Reviews [Point2e]

Just Follow Law [Spore]

2007-03-24T20:13:00.000+08:00

Written by Funn Lim

"Fann Wong tried a little harder in the comedy department, at times seems a bit stretched and you could lose a bit of your patience since her English is not really great whilst Gurmit tried a little harder in the drama department, at times seems a bit forced but still enjoyable."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

I just saw this movie, which I was very eager to watch, after all it is a Jack Neo movie, it talks about civil servants (who are very similar to us in Malaysia, howevr much we might like to deny it) and it stars my most favourite Asian actress, Fann Wong in what everybody said a breakthrough role of sorts.

Indeed it was.

I am not going to talk about the story. You can read them all HERE where you can find plenty of videos also. I would like to comment about the movie and performances itself.

For one, I think the story is of course done to death but with a twist. Those hoping for a romance between the two leads will be sorely disappointed. It is more like the theme that you'll never know how the other feels until you walk in their shoes. This takes a step further; aftera freak accident in part caused by Lim Teng Zui (Gurmit Singh), he and Tanya Chew (Fann Wong) swapped souls and they had to adapt to each other's lifestyles. Tanya, now Teng Zui had to learn to see things in Teng Zui's point of view. In a rather nice twist, instead of feeling depressed and desperate to exchange back their souls, Tanya realised as Teng Zui she had little future since he has no qualifications. So she actually went for further studies, to improve herself as Teng Zui. Teng zui meanwhile now in Tanya's body was busy goggling over naked women, showing off his newfound sexy body and basically ruining Tanya's credentials, finally realised how useless he was as a father when his daughter was in an accident and needed $1,000-00 for hospitalisation deposit and he didn't have the money, and it was Tanya who paid it first and Tanya said he was a useless father because he can't even afford this sum. Teng Zui woke up and actually tried to salvage the situation.

The entire point of the movie is not whether can they swap back their souls, but rather learn the viewpoint of the other. If you must know, they never did swap back roles. Tanya wanted to reconnect with her mother, and Teng Zui wanted to be with his daughter, but Tanya's mother obviously couldn't recognise Tanya is not Tanya and Teng Zui's daughter couldn't understand what was happening and see Tanya as her father. So in the end they married one another. I thought that was a depressing ending but still a useful one.

The performances in here I can safely say is both entertaining and top notch.

Gurmit Singh really excelled as the rude, classless and lazy Teng Zui who was as Tanya transformed into a very soft spoken and even walked like a girl. His hair suddenly combed neatly and even his skin looked exfoliated. I thought he was really good as Fann Wong, he was really funny and maybe he wasn't really like Fann Wong but there is a very big change. Kudos to him too for speaking English, Malay, Mandarin, Hokkien and even some Cantonese if I remembered correctly. Some scenes were heartfelt, some embarassing of course. I will elaborate more later.

Fann Wong was revolutionary in her performance. Not many could take on this role, to have such a major transformation and it shows that she wishes to challenge herself as an actress and to me she rose to the occasion at most times, sometimes faltering simply because she was trying to hard and she doesn't really have comedic timing but well, she tried. She totally changed into an unrecognisable Fann Wong. Whilst many thought she overshadowed Gurmit Singh, I thought they complimented one another. As Tanya, she was serious, steady and strict. And when she became Teng Zui, she actually behaved like Gurmit's famour altar ego, Phua Chu Kang! It was scary to see Fann Wong so deep in her role, as she grabbed her breasts (Teng Zui said he was molesting Tanya's body you see), flaunting her body in a red bikini and goggling over naked women, one even had her breasts pressing against Fann Wong's face! Her script were totally rude but not with those dirty words. The dialogues are decently clean but the way she spoke it, her animated expression suddenly so very Gurmit Singh. Her tearful confession as to how useless she was as a father (as Teng Zui you see) was a good scene but her best had to be her imitation of Gurmit. One of the scariest had to be her ih a skirt at the bus stop and sitting with her leg up. Guys was looking between her legs and she was like "What you're looking at?! Look! Look!" and she even lifted her bum higher and parted her legs wider!! I also like those gestures like how Tanya in Teng Zui's body was shocked to find out Teng Zui in Tanya's body wasn't wearing a bra and Gurmit Singh actually pull Fann Wong's shirt and peered inside! Very natural reaction but shocking. I think Fann Wong really went all out, and so did Gurmit Singh in one scene where he was peeing and she looked at you know where.

But the overdone scene had to be the Gurmit bathing Fann scene. Lucky Gurmit, scrubbing her back, her upper chest area, her thighs, her ears... at first funny, then weird and then too long. But this kinda show how far Fann went with this role and it is refreshing.

Other characters complimented this series. For one, Moses Chan and gang of senior civil service men were mean and also enjoyable to watch. Each character contributed to the story and I must say almost perfect casting. I really like Teng Zui's 2 best friends, one a chinese that closely resembles Mark Lee (whom I thought should have been cast in that role) and the other a chubby Malay guy who probably had the best line when one old Chinese guy had a heart attack and suggestions were made that maybe he should give that old man mouth to mouth and the first thing he said was "Halal ke?". Really funny. Some scenes are just classic, like how complaints in inter departments is never face to face but through emails that are depicted as shotting arrows. How true! And I think there was one on what CC and BCC in an email means; a mish mash of English and Hokkien which was really really funny. But the best had to be the one where Tanya and Teng Zui wanted to put some banners on the MRT pillars (I mean the highway pillars with MRT tracks) and they shuffled between I think 4 or 5 departments which was simply classic and how true. Other funny ones and how truly reflect how close we are to the Singaporeans were the Indian security guard (he actually clamped a fire engine for parking at the VIP box because his boss said no cars except for VIPs in the VIP box!), the bored mother of Tanya who took up computer classes and has her own blogspot called Laozhabo.blogspot.com (very funny!) and that young civil servant who really stuck to the rules; want air cond after work? Put in application form in duplicate and then CC to this, to that, to her and then wait 3 months!

I don't know about you but I think this movie is hilarious. My most favourite scene had to be the one where Tanya, Teng Zui and 2 friends performed to the music at almost the end. I couldn't stop laughing!

But there are moments in this movie that felt like typical Jack Neo movie. It gets a bit preachy towards the end, he had to have a lesson to tell and the editing for this movie is quite bad, like it was rushed when if cleaned up a bit could have smoothness between the scenes and some scenes lingered too much on Fann Wong, as in groping, showering, bikini, having her in awful makeup, etc that well since he paid her millions, he must use her to the hilt. I think subtleness is not this movie's main strength but for what it lacked in smoothness in editing, original storyline or even subtlety that gave way to sometimes rather brash humour, it is a very funny look at two people who swapped souls and who worked in the civil service which is more like some triad.

One major complaint though; Fann Wong's performance could have been shattering as in even better than best if only her command of the English language were better. She seems limited by her command of the language but she does make an effort and I think her English is way way wayyy better than most actors I have seen, even if with a Singaporean accent. Gurmit Singh suffers the same problem, this time for Mandarin which is why he had limited dialogue in Mandarin but he made an effort and I thought both of them were decent in their not so good grasp on the languages. But one great compliment; they totally threw out their inhibitions and played off each other very well. Fann Wong tried a little harder in the comedy department, at times seems a bit stretched and you could lose a bit of your patience since her English is not really great whilst Gurmit tried a little harder in the drama department, at times seems a bit forced but still enjoyable.

I believe this movie is a breakthrough movie for both Fann and Gurmit and I congratulate them for bringing life to these two roles.

Now I just hope Jack Neo would just shorten the movie, get a better editing team, spend a bit more time on some scenes, be less preachy and concentrate less on social commentary and just make a movie that just so happens to have social commentary. His narration of the movie and in some scenes some effects were intrusive and worse was he was whispering when he was narrating whicb annoys me to no end. If he just leaves the movie alone, it would have been his best film. To me his best film is I Not Stupid.

I must compliment him on the title, Just Follow Law. It is actually in mandarin, Jiu Gen Lor, as in Just Follow Lor since Singaporeans and Malaysians love to add lor and lar to the end of every sentence, like what Americans who like to say "you know". The chinese title kinda lost it zing. Other cultures may not understand this movie much and may not find some jokes that I thought were hilarious as funny but in itself it is still an enjoyable movie.

Don't miss this one especially if you're a fan of Fann or Gurmit.

Verdict
The movie itself may falter a bit in part due to Jack Neo's overeagerness to put a message to every single action and sometimes bad editing and unnecessarily long lingering scenes as well as really long winded to the point in the middle the laughs stopped to a complete halt, the performances itself and the jabs at civil servants really saved this movie from boredom. Kudos must be given to Gurmit, Fann and fellow cast members and Jack Neo should thank his lucky stars that he has got a strong cast, if not this movie could have been like I Do, I Do.

Best Line(s)
It is not whether you can or not, it is whether you dare or not.

You don't know two things. Don't know this and don't know that.

Asked to do CPR, the Malay guy asked "Halal ke?"

And those on the CC, BCC and Teng Zui's 5 Bs. Just watch the movie for the gems.

Confusing Stuff
Why bother with English subtitles for English dialogue when the dialogue AND the subtitles are world's apart? So confusing, so distracting.

Big Mistake
Maybe but it could be product placement. One scene clearly showed Fann Wong's poster ad for Moon Abalone. And of course stacks of Moon Abalone in one scene. Definitely product placement.

Observation
Even without much make up, Fann Wong looks great although a bit older. Her skin is still flawless and I must compliment her for that. It's in her genes I guess. Moses Lim looked slimmer. Xando must have worked.

The Dance of Passion [TVB]

2006-12-22T23:29:00.000+08:00

Written by Joanne Lee

"On the whole, this is definitely a series I recommend, but not if you only like light hearted stuff because this definitely is not in that category."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Cantonese Name
For Mo Wong Sah

Number of Episodes
32

Main Cast
Bowie Lam Bo Yee – Yim Man Hei
Moses Chan Ho – Sung Dong Sing
Ada Choi Siu Fun – Jiu Yuk
Gigi Lai Ji – Gai Ming Fung
Charmaine Sheh Si Man – Ga Chun Fun
Maggie Shiu Mei Kei – Long Yuet
Kenny Wong Dak Bun – Sung Dong Yeung
Chan Hung Lit – Mao To
Chung King Fai – Yim Kwok Yip
Helen Ma Hoi Lun – Gwai Laan
Catherine Chow Ka Yee – Mao Siu Kam
Vince Wong Yin Ji – Yim Man Tin
Rebecca Chan Sau Ju – Yim Siu Hung

Summary
Set in the early-mid nineteen hundreds, Yim Ga Po is a small village in China, ruled by the Yim family (mainly Yim Man Hei (Bowie)). The Sung family also occupies the village, and they are essentially viewed by the Yim family as lazy and useless – but because the Yim family was aided by the Sung family many generations ago, the Yim family is bound by their ancestor’s wishes to always live in peace with the Sung family.

The plot is long and intricate, with many twists along the way, but the general theme is murder, revenge, climbing up the ladder of power, etc. The relationships between characters is just as complex as the plot, and so often you’re left wondering whether one character hates another or in actual fact loves them.

Much of the cast were also in War and Beauty, and comparisons were made even before filming began. The notable additions to Dance of Passion were Ada Choi and Maggie Shiu, and the absentees were Sheren Teng and Maggie Cheung HY. Personally, I really enjoyed Dance of Passion, more so than War and Beauty, although the latter achieved much higher ratings.

Acting / Characters
Yim Man Hei / Bowie Lam
At first you hate the Man Hei, and then as you watch further into the series, you almost feel bad for him because he tries so hard to help out Jiu Yuk out of the guilt of killing her son. The change seemed almost too fast – to go from a brutal heartless man to a caring and understanding one in such a short time. Bowie has always been a steady actor, and rarely will you see him give a bad performance. This was no exception – but it was rather unspectacular. Perhaps having seen him portraying this type of character before, his performance just comes as nothing really special.

Sung Dong Sing / Moses Chan
I found Dong Sing to be quite irritating on the whole. It was so often that he was stubborn and selfish, which caused trouble for those around him. He had heaps of chemistry with Charmaine, but their whole relationship just seemed so cliché that it just didn’t really manage to grab my attention. As a person, Moses seems like a really nice guy and I quite like watching him, but there’s something about the way he pronounces his words that sounds really unnatural. It’s almost as if he’s being over-careful with his pronunciation to make sure every word is clear, and it just ends up sounding weird.

Jiu Yuk / Ada Choi
Jiu Yuk was definitely one of my favourite characters. She had so many different faces, yet you could still see where her motives were for each one. She lived her life for her son, and after he was gone, she just felt like she had nothing left (although that child’s lack of acting ability made it hard for me to like him much). A very intelligent woman, she was quite cunning, but you could almost feel sorry for her because she hadn’t had a comfortable life at all. Ada would definitely not have been my first choice of casting, and I was very surprised when I first heard that she was cast as such a mature character. I had doubts that she could pull it off, but I thought she did a fabulous job. She gave off a very strong air of authority, and the way that she delivered her lines sounded suitably calm and steady. Unlike Charmaine who has played similar types of characters to Chun Fun in other series, I’ve never seen Ada as a character like Jiu Yuk, so it really made it a fresh experience.

Gai Ming Fung / Gigi Lai
Another character I found irritating. She was so stubborn in her ways, and her “friendship” with Chun Fun (Charmaine) seemed to revolve around Ming Fung telling Chun Fun how to live her life. Ming Fung always thought that Chun Fun was hard done by, but if Chun Fun was happy to live that way for the sake of causing no trouble, why didn’t Ming Fung just let her be? She seemed to think that being outspoken automatically made her correct, and biting your tongue in any situation meant weakness, even if that were really the appropriate action to be taken. She did learn to bite her tongue in the end, which was good, but it still didn’t make the character likeable for me. I’ve never particularly liked Gigi, but she was good as Ming Fung, she seemed very comfortable. Too bad I just hated the character too much to really enjoy the performance.

Ga Chun Fun / Charmaine Sheh
Most of the characters that Charmaine has portrayed in her career must be the same as Chun Fun. It is nothing new, it is nothing special. Chun Fun was timid and sweet, and written to be likeable. Charmaine was sweet, but it’s been done many times before so it wasn’t too exciting.

Long Yuet / Maggie Shiu
Long Yuet was another one of my favourites. She started out as a quiet, loving wife, and gradually (or maybe not so gradually) turned to the dark side. Her first evil deed was the killing of Gwai Lan (Helen Ma), which was to protect her beloved husband from finding out what his father was really like. And afterward, when she confessed to Jiu Yuk (Ada), she was crying uncontrollably and seemed very remorseful. After that, she seemed to go evil again and it just got worse and worse, until her very end. Which was so incredibly anti-climatic, and did no justice to her character. Maggie was very believable as the quiet wife, and she was believably mean as the demanding wife towards the end. Her crying scenes were fabulous and as always, she acts out so much with her eyes. I was surprised she was cast as a character that was meant to be kind of young, but she sure looks the part so it wasn’t a problem. She had heaps of chemistry with Kenny too.

Sung Dong Yeung / Kenny Wong
Dong Yeung’s stupidity could be so grating, but he was just a man who wanted a simple life and couldn’t understand all the politics behind everything. You had to feel sorry for him when he was being lied to or used, but his drinking and everything at the end was pretty stupid. Kenny is an actor I’ve always liked watching, despite only getting small roles in past series. I was very surprised to see his name in such a strong cast, and the opportunity has obviously done him a world of good considering how much more exposure he’s had since the series aired. I’m looking forward to seeing more screen time for him in the future.

Supporting Cast
These characters may not have had much screen time, and the actors are unlikely to have a huge fan base, but I thought it’d be appropriate to write about them anyway, and individually too, because they were all pretty good and very integral to the series.

Mao To / Chan Hung Lit
Chan Hung Lit was dressed so differently that he was almost unrecognizable – until you heard him speak. Mao To wasn’t a particularly exciting character, but I don’t think he was supposed to be. He did serve as somebody who Dong Sing (Moses) could talk to, and somebody who would give him advice, of which he rarely seemed to listen to.

Yim Kwok Yip / Chung King Fai
Not much screen time, but enough to make his presence felt. He matched Bowie quite well as father and son. Maybe because of his theatre background, Chung King Fai just speaks in a way that seems uncomfortable on television. The pauses are too long, and in odd places. It’s even stranger in modern series though.

Gwai Lan / Helen Ma
She was good as Gwai Lan, but I was surprised she got nailed so early in the series. I think it may have been around episode 9, so it wasn’t even a third of the way through. Anyway, she served as the evil influence early on, but when she resigned to forgetting revenge and resting, she got rested for good which I suppose was karma.

Mao Siu Kam / Catherine Chow
Siu Kam wasn’t likeable at all, but Catherine Chow was good. I applaud her for playing an “ugly” character too. I’d never noticed Catherine before, but since watching DOP, I’ve noticed her in quite a few older series.

Yim Man Tin / Vince Wong
Not a difficult character to play, so Vince did well, and he most definitely looked the part too. Yim Man Tin was a nice, helpful, quiet, but cowardly man, however he was likeable enough.

Yim Siu Hung / Rebecca Chan
Yim Siu Hung was the auntie of Man Hei (Bowie), meaning his father’s sister. His father had pushed her down the stairs, causing Siu Hung to spend her life in a wheel chair as a vegetable. Rebecca Chan has usually had bigger parts in series, and even if she was just a guest character, she’d have plenty of lines. I kept expecting her to suddenly start moving and talking, and it just never happened. Her facial expressions were good, but other than that she didn’t do anything else, literally.

Chemistry
Bowie and Ada
They didn’t get the joint storyline until nearer the end, and by then, Ada was trying to get revenge for her son’s death. The very end part where they’re about to be punished and they run away, is very touching. They matched quite well, despite never being a total ‘couple’.

Bowie and Gigi
Maybe because I found her character to be so cold, I never really felt the passion between these two. It was acceptable, but I wasn’t moved.

Moses and Charmaine
Great chemistry, but clichéd romance. They go together well, and you can feel the love.

Maggie and Kenny
They were lovely. You could feel how caring they were towards each other at the beginning, and when he found out she was pregnant, he drank himself to a stupor which was silly, but it meant he kind of felt he had let her down over the whole impotence thing. The ending was sweet, how he dreamt about their happier times together.

Gigi and Charmaine
Again, it was hard to feel the friendship with Gigi’s character there. It was nice to see that not everybody was trying to kill everybody else though.

Moses and Kenny
They were really good together, two rough boys who were the best of friends. I found their friendship much more genuine than the one shared between Gigi and Charmaine’s characters.

Ending
I liked it. Despite a lot of people saying it spoilt the whole thing, I thought it was appropriate. Despite my favourite characters all dying, the way that Jiu Yuk (Ada) had sacrificed herself was really effective, especially when Bowie (and the viewers) all thought that Ada came out of it alive and was caring for Bowie. I thought the very very end was unnecessary though – the part where the older Chun Fun walks through Yim Ga Po and sees all the other characters, back when they were living happily. It was great to finish with seeing my favourites alive again though.

I didn’t like the ending for Maggie and Kenny’s characters. It was just so anti-climatic, so nothing. Especially Kenny, who burnt his field and told Moses that he was going to keep going forward, run and keep running…and then he just ran away. And that was it. And it was a whole 3 episodes from the finale too.

Themesongs
I’m not a fan of Bowie’s singing, but the song did grow on me. I particularly like how it starts off as a three beat tune, and then goes off into a four beat when it gets more dramatic. The sub theme by Charmaine grew on me too, although I still don’t like her voice. The song itself is very lovely though.

Overall
I really enjoyed this series, despite there seeming to be quite a lot of negativity from viewers. It didn’t live up to the expectations that was placed onto it, which I thought were too high anyway. The plot got a little too complex in the middle, but other than that, I thought it flowed quite well. There were people complaining about it being too “yellow” – I don’t see why. It was set in a desert landscape, were they expecting it to be pink? The color went well with the atmosphere. On the whole, this is definitely a series I’d recommend, but not if you only like light hearted stuff because this definitely isn’t in that category.

Rating

The Dance of Passion [TVB]

2006-12-22T23:13:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

"Although the desert and mountain terrain is breathtaking at first glance, the series is eternally stuck in its yellowish background that gets very tiresome on the eyes. Trust me, by the 15th episode I thought I be getting jaundice. "

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Chinese Title
"For Moh Wong Sah" (literally translates to fire dance yellow sand)

No. of episodes
32

Year
2006

Cast
Ada Choi Siu Fun as Jiu Yook
Bowie Lam Bo Yee as Yim Man Hei
Gigi Lai Zhi as Kai Ming Fung
Moses Chan Ho as Sung Dong Sing
Kenny Wong Tak Bun as Sung Dong Yeung
Charmaine Sheh Si Maan as Ka Chun Fun
Maggie Siu Mei Kei as Long Yuet
Chung King Fai as Yim Lo Ye (father to Man Hei)
Chan Hung Lit as Uncle Ma
Chow Ka Yee as Siu Kam
Rebecca Chan Sau Yu as Siu Hung (aunt to Man Hei)

Foreword
Dubbed ‘War and Beauty II’ by some due to the reappearance of more than half of its cast, I would consider DOP to be an equally good, if not better, TVB series. I've been waiting and waiting for TVB to return to its days of writing a script consisting of strong characters, secrets, lies, revenge, and hypocrisy and The Dance of Passion gives me all of that. An exceptionally well-acted, compelling series. Highly recommended.

Quick Summary
Northwestern China, 1930’s. Yim Ka Po is a remote desert village located somewhere in northwestern China. It is a village inhabited by two families battling in a power struggle, the ruling Yim family and the more or less useless, gambling Sung family. The Yim tribe is headed by Yim Man Hei, a ruthless, deaf man and the Sung tribe is headed by Jiu Yook, the intelligent widow of the former Sung leader.

Their lives are governed by their traditional emphasis on the purity and ‘honour’ of the women in the village, with any kind of destruction of a woman’s honour having the power to bring the entire tribe down. This creates both internal and external tension within the village, with both families engaged in a cat-and-mouse game to reveal any suspicious activity concerning the women of the village. The women, in turn, rise above their suffering in an effort for self-preservation, sometimes befriending each other for support (Ming Fun and Chun Fun) and at other times turning against each other in the worst of ways (Long Yuet and Kwai Lan).

The tension and drama all culminate in one of the most ridiculous endings in TVB history, which all but destroy the credibility of this series. You really have to see the ending for yourself because it is so hilariously out of place that I am pulling my hair out just thinking about it. I’m still mad about the ending. Anyway, for those of you who want to know who dies, here’s the list – Jiu Yook, Jiu Yook’s son Dong Hiu, Kwai Lan, and Bowie becomes blind too.

On Acting
Ada Choi was just weird. Usually she plays two kinds of characters. Type 1 is playful, young, and ever-energetic (Armed Reaction IV, Healing Hands I-II, Files of Justice), Type 2 is ladylike, gentle, and intelligent (Where the Legend Begins)… and as a person, Ada comes off as girly, friendly, and genuine. Jiu Yook is none of those things. She is young in age, but old in the sense that she has a high social status and is also a mother. She is calculative and yet everything she did (bad or good) was motivated by one thing only: her beloved son, so in that sense she is compassionate and does have a heart. While Ada did a fine job portraying the many facets of Jiu Yook, including her transformation to the mellow, I-live-for-nothing-now-that-my-son-is-dead woman… there is something that isn’t quite right with her. It could have been a breakthrough role, but in my opinion Ada was wrongly cast.

Gigi Lai’s performance gave me the shock of my life. She has never been on the top of my 'Actress to Watch' list, especially after her horribly overrated and overacting performance in War and Beauty. She's a sweet girl in real life, but she is one of TVB's ugliest criers (along with Flora Chan, Yoyo Mung, and Tavia Yeung). Thank goodness she only has one or two short crying scenes in DOP. In fact, she is exceptional in here and I commend this series for changing my opinion of her. Kai Ming Fung was my favourite character of this series, and Gigi gave her depth, strength, intelligence, and plenty of personality. Dare I say, she delivers the series' strongest female performance.

Charmaine Sheh is in her 700th role as the weak, quiet waif and delivers nothing extraordinary. With that said, she has surprisingly excellent chemistry with Moses Chan and her friendship chemistry with Gigi Lai (who her character rivalled in W&B) is equally phenomenal. There are times when she whines too much as Chun Fun, but in general she gains the audience’s sympathy with her character’s many troubles.

I have never really liked Maggie Siu, probably because she often plays icy characters (Healing Hands, At the Threshold of an Era) and even comes off as cold and unfriendly in real life. But I felt she gave a very nice performance here as the gentle, devoted wife Long Yuet. She was equally good when her character became a little stronger and smarter when she had to take over the family's leadership role. Good chemistry with Kenny Wong too.

Kenny Wong, the least well-known member of the main cast, gives an average performance of a useless man. Not great, but adequate. But I have two words for him: Button up. No one needs to see your bare chest for more than one episode, thanks.

Bowie Lam was excellent as usual. His performance was somewhat overshadowed by other actors whose performances improved so much in this series from past performances (Gigi Lai, Moses Chan, Maggie Siu, even Charmaine Sheh). Bowie, on the other hand, is consistently excellent. In particular, he made a very convincing deaf man who spent much of his life concealing the fact that he was deaf. He also has great chemistry with the entire cast.

Moses Chan was a shocker too. I have never liked him in drama, but here he proves that he has improved a lot. He made a lovely couple with Charmaine Sheh’s Chun Fun and achieves a remarkable balance between controlled emotion and explosive anger as Dong Yeung that I can only describe as shocking. I guess this series proves that many in TVB can act, as long as they’re in the right role.

Ke-le-fe nominated for Most Improved Actress Chow Ka Yee was wonderful as Siu Kam. Her performance was impressive simply because she was able to effectively emote even though she was behind a scarf 90% of the time. The older actress who plays Kwai Laan was also really good. Chan Hung Lit’s accent is annoying as hell but he is one competent veteran actor and this series proves is once again.

The one glaringly bad performance in this series comes from Chung King Fai, who plays Yim Lo Ye. A true pity because he is the oldest actor (and supposedly the veteran one of the cast). Why was he so awful? Because he seemed like a jolly old man, like Santa Claus almost. Yim Lo Ye is supposed to be cold, calculative, and unbelievably chauvinistic, but I see no sign of that kind of sinister intelligence in Chung King Fai's performance. I can only imagine what Lo Hoi Pang would have done with this role. There is also something wrong with the way Chung talks, like his speech is rhythmically wrong. I can’t quite explain it. Basically when he talks there are unnatural pauses and he also speaks way too slowly – by the end of his sentences my eyes have already glazed over! Rebecca Chan's totally blank expression as his mentally disabled sister was more interesting to watch.

On Characters
Favourite Character
Kai Ming Fung. A strong woman who was truly in love with her husband and did everything in her power to protect him.

Favourite Couple
I do like Ming Fung and Man Hei, no matter how badly Man Hei treated her. I also liked Long Yuet and Dong Yeung at the beginning of the series. Dong Sing and Chun Fun were fine but too predictable.

Most Useless
A toss-up between Sung Dong Yeung and Yim Man Tin. Sung Dong Yeung was rash, impulsive, and unable to protect his family – he’s like a cow, all strength and no intelligence. Man Tin was basically a dog to his father, obedient with no mind of his own, except his lovesick obsession with Ming Fung, who he earlier abandoned because he was such a coward.

Greatest Transformation
Long Yuet. Though Jiu Yook could also take this award, her transformation was reasonable, because she lost the one motivation she had, her son. Long Yuet, on the other hand, suddenly became a more manipulative, cunning, and cold person for her family’s interests, while her love for her husband (which is what drove her at the beginning) somewhat dimmed at the end. I blame the writers.

Most Pitiful
Nope, not Chun Fun, who many a time whined about how everyone connected to her is ultimately doomed. Not Ming Fung, who was raped by Man Hei. Not Jiu Yook for being married at a young age. I thought the most pitiful was Kwai Lan, who was not only raped by her master but became pregnant, then suffering from illness when her fetus died and was never removed from her stomach, and then ultimately murdered (by Long Yuet, of all people). Or maybe Dong Hiu, Jiu Yook’s young son who was accidentally shot and killed by Man Hei.

Best Scenes
Plenty.

When Ming Fung confronts Man Hei about her will to leave and how she will do anything to leave: “If you don’t let me leave I will continue to do everything in my power to do so. One day passes and I will burn down your house. Another day passes and I will burn down your business. As long as I am your wife, I will be against you”.

Whenever the two families meet to discuss various issues. Enormous tension and amazing acting by some of the veterans.

When Ming Fung discovers that her aunt-in-law (Rebecca Chan) isn’t actually mentally disabled. Only an actress of Chan’s calibre can convey so convincingly without uttering a single word.

Things That Make You Go “Huh?”
How Ming Fung ended up falling in love with Man Hei. She had always been against her arranged marriage and loathed the man, and then he ended up raping her as well. What woman in her right mind would end up falling in love with a man you already hated and then raped you as well? Totally illogical.

Same goes for Chun Fun. In a sense Dong Sing raped her as well because Chun Fun thought she was sleeping with Dong Yeung. How on earth did she end up falling in love with Dong Sing?

Did Man Hei actually love Jiu Yook or was he just regretful about accidentally killing her son? I suspect he did love her for some time but then realized that Ming Fung was the woman for him.

Criticisms
There are some negative reviews out there about this series, and also websites and media reporting that this series started out with high ratings and then declined in popularity as the drama went on. Although personally I highly enjoyed this series, I can understand why the ratings dropped so drastically over time. Here are the three main criticisms I have with this series.

Cinematography. Although the desert and mountain terrain is breathtaking at first glance, the series is eternally stuck in its yellowish background that gets very tiresome on the eyes. Trust me, by the 15th episode I thought I’d be getting jaundice.

The premise of the series can really turn off modern audiences in this day and age where La Femme Desperado wins the TVB award for Best Series, I’m pretty sure many people feel disgusted by how much women suffered in the storyline of this series. I know I was one of the ones who were pretty sickened by it. While War and Beauty was adored for its presentation of women as strong, intelligent, and powerful figures, I figure that you have to see this series as entertainment and not get so caught up in the whole ‘omigod I can’t believe they treat women this way’ social aspect in order to enjoy this drama for what it is – good writing, good direction, good acting

The ending. I praised the writers of War and Beauty for giving us an unconventional yet fitting ending, and I condemn the writers of The Dance of Passion for ruining the previous excellent 31 episodes with the final 10 minutes of the drama where they unsuccessfully attempted to ‘connect’ the ancient element of this series to the present day with scenes of tourists in the modern age visiting and taking photos of the village. This, along with the scene of an old granny who looked nothing like Charmaine Sheh grinning from ear to ear as she spotted the aged Moses Chan in the crowd was supposed to be touching, but I laughed.

Rating

Through the Grapevine
I watched an interview with the cast members shortly after I watched this series. Some interesting discoveries (voted by cast members): Gigi was the pickiest member of the cast and has a long list of phobias including heights, bugs, and germs. She also packed so much for filming that she exceeded the travel limit. Bowie was voted the most caring cast member: he bought down jackets for the entire cast as well as the filming crew. Moses Chan and surprisingly Charmaine Sheh were voted most able to withstand the tough conditions of the desert setting (including sand blowing everywhere, a mini tornado during filming and getting stuck in a well for hours to film one of their love scenes).

This series was nominated for a slew of TVB Awards including Best Series, Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actress/Actor, and Most Improved Actress. Kenny Wong won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Dong Yeung in this series.

La Femme Desperado [TVB]

2006-12-22T23:07:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

"At first glance it seems TVB has hit the nail in terms of presenting a gender-swap, socially aware series but with a closer look, you will realize that LFD only scrapes the surface. A major problem is that it does not delve deep enough to examine the roots of the gender issues it presents."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Chinese Title
"Lui Yan Mm Yee Jo" (translates to it's not easy being a woman)

Year
2006

No. of episodes
22

Cast
Michelle Ng Mei Hang as Ko Ji Ling (Ling)
Raymond Lam Fung as Chai Foon (Siu Chai)
Sheren Tang Sui Man as Hilda
Michael Tse Tin Wah as Man King Leung (Man)
Kenneth Ma Kwok Ming as Ko Ji Lik (Lik)
Kate Tsui as Hoi Suen (Ida)
Cindy Au Sin Yee as Crystal
Tsang Wai Kuen as Pluto
Jacqueline Wu as Venus
Mary Hon Ma Lei as Siu Chai's mother
Tiffany Tse as Wing Yee (niece to Siu Chai)
Leung Ka Yan as Ling's father

Foreword
This series received very high ratings as soon as it was released. The great cast is one of the reasons, but the main reason is this series' attempt to present a very refreshing look at gender roles and stereotypes. As soon as I watched how Hilda (Sheren Tang) taught Ling (Michelle Ng) how to choose and wear a bra in the first episode, I knew this series would be different. Though the plot kind of gets lost towards the end, it is in general a well-written story with strong, complex characters and one of the wittiest, knock-down-stereotypes scripts of all time... in TVB terms, at least.

Quick Summary
The story revolves four main characters, two women (one strong, career-minded one, and one weak, traditional one) and two men (one scumbag-turned-good-father, and one juvenile-turned-man). Hilda, the strong and ambitious woman, is determined to prove that women can succeed in a corporate world dominated by men. She was once deeply hurt by an ex-boyfriend, so she doesn't trust men at all. When she meets the weak, traditional, dominated-by-her-husband Ling, she takes her under her wing and tries to instill confidence and power in her. The two become best friends, but their friendship is tried several times due to numerous events.

Though Ling slowly gains self-esteem, she remains very much the traditional-minded woman, and when Siu Chai, a fitness trainer 7 years her junior, professes his undying love for her, she has trouble reconciling her feelings for him and her worries about how society will view their relationship. However, the immature Siu Chai throws caution to the wind and convinces Ling to marry him without her chauvinistic family's approval first. This causes a lot of friction among the in-laws, with Siu Chai's family also against their marriage. Eventually the stress and a lack of communication separates the two and they divorce, but eventually get back together.

Surprisingly, and probably unintentionally on behalf of the writers, the more interesting relationship of the series is between Hilda and Man. The two have a one-night stand, and Hilda becomes pregnant. However, untrusting of any man and particularly the loser Man, Hilda doesn't tell Man she’s pregnant with his child. Instead, Man requests that he become the surrogate father to her unborn child, and is willing to uphold any responsibility for a little girl that he doesn’t know is his biological child. What follows is a series of touching scenes showing Man’s devotion to his new ‘family’, but Hilda is afraid of becoming hurt again and pushes him away. However, when she realizes that Man truly cares about her and her daughter, she lets him back into her life.

Evaluation of Cast and Characters
Melissa Ng / Ko Ji Ling
A pathetic character and mediocre performance. Some people may feel sorry for Ling since she was so weak and prone to being bullied by others, but if you look carefully, Ling isn't that pitiful, or more precisely, she really doesn't deserve anyone to feel sorry for her. There's an inherent flaw in each of the characters in this series... for Ling, it's found in the friendship between her and Hilda. On the surface she refers to Hilda as her sister, but so many things in this series show how the two women really aren't that close at all. On Ling's behalf, she is always ready to betray Hilda when someone badmouths her. For example, when Pluto's wife Venus tells Ling that Hilda is her husband's mistress, Ling schemes with Jackie to bring about Hilda's career downfall, without even consulting or asking Hilda for her side of the story.

Then the actress. To be honest, I find Melissa Ng boring. She doesn't have enough screen presence to be a lead actress although she does well in supporting roles, like Michelle Yip. Michelle is pretty and even classy, she does very well in supporting roles (her cameo in Hard Fate, for example) but when she takes on a lead role (ex. Triumph in the Skies, Eternal Happiness) she loses her charisma and her emotional scenes don't register with me. Melissa is the same. I find her emotional scenes inadequate, although she does have chemistry with Raymond Lam and she looks quite pretty here. But basically I find her boring. The series would have been more interesting if she and Sheren Tang switched roles so that they could both play against-type, but I'm laughing at the prospect of watching Sheren Tang and Raymond Lam together...though I have no idea why.

Sheren Tang / Hilda
The powerful, hardworking, ambitious counterpart to Ling. Her character represents the breakdown of the stereotype of the submissive, quiet female, and because of this, Hilda comes off as truly heartless and cruel. Many males may cry foul at Hilda's one-track-mind of finding a sperm donor in Siu Chai without ever planning to let him know, but then, for thousands of years men have used women just for their ability to bear children. Many (like Man in this series) may also criticize her for placing her career above family (like the part when she insists on continuing a business meeting when her baby daughter is in the hospital with a fever)... but on the other hand, how many people will condemn a man for doing the same thing? This series and especially the character of Hilda raise a lot of questions about these double-standard perceptions, which is refreshing coming from the usually patriarchial TVB.

The flaw in her character, like Ling, is found when one looks at their friendship. Seriously, if friendship is what it is as shown between these two women (who claimed to be best friends and 'sisters'), I have lost all faith in friendship. Fully knowing that Ling has feelings for Siu Chai, Hilda still targets him as a potential sperm donor. 'Inconsiderate' does not begin to describe that. There is something weird and inconsistent about the way the writers portrayed the friendship between Hilda and Ling, and in a way it's never really resolved.

Anyway, Sheren delivered a strong performance. Her best scenes are opposite the talented Michael Tse and as the vulnerable, soft, loving older sister to Kate Tsui's character. But I wish she would take on a different character next time. One Jessica Hsuan is enough for me, thanks...though Sheren is a much better actress than Jess.

Michael Tse / Man
An intriguing character and excellent performance. The success of Michael's performance lies in the fact that he absolutely personifies Man. At the beginning, you loathe him as the ultimate disgusting scumbag and cheating husband. You cheer when he is constantly insulted by Siu Chai. Then when he reveals his past as an orphan, you suddenly empathize with him. When you watch his scenes with Hilda and the baby, you start to love this guy because you know that inside, deep down, he is a good person, only driven to becoming a jerk due to his unhappy childhood and for self-preservation. When Hilda rejects his love and takes away their daughter, Man becomes his old scum self again. There is something very human about Man and Michael conveyed it extremely well. I loved watching him as the jerk in the beginning and also as the caring husband-father figure with Hilda. My only complaint is the scenes where he is playing the piano and singing to Hilda. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to throw up or laugh.

Raymond Lam / Siu Chai
This character is, at first glance, too easy for Raymond since he has done this role so many times (A Taste of Love, A Step into the Past, Yummy Yummy, etc.). The challenge is to present this kind of character in a refreshing way, given his interesting older-woman-younger-man romantic storyline. Raymond rises to the challenge. He is funny and dead-on at the beginning with his witty insults and comebacks towards Michael, lovable as the doted-upon son of his widowed mother and grandmother, but it is his pairing with Melissa Ng that is oddly compelling. As I've mentioned, I wasn't crazy about Melissa's Ling but Raymond's performance made this couple very watchable. His portrayal of the very juvenile, blunt, impulsive Siu Chai with a one-track mind towards loving his 'goddess' Ling was very good. I find his performance so satisfying because he made the character very real - the way he delivered his dialogue in defence of Ling and their relationship was totally fitting - he really acted like a young man would in defence of the woman he loved. My only complaint is that he looks too thin here to be convincing as a fitness trainer - he looked even more muscular in Survivor's Law.

Kate Tsui / Ida
I'm surprised that not many of the reviewers noticed her performance here. I thought she was really good, much better than Melissa Ng, and for Kate's first series, that's high praise. Her lips look kind of freaky in here because they're thick and loaded with too much lip gloss, and she's not pretty either, but Kate has a face with character. Though she was shaky in the beginning here, she gives the rebellious, angry Ida spice and personality; her best scenes are opposite Sheren Tang. As well, very few actresses (especially Hong Kong actresses) can accurately depict a tomboy, but Kate is the epitome of tomboy in here. From the way she speaks to the way she walks, she conveys a very powerful image of a boyish girl. Wonderful performance, and if TVB gives her a chance, she will be a newcomer I recommend looking out for.

Kenneth Ma / Lik
One of the TVB actors who is underrated for a reason... because he's boring! I once compared him to Joe Ma, who delivers the right emotions at the right times but has no screen presence. And since they both have the same last name, I will from this day forward refer to these two guys as the uncharismatic long-lost brothers of TVB, though they aren't related in real life. Anyway, Kenneth is dull here - he pouts too much for a grown man though his character made a cute couple with Kate Tsui's Ida and was hilariously chauvinistic, but Kenneth is such a boring actor. I can feel myself about to yawn as I'm writing this, that's how boring he is.

Other Characters
After a none-too-successful singing career and various cameos in movies and series alike, Cindy Au seems to be regaining some exposure, although it's not a 'comeback' by any means. Meaning she has a cute personality in real life, is a decent actress, she's not stiff and she doesn't overact, but she will never get a lead role - she's missing the X-factor. She gives a good performance here as the rational, educated, body-language expert and her outburts of "You're lying!" add comedy to this series. A great performance was given by Leung Ka Yan, who is downright hilarious as the super-chauvinist but caring father to Ling. The supporting cast, actually, is generally very good - excellent performances by Mary Hon, Tiffany Tse, and the actors who portrayed Ling's older brother and mother, Siu Chai's grandmother, Pluto, and Venus. The acting in this series is top-notch with the disappointing exception of Melissa Ng.

A Breakthrough?
At first glance it seems TVB has hit the nail in terms of presenting a gender-swap, socially aware series but with a closer look, you will realize that LFD only scrapes the surface. A major problem is that it doesn’t delve deep enough to examine the roots of the gender issues it presents. For example, Ling and Siu Chai get married simply without addressing the issue of their older-woman-younger-man relationship – it was just like “get married, worry about family’s blessing later”. The relationship between Hilda and Man is more intriguing, but again, only scrapes the surface in terms of examining the interaction between men and women. The one ‘social change’ that was presented fairly well in this series was how Ling’s mother gained independence in face of a strict, demanding, chauvinistic husband. La Femme Desperado does well as a first step, but as a breakthrough series insightfully challenging gender stereotypes, it still has some way to go.

On the Titles
The Cantonese one is very easy to remember, but it is the English one that is confusing. Actually, it’s not even English. It seems like TVB messed up in their foreign languages department: “la femme” is French for woman, and “desperado” is closest to the Spanish or Portugese word for desperate, “desesperado”. Catchy title nonetheless though.

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
Not to be missed. You will laugh yourself silly at the wit of the first part and Michael Tse's amazing performance is worth your time alone. Worth buying if you are a Raymond Lam fan.

Rating

Through the Grapevine
Jacqueline Wu (who portrayed Venus) is actually deaf in one ear. Raymond Lam is a self-proclaimed bore: when he's not filming series, he stays at home and "walks to the kitchen, washroom, and living room, then walks back to the kitchen".

Casino Royale [Mov]

2006-11-18T20:34:00.000+08:00

Written by Funn Lim

"This is a must see for any action movies fans. Not just Bond fans could enjoy this"

SOME SPOILERS!

Are you watching Casino Royale? I am not a huge die hard fan of James Bond or his movies but I do have my own perception of how James Bond should look like. I had my doubts about Daniel Craig as James Bond. I still have my doubts but there is no doubt this man can act, he can run, he can do fight scenes convincingly and he can be very charming when he wants to be. He may not be traditionally handsome but somehow those cold steely blue eyes, very nice body and that face full of lines kinda accentuates his world weariness and thus makes him forbidingly dangerous and very attractive. There was the pout and all of course. I still don't see in him the previous movies' James Bond but I do see in him MI6 agent, killer, a man with a conscience but with a duty to kill and possibly a man that could be loved and fall in love as in this movie. So Daniel Craig may be blonde, balding and short but in those scenes where he sat down with Eva Green (as Vesper Lynd) just talking, having a very interesting coversation about knowing the other's real person and all whilst flirting non stop and when he laughed, I find him very handsome. It is like seeing a tightly wound up person being relaxed for once and that moment of being relaxed is like golden, rare and so satisfying.

The actions scenes were magnificent. From the get go, we have Bond chasing after a guy who was doing free jumping, such agility and gracefulness and Bond, never slow and chasing just as hard lacked the agility and gracefulness but he had brute force. He kills in a very "this is just work for me" manner and yet his eyes flinched for a moment, was that a regret that he had to kill? And he believed that his killings had a purpose; to rid the world of bad guys, even if it may be one bomb maker. That makes him reckless as he could not see the big picture as M reminded him again and again. I love his relationship with M and we do get to see M at her home, her husband, and possibly even her name that starts with the alphabet M. I loved the scenes where she scolded him, expressed her disappointment in him and how he responded, as callous as he could but you know her words hurt him even if he didn't look like he give a damn. Some scenes showed he had integrity, like under severe torture using the simplest tools had him screaming unshamedly with pain but yet I felt what a man, what a macho guy because he simply did not yield. It was also a very funny scene as the way Bond responded to the torture and I thought it was a brilliant scene. There were also car chase scene where Vesper was lying on the road and he had to avoid her and his Aston Martin when tumbling and tumbling. The number of times he was bleeding, scarred and in pain was like every 10 min or so but it was real. The previous Bond lacked that jittery scary moment and in this version you have plenty. Many times I sat at the edge of my seat thinking how he will escape it all and he did it all, in a very realistic way. My absolute favourite scene was the one where he was poisoned whilst playing poker and he quickly rushed out and contacted his HQ via a laptop-thingy in his Aston Martin. If this was Streamyx he was using, I am afraid there wouldn't be anymore James Bond movie. Anyway he was dying, his heart was stopping and he was receiving instructions on how to revive his own heart if he should then faint and die. He did everything and the moment his heart was about to give, he pushed the red button of the defribilator and guess what? It didn't work! He realised he did not attach the switch and all and before he could do it, the HQ via their computers heard the doooooooooooooo sound. Oh yeah, Bond was dead. How he overcame this? Well watch the movie for yourself. Anyway as the movie went by he fell in love, then felt betrayed for reasons that I think I need a 2nd viewing to understand and then in the end, only in the end you will see him in a very nicely cut suit (before that he preferred the slack and shirt) with a huge gun saying "Bond, James Bond". If I may add, perfect delivery. And then the original theme came onto the picture. It was not the reworked theme I think because it sounded like the original theme, only louder.

Although there's no Q or Moneypenny (here Moneypenny as in M's secretary is a young man) or even a real villain per se, this movie did not lack in technology even if they were real and workable instead of fanciful. I was not happy at first seeing Bond in a Ford car. Then he switched to 2 types of Aston Martin and oh my, what gorgeous cars. There was no shaken or stirred Martinis, in fact Bond retorted "Do I look like I give a damn?" or fancy stuff. No perfectly cut suit every scene but one very fine looking tux. No sex scenes, but probably because Malaysian cinema must have cut it. Amazingly kissing scene not cut much and instead of women running around in a sexy bikini, we have Bond coming out of the water in a very nice looking baby blue swimming trunks ala Sean Connery time and I feel men should wear those instead of speedos or whatever.

What you do have is a lot of very funny or intelligent banter, a very good poker game scene (instead the poker game was long), amazing action sequences and in a movie that was 30 min too long, luckily a few good actors to hold your attention.

For one Dame Judi Dench is amazing. She was always underused as M, more supportive before but here you will see her standalone, you see her getting angry, scolding Bond and trying to teach him how to be a better agent which involves looking at the big picture and putting own emotions aside for the sake of your country and Queen, you see her home life, you see her out of office and doing some real work and you see her being harassed by Bond so as to assist him in his investigations. You even see the back of her Husband and her gorgeous apartment. I liked her end scene where Bond said something horrible about Vesper Lynd but it was M who chided Bond in a very gentle manner.

Eva Green was in Kingdom Of Heaven looking beautiful with heavy mascara and nothing much to do. In 007, she has loads to do and still looking very beautiful indeed. I read she is French and if she is, and she does have those wispy French looks that most French actresses have, she has a very good English accent. She could have fooled me. Anyway, her role as Vesper Lynd was interesting in that she has a temper, she held her own against the not that chauvinistic but still as egoistical Bond and more importantly she didn't have some funny name. Her role is beyond sleeping with Bond, in fact her role is to make us believe she could make Bond fall in love with her and even quit his job for her. I could believe that. Her Vesper is alluring without being too inaccessible or inconceivable that such person could exist and yet you sense she is someone special. In other words she has a role and a purpose and she is treated with respect by Bond not because she could fight and all, in fact she could not deal with the fact that she had to kill even if to save her own life but rather because she has personality and she has an opinion and she is not afraid to let Bond hear what she's thinking about. My only problem with her is her awful night gowns. Her overdone eye makeup made her looked bruise. In fact she has a tendency to grimace a bit which makes her look drugged out. Other than that, she is fine. In fact her most beautiful moment was when she was stripped of makeup and looking fresh and very young. Her chemistry with Daniel Craig is first class.

The villain Le Chiffre played by Mads Mikkelsen was interesting. He is not really a villain per se but what he does is still bad enough. He has such a cold plastic face that is scary. I thought his performance was brilliant and I have never heard of him before.

Last but not least Daniel Craig himself. No no no, he is still not my idea of Bond. But if this is about Bond starting to be comfortable with his 007 status, then yes I have to admit, grudgingly he was perfect. He can deliver those light hearted moments as well as heavy drama, he could fight and jump and run and looking bruised and yet still look he can face more of those whatever may come, he has a nice looking body and although a bit stocky and a bit too short, he looks he can kill you if he wants to. His Bond is a bit clumsy, in fact makes major mistakes and is egoistical but his Bond is also human, with a conscience, idealist perhaps in the way he thought about his job and is earnest and has this never say die attitude. Under torture he did not yield even when he knew the woman he loves was being tortured also. He has yet to become that cold hearted chauvinistic mean killing machine and Craig portrayed that aspect very well. He could do a bit of lighthearted moments too. My only worry for him is the suave and debonair department like Roger Moore was. Could he do that in later movies? Because James Bond will become as such in later movies. Although I still don't see James Bond in Daniel Craig I felt he is such a fantastic actor and a fantastic athlete that I could see an action star in him. Maybe being suave can be polished, I am not very sure and I won't say he is the best Bond ever. This Bond movie is totally different from the rest but I can say he had me hooked the moment he appeared. No doubt, he is charismatic as well as having an interesting face that one could remember.

There are several aspects I did not like about this movie. The plot for one is confusing towards the end, it was almost too narrow but well it works for the purpose of reintroducing Bond to the world. Whilst there is still that opening sequence with music, the themesong was truly the worst aspect and the most awful thing about this movie. But the opening sequence was very artistic and I enjoyed it because I didn't cringe like I did before where I had to endure naked looking women gyrating to the music but now from the moment of the director saying ACTION, even in the themesong sequence you see Bond, James Bond. Oh this movie is bent on promoting Bond, hence the rising from the ocean scene. I like that because why should Bond movie be about the villains and women? It should be about the man himself, the rest should be sidelines.

But one aspect was improved from the previous movie apart from the campiness thing (I mean previous Bond movies can be said to be a tad campy, almost a joke by itself and a caricature of the character of James Bond for simply being James Bond), the scenery were amazing. No more filming in a fake studio place like the awful last Bond movie, now we have scenery, we have yacth, we have sea and we have beautiful exotic buildings. That was a marked improvement. And the first scene shot in black and white with camera work remisnicent of the olden days camera work was pretty interesting. And the one liners that Bond movies are famous for is in full glory here without being too sexual, too cringe worthy or too much of everything.

Verdict
So my verdict? This is a must see for any action movies fans. Not just Bond fans could enjoy this. This is one of the best action films this year and for me the best Bond movie because I didn't cringe. I bet women will fall for Daniel Craig's rugged James Bond whilst men will enjoy the action scenes as well as the beautiful Eva Green. I loved it for the performances and Daniel Craig himself. Now, for the sequel I hope Daniel works on the debonair part and the song writers write us Bond fans a better song.

Watch it on the big screen as this movie deserves it.

Interesting stuff
The structure of the movie is almost similar with Batman Begins. Very interesting.

Anyway, I can understand why the fans hated Craig at first. He went through an amazing transformation by just gaining a few pounds, looking a bit more muscular and give his lips a pout. Just look...

2004 he was this :-

2006 as James Bond :-
AND

He's still short though.

It's True Fact
I don't know how our Malaysian censorship board rates movies but this movie got a U raing, meaning for viewing of the general publis including children without any parental guidance. I mean are they crazy? First scene itself we have Bond smashing a guy's head on the sink a few times. Of coruse some were censored. I'd rather this movie get an 18 whatever rating (meaning only for those 18 and above) so that the movie is left untouched. Alas ... it was not to be.

More Info
And for fan reviews, check out imdb.com

The Academy [TVB]

2006-10-21T02:47:00.000+08:00

Written by Funn Lim

" She (Fiona Sit) should marry Ron Ng and then give birth to a generation of awful actors."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Released In
2005

Cast-Character
The following were taken from Bridget Au's review of the same series.

Michael Miu Kiu Wai as Lee Man Sing / Sunny (Lee Sir)
Ron Ng Cheuk Hei as Chung Lap Man (Man)
Sammul Chan Kin Fung as Wai Pak Kiu (Kiu)
Fiona Sit Hoi Kei as Ma Oi Lam (Fiona)
Michelle Mai Suet as Ivy (mother to Man)
Tavia Yeung Yee as Hor Fa (Ah Fa)
Chin Ka Lok as Kook Sir
Priscilla Koo Kei Kwan as Madam / Ann
Deep Ng Ho Hong as Ming (brother to Fa)
Eddie Lee Yu Yeung as Ryan
Law Koon Lan as Chan Yin-lan
Lau Kam Ling as Ma-cheung Wai-sum
Tang Ho Kwong as Ma Fung-tai

Synopsis
For the story, check out Bridget Au's review or Debbie Law's review

Comments
This has got to be one of TVB's very worst series ever, I am sure there are others worse that this crappy series but right now, this has got to be it, the one, the ultimate, the one and only. It has a promising story ala Burning Flame, where young idealistic people aspiring to join the police force must undergo training at the dreaded Academy. A mish mash of different personalities, characters and outlook that hated each other at first, with many sub plots revolving in major character, including those of the trainers and made worse with jealousy and competetive surroundings who at last bonded together and graduated having learnt the meaning of partnership, cooperation, that one man can't do it all. Added into that is also family crisis, love, friendship and ultimately losing someone. Sounds promising?

It does, on paper. The actual final product is awful beyond words. One point at a time ....

The training
I wanted to see real training, but I got glimpses of gun traning, judo training and regretfully, a lot of marching exercises. In fact from the 1st till the last episode they were marching and marching and marching. That gave me an impression that

a. police training consists of marching only so that the young ones will be trained to march their criminals to death or maybe out-march the criminial

b. after so many bloody episodes, they're still not good at marching

c. no one can speak decent English and even after finishing the series I still can't get what was said except I think "HALT" but sounded more like "HUT" and everything was like gibberrish. Also heard FALL OUT but more like FOH AUT, spelt like German doesn't it? They might as well have been speaking French.

d. everytime they start to march that darn music comes out, end of marching that music again.

It conditioned me in such ways where when I heard that music, I just turn the channels.

And they went on marching. You can see so many variations in here; in the rain, in the sun; along the alley; everywhere in the academy. And march and march and march. Why not just call this series THE MARCHING ACADEMY or THE MARCHERS MARCHES ON THE MARSHES?

Then they had studies. Like what kind of studies? The law? The constitution? How to beat a confession out of a hard core criminal? Rights of the criminals? Right of arrest? When to arrest and search and warrant and stuff? Nope. They studied something, I just can't remember exactly what they studied. But a lot of smiling teachers and inspired faces who will then go marching.

Awful. And it was even more awful that the training lasted until the last episode. They had to graduate some time in this series, but I didn't expect to see them train until the very end.

The drama
What drama? One male trainer Lee Sir seems to be stuck in girlfriends with awful sons type of relationship. One is with Ah Kiu whom I think turned out to be his real son, like yeah yippee and the other the son of a woman he fell for. Ah Kiu was cold but the other was nasty. The worst plot in history of TVB is to make this man

a. live with one trainee

b. good friends with the mother of the other trainee

Maybe good drama perhaps you think? Sounds ideal but imagine this; both boys listening to him in school but outside of school rude like hell and even threatened him. Then back to school and there they were compliant, although still as stubborn. It doesn't work. Lee Sir in this silly plot became such a wuss. In fact he shouts, he scolds, he persuades and did any of them ever listen? Not for 89% of this series, oh no they don't. They continued to defy him whenever they can. Totally zero respect and I wonder why go to study there if you have such attitude problem that lasted so bloody long?

Then we have rivalries. Two types; male and female, both involving boycotting, gossiping, back stabbing ... hey are we watching The Bold And The Beautiful in here? The girls especially a bunch of useless complaining bimbos. The guys fared no better, more co-operation but every much the himbos. They spent almost the entire time bickering, to the point where they had to go jungle trekking and the guys failed miserably whilst there were divas in the girl's group. This is not about police training; This looks like some bitch fest to me. And the fact that it continues on and on is just so darn boring.

Then we have love. One silly subplot on the occupation of Tavia Yeung's character, Fa who comes from a family of pickpokets. Modern day Fagin if you wish. Then we have her all serious and all huffing and puffing everytime, most of the time very unreasonable and childish. Understandably Man got her brother into jail so when she played tricks on him and vented her anger at him, ok, understandable but in a way silly because she knew her brother did do the crime as charged. Instead of advising her brother to stop and just go find a real job, she felt angry that her brother went to jail. We have also various love stories and relationship stories as subplot, trainees with trainees (rich girl, poor cool boy), trainers and trainers (understanding madam and silly sir), trainer and trainee's son (two in fact, one dead, one alive) and I can't keep count so frankly I can't list them all. Too much time on relationships, too little on really real substance like when are they ever going to graduate? Will they be good policemen? Stuff like that.

Policemen or drama queens?
That's my point with this series. They're training to be policemen but they're all acting like hissy fussy sissy but never sassy drama queens. Fights, gossips, bitchings, temper flares...all seems like War & Beauty to me, set in a police campus. Generally all these fightings should be interesting since when they unite it will be like truly team spirit and all but somehow this series successfully turn all the fights into brainless boring bland activity (hereinafter the BBB factor). You can see this BBB factor in almost every episode, all of which regarding the trainees and sometimes the trainers themselves. The girls especially, I felt like what is this? Policewomen or ultimate bitch fest? No matter how many times the trainer Lee Sir said to them unity is of utmost importance, they listened and then again, the whole BBB bitchfest begins, right up until the last few episodes. Even the men had internal competition, like who can do the head stand longer perhaps, that when the trainers said stop they went on. So the punishment? Run 10 rounds around the field. If I were the trainers I fail them all for indiscipline and general stupidity.

The adults in this series
Believe it or not, there are adults in this series who acts like adults, unlike the trainees who are worse than children indulging in BBB activities. But the adults fared no better. They seem like they have problems, but in actual fact do they? I find even the adults' woes as very superficial like love, denial, familial problems. Whilst I understand a son's hope of reuniting the parents like Man's parents in this series, but after so many episodes also the same plot is almost BBB but not quite yet. Some adults acted in such a way that can stretch my patience, that like the aunt of Man. I know, forever young, a bit childlike and cute and free spirited and hippie-ish and all that trash, to actually see this woman acting like that is really frustrating because already the plot is going nowhere, we have characters who are wasting screen time with useless storyline. Like what is her purpose? Comic relief? Was she even funny in the first place? To lend support to her sibling? So why is she hogging the limelight with her antics? I don't see support. Then there was the Fagin family. Just silly.

The houses in this series
Maybe that's why pickpockets are such good business because look at their house! Huge. Every single apartment in this series is like luxury home, just how luxurious. Like they're so rich and yet we have the characters complaining of not having money. These days TVB series are too optimistic about HK real estate I suppose because their characters' seem to be living in bigger homes despite not having big time jobs. So I can only imagine how the houses will look like in Healing Hands III.

The Characters
Is there at least one memorable character in this series?

Some may say Sammul's character. Most would probably say Michael Miu's character. For me, all are memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Plenty of stereotypes.

Kiu is cool. Cool and cool until he melted, still melted cool.

Man is hot headed. Hotheaded until he got himself roasted (and he does look roasted) and became less hotheaded.

The girls, like Fiona is the ultimate complain queen and did she change for the better? Less dependant you say? I don't know and I don't care.

There were of course the essential 3 trainers standing at the front facing the trainees, usually in white shirt and blue shorts as Lee Sir and gang will walk to the damn theme music. Always those 3 whose moments in this series are always in those white shirts and blue shorts and stand there pretending to train these brainless bunch when in actual fact they are never utilised at all. Like mannequins, carried out when needed and carried back in when finished.

Lee Sir, I really pity him. Not only had he to come to terms with 2 sons of one past relationship and the other forming relationship and having to speak English and giving advice nobody wants to listen, scolding when nobody cares and being supportive when nobody appreciates him, he of course then had to be killed off. This is really the most pitiful character ever. I did not see the episode where he died but I read he died in a gunfight? Which leads to my next complain ...

When will this series ever end?
From the start it felt superficial. Introducing various characters for the sake of introducing them, we immediately have the BBB activities and factors. They never seem to be close to graduating at all, the story went on and on and Lee Sir scolded and scolded and it still went on and on and even in the last episode after Lee Sir has died, they're still not graduated yet! I told myself they had to graduate because the series has to end. And to end the series with a graduation, all characters must end having achieved their goals, so all those love problems, rivalry problems and whatever has to be settled by the last episode if not the series will never end. Now they have a sequel!! A sequel!! For a moment I feared like they're never going to end this series because they want to carry on into the sequel. I don't know, I missed the last episode, except for the part where all of them sang and get this, march again. So sick of this series which is about right because the next slotted series on ASTRO was Healing Hands III, so it's like I got so sick of this series I needed to be cured, hence the doctors series but alas! Saw the 1st episode of Healing Hands III and I got sicker this time with this pretentious English class disguised as a smart doctors series. English class? Well the pronunciation are ok, I think those who can't speak English at all are banned from HH III, whilst those that can't speak well will play characters that need not see patients but just walk on the hospital grounds to fill in the quota I suppose. This HH III reminds me of Hindi movies ..."Cantonese...cantonese...cantonese... APPRECIATION ... cantonese .... cantonese ... DIFFICULT... cantonese...cantonese...cantonese... CLEAR!!" You get my meaning, and the worse was having the attending BRAIN surgeon asking an intern what is defribilator and the guy went on to describe what it is with the surgeon nodding his head. Oh please....Why am I talking HH III when I am writing about The Academy? Anyway the series finally ended, much to my relief.

The casting
Please refer to The Performances for more comments on this. Suffice to say this is probably one of the worst cast ever, because almost everybody was ill suited for his or her respective character, it was either forcing someone who can't act into a character whhich requires a huge amount of acting or simply dump an actor into a role without any consideration on the overall effect on the series, which is awful of course.

The Performances
Michael Miu looks good for his age, and I was shocked to see Sammul Chan taller than he is. But he is wrongly cast as the stern disciplinarian that is Lee Sir. He didn't look stern enough, in fact he looked pained. He just didn't have those authoritative wise quality that demands respect or even fear. In fact nobody feared him in this series. I find his performance too casual, more suited for other characters like maybe a doctor in Healing Hands III because they don't seem stressed even when the patient's heart has exploded and he is screaming with all the blood gushing out like Sentosa Island's musical fountain (do they still have that at Sentosa, Singapore?).

Amongst all Sammul Chan surprised me a bit. Firstly because he looks better than Ron when he was half naked. Ron looked flabby and roasted, Sammul Chan looked, ok a bit on the slim side but he looked believably strong and athletic even if he didn't run like he ran before. Nobody looked like they can run in this series. His acting improved a lot, but after a while his character seems to be stuck in staring people to death. And his Mona Lisa look (is he smiling? Is he not smiling) can be quite annoying at times. Also very inconsistent performance, like is he happy? Is he sad? Orn is he happy after being sad? Compared to the other trainees, he fared better but amongst many others good actors in TVB, he still has some way to go.

Ron Ng was interesting because it is difficult to categorise his performance except that in the awful department. He went through many transformation in his acting which I shall summarise below...

God awful -> dead awful -> very awful -> still awful -> awful -> never going to be anything but awful

So he got better as the series went on and on but still stuck at awful. When he was like being cute with Michelle Mi, I was like cringing because even when cute he was as awful more so when a scene requires him to act angry, to act sad..and he has one look for them all..stoned look. He is the stone man as opposed to Sonija Kwok's automaton and Shirley Yeung's robot. Quite simply, awful.

Michelle Mi wasn't any better. She was much better in The Gentle Crackdown but in this series somehow something was missing. She has zero chemistry with Ron who plays her son and Micheal who plays her friend. By herself she is ok but her character is perpetually in worried mode.

Law Koon Lan sadly failed miserably in her hippie desperate for a guy role. I was just so annoyed with her presence and I was even more annoyed that more time was spent on her subplot with Michael Miu rather than showing proper training and stuff. Her over the top performance in never ending scenes just sealed her fate; her performance did nothing to enhance this series, in fact it kinda speed up its doom.

Tavia Yeung was ok. I was expecting her to play one of the trainees, instead she is Fa and the general description of Fa is she is very pretty. That in itself is a miscast. Tavia Yeung isn't so that very pretty. I mean Michelle Mi is like probably 3 decades older than her and yet look at that woman! Like she didn't age past 40! But Tavia, whose performance was like her other performances lately which is getting boring to watch is in this series the best actress in light of many awful performances. But I think she is a miscast because she didn't fit into her character's description. And she does look more mature than Ron Ng.

Chin Ka Lok was ok, but I was surprised why he is cast in this role as firearms trainer? Then I realise he didn't do much as firearm trainer, in fact his job is to walk around the campus whole day doing nothing substantial and being a friend to Lee Sir and providing comic relief. In other words, he has nothing to do. He was funny, at times but most of the time his lack of good dramatic acting, his silly antics and his non existing storyline weighs down this series and did nothing to enhance the watchability of this series. Disappointing performance.

Fiona Sit and I just learned her name talks like she doesn't bite. You know some people talk like their lips never closed? And she forever looks sweaty, probably her hairstyle. Notwithstanding the fact that I got the shock of my life seeing Jan Lau as her mom, come to think of it if Jan is 36 and this Fiona is 18, it could happen. She plays the spoilt rich girl, and she looks like one. Fullstop. Her character never advanced further. Seeing her do judo on criminals was just funny because this girl doesn't even look like she has the strength to carry a mineral water bottle more so kick and punch. That one scene where she fainted was awful. It was really poor acting and she is the entire series' worst actress and some of the worst I have ever seen. Just because she can look lost or downcast or whatever whenever Sammul's character got angry with her doesn't mean she can act. You and I can do that, maybe even better. The general feeling is this girl simply does not know what she is doing, and her performance reflects the amateur in her. Simply awful. She should marry Ron Ng and then give birth to a generation of awful actors. Maybe just maybe that awful acting gene will skip one generation. Who knows?

The rest were forgettable except maybe for the girl who plays Ron Ng's sister, she was ok and some veterans who were cast in thankless roles that are either too silly or underutilised.

Verdict
This is junk. One of the worst series ever, the writing is awful, the casting awful, the performances mostly awful and the entire series awful in every way, don't waste your money on this piece of awful entertainment. This series insults the viewer's intelligence and the police workforce generally and you will probably live longer avoiding this series because watching these amateurs act may give you instantenous death by frustration.

Interesting Stuff
There are interesting stuff in here. Like in the original series starring Tony Leung and gang, I remember the male trainees were mostly half naked when in training, including the trainers. How come this one so little?

There was one scene, this madam trainer whose name I forgotten has a dog, a male Golden Retriever I think. Chin Ka Lok was talking to this madam trainer and the dog was supposed to be friendly and nice. But the camera had to zoom away fast, away from the dog because the dog was busy trying to climb Chin Ka Lok's leg! You know, that stuff horny dogs do? Like mate with one's leg? I was like laughing so hard as Chin Ka Lok, poor him was trying to say his lines and at the same time his hands kept pushing the dog away! The dog is officially is love with his leg!

Beautiful Illusions [S'pore]

2006-10-21T02:34:00.000+08:00

Written by Funn Lim

" I read the synopsis, call it hype but when I read Fann Wong was playing dual role, and a person with split personality disorder bent on revenge, I was interested...However if you really watch this series, and I don't mind telling you the spoiler of this series, there exists a 3rd personality."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Title deciphered
In Mandarin it is Jin Zhong Ren. I read it translates as The Person In The Mirror which pretty much sums up the plot of this series I suppose. I do like the English title though which again pretty much sums up the character(s) played by Fann Wong, both beautiful as in physically and the representation of her characters. In fact very good English title.

Released In
2004

Produced by
MediaCorp, Singapore

No. Of Episodes
20. I was quite surprised. So short for a series heavy with many issues but luckily it was 20 because if not it would be repetetive. I think the plot pretty much exhausts itself by the 15th episodes and the rest of the 5 episodes I guess pretty much sums up the entire reason for this series and therefore the last 5 episodes or so were slow in its pace in some ways.

Cast-Character
Most I do not recognise but are famous in Singapore.

Fann Wong .... Wang Yixin, Joe Ann
Thomas Ong .... Zhou Jiansheng
Qi Yuwu .... Zhou Jianwei
Yvonne Lim .... Lu Xiaofen
Lin Liyun .... Esther Wong
Nick Shen .... Wang Yifan
Yan Bingliang .... Lu Qinghua
Lan Qinxi .... Bai Cai
Joey Ng .... Tracy
Unknown - Daxiong
Unknowns - Mr & Mrs Lu

That's about it. So few people come to think of it.

Summary
Taken from official website at MediaCorp. You can alos view the episodes guide over there, not much spoiler.

Zhou Jiansheng and Zhou Jianwei are brothers separated since young. Years later, the grown-up Jiansheng (Thomas Ong) has been to jail and back, and now works as a small chef. He meets a comic illustrator, Wang Yixin (Fann Wong) and slowly falls for her, oblivious to the affections of his childhood friend Xiaofen (Yvonne Lim). Jianwei (Qi Yuwu) has led a very privileged life and is now the General Manager and heir of Prometix Corporation. The rich sheltered playboy finds himself utterly drawn to the charismatic and beautiful Joe Ann (Fann Wong), a sassy flight stewardess. Soon, Xiaofen senses something out of the ordinary about Yixin and Joe Ann. At this point, Xiaofen faces inexplicable and life-threatening accidents. Can she find out the truth in time to save Jiansheng and Jianwei?

Zhou Jiansheng (Thomas Ong) had a difficult childhood. His father was a compulsive alcoholic who lashed out on his wife and children whenever he was on the booze. His mother, Esther wanted to take Jiansheng with her on the day of her escape. However, her husband found out her plan and threatened her with Jiansheng’s life. Esther had no other choice but to just take her younger son Jianwei (Qi Yuwu) with her. Upon her departure, she promised Jiansheng that she would be back for him.

Jiansheng waited for Esther in vain; he now believes that Esther had truly deserted him. What he didn’t know is Esther had tried to look for him, but his father had hindered her plans. One day, out of desperation, Jiansheng agreed to kill a man, in exchange for his father’s medical expenses.

Jiansheng is released after 15 years of imprisonment. On his first day of freedom, he meets comic illustrator Wang Yixin (Fann Wong), a compassionate and warm-hearted girl who, like Jiansheng, had an unfortunate childhood. Yixin’s father passed away when she was only 7 years old. Her mother suffered from a mental breakdown as a result of her husband’s sudden death. The two lonely souls find comfort in each other’s company, and love soon blooms.

Jiansheng is also reunited with a childhood friend, Lu Xiaofen (Yvonne Lim). Xiaofen not only solves Jiansheng’s lodging problems, she also helps him to set up his own restaurant. Jiansheng is grateful to Xiaofen for being such a wonderful friend, but is oblivious that Xiaofen’s childhood infatuation has grown into love.

Jiansheng’s mother, Esther has since re-married, and is now the CEO of a pharmaceutical company. For years, she tries to locate the whereabouts of Jiansheng, including putting advertisements in newspapers. As Jiansheng was in jail all these years, he did not come across the ad till he was released. He refuses to get in touch with Esther, never giving her a chance to redeem herself.

Jianwei was lucky to escape from his father’s clutches. While Jiansheng had to make ends meet, Jianwei was pampered with luxuries and attention. One day, Jianwei chanced upon a fiery girl, Joe-Ann (Fann Wong in a dual role). Spellbound by her mysterious air and captivating looks, he soon ditches his fiancé to be with Joe-Ann.

The bizarre thing about the two brothers’ new found romance is that both their girlfriends have a strikingly similar physical appearance. No matter how the brothers try to get their girlfriends to meet each other, it would always be in vain. But as Xiaofen soon realizes, the truth is deathlier than it seems…

A note on the Summary
Like all summaries in MediaCorp website, it is after viewing the series that some facts were wrong or misleading. I am not sure if it's true or not but nowhere in the series have I heard that Esther Wong remarried. The rest are pretty accurate with a few dramatic sentences thrown in.

Funn's summary on the plot
WARNING : MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Yixin was 8 when she saw her father being stabbed to death by a 15 year old Jiansheng. Jiansheng was put behind bars for 17 years, during which time Yixin and her baby brother Yifan grew up living with her aunt, seeing her mother went crazy with grief and having to live a hard life so as to see her brother through university. You can imagine how hard life was when in a moment of utter and complete unexplainable madness, her life crashed. She lived her life filled with hatred and for 17 years she tracked down Jiansheng's every movement (this I gather since to know when he was released from jail and how was Jianwei there must be a lot of detective work on her part) and she created in her mind a full proof plan not really to kill Jiansheng but to make him feel how she felt all these years when she had nothing but her brother; she wanted Jiansheng to suffer when death would be more preferable than living. She was lucky she was pretty and she used it to her advantage. So she executed her plans the moment Jiansheng was released, befriending him and became his good friend who was not prejudiced towards his past and who could love him for all that he was. Jiansheng was naturally smitten but he required a bit of persuasion since Jiansheng had a deep inferiority complex and she made sure she helped him to gain confidence and naturally he fell for her.

Meanwhile, she executed the other plan. She posed as Joeann, an air stewardess (which is clever since air stewardess are not always there and so that explains her absence in the mind of Dave), someone who is hard to get and she successfully made Dave, a hard core playboy to fall for her. In fact as Joeann she was quite interestingly annoying, and dressed her part, short skirt and skimpy top.

Her plans were almost perfect but she did not count on human emotions.

For one, Jiansheng refused to forgive his mother, Esther despite all her persuasions at first. Why? You see Jiansheng had a very bad childhood. His father, after losing his business became a drunkard and would often vent his furstration on Jiansheng and his mother Esther. In order to protect hid baby brother, Dave from being beaten, Jiansheng often stood in front of his brother and let his father beat him senseless. On day Esther couldn't take it anymore. Jiansheng begged her to take them away and she quickly packed. But as she grabbed Dave and stood on the hallway, the father grabbed Jiansheng and put a knife to his throat. Jiansheng cried for his mother to help him but Esther who was torn with staying or leaving promised to come back for him and ran with Dave. Jiansheng saw that as a betrayal. Esther did come back for him but his father told a white lie; that he was sold off to Thailand. Since Esther couldn't see Jiansheng, she believed it and went away broken hearted. From that day on, Jiansheng's abuse was getting worse and worse. His only comfort was a childhod friend, Xiaofen. When he was 15 he joined a gang much to Xiaofen's disappointment. Not long after he found out his father was very sick and needed money for surgery. Instead of abandoning his father, he was manipulated to take some money and to kill a man. The man he recklessly stabbed was Yixin's father. He got punished for it and he regretted his actions ever since. His father died. Meanwhile unbeknownst to him, Esther was looking for him everywhere, convinced that he was still alive and thinking perhaps her husband had lied to her. Dave grew tired of the looking and often asked his mother to give up but Esther refused. She continued with her ads in the papers and Jiansheng saw them but refused to do anything about it. Esther even bumped into Jiansheng, Dave even complained about Jiansheng who was working as a chef in Xiaofen's restaurant (whom he met again by accident and recognised her by the pen he gave her when he was 15). It was a bad start. When Esther found out he was her Jiansheng after some investigating of her own and with the help of Xiaofen, Esther wanted to help Jiansheng but Jiansheng was consumed with hatred for her. His reason was both complicated and yet simple; Esther abandoned her. Despite the fact she did look for him, he equated Esther as the memory of a horrible past. He blamed her for all the beatings, the anger, the jail, everything. When he saw Esther he was reminded that he was an ex prisoner, someone with a bad past and he felt like second class. That was why he refused to acknowledge Esther. Yixin of course tried and tried and failed miserably to unite the two. Even Xiaofen couldn't do it. Xiaofen even secretly took the money by Esther and invested it in a restaurant for Jiansheng and when he found out, he pulled out. When he saw Xiaofen refusing to give up the shop, he came back but he secretly borrowed money from loan sharks to repay Esther. That broke Esther's heart and she met with an accident shortly. Yixin used this to soften Jiansheng's heart and you may ask, what is the purpose for her to do that? She wanted to make sure Jiansheng still cared for his mom. So she did the unthinkable; she paid someone to kidnap Esther and I don't think she ever had the intention to let her live. Jiansheng during that period of time was torn with guilt and he confessed to Yixin that he actually forgave his mother long time ago. Yixin asked "So you have forgiven your mother?" and he said "Yes, if anything bad happens to her, I will never forgive myself". That was Yixin's keyword; she wanted him to lose Esther so that he would suffer. Yixin did not call the kidnappers for days and then the kidnappers grew restless ... Esther's body was found a few days later, Yixin was satisfied with Jiansheng's response and yet she felt that it wasn't a victory at all ...

Then there was the problem of brotherly love. Granted Dave was super arrogant and Jiansheng was heartbroken when Dave talked to him but refused to look at his eyes when talking and Jiansheng felt like a pariah. Dave was angry that Jiansheng was treating his mom that way. Then his mom told him how when he was little and too young to remember, his father often beat him and if it wasn't for Jiansheng who took the beating for him, Dave would have died many times. Dave was moved by this story and realised Jiansheng loved him very much. He went to his brother, apologised and accepted Jiansheng as his brother despite how Jiansheng felt about Esther. Esther was happy of course. Yixin knew all this, she was glad this happened because the closer the brothers were, the bigger the rift when they found out they fell for the same girl with split personality disorder. Xiaofen found out first and told Jiansheng. Dave found out later. Both knew they were dating a girl who looked like the other but didn't suspect a thing. When Jiansheng found out, he decided to pull out. That was a problem for Yixin. She didn't want him to pull out and so she feigned suicide. Dave by then knew about the problem but was convinced his brother would pull out. It didn't help that as Joeann, Dave heard how Joeann loved him and couldn't be without him and that Jiansheng was hiding her away from him. When Jiansheng decided he couldn't abandon Yixin whom he believed to have a major mental problem and even Yifan the brother played his part in persuading Jiansheng not to do it, Jiansheng took a gamble and decided to confront Dave and tell him he loved Yixin and Yixin loved him. They came to a big blow and Dave even wanted to strangle Jiansheng but Jiansheng pushed him away and Dave knocked his head, went to hospital and woke up with amnesia. The irony was Jiansheng and Xiaofen asked Yixin to dress up as Joeann to jolt his memory and there she was laughing at their stupidity when they suspected nothing. Then Dave remembered, he found out his mother was dead and blamed Jiansheng for not telling him so that he could pay his last respect and Joeann poked fire by saying Jiansheng pushed Esther into an oncoming car, hence the accident that nearly killed her and that he refused to pay ransom to the kidnappers. When Dave found out Esther gave half of her estate to Jiansheng, Dave was furious. When Jiansheng refused the money, Dave called him a hypocrit with conscience. No matter what Jiansheng say or do, Dave could not listen to him. Worse still was Dave kinda forced his way with Joeann and was going to take her away when she went running to Jiansheng as Yixin and begged Jiansheng to will marry her. He took her to Sentosa and spent a few care free days with her, then left to confront Dave again. Nearly came to blows which involved a knife when suddenly sense came to Dave when Jiansheng said Esther would be heart broken to see them that way. Dave suddenly snapped back to reality and realised he had become crazy for a woman he can't have since Joeann was just an alter ego of Yixin and if Yixin was cured, Joeann would vanish (they still didn't know that it was all an act). Dave gave up and promised to let Joeann go and to return to the states. When Yixin saw how happy Jiansheng was, she didin't quite like that and tried to call Dave as Joeann. Dave ignored her phone calls and was ready to leave Singapore. He felt all that he did wasn't worth it, Jiansheng was his brother.

Which comes to the next problem in Yixin's perfect plan. A nosy Xiaofen who was more impartial and could figure things out quite clearly. She was the first to find out Yixin and Joeann were the same persons with split personality disorder, then she found out it was just an act, she found out why Yixin did what she did. In fact she knew so much and yet Jiansheng didn't believe her, most of the time until Xioafen threw a big tantrum and Jiansheng would quietly figure out what Xiaofen told him. So when Xiaofen wanted to tell him about Yixin putting on an act, Jiansheng was beyond listening because that time Esther died and there was the problem with Dave. So Xiaofen confronted the demure Yixin and in a way Yixin admitted the truth by not denying the allegations. Xiaofen was very emotional and she sworn to tell Jiansheng the truth. She left Yixin's apartment and next thing Jiansheng found out Xiaofen allegedly commited suicide by jumping to her death. That was a very shocking part. Jiansheng wasn't convinced and he was devastated. Then he listened to the last voice message sent by Xiaofen and found out the truth about Yixin. He went to dinner at her place, Yixin now knowing a thing, said he wanted to drink beer and off she went and then he went to check her drawers and found a sketching of himself stabbing a man and he knew what Xiaofen said was true. Yixin came home and he quickly left. He was torn. He didn't know what to do and he suspected Esther and Xiaofen's death may have something to do with Yixin. Yixin knew he knew because her file in the drawer was not in the right place. She knew this truth would torture Jiansheng and she knew she had to confront him. The problem, the ultimate problem was something she hadn't expected. Like Yifan said, "Sis, why are you always living in hate? This is the time to let go of the hate. Father is dead. Sheng ge is not a bad man and you obviously cared about him. Sis, why don't you let go and just be with Sheng ge?". But to Yixin eventhough she knew she had fallen for him despite everything, she knew it was too late. She dressed as Joeann and confronted Jiansheng, and Dave was there too. She told Jiansheng everything, she blamed him for her misery, she denied killing Esther but blamed her death on him. Dave became very emotional, always strangled her to death, then ran off and in a moment of the saying losing everything, they both heard a loud crash. Jiansheng ran out and saw his brother in a car accident and Jiansheng tearfully tried to help Dave (we found out Dave died in the crash)/ Yixin did not feel joy in Jiansheng's pain. She quietly walked away and returned to her home, only to find her brother being arrested by police. She panicked, didn't know what was going on and she met with Yifan later in the police station and her brother confessed that he actually wanted to save Esther but ended up stabbing the kidnapper (his girlfriend's useless brother) to death and in a moment of panic, covered his hands over Esther's mouth and nose and suffocated her. But Xiaofen's death was intentional. He knew Xiaofen was going to tell Jiansheng everything, he followed her, knocked her cold and when she woke up, as she struggled, he carried her to the edge of a building and threw her out of the building. Yixin asked "Why? Why did you do that? Didn't I tell you not to interfere?" and Yifan said "I was scared that she will tell Sheng ge, then sis, your chance at happiness will be gone. Now there's still time, Sheng ge loves you, he will forgive you. Sis, since father died we only had each other, I couldn't let you suffer, you deserve your chance at happiness .." and of course Yixin tearfully said "No, you deny everything, say I did it, I planned it, I killed them, don't confess ..." and Yifan said "Sis, I did kill them. I should be punished if not I can't live with my own conscience". Yifan was sentenced to death for 2 murders. Yixin knew she had lost everything and she had lost. But she went to Jiansheng, hoping for something, but Jiansheng refused to talk to her and when she pleaded, Jiansheng tearfully screamed "Isn't this what you wanted?! You have won! I have lost everything, you have achieved what you started out doing, I have nothing left and for me living is worse than death!". Yixin was dejected. Jiansheng met with Yifan, refusing to forgive him and Yifan said "Please forgive my sister, she loves you. You can hate me, I deserve that but my sister deserves her chance at happiness. Please forgive her, let this be my last wish, will you grant it?" but Jiansheng said "No".

Yixin prepared to move away with her senile mother. Then she found out she was pregnant with Jiansheng's child. She couldn't tell him, watching from afar as he continued living and running his restaurant. She left.

6 years later, a little girl walked into the restaurant and asked to see her father, Zhou Jiansheng. Jiansheng saw her, and knew who she was instinctively. Yixin was far away, looking on and quietly she left. The daughter gave Jiansheng a letter and Yixin wrote to Jiansheng how she discovered she was sorry for what she did that she knew he could never forgive her and they could never be together. But she couldn't abort the baby, because it was his. And so she said "I wrestled with this decision for a very long time. But I decided to give birth to her because she is your child... I had her with me for all these years but now I return her to you to keep you company for the rest of your life. I know you will take very good care of her and wherever I may be, I will be praying for the both of you." The little girl asked where her mother was and Jiansheng after reading the letter promised his daugther that he will find her mother no matter where she would be to bring her back and be together as family.

THE END.

Questions Asked And Answered
Did Jiansheng ever loved Xiaofen?
I have a feeling when he was younger he had a crush on her, hence the pen. Or maybe it was because she was his only friend and who comforted him when his father abused him, that he treated her like a little sister, caring for her and didn't stop himself from scolding her or giving her the cold shoulder because the closer you are the more you walk all over someone I suppose. In a way he loved her, but not as lovers or lifelong companion but as a confidante and the best of friends.

Why did Xiaofen did all she have done for Jiansheng when her love was unreciprocrated?
For one she truly cared about him. She knew he wasn't a bad man. But like most foolish woman, she did all she have done because she loved him and never expected him to return her love and even encouraged him to pursue Yixin.

Did Yixin loved Dave at all?
I doubt it. She used him. She felt nothing for him. I believe with her complicated family background she may be looking for someone less showy, someones less of a playboy and more stable and could take care of her mother and brother and herself. These are the qualities that Jiansheng has, unfortunately he was her father's murderer and she wanted revenge. If not she would have been very happy with Jiansheng.

Why Jiansheng should be forgiven for what he did? After all it was a horrible thing to do.
This I agree. I disagree that just because he was manipulated as a kid or that he had gone to jail all these years that these meant he paid his dues. I don't think so. But sometimes forgiveness has to start somewhere if not hatred alone can't give much meaning to an already too short a life. I believe Yixin understood that towards the end, that the past can't be changed, Jiansheng actually strive to become a better man and he did regretted what he did although he may have blamed his mother but really he hated what he did and yet can't come to terms with what he did, so he blamed his mom,the easiest target. I find this part a bit of a plot hole, but the fact that he actually killed someone to save his father who abused him everyday showed this boy is capable of goodness in a twisted kind of way. It is not a matter for everyone to judge him but the person who has every right to judge him was Yifan (who forgave Jiansheng a long time ago) and more importantly Yixin. And these are the 2 who can forgive him. But they did so much wrong in the end the hatred dissipated when each action by each party cancelled each other out.

Was what Yixin did wrong?
The entire theme of this series is revenge and in the end forgiveness. They skipped the redemption part because I didn't see Jiansheng doing anything to redeem himself such as looking up for the man's family and trying to make up for what he did in the past. Strictly in that sense. I would say what she did was wrong and malicious because she used others to hurt Jiansheng. She used love to hurt Jiansheng. First she made him love her. Then when he patch things up with Jianwei, she used that brotherly love against him. Then when she found out he cared about Esther, she used that too. Whilst killing someone is easy, but ultimately the greatest revenge is to take it out on the people he cared about and that is a fate far worse than death; guilt. I think this series addressed this well in the last episode.

How can Jiansheng never questioned the nature of Xiaofen's death?
He did, in passing. A plot hole in my opinion.

In the end Jiansheng forgave Yixin?
Quite obviously a happy ending. Yixin couldn't bring herself to face him anymore because of shame and guilt and so she gave to him her most precious memory of him; their daughter. Jiansheng upon seeing what Yixin had done, finally forgave her and promised to bring Yixin back. So if there is a sequel, it would be how Jiansheng would go in search of Yixin (whom I suspect was in Malaysia all along, I mean where could she have gone?) and work things out with her. I think the ending itself is lovely.

Do you think a person like Yixin could have fallen for a person like Jiansheng no matter how good a man he may be?
Losing a parent is bad enough, witnessing his horrible death is really awful. And knowing this man killed the man you love, I mean maybe fall in love reluctantly yes but be together and forget the past? Forgiveness is possible but I doubt such a person would or could bring himself or herself to be with the murderer of someone he or she cared about for the rest of his or her life. I don't think that is possible, except there is amnesia or life threatening disease or situation.

How old is Yixin and gang?
Let's see.

Jiansheng : 15 went to jail for 17 years = 32 at the start and in the end 38 or 39.

Yixin : 8 plus 17 years = 25 at the start and in the end 31 or 32.

Dave : tricky since I didn't quite catch his age at the start of the series. Let's assume he was maybe 6 when his mother took him away, plus a few years plus 17 years = probably 28 or 29? Couldn't be same age as Yixin.

Xiaofen : definitely older than Yixin at the start since she was close to Jiansheng's age. One scene said she was nearly 30. I assume she is same age as Dave.

Comments
I was desperate to watch this series and I often lamented the fact that

1. I am not living in JB

2. I am not living in Singapore

3. ASTRO is never going to show this series in AEC channel and probably may show it in Shuangxin which I'll have to pay additional costs

4. Can't buy this series as can't find it

You may think I am crazy to be so desperate for a Singapore MediaCorp series, as desperate as I was during Yi Xin Ren's run which I will never get to watch and I console my broken heart by "watching" the screencaps done by Wuchang instead. You know, the world of TV series does not consist only of TVB or ATV or Korean dramas or Japanese dramas. Granted, Singaporean series never did achieve the crazed following that followed some country's productions, like Japan, now Korea and always TVB. TVB's motto is of course wherever there's Chinese people, there is TVB because Chinese watch TVB. Quite simple really. Of course I think many Singaporeans are complaining MediaCorp seems to only produce family drama. One family drama after another. If not family comedies. If not family sitcoms. Rarely branching out except for big time co-production of some wuxia series, but we don't always get to see all Singaporean actors in such series that are often muddled adaptation that frankly I do not wish to see. Not all Singaporean actors are good too. In fact not all actors in Singapore's MediaCorp are actually from Singapore. Quite a number of them who made it to the positions of Ah Jie and Ah Ge like those in TVB fame structure are from Malaysia and even China. For instance, Qi Yu Wu in this series, I am sure he is from China. Christopher Lee, Fann Wong's boyfriend is from Malaysia. I do think the actors who play Baicai and Esther Wong are from China because of their accent. The authentic ones I believe are Fann Wong and Thomas Ong. There doesn't seem to exist any prejudice and as long as you have the talent, you can rise to the top, often by way of talent search which TVB should adopt as an annual competition instead of the meaningless Miss HK if they are very keen of finding new talent. So what is so great about this series that I was desperate to watch?

I read the synopsis, call it hype but when I read Fann Wong was playing dual role, and a person with split personality disorder bent on revenge, I was interested. Because for once she is not some helpless pretty thing, or nice pretty girl who is in some family drama, like the one she was in in Women Of Times. Apart from Yue Ling, I love to watch Fann Wong act. In fact you can say she is my most favourite actress and I love looking at her because I feel she is very beautiful plus she is a fantastic actor. I was interested in how she is going to approach the role. Without watching the series I kinda guessed her character's motive and though I knew the series will be flawed, I wanted to know whether she will do both roles justice. I mean I read she was going to play a character that is trademark Fann Wong character, nice and demure and the other a wild malicious character. Recently TVB released a series where Charmaine Sheh and others played several different characters from different times in the same series. How she and others will pull it off I will reserve my judgment. But I guess you understand what I mean, different characters in one series would mean different personas, different personalities and etc. There must be something distinguishable even if the same actress play them all.

That was why I was desperate. And I got my lucky break, got my hands on the series and I waited for quite a while before watching.

For Fann Wong alone, I was not disappointed. This is not just a comment by a fan, but this is a comment by a person who appreciates the effort she puts into each role. There was never a moment of doubt her so called 2 personalities. It was helped by the fact that in one character she lets her hair down, the other she ties it up. But in a few scenes she was in moments of changing between the characters and these were amazing moments because you see the difference. However if you really watch this series, and I don't mind telling you the spoiler of this series, there exists a 3rd personality. Yixin the demure is an act perhaps. Joeann the aggressive may be an act perhaps. But the 3rd personality, the real Yixin is as she herself said "Joeann and Yixin is my altar ego". I am not sure whether she meant that as exposing herself that Yixin and Joeann is one and the same of that really Yixin's real persona is Joeann. I think it is the latter. So we have actually one person, 3 personalities and yet there was never a time there was any confusion. The success of Fann Wong's performance lies in the fact that she uses her voice (as Joeann she talks faster and looks everywhere when talking, like she didn't give a damn to anything, as Yixin she talked slowly and gently, always making eye contact whilst as the real her her voice was full of bitterness, pain and anger, her face suddenly contorted with hate), her mannerism and even her hair would do a bit of acting. I love her performance although I hated her characters.

What could have brought down this series
Unfortunately the plot was predictable in the sense I knew there was revenge, I knew it was all a set up, but I didn't know the series simply refuse to end until every major character except the 2 is killed. Which is very shocking , sad and at times ridiculous. But let's talk about the plot.

On paper, the story is great. In fact reading my own plot summary I felt like a tear or two coming down my cheeks as I read the ending, which can be said to be a happy ending as Jiansheng finally forgave Yixin and Yixin forgave Jiansheng. But I made it sound interesting and consistent when the execution was not quite as such. I am not talking about one moment Yixin had a bag and next scene the bag was gone, or the dress was different in a scene that is supposedly one long sequence, and etc. Those are technical stuff. I am not even talking about how the heck she knew when he was coming out of prison, how she knew knocking him down wouldn't really kill him, the disappearing friends at the office and also why Yixin didn't just become an air stewardess or model or even ac actress with Mediacorp to earn more money. What about the X-Files moments like how she who could barely afford her brother's fees at university could buy those branded dress than Joeann wore, the cool bike she had and that huge apartment supposedly rented by Joeann? In fact, what happened to Yifan's girlfriend in the end and who was that old man that Dave saw in Joeann's apartment?

Nope forget about this nickpicking questions. Go for the real ones like how come she slept with Dave first and yet fell for Jiansheng the person who killed her father? Or how come Yifan became such a maniac when he was such an understanding stable young man? Why Yifan looked like a maniac even during normal days? How come everyone is shouting their lines 80% of the time with the exception of Yvonne Lim, as Xiaofen who was shouting her lines 100% of the time? And though Fann Wong looks young, but can she actually be younger looking than Yvonne Lim who plays an older girl by at least 5 to 6 years? Can she? And why on earth when Xiaofen died, Baicai was so cool and calm when throughout the series he harboured a crush on her and even confronted Jiansheng several times for hurting Xiaofen and Xiaofen was very much alive and yet when she died, he was like no feelings? And why kill off Daveeeeee? Must everyone dieeeee? Why is this series so sadisticcccccc?????

Ok maybe I am being petty. The entire premise is to end up with both parties at a losing end and losing end means everybody but them dying. So that's like poetic justice or poetic revenge or poetic plot or poetic nonsense. I didn't like the plot towards the end, too dramatic. A legitimate complaint. A few in fact.

The fact that Dave was very much involved in the storyline and wham! Suddenly he had amnesia and for a few episodes he was nowhere to be seen, suddenly not so involved in the storyline. Xiaofen too. Whilst her death was meant to shock, but the explanation on how she died was just pure drama without any sense of decent closure. She was such an involved character and suddenly towards the end the entire 3 episodes exist only for Jiansheng and Yixin, the rest can go and bloody die of they want. I find several characters have been treated unfairly and should have been giving a better storyline even if they ended up dead.

Then there's the problem with repetition. Whilst I applaud Fann Wong's performance, I didn't like seeing her doing the same thing as Joeann or as Yixin. After a while the whole idea of revenge was boring because how she executed her plans were repetetive.

I also question the plot of Dave and Yixin and Joeann issue. A bit illogical that Dave kept saying "I want to sure her! I want to cure her!" when if cured, Yixin is Yixin and Joeann is nothing anymore. So how then Dave would expect Yixin to marry him anyway?

But the biggest problem is the final confrontation scene between Yixin, Jiansheng and Dave. Of course there were tears and shouting and stuff. I wanted to see more of the battle for conscience in Yixin, I wanted to see Jiansheng feeling like he owed Yixin something. I mean the entire ending is like Yixin was wrong for what she did. Sure she was. But Jiansheng started it first. He did something horrible but this series towards the end was like some public service announcement for law and order in Singapore, that "Ah Sheng has paid for his crime, he went to jail for 17 years!". Right. But that didn't negate the fact he destroyed someone else's life just like that. I wanted to see more of Jiansheng battling it out with his conscience, that he hated Yixin for what she did and yet couldn't hate her because he knew it was because of him. Not because he loved her, but because of what he did. Surely his past should still be looming large in the later episodes, because it all started from there. But the fact he stabbed her father was more for drama and not for this grappling of conscience. It could have been so much more.

And the fact that this series started with that stabbing and then we know Fann Wong is Yixin kinda killed the suspense. A few questions arises ...

- Are we supposed to know that she was that little girl? If yes, failure 1. So we know she has an agenda.

- Are we supposed to know Jiansheng is that kid who stabbed the father? If yes, failure 2. We knew Yixin approaching Jiansheng must be for some purpose.

- Are we supposed to know Yixin knew Jiansheng was that kid? I don't think so but in the middle as she suddenly in all seriousness spoke to her brother about Jiansheng and how she managed to make him fall for her, well by that time we all knew. That is then failure 3. Why? Too early too soon and therefore too repetetive and pacing very bad because no more suspense, the rest is to see how she played them both.

- Are we supposed to know Joeann knew Dave is Jiansheng's brother? I doubt it. But when early in the episode we see her changing her clothes to Yixin, come on ... I don't know much about Split Personality Disorder but someone with such serious mental issue would carry her alter ego's dress everywhere and change it in time to when she she changed personality? Failure 4. Too obvious, suspense gone.

- Why is the ending so rushed? Everything seems to unravel in the last 15 minutes of the series, one thing after another happened so fast there was no time to digest and quite as sudden, it was the end.

What made this series watchable
Lots of failures but that doesn't mean this series isn't good. When the plot fails, I tend to look for something else. Like Fann Wong's hair as Joeann, I want that. Kidding! What I like is the implied. What implied you ask?

That Yixin let Jiansheng know more of the real her without knowing. I mean she introduced him to her brother and senile mother and even told him about how her father was stabbed to death. These are the real facts of Yixin's life. He knew more than Dave did. Joeann's background is a total falacy and so what Dave knew were all made up.

That Yixin allowed Jiansheng into her life, her routine, her place and finally and naturally her heart. It is not inconceivable that she could fall for the murderer of her father. It is true what he did was the past, he changed, he was coerced then, he showed himself to be a good man now like Yifan said. Yixin unknowingly saw those qualities and everytime Yifan faced some problems, she didn't have to but naturally she called Jiansheng to help her. I mean if she hated him so, she wouldn't need to expose that part of her life to him but she did. It was like a natural thing to do and it wasn't very surprising she fell for him. This was why she didn't love Dave. Dave was never involved in her real life.

That she had planned to let Jiansheng and Dave know about her two personalities. To cause more problem. It shows her as someone very calculative. The fact that she showed little emotion when Esther and even Xiaofen died showed they did not matter to her even if she didn't kill them nor did she cared who killed them as long as they died and Jiansheng suffers. But towards the end when she saw Dave die, I doubt she felt sad because she was once with Dave but she felt shocked and utter dismay that her plans failed not because Jiansheng wasn't suffering but because she didn't feel happy that Jiansheng was suffering. The effect of Dave's death on Jiansheng had an effect on her. Ok she was heartless. She was with Dave for so long but she never loved him and yet the way she looked at Jiansheng when he was crying and trying to help Dave was total blankness and defeat. She lost. He lost. Both lost. She gained nothing, she lost everything.

Best Scenes
Which leads to best scenes.

- One of the many was the last scene where she discovered her brother was arrested. She panicked. No doubt she loved her brother more than anything else and her brother would do anything for her. It is very sad that in the end her need for revenge caused the death of her brother, indirectly. Very sad indeed.

- The scenes where Jiansheng and Dave fighting over Yixin/Joeann. Love those scenes, very realistic the way they came to blows and were arguing.

- Xiaofen's relationship with Jiansheng which was touching and in the end sad because her love was unrequited.

- The earlier scenes of the younger Jiansheng and his abusive father. Very sad and poor kid too.

- Yixin and Jiansheng's scenes, despite being repetetive, they were very good scenes because of the chemistry and their almost love story.

- The scene where Esther found out Jiansheng borrowed from loansharks to pay her back and she confronted him and he rudely showed his back to her and she tearfully said "Do you hate me that much that you can't accept my money? I have done what I could do to make it up to you but what more could I have done? What more then?" and she tearfully and dejectedly left the restaurant whilst Jiansheng looked at her way, with tears in his eyes and his stubborness stopping him from running after her.

- The scene where Xiaofen sat and chatted with Jiansheng, and she nonchalantly said "I never thought about having a relationship, settling down because I didn't think they were important. I realise then that the truth is I fell in love with a boy I knew in my childhood and I am waiting for him, eventhough when I know all of the waiting will come to nothing", Jiansheng knew she was talking about him and he was silent.

- Last but not least, the relationship between Jiansheng and Dave, from total disdain to in the end brotherly love. Sad that Dave had to die after blaming Jiansheng for Esther's death.

- Any scene of Joeann, not because I like her person but I love her makeup and her hair.

Worst Scene
I don't like 715 so when he is alone in a scene or with Joeann looking happy or looking sad or worried, I got bored.

Ultimate worst scene
Fann Wong in swimsuit scene as Joeann. No, not really the swimsuit being the problem (which by the way was rather too conservative for someone like Joeann, should have been a 3 piece bikini) but rather when she was swimming, her hair and face were wet but her face, ghostly pale. You see you will get that effect when you put too much powder and foundation on your face and jump into the swimming pool with your make up on. Her face was frightening.

Ultimate best scene
The scene where Jiansheng was little, held by his crazy father with a knife on his neck and his mother, holding an even younger Jianwei with tears in her eyes as she did not know what to do when Jiansheng screamed "Mother! Mother! Don't leave me! Don't leave me here! Save me! Save me!!!" and the father with menace threatened "If you leave I will kill him! I swear!!" and Esther was torn and after some time desperately she said "Ah Sheng, mama will come back for you! Mama promise! Ah Sheng, he won't hurt you, I will come back for you!!" and she ran off and the boy looking terrified and shocked kept screaming "Mother! Mother! Don't leave meeeeeee!!!!!" and then that dejected look. No wonder Jiansheng grew up hating his mother although he must have later understood she did what she had to do. Poor boy.

Best aspect
Apart from everything other than the worst aspect, I would have to say Fann Wong's transformation as Joeann; those lucsious coloured hair, the eyeliner, the nude lip gloss, the short mini skirts, the bangles and stuff on her slim fair skinned wrist.

Worst aspect
To me it had to be the interior design of the restaurant ran by Xiaofen and Jiansheng. The electric blue, the tables, all reminded me of some cheesy looking restaurant that felt stuffy, oily and dirty. Can't MediaCorp have done better? I mean even after SIX YEARS HAS PASSED the same blue, same stuffy looking place. I mean 2 years maybe same but 6 years? No renovation at all? Business didn't expand? And how come after six years everybody has the same hairstyle. It doesn't seem time has passed at all.

All about chemistry
The best chemistry is of course Thomas Ong and no no not Fann Wong but Yvonne Lim. I find him teasing her and she scolding him very good watch and though Thomas indeed have chemistry with Fann Wong, I do prefer Yvonne Lim. In fact Xiaofen is my most favourite character in this series. I find her intelligent, vivacious, she knew when right is right and wrong is wrong, she has the patience of a saint with Jiansheng (because she loved him I suppose) and she is jovial and outgoing. Xiaofen to me is a great character and sad that she wasn't given a decent ending.

The worst is Fann Wong and 715. Sorry to say like baby brother with big sister. Make that fried looking baby brother and snowy big sister. But surprisingly, their kissing scenes were more natural. When Fann was kissing Thomas, she seems to be very reluctant, avoiding his lips a bit even when her character actually kissed him first. When she was kissing 715, more natural. In fact the kissing scenes were quite badly done. Quite is my way of trying not to sound like a pervert, hoping for passionate kisses that actually looked and feel passionate because for one both women (whether Joeann or Yixin) are passionate and both men are passionate about her. I didn't feel that passion.

An evaluation of the performances
As for performances, the general feeling is above average.

The Great Ones
I have said what I said about Fann Wong and I watched this series for her and she did not disappoint. Even with the shouting. In fact never heard her shout so much. But I must say, Fann Wong is really very beautiful in here although some scenes she looked very pale, too much powder, too little red powder. But she does look at least 5 years younger than her age but as perhaps 25 like Yixin's age is, maybe a bit of a stretch. Anyway Fann Wong deserves an award. I now want to see her in more of these kind of manipulative roles. Play 10 characters in a series also can. Anything Fann I will watch. Reaffirmed my belief that she is one of a kind actress when given a challenging role, she will rise to the occasion and the more I look at her, the more beautiful she is even if her features aren't perfect.

Yvonne Lim was a great watch. Ok, she shouts all the time, my ears hurt listening to her speak but she is consistent throughout and I love her character. Her every expression, her pain, her sorrow, her joy, all expressed very well. I also like the scenes how she fussed over the pen that Jiansheng gave her, some were sad and some were very funny to watch. I think she is very pretty and a pretty good actress too.

The Good Ones
Thomas Ong was really good. What a tall guy, what deep voice. The inner turmoil, the pain, the anger, the gentleness when with Yixin, his playfullness with Xiaofen and his confusion and low self esteem. He did it all and without much words too. His crying seem a bit forced though, like he is not used to crying but other than that, I think he did give a very good performance.

The Average Ones
715 was better than I expected but the thing about him as handsome playboy was a far stretch. I saw an interview of him with Fann and Thomas, he seems so soft spoken, so not a celebrity, so not a playboy and so uncomfortable. Anyway, I meant far stretch is the part that he is handsome. I always thought he looked like an Ah Piao, because of his lips. He just has this kampung boy look no matter how hip his hair may be or how tanned he may be. In fact he looked overtanned, looked fried, looked like he is in need of loads of bleaching because he is simply too tanned. He screams a lot in here but thankfully it was necessary to scream. Imagine your girlfriend is mental, your mother died because of what your bro did in the past .. I will scream too. I think he gave a very good performance, especially in scenes where he vent his frustration at his brother played by Thomas Ong and how he dragged Fann Wong as Yixin who didn't want to go with him, dramatic stuff but alas, I still do not fancy him.

The actress as Esther was quite ok. Gloomy looking all the time, she does and sound like a Mandarin language teacher with her prim and proper accent and pronunciation.

The actor who played Baicai was funny at times, for comical relief and he could have been under The Good Ones if not for his non-emotional outburst when Xiaofen died. I was shocked he wasn't shocked.

I don't know what to say Peformance
Nick Shen looked like a psycho and always talking in such calm voice with psycho eyes. He should play a psycho. He was in fact somewhat of a psycho in this series towards the end. A decent psycho-ish performance but could have been better. He is probably the character with most dialogue, because everytime he appears he is talking to Fann Wong in long sentences even if repetetive like "Sis, you still have a chance at happiness", "Sis, I have had enough", "Sis, I can't handle the pressure anymore", "Sis, pursue your happiness with Sheng ge", "Sis, Sheng ge is a good man, forget the past" and always the sis' reply is "Don't get involved in my affairs. Study hard, the entire family depends on you". Always. Anyway what is it with actors looking overtanned nowadays? Like fried already. Anyway why not so much opinion to offer on my part? Because if not I wouldn't have kept saying psycho performance. Can't really figure out anything cogent to say about him.

Best Performance
In light of just a few scenes but big impact, it had to be the child actor who played Jiansheng when he was young, I think 10 or 12 perhaps? Not the 15 year old one, the younger one screaming for his mother to not leave him. That boy was great, really such a sad scene.

Worst Performance
I shouldn't highlight her performance since it was just 2 scenes or so but that little girl who played Jiansheng and Yixin's 5 year old daughter was truly horrible. Not even cute. Chubby yes but not cute at all and non-existence in terms of acting. Not too much to ask because I have seen other child actors in MediaCorp series who did better than most adults. This girl simply didn't make the cut.

The rest are competent performances, the only difference is in the accent only.

Verdict
A must see for all Fann Wong's fans and a definite must see for those who likes this sort of series and are fans of MediaCorp series, family drama or otherwise. But if you don't like inconsistencies or series that has major plot holes some time or the other, still I will recommend this series. The pacing may have gone downhill towards the end, or the ending a bit too rushed or even silly in fact that so many people died just so to show how pathetic these two lead characters look, but in the end the story is pretty interesting and the performances are all good. But for me Fann Wong alone was reason enough for my eyes to be glued on the telly but the fact that she did both characters justice irrespective of the nagging questions of the plot, this itself if a good reason to watch this series.

Highly recommended.

Interesting Stuff
You can't buy this series as it is not available for sale. Fann Wong is famous enough to merit a distribution of this series for sale or rental maybe later on but for now you can actually download this series at some Chinese Bittorrent sites. Quality is TV quality which means it is good and the fan who recorded this series even throw in some Fann Wong commercials and the previews at the end of each episode.

Fann Wong I read was nominated for Best Actress at the annual Singapore Mediacorp's TV awards. She didn't win it seems when I think she should have because this role is challenging and she did it amazingly well. Not sure if the rest were nominated or the series won or not.

Some complained that this series did not distinguish between schizophrenia and split personality disorder, or better known as Disassociative Identity Disorder even if Yixin faked it. But I do remember reading the translation as split personality although the Chinese term may be more schizophrenia? I didn't know there was a difference. Read here to know more about the differences.

Interesting Videos at Youtube.com
Official trailer
The direct links if here at youtube.com

Themesong
The direct links if here at youtube.com

Fanmade MV
The following is a fanmade MV with clips from the series found at youtube.com. I am sure you're hearing Fann Wong herself.

Sample clip

Interview/promo of the series
With the 3 main stars, 715, Fann and Thomas Ong.

The Prestige [Mov] [Eng]

2006-10-21T02:24:00.000+08:00

Written by Funn Lim

"Do not miss this one."

SPOILERS FREE! Please avoid revealing any spoilers when posting your comments in Post A Comment as there are many who has yet to watch this movie. Your co-operation is much appreciated. Any discussion please email me.

Released In
2006

Cast
Hugh Jackman .... Robert Angier
Note : In the book he is Rupert Angier. In the movie he is named Robert Angier. If you read Rupert in my review, it is because of the book.
Christian Bale .... Alfred Borden
Michael Caine .... Cutter
Piper Perabo .... Julia McCullough
Rebecca Hall .... Sarah
Scarlett Johansson .... Olivia Wenscombe
Samantha Mahurin .... Jess
David Bowie .... Nikola Tesla
Andy Serkis .... Alley

Based On
the book with the same title by Christopher Priest, circa 1996 which I have a copy, and I will now read it. Advice given that do not read the book first so I am reading it now that I have watched the movie.

Summary
Taken from imdb.com

From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, comes a mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences. From the time that they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) were competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them. Full of twists and turns, THE PRESTIGE is set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century London, the exceptional cast includes two-time Oscar® winner Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie.

Comments
I have just finished watching this movie about an hour ago and I am now typing this opinion of mine fresh with the storyline and performances. I have decided against writing a full review because writing that would mean I would be ruining the movie for you. For those reviewers who said they saw the ending coming half way through this movie were all I believe speaking retrospectively. I figured out one but didn't expect the other because like Jackman's Angier, I did not see the simplistic side of Bale's Borden and his trickery or magic if you wish. Anyway ...

This is one of those movies where in the cinema were all I suspect professionals or university students. It does not suggest it is a snob type of movie that takes itself intellectually far superior than the others, it just suggests somehow this movie appeals to that particular group of people. I didn't think it would be full house, even when the cinema at Megamall was small but it was full house indeed. Halfway through the movie I kinda notice the viewers were getting restless, so was I because I did not heed Borden's advice. I wanted to see the twists and the turns and the so called final act in magic, The Prestige that will reveal itself, not the secrets but the culmination of the preparation towards this magic. I was fooled by those reviews who emphasised on the twists, like any good ol' M Night movies. In fact like all M Night's movies, the twists and turns are complimentary to the real thing in this movie; the story itself.

Like you all know, basically this is a story of two magicians who became rivals because of one magic trick gone terribly wrong. Angier saw his wife drowned before him because she could not untie herself in an underwater chamber escape type of magic. He blamed Borden who was the one who tied a particularly difficult knot and Borden swore he couldn't remember which knot he tied. That was the beginning of an intense rivalry, where Angier in a moment of anger caused Borden to lose two of his fngers during a trick involving a gun and catching the bullet trick. Borden, not to be left out humiliated Angier by revealing his trick in front of an audience, causing one of the audience to be hurt thus Angier losing his credibility. Angier became even more obsessed in beating Borden but he found out Borden, who not only was married with a child that he thought should have been his life if his wife didn't die because of Borden's knot, saw Borden performing a seemingly simple and fast magic act and he thought it was the most amazing he has ever seen. He debated what method Borden used when he walked into one door and came out the other in a moment of a heartbeat, a trick nicknamed The Transported Man. Mind you this was in 1890's so that would have been a spectacle however simplistic it looked. His engineer, the person who designs the tricks, (Caine) explained he must have used a body double. Angier did not believe it as such and he sent his mistress ala his stage assistant, Olivia (Johansson) to check out Borden and steal his secrets. Olivia came back with Borden's diary of his tricks but it was encrypted. Angier did the unthinkable and kidnapped Borden's engineer, Fallon and buried him alive. Borden had no choice but to reveal his one word secret, Tesla. Angier thought he found the key and went to USA (the movie was set in England) to meet the scientist who studies electricity, Nikola Tesla and paid him to build him a transported man type of machine as he was convinced Borden asked Tesla to build him one. What ensued was a story of not just intrigue, but sacrifice. The movie actually began with Borden being arrested for the murder of Angier, where Borden saw Angier drown in the underwater chamber after he finished his transported man trick and where Angier fell through the trapdoor and into the underwater chamber. Cutter was convinced Borden was guilty, Borden looked guilty and he was losing his daughter, his life, his career when one man, a lord offered to buy his secrets so that his daughter will be well taken care of. Borden resisted and the assistant of this lord gave Borden Angier's diary.

The entire movie is at first narrated by the two men reading each other's diary, meaning zooming between past and present and past and then present. I won't lie to you; even with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman looking very handsome and giving their all in their respective roles, about 30% into the movie I was kinda bored with the back and forth storyline. But everytime I felt like this movie must be a total dud, there was something shown to keep me interested, whether it was the dark humour (even if this movie is too serious for its own good, there were humours moments courtesy of Borden's sarcastic wit), a new clue thrown in or some heavy duty drama. There aren't much people in this movie, the women were negligable in the sense underdeveloped and yet without them this movie would not hold water, some stage scenes were painfully slow and some scenes repetetive, but in the end what is very rewarding with this movie lies in the details. Not just the set, the costume, the era, the feel of it all but the story itself. It may seem ridden with plot holes, but the ending, if you think about it, actually answered most questions, except maybe the science part of it. This movie is based on a science fiction novel but I can reveal one thing that you won't find in this movie; outer space aliens. Not those b.s and not THAT predictable.

The winning stuff is in the end the implication of the ending. Twists and turns it may have, but this movie also requires afterthoughts, as in after watching it you will say why I didn't see that coming? Plenty of those moments but the best one was that the ending shows the ugly side of the characters. They're not bad people, like Borden said, they didn't mean any harm but something pushed them towards such despicable acts; you may say hatred on the part of Angier and jealousy on the part of Borden or obsession on the part of Angier and survival instinct for Borden but I thought ambition would be the right word for both men. They just wanted to outdo one another and that in the end, Angier didn't really care that Borden caused his wife's death, he just wanted to win. Borden merely wanted to survive and whilst he harbours a deep dark secret like Angier did later in the movie, both are not necessarily bad men. Even Olivia was disgusted by them both and believe me once you have seen the entire movie and maybe watch it again just to refresh the clues, I believe you will feel these men for the sake of ambition truly destroyed themselves. They're not to be sympathised with but they're pitiful or rather pathetic.

Some reviews I read complained that the characters are too single minded and therefore very little development and very boring. I disagree. This movie is a character study of two men with similar interest but very different personalities who in the end in that one final scene arrived in the same destination; the only difference is who was worse and who sacrificed more.

The performances were mostly excellent except for Scarlett Johansson who was like a wallflower with a very bad English accent that is like those magic tricks that Borden or Angier like to do; those disappearing pigeons and stuff. Sometimes there, sometimes not, her performance in the end is just an illusion to the real story. Was she annoying? Not really since she didn't have to do much except to act as a clue to Borden's secret. Michael Caine was very good as usual, providing a very strong support system to the madness of these two leads. David Bowie for one looks normal and whilst his acting is so-so, I can't figure out his accent; Russian or English? Andy Serkis was in a supporting role and he was fine, nothing much to do. The 2 leads in here are the two reasons why this movie works, in some ways.

Hugh Jackman is dashing and a very showy type of actor. He revels in the stage and in this movie, his character suited him. He gave a fine performance that borders on obssession and I thought he shared a far better chemistry with his male counterparts than his female counterparts. Plus he does look like a very flamboyant magician. He also played another role, Roots, the down and out drunk actor who was Angier's assistant in the The Transported Man show. One very good scene explained why Angier walked with a limp in the beginning of the series, which was Borden's way of setting up and humiliating Angier in front of his audiences. Both Bale and Jackman did exceptional well there and I won't say much, you have to see the rivalry and the flamboyant and arrogant way Borden humiliated Angier for yourself.

Christian Bale tones down his looks in here and is far more reserved. Whilst his character is a better magician whilst he lacks showmanship, he to me is almost similar with Jackman's Angier. Both are as single minded, then driven by hate, then rivalry, then jealousy and many more horrible human emotions. His cockney accent is also like a disappearing act, sometimes there, sometimes not. But performance alone is great. Can't be any better than Hugh Jackman since they're both different as actors and their methods but I must say, Bale looks less vain and more angst. And he is good with playing angst. He brings into his character a certain anger, maybe of his character's roots (probably came from a poor family) and also because of his secret that is of course taking over his life. I figured out THAT MUCH about his Borden but I didn't expect it was so simple. My mind was like Angier, making everything much too complicated when everything is far simpler if you look closely. I hope Christian Bale gets an award for this movie or whatever movie he is in this year (there are quite a few) because this man deserves the recognition. I also like the scene where he first met Olivia and flirted with her. That showed the playful side of him, the all too serious character and the equally all too serious actor.

I think you will do well to listen to the advice on the posters and by Borden many times in this movie; ARE YOU WATCHING CLOSELY?

You should be because the details are rich and sometimes too much red herring. This movie shouldn't be called The Prestige. Call it Red Herring.

By the way, the one burning question that many fans and critics spotted that they felt was ridiculous was when Angier's wife died because of Borden's knot, Angier kept asking what was the knot done and Borden even in his diary said honestly that he couldn't remember, he was confused. Many viewers were confused how he can be confused. There are 2 explanation to this, one of which involved telling you the ending which I won't. So do watch the movie because it will answer why Borden could not remember what knot he tied on the lady's hands.

Verdict
A thinking man's movie, it may get to your patience but if you just concentrate, you'll be rewarded with an ending that even M Night would have said "Why I didn't think of that?". Suspend your logic about the science, marvel at the set and some magic tricks as well as drool over Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson .... or even Michael Caine but in the end, remember, watch closely. One of the slowest movie this year but definitely one of the best there is. My mind is still debating on the nature of these two men and the very shocking end. The shock was not the revealing of the plot's secrets, that almost got on my nerves but the after effect or rather the prestige like this movie loves to say. What I mean to say is that the shock ending is not really the shock of this movie. If that is it, then it will be momentary only. It is not even a complicated movie although it looks complicated because of the present-future style. The shock was that these 2 characters can go through lives such as they did because of their ambition. That to me is not just shocking, but disturbing. The implication of what these two characters are capable and the clues along the way could make a great thesis for a post graduate study on human behavariul science. I wonder did the author intended that way? I felt like watching it a second time, this time to fully appreciate the performances and the implication of the story.

Don't miss this one. Give it a go and when it gets a bit boring, marvelling at how handsome Hugh Jackman is and how seriously sexy and intense Christian Bale is would help to past the time but luckily those moments of boredom aren't that long or often.

Questions Asked And Answered
I have read many forums and there seems to be major confusions over the ending. So I have decided to tackle a few of these major questions, my take on the story because frankly I didn't see what was so confusing. In order to preserve my spoilers free review as spoilers free, please highlight the entire [ to ] as the font is in white colourby left clicking your mouse and dragging it. Please refrain from discussing the spoilers in Post A Comment.

[SPOILERS AHEAD! SPOILERS AHEAD!

So did Borden have a twin or a clone?
It was very obvious. It was a twin brother, never a clone.

Why Borden's other half a twin and not a clone? Like Angier's?
A few obvious reasons ...

1. Borden couldn't have afford to pay for the machine Tesla built like Angier did at the time he started thw Transported Man trick

2. The final revelation by Fallon (or it could be Alfred, not even "Fallon" himself was sure who was who anymore as they alternated between themselves) that he had lived a life of secrecy, of such sacrifice that you became as one person, without having a chance or ability to live your own life, that when the one in jail whom I shall refer to as Alfred said to Fallon to live his own life from now on.

So how come Borden told Angier to see Tesla?
Like the diary said, he wanted to get rid of Angier, send him on a wild goose chase never really expecting Angier to actually get a machine that works almost the same way as Borden's trick. In fact that was why Borden was shocked, because he had already exposed the fake Angier on stage, so Angier couldn't have used the same actor and Borden couldn't understand how Angier did it. And the fact that Borden was shocked showed Borden had no knowledge of such a clone making machine.

But how come Borden sent Angier to Tesla not knowing Tesla could make such a machine?
A wild goose chase like I said.More importantly Tesla was very famous for his discovery of well how to manipulate eletricity I suppose and he was more magician than Borden and Angier. He was said to be a wizard during a time when people could not understand science as something rather pratical. Borden was seen by Angier during an exhibition held by Tesla. I doubt Borden met Tesla face to face but he was curious enough to see the exhibition. Angier thought that by Borden being there meant Tesla met Borden and built him the machine which is illogical since Borden can't even afford to feed his family more so buy the machine. Borden knew Tesla by reputation and so used this to lure Angier to Tesla.

How come Tesla built the machine as if he knew what Angier wanted? That the same machine but better than the one built for Borden?
Watch carefully. This was the most confusing for some. You must understand Tesla never admitted he met or knew Borden. Angier assumed, and we assumed and so that was Nolan's brilliant misdirection you see. Tesla knew what Angier wanted because you must understand TEsla's assistant knew Angier by reputation as the Great Danton and probably his Transported Man trick. Obviously Tesla would know what he wanted. And this became sci-fi-ish and even X-files ish because we can never know how that machine could have made a clone. Tesla was confident he could make the machine Angier wanted. But his machine failed in the sense it made a clone.

But if Tesla never knew Borden, how come he knew what to build?
Like I answered, everybody knew who is The Great Danton, more so an assistant who knew would have told his master. More importantly Tesla built the machine because

1. he knew he could make one

2. more importantly like revealed by Tesla himself, he needed funding to continue his project. Thomas Edison was destroying Tesla's effort, chasing him and closing his experiements in order to crush competition. So when Angier came to see Tesla wanting such a machine he knew he could build, and he needed money, why not?

3. Or you could say why Tesla so readily agreed may be because of bad editing or bad writing or plot holes. But I think my 1. and 2. answers are accurate. You could also say that Tesla was the writer's misdirection.

So which Borden survived? The one who loved Sarah and had a child or the one who loved Olivia?
Another major headache for some. But I feel it is the one who loved Olivia. Because the one who got hanged in one of his final scenes said or even screamed that he loved his daughter as he was being dragged away. The other one who loved Olivia survived because no way that the one caught could escape jail. They're magicians but not wizards who could perform miracles. So in the end it was the one who loved Olivia who survived. The one who had his fingers cut off because the other one had his finger blown off thanks to Angier. The one we probably mostly see as Fallon but I don't think so because the're interchangeable.

The one who was buried alive, who was he?
Very difficult to tell but I think he was the one who loved Olivia. Because I notice that the one who loved Sarah was a bit softer, a bit more relaxed whilst the one who loved Olivia was harder, more determined, angier, more ambitious and more relentless. I think he was also the one who complained about his teacher very early in the show, the one who tied the knot that went horribly wrong, the one who exposed Angier's fake twin because he was angry he had to have his fingers cut off. Somehow I just feel this Borden was much more aggressive than the one with the daughter.

Did Cutter knew in the end about the twin?
Cutter suspected, Angier refused to believe that a person or rather two individuals would share a life just to create a perfect lie. Remember Angier's reaction to Ching Ling Soo (I hope I got the name right) and Borden's explanation of his fishbowl trick? Borden was actually explaining his own lie but Angier couldn't believe someone could be so extreme that he could live his lie for the rest of his life. I think Cutter knew. But I am not sure if Cutter knew about clones and stuff. But the fact that he wanted the machine destroyed, maybe. I mean he had to know in the end with the warehouse filled with dead Angiers. But then iot could have been burnt down later since Angier died, and the place was on fire. I think Cutter's reaction to both revelations may be more of a plot hole.

So Angier who died in the end was a clone or the real Angier?
A clone. I can explain this. When he first tried the machine, he got zapped and then he was still in the same place, in the machine. That was the real Angier, he never moved. But his copy was at the other end. So when he first did the trick, he stood in the machine, got zapped, then he fell through the trapdoor and I presume straight into the tank filled with water. The copy must have been created and relocated somewhere else. The clone got to the stage and said thank yous whilst the real Angier drowned. Then from thereon it was one clone created, the other clone drowned. The real Angier died in the very first night of that trict. But each copies had the memories, the feelings, everything of the original. No difference but the question now is could the copy have known he would be drowned? I suspect maybe yes which was why it was to Angier a sacrifice. Killing yourself every night, then coming back as a clone, knowing there was no turning back. Whether Cutter knew or not I am not sure since he was never allowed to be back stage. But surely the stagehands would know which was why Angier hired only deaf and mutes. One scene explained that. But whether Borden's stagehands knew or not is different. If you see closely, he works mostly alone. Even Olivia didn't know which meant the lie was perfect, until the end.

Did Sarah know? Or even Olivia?
I suspect Sarah suspected it since she was very emotional during one scene but she couldn't be sure but she was fed up guessing how her husband felt about her and so she killed herself. I think in her heart she knew. Olivia didn't know.

Did Angier set Alfred up? To get this Alfred into jail?
Maybe. Why 100 days show only? Could it be to lure Borden to comet o the show and then get him caught? Or maybe not. Since he probably only wanted to kill himself 100 times only. There must be a stop somewhere, Borden getting caught was like icing on the cake.

Who tied the knot? How could Borden could not remember the knot?
Obviously as you have seen the ending, you would have guessed Borden A tied the knot but probably refused to tell Borden B the truth or maybe the Bordens simply refused to acknowledge the fact one of the Bordens tied a knot that killed Angier's wife. It could be real or it could be an act.

So in the end Borden is a ...
TWIN. He had a twin. I don't know how anyone could have gotten confused about that. Angier probably was a copy. The real Angier died the first night of the performance.

So what were the clues that everybody said that led them to have gussed the ending?
I suppose the director wanted you to notice the clues but many missed, even I.

1. Borden has a twin clues
- he flirted with Sarah outside her house, then he left and when Sarah went through her door, Borden was inside. That was a big clue to many, I was far too busy thinking perhaps he broke through the door or something.

- The Fallon disguise was easy to spot, more so when Borden in jail told Fallon to live his own life

- Fallon never spoke, a big indication that viewers must not know that's Christian Bale

- Olivia said she saw fake wigs and moustaches in the other room, so she was convinced there must be someone who disguised as Borden during the act but she got that half right.

-. Sarah kept saying some days she knew Borden loved her, some days he didn't

- Some times Borden actually meant he loved Sarah, some times he was too cold, like after her suicide

2. Angier was a clone
- the many hats and the twin cat Angier saw on the fields next to Tesla's house

- Angier never had a brother or a twin and after his fake twin got exposed, I doubt he used the same fake twin again

- Obviously he actually died and then he re-appeared, very much alive

Why did you say this movie should be a horror movie?
Because the idea that Angier could commit murder each night just to perfect an act. I mean even if he was just killing himself, but he was killing them nonetheless. And that Borden twins could live as one Borden and harbouring such deep dark secrets about ones own identity, living such a lie is pretty scary. Wouldn't you feel that way? Maybe in the end this movie is about sacrifice, how much you're willing to do for the sake of that perfect lie? I like it that when I read the book magic was described as a misdirection. A brilliant one word to summarise magic.

How different is this from the book?
Not sure. I do know the book talks about their next generations and descendants who tried to work out the feud between these two. I am reading the book and thus far it is a really well written book and very intriguing. Just watch the movie first before reading the book.

END OF SPOILERS!!

I saw the movie again today on 25.10.2006 and I made one crucial major mistake about which Borden escaped the noose in my above Q&A. Below is my updated Q&A to which I am very sure of the answers to my earlier doubts.

Which Borden was buried by Angier?
It would be the more aggressive one, the one who loved Olivia because in the restaurant scene, he was acting strangely and Sarah who was upset asked why and he said he almost lost something precious to him that day, that something was himself.

Which Borden was hung in the end?
I have seen this movie a 2nd time just so to answer this question and without a doubt, it was the one who loved Olivia. As in the last confrontation between Angier and Borden twin 1, that twin said "I loved Sarah, he loved Olivia" and that he was in prison to be hung. Moreover it was the one who in prison who said he was sorry about Sarah and if you notice the great performance by Christian Bale, there is a difference between these two. For example the one who said the mean thing like "Today I don't" when Sarah asked if he loved her was the Borden who loved Olivia. The one who appeared in Olivia's apartment in a later scene who said he didn't know how he felt about Olivia at that moment was in fact the Borden who loved Sarah. All along the one in prison was Borden who loved Olivia as he was the more aggressive one, the one who defied his brother's advice, the one who tied the knot on Angier's wife, the one whom Olivia first met in the workshop. That being said I wonder whether both men shared wife and mistress, and who is the father of Jess because Borden who loved Olivia loved Jess as much as the one who married Jess' mother. I think maybe they shared life but not intimacy. And for your info when Sarah first told Borden she was pregnant, it was to Borden who loved Olivia because he said she should have told this happy news to Fallon who just left. In bringing up and being a father to Jess, I believe both men were genuine affectionate to that girl and both were fathers to her.

So it was Sarah's Borden who was reunited with Jess?
Yes. I made the mistake of questioning whether there was a switch in prison but there never was. Sarah's Borden was more logical, more reasonable and I sincerely believe the one you see talking aggressively, the one who pushed the rivalry between Angier and himself, the one who first got his fingers blown off was in fact Olivia's Borden.

Did Cutter knew about the twins?
In the end he knew, as he took care of Jess until Sarah's Borden came to take her back and Cutter did not stop that man.

Did Cutter knew about Angier's copying or cloning machine?
I am wondering if it was really a copying machine or a transporter machine with a glitch as in the book. But that is academic. Anyway Cutter knew when he found out Angier was still very much alive. He later helped move the machine to the theatre's underground chamber where Angier kept all his prestiges or the clones. I think by then Cutter already knew for sure and he was disgusted with Angier, which was why I believe when Borden passed Cutter when Cutter was on his way out of the theatre, Cutter did not stop him. I don't think Borden was ever under any disguise and Cutter knew what he would be doing. After all it is only fair since Angier in a way caused his brother's death in the end and was unscrupulous as he used Jess to threaten Olivia's Borden.

Did Sarah know?
I think she suspected. Olivia certainly didn't know.

Is Angier some royalty? A Lord?
Yes he was. Early in the scene Angier said that he had to change his name so that he won't embarass his family as he did not want his occupation to interrup with his real identity. And he also pretended to be an American when in fact he was English. Notice his accent towards the end.

So in the end no more Angier? He was really dead? One Borden died?
Yes. The one who survived was the one who married Sarah. And this was I think the less ambitious one since he really didn't want to know how Angier did his trick, he was sick of the feud and he wanted to walk away from it all.

What's the deal with Christian Bale's eyebrow?
I don't know. Must be just an accident that meant nothing to the storyline.

Was this movie any different from the book?
Substantially yes but the spirit of the book is intact. You must read the book because the narration in the book is very interesting. Even in the book I found Borden such an interesting character although the book was more on Angier. If you are wondering, Alfred is actually Albert and Frederick. To know how why when where what you must read the book. I guarantee you the ending is just as shocking as the movie's ending but it upped the movie a bit; it was truly scary, eerie and horrifying. If you're wondering why in the movie there is a science fiction cum fantasy element, because the book itself won World Fantasy Award and it is in part science fiction, in part fantasy but mostly character driven book. An excellent book in fact to match this excellent movie. I watched this movie twice, and I found my second viewing even more enriching as I noticed the wonderful performances, especially Christian Bale and I noticed the subtle differences, I realised the director wanted you to see the differences which is why the phrase Are you watching closely? was often repeated. He wanted you to get it but truly the ending itself and the characters themselves made this movie a gem. The book is in some ways better than the movie and yet the movie expanded on the book. Do read the book. It is really great.]

I hope the above clarifies a few questions you may have. Feel free to email me if you wish ton discuss this movie or give me your version if you so wish.

A Note
Hmmm...Thomans Edision, probably the real villain in this movie and I saw a documentary on him, he was THAT aggressive.

Tesla was real, and yes so was Bowie. He wasn't CGI eventhough I could have thought he was because Bowie is just plain weird in real life.

Will this get an Oscar nod? I hope.

This movie has one of the best ever promo package. The trailers are very interesting, the posters are great (I love the one below which is not the official poster, so magic-ish) and the website simply magnificent. BUT one thing trumped it all. Do go to Megamall and to GSC theatres, and at the front entrance there was this kinda giant black board thing, on the left we have the screen with the shifting images of this movie's poster, like the one you will see or have seen at the website's main entrance and the best, a TV next to it, in a small water filled thank with bubbles and also green-ish colour water looking very magical and the trailer being shown repeatedly with almost blinding white lights at the back. It was very mysterious and very illusion-ish. Do have a look. Excellent promos.

I find the official reviews for this movie range from ok to excellent. None of them really said it was bad, but the complaints were mostly common; that the characters were too single minded, a tad boring because a tad too deep, a difficult watch, ending was absurd but did explain all the plot holes, etc. Check out rottentomatoes.com for more reviews.

Check out the ultra cool website HERE.

History
Check out a very good bio on Nikola Tesla at wikipedia.com complete with pictures. Does look a bit like David Bowie and so that explains the accent a bit.

As for Thomas Edison, read about him at wikipedia.com. I am not sure if he and Tesla were ever on opposite ends but I did watch a documentary once where he was said to be a very good businessman, hard sell his stuff and usually by doing that he must of course crush his competitors.

I wish ...
To see Christian Bale in a comedy OR a love story, those light hearted ones without any angst, drama or even crazy stuff he so famous for.

To see Hugh Jackman in a 100% action drama ala James Bond-ish. Enough with the flamboyance, I want macho and I don't mean Wolverine macho.

To see less of Scarlett Johansson. She is way too over exposed and to me also overrated.

Ultimate question
Wolverine or Batman?

Well simple. Christian Bale can be Wonder Woman and I still say he's great. But Wolverine was great too BUT the X-Men movies were getting from good to bad to worst.

Some Clips
Thanks to the amazing Youtube.com.

The Trailer

Great clips

Inside Look Featurette

The Making Of

Interviews
Good Morning America
It is very embarassing for the host to keep saying Christian BATES.

Unscripted
A must watch. If you can't see it in IE try Firefox, if not try a lower connection. If youtube.com posts this interview, I'll post them here.

WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE

Movies.com
Christian Bale's interview is HERE. Very bad posture this man because he looks nervous but ask him one line and he answers 10 lines. Great interviewee.

Hugh Jackman's interview is HERE. What a funny man. Great interview!

Food For Life [TVB]

2006-10-08T18:31:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

" The biggest problem with this series lies with the writing. "

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

No. of episodes
30

Theme Song
Sung by Raymond Lam and Kevin Cheng

Cast
Kevin Cheng Ka Wing as Chan Ka Lok (Gai Jai - 'chicken boy')
Raymond Lam Fung as Yau Hok Lai (Ngor Siu - 'master duck')
Charmaine Sheh Si Man as Chow Hei Man (Mandy)
Tavia Yeung Yee as Yan
Ben Yeo as Terry
Michelle Chia as Yuko
Natalie Tong Si Wing as Chan Ka Bo (sister to Lok)
Kiki Sheung as Lok's mother
Hui Chiu Hung as Lok's father
Eileen Yeow Ying Ying as Lai's oldest sister
Shaun Chen as Ban Jeung

Basic Plot
Five young people with distinct personalities meet while competing in Yummy Yummy, a contest whose grand prize is ownership of a store. By working as a team in the contest and by ultimately sharing ownership of the store, the five become good friends. They face many challenges, but eventually learn that friendship can help them overcome them if they stick together.

Review
The biggest problem with this series lies with the writing. The actors are good, the premise of friendship-above-all is good, but there is no overarching storyline. Meaning there is no climax, no 'major problem', the plot basically consists of little problems that are resolved in 2-3 episodes, underdeveloped romantic pairings and even smaller subplots. I have no problem with subplots - they can sometimes be intriguing, even more so than the main storyline. But this series overuses them, so much that the 'story' basically becomes an incoherent grab bag of subplots with bad pacing. Here's a list.

1. Yummy Yummy - the contest itself takes up a whole third of the series. It could have been reduced to 3 or 4 episodes instead of the 10 while equally establishing the friendship. And how lame is it that the series ends with next year's competition?

2. Terry dealing with his overprotective, strict mom - boring scenes throughout the entire series. "Ok fine, I lost the contest, I'll go to university in Singapore now", then "No wait, I have to find Jane!" then "Ok fine, I can't find Jane and can't find a good job, I'll go to university now" then "No wait, they won a store and I can have a share!" then "Ok fine, my friends are all arguing, so I'll go to university in Singapore now" then "No wait, we all made up so it's back to Hong Kong I go!" I felt like there was an invisible line separating Singapore and Hong Kong and Terry was always jumping back and forth.

3. Gai Jai's birth mother re-appearing after abandoning him for 20+ years. Resolved in 3 episodes.

4. Gai Jai and Mandy's romance. Abruptly begun and resolved. Gai Jai suddenly likes Mandy after she helps him put eyedrops in his eye. The two kiss, get together, and have a yay-happy relationship for a good one episode until Mandy discovers than Yan likes him too. Oops! Break up for one episode, then they realize they actually love each other and get together in the next episode. This all happens in the last 4-5 episodes by the way.

5. Ngor Siu and Yuko's romance. Even more abruptly begun and resolved (they don't get together until episode 28!). We begin by watching Yuko idolize Ngor Siu at the very beginning of the series, then she disappears for a good 10 episodes while Ngor Siu begins to become infatuated with Mandy. Then in the third last episode, Ngor Siu watches Yuko cling onto the arms of 5+ guys and realizes he likes her, then they get together. Whoopee.

6. The sister relationship between Mandy and Yan. So unoriginal. They are sisters born from different mothers - their father was married to Mandy's mother but had an affair with Yan's mother, Mandy's mother dies, Mandy is pissed off at Yan and family, but eventually forgives them.

7. Ngor Siu learning to grow up and be independent. Granted, this subplot was one of the better ones because it is actually developed throughout most of the series. But it is also unoriginal, especially with Raymond Lam since he has played this character several times.

8. Gai Jai learning how to make noodles. Booooooooring. I get that the noodles are the foundation of their store, but those scenes were so boring and there were too many of them.

Evaluation of Cast and Characters
Raymond Lam / Ngor Siu
I've followed this guy's career since his debut in A Taste of Love and fell in love with him as an actor since his breakthrough performance in A Step Into the Past. He has played this character (juvenile, impulsive, confident) loads of times and can do it in his sleep. Solid performance. Nothing more to say.

Kevin Cheng / Gai Jai
Again, a similar character to the one he played in Hard Fate. Good guy, values friendship, uneducated but intelligent. Kevin is definitely playing against type here. In Split Second he was given a role that did justice to his good looks and professional, arrogant air but here in Yummy Yummy he plays an uneducated man who works at a chicken market. He gives an adequate performance but this actor is one of those good-looking-but-not-brilliant actors. As in, handsome and charismatic but delivers nothing earth-shattering or particularly compelling in terms of acting...and probably never will.

Charmaine Sheh / Mandy
What's with this series and repeating character types? Mandy is basically a reprise of Charmaine's character Kelly from Life Begins at Forty. Professional, confident, independent female. And like that series, in some scenes she is very pretty, in others she looks like a horse. Decent performance, she makes a nice-looking couple with Kevin Cheng and she has a nice wardrobe in this series as well. But it would have been more interesting if she and Tavia switched roles.

Tavia Yeung / Yan
She is endearing enough as the clumsy, good-hearted, slow-witted Yan but her crying scenes are just so painful to watch. She needs to learn to cry silently and subtly. Enough of this wailing! She does the same thing in The Academy and Golden Faith and it irritates the hell out of me. I make it a point now to fast-forward Tavia's crying scenes. In fact, she makes the Top 3 list of TVB's Ugliest Criers (the other two being Gigi Lai and Flora Chan). Tavia's a better actress than both Gigi and Flora, but crying is definitely something she needs to work on. Blech.

Ben Yeo / Terry
Not the best dramatic actor, some funny expressions and he is likeable enough, but definitely not a 'wow!' performance.

Michelle Chia / Yuko
From some angles she looks a bit like Cathy Tsui, and she acts like her too, meaning bad acting. Zero chemistry with Raymond Lam and she looks really old for some reason. It's not her skin or her hair. Just her features (and her wardrobe in this series) make her look old. She could pass for Raymond's aunt!

Things That Make You Go "Huh?"
Did Yuko go out with all those guys on purpose to make Ngor Siu jealous? If she did, how did she know that Ngor Siu was going to Singapore and how did she have time to plan all that?

What is the purpose of the contest? To eat the most food and then run to see who didn't have to barf? That's what it seemed like most of the time. At the beginning I thought it was a cooking competition. How wrong I was.

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
I didn't have the heart to give this series a super-low rating because I like the cast in general, but the storyline is written so badly that I have to say that Yummy Yummy is only for die-hard fans of the cast.

Rating

Through the Grapevine
Offscreen Raymond Lam is good friends with both Kevin Cheng and Tavia Yeung. In fact, he once said that the female co-star he works best with is Tavia Yeung.

The Academy [TVB]

2006-10-08T18:19:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

" The marching scenes. Way too many of them. And why does TVB refuse to give its actors English lessons?! "Squad, halt!" sounds more like "Skwaaah, hot!". "Squad, left view, march!" sounds like "Skwahhhh, leff voo, maach!". And do not get me started on how they pronounced "outward bound" - I cannot even phonetically describe it."

MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT!

Chinese Title
"Hok Ging Hung Sum" (translates to the heroic heart of policemen-in-training)

No. of episodes
32

Cast
Michael Miu Kiu Wai as Lee Man Sing / Sunny (Lee Sir)
Ron Ng Cheuk Hei as Chung Lap Man (Man)
Sammul Chan Kin Fung as Wai Pak Kiu (Kiu)
Fiona Sit Hoi Kei as Lam (Fiona)
Michelle Mai Suet as Ivy (mother to Man)
Tavia Yeung Yee as Hor Fa (Ah Fa)
Chin Ka Lok as Kook Sir
Priscilla Koo Kei Kwan as Madam / Ann
Deep Ng Ho Hong as Ming (brother to Fa)
Eddie Lee Yu Yeung as Ryan

Quick Summary
The story, as its title indicates, is basically about a bunch of younguns training to become policemen, although I'd want none of them to be policemen where I live (reasons later). First comes Chung Lap Man, the fiery, impulsive, confident self-proclaimed hotshot who enters Police Training School (PTS) on a deal with Lee Sir, who Man thinks is in a relationship with his mom thus preventing his parents from getting back together. Then comes Wai Pak Kiu, the quiet, reserved, extremely private and equally confident achiever who enters PTS because being a cop means a good, stable salary and responsibility. He has a frosty relationship with Lee as well because his dead mom was the neglected wife of Lee Sir many years ago. Let's not forget the ditzy Fiona, spoiled princess who idolizes Lee Sir and entered PTS because he once saved her from a car accident. Rounding out the classic TVB love square is Ah Fa, cashier/waitress at PTS' cafeteria and the youngest daughter of a family of thieves. Yes, you read that right, a family of thieves. Or more precisely, a family of pick-pockets. Although Ah Fa herself is as moral as can be.

Kiu is paired with Fiona, a classic rich girl/poor boy pairing who face numerous obstacles to their romance because of class difference. The relationship between Man and Ah Fa is a little more original, beginning as a friendship then challenged by family disapproval (from Ah Fa's family because Man was the prime witness in a trial that sent Ah Fa's gangster brother to jail). Other characters peppering the plot include Man's mother Ivy, a gentle, warm-hearted woman who later falls for Lee Sir, who is in love with her as well, teachers at PTS including Kook Sir who is also Lee Sir's best friend, and other family members of the cadets.
The young cadets at PTS begin by hating their instructor Lee Sir, who is strict and appears cold and unfeeling. However, as time passes by they learn that Lee Sir actually cares very much for their well-being. This is why they are heartbroken when Lee Sir dies in the final episode, but learn to support each other in their grief.

Evaluation of Cast and Characters
Michael Miu / Lee Sir
I made the mistake of reading reviews on this series (as I always do) and knew that Lee Sir would die at the end so I watched this guy with interest. I haven't seen Michael since TVB's Chor Lau Heung, which is, to put it mildly, quite awhile ago and I honestly remember nothing about his performance in there. Anyway, Michael did a very good job as the strict but inwardly caring Lee Sir. His 'romantic' scenes with Michelle Mai attempt more than they deliver, but he looks and behaves like a fit and capable policeman. You can't stand his stern, strict face at the beginning but you grow to love and respect how much he cares about his students, especially during the later parts when his face occasionally breaks into a smile. Very good performance.

Best moment
When he died. Only because it managed to wring out genuine emotions from the entire cast, who seemed lost along with the plot that seemed to be going nowhere.

Worst moment
None.

Ron Ng / Man
Hmm, he seems to be hated in the SPCnet forums. Why? He isn't that bad. Okay, so his character Man is petulant, annoying, and impulsive, which is a repeat of the role that made Ron, Isaac from Triumph in the Skies. But he looks the part in these roles (though his acting is pretty stiff). Granted, there's a limit to how great of an actor you can be if you can only do well in one kind of role, but Ron does have charisma on the screen. He needs a breakthrough performance, starting from accepting different roles. Anyway, he is the only cadet in here that physically looks like a policeman (minus Michael Miu) but his personality couldn't be more wrong. Irrational and immature - is this the kind of guy you want carrying a gun on the streets? Blech.

Best moment
Any opposite Michelle Mai. I enjoyed watching the two as mother and son and Ron did well portraying the filial side of Man.

Worst Moment
The kissing scene with Tavia Yeung. It was one of the best kisses in recent TVB, as in slow-motion, sweet, etc... but the problem is they look alike! As in they look like siblings, which makes their romantic scenes look oddly incestuous: they have the same face shape, the same lazy/sleepy eyes, the same big pointy nose. And since Tavia Yeung recently got darker, their skin tone is the same as well. Pretty scary actually.

Sammul Chan / Kiu
Physically wrong for the role of a policeman, even for one in training. He's so skinny and runs like a girl. But anyway, intriguing character and interesting performance. I've never thought much of Sammul as an actor; I mentioned that he was a shell of an actor in my review of Survivor's Law (as in one-dimensional performance). But his work in The Academy is different from his other works. There's a certain something in his portrayal of the mysterious, introverted Kiu and I find his performance very satisfying...although I think his success in depicting Kiu is more related to his woes of recently leaving TVB rather than real acting ability.

Best moment
The scenes in the early part of the series as the mysterious, quiet Kiu.

Worst moment
The romantic scenes in the later part of the series opposite Fiona Sit. They made me cringe.

Fiona Sit / Fiona
Where shall I begin? For those of you who read my old review of Detective Investigation Files IV, you know how I felt about Charmaine Sheh's performance in there. Fiona is early-Charmaine-Sheh, version 2.0. Little Miss Chicken Voice. Listening to Fiona speak was like having Stuart Little shoved in my ear. If TVB dubs people who can't speak Cantonese properly, then they should dub people who speak like Fiona Sit as well. But you know what the irony is? Fiona Sit has the most annoying high-pitched voice, AND she can't speak Cantonese properly. Ha, ha, ha. So she needs Cantonese lessons and also needs to do what Charmaine did when she first started in the business - read aloud from newspapers to get rid of her chicken-with-its-head-cut-off voice. And she can't act here either. Awful performance. What's strange is, I remember liking her in 2 Young where she played a similar character but why is she so much more annoying in here? Oh well.

Best moment
None. I am serious.

Worst moment
All? Hahaha, I guess I'd have to say the scene at Fiona's parents' party where she appears in a bright orange dress and that atrocious wig. She looked like she just walked off the set of Ju-on.

Tavia Yeung / Ah Fa
Poor Tavia, she's supposed to be a female lead but she's more like a wallpaper supporting role in here. She does an average job, but her character is annoyingly passive.

Best moment
Nope, not with Ron Ng but with the actors who played Ah Fa's family members. Tavia did well in the scenes as the devoted daughter willing to sacrifice for her family.

Worst moment
When Ah Fa found out that Ryan actually likes Fiona and ran into the streets wailing her head off. Tavia is one of the worst/ugliest/over-dramatic criers in TVB. She really needs to tone down her crying scenes.

Other Characters
I absolutely loved Michelle Mai's Ivy, she was terrific all the way through and was definitely the best supporting actress in here. Chin Ka Lok was hilarious as usual as Kook Sir, and Priscilla Koo made a very convincing professional power woman. Deep Ng gave a credible performance as did Waise Lee as Man's father. Funniest performance goes to the actress who played Man's aunt.

The Loot Bag
1. Man's aunt/Ivy's sister. An extremely funny character portrayed with brilliant comic timing by the actress who played her.

2. The relationship between Kiu and Lee Sir. Very compelling.

3. Chin Ka Lok. As goofy as ever as Kook Sir in private but in PTS he plays a brilliant 'shooting god' and great teacher. His pairing with Priscilla Koo, ultimate female professional, is also quite entertaining.

4. The PTS students. Each with distinct personalities that are both endearing and irritating, played by a slew of ke-le-fes. For example, among the guys: an older dude whose lifelong dream was to become a cop, a younger one who is into tarot cards and ghosts, another younger one who thought it was his lifelong dream to become a cop until it's discovered that he was unconsciously influenced by his father and brother who are both policemen, and some other ones. Among the girls, one who is smart, nice and anti-chauvinist (played by the very effective but unknown young actress who portrayed Monica - Chin Ka Lok's daughter - in Life Begins at Forty), one who is smart but mean, and a flirty one who almost cried after getting her hair chopped off at the beginning of the series.

5. Nicknames. One of them is Man's nickname for Lee Sir - "Dau Ba Sing". It's Cantonese slang that means something like 'slap on the face' but actually sounds much funnier if you understand slang. Then Kook Sir's nickname for Kiu "Mm Seng Mm Seng" which directly translates to 'no noise no noise' and refers to Kiu's quiet nature.

6. The last episode. Read below.

The Barf Bag
1. The marching scenes. Way too many of them. And why does TVB refuse to give its actors English lessons?! "Squad, halt!" sounds more like "Skwaaah, hot!". "Squad, left view, march!" sounds like "Skwahhhh, leff voo, maach!". And don't get me started on how they pronounced "outward bound" - I can't even phonetically describe it.

2. Fiona - actress, character, and wig. See above.

3. Ah Fa's family. Poor girl. They glorify the thieving life and then reprimand her for not following in their shoes. Then they hate Man's guts just because he caused Ming, Fa's older brother, to go to jail (when he actually deserved it!). Horrible family with no sense of morals whatsoever.

4. Man scheming to get his parents back together. Seriously, grow up. Your parents are divorced and you're not 8 years old anymore. Accept it and move on.

5. The theme song. Who wrote this? It crams paragraphs of lyrics into one line of melody. Atrocious singing too...wait, I'm pretty sure I heard Ron Ng's voice in there somewhere as well. Oops.

6. Ryan and the actor who portrayed him, Eddie Lee. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Did I mention ugly?

7. Miki, Man's younger sister and the horrendously wooden actress who portrayed her, Rachel Poon. Miki is a selfish and vindictive spoiled brat. I sure as hell wouldn't want a sister like her.

Things That Make You Go "Huh?"
Fiona's pathetic pursuit of Kiu. Ok, he might secretly like you but he's not willing to admit it, so just let it go already! My jaw dropped at the scene when she tells the other female cades that she 'broke up' with Kiu. Um, you were never going out in the first place, how could you break up? This girl is a real piece of work. Unbelievable.

On that note, what the hell does Kiu see in Fiona? She's whiny and immature. If I were a guy I'd run the other way.

Why can't Class A march after 15 episodes of practising?

When Kiu and Fiona get kidnapped, and Lee Sir calls Kiu looking for him...after a whole night with kidnappers, you finally remember you have a cell phone? Stupid Kiu.

At the end of the series, Man and Fa's romance is left out in the open. What happened with them?

The Ultimate Best Episode
I was going to give this series only 2 stars (because of bad plot pacing), but the last episode convinced me to give it an extra half star. Many people found the scene where Kiu is sobbing at Lee Sir's grave to be the most touching, but for me it was the scene where the cadets meet for the first time after Lee Sir's death at PTS. Kiu begins singing Aaron Kwok's "Strong", and the rest of the male cadets join in. On another floor of the building, the girls hear and sing along, followed by the members of Class B. I was crying buckets during that scene, because it represented the unity that Lee Sir was demanding all along from the cadets. Not only that, but it showed the bond between the mourning cadets and just how pivotal Lee Sir was in their lives.

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
If you really want to, I'd recommend watching the first 5 episodes and then the last 10 episodes or so. The plot gets lost in the middle. Passable series with average acting and some annoying characters.

Rating

From the Grapevine
The sequel to this series, Cadets on the Beat - is out! Yippee. Featuring the robotic Sonija Kwok. No yippee.

Safe Guards [TVB]

2006-10-08T18:12:00.000+08:00

Written by Black Eyed Susan

"His (Steven Ma) whole attitude just oozes confidence, intelligence and determination. His deep voice conveys enough authority to keep one listening to him. Emotional scenes were portrayed with such power that he literally overshadows every other character in the same scene."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Chinese Title (Cantonese)
Tit Huet Bow Biu meaning Bodyguards of Iron and Blood

Released in
2006

Cast
Steven Ma – Sheung Chi
Elaine Yiu – Lei Cheung Fung
Wayne Lai – Sheung Chung/Mo
Ben Wong – Sheung Hau
Kwok Fung – Sheung Ching Tong
Ram Tseung – Sheung Ching Man
Lau Kong – Sheung Ching Pang
Lai Lok Yi – Sheung Yi
Kara Hui – Yan Ching
Suet Nei – Sau Ping
Evergreen Mak – Fo Yim Hung

Summary
In the Qing era, Sheung Ching Tong has build out his father’s legacy to one of the biggest and most known transport companies in those times called ‘Wui Yau Guards Bureau’. After a fortune teller told him that their family wealth will not surpass three generations, Ching Tong’s doubts increased about his successor. Normally, Sheung Chung would become the next chief as he is the eldest son, but he isn’t a leader type. Chung is too easily manipulated with some nice words, he will never think things through and is very irresponsible. His biggest contender is Sheung Hau, who is the son of Ching Tong and his concubine. Although Hau has the leader capacities, he is quite ruthless as he will do anything to reach his goal, even committing a crime. The third son, Sheung Chi, was never in the running for this position as he was only adopted. However, deep in his heart Ching Tong knew that Chi has the best ability to lead the family company. Lastly, there is Sheung Yi, bus as he has studied abroad for several years, he is completely unfamiliar with the business. As the entire family is divided by this power struggle, it has also affected business and profits are going downhill. Can the brothers still turn the tide and work as a team to save the business?

Performances
Steven Ma
Truthfully, I have never paid much attention to him in the past. Even if he was the male lead, I have always find other characters more interesting. However, from the very first moment I saw him in “Safe Guards”, I was captured. His whole attitude just oozes confidence, intelligence and determination. His deep voice conveys enough authority to keep one listening to him. Emotional scenes were portrayed with such power that he literally overshadows every other character in the same scene. Chi is someone who will never panic and who will take care of everyone’s problems calmly and thoughtfully. He is the rock in the lives of so many people. And I just fell head over heels with Steven’s portrayal of Sheung Chi. This character has entered my top five of all the characters that I have seen in all my TVB years.

Elaine Yiu
Poor girl has been ‘criticized’ (nicely put lol…) ever since she appeared as Chloe in “Revolving Doors of Vengeance’ by the internet community on her looks, acting skills and so on. I really feel sorry for her and I am not sure whether she deserves such treatment. Having said this, I am afraid I have to agree with everyone else that her performance in “Safe Guards” was the weakest. However, she was tolerable as long as she wasn’t in an emotional scene. Those were, namely, way over the top as emotions were portrayed in a very exaggerated and hysterical way. Facial expressions were terribly lacking and if she was able to convey a feeling, it was almost caricatured. Yet for some strange reason, I wasn’t as annoyed by her as I thought I would. I’m sure she will improve given the time and opportunities, just like many other actresses at TVB.

Wayne Lai
One of my favourite supporting actors, together with Power Chan and Evergreen Mak. Ever since I saw him as Pigsy in ‘Journey to the West”, I have become his fan. Always anticipating his performance when I know he is in a certain series. And he has never disappointed me. Although I will not deny that he is extremely versatile, I have always preferred him in comedies where his comical timing would come to its right. This has changed after I have seen Sheung Chung. Wayne has portrayed this character in such a humane and realistic way that you can actually relate to. With his full range of emotions at his display, he just showed them all with the right subtlety; be it confidence, fear, shrewdness or maturity.

Ram Tseung
I liked his character a lot as he provided some entertaining comic relief together with Kara Hui. His performance was very consistent throughout the whole series, but it really peaked when his wife died. The way he conveyed his sadness even made me feel heartbroken.

Others
The other performances in “Safe Guards” were more than satisfactory. Kwok Fung gave a memorable portrayal of Sheung Ching Tong, very in-depth. Another honourable mention is for Evergreen Mak. At first I was very surprised to see Evergreen act a character who knows martial arts. However, he pulled it off and I was sad to see his character go. Last remark, it seems that the performances of the female cast were overall weaker than the male.

My favourite scenes
When Chi discovered that he actually liked Cheung Fung, he took her daily to the opera. Although very exciting the first time, possibly even the second and third time, but after so many times you could see that they were both bored out of their mind. Yet neither wanted to admit this to the other, because they thought that the other was enjoying it and it was also the only time that they could spend time together on their own. Once, Chi wore sunglasses to disguise his sleeping while watching opera. After the opera finished, they were walking home when Cheung Fung curiously asked about the sunglasses. Chi let her put them on, but she couldn’t see a thing where she was walking. This was the opportunity that Chi had been waiting for all the time as he held Cheung Fung’s hands and guided her home.

Even though Sau Ping loves Chi, it was obvious her favourite is Chung. However, she isn’t completely unreasonable as the following scene shows. Upon knowing that Chi gave negative advice on Chung as the new leader of the bureau, she demanded Chi to be kicked out of the bureau as well as the family. She also went on a hunger strike until Ching Tong gave the keys to Chung. A few days later, Sau Ping’s health is getting considerably weaker and Chi couldn’t bear to see her suffering any longer. So Chi went into her room, knelt down in front of her and begged her to eat again. Sau Ping stubbornly refused until Chung got the keys of the bureau. Emotionally, Chi told her that he would do anything to please her, but she also knew what kind of person Chung is and he certainly wasn’t a leader type. He told her to consider the bureau’s future and the fact that Chung would probably be better off and happier when he isn’t the chief. Such a powerful speech has touched Sau Ping to the deepest of her heart and she finally started eating again.

There is another scene with a great speech, but this time it was given by Sheung Chung. Their uncle Ching Pang forced Chung to take over the keys from Chi in front of the whole bureau. However, he stood firmly in his shoes and said that the keys belonged to Chi. This came as a surprises to everyone, even more to Chi. He just stood there, immobilised and touched by the words of Chung. You could clearly see that even Chi believed that Chung would take the keys. In Chi’s eyes, you could notice the pride that Chung has changed and matured. Definitely one of the nicest moments between the two brothers which was enhanced by their great performances.

One of the most tragic scenes in this series has to be the death of Yan Ching. Yet it was the impact of her death on Ching Man which created another memorable scene for “Safe Guards”. When he was reading his wife’s letter, I could feel a chill through my spine. He conveyed so many emotions by just reading the letter out loud. In between, Yan Ching was seen fighting off thieves and ultimately she passed away, sacrificing herself for the bureau.

Comments
The chemistry between the entire cast was just magnificent, especially between Steven Ma, Wayne Lai, Ram Tseung and Kwok Fung. The same goes for Ram Tseung and Kara Hui. They all seem so at ease with each other. Their interaction was also very warm and familiar. Seeing them together, you instantly wish you could be a part of them.

This series was very well-received in Hong Kong as well as overseas despite its lack of famous names. So why was it so popular? In my opinion, it has different factors. First of all, the amazing performances of the male cast just draw you into the story. Secondly, I know it is quite a typical plot with three brothers fighting for the chief position. However, the scriptwriters brought the story to life with witty and great dialogues. They also worked out the story in depth, yet still maintained its believability. Thirdly, the characters are all well-developed and multi-dimensional. Every character has good and bad traits, but these characters also underwent a subtle change. By the end of the series, you could see that they have matured. Lastly, they took care of the ending nicely. It wasn’t too rushed, but they did keep on going with ‘six months later’, ‘one year later’ and ‘three years later’. They also covered every character’s life.

What was actually the purpose of Lai Lok Yi’s character? He only appeared the last few episodes and his only contribution was informing Chi of the coming of a new era. Of course, this was important information for the future of the bureau, but I do believe that Chi already understood that something was going.

Verdict
Initially I didn’t have any plans to see this series, but after strong recommendations of the blogging community I gave in and rented it. I am really glad I did. It has a believable and nicely worked-out storyline which keeps you interested and excited due to its pace and performances. You won’t get tired of this series, even if you have watched it the second, fourth or umpteenth time.

Rating

Miscellaneous
Try to get your hands on the theme song of this series, sung by Steven Ma. Nice flowing lyrics, a powerful voice and a melody that just keeps on playing in your head.

Strike At Heart [TVB]

2006-10-08T18:02:00.000+08:00

Written by Black Eyed Susan

"You would have thought that after playing these kind of characters for so long, she (Charmaine Sheh) would have enough practice."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Chinese Title (Cantonese)
Ging Yiem Yat Cheung

This title is taken from the martial art that Chu Kot Ching Ngo exercises

Released in
2005

Cast
Joe Ma – Chu Kot (Zhuge) Ching Ngo
Charmaine Sheh – Siu Keng aka Little Mirror
Stephen Au – Yuen Sap Sam Han aka Thirteen
Sunny Chan – Hui Siu Yat aka Tin Yee Gui See
Annie Man – Jik Nui aka Foo Ying Meng Fong
Shek Sau – Choi Ging
Nnadia Chan – Mong Dip
Derek Kwok – Wu Zhong Shu
Mok Ka Yiu – Lang Huet aka Cold Blood
Lawrence Yan Chi Keung – Zhui Ming aka Life Snatcher

Summary
Northern Song. Tin Yee Gui See, Chu Kot Ching Ngo and Yuen Sap Sam Han are respectively the first, second and third disciple of the ‘Zhi Joi Moen’ clan. About ten year or more after they’ve left Bak Sow Yuen, their sifu’s place, they meet up again. In those ten years Chu Kot has worked his way up in the imperial government and became a high-ranked official as well as the emperor’s favourite right hand. Meanwhile Thirteen went into hibernation somewhere far away. He spent his time perfecting his martial art ‘Heartbroken Arrow’ in order to defeat Chu Kot’s ‘Amazing Spear’ one day. He desperately wanted to win from Chu Kot as their sifu has told them that no matter what ‘Amazing Spear’ will always conquer ‘Heartbroken Arrow’. Tin Yee Gui See (TGYS), on the other hand, continued to live at Bak Sow Yuen after their sifu’s death where he lives like a recluse. There he has engrossed himself in Chinese chess, his pet turtle Goldie and playing guqin, while Chu Kot visits him once in a while.

One day Chu Kot met a girl, Siu Keng, whom he thought was the assassinated General Fu Yien’s long lost daughter. So he took her under his care when she encountered troubles. Gradually they fell in love, but Chu Kot was keeping a distance between them as he believed he didn’t have enough time for romance with the invading threat of the neighbouring country Kam.

In the meantime, TGYS also met Jik Nui from the Divine Needle Sect. Soon she forced him into marrying her after he used the Sect’s needles to save his two brothers. When Thirteen also got to know Siu Keng, he too fell in love with her. Not long after Chu Kot finally accepted Siu Keng’s love, he discovered Thirteen’s infatuation with her. In order not deepen their conflicts Chu Kot decided to back out.

Chu Kot had a nemesis in his fellow colleague Prime Minister Choi King who sent Mong Dip, his protégée, to befriend him. But most importantly to spy on him. Together with Mong Dip Chu Kot puts on an act to drive Siu Keng in the arms of Thirteen. At first Siu Keng didn’t doubt Chu Kot’s love for her, but then she realised that Thirteen will always put her first. So she accepted Thirteen’s proposal. Upon learning the truth, Siu Keng plotted revenge by taking away what’s dearest to him: the protection of the country from Choi King and the brother bond between him and Thirteen.

Then Chu Kot discovered that Choi King was in fact an accomplice of the Kam country, but was brought into discredit whilst trying to prove it. Siu Keng could finally let her feelings of revenge and anger go. She even attempted to mend the broken pieces between her husband and Chu Kot.

Performances
Joe Ma
Tall, dark and handsome. No wonder TVB is making so many efforts to promote him. Yet he is not exactly leading material. And certainly not in this series. Don’t get me wrong, he’s perfect to play a charming, caring and romantic guy. Unfortunately his emotional scenes definitely needs improving. He’s not always capable of conveying the sadness or pain that his character was supposed to be feeling. For these emotions, he just pulls his face in a big, deep frown; which was really quite expressionless. Also I think he lacks screen presence at time. Especially in scenes with Stephen Au, Nnadia Chan and Annie Man he was easily overshadowed. That said, I quite liked the pairing Charmaine – Joe. It’s got a sweet touch to it and their chemistry was actually OK.

Charmaine Sheh
Kind, gentle and sweet characters with a tad of innocence. This pretty much sums up Charmaine’s trademark character. You would’ve thought that after playing these kind of characters for so long, she’d have enough practice. Yet she’s still not always convincing neither consistent. To be frank, I prefer her acting as the vengeful and bitter Siu Keng. It’s the evil glare, she’s quite good at glaring like in War and Beauty. There’s one thing that I absolutely loathed about her, namely her smile. For some reason I find her smile really fake. It just doesn’t seem to transfer the joyful emotions that she is supposed to be feeling.

Stephen Au
In my opinion, he is the true star of the series and not Joe Ma. Without him I don’t think I would have persisted in continuing this. Just like with Joe Ma, I won’t think of him as a leading guy, but he has certainly proven here that he is able to carry a series by his own. His emotions were really well portrayed. You could clearly see the emotional roller coaster that his character is experiencing. I guess he played Thirteen almost flawless except for some exaggeration as the crazy Thirteen, but which actor has never exaggerated. Besides, it was a subtle exaggeration as it never annoyed me. I truly enjoyed Stephen’s performance.

Sunny Chan
I’ve always enjoyed his acting from his older series to the more recent Placebo Cure. But in this series he seems to be a bit lost. Even though he appears to be natural in his acting, the only impression I got from him was boredom and tiredness. It was such a passive portrayal. Nothing more, nothing less. If it wasn’t for Annie Man floating around you probably wouldn’t have noticed him. His facial expressions really did live up when he is around her.

Annie Man
She performed as expected. I have also taken pleasure in her interactions with the other actors. She is very natural in her actions which resulted in real irritation with her character. If it weren’t for her character though, you would have one long serious series that would seem to be dragging on forever. Her funny moments really moved the series along. However, there was some exaggeration at times, but it actually fitted her character so I wasn’t exactly annoyed by it.

Nnadia Chan
This is the first time that I have seen her in a very different role than the ones I was used to, that is a scheming one. There was still some goodness left inside her, though, so it was more of an semi-evil role. She did a fine job, but same as with Sunny Chan: it was at times quite passive. Those moments really made me feel indifferent towards her character, rather than being exasperated.

Shek Sau
The same big gestures as in Triumph in the Skies, but so much more irritating. He tends to overact a lot, while in my opinion a villain should be more subtle. I guess his performance was tolerable but it lacks a true evil feeling. You are supposed to either hate the villain wholeheartedly for his disgusting conduct or either admire him or his intelligence and the way he get what he wants. I felt neither when watching Shek Sau. Just wanted to keep forwarding his scenes.

My favourite scenes
Siu Keng wanted to see the lanterns at the Mid-Autumn festival but Chu Kot refused that because he thinks it is too dangerous. Then Siu Keng proceeded to tell him why she wanted to see it so much. Although Chu Kot’s heart softened after hearing her, he still said no. After the festival market was over, he brought Siu Keng out to the empty street. There he had hung up dozens of lanterns for her.

Chu Kot brought out Siu Keng to watch stars with him. While watching the stars he told her that one of the stars will be representing him, being her guardian star. So wherever she will be, he will be there to protect and take care of her. Siu Keng was so charmed by these that Chu Kot saw his chance to kiss her, only to be interrupted by a falling star.

Jik Nui discovered that Tin Yee Gui See had faked his blindness to get the divine needles in order to saves his two martial brothers. As a punishment, she made him eat cup cakes with needles stuck in them. But Tin Yee Gui See didn’t know that Jik Nui already knew he wasn’t blind.

Thirteen proudly showed Chi Ko’s body. His pride then turned into agony when Chu Kot told him Chi Ko was actually Siu Keng’s father. Thirteen realised that his hopes to be together with her are dashed. He blamed Chu Kot for not holding him back which deepens their conflicts even more.

In order to drive Siu Keng away, Mong Dip and Chu Kot decided to pretend they had spent a night together. Siu Keng waited the entire night in front of their room and by the morning she has fallen asleep. When Mong Dip came out of the room, she saw Siu Keng and poked her awake. She then went on and told Siu Keng it was useless to cling on to Chu Kot because he has already fallen in love with her. Siu Keng just slapped Mong Dip hard in the face and even continued to defend Chu Kot.

Chi Ko’s body was hung up outside the city wall and Siu Keng tearfully took him down. She then found out that Thirteen killed her father and when he was standing in front of her, she was feeling so angry that she tried to revenge her dad. Thirteen was feeling so remorseful that he didn’t object to it. In the end, Siu Keng only scarred his face because she couldn’t bring herself to kill him.

Chu Kot witnessing Siu Keng’s acceptance of Thirteen’s marriage proposal. He was feeling so frustrated that he went exercising his martial arts in the forest. Mong Dip followed him and asked him why he is doing this to himself as he is suffering so much from it. Chu Kot just stubbornly repeats that this is the best solution for them all.

Other memorable scenes are both death scenes of Mong Dip and Siu Keng.

Comments
Many people were raving about the Charmaine-Stephen pair up. Either I am blind or I have missed one hell of a pair. They looked mismatched and chemistry-wise it was quite disappointing. Actually, I am probably the only one who preferred Charmaine with Joe Ma. I admit they did look awkward together at the beginning, but their story and pairing gradually grew on me. There were those little glances to each other, the concern for each other and so on.

I truly pity Thirteen for being caught up in such a love triangle where he knows for sure that two are in love but none of them includes him. Even though he marries the girl in the end, he knows that her heart doesn’t belong to him. A fact that was proven by the death scene of his wife. The dying Siu Keng only had eye for Chu Kot while Thirteen was as devastated (or possibly even more) as Chu Kot.

One thing I really didn’t understand: why can’t Chu Kot makes more of an effort to keep Thirteen from killing Siu Keng’s father. When he ran after Thirteen, Chu Kot just kept on yelling ‘Don’t!’, ‘Don’t do it!’. Is it really that difficult to shout out ‘Don’t! He is Siu Keng’s father!’? That will really make Thirteen listen and also prevent a further deepening of their conflicts. But then I guess it was kind of important that Thirteen killed Chi Ko, at least for the story.

I quite liked the portrayal of the brother bond. It is funny how their bond is at its strongest when Thirteen is happy. You can really see how different their personalities are just by looking at the dynamics in their brother band. Tin Yee Gui See is happiest when their bond is kept intact, Chu Kot when he can mend his relationship with Thirteen and the latter when he can outshine Chu Kot.

The verdict
Unless you have much time to kill, I wouldn’t recommend it. Plot is mediocre, performances are below average, with exception of Stephen Au. It won’t be a big loss if you would give this series a miss.

Rating

Miscellaneous
This series is based on the book ‘Amazing Spear’ by Wan Sui On.

Love Bond [TVB]

2006-10-08T17:54:00.000+08:00

Written by Funn Lim

"However most TVB productions is about casting the more popular one in a role that may be right for him or her if he or she is given more time to prepare for the role and unfortunately that may not be the case. I am not saying this because this is so for this series, quite the contrary. I find the casting in this series suitable because the characters themselves are not exactly that complex or that complicated."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Released in
2005

No. of episodes
Way too long, 30 episodes.

Cast
Way too many people for a series with few stories.

The Lam Family
Michael Tao Dai Yu as Lam Yat Kong (1st son)
So Jee Wai as Lam Yi Yeung (2nd son)
Moses Chan as Lam Sam Hor (Ah Sui, 3rd son) / Sik Sui
Leong Lit Wai as Lam Sei Hoi (4th son)
Natalie Tong Si Wing as Lam Siu Wu (youngest daughter)

The Kei Family
Kenix Kwok Hor Ying as Kei Hoi Sum (1st daughter)
Bernice Liu Bik Yee as Kei Mei Lai (2nd daughter)
Fred Cheng Chun Wan as Kei Chung Ming (youngest son)
Paul Chun Pui as Kei Tin Man

Others
Wong Ka Lok as Tong Yan (Yan Jai)
Anne Heung Hoi Lam as Bik Fun
June Chan Kei as Money
Carlos Ng Ka Lok as Nicky
Akina Hong Wah as Rachel

Thanks to Bridget Au for the full cast list.

Note
Looking at the length, I decided to change this from an opinion to a review. For the synopsis, cast details and other production details, do check out Bridget Au's review HERE. For convenience purposes, I will use the name of the actors in place of the characters because I can't remember the characters' names.

Comments
It has been quite some time I have watched this series over at ASTRO and sad to say my memory is failing me. Oddly enough I could remember almost every frame of Journey To The West so the only conclusion I can reach is really this series, Love Bond isn't that memorable. It has its moments but the repetition of the same factors can be very very tiresome to watch.

Basically this is a story that MediaCorp would love to make and will make, a family drama with a bit of comedy moments and plenty of love and sibling issues. We have a big brother, Michael Tao who went overseas to work as a chef and dutifully sent money home so that his 2 brothers and one baby sister could study and not go through hardship. Unfortunately when he came back, not only was the 2nd brother (So Chee Wai) was running a not so successfuly fake flower supplies business (the actual term for the business fails me at this moment of time), the younger brother stopped schooling so as to work with the 2nd brother as a salesman and his youngest sister wants to be a model instead of finishing university. He had placed much hope on his siblings only to find them in trouble and doing badly in their lives. But that was not just his problem. He came back nursing a broken heart because his girlfriend, Anne Heung I believe of 6 years (or was it 16 years?) dumped him because she realised they were not compatible. He also in a way carried the guilt of his one missing 3rd brother who went missing when he was little. So he was heart broken at the sorry state of his family and his love life. And then he met a renovator named Moses and it was not before long that he noticed certain similarity between Moses and his long lost brother. Moses realised Michael may be his brother too but refused to acknowledge him because he felt hurt that he was abandoned when he was little. Michael made amends and in the end Moses was touched by Michael's love and caring attitude. Problem now is the other members of the family, maybe except for the sister disliked Moses and felt he was an outside. It didn't help that So's long time girlfriend, June Chan was back stabbing Moses and time and time again Moses was doubted, accused and scolded for matters not entirely his fault but Moses persevered because he did it for the love of Michael who wanted badly to reunite the family once again.

Meanwhile we have another family of independent women headed by a very motherly father, Paul Chun. Kenix is the eldest and the shrewdest when it comes to business, that is her flower tea business shop called One Cup Of Flower Tea. Second sister, Bernice is a customs officer and a very dedicated one. The youngest is a useless son, who refuses to work and continues to study so that he does not have to bear any responsibility. And when the sisters forced him to work since he wasn't doing well in his studies, the father continued to subsidize him.

It wasn't long before Kenix who really liked Michael fell for Moses who wooed her because she reminded him of his gentle mother (Winnie Yeung). Kenix realised this and decided to break off the relationship and Moses realised that too, that he didn't really love her like he should have and he too broke off teh relationship. This gave Michael a chance to develop his relationship with Kenix, with the consent of Moses whilst Moses developed feelings for Bernice. However trouble looms when Anne came back with a baby in tow, claiming the baby was Michael's. Being a responsible person, Michael decided to marry Anne whilst it was Kenix who wanted to leave Hong Kong with a broken heart. And just as sudden Anne who realised Michael had fallen for another told Michael that the baby wasn't his, that she borrowed the baby from a friend. So Michael and Kenix can happily get married and it was Anne's turn to return to where she came back from with the baby that was actually Michael's.

Meanwhile, Moses married Bernice and Kenix married Michael. But the sibling rivalry between Moses and family were getting worse and worse when Moses left the company to build his own company with the financial support of Michael. It was so bad that one brother ended up committing a crime and the other wanting to cover up that crime.

So how will it all end?

Must you ask?

Happy ending of course. Extremely happy ending in fact. Such a perfect ending in fact. I am not complaining about that in fact. Let me make it clear; I do think this series gets better and better as it went on and on. It has many repetetive moments, in fact the entire series seems to base it on that premise in most part; that is sibling rivalry over the Lam family that after a while it became very tiresome to watch. How many times must Moses be doubted? Many times. It just shows the jealousy simmering on the surface of a happy family. It is quite real, I mean it is logical that the 2nd brother will say "How can you supply him with funding when he wasn't even your brother for that long? I am your brother too and we are brothers longer than you with him!". It is logical for the youngest brother to say "So what? Who is he? Why should he stay here when it is so crowded already?". But after many episodes of the same thing, it is not only boring but predictable.

What is interesting to watch though is how the youngest brothers of both families reacted to different situations. All along the youngest brother of Kenix is useless, lazy and unmotivated. And yet in the end he was the one who became motivated and actually changed into a better person after he heard some good advice from Michael and family. Meanwhile Michael's youngest brother out of anger and backstabbing from June about Moses that Moses didn't do accidentally pushed and hurt a very close friend of Moses who ended up in coma. He ran away but Moses was determined to bring him to justice whilst Michael said let's give him a chance to turn himself in to the police. But in a moment of imperfection that he displayed, Moses realised Michael never had the intention of dragging the brother to the police if he didn't want to turn himself in. In fact he will help this brother of his to cover up his crime. That is only logical of course and one of the best scenes of this series that seems to perfect and then suddenly there's this very real scene. In the end the brother turned himself in.

There was also another scene that reminded me of Yue Ling and Lin Ruiyang's series For Better Or Worse (yes I am that old) where Kenix was heart broken that Michael had to leave her for Anne because of the baby. Kenix pretended to be strong but in front of her father she broke down and cried buckets. This was very much like that Yue Ling series where Yue Ling was crying how unfair all things were for her and how she could refund the "tickets" (she was referrring to the wedding) when it was already bought. I find this real and quite touching although it was very uncomfortable to see the usually steely and strong Kenix crying like there's no tomorrow. At this point the series was already much too long.

It didn't help matters when the story went that 2 sisters gotten pregnant about 1 or 2 months apart and you have them both pregnant and so you have funny moments like pregnancy and such. Nothing bad but I am just annoyed at this point because the story seems to be running out of steam and going nowhere that they had to add in pregnancy into the story so that it continues running if not there won't be any purpose to it. I even wondered at this point is there a point to this story? Sibling rivalry? How many times have the Lam family broke up, reunited, broke up and reunited again and then broke up again over the same bloody issue? It may be realistic for some but on TV that's just plain boring repetition.

But one scene redeemed the series in a way because it was realistic and because it was very well acted. That involved So and June. So found out it was June who screwed up a big contract and not Moses as she had claimed which caused the final big rift in the family that led to the youngest brother hurting Moses' very good friend. So was very angry but he calmly asked June about the situation and June still nervously blamed it on Moses. That was when So exploded and screamed at June that "It was you! You caused the rift! I always knew you were doing small things but I let it go. What have we done to you that you must do this? It is because of you that my family is falling apart ..." and there was more but sadly I can't remember the rest of it. He chased the crying June out of the office and for months never saw her again until his family and his in laws persuaded him to give her another chance because she was guilty of being foolish but she did love him and stood by him for many years. I really liked this scene because this is how one would react in the face of such betrayal. And So proved his acting metal in this scene and so did June too.

Overall I find the acting in this series very good. I must say that I find it very strange that the same youngest sister in this series, Natalie Tong who also played another young sister in Just Love and she was super annoying in there but in here she was ok and there was not much difference in her performance!

Other than that, I thought Moses improved in his performance and this is really due to the fact that he really did well in comedic moments, in fact he is very good in comedic roles but falters in dramatic moments. Falters not like suddenly really awful acting but rather awful in the sense his deadpan look with very little expressions even when he was making funny faces may be very funny in comedy situation but in dramatic moments, it was more like Botox moments and that is bad. I would have wished his eyes convey more than the deadpan eyes but again in dramatic moments, he looked unchanged except the degree of seriousness; big toothy grin to big grin to big smile to small smile to very little smile to total deadpan Botox no smile look. Kinda reminded me of Kenix's acting with her hands; rude obnoxious or career independent girl, hands move everywhere and fingers pointing everywhere with her head help really high and her eyes opened wide. Timid polite girl, limited hand and finger pointing movements, head dropped a bit low, shoulder a bit hunched and eyes back to normal state, maybe smaller a bit. I am sure you get my meaning. There are actors who let body language compliment their acting, and I really believe in body language type of acting because if not even a mannequin can act then. But in TVB there are many who may actually believe body acting as the definition of not just good acting but make that exceptional acting without incorporating that spirit of acting into voice which is very important, facial expression which comes in useful in letting the audience connect with you since in TV how you look is everything, very importantly the eyes that speak volumes that even words is not important and of course acting like the character is described to be, whether you become that character or pretend to be. Some can't go beyond that body language and stunted facial expression which is why some actors and actresses, eventhough after 10 years in the business still act badly (which is bad but you can justify it as no talent), uninspiringly (worse still for those in lead roles that you somehow cry that role can be much better in an inspired actor or actress) or now that I have grown older, I realise nothing is worse than boring acting (why worse? you know that person can do the role justice and yet there he or she goes again, same old acting which meant one brand acting for all characters, denying the writers' imagination and the wealth of the potential that viewers should have seen in that character and this is what I call character assasination). Kenix was bordering boring until some years back she found her footing again and gave interesting performances although she can be categorised into two distinct type of character performances as I have said. Better than some with just one brand acting, so I feel Kenix can do better. Moses luckily for him is not yet boring because even if he did badly or rather stunted type of acting in dramatic roles, in comedic roles, he broke out from his shell and often deliver multi faceted performance without, amazingly really changing much in his acting philosophy I suppose. I know acting is an art that even when you're about to retire you're still learning but for some it may be more like learning to act rather than learning to present the character in many different ways. Something Stephen Chow mentioned in King Of Comedy. I know there is a lack of information, time, research and opportunity to dwelve deep into a character and to present it in its full glory which begs the moot point; does talent help? What is talent anyway? If no time is an excuse, we would have very bad television all round. After watching some episodes of Journey To The West (China Version) and remembering the TVB version, I realise time may be a factor, but seriously casting the ideal person in the right role really helps. However most TVB productions is about casting the more popular one in a role that may be right for him or her if he or she is given more time to prepare for the role and unfortunately that may not be the case. I am not saying this because this bis so for this series, quite the contrary. I find the casting in this series suitable because the characters themselves are not exactly that complex or that complicated.

One actor I believe is definitely not a one brand actor or boring is Michael Tao. He is at his usual best if not a bit pretentious in the way he laughed and held the palm of his hand to his face, but I think this is his natural reaction. I think I said somewhere in here that he used to be just ok in his early career but he gottem better as he gained more perspective and maturity. Which means it is true; even if you started badly you can get better. I didn't believe this was possible before until I saw Gallen Lo's transformation from god awful to master at his trade and I realise some bad ones need to be given an opportunity for the right role. So I may cry and cry that Shirley Yeung is awful or Sonija Kwok is awful or Ron Ng is awful but who knows? With the right role, maybe they won'r be that awful.

For example, Anne Heung. Mostly awful in her series except for a notable few like Life Is Beautiful where she was actually good to some extent. In here she was ok, bearable but like in all of her series, she looked more and more haggard as the series went on and on.

Kenix I am sorry to say didn't really give much breakthrough because her character is same as most I have seen her in, except for that scene she was crying like there's no tomorrow. But that doesn't mean she was awful. In fact she was very good, especially her scenes with Moses and her reaction when she realised Moses fell for her because she reminded him of his mother! I think I have explained in detail why I think Kenix is good but not good as above.

As for Bernice, sorry to say her acting improved but just slightly. Not awful just bad. Her problem with her diction did not help. One of her good scenes though was when she was openly pretending to flirt with Moses at the bus stop to annoy a fellow residence who was super annoying but I find that scene played out too long and too comedic that it didn't fit into the series.

So Chee Wai, considering that he was a singer first then an actor did admirably well. I am saying this basing my opinion on singers who became bad actors. But then the trend nowadays is to get the actors to sing the themesong of that series and if that actor is also first and foremost a singer, that is good news for the themesong but bad news for the acting.I remember my sister saying if The Bund had been made today, it would be Angie Chiu singing the themesong instead of Francis Yip. Just imagine what a waste of a good song. And that is what TVB is doing to the good songs their writers write by asking actors who can't sing to sing and they ended up doing a karaoke version of that song. At least a song will end in maybe 5 to 10 minutes. It's very short torture. Imagine a singer who can't act? That would be 20 episodes worth of torture. And repeated also if there is a rerun. There may be some good luck that there may actually be an actor who can sing well (Flora Chan) and a singer who can act decently (Miriam Yeung).I am not asking for much. The problem arises when it is a teeny bopper series with a teeny bopper song. So we have young actors who so happens to be awful singer singing and young singers who so happens to be really awful actors acting. And who sufferes? People like you and I and also the poor scriptwriter. And who gains? TVB and the actors and singers who already have a fanbase and you have their fans admiring how good their idols are when they're in fact awful. But in these type of actors and singers' defence, there are singers who can't sing and actors who still act badly. So I guess I can't complain much since the industry is filled with either talentless nobody, talentless somebody or talented nobodies, talented somebody who is not in TV. So considering all that, I really thought So Chee Wai was decent and his scene with June Chan almost at the end of this series has my vote as the best scene.

The rest of the cast, with the exception of Paul Chun are forgettable not because their acting was awful but mostly because their characters can be killed off and nobody would either care or notice them. They're here to fill in spaces and very obviously so. With the exception of Carlos Ng who was both awful and dispensable.

Now I would like to comment a bit about Paul Chun at one end and the at the other end the young actors, Leong Lit Wai and Fred Cheng.

Paul Chun is at his usual best, but I am bored with seeing him on TV because every series he's in there and every series about fathers to daughters there he was. He is now much too exposed and I hope he will return to some dramatic roles or better yet, go for a holiday and come back later. There must be other Ah Pek actors in TVB but I hope not that monotone Ah Pek. And at the other end two young actors one of whom I was very impressed with.

Leong Lit Wai was ok, but a bit raw and with time will get good supporting roles because frankly I can't see him in leading roles unless TVB wants to be different. Fred Cheng was exceptional. He is a good looking guy, and he can act. He has that smart aleck voice with that smart aleck look which was why he was a smart aleck in here and I suppose a smart aleck in The Gentle Crackdown. If he can do away with that smart aleck voice, I believe he can take on an ever more dramatic role but I also believe he can be a comedic actor because his voice, that is smart aleck voice reminds me a lot of how Stephen Chow delivered his lines many many years before when he was at TVB. No where is he near Stephen Chow but like I once said of Myolie Wu (which turned out to be true!), with a bit of good publicity and challenging roles, I think Fred can rise up to the upper ranks in TVB unless he bums out first. Because frankly, the older ones are getting older, the middle aged ones are not as talented or have left TVB and the other young ones are somehow overshadowed by the young female artistes and the older male artistes. I am looking forward to a breakthrough role from him but I suspect he is still very young and therefore time is a good experience. They could learn from Michael Tao who started out an average actor and now made acting such an easy thing to do. Ask Gallen Lo! I may have been quite the opposite but now I am a firm believer that time is a good way to gain experience when it comes to acting if you're talentless or have little talent or is talented but not very co-ordinated. Unfortunately there are many so called big stars or on the way to big stardom in TVB that is still as awful or as talentless and therefore hopeless. Or worse still boring and stagnant. You can watch Just Love for one such performance and The Academy for even more of such performances. It is better to be out of the limelight I suppose.

And where on Earth TVB find their child actors these days? So cute, such good actors and so natural too! Where?

It takes a lot of effort to believe these group of actors are sibling from the same set of parents because they all look very different from one another. In fact none of them look even remotely like brothers and sisters which further strengthen my point; some casting decision is based on popularity and popular demands. I know it works that way but there must be other popular ones who actually look like siblings with one another. Is it too much to ask for at least consistency in the looks department? BUT I want to comment a bit about chemistry between the actors. Best is of course Kenix and her frequent partner on TV Michael Tao. In fact everybody paired with somebody had chemistry say except for Carlos Ng and everybody else. Bernice and Moses had great chemistry but I suspect it is also because they also had that spark out of camera as they were rumoured to be a couple which I believe it to be true. I may complain about what I complain below but I do feel one of the key factors that made this series bearable and sometimes even enjoyable is the chemistry of the actors.Which is really the saving grace of this series apart from Michael Tao.

Verdict
All in all, not too bad a series and not that great a series either. If you're sick to death of family dramas, give this a miss. If you're yearning for a family drama, well what are you waiting for? At least this one has moments grounded in reality and some scenes that made you think twice about how you treat your siblings or how to force that lazy bum of a brother of yours to work. It is a pity that some overly comedic moments and cartoonish characters may have spoilt what is potentially a very moving family drama but the producers made a concious decision to make a light hearted family drama. If this was produced years before I would say that is a good move. But after so many series that are light hearted family drama, I kinda yearn for something 100% drama with some funny moments or 100% comedy with some dramatic moments.

I would recommend this to any fans of Kenix, Michael, Moses and the gang and also for rainy days when you have nothing to watch. For others like myself, I think it is better you save your money, NOT FOR Just Love or The Academy but just wait, there will always be something good from TVB, I hope.

P/S
The poster of this series is boring, unimaginative and bland.

Questions Asked And Answered
Why is the title so flowery?
As in Sum Fa Fong? I'd rather prefer Blossoming Hearts which I read was the meaning of the Chinese title. Well for one Michael's family deals with fake flowers. Kenix deals with flower tea. So hence flower ... I guess...why TVB so fond of themes these days? As in physical themes? Title is about flowers and everyone in the series must in some way be connected to flowers. I pity the writer having to find a connection with flowers when seriously, I do not see the importance of the flower theme to the title in this series.

So the baby really Michael's?
Yes

Did Michael know?
Yes, he overheard Kenix and Paul discussing the matter I think.

Did Anne know Michael knew?
Ermm yes because she could see from the way he was looking at the young boy and he was misty eyed when he hugged that boy.

Does the boy know Michael is his father?
No lar!

Will he ever know?
To prevent their daughter in future falling for this son, I suppose maybe. You never know, these days with so many adoptions going on and so secretive also, you may end up marrying your own brother. I don't know, unless there's a sequel.

Does Anne know that Michael knows because Paul knew and so Kenix knows?
ENOUGH LAR! Everybody knows except for the boy and the man Anne married.

But when he married Anne, Anne already had a baby. So he should know right?
Yes but maybe he didn't know who's the father.

How can Michael have bought that stupid story of her borrowing someone's son as her own and then 5 years later (or maybe around that time) she came back with a son and married and that son looked way too old to be conceived by that man she married? Why? Huh? Huh?
Are you talking about Suri Cruise? It is the same logic why in The Academy some characters are underdeveloped because the series must end and the class must graduate before the series ends. So likewise if look at it logically, this series must end if not to my annoyance and many others will never ever end. So it is probably much less for dramatic value and more for the fact that the writer just wanted to end this series that we have that storyline.

I think that answers most of your "I must ask you must answer" questions.

Han Wu Da Di [China]

2006-10-07T17:41:00.000+08:00

Written by Elizabeth

"THIS IS A GREAT SERIES!!!"

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Translated as
Great Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty or Great Emperor Wu of Han

Year of Production
2004

Type of Production
Mainland China (CCTV)

Being one of the most expensive Chinese productions in history, this is the true story of the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, adapted from "Book of Han" by Ban Gu, and "History Records" by Sima Qian, showing his victories, and failures, his path through life and the harshness of reality.

No. of Episodes
58

Cast-Character
If you know the names of those listed as Unknown, please post them using Post A Comment or email Funn Lim at funnlim@gmail.com

Chen Bao Guo - Lie Che (Emperor Wu)
Jiao Huang - Liu Qi (Emperor Jing)
Ma Shao Hua - Dou Ying
Zhang Shi - Tian Fen
Gao Fa - Yizhixie
Ren Chong - Zhang Qian
Ma Yung - Han Yan
Lu Jian Min - Wei Qing:
Li Le/Li Jin Feng - Huo Qu Bing
Gui Ya Lei - Empress Dowager Dou
Song Xiao Ying - Empress Wang Zhi
Su Xiao Ming - Princess Guan Tao (Liu Piao)
Tao Hong - Princess of Huai Nan (Liu Ling)
Lin Jing - Wei Zi Fu
Yang Tong Shu - Princess Ping Yang
Yang Tong Shu - Jin Su
Zhao Xue Lian - Princess Nan Gong
Xu Hong Na - Empress Chen Jiao
Gao Ting Ting - Lady Li
Unknown - Lady Gou Yi
Unknown - six-year-old Liu Che
Unknown - seven-year-old A Jiao

Brief Outline
The story starts in the late reign of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, who is the grandson of Lau Bong, who established the dynasty. But after the exhaustive war with Xiang Yu and the strained struggle to rid the imperial court of the Lu Family, the country has been recovering from and a drained treasury and political unsteadiness. Thus, when faced with outer threats of the nomadic Xiongnu tribes, the country can only pacify the enemy with gifts of food, women and money and endure humiliation in order to avoid war which will further devastate the country.

An intense and unpredictable battle takes place b Empress Bo etween the royal concubines for the "Empress" title as the childless is deposed, and after all competition is rid of, Lady Wang rises to the top rank as Empress, with her young son, Liu Che, as the crown prince. Raised in such a time, Li Che sees the humiliation of his people at the hands of the Xiongnu over the last sixty years, and the weakness that his predecessors are forced to live in and vows to change all when he becomes Emperor.

Once Emperor at seventeen, Liu Che's road to brilliance was obstructed by his grandmother who resisted change, his mother and uncle who tried to make him into a puppet king, and as well as the lack of advisors and officials who agreed with his own views. But with increased power, he also sees the harshness of politics and the need to sacrifice one to save all.

Lie Che successfully made many reforms to improve the old system, at the price of his closest teachers and advisors, which helped consolidate power back into his government rather than separate states ruled his royal relatives. Once the internal matters had been settled, Liu Che begins to plan his long-waited ambition, to rid his borders of the barbaric Xiongnu tribes and restore dignity and strength to his nation.

Liu Che's dedication to his country and usage of efficient people helped to strengthen his nation, but yet, his love life was not as successful as he moved on from woman to woman with short-lived passion and commitment. As time passes and his victories amount, he becomes self-glorifying and as senility and age catches up with him, he becomes over-suspicious and too self-obsessed and leads to one of the most tragic events in Han history - "The Witchcraft Incident".

His military conquests during his reign earned him the posthumous title "Han Wu Di", which means Han Emperor of military Achievements.

Note : All screencaps below are clickable thumbnails

Evaluation of the cast and characters
Males
Chen Bao Guo as Lie Che (Emperor Wu)
I am quite surprised that Chen Bao Guo decided to act all the way from 19 to 60 in here. His range of acting surely accommodates it, but I did initially get a bit distracted when he looked way older than his elder sisters, his uncle, and his first Empress, but as the story gets on and you get drawn more into the suspense and cleverness of the plot, you would actually forget about it.

Anyway, Chen Bao Guo tackled this role with so much effort that you would just believe that he was Emperor Wu in his previous life. He showed the hopelessness when he fails, yet the strength and arrogance that is inseparable from such a man with great ideals and achievements. He has a very deep and loud voice that is very efficient when commanding authority, but it does sound a bit strange in his early years to have such a booming voice.

Call me cruel, but I like to see Chen Bao Guo cry because he just does it so naturally and subtly. His eyes are so expressive, you actually see them redden and twitch as he speaks, then at the right time, the tears come out.

I think Chen Bao Guo had his best moments as Emperor Wu in the older years as he repents his arrogance because it just so much depth - bitterness, anger, frustration, then the blank look of realization, then sorrow and then my favourite - tears!

Emperor Wu is a man who has such a wide range of thoughts and imagination that he managed to achieve what previous Han Emperor could only dream of. I appreciate the way he gathers all resentment, hides them when being restricted by his controlling grandmother, and then releases it all at once with a grand plan of strategies after much maturation of thought and mind.

But the problem with him is that his plans are so grand that cost a lot and he wants them to be done in a hurry (e.g. making the steel swords, refilling treasury). He is quite a lucky guy to become Emperor when the previous generations have been so thrifty and filled up the treasury and food storages, or else, his ideals would have just remained ideals, and never been achieved. But hey, if you don't dream, you won't succeed, right?

However, I do think that Liu Che is quite a heartless man in his private life. I actually think he is quite a jerk for sleeping with his paternal cousin (N.B. paternal cousin in ancient times = actual sibling, therefore INCEST!!!) and then telling her to forget him as he won't love her. But at least he's honest.

I don't think he has ever truly loved a woman without being led by lust. He married Chen Jiao due to her mother's political influence, but he doesn't respect her. He favoured Wei Zi Fu for her voice and beauty, as well as using her as a tool to make Chen Jiao jealous and his mother-in-law angry, but yet when she ages after having kids, he moves onto a younger Lady Li. He likes Lady Li for her beauty (thus Lady Li refuses to let him see her sickly face lest her son loses favour) and Lady Gou Yi because of her youth and likeliness to Lady Li. He only sleeps with Liu Ling because she was beautiful. No wonder he feels lonely! However, I do think that this is a realistic portrayal of Emperor Wu since most emperors do just move onto younger ladies and I applaud the producers for not writing a super romantic tale and spoil his whole personality.

I liked how the story showed how earlier events in his life influenced his attitude and treatment of matters later in life. It really made him human and his wrongs more forgivable, especially when he publicly apologizes for his wrongdoings.

Du Chun (son of the actor who played Nian Gen Yao In "Yong Zheng Wang Chao" ) played the teenage Liu Che, and I think he did a good job as well, but not as well as Chen Bao Guo.

(BTW, the male actors do really get ride horses without stuntmen! CBG looks so good when riding a horse!)

I think it is better to know some background history first before attempting this series, here's a link to stuff about Han Wu Di: Wikipedia.org

Jiao Huang as Liu Qi (Emperor Jing)
As you may know, Jiao Huang is a veteran actor who has at least played Emperor twice before in huge productions such as "Yong Zheng Wang Chao". So as expected, he was relatively comfortable in the role. However, instead of being a great emperor, this emperor is weak and restricted by his mother's bias against him, his own failing health and the poor circumstances of his nation.

Yet, he yearns to be strong when outer and inner enemies untie to weaken him, but he knows that can only eliminate one yet pacify the other. He endures tremendous humiliation and emotional pain when he has to give up an Emperor's dignity and send his daughter as a "tribute" to the Xiongnu. (For more info about the relationship between these two countries back in ancient times, have a read of this at Wikipedia.org

He knows that Liu Che would be a great ruler, and thus orders the best to be taught to him to benefit his people and tries to make his path to succession smooth by eliminating rebellious relatives and implementing breeding farms for horses to use in wars later on.

However, he is a good man overall, though easily influenced by people close to him and thus doesn't have much determination or confidence. I believe his quiet and forgiving character has been included to contrast against his stronger son who is quite aggressive even from a young age. Jiao Huang is just so convincing as this weak man, who just tries to keep everything together even though everything is falling apart, but through weakness, he also shows strength. He also cries very naturally as well, especially when his mentor gets executed to appease his rebelling royal relatives, and with hopelessness and unwillingness, he farewells his teacher and friend. I'm just so happy that Emperor Jing's story is not glorified!

Ma Shao Hua as Dou Ying
I have always liked this actor ever since I first saw him in "Zou Xiang Gong He" as Sun Yat Sen. He has got very large, kind-looking eyes, and they sort of sparkle at times as well.

Highly-viewed as he is the nephew of Empress Dowager Dou, Dou Ying is a quiet and conscientious person, who tries to keep his dignity while making his way through court. He studies his opponents carefully before making any movements, and thus mainly succeeds when he strikes. He is truly loyal to the Emperor against his own Dou family clan, and admirably enough, will do anything for the emperors and the good of the people. Thus, he has very bad connections with most of the court, but gains the respect of the general public. He is a clever and talented man (PM and Military General all in one! Me like!), with passion for his country, but has very bad luck in that he is never truly favoured by the Emperor and his talents never used.

Ma Shao Hua has no trouble in acting out this kind and generous character. He has a soft speaking voice that just suits this character so well. His facial expressions also change quite smoothly and subtly which is bonus when showing how he is trying to hide nervousness and worry when deciding when the best time is to voice his opinion.

Zhang Shi as Tian Fen
The moment he started talking, I immediately singled him out as a Taiwanese actor (he has an accent similar to Richie Ren!).

IMO, Tian Fen is a combination of Lady Wang's many brothers, which is sort of good since this series already has so many characters. His role acts as a comedy relief in here, providing quite a few laughs to ease all the tension built by the political battles throughout the series.

Tian Fen is quite playful, witty, greedy, lazy and quite a pervert, but yet, he is also an extremely clever man who helps his average wealthy family rise up through society, using his vast social connections to secure the throne for his nephew, Liu Che. He is not evil, but terribly narrow-minded and arrogant that he heads the corruption events within the court. He has no patriotism, and will betray his own nephew for the right amount of money. However, his conscience gets the better of him as he ages.

Zhang Shi is quite a plain looking actor, but he is quite versatile from his performance in here which makes him stand out amongst the more serious actors, yet when it comes to emotional parts where he realizes that he has gone too far in the ultimate battle with the Dou family, yet cannot go back, this actors does make quite an impression and shines.

Gao Fa as Yizhixie
Okay! Now onto Alpha male of the Xiongnu tribe! I have never seen this actor in such an aggressive and loud role. And he's still got that killer stare!

This dude has a very aggressive, brave and ambitious personality and a lot of arrogance and national pride since he is a pure-blooded and eldest Xiongnu prince and eldest. Being quite talented upon the battlefield, he has a lot of resentment when his inexperienced and mixed younger brother, Prince Yu Dan, is named as heir instead.

After a lot of planning and training himself to be heartless (he kills his poor wife and his horse) and his armies robotic to his command, he murders his aging father and makes himself the new Chanyu (Xiongnu Chief), and exacts his long-hidden plan to increase Han tributes to him and further annihilate surrounding tribes into submission, thus causing Liu Che to heavily retaliate with the inevitable Han-Xiongnu war!

I really like how the series managed to showed a more private side of this character, and it makes him really realistic. He is actually quite nice to his siblings and passionate to his second wife. He also cares for his people's welfare and his soldiers. His aggression for war is actually quite similar to Liu Che's, depending whether you see from the Han or Xiongnu point of view. I'm just glad that he isn't made too nice to spoil his traits (such as Gallen Lo in "Chao Jun Chu Sai" who was way too nice and romantic)!

This actor shows a very commanding and magnificent performance, he certainly stands out amongst the Xiongnu males with a certain royal arrogance and posture (as well as the fact that he is the only one who looks like he bathed in the last three months!).This is good because the series tends to draw a lot of comparisons between him and Liu Che. His acting reminds of Kong Wah's arguable performance in "The Conqueror's Story", consisting of a lot of staring and glaring, and a lot of yelling, but Gao Fa manages to have much more control in body expression to show his superiority. (And did I mention I joined his fan club? :D)

Again, he has very expressive eyes, showing a range of expression from murderous, high and mighty, anger, disappointment, to sorrow and tenderness. I was initially quite upset to see this character's story so butchered when compared to the historical one (will talk about later), but it turned out alright and one of the most interesting and deep characters.

Ren Chong as Zhang Qian
This handsome actor(and I mean handsome !!! But not as much as Fred Cheng! Hehe!) cries most of the time, since his character endures so many hardships in here to fulfill his promise to the Emperor. He spends thirteen years in tremendous humiliation (being forced to eat horse poo) and danger on his quest to be an envoy to Afghanistan to invite them to help fight the threatening Xiongnu and develop trade, and after many years, contributes to the development of the Silk Road. Being a playmate of Liu Che, Zhang Qian is extremely loyal, and brave and very determined. This young actor really stands out because his character is just so pitiful, extremely when he finally makes his way back to the court in rags and flashbacks to his former humiliation.

Ma Yung as Han Yan
Another clown role made to keep up the humour. I did expect more from this character screening that he is a great shot with the bow, but all he seems to do is run around and please Liu Che. Maybe it is me, but I expected a more handsome actor for this role of a man who Han Wu Di has been rumoured to be homosexual with. I see this actor everywhere but don't see much improvement. Hope he gets some good roles in the future!

Lu Jian Min as Wei Qing
Great guy! He's patriotic, loyal, brave, smart, clever and protective of himself and his family. However, I am quite disappointed that in this version, Wei Qing's military strategies were dumbed down to make Liu Che look smarter when he suggests the ideas. However, despite his achievements, he is a modest person and doesn't like to show off. However, he is ashamed of his origins as a carriage driver and thus hides his affection for Princess Ping Yang, even when they get married because he will always see his inferior upbringing.

First time I've see this actor, and I am pretty happy with his performance. He provides some very subtle acting, which is very effective for such a sensitive character.

Li Le/Li Jin Feng as Huo Qu Bing
He is one arrogant, over-confident little brat who only cares about winning and showing off - and he also happens to be a teenage military genius who never lost a war. He's a clever boy, but I don't see him having any love towards his country; he just wins wars for his own glory and to please the Emperor. I'm not quite sure whether this portrayal is accurate to the one in real history, but I think this young actor did correctly act out his characteristics - pride, arrogance, self-obsession, impulsiveness and rudeness, but there is no spectacular scene where I though he shined, but is cute when he tries to impress his uncle, but gets no reaction. I see a bright future for this young actor!

There are also heaps of other male characters in the series but there are too many roles to write about and most of them die or disappear within episodes with no spectacular acting, So I'll just skip them lest you all get conjunctivitis by reading my long review!

Females
Gui Ya Lei as Empress Dowager Dou
I personally don't like this character and don't have much feeling towards her death (which is over-dramatised BTW), but certainly no complaints about this Taiwanese veteran actress that most of you have seen around for ages. Her transitions from a fierce political figure to a loving mother/grandmother are very natural, and she also shows the dominating and stubborn personality that she has when handling affairs concerning her favoritism towards her younger son. She's like a semi-villian here, which is refreshing because Gui Ya Lei usually just takes on kind motherly roles. I am surprised by how realistic she portrays a blind person, and happy that she doesn't fumble around for things because people who have been blinded for a long time actually have an excellent memory of where things are and are quite independent. Another breakthrough in acting fro Auntie Gui!

Song Xiao Ying as Empress Wang Zhi
Never seen this actress before, but I think she was a miscast for Lady Wang in the beginning, because she looked very old and haggard in the beginning and looks a bit funny in bed scenes with Jiao Huang. But she gets better later on when she casts aside her kind and humble appearance and emerges as the calculating, power-hungry and selfish Empress Dowager.

However, no matter how she much she uses her son's power, she is a loving mother towards her children. What ever evil thing she does, she does it for her own protection, her son's protection and due to insecurity and long-term oppression from her mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

One of her best scenes was when she was farewelling Princess Nan Gong (her daughter) who was leaving China for good. It was very emotional, and she handled it very well with the heartbreak, tears and loneliness.

Su Xiao Ming as Princess Guan Tao (Liu Piao)
Actually, Sun Xiao Ming isn't an actress, but a singer who wanted a go at acting. There's nothing really special about her performance, but also nothing really wrong with it. There's not much depth to act out, so basically, we just see how greedy, manipulative and evil this Princess is.

Tao Hong as Princess of Huai Nan (Liu Ling)
It was a big surprise for me when I saw Tao Hong here because she always just seemed to take on kind roles all the time. I thought her transitions from innocent to evil were too quick. She was perfect as the naïve Liu Ling who got cheated by Liu Che, but as the vengeful woman? It was very strange seeing her flirt with so many men, and it is sort of funny as well, but her character doesn't have much depth either, so it's very hard to judge her acting. She definitely a clever woman, who uses her sex appeal to get information to help her father plan rebellion, but is she doing it because Liu Che dumped her or because she wants to help her dad? I just found it weird that she is so obsessed with him after meeting him. It is refreshing though to see Tao Hong try out different roles.

Lin Jing as Wei Zi Fu
I've seen Lin Jing in a couple of roles here and there; the most memorable was in HSDS 2003 as the manipulative Ding Min Jun. But here, she is very persuasive as the innocent and kind-hearted girl, and her crying is very good. She is one you would so sorry for because she is so weak and helpless, but at the end, the beautiful Lin Jing gives quite a moving performance as the bitter Empress who has finally had enough being stuck between her heartless husband and unfavoured son, and shows her strength and decisiveness when she supports her son to the end. I thought she overdid the aging process, but an excellent performance overall.

Yang Tong Shu as Princess Ping Yang
A beautiful and graceful actress no doubt, but sadly, she has a vase character. Not much to do anyway, except hang around her mother and look lovingly towards Wei Qing. The only time she stands out is on her wedding night when Wei Qing kneels before her and calls her "Mistress"; her face and tear shows her disappointment and heartbreak. She definitely needs for screentime!

Yang Tong Shu as Jin Su
The same actresses plays a dual role. While Princess Ping Yang is elegant and arrogant, Jin Su is humble, rude mannered and timid. It really shows the actresses skill in differentiating between the two characters.

Zhao Xue Lia as Princess Nan Gong
Wow! Wow! Wow! Finally, my favourite character! Zhao Xue Lian has improved so much since I first saw her in "Grand Mansion's Gates II" as the Bai's pretty granddaughter. She surprised me a lot in here with her short but memorable performance. I am going to keep an eye out for this newbie - she's bound to impress.

Princess Nan Gong is a tragic and lonely character. Though she doesn't appear much, her character is so important to the plot because she symbolizes hope, endurance and love/passion - all the things that are lacking in the time of war and hate.

She is unwillingly married off to the Xiongnu as a symbol of Han humiliation and subordination. She knows her place as the Xiongnu Yan Zhi (equivalent to Empress) but is able to maintain her dignity and national pride when she helps the enslaved Han people.

She initially hates the Xiongnu for raiding Han border-cities, but after her son, Prince Yu Dan is killed by Han archers, the pain and loneliness she endures begins to let her see things from the Xiongnu side as well, and is stuck between the two warring nations, both which she feels for - native of one, and matriarch of another.

Yizhixie and Princess Nan Gong is one of the strangest political, cultural and emotional relationships I've ever seen. Both are in a continuous cycle of love and hate until the end as the Han-Xiongnu war goes on.

I am very impressed by Zhao Xue Lian's interpretation of this character. She is a very graceful and elegant with her soft speech, which is helpful in acting out this special princess, as well as the pride (but not brattiness) which accompanies such a status. Her tears fall very naturally (its heartbreaking to see her cry) and she is able to show tremendous strength in personality despite her weak appearance when she stands up for her people who have been enslaved by the Xiongnu.

She shows good body expression as her face is usually veiled, and is very believable as a loving mother as well as a tender wife despite her young age. All her scenes are very powerful and memorable, especially her last scene she delivers a tragic speech as she helps the war-torn Xiongnu tribes heal.

Others
Lady Li (Gao Ting Ting) and Lady Gou Yi are miscellaneous vase characters that only appear once or twice, being hugged by Lie Che. Neither of them really acts or appears much in this series. Xu Hong Na who played Empress Chen Jiao was OK, but I thought she failed to show the bitterness of being barren amongst the jealousy and spoilt brat attitude. He Jia Li who did the same role in "Da Han Tian Zi" had a much better performance.

By the way, the kids are so cute! A special mention to the kids who played the six-year-old Liu Che and seven-year-old A Jiao - really cute and great chemistry.

An evaluation of various aspects of this series
Acting Chemistry
All the guys have very good chemistry with each other, especially Chen Bao Guo with everyone, Ma Shao Hua with Zhang Shi (its funny when they quarrel), and Jiao Huang and the actor who played his teacher. Jiao Huang also has excellent chemistry with Gui A Lei who plays his controlling mother who underneath all bias, does love him as a son, and also with the young actor who played the teenage Liu Che. Though unreasonable, it would be quite nice to see Chan Bao Guo and Jiao Hang in a scene together, but it never happened.

Romance
There's a lack of romance factors for the couples as the plot is not a love story but a political one, and there's the problem when the only couple to kiss and have intimate bed scenes was Jiao Huang and Song Xiao Ying. There is also the problem of the producers editing out romantic scenes to make things look ambigious.

Liu Che has limited time with his women, so sadly Chen Bao Guo doesn't have much chemistry with the ladies. Strangely enough, he has excellent chemistry with Song Xiao Ying who played his mum, and Song Xiao Ying was great with Chang Shi in their plotting and mutual protection. Lu Jian Min and Yang Tong Shu also have limited chemistry because no close scenes of them together until the end when they are 50!!! (Unless you watch the uncut version!)

Only two "lover" couples do I reckon have any special chemistry. The first couple is Zhang Shi and Tao Hong, thought they don't actually love each other. They use each other all the way through the series, and have some heavy flirting, but they do have a lot of chemistry in intimate scenes. It's in every movement or glance. BTW, they are good friends in real life so probably that helps.

And the Most Compatible and Unexpected Chemistry Award goes to
Strangely, the couple who I initially marked as "the worst marriage ever" came out with the best husband-wife chemistry. From a very heated quarrel to rape, to mutual understanding, to love - these two artistes have displayed a very close and unexpected chemistry despite only have less than five short (and heavily-edited) scenes together. Sparks just fly when they start glaring at each other. So who are these two artistes? If you have read the character sections, you may have already guessed - it's Gao Fa and Zhao Xue Lian. Bravo to these two!

Music

Great themesong by Han Lei. It sounded a bit funny when I first heard, but its tune and lyrics are so powerful and moving when you hear it, that even before you see the first episode, you know this is good stuff.

Let's talk about the lyrics. Surely, very poetic and symbolic, but I am a bit confused because they don't really seem to be talking about Emperor Wu.

"Amongst the never ceasing flow of theYangtze, you are a like a breaking wave. Amongst the vast and continuous mountain ranges, you are like a towering peak. You hide your loneliness in the folds of dark clouds, and write your dreams on the blue sky and grass plains."

This part is fine. Han Wu Di was indeed a great man who stood out. Sure, he put all his ambition and disappointment into building his ambition and formulated the most unimaginable achievements ever.

"You have ignited your body to bring warmth to the earth, at the cost of letting yourself become ashes. Let the numerous flames dance around magnificently, for they would be your last words."

Now, this part is getting a bit weird. Han Wu Di may have done a lot for his nation, but not to that degree. I suspect that this chorus actually refers to the generals and soldiers as well as the politicians who helped Liu Che reform and died in the process. Maybe this themesong means that this story is not only about Liu Che, but also about all those great people that have helped created the history of ancient China.

The subtheme at the ending clip is very strangely modern in tune and in lyrics. However, there are better sub-themes shown during the series, which have a great effect on the mood and brings out a lot of emotion. However, a strangely romantic song was played near the end with Liu Che and Wei Qing which is a bit weird because they two were rumoured to be lovers in books.

But the "Chang Men Fu" really was disappointing for me. It was sung with little expression, when it is supposed to heavily hint bitterness and loneliness. I preferred the one in "Da Han Tian Zi".

There is a strange mixture of background. I was laughing my head off when I hear electric guitars in the first episode, and then some violins in later scenes. There is also a very Japanese stringed instrument being played at times, which is quite strange since the women already look very quite Japanese with their makeup.

Better choices, however turns up with a wide range of vocal instrumentation with drums which are very effective to add to suspense. The music in the battle scenes are also chosen very appropriately.

Costumes and makeup

No complaints about the male Han outfits, but the chest armour looks a bit like the ones in "Gladiator", but the overall army uniforms look very neat and the colour-coding makes it very easy to distinguish which side the soldiers are on during civil wars.

The female Han costumes are just beautiful, and each character has a certain colour-coded costume to show their status, like Wei Zi Fu moves from lighter colours to bright red as she becomes Empress and dark or white clothing is given to the Empress Dowagers to signify high status and increased age. The material and hairstyles are quite plain, but that's actually quite nice because that's how the ancient drawings of the Han women looked.

I'm not quite sure, but did Chen Bao Guo have lots of foundation on when he was acting the younger Liu Che? He looks quite unnaturally pale and sickly, but he gets darker as his character gets older. So did he just get a tan or was it makeup? Anyway, I don't like it. He looks much better with a moustache. Kudos to the make-up team who stuck all those wrinkles on at the end. It really doesn't look like Chen Bao Guo. (Looks more like King Kong!! Hehe!)

The poor actresses looked like vampires most of the time because of the makeup - heavy heavy white foundation on the face (yikes!!!), and a dark red line in straight down the lips. I know how the producers tried to get as close as possible to the fashion of the ancient Han women (small cherry lips), but I think it is overdone. Maybe less foundation and less bright colour lipstick would be better. And tone down on the blush.

Now onto the Xiongnu. No complaints about the girls, costumes are very accurate, and Zhao Xue Lian has some very nice, elegant and unique costumes which is a mixture of Han and Xiongnu.

The common Xiongnu soldiers look great, but however the Xiongnu lords looked liked they just walked off the set of "Demi-Gods and Semi -Devils" after filming a Beggar Union gathering, with greasy hair hanging all over their faces. I think the producers overdid the "wild" atmosphere. But I admire the small details they added to the costumes like headbands, belt buckles, hair ribbons, rings, earrings, and pointy shoes, which made them look more realistic.

Scenery
Very nice. From the beautiful Han buildings and long shots of the palace, to the peaceful forest where the hunted, and then to the vast grass plains where the battle scenes and grazing took place, each place is carefully selected to add the feel of the dialogue and characters.

Complaints and Historical Inaccuracies
Does sunshine increase the ageing process?
I think the cast is too old sometimes. Emperor Jing was 48 when he died, yet they cast Jiao Huang who was about 60. Lady Wang seemed to age fast once her husband died that it was so unbelievable. Liu Che was 60 at the end, but he looks as if he was 80, but I can accept that as a result of mental exhaustion. And Lin Jing's Wei Zi Fu and Yang Tong Shu's Princess Ping Yang was only around 50-60 at the end, yet they was walking with arthritis and a hunchback. They just overdid it!

Taking someone else's credit? Or credit being taken by someone else?
I actually got out my copy of the "Book of Han" and followed the events as the series progresses, and there were some small mistakes in the historical aspects. I have picked up that the characters tend to be glorified a lot for achievements that they have not done, or died a way that they did not do.

Liu Che organizing military strategies was a clever move to make him seem more great, but yet, I don't think the real one did much in this area (at least not that I have read of). It was Wei Qing who thought of those strategies.

Wei Qing was also too kind and impartial, and in real history, he did give important military positions to his friends to help them get merit. Li Guang committed suicide because he didn't want to face military punishment after failing a mission, but this series had him die like a hero in war and battle till his last breath.

Yizhixie is so framed for stuff he didn't do. He was actually the younger brother (not son) of Junchen Chanyu, and claimed the throne after his natural death, and with his armies, chased his nephew, the true heir, Yu Dan and his people into exile. Yu Dan later surrendered to the Han and was made a Han Marquis, but died later of illness. He also did not kill his father/brother. It was Maodun Chanyu (Yizhixie's ancestor) who killed his father, brother, stepmother, etc… and usurped the throne after his father tried to eliminate him in favour of his younger son. Seriously, I don't see what he could have done as the son and not do if he was the younger brother!

Probably the writers felt sorry for him, and started glorifying his character at the end. For goodness sake, Yizhixie did not going charging to his death, he escaped and got lost. The fat dude that claimed the throne at the end of the series was real, but he had to return the throne (Hehe! Imagine how embarrassing!) when Yizhixie returned. He died some years later of sickness. I think the changes make his character more interesting and memorable, but it is quite frustrating to find it so butchered!

And I'm not so convinced that Princess Nangong did marry into the Xiongnu tribes. Not much mention of her in the books. Her story is so similar to Wang Zhao Jun's tale, Han "princess' married off but gained respect as the matriarch of the Xiongnu tribe.

Tian Fen did not go crackers and die; he died peacefully. And I still don't get why the script writer had to make Liu Che so stupid to make Tian Fen PM even after his grandmother warned him about his and Empress Wang's ambitions, and cautioned him not to let any of that side into politics. But he still did just because his mother chucked a tantrum. Then he goes and imprisons Dou Ying because his mum threatens to fast (Maybe if she fasted for as long as the great Ghandi, I would have been worried, but he gave in like one second after she started fasting!). Han Yan also died, but they made him live much longer and then disappear without explanations.

A question on paper and chairs
Papers and chairs were not invented or introduced to China at the time the story was set in, but there are paper seals and at least three people sitting on chairs.

Ending
It was very suspenseful and emotional watching the Han-Xiongnu wars because victory meant so much to either side - Han needed to win to regain former lost national dignity, and the Xiongnu needed to win for survival and pride. The battle scenes were so magnificent.

Then it gets a bit anti-climatic towards the end after the Great Battle to the audience who don't know what's coming next, but those who are familiar with history and the Witchcraft Incident and the Prince Ju Revolution, you all know that the best is coming.

The whole series ends with the same scene which started the whole thing, which reinforces the idea that everything is only a cycle, coupled with the constant scenes of the grazing deer and wheels. It is a very ironic ending, showing the need of war and power in desperate moments, yet its devastation if not controlled properly, and how the best intentions if done to an extreme, will also cause harm and destruction.

Final Verdict: Should you go and watch it?
Well, you've got a bunch of excellent veteran artistes; Tao Hong in an evil and sexy role if you like watching pretty actresses; good looking guys, lots of humour with Zhang Shi around, a good soundtrack and lots of beautiful scenery; a good balance of drama and humour, a great story of strength and dignity, and Chen Bao Guo is never a disappointment! So why not? A good hint is to read on some background info before you start watching. And if you're buying, check whether you are getting the 64 episode uncut version or the 58 episode one. And don't watch it with kids because it is quite violent and bloody and has a lot of sexual implications.

Please go and see it (just don't base your history project on it!)

SO HAVE YOU GOT THE MESSAGE YET? GO AND GET IT NOW! IF YOU MISS IT, IT'S YOUR OWN LOSS! THIS IS A GREAT SERIES!!! ENJOY!!!

Overall Verdict

The Question: "How is it compared to "Da Han Tian Zi"?
In my opinion, "Han Wu Da Di" is a lot of better and much more accurate and consistent than "Da Han Tian Zi", but of course, we are talking about a different budget and a different target audience. "Da Han Tian Zi" is more focused on the dramatic and romantic events whereas "Han Wu Da Di' aims to give a more balanced and political view of Emperor Wu's reign.

Interesting Facts aka The stuff you didn't know!
Chen Bao Guo actually had a heart attack while filming a yelling scene and collapsed on set. But he is alright now. Jiao Huang sprained his hip near the end of filming. Gao Fa fell off his horse when filming battle scenes as another horse rammed into his horse. Sadly, three horses died in the heat and just collapsed. (I knew something was wrong when I couldn't find the tag "No animals were killed or injured in production of this series"!) It was three of the four that was drawing the imperial carriage.

Sadly, I have been informed that the series has been cut from 64 episodes to 58 episodes. People inform me that sex scenes (puzzles me that they were 6 episodes of it) were edited out, which mainly involves Liu Ling and the men, and Wei Qing and Ping Yang's affair. I don't' really mind those scenes, but I saw the cut version and am fuming when I found out that battle scenes were also edited out (Argh! They were the best parts! Battle scenes were already lacking since there was the bird flu problem during filming!), as well as a lot of political dialogue and emotional dialogue which would have made a few scenes run more smoothly and more easy to understand. There is definitely a problem with the editing in the short version.

Goofs
When you look closely at the close-ups of deer grazing, you can see red and yellow identification tags on the ears. The herd must have been borrowed from a deer farm.

I saw a white van in a battle scene, some ends of fluffy black sound-collecting microphones, and my dad swears that he saw a high rise building hiding behind some trees in a background shot of the palace. And some of the horse soldiers are in jeans! (Don't know how that escaped the editing room!)

Love Bond [TVB]

2006-09-17T02:02:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

"Passable"

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Year
2005

Chinese Title
"Sum Fa Fong" (Chinese proverb that translates to blooming heart, blossoming hearts but means something like happy and content)

No. of episodes
30

Cast
The Lam Family
Michael Tao Dai Yu as Lam Yat Kong (1st son)
So Jee Wai as Lam Yi Yeung (2nd son)
Moses Chan as Lam Sam Hor (Ah Sui, 3rd son) / Sik Sui
Leong Lit Wai as Lam Sei Hoi (4th son)
Natalie Tong Si Wing as Lam Siu Wu (youngest daughter)

The Kei Family
Kenix Kwok Hor Ying as Kei Hoi Sum (1st daughter)
Bernice Liu Bik Yee as Kei Mei Lai (2nd daughter)
Fred Cheng Chun Wan as Kei Chung Ming (youngest son)
Paul Chun Pui as Kei Tin Man

Others
Wong Ka Lok as Tong Yan (Yan Jai)
Anne Heung Hoi Lam as Bik Fun
June Chan Kei as Money
Carlos Ng Ka Lok as Nicky
Akina Hong Wah as Rachel

Plot
Chef Yat Kong has returned to Hong Kong after being dumped by long-time girlfriend Bik Fun. Upon his return, he discovers that the young siblings he dotes on has each managed to screw up their life somehow. The second son's company is in debt, the fourth son has quit his promising job at a hotel and instead works as a pots and pans salesman, and the youngest daughter narrowly escapes a shoplifting conviction. After doing his best to solve the family's many problems, a situation arises to threaten the entire family core: the return of the third son, Ah Sui (born Sam Hor). The problem is, the younger, more immature siblings hated this guy before knowing his identity as their brother, and misunderstandings emerge while romantic relationships further confuse the whole situation. Ah Sui begins by dating Hoi Sum, who actually first loved Yat Kong. Then they break up, Ah Sui begins to date Hoi Sum's younger sister Mei Lei, while Hoi Sum and Yat Kong finally get together (there is something inherently wrong here in my opinion - siblings dating siblings?!). Hoi Sum and Yat Kong's happiness is short-lived, with the return of Bik Fun and ... a baby! Yat Kong, responsible man that he is, leaves Hoi Sum to create a happy family facade with Bik Fun and their child, until Bik Fun realizes Yat Kong still loves Hoi Sum and lies to him, saying that the baby isn't his. So Yat Kong and Hoi Sum marry, as do Ah Sui and Mei Lei. The best part in this otherwise average series is that it showcases post-marriage life. Both couples have children, Bik Fun returns briefly, and everyone else gets together with someone. Woooooohoo.

What else… flowers. Plenty of flowers because of the brothers’ company, which specializes in creating flower decorations for buildings. So expect lots of flowers and ‘fa yu’, meaning speeches about flowers and their various meanings. Really, I could care less. I hate flowers, and yes, I’m a girl. My boyfriend is very lucky.

Evaluation of Cast and Characters
Michael Tao
This has been one of my favourite actors since he starred in the uber-popular Detective Investigation Files trilogy. Here he delivers a likeable, believable, and controlled performance as the responsible oldest Lam brother, but I can't help but notice that he's gradually losing his touch and fire, taking on more subdued roles. However, I especially enjoyed his scenes with Natalie Tong; you can really understand and feel how his character dotes on this youngest sibling. Unfortunately, he has zero chemistry with Anne Heung, who played his ex-love, although he fares much better with Kenix (obviously). As well, there was something missing in the portrayal of the relationship between his character and Moses'; the importance of family/brotherhood between these two brothers is more preached than showed at the beginning but improved towards the end. In general, however, the relationship between Kong and the other brothers appeared more realistic. Another credible performance for this great actor, though his character was really annoying when he kept preaching the importance of family throughout the series. Seriously, shut up already.

Kenix Kwok
A near-breakthrough role for Kenix. Gone are the days where she plays the chic professional super-independent woman. Here she plays a number-crunching, outspoken and even somewhat mean and rude woman and Kenix displays some surprising comic timing here. I like this Kenix; it's fun, tomboyish and great to watch. And this series is also the first time in many years where a role has actually required Kenix to really cry and show emotion. I'm so used to her playing the no-nonsense career woman that I was surprised when I found myself truly touched by some of her emotional scenes, especially the one where she is sitting alone crying in the dark greenhouse after breaking up with Yat Kong. Here she has zero romantic chemistry with Moses, which I found strange because they were a great couple in Take My Word for It. Maybe they can be couples in dramas but not comedies? Very strange indeed. As usual Kenix looks painfully thin and malnourished here, someone treat her to a steak! Minus the bad body image though, she looks very pretty (as in face-wise) in here. And she had a great wardrobe too.

Moses Chan
I've always maintained that Moses is destined for comedy and not drama. Unfortunately, TVB disagrees with me and has given him endless dramatic roles (Riches and Stitches, Where the Legend Begins, Healing Hands II, Take My Word For It, etc.), whereas Love Bond is only his second comedic role to date (The Family Man being the other one). Here Moses once again proves that he is surprisingly an excellent comedic actor; he is funny without trying to be, and even his mannerisms and ways of delivering lines as the poor, little-educated, 'bros before hos' Ah Sui are downright hilarious. Though he is not a romantic lead by far, he has improved in the dramatic scenes; for example in the scenes where he tears up when his father-in-law offers him money for his new office and during the fight on the beach between him and his two brothers near the end of the series. He really fails at the serious romantic scenes, but is an actor with a certain charisma on the screen.

Bernice Liu
I truly hated her in Survivor's Law, but here she is absolutely adorable. She is very expressive in here, yet has managed to tone down some of the overacting that made me want to kick her in Survivor's Law. However, she still has a long way to go in terms of dramatic acting. She doesn't have the raw talent for dramatic acting, although she does have potential for romantic comedy-type roles. She made a great couple with Moses Chan, which is strange because I wouldn't have pictured the two as a pair. They're even more fun to watch than Michael and Kenix. Though she had wonderful chemistry with Moses, with Carlos Ng she looked liked his older sister, which I found weird since I believe Carlos is actually a few years older than Bernice. As well, she isn't only pretty here, I find her absolutely stunning. She looked geeky in SL but here showed her true colours: I honestly think that she's a million times more beautiful than any other young TVB actress; she is tall, has a great figure, and an exotically beautiful face. Of course, she is one of the worst actresses among TVB starlets, but she could always go into modelling. Minus the over-plucked eyebrows.

Paul Chun
One word: excellent.

Natalie Wong
She bored me to tears in Hearts of Fencing, but manages to have an onscreen personality in this series. She has improved, but she is simply a young girl playing a young girl. A better actress would have taken this role and run with it. Siu Wu is a spoiled brat, immature, and kind of rebellious. She is actually a very well-written character (albeit a minor one): she is spoiled because she is the youngest girl with four older brothers who adore her. She is incredibly immature in her refusal to complete her education to respect her parents' wishes and in the way she idolizes Bik Fun and is unwilling to give any other woman a chance as her oldest brother's love. Someone like Leila Tong or a younger version of Tavia Yeung would have excelled in this role. Natalie, however, is missing that extra something, though in general she managed to convey the emotions of the spoiled, hot-tempered Siu Wu, and she's even cute in some parts. She looks chubbier in here too.

Leong Lit Wai
I didn't know this actor's name when I wrote my review on Shine On You (he played student Fun Bao) and I'm glad I know his name now. He has charisma, but is kind of a pre-version of Johnson Lee - moldable, great actor, but not an A-list/lead actor. I predict that he will become a very good supporting actor.

Anne Heung
I really like her as a person, but she can't act. End of story.

The rest range from likable (So Jee Wai who is agreeable but uncharismatic) to boring (Wong Ka Lok) to forgettable (Carlos Ng).

Worthy Scene
The single funniest scene I've watched in recent TVB is definitely found in this series. It happens between Mei Lai and Ah Sui (Bernice and Moses) at the bus stop when Nicky's mom and her friends refer to the two as "gaan fu yum fu" (translates to adulterers). It's absolutely hilarious because Mei Lai and Ah Sui hear this and begin to call each other "gaan fu" (male adulterer) and "yum fu" (mistress/female adulterer) and act like adulterers in front of Nicky's mom to irritate her. My explanation here does no justice to the scene but watch out for it because I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt! It's just the way Bernice and Moses were delivering the lines as well as the dialogue itself. Great performance by both of them.

Unworthy Characters
Plenty. Money, the second brother's girlfriend, was petty, annoying, and a gold-digger. I wish the second brother didn't have to end up with her because he deserved someone much, much better. The youngest Kei child, Chung Ming, was also a terrible character at the beginning. Though half of it was due to him being spoiled by his father, he was really immature and selfish to the point of absurdity when it came to doing things for others. His transformation at the end of the series did nearly nothing to redeem this character. Martin, Hoi Sum's ex-boyfriend, who deserves to rot in hell for the women he uses. Then there is the woman that Martin dumped Hoi Sum for, who deserved what she got when Martin left her after stealing all her money. Rachel, Hoi Sum's nemesis, is another character who was downright irritating and mean, acted to surprising comic perfection by Akina Hong who is actually known for playing nice, soft-spoken women. Topping the list is definitely Nicky's mother, who absolutely defines petty and bitchy. Horrible woman and even the worst girl in the world did not deserve her as a mother-in-law.

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
Passable. For Kenix, Bernice, Moses, and Michael fans. Others will possibly fall asleep at the mediocre plot.

Rating

Names
Leave it to TVB to come up with the most amusing names for family members ever. Do people still name their kids this way? The Kei family is a little more normal; their kids are named by personality/appearance descriptions, whereas the Lam family names are thoroughly bizarre - the parents must have been obsessed with bodies of water. Here I've translated all the names based on their literal meaning.

The Lam's
Yat Kong = "a river"
Yi Yeung = "two creeks"
Sam Hor = "three lakes"
Sei Hoi = "four oceans"
Siu Wu = "little river"

The Kei's
Kei Hoi Sum = "quite happy"
Kei Mei Lai = "quite beautiful"
Kei Chung Ming = "quite smart"

From the Grapevine
Rumours flew following this series that Bernice and Moses were romantically involved though both parties denied the allegations.

Which Star Are You From? [Kr]

2006-09-17T01:53:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

"If you can ignore the melodramatic storyline, you can probably find something to appreciate in here...somewhere."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Alternate English Titles
"What Is Your Star", "What Planet Are You From"

Korean Title
"Neon Eoneu Byeoleseo Wassni" (translates to which star do you come from)

Year
2005

No. of episodes
16

Produced by
MBC

Producer
Kim Jong Hak

Director
Pyo Min Su

Cast
Kim Rae Won as Choi Seung Hui
Jung Ryeo Won as Kim Bok Sil (born Lee Hye Rim)
Park Si Hu as Han Jeong Hun
Park Ji Yoon as Yun Mi Hyeon
Lee Bo Hee as Ahn Jin Hee (mother to Hye Rim/Hye Su)
Im Ye Jin as Kim Soon Ok (adoptive mother to Bok Sil)
Lee Young Ha as Choi Seung Il (father to Seung Hi)
Ok Ji Young as Jung Sun Jung (friend to Bok Sil)
Jung Ryeo Won as Lee Hye Su (older twin sister to Hye Rim)

Note
As Jung Ryeo Won portrays two characters (a set of twin sisters, the younger sister with two names - adoptive name Bok Sil and birth name Hye Rim, and the older sister named Hye Su), to avoid confusion I will refer to her as Bok Sil in my summary/review, unless otherwise stated.

Quick Summary
The series begins by showing how young, promising film director Seung Hui meets Hye Su, a university student majoring in music. The two fall in love, to the vehement opposition of Hye Su's wealthy family, whose mother believes that Seung Hi is too selfish and cocky. As the two young lovers prepare to face Hye Su's family, Seung Hui proposes to Hye Su while driving. Tragedy strikes when Hye Su dies instantly following the car accident that results. Traumatized and racked with guilt, Seung Hui retreats into his own little bubble, becoming rude, depressed, introverted and scared to love again...

Flash forward three years. Seung Hui is still living in depression and guilt, but decides to return to the film-making industry. He decides to visit a rural village in the outskirts of Korea to gain some inspiration for his film-making. There he meets Bok Sil, a 'country bumpkin' who bears a remarkable resemblance to Hye Su, his dead love. They spend a few days together, only to part and meet again when Bok Sil comes to Seoul to pursue her screenwriting ambition, under the mentorship of Seung Hui himself.

The two begin to grow feelings for one another, but when it is revealed that Bok Sil is actually Hye Rim, younger sister to Hye Su, Seung Hui distances himself from her. Bok Sil is hurt, especially when (in one of the memorable scenes of the series) Seung Hui says "Leave. If your sister were still alive I would be your brother-in-law". The problem exacerbates when Bok Sil's birth mother discovers that her long-lost youngest daughter is in love with the man who was responsible for her other daughter's death and is furious, forbidding the two from seeing each other. She attempts to send Bok Sil to the US to study, to no avail. When she finally realizes that the two are deeply in love and that Seung Hui has redeemed his selfish, inconsiderate ways, she gives their relationship blessings.

Evaluation of Cast and Characters
Kim Rae Won / Choi Seung Hui
It is no secret that I love this actor. At the young age of 25, he already has a resume that is impressive in the sometimes narrow-minded world of Korean entertainment. He has portrayed the innocent, pure, untouched boy (Say You Love Me), the seemingly heartless, rude and rebellious jerk with a one-track mind when it comes to love (Wuri's Family), the optomistic, friendly guy (My Love Patzzi), the first juvenile-then-mature intelligent professional (Love Story in Harvard) and the inconsiderate and immature fellow (Attic Cat). This guy has done a lot, and done it well. Here he adds yet another complex character to his acting repertoire. Seung Hui is first a rather dark character; he is egotistical, determined, but somewhat selfish without any regard for others around him. However, when his one love dies, he is plunged into depression and darkness, and most of all loneliness in the absence of family or friends. Kim did well portraying the different facets of his character, and his transition from a juvenile, ambitious, cocky fellow to a more respectful, considerate, and mature man is very convincing. There is one flaw in Kim's work here, and that is the scenes in which he professes his love to Bok Sil, and yells. I had to turn down my volume in that scene - "Bok Sil, YOU ARE THE ONE I LOVE! DON'T LEAVE!" There is nothing romantic about yelling your confession of love, especially when that person is standing two feet away. This isn't only Kim's problem, plenty of actors and actresses in Korean series screech and shout love confessions (including Jung here). Another Kim flaw? His English. Dear God, please stop giving this guy roles in which he has to speak English until he takes some lessons. At least I only had to endure one English-speaking scene in here (compared to Love Story in Harvard where I just gave up and began to read the captions). Overall a good performance but I still think he was at his best in Wuri's Family.

Jung Ryeo Won / Bok Sil, Hye Rim, Hye Su
I had never heard of this actress before watching this series but I will keep an eye out for her from now on. The brilliance in her performance lies in her ability to play two totally different characters. So convincing is her performance as the loud, 'country bumpkin' Bok Sil vs. her performance as the classy, elegant Hye Su that one forgets that the two are portrayed by only one actress! There is only one performance-as-twins work that I can think of that tops Jung's here, and that is Esther Kwan's performance as Chow Yuet and Chow Heung in TVB's The Legendary Four Aces. Jung is feminine and mature as Hye Su but it is her breathlessly hilarious performance as Bok Sil that I fell in love with. There are moments where she overacts but she is so loveable as Bok Sil that I forgave them. She also has excellent chemistry with Kim Rae Won. Granted, Kim usually has fantastic chemistry with all his female co-stars. As for Jung: great performance. This actress speaks fluent English, by the way. Watch for the scene where she is ordering at a restaurant in Australia.

Other Characters and Performances
The Wooden Performance Award goes to Park Si Hu, who is boring as good fellow Jeong Hun. Lee Bo Hee is very good as the livid mother; she is perhaps the most pitiful character of the series. Park Ji Yoon is ok as My Hyeon, and Im Ye Jin and Lee Young Ha are funny as the awkward parents to Seung Hui and Bok Sil.

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
Mediocre plot, but some seriously funny scenes and dialogue and you will fall in love with Jung's Bok Sil. If you can ignore the melodramatic storyline, you can probably find something to appreciate in here...somewhere.

Rating

Korean Life
There are some interesting aspects to Korean life and society that I've noticed through watching Korean series over the years. Rank, for example, is extremely important in Korean society and dictates much of the language and behavior of people.

1. Much of social class is dictated by age, especially in the family. Younger children in the family must address their older siblings by their relationship (for example, a girl calls her older brother oppa and her older sister unnie - Bok Sil, for example, refers to Hye Su as unnie) while older children can address their younger siblings by name. *Note: In WSAYF, Bok Sil is encouraged to address both Jeong Hun and Seung Hui as oppa - sometimes Korean girls call their boyfriends or older male friends oppa. Even when two people are lovers, these social rules apply. Bok Sil, for example, continues to call Seung Hui 'Director' (kam dong-im) even after they start dating while Seung Hui calls her by name.

2. Rank also plays a huge role in dictating behavior. Younger Koreans are expected to bow upon greeting older Koreans, especially when greeting those whose social status is higher or when respect is of the utmost importance (usually greeting in-laws or future in-laws). Seung Hui does this numerous times with Bok Sil's birth mother. Direct eye contact is also frowned upon. You will notice that Seung Hui almost never looks directly at Bok Sil's birth mother when speaking to her.

3. There are also a few different language/speech forms that indicate rank. I'm not sure how many there are exactly but I'm led to believe that there are at least three and probably four in total. One that is the most formal (the way Seung Hui speaks to Bok Sil's birth mother and grandfather), one that is informal but polite (between people who know each other and more or less the same social status/age - the way Seung Hui speaks to Jeong Hun, for example), one which is intimate (between family members) and one which is the lowest form of speech. Bok Sil is reprimanded by Seung Hui, for example, when she speaks to him in the lowest form of speech - "How dare you speak to me like that? Do you know by how many years I'm older than you?"

Hana Yori Dango [Jp]

2006-09-17T01:48:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

"Why oh why did the casting team follow in the footsteps of its Taiwanese counterpart and cast a boyband member (Matsumoto Jun) to be F4 leader in HYD? Did they learn nothing from Metor Garden? "

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Title Translation
Boys Over Flowers / Boys Before Flowers (based on a Japanese pun meaning dumplings over flowers )

Year
2005

No. of episodes
9

Theme songs
"Wish" - Arashi (opening); "Planetarium" - Otsuka Ai (interlude)

Based On
T the Japanese shoujo manga of the same title, by Yoko Kamio

Cast
Matsumoto Jun as Doumyouji Tsukasa
Inoue Mao as Makino Tsukushi
Oguri Shun as Hanazawa Rui
Matsuda Shota as Nishikado Sojiro
Abe Tsuyoshi as Mimasaka Akira
Sato Megumi as Sanjou Sakurako
Kaga Mariko as Doumyouji Kaede (mother to Tsukasa)
Matsushima Nanako as Doumyouji Tsubaki (sister to Tsukasa)
Sada Mayumi as Toudou Shizuka (first love to Rui)
Nishihara Aki as Matsuoka Yuki (friend to Makino)
Sakai Ayana as Kurimaki Ayano (fiance to Tsukasa)

Since the plotline of this series is roughly the same as the Taiwanese version of this manga, Meteor Garden, which everyone under the sun has either watched or knows about, I will concentrate on the analysis of this series. I've watched MG 4 or 5 times, so I will do this review in a kind of comparison style.

On Acting
Why oh why did the casting team follow in the footsteps of its Taiwanese counterpart and cast a boyband member (Matsumoto Jun) to be F4 leader in HYD? Did they learn nothing from MG? Obviously not. I'd never thought I'd say this, but both Jerry Yan and Vic Zhou from MG surpass Matsumoto Jun and Oguri Shun in terms of acting ability. How sad. Why? First off, both Japanese actors are physically wrong for their roles. Matsumoto Jun is thin and short and looks like Inoue could crush him with her finger if she wanted to. I remained completely unconvinced that this Doumyouji could take on the dozens of people that he beats up in the manga. And don't get me started on Oguri Shun, who is much too pretty-boy to be Rui. And why on earth would Rui have an earring and dress in super-fashionable clothes? He is not supposed to be Mr. Trendy.

In terms of acting, Matsumoto Jun is okay but Jerry Yan was better. Jerry captured both the immaturity and bullheaded-ness of his character and he is really scary at the beginning when beating people up. As for Jun, I'm sorry, but I laughed during the scenes in which he was a bully, because he did not exude even half of the intimidation that Jerry was able to. There is one aspect in which Jun is better, and it is that he has better chemistry with Inoue than Jerry did with Barbie (despite the many kissing scenes of the latter).

Then comes Oguri Shun. At first I was thinking "This guy is supposed to be Rui?!". No. So darn wrong for the role and it doesn't help that the Japanese screenwriters made him talk so much. Rui is not supposed to be a chatterbox. He is supposed to be quiet and mysterious. So in this way, the script fails Shun but... well, his performance was nothing to write home about anyway. Three words describes him: plastic pretty boy. Ok, so Vic Zhou is not even a pretty boy (don't shoot me, fans, but I think the guy's ugly!) but at least he got the 'quiet expressionless' Rui-ness down.

Matsuda Shota and Abe Tsuyoshi are just as forgettable as Ken Zhu and Vaness Wu were in MG, but better looking. As for the supporting performances, once again MG reigns supreme. Kaga Mariko does not even hold a candle to Zhen Xiu Shen as Tsukasa's mother. Yes, Mariko laughs evilly and smirks, but nowhere could she be compared to Zhen's performance, which absolutely breathed authority, coldness, and intimidation. Same goes for Matsushima Nanako and Mary Hsu as Tsukasa's sister. Nanako smiles way too much; I get that she is supposed to be nice to Makino but she is also supposed to be tomboyish and be able to push Tsukasa around. Nanako was way too ladylike to be who I imagined Tsubaki to be, especially around Tsukasa.

The one redeeming factor in the cast is Inoue Mao, who is a much more natural and consistent actress than Barbie Hsu. She does well with the role of Makino, giving her strength and tomboyishness. Too bad the rest of the cast wasn't paying as much attention as her.

Grab Bag: Miscellaneous Comments
Since HYD is so short, it is actually much more like a Japanese comic or cartoon (especially the opening credits - which I loved), whereas MG was... well, a Taiwanese series (more melodramatic, etc). Both do well portraying the elite university and its snobby students, with HYD doing better in terms of providing expensive props (Manolo Blahnik shoes, diamond watches) and MG doing better portraying the grandness of Eitoku. The storyline and its chronology are almost identical, with a few differences. In HYD, Sanjou kidnaps Makino and Doumyouji goes to save her and it is revealed that Sanjou had always loved Doumyouji and even had plastic surgery in an attempt to gain his attention. In MG, the character of Sanjou is Li Zhen, and Shan Cai (Makino) is actually kidnapped by a guy named Xiao Xun whose brother was once almost killed by Dao Ming Si (Doumyouji). HYD also features the little-shown Teen of Japan competition (which was absent in both the Taiwanese and anime remake of the manga). HYD is also closer to the manga by casting Makino's younger brother in the series (who was missing in MG). But HYD writers also put in that bit about Rui and his apples which was, to say the least, annoying and irrelevant. In general, MG has a better script with the benefit of length to flesh out plots, subplots, and characters.

So which is better? In my opinion, MG by a long shot. Maybe if HYD were longer and re-cast Doumyouji and Rui, it would be better. And if they took out the part after every episode where the cast tries to sell its DVDs or get the audience to enter in contests by having the cast speak directly to the camera. That killed any sentiment of credibility and reminded us that we were, yes, only watching TV.

Funniest Moment
When Makino visits Doumyouji's mansion for the first time and when trying to find her way out, she reaches the dining room that is as grand as the Grand Hall from the Harry Potter movies. Her eyes widen as she says in disbelief "What the heck is this - Harry Potter?".

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
Strictly for Meteor Garden fans or fans of the manga/anime for comparison purposes. Might not contain anything compelling for anyone else.

Rating

From the Grapevine
Inoue Mao and Matsushima Nanako belong to the same talent agency, Seventh Avenue. Inoue is a first-year student at Meiji University majoring in theatre and she's taking Chinese as her second language elective. Some might recognize Matsushima from the uber-scary Ringu, the Japanese TV horror series that was remade into the Hollywood movies The Ring and The Ring II.

... ing [Mov] [Kr]

2006-09-17T01:43:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

"Quietly engaging, unbelievably honest, and heartbreaking to the core, this affecting movie manages to be both funny and tragic."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

About the title
Couldn't find the Korean or Chinese title. I agree with those who believe that the odd title refers to the present continuous tense of the English language, as in "eat-ing", "liv-ing", "danc-ing", etc. and refers to living life day by day and life in its continuous nature

Year
2003

Director
Lee Eon-hee

Cast
Im Soo-jung as Kang Min-ah
Kim Rae Won as Young-jae
Lee Mi-sook as Mi-suk (Min-ah's mother)
Kim Ji-yeong
Lee Yoo-jeong

Review
Once in awhile a movie takes you by surprise. ...ing is one of those movies. Quietly engaging, unbelievably honest, and heartbreaking to the core, this affecting movie manages to be both funny and tragic.

Pretty young teen Min-ah is shy, quiet, and introverted, suffering from both a deformed hand and a terminal illness. She spent most of her childhood in the hospital, but her mother has ditched obsessive parental concern in favour of encouraging her daughter to live day by day like any normal teen by taking her out of hospital care and letting her go to school, accompany her grocery shopping, etc. In addition, her mother allows Min-ah to call her by her first name (unheard of in traditional, family-oriented Korea), virtually becoming her 'best friend' due to her daughter's lack of similarly-aged friends. This gives their relationship a heartfelt, humane aspect that becomes a pillar of the film.

Mother and daughter go about their lives until the arrival of Young-jae, an outgoing, charming, but somewhat juvenile photographer who moves into the apartment downstairs. Predictably, he falls in love with Min-ah, and after much prodding from her mother and the immature antics of Young-jae's persistence, the latter begins a quiet, sweet relationship with the young man. Min-ah's days are numbered, but the movie effortlessly showcases the everyday aspects of the two main relationships (romantic and mother-daughter) in their mundane beauty. This is what sets this movie apart from other tearjerker melodramas: there is only one very brief hospital scene, no deathbed hospital scene, no "Why didn't you tell me you had cancer?!" laments from the significant other, no emotional outbursts (until the very end, and justifiably so), just quietly affecting scenes (that range from hilarious to woeful to sentimental) that rely heavily on the three principal actors and characters.

Im Soo-jung carries the film beautifully as Min-ah, giving the film's protagonist great depth but also effectively conveying her timidness and understanding of her own plight. Lee Mi-sook is wonderful as her mother, balancing comedy and light-heartedness with drama. Kim Rae Won is equally important and surprises the audience with his sobbing scene at the end, a true 180-degree turn from the charming, sunny personality he gives Young-jae throughout most of the movie. Those of you who have read my reviews know that Kim Rae Won is my absolute favourite Korean actor. This guy knows how to choose his roles, knows his characters, and brings something different to the table every time, and this role adds to his already-versatile acting repertoire.

The most surprising thing about how good this movie is that it is Lee Eon-hee's directorial debut. She is confident enough to give her actors a lot of freedom and paces the movie extremely well, carefully balancing the funny parts with the inevitably tragic denouement. The journey is as beautiful, if not more so, than the sincerely poignant destination. A lovely movie that is highly recommended, especially for those who have damned melodramas in the past. A note to all Asian screenwriters: if you're going to use terminal illness as part of your series/movie, do it this way.

Rating

Devil Beside You [Taiwan]

2006-09-17T01:36:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

"I was really surprised as I expected another young-girl-playing-young girl (read: boring, annoying and horrible) performance, such as those by TVB Shirley Yeung and the like. Rainie is actually wonderful to watch."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Chinese Title
"Er Mo Zai Shen Bian"/"Ngok Mor Joi Sun Bin" (Mandarin/Cantonese; translates to devil by one's side)

No. of episodes
14

Year
2005

Based On
The Japanese manga "Akuma de Sourou" (translates to Devil Does Exist) by Takanashi Mitsuba
Theme Songs
1. Opening: "Chou Nan Ren" (Jerk/Bad Man) - Huang Yida

2. Closing: "Ai Mei" (Ambiguous) - Rainie Yang *also an interlude

3. Interludes: "Li Xiang Qing Ren" (Ideal Lover) - Rainie Yang, "Yi Miao de An Wei" (A Moment's Consolation) - Huang Yida, "Set Me Free" - Huang Yida

Cast
Rainie Yang Chen Ling as Qi Yue
Mike He Jun Xiang as Jiang Meng (Ah Meng)
Kingone Wang Chuanyi as Yuan Yi
Tsai Pei Lin as Qing Zhi
Ivy Fan Xiao as Li Xiang
Masuyama Yuki as Yang Ping
He Du Lin as Jiang You Hui (father to Ah Meng)
Ge Wei Ru as Huang Xue Wei (mother to Qi Yue)
Wu Zhong Tian as Ah Shen
Tang Qi as Grandma Jiang
Katherine Wang Kai Di as Mei Di

Plotline
The series begins with second-year university student Qi Yue finally accumulating the courage to confess her crush on Yuan Yi, the captain of the school's basketball team. Unfortunately, her efforts backfire when she accidentally hands her confession letter to Ah Meng, a first-year student who is the son of the school's president. Ah Meng, who has secretly had feelings for Qi Yue for some time, uses this to his advantage to blackmail Qi Yue into becoming his slave. Terrified of Ah Meng's reputation as a bully and of the possibility of her secret crush being revealed, Qi Yue agrees. As they get to know each other, however, Ah Meng and Qi Yue become involved in a relationship, though it is far away from smooth sailing. The real nail in the coffin arises from the fact that Ah Meng's father is set to marry Qi Yue's mother i.e. our perfect little couple has found itself in the taboo situation of becoming step-siblings.

They are supported by friends who are privy to their little secret but the appearance of Ah Meng’s grandmother (who sees right through the young couple) and the upcoming wedding of the parents forces Qi Yue and Ah Meng to come clean.

Review
Many have compared this series to the hypnotically popular Meteor Garden, which is also based on a Japanese manga and has the familiar archetype of good-poor girl/bad-rich boy. However, I'd argue that there are some important differences between the two series. First, though both series are adapted from Japanese manga, the overall feel of Devil Beside You resembles that of a comic book much more than that of Meteor Garden. It is fast-paced, the opening credits and a few scenes are animation-heavy, and some of the acting is almost cartoonish.

As well, though both series exploit the good girl/bad boy coupling, if one looks more carefully, the characterization is actually very different. Shan Cai is the good girl from MG; she loves her friends and family but she is very undecisive when it comes to love, though when she finally decides on who she wants, she is determined to make it work. She has a strong personality, and is sometimes even annoyingly bull-headed. Qi Yue from DBY, is also strong (probably more so in her own subdued way) but at the same time she is a sweet soul. She has a heart of gold, loves her friends and especially her mother. She is fundamentally different from Shan Cai in that she knows from the beginning (and more importantly, is willing to admit) that she loves Ah Meng after acknowledging that her crush on Yuan Yi was simply infatuation. In this sense I find Qi Yue a more level-headed, believable character, as I found it really annoying that Shan Cai couldn't decide on whether she wanted Lei or Dao Ming Si until almost the end of the series.

Speaking of Dao Ming Si, he may seem identical to Ah Meng on the surface but in reality they couldn't be more different. They both play basketball, both are idolized by the girls in their schools, and both have a tough guy exterior, but the similarities stop there. Whereas Dao Ming Si is immature beyond belief, Ah Meng has a kind of wisdom and maturity that goes far beyond his young 19 years. Yuan Yi mentions this in the series, and this is due to Ah Meng's painful past of being neglected as a child. One could say that Dao Ming Si and Ah Meng have similar backgrounds, but both have dealt with their past in extremely different ways. Ah Meng has adopted a determined, devil-may-care (no pun intended) attitude but he evidently cares very much for his family, friends, and especially Qi Yue. Dao Ming Si, on the other hand, has become a selfish jerk who only learns how to really love Shan Cai after some time, while his friendships really aren't that compelling. Ah Meng is also much more willing to both confront and admit his emotions.

Another important difference? Qi Yue and Ah Meng sleep together at the end of the series (finally, something realistic – teen sex!), where Dao Ming Si was constantly mocked by F4 for how he was destined to remain a virgin due to Shan Cai’s views on sex (i.e. sex after marriage).

Though DBY is shorter than MG and also plays more like a comic book, the actual content of DBY is actually more intriguing, especially when one considers the relationships. Whereas MG only had two relationships that were actually interesting (mainly the Dao Ming Si-Shan Cai pairing and the relationship between Dao Ming Si and his mother and sister), DBY boasts some very compelling relationships (besides the Qi Yue - Ah Meng relationship) that could have been explored more.

1. Qi Yue and her mother: They are friends first and mother and daughter second, which makes their interaction both heartfelt and funny.

2. Ah Meng and Ah Rang: The two brothers with a troubling relationship that is mended at the end. Ah Rang does everything to try to destroy Ah Meng, but in reality he just wanted his older brother's attention, whereas Ah Meng has always been deeply envious of Ah Rang for his mother's apparent favouritism, and in the end, they each learned where the other one was coming from.

3. Qi Yue and Li Xiang: Although there is a petty the-boy-is-mine hatred between the two, there is also a kind of grudging respect, especially on behalf of Li Xiang. Li Xiang sums up her feelings about Qi Yue in a very honest scene with Yang Ping. She says "I've always thought that nice, innocent, caring people like Qi Yue were the dumbest people in the world...When she yelled at me, I thought, how could someone who barely knew me so honestly care about me? When I look at her, I suddenly feel so ugly. I'm not angry at her because Ah Meng is attracted to her innocence and friendliness, I'm angry at how she can so honestly face others and herself. On the surface, I just hate her, but in reality I envy her..."

4. Qing Zhi and Yuan Yi: A very realistic portrayal of teen/young adult relationships. The character of Qing Zhi is especially reflective of how girls behave and think in relationships, for example when she forces Yuan Yi to choose between her and his love for basketball.

5. Ah Meng and Yuan Yi: From fighting over the same girl to building a friendship from being teammates, they understand each other in a very subtle way, and also get along though they bicker often. I felt this relationship wasn't explored enough. .

On Acting
Mike He/Ah Meng
I'm probably the only girl who doesn't think Mike He is handsome. In this series he has too much hair, whether it was styled as an 'updo' or just hung down. Half the time I couldn't even see his face. Anyways, his acting was really shaky at first - sometimes he was expressionless, and sometimes he overacted. I didn't like him at all at the beginning. His smug 'devil' look was too over-the-top and exaggerated, but gradually he improved and grew into the role of Ah Meng and gave it a certain kind of intensity and emotional angst. He has phenomenal chemistry with Rainie Yang and they make a very believable, bickering, but sweet couple.

Rainie Yang/Qi Yue
I was really surprised as I expected another young-girl-playing-young girl (read: boring, annoying and horrible) performance, such as those by TVB's Shirley Yeung and the like. Rainie is actually wonderful to watch. Physically she is perfect for the role: cute, pretty, and tiny and thin as a ragdoll. At the beginning she's just cute and funny (with her cartoonish expressions), but as the series moves along there is a certain depth, consistency, and even honesty in her performance as the compassionate and genuine Qi Yue. I love her performance in here as she managed to bring out the maturity and selflessness of her character very well. She definitely has potential as an actress in terms of acting ability, though her appearance will probably prove to be a barrier since she is much too girlish to take on a more mature or sexy role.

Other Characters
Tsang Pei Lin gave a very good performance, giving Qing Zhi extra spice and oomph, though her voice gets pretty irritating after awhile. Wuang Chuanyi is really, really ugly and gives an average performance as decent fellow Yuan Yi. Ivy Fan was very good too as Li Xiang, her best scene is the one when she confesses her true feelings in the scene mentioned above with Yang Ping. Speaking of Yang Ping, I had no idea that the actor was Japanese, maybe he was raised in Taiwan? Anyway, he was incredibly likable as well. Other notable performances go to Tang Qi (who played Yu Sao in MG), whose role is small but the impact is definitely there; and Wu Zhong Tian who was dreamily gentlemanly as Ah Shen. He Du Lin and Ge Wei Ru are funny but get cartoonish sometimes as the lovey-dovey parents.

Music
Like Korean dramas and Meteor Garden, the background music for this series is excellent and appropriate. Special mention to the closing theme and interlude "Ai Mei" (Ambigious), sung with much girly emotion from Rainie, who manages to sound sweet but strong, kind of like Vicki Zhao actually. And the lyrics are perfect for the relationship between Qi Yue and Ah Meng.

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
As I mentioned, many interesting facets could have been explored more, but as a short, comic-based series it does the job and even exceeds some expectations. A must-watch for Meteor Garden fans, and also recommended for others who need an entertaining quick-fix.

Rating

From the Grapevine
Rainie Yang is most known for her membership in the now-disbanded Taiwanese girl group 4 in Love. Her original English name was Lily until she joined the group, whose manager named the four girls Rainie, Cloudie, Sunnie and Windie. She is the only 4 in Love member still involved in the entertainment business, and has been romantically linked to Hong Kong teen singer-actor Shawn Yue (with whom she denies any romantic involvement, past or present). She has said that Mike He is the best kisser out of all her male co-stars, although they have never dated but are good friends.

CIB Files [TVB]

2006-09-17T01:30:00.000+08:00

Written by Joanne Lee

"I thought this series was unique. Not so much on the storyline, but the way that it was presented."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Cantonese Name
Ying See Ching Bo Fo

Number of Episodes
20

Released In
2006

Cast
Bowie Lam Bo Yee – Tony (Chung Shun)
Wong He – Mark (Chung Jing)
Maggie Shiu Mei Kei – Samantha (Hui Sum Yin)
Christine Ng Wing Mei – Emily (Ching Mei Lai)
Supporting Cast
Wai Ka Hung – Daniel (Kwok Ming Wah)
Kenny Wong Dak Bun – William (Hung Hou Cheung)
Chan Hung Lit – Albert (Chung Gam Yuen)
Catherine Chow Ka Yi – May (Ching Mei Mei)
Rachel Kan Muk Wah - Joey
Joey Chan Jou Yee – Michael Chung
Joe Junior – Mo Sir
Yue Yeung – Jim (Jim Yan Keung)
Queenie Chu Wai Man – Rachel Yu

Summary
I'll use actor/actress names to avoid confusion) – (may contain spoilers)

Bowie and Wong He are brothers who are both policemen. At the start of the series, Bowie is already working in the CIB (Criminal Intelligence Bureau). Wong He has just finished his undercover assignment and is transferred over to work in CIB. Bowie is married to Christine, and they have a teenage son, Joey.

Christine works at a magazine company, along with her sister Catherine Chow. Maggie has just changed jobs, along with her assistants Rachel Kan and Ken, and they start to work at the same company as Christine. Both Maggie and Christine pretend to get along at the start, but in actual fact they are constantly trying to undermine each other.

In the first few episodes, you discover that Maggie's mum has alzheimers/dementia, but throughout the series, you also see that there are two other women who she calls 'mum'. Catherine discovers the real reason and spreads it through the company. This increases the warring between Christine and Maggie, and they stop pretending to get along at all.

Bowie and Wong He's father, Chan Hung Lit, returns to Hong Kong and we find that his sons do not have a good relationship with him. He feigns illness, and Wong He takes him in.

There are also many minor storylines evolving around the supporting cast, and there are also many more supporting cast members than what I've listed above – as well as numerous recurring characters (like the OCTB). The co-workers at the CIB headquarters have large roles, as well as the boss of the magazine company and his wife (played by Bel Lau Hiu Tung).

There are various CIB cases throughout the series, not many of them lasting more than an episode. Despite the series being called 'CIB Files', the main focus of the series seems to be the relationships and communication of the characters, as opposed to the police cases.

Evaluation of leading characters and performances
Tony (Chung Shun)
Tony is happily married to Emily, and they live in a nice apartment with their son Michael. He is relatively high ranked in his department, and it seems as if he has it all set out for him in terms of his career and family. He doesn't get along with his father because he blames his father for leaving his mother (and the family) when he was younger. His work at CIB clashes with Emily's work at the magazine, because his police cases are supposed to be very much confidential. For the years that they have been married, Emily knows to step out of the room when Tony is talking about his cases, or else he will leave the room. This system seems to work for them, but it may also have affected their communication – resulting in problems further down the track.

Bowie Lam as Tony
Bowie wasn't bad as Tony, but he wasn't fantastic in any way either. I don't think it was Bowie's fault, because the character is hardly very in-depth for any kind of breakthrough performance. It's similar to many of his previous roles – an amicable professional, who has underlying communication issues with those around him. His rapport with the other actors and actresses was pretty good though, especially considering his character came into contact with so many others.

Mark (Chung Jing)
Mark has worked undercover for a couple of years, and when the series starts, he goes to testify in court – but not before you see him leaving the house…ironing his tie, making sure the taps are off, windows are shut, lights are off, stove is off, etc. He is an extremely cautious individual, but towards the end of the series, you stop noticing it – either because they stopped emphasizing it or because you get used to it (I thought it was the former). He is stubborn and professional, but a tiny bit naïve at the same time. He starts off with a girlfriend, but he only started going out with her because he wanted his undercover to seem truly believable. He starts a relationship with Bonnie, but she actually has several guys who she has stringing along.

Wong He as Mark
I'll start by saying I never liked Wong He. I have seen several of his older series, and I've since tried to avoid his series altogether. The fact that he was in this series almost made me not watch it, but the rest of the cast and the story encouraged me to. I can't say that I really really like him after this, but he has certainly risen in my impression of him. He suited the character fantastically, and he added so many subtle expressions and motions that made his character just that little bit more special and in-depth. He had the advantage of playing a really nice character, but either way, he did a great job. He managed to make you see, but overlook all of Mark's annoying traits by covering it with his good ones.

Samantha (Hui Sum Yin)
Samantha is a headstrong and smart. She has had a string of failed relationships, for one reason or another, and made a decision to concentrate on being a strong professional female. She treats her three mothers very well, and has a great heart – but is wary of others to begin with, and quite suspicious as well. When it comes to people who she truly cares about, she is unwavering in her loyalty to them, but sometimes she jumps to conclusions about people without hearing them out.

Maggie Shiu as Samantha
Maggie has often played headstrong characters but they're usually more 'cool' than Samantha. Maggie perhaps overdid some of the fake nice-ness in the early parts of the series, but that was probably the point. Anyway, she was fabulous as it went on. She delivered her lines naturally and really made the character of Samantha into a three-dimensional person. She was suitably cool and direct if she needed to be, but also very deep and thoughtful in other situations. Despite some comments about her new hairstyle, I thought it was very cute and fashionable.

Emily (Ching Mei Lai)
Emily was always a smart, career orientated woman. She put down her career to raise Michael, and only resumed working after Michael was going to school and relatively grown up. She always wanted to be what she thought was the perfect housewife – the ones who would have dinner on the table for her family when they arrived home. However, because of her high position in her job, she never had time to cook – therefore she would buy take-out and put it in dishes, pretending that she had cooked it. She is quite stubborn as well as suspicious and towards the end of the series, it really shows…but at the very end, she redeems herself.

Christine Ng as Emily
I didn't like the character of Emily towards the middle-end, and Christine did a really good job to make me so passionate in my dislike. The superficial niceness at the beginning was perfect, she captured it so well. It's nice to see her playing a smart character too, instead of the ditzy characters that she seems to have been playing a bit of lately.

Evaluation of the supporting characters and performances
Wai Ka Hung – Daniel (Kwok Ming Wah)
I'll start by saying I saw him in the opening credits, and already disliked him. I remember the actor from Healing Hands III and the character was so irritating that it put me off the actor completely. He is equally as annoying in CIB, but as the series went on, you realize that it just wouldn't be the same without him. He added a bit of a comical element, and as annoying as it was, you had to laugh.

Kenny Wong Dak Bun – William (Hung Hou Cheung)
It was a relatively small role. He didn't really seem necessary at all, and it was such a small character that there wasn't much characterization. You saw that he was trying to get promoted by doing all the wrong things, and his superior disliked him for a pointless reason which you discover in the last episode. Nothing wrong with Kenny, just the character was a little pointless. And he's also called William Hung, which is no doubt a send-up of a certain other William Hung.

Chan Hung Lit – Albert (Chung Gam Yuen)
A role that's different from most others that I've seen him in. More flirtatious, more fun-loving, but I must admit that sometimes I still struggle to understand what he's saying if I don't look at the subtitles. He wasn't bad, and he had good chemistry with the other characters.

Catherine Chow Ka Yi – May (Ching Mei Mei)
Catherine Chow was good. She really made me dislike May. May is Emily's sister, and constantly tries to do little things to mess around with Samantha. She strays from doing horrible pranks on a professional level, to personal attacks. She doesn't really get any better in the end, but she cools down a little and has her redeeming moments.

Rachel Kan Muk Wah – Joey
Joey is Samantha's faithful assistant, and is similar to May in that purpose. She isn't quite as scheming as May is, except for the one time when she framed May for putting a virus on the computer network – but at that stage, I hated May so much that I figured it was her come-uppance. Rachel looks quite pretty in this series, and Joey does a good job in providing Samantha with a confidante of sorts.

Joey Chan Jou Yee – Michael Chung
He really impressed me as a teenage actor. He delivered his lines quite naturally, and had great chemistry with the actors/actresses who he had scenes with. The character of Michael was quite nice; he is overall a good boy. And the young actor really was great.

Joe Junior – Mo Sir
Not too much to say other than his hair. His comb-over to be exact. It really stood out. Apparently it's a send-up of a real high ranked policeman, which is great, because I'd hate to think that they did that to Joe Junior's hair because they thought it looked good.

Queenie Chu Wai Man – Rachel Yu
For her first series, she wasn't bad. Quite unnatural when saying her lines, but at least she did have a little expression. She definitely has room for improvement, but for a first series, I thought it was acceptable. The character seemed naïve and young, and I don't think it really suited Queenie – she looks a little older and a little classier.

Chemistry
Tony and Mark (Bowie and Wong He)
Physically, they really do look like brothers. And their chemistry was good too – you really did believe that they had known each other for years and years, and were family and familiar. Tony and Mark have similar personalities, whilst being different enough to lead the different lives that they ended up with.

Tony and Emily (Bowie and Christine)
They sometimes look like they're really comfortable with each other, and at times they look like they're being terribly superficial. However, that was the point of the characters – they had a communication problem. I thought Bowie and Christine had much more chemistry in this than they did in Misleading Track, but it's hard to create any sparks when you're playing a long-married couple.

Mark and Samantha (Wong He and Maggie)
There was SO much chemistry here. Maggie and Wong He aren't two people who I would have picked as a suitable couple, but once you saw them together on screen, it just worked so well. They really created sparks, and they seemed so comfortable with each other the whole time. As friends, they were nice and chatty, when Samantha was angry at him, it was hilarious, and as a couple, they were just so cute. This is the second time that they've co-operated, and I really wouldn't mind at all if they went for a third.

Samantha and Emily (Maggie and Christine)
Emily and Samantha are similar in many ways. The both of them are smart, suspicious, and cautious. They often predict the moves and motives of the other, and are both just as direct and cold, or suitably fake when needed. They worked really well together when they were feuding, and seemed natural enough when they were almost friends. I suppose it seemed very rushed that they were fighting and then suddenly seemed close, but it didn't seem too out of place – women are fickle, and if the both of them have good hearts, usually you can learn to be civil. And if there are common interests, which there are in this case, then a friendship isn't out of the question.

Overall
I thought this series was unique. Not so much on the storyline, but the way that it was presented. The first episode was a little confusing because it kept skipping around locations and times, but it reveals things part by part and by the end of the episode, you understand what just happened and you've also found out most of the character's relationships.

There are many inside jokes in this as well – the comb-over of Joe Junior, the fact that Kenny's character is 'William Hung', an imitation PTU scene, two imitation Infernal Affairs scenes, the fact that OCTB were terribly intense, and more. It does seem a little lame, but it makes you laugh, even if only for a second or two.

I also like how the previews are always misleading – you watch it and think that you've been completely spoilt because you know what's going to happen, but then when you watch the episode, you find out that it's not like that at all. The series in general is quite misleading, they try to make you think that somebody did something or that something will happen, and then you find that it was all wrong. I think this would have something to do with Chik Kei Yi and his atypical filming styles – although the ending was a little typical. The very ending was nice, but unexciting.

I definitely recommend it, but probably only if you're watching it in Cantonese – it is rather colloquial. I really enjoyed it, and it is a modern series so you feel like you can relate to. I wanted to give it 5/5, but I can't say it was perfect, but it was close. And the clothes and accessories worn by the ladies were just gorgeous.

Rating

La Femme Desperado [TVB]

2006-09-17T01:24:00.000+08:00

Written by Black Eyed Susan

"Although it is a light-hearted series, there is a deeper meaning behind it. It will make you reflect on your own life and not only the women, but the men as well."

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Chinese Title (Cantonese)
Nui Yan Mm Yee Tsow aka It’s Hard Being a Woman

Released in
2006

Cast
Sheren Tang – Hoi Kiu aka Hilda
Melissa Ng – Ko Chi Ling aka Ko Ling
Michael Tse – Man King Loong aka ah Man
Raymond Lam – Chai Fun aka Siu Chai
Kenneth Ma – Ko Chi Lik aka ah Lik
Kate Tsui – Hoi Suen aka Ida
Leung Ka Yan – Ko Wing Tim aka Tim Sok
Cindy Au – Kong Ching Ching aka Crystal
Jacqueline Law – Huen Bo Ting aka Venus
Savio Tsang – Ma Sai Hing aka Pluto
Lee Ka Sing – Ko Chi Lan
Nathalie Wong – Kwan Ka Jung
Mary Hon – Tong Lai Chu aka Chu Jie
Ching Ho Wai – Lau Wai Sin

Summary
It isn’t easy being a woman in modern society. Some women live for their career, other for their family. In the end, they all want to combine both in their life. Let’s introduce Ko Chi Ling. She is a woman who grew up in a traditional, chauvinistic and patriarchal family. Since she was little, she has been taught to never disobey her father (or her husband), that a woman’s place in the family is lower than that of a man and that every woman should find herself a safe haven. However, when Ko Ling discovered that her haven wasn’t really that idyllic and her husband was cheating on her, she summoned all her courage and stood up against a man for the first time. In the meantime, enter Hilda. She is totally the opposite of Ko Ling. An independent, strong and successful career woman as well as Ko Ling’s new boss. Despite their contrasting personalities, they became close friends and even ‘sister’. Ko Ling is the only person who knows that under the hard business woman image, Hilda is actually longing for her own family. More specifically, she wants to have her own child without having to deal with the father as she has lost faith in all men. Soon Ko Ling is pursued by Siu Chan, who is 7 years her junior, her subordinate as well as her former tutoring pupil. And after a one-night-stand with Ko Ling’s ex-husband, Hilda got pregnant. Can Ko Ling accept a toyboy and work out the many problems that such an age difference brings? Will Hilda ever tell ah Man that he is actually the father and involve him in his daughter’s life?

Performances
Sheren Tang
Throughout the entire series Sheren gave a very strong performance. She was solid and consistent. I don’t think I have detected a weak spot in her acting. Her feelings were conveyed very realistically and at the right time. One of the few actresses who knows how to use her eyes to subtly express her emotions. She really nailed down this portrayal of a modern and independent woman who lives for her career. This character reminds me of ‘Yu Fei’ in “War and Beauty”.

Melissa Ng
Melissa’s portrayals have always been consistent. Her character resembles closely to Yung Ka Man in “Fantasy Hotel”. I actually had a feeling of déjà-vu. Even though it is a similar character, you can’t deny that she did deliver a good performance. I especially like her in emotional scenes where she manages to convey the right emotions. There’s nothing more to add, but I am still waiting for her breakthrough role.

Michael Tse
His portrayal of Man King Loong was on par with that of Sheren Tang’s Hilda. Only the fact that everyone hated his character at the beginning, yet loved him by the end of the series shows how realistic and true his performance was. His facial expressions range from tenderness when he is holding Hayley to shrewdness like in the beginning. He really stood out and grabbed my attention. Great performance!

Raymond Lam
What a difference with Fung Hang Lit in “Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion”! His current character is totally the opposite from the mature, calm and intelligent Fung Hang Lit. He knows how to use his facial expressions to bring out Chai Fun’s immaturity and impatience. Examples are widening the eyes, a bright childish smile, but at times also a quite exaggerated display of enthusiasm and excitement. Raymond has shown with this character that he is more than able to handle various roles.

Kenneth Ma
I was actually quite surprised that they have cast Kenneth in the role of the chauvinistic ah Lik. Her certainly doesn’t look like one, but he pulled it off nicely. Although he is still a bit stiff in some scenes, his voice does lack some authority and his face is often pulled in a big frown, but he does exude some chauvinism through his positioning and big gestures-attitude. His performance was OK, but like I have said before I don’t think he is leading material.

Kate Tsui
It was rather a pleasant surprise to discover that her performance wasn’t too bad as I believe this is her first series. There is something natural about her, although her facial expressions seems to be lacking. She tends to crumple her face a lot in emotional scenes without conveying a particular emotion. She also often talks in a shouting manner as well as regularly overacts her feelings. However, her overall performance is tolerable and I am looking forward to her future roles.

My favourite scenes
• Hilda wanted to test Chai Fun to see if he was really the perfect guy to conceive a baby with. As they know, he was very loyal to the girl of his dreams, so Hilda ordered Ko Ling to seduce Chai Fun and thus test his loyalty. Ko Ling was extremely nice and flirty to Chai Fun, she even wore a sexy dress to seduce him. However, both women didn’t know that Chai Fun’s dream girl was actually Ko Ling, so he was really trying his best to resist her which lead to quite some funny scenes.

• When ah Man found out that Hilda was pregnant, he offered her to be the ‘father’ of her unborn child. He continued to tell Hilda how he has became the man he was now and why he longed to have his own child. Very touching and emotional scene with a great performance from Michael Tse.

• After Hilda quit her job, she took her belongings and left the building. On her way out, she saw ah Man and Ko Ling having an argument. There she discovered that it was actually Ko Ling who has betrayed her. Her facial expression was priceless as ah Man told her almost triumphantly that it really wasn’t him who has betrayed him. He then said: “It is even more horrifying when good people do bad things compared to bad people.” This quote really depicts reality.

• When ah Man and Hilda found out that ah Lik had a crush on Hilda’s sister, Ida, ah Lik told them that he didn’t know how he should pursue her. Hilda and ah Man showed ah Lik how he should act when he goes out with a girl to a restaurant. The contrast between how ah Lik behaved and how Hilda and ah Man did, was just so funny. And I was thinking by myself how come I never have had such a date the way ah Man and Hilda showed it.

Comments
• I have always been quit wary about relationships between older women and younger men. Knowing that this series will have such a relationship initially turned me off. However, curiosity and Raymond Lam convinced me to give this series a chance. Although it hasn’t changed my opinion about these kind of relationships, but I have enjoyed this series a lot. Besides Melissa Ng and Raymond Lam pulled it off really well as the chemistry between them was really sweet.

• Frankly, from the three female characters I disliked Ko Ling the most as the series progressed. I wouldn’t like to have a friend like her. The reasons for betraying Hilda were only mere excuses, especially when she claims that they are ‘sisters’. I know that gullibleness is part of someone’s personality and you can’t really change that, but she should have had more faith and trust in her ‘sister’.

• This is one of the rare series where the TVB scriptwriters did their best to create three-dimensional characters. Every character is flawed and like in reality, their personality will undergo changes in reaction of certain events that will occur in their lives. For example, Chai Fun was a carefree person in the beginning, but since his marriage he felt pressure for the first time. Or Hilda, who is a straightforward and cunning career woman, but mellowed down considerably by motherhood. Very real and true to the life that we all know.

• I thought the second version of the ending was a bit unnecessary. Is it really that important for Ko Ling and Chai Fun to get married again? Does ah Man really need to know that Hayley is in fact his real daughter? In my eyes, life can be even more blissful when one is a bit ignorant. The fact that in the second version Ko Ling and Chai Fun are getting married again gives me the impression of too perfect and too happy. It gives me the feeling that all women crave for marriage. Seems to be a bit too traditional for my liking.

The verdict
With a quite refreshing and good flowing plot as well as a great cast, I can’t not recommend this series. Although it’s a light-hearted series, there is a deeper meaning behind it. It will make you reflect on your own life and not only the women, but the men as well.

Rating

The Guy Was Cool [Mov] [Kr]

2006-06-24T02:10:00.000+08:00

Written by Bridget Au

"Song Seung Heon is basically unrecognizable here. From Endless Love fame, here he manages the impossible: convince the audience that he is a high-school student"

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Korean Title
"Geunomeun Meoshitseotda" (translates to the guy was cool)

Alternate English Titles
"He Was Cool", "The Guy was Gorgeous"

Chinese Titles
"Na Siu Jee Jun Si"/"Na Xiao Zhi Zhen Shuai" (Cantonese/Mandarin, translates to that guy is so good-looking), "Cool Lam Kwa Lui"/"Cool Nan Gwa Nu" (Cantonese/Mandarin, translates to the cool guy and the lonely girl; a play on the title of the popular Hong Kong movie Needing You, starring Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng, whose Chinese title is "Ku Lam Kwa Lui", which translates to the lonely guy and girl)

Year
2004

Genre
Romantic comedy

Director
Yi Hwan-kyung

Producer
Gwak Jeong-Hwan

Based on
Internet novel by Lee Yoon-sei

Cast
Song Seung Heon as Ji Eun Song
Jung Da Bin as Han Ye-Won
Lee Ki-Woo as Kim Han Sung
Kim Ji-Hye as Kim Hyo Bin

Plotline
The story revolves around two typical romantic comedy leads: our heroine, the poor, petite, plain, clumsy, but warm-hearted Ye-Won, and our hero, the rich, tall, good-looking, rude, and demanding Eun Song. Both are high school students (attending different schools) with very different lifestyles. Ye-Won is constantly teased for her lackluster looks while Eun Song is idolized by younger girls for his good looks and 'cool' demeanor. Their paths cross when Ye-Won accidentally kisses Eun Song. The latter, horrified, demands that Ye-Won claim responsibility for his first kiss and forces her to become his girlfriend.

Through numerous events, the two end up falling for each other (duh), but their road to happiness is rocky, as Eun Song has a traumatic story and past. His father died of AIDS and he is possibly infected as well. His mother, unable to deal with the grief, moved to the United States, leaving Eun Song alone with his less-than-friendly aunt and uncle. As a child, he was endlessly teased and rejected due to his father's and his own possible illness, and has grown up to become rebellious and rude, although in reality he longs for love and companionship. In addition, he is still furious with his ex-best friend Han Sung, with whom he used to be very close until the accidental death of their other best friend Han Bin. Eun Song blames Han Sung for Han Bin's death, although the former keeps trying to make amends and repair their friendship. The rift in their friendship is further exacerbated by the fact that Han Sung is Hyo Bin's older brother (who adores and used to date Eun Song until the arrival of Ye-Won) and that Han Sung is in love with... yep, Ye-Won.

The whole thing comes to blows in classic Asian TV style, where Eun Song leaves for America for a year to visit his mom and returns and gets back together with Ye-Won. Cue happy ending.

Review
First of all, why can't Korean series and movies stick with one title and one title only?! I run Google searches and constantly find Korean series and movies under 3, 4, even 5 English and Chinese titles. It's confusing and unnecessary. Anyways, back to the review.

The Koreans have a way of transforming unoriginal, traditional, done-to-death plots and characters into entertaining experiences. And nothing (that I've seen at least) has turned out to be a complete disaster. So what is the secret? My explanation would be this. The Koreans enjoy a pool of acting talent. Many of the popular actors in Korea come from film school, or at the very least, do not cross over from singing careers (with a few minor exceptions) or beauty pageants. This is where TVB fails miserably, as it insists on promoting horrific actresses for the sole reason that they've won or runnered-up Miss Hong Kong. How great TVB would be if Winnie Yeung, Halina Tam, Anne Heung, Sonija Kwok, Shirley Yeung, etc. did not exist. Anyways, that's on a tangent.

I'm not saying that all Korean actors can act well. What I am saying is that they are good character actors. Meaning they're mostly far away from the calibre of TVB's Paul Chun or the like, but they are good actors in the sense that they really know how to embody the personality of their characters. For example, minor body gestures, facial expressions, little mannerisms in how they walk... they give their characters life and make them believable. This is especially the case for Korean romantic comedies. Again, there are exceptions, but this is the closest explanation I have about how Korean actors have made Korean series/movies popular. As well, Koreans generally do very well in terms of casting. Meaning, they usually cast good actors that 'match' the characters they are playing. You really can't imagine anyone else except the casting director's choices to play the characters. This is not the case for TVB, which has made many a horrific casting choice.

Secondly, some may talk about the unoriginality and lameness of Korean plots and characters. But there is a reason these plots and characters are done to death... and that's because of the demand. People still fall in love with these stories, with these characters because they have some kind of "draw-in" factor about them. And Korean series/movies have managed to put their own little twist on these stories - the heartwrenching music, faces with a lot of character, familiar character archetypes (good girl/bad boy, poor girl/rich boy, etc.), shtick humour - these all contribute to a kind of heart-on-sleeve character of Korean entertainment. There's a lot of heart and humanity in Korean entertainment, and I think that also explains why Korean series/movies are so popular compared to TVB or ATV or China series.

Back to the review of this actual movie. The two leads are two well-known Korean actors and evidence of my argument that Koreans are generally good character actors. Song Seung Heon is basically unrecognizable here. From Endless Love fame (I hated the series but I liked him in it), here he manages the impossible: convince the audience that he is a high-school student. He does very well in the dramatic scenes, but surprisingly is also an effective comic lead. His facial expressions are hilarious, yet he also conveys the rebellious nature of his character very well. Wonderful performance. And he is truly gorgeous in this movie, albeit a little thin. A good-looking, supercool, high school bad boy - yep, I'd fall in love with him. If I was still 16, that is.

Jung Da Bin entered the Korean entertainment business with her debut in the super-popular series Attic Cat, and to me stands out in the crowd of flawless-skin, flawless-hair, flawless-everything Korean actresses. Why? Because she's ugly. I don't mean to be cruel but she's just ugly. And in here they dress her like a granny. But despite her lack of good looks, she gives her characters a kind of extra zest. I said this in my review of Attic Cat - she's not the best dramatic actress (she tends to overact), but she has a kind of odd, impish charm that makes her performances genuine. And because of her less-than-perfect looks, she is a heroine we can root for because she's not flawless like other Korean actresses (who of course have gone through 20 surgeries to look that way, but whatever) - she is thus believable, and more importantly, just like us. She does well here, and has improved since Attic Cat, where she screeched too much. Here she is more quiet but still loveable and funny. I was cracking up during the scene where she's running away from Eun Song with paper in her hair - the expression on her face was hilarious. She is a terrific comedic lead.
What is really strange is that both Jung Da Bin and Song Seung Heon are great choices for their respective characters, and yet they are the last two Korean actors I'd imagine as an onscreen couple. It's somehow so wrong that it works in a right way. And they do have chemistry. Weird.

Kim Ji-Hye is downright creepy, and she's not supposed to be. She's supposed to be the mandatory gorgeous, perfect, b_tchy girlfriend-in-status-only and yet....she reminds me of Gogo from Kill Bill and I'm terrified everytime she appears because I suddenly think that this romantic comedy will. turn into one of those Japanese horror movies. It does not help that her hair is super long, super straight, and framed by cut-straight-across bangs. She belongs in a horror movie, not a romantic comedy. With that said, her performance is only mediocre as I can't see through her creepy appearance, although she nailed the many glares she throws towards Ye-Won.

Who was the actress who played Hyo Bin's friend? She was really good.

The actor who played Han Sung was pretty good as well.

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
A very entertaining movie, recommended. Just ignore the really fake CGI they use for the dream/fantasy sequences. A definite must-watch for Song Seung Heon fans.

Rating