The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo(Män Som Hatar Kvinnor; Millennium: Part 1: Men Who Hate Women, 2009, Movie)

This dynamite thriller shivers with suspense. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is adapted from the global bestseller by the late Stieg Larsson. Homicide is just the tip of this Nordic iceberg.

She is a 24-year-old goth girl named Lisbeth Salander, with body piercings and tattoos: thin, small, fierce, damaged, a genius computer hacker. Her revenge on her abusive guardian is graphic enough to freeze your blood. No fair revealing more, except to say that Danish director Niels Arden Oplev fits the puzzle pieces together like a grandmaster of the mystery game. Larsson followed Tattoo with two more posthumously published bestsellers, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (both shot for Swedish TV). But Tattoo is the only one directed by Oplev, whose gift for ratcheting up tension and deepening character makes him a talent to watch. His haunting and hypnotic movie gets under your skin.

This is a movie about characters who have more important things to do than be characters in an action thriller.

Letters to God (2010, Movie)

This movie would touch you all the way down to your soul. Whether you believe in God or not, this movie is one to be watched and appreciated for just the connection of a parent to a child.

Step Up 3D (2010, Movie)

Best Dance Movie. Best 3D Movie!!!!

The dance visuals are literally jaw-dropping. Saw this movie in 3-D, and hip hop dancing like I've never imagined. Every single image of this film is so eye popping.

Dance Photos

To prepare for the September dance performance, we tried out the costumes for the first time. The two numbers are 歡樂海 and 在那遙遠的地方.

Spokane, WA trip

Tagged along with my hubby to his IAI conference held in Spokane, a charming small town in Washington. It's hard to believe that Spokane is the second largest city in the state of Washington. It's true that stepping out in any direction and I found a park or green space. At each different moment, I often took quick strolls which could lead me to the roaring falls of the Spokane River, a spiritual place for the first inhabitants here...where Native Americans continue to gather together. We visited Riverside State Park, Manito Park, Newman Lake, Davenport District, North West Museum, Gonzaga University, plus lots of trails. And yes, we tried the rafting on Spokane River, which was Wu Liang's first rafting experience. Wont' forget those beautiful pine trees, and churches everywhere.

The Piano Teacher(La Pianiste) (Movie, 2002)

Watching Michael Haneke's film is, aptly enough, a challenge and a punishment.

Erika Kohut (Isabelle Huppert) lives with her domineering mother (Annie Girardot) in Vienna, where she teaches piano at a conservatory. Erika lives a life of severity and control, but underneath she seethes with transgressive passions: Standing like a well-groomed martinet over her students, she seems to be willing them to fail. As she begins to explore the dark side of her sexuality (sex shops, self-mutilation, a dangerous affair with a young musician), her exploits take on the desperation of a woman trying to expunge desire altogether. Huppert delivers a courageous performance as the woman around whom it ultimately falls apart.

燭光盛宴( 蔡素芬)

蔡素芬在她十年創作的這部《燭光盛宴》裡，用一種悲憫又釋懷的心情给我們講述了一個“台灣外省女人故事”，同時又採用時空穿梭的方式，用一個後后輩的身份，通過一位老者的口述，把這三個不同命運，不同生活背景的女人用歷史的绳子緊緊綑在一起。畫面在歷史與现實中來回切换，而生命的主题却只有“尋找”。尋找真愛，尋找真情。

她的人生是下半部，被命運安排在台灣那個封閉的小村裡。這部分將呈现出眷村最原貌、最真實也最残忍的生活樣本。

眷村的封閉性使得裏面的人自成一種特殊的意識和氣質，因為他們都有一種流亡的潛意識。許多人感受到的是認同的焦慮，“得以返鄉探親的那一刻，才發現在僅存的親族眼中，原來自己是台胞、是台灣人，而回到活了40年的島上，又動輒被指為‘你們外省人’，他們遲早回會在伊索寓言故事裏發現，自己正如那只徘徊于鳥類獸類之間的，無可歸屬的蝙蝠。”

之前看過龍應台的大江大海較歷史敘述的關於1949，這本書帶領我體驗更深更痛 對於大時代的無奈感 。

我喜歡她對兩性感情的書寫，覺得好美。其實那些牽引情節進行的談情說愛，篇幅雖短，卻是適時的發揮了重要的連接效果。