant bird (voiced by 木村拓哉/Takuya Kimura, last seen canoodling with 王菲/Faye Wong in another wonderful film, 2046), a scarecrow that hops around, flying battleships, and so many other wonderful and weird things that make up Miyazaki's trademark style. I think it's best to just go in with a clean slate and enjoy the magical ride so I won't rehash the plot (kind of hard to do anyway given the complex multi-layered story).

Howl's doesn't open in the States until June 10th in NY/LA (blame Disney).

Official sites: Japan | Korea | Taiwan | France
Japanese trailer [13.4mb QuickTime file]
French trailer [13mb QuickTime file]
Taiwanese trailer [5.1mb QuickTime file]

And if you read Chinese, this is the best fan site I've found so far (well, in English or Chinese anyway): 移動城堡台灣興趣版

Continue reading "Howl's Moving Castle"

February 25, 2005 | Filed Under: Entertainment |
Tags:

'The Gates' Revisited

The Gates, Central Park

Despite my previous claim that "The Gates" is close to being completely horrible, I went back to see it again this past weekend. This time, I entered the park through Harlem Meer (at 110th and 5th) and my reaction was much more positive. Maybe I was able to appreciate it after I got the player-hating out of my system. Or maybe up around the northern part of the park it just didn't have the crush of people that the below-reservoir parts had (there were less people up there on a Saturday afternoon then there were on a Tuesday afternoon below 86th). Or maybe the area around Harlem Meer is just an exceptionally beautiful part of the park (where I almost never go since it's so far up there).

Between my two visits, I more-or-less have seen every part of "The Gates" and the installation around Harlem Meer area is definitely the best. The gates worked well with the topology of the area and seemed to be placed less monotonously than elsewhere in the park. This last point I'm not sure, but that's how it appeared to me. I still don't think the project's that great overall, but at least I hate it less.

If you haven't gone out to see it yet, you should. Good art or not, it's still an interesting and impressive (in the sense that it was done at all) installation. You have a few days left to see it and make up your own mind about it. Make sure you enter the park through the Harlem Meer and avoid the crowd in the lower parts of the park.

Continue reading "'The Gates' Revisited"

February 23, 2005 | Filed Under: Architecture & Design , Photos |
Tags:

Because There Are Not Enough 'Gates' Pictures Out There...

The Gates

Continue reading "Because There Are Not Enough 'Gates' Pictures Out There..."

February 16, 2005 | Filed Under: Architecture & Design , Photos |
Tags:

Grandmother's Funeral

My 阿嬤 (ah-ma/paternal grandmother) passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 2, 2005 at home in Taipei with my 阿公 (ah-gong/grandfather) at her side. She was 81 years old. These are some photos from her funeral.

I know I said I wasn't going to put these up because people might find them in bad taste. But after looking over the photos, I decided to share them after all. As LT reminded me: When did I ever care what other people thought? True dat. This is my way of remembering an important event in my life. Plus I think the photos are pretty interesting, to boot.

Most poignant photo: My 阿公/grandfather looking over at the proceedings.

See the full gallery: Grandmother's Funeral [ 23 photos ]

February 7, 2005 | Filed Under: Photos |
Tags:

Bunch of Photos from Taipei Earlier This Month

The Liao Family

I was in Taipei for two weeks beginning of the year to attend my grandma's funeral. While that is not a happy event, it did bring together my family which is spread out over three very-far-apart cities (New York, Vancouver, Shanghai) and that was a good thing. Here's a whole load of photos from those two weeks. I have decided not to put up shots from the funeral itself because while I don't think so, some may find those in bad taste (or at least depressing). Changed my mind.

Friends & Family in Taipei [ 76 photos ]

These are some of my favorite shots from the set:

Incidentally, from mid-September to mid-January, between all the trips I was taking, I actually spent three more days in Taipei then I did at home in New York. Just FYI, not that you asked.

[Update: 嘉嘉說上面那張很像《無間道》... 你說呢? 哈哈]

January 31, 2005 | Filed Under: Photos , Travel |
Tags:

Four of My Photos Have Been Published in a New Book

20050124gropius.jpg Four of my Gropius House photos have been published in a new book by Taschen titled simply Gropius. It's from their Basic Art Series and lists for US$9.99 (buy it from Amazon). It's a 96-page soft-cover book introducing Walter Gropius and his most important works. It may not be one of Taschen's fancier volumes, but it's comprehensive and has lots of photographs (some quite good). These are the four shots of mine featured in the book:

January 25, 2005 | Filed Under: Announcements , Architecture & Design , Photos |
Tags:

Photos of Herzog & de Meuron's Prada Tokyo

Prada TokyoI know I said I would put these up a few days after I went to see it... Three months later I've finally got around to it. And I still have a huge backlog of photos I need to put up from all the trips I've been taking recently.

[From Figure/Ground] I was enchanted by this building the moment I saw it. The building's glass facade set on a diamond-grid reminds me a little of my other favorite building I saw this year: Koolhaas' Seattle Public Library. Speaking of whom, I wonder how jealous Koolhaas is that neither of his Prada "epicenter" designs is remotely as successful as this one by Herzog & de Meuron.

I love the way the random mix of convex, concave and flat glass panels generate a constantly changing perspective of the products and the shoppers inside. It's as if each panel is another page in a live-action Prada catalog.

Click here to see the gallery at Figure/Ground.

December 10, 2004 | Filed Under: Architecture & Design , Photos , Travel |
Tags:

Italy Trip Wrap Up

It's been exactly one week since we got back from Italy. I've tried to let the experiences and memories settle a bit before writing this wrap up (okay, I was just tired and didn't feel like it).

So, how was the trip? Sadly, not great. Believe me, it gives me no pleasure to be contrarian (as everyone else I know who has gone to Italy absolutely loves it), but I simply didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped.

Continue reading "Italy Trip Wrap Up"

December 8, 2004 | Filed Under: Travel |
Tags:

Almost Robbed, Again!!!

I was pulled over on the side of the street near my hotel in Milan. I was at the trunk, organizing my stuff to bring up to the hotel when a man on a scooter came by and said "Scusi!" and started talking to me. Asked me if I spoke English and was trying to introduce himself. He didn't pull completely over to where I was standing, remaining a few feet away. I was feeling a little puzzled. Why was this man trying to talk to me? What did he want? Because he was kind of far away, before I stepped over to him to find out what he wanted, I instinctively looked back at the car to make sure it's okay (I'm more careful now after having our bag slashed in Rome). And I saw another man leaning into the backseat of my car!!!! Did I leave the back door ajar?? Or did he open it while I was being distracted by his scooter cohort?? I don't know. I yelled out "HEY!" to him and he turned and started to run while holding my jacket (which was in the backseat). I took a step back and reached over to him and pulled my jacket back before he was able to run away. By the time I turned around, the scooter accomplice was gone as well. My heart was racing a mile a minute and I closed the trunk and jumped back in the car and locked all the doors and tried to calm down. I've never directly confronted criminals before. It was unnerving. To think, all my camera equipment were in the backseat as well!

I was almost going to overlook the incident in Rome because, fine, you can get pickpocketed anywhere in the world and maybe it just happened to have happened in Rome for me. It didn't necessarily have to mean anything (even though it did confirm what all the guidebooks and even local Italians, say about crime here). I was willing to chaulk it up to bad luck. BUT, now twice in two weeks I have been robbed. That's insane. In 31 years I was not robbed once. [Well, okay, I had my camcorder stolen in Amsterdam, but that was more about me being careless and leaving it unguarded. Nobody used a knife to slice anything open and nobody tried to trick me into leaving the camcorder; it was all me.] Now twice in two weeks in Italy I have been (almost) robbed. That's no bad luck, that's just a scary country.

November 28, 2004 | Filed Under: Travel |
Tags:

Le Calandre

Tonight we went to a Michelin 3-Star restaurant, Le Calandre, in Sarmeola di Rubano, a few minutes outside of Padova, near Venice. [For those of you non-European and/or non-foodies not familiar with the Michelin Guide, here's some information on what it is and what it means to have three stars.] I have never been to a Michelin 3-starer before (or 2-star or 1-star, for that matter) so I was quite anticipating the meal. Some people consider this the finest restaurant in all of Italy. The chef, Massimiliano Alajmo, whom we met at the end of the meal, is the youngest chef ever to have been awarded 3 stars by the Michelin guide. Of couse, I also heard from somewhere that the Michelin rating system is not as accurate in Italy as it is in France. But it's got 3-stars and I have read many fine reviews of this place, so I think it's safe to say that it's one of the very best in the country.

So how was it?

Continue reading "Le Calandre"

November 27, 2004 | Filed Under: Food & Drink , Travel |
Tags: italianfood, italy, lecalandre, review, travel

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10