TVB series ‘Brutally Young’ is a surprising hit and it deserves all the praises.

We are now entering into 6th weekend of the circuit breaker. There was only 1 local Covid-19 case here in Singapore yesterday but there were still over 700 cases among foreign workers living in dormitories. With this statistic, it looks like the circuit breaker will most probably ends on June 1st without any more extension (I certainly hope so!) but there would still be many restrictions in place. The number of cases among foreign workers daily are still very high due to the extensive testing and this number isn’t expected to go much lower any time soon since Singapore had over 300 000 foreign workers living in dormitories and only a small percentage of them have been tested so far.

Let’s get back to the main topic of this post; my review to another Hong Kong TVB drama called ‘Brutally Young’ (十八年後的終極告白). I have not had any expectation before watching this 20-episode series, thinking of it as just another drama for me to kill off time on every weekday’s evening. The outcome is; this series is a surprising hit! Starring Shaun Tam, Joel Chan, Mandy Wong, Vivien Yeo, Anthony Ho, Dominic Lam, etc, the drama revolves on the life of seven high school friends through obstacles and worries after a body that they have buried 18 years ago was discovered and led to police investigation. They were unsure of the identity of the killer and trying all ways to keep the secret to their own.

The plot is interesting and the story development is fast paced and intense on every episode. I even find that 20 episode isn’t enough to do this drama a justice. This drama can be delivered in 25 episodes or more. I felt it’s a waste that nice dramas ended so quickly (similar to Barrack O’Karma last year that is also a surprising hit and only has 20 episodes too). And then, we have an awful drama like ‘Airport Strikers’ that has 25 episodes and every single episode is a trash. When you have the urge to know what happened next, or guessing who is the killer, or curious on the conclusion to these characters, then you know it is a good drama. It gets you hooked to the storyline immediately. This series nailed it.

I never liked Shaun Tam as I find his acting is mediocre. However, he improved a lot in this drama as the main male lead. Perhaps it is most probably due to the very good script and overall good quality of the series that elevate his performance. There are many ‘explosive’ scenes of him that demand huge emotions and he started to deliver them satisfactorily. It’s a huge contrast to his typical overly bland performances in the past. Mandy Wong complements him well in this drama and she too delivered a solid performance (she also appears as main female lead in another concurrently airing drama that I’m watching too; ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter).

Joel Chan is good as usual and her romance with Vivien Yeo in this series is quite interesting and touching to watch. I wouldn’t say Vivien Yeo is an excellent actress but I can say without any doubt that this is her best performance to date. Her role as a deaf-mute girl here is very well executed. Her effort in delivering the sign language while showing intense emotions at the same time deserve praises. My last compliment would be to Dominic Lam who takes investigation over his son’s death into his own hands and to Anthony Ho as well. These two supporting actors are above the rest in this series.

The final episode of the series (aired yesterday) gives a worthy ending to the story. Spoiler ahead; Shaun admitted to his crimes in the end and most importantly admitted that his way of using lies on top of lies to cover secrets are wrong. This shouldn’t be the way in our life. ‘Admitting a mistake just took few seconds but having a guilty conscience takes a lifetime’; a very awesome yet hard-hitting quote from the final episode of this series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Brutally Young’ a total of 8.6. It’s definitely the best series I have watched so far for this year. No competition…This series is also getting rave reviews from most audiences. It deserves all the praise. I do recommend you to watch it especially in this time when all of us have to stay at home most of the time and need something to occupy ourselves.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

 

 

‘Avengers: Endgame’ concludes this huge MCU saga in a mind-blowing way!

Ever since the release of ‘Iron Man’ in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is created. Back then, no one expect that MCU would come to this far or would come to this big. Now in April 2019, that one huge story arc is finally coming to an end after 21 superhero films with the release of ‘Avengers: Endgame’.

After an explosive cliffhanger on last year’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ whereby Thanos had succeeded in wiping out half of the universe’s population and left the remaining Avengers team in huge sense of loss and defeat, fans across the world has been eagerly anticipating for this ‘Endgame’ to see how things get corrected. If you haven’t watched the movie, please stop from reading further as there are a lot of spoilers ahead for my movie review here.

In ‘Endgame’, some 5 years after the ‘turning-into-dust’ event, Scott Lang (Ant-man) discovered that entering the quantum realm allows for time travel and Steve Rogers (Captain America) agrees for a plan to get to the past to collect all the 6 infinity stones before Thanos did to undo the apocalypse and to bring back those that perished from Thanos’ snap alive in present. The time travel mechanism is further reinforced by Tony Stark (Iron-man) and Bruce Banner (Hulk). The remaining Avengers were then reunited and tasked to separate time zones (Romanoff (Black Widow) sacrificed herself to obtain the Soul stone in the process). They succeeded, but Thanos and his armies are brought to the present. A final battle ensues and Iron Man mortally wounded himself after using the 6-stones to disintegrate Thanos and his armies. Following Iron Man’s funeral, Thor joins Guardians of the Galaxy, and Captain America returns the infinity stones and Mjolnir (Thor’s hammer) back to their original places in time. He then remains in the past to live out the rest of his life with Peggy Carter. Returning to the present, he passes his shield to Sam Wilson (Falcon).

This movie is 3-hours long and I never felt bored for a single time. That is surprising. Although there is quite a lot of mere talking scenes in most parts of the film, but I am very engaged. Why? Because those scenes are still critical (despite lacking actions) to connect us to the characters that we first saw and loved from as early as 2008 and to get us to feel what it’s like to be on their situation. Kids may not enjoy this part but us as Marvel fans that has been following all the previous MCU films are immersed into it. Marvel also never sways away from giving us laughter from some hilarious interactions between the Avengers throughout the movie. Things then took huge turn with dramatic battle particularly at the end that got me super thrilled and excited. The scenes where Captain America successfully wielding the Mjolnir and fights Thanos, where Doctor Strange opened portals to bring in all Avengers and allies to face off Thanos and his armies and where Captain Marvel arrives and crushes through Thanos’ ship are epic!

I wouldn’t mind if the movie is even much longer than the current 3-hour runtime, hoping for a longer battle in the end. Anyway, the way it is now is already way brilliant. Things also get very emotional with the death of Black Widow and Iron Man. Before watching the movie, I already knew the plot. I assumed that I won’t get too emotional through the movie since I already knew who will die. However, I was wrong. It gets really sad to watch them die after all the things they have done to save the world.

Assembling this huge number of actors to create this finale is no easy task. The directors (Russo brothers) have delivered an epic conclusion to this huge MCU journey. The movie did whatever it takes to give us a thrilling, satisfying and heartfelt ending that we will remember for a long time. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Avengers: Endgame’ a total of 8.7. And in this movie, we got to see perhaps Stan Lee’s final cameo appearance. By the way, there is no post-credit scene for ‘Endgame’ as this is already the finale of the story. Hence, there is no need to wait till the very end of the rolling credits unless you want to just hear an audio that implies Iron Man forging his suit in his first film.

It’s really emotional to see this MCU journey concluding after a long 11 years and 22 films in total. We still have to move on and we will see how MCU progresses with the upcoming ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ and future Phase 4 films. Thank you Stan Lee, thank you Marvel, thank you to all the superheroes and the non-superheroes too, thank you Cap, and thank you Iron Man for this amazing entertainment for the past 11 years. Love you 3000!

This movie is going to be very massive in worldwide box office! I’m expecting it to surpass ‘Titanic’ in final grossing but still would not be able to take down the No.1 spot from ‘Avatar’ for the title of world’s highest grossing film (unadjusted for inflation). ‘Endgame’ crossing 1-billion mark is as easy as snapping a finger. Crossing 2-billion is also easy since its predecessor (Infinity War) was able to accomplish it too. The question is how far do you think it will go after the 2-billion milestone? 3-billion? The first in history to cross 3-billion? There is a chance but quite minimal at the moment. But one thing for sure now is that ‘Endgame’ is certain to score largest opening weekend ever.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Return of Gallen Lo in ‘Provocateur’ (2017).

Gallen Lo is a famous veteran actor who has starred in many critically successful TVB dramas particularly in 1990s and 2000s. In recent years, he took extensive long break and didn’t shoot any dramas. His last TVB series is 2009’s ‘Born Rich’ (I didn’t watch that). However, I do remember well and admired some of his past iconic and powerful roles in dramas like ‘Golden Faith’, ‘Feminine Masculinity’, ‘Secret of the Heart’, ‘Old Time Buddy’ and ‘At The Threshold Of An Era I & II’. He has won best actor in TVB Anniversary Awards for three times, becoming the actor with most best actor wins in TVB (a record tied with Roger Kwok and Wayne Lai). He is also the first recipient of best actor award in 1997 when TVB started introducing their awards presentation that year.

Now, he returns for a new TVB drama called ‘Provocateur’. I’m watching this drama because he is in it. He portrayed a cosmetic business mogul who encounters various difficulties such as his business challenges, his long lost son who came back to take revenge on him, his declining health, etc. This 25-episodes drama also starred Fred Cheng, Ali Lee, Jacqueline Wong, Jonathan Cheung, Lee Shin Cheung, Raymond Cho, etc. I think this is Fred Cheng’s first leading role in a drama.

I have high expectation from Gallen. He did well on his part but I think his role isn’t anything special. There is not much ways for him to showcase his acting or express his talent. In most of the time, he was just walking around, having his hand on his head while thinking on some business strategies and chatting with the others. I knew sometimes acting is from the very subtle yet powerful facial expression. Gallen did has those moments in this drama but those scenes are too much and it lessen the essence and strength of the outcome. Even the part when he had terminal illness, he also couldn’t perform to the point that it moves me. I also noticed that he is getting really old looking now. Well, he is 55 already. But I do enjoy his involvement in this drama as a senior and his collaboration with many young cast.

I have heard that Fred Cheng actually didn’t get this leading role at the first place. It was supposed to be someone else but due to schedule conflict, the other actor dropped this role and Fred came in. He is not bad in acting but I think he is incapable of taking this important leading role, plus he has to face Gallen most of the time throughout the whole series. He is much better in supporting role. His expressions especially in scenes when he has to show his revengeful face are awkward and appeared ‘forced’. He just can’t balance it and went overboard. His character in this drama is being helped by a group of his friends specialized in pulling off tricks. This reminded me of ‘Burning Hands’ which is released not long ago before this series. In ‘Burning Hands’, we saw Ruco Chan being helped by a group of his friends too. Such a similar idea in both dramas. Fred’s chemistry with his on-screen partner in this drama, Ali Lee is very low too.

Ali Lee has a big year in 2016. She has starred in a lot of dramas last year and she won Most Improved Female Artiste Award in TVB Anniversary Awards 2016. She is good. But his acting in this drama is just very average and a bit wooden at some point. It felt like she is uninterested on this role. On the other hand, Jacqueline Wong who is also a newbie actress contributed a lot of her passion into her role as Gallen’s daughter. Let’s give her more roles. At first, I didn’t have any expectation from her, but after watching this drama and seeing how she develops together with her character, I’m engaged. I have no issue seeing her nominated for Most Improved Female Artist award end of this year.

I’m glad that this drama only has 25 episodes. Not any longer. The plot fits best in this 25 episodes. While I particularly didn’t enjoy some decisions in the storyline, the overall drama is still solid. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Provocateur’ a total of 6.8. It’s a series that will be easily forgotten after a month or two. A ‘cheaper’ version of ‘Burning Hands’ and a plain comeback role from Gallen Lo.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Review for TVB drama ‘House of Spirits’.

My eyes are teary now. Why is that so? I have just finished watching the final episode of a TVB drama called ‘House of Spirits’ and that finale was full of many very touching scenes. I also felt sad right now because this drama is now over as I wanted to watch more from it. I believe many people out there who have been catching up with this series since end of June would feel the same like me too. You will not understand how much I wanted this series not to end this quick.

‘House of Spirits’ (一屋老友記) is a 2016 Hong Kong drama of 31 episodes by TVB that has concluded just less than two hours ago with its airing of the final episode. It revolves around an eldest brother who has to unite his family (brothers and sisters) and mend the bad relationships among them after their father has passed away. They were all forced to live in the same home due to their father’s inheritance. It is an old house previously occupied by their deceased father and was now also inhabited by two kind ghosts. The drama has a mixture of comedy, family and supernatural themes, and they make up for a very interesting series.

The series starred Bobby Au, Nancy Wu, Joyce Tang, Jonathan Cheung, Koni Lui, Helena Law, Bowie Wu, Lau Kong, Tsui Wing, Bob Cheung, and many other supporting cast. Their performances were very natural and impressive in this drama. It is actually not easy to act in comedy drama too because you have to withstand all the funny things while you are acting those hilarious scenes. Those hilarious expressions are also not easy to be delivered and the cast were all convincing in it. Bobby Au still shined and he managed to lead this huge cast very well. I’m supportive of him being crowned best actor end of this year for his performance in this drama.

Nancy Wu is the first female lead but Joyce Tang, the second female lead had overshadowed her here. Joyce is an impressive actress that should be recognized more and she really did an amazing work in this drama. Nancy Wu has been crowned best actress last year, and so I have no issue giving this year’s TV Queen title to Joyce for her excellent performance in this drama. Nancy’s character isn’t that well rounded here, but she do gave her best as well and she do really catch some attention particularly in the last episode when she cried in front of an empty bed as she couldn’t see the two ghosts whom had just been revealed as her grandparents.

Jonathan Cheung is considered quite new in TVB and I can see a lot of potential for him in the future. He managed very well in all his past supporting roles he had been given. This is also not an exception. Koni Lui also gave fantastic acting as his wife in this series. I’m supporting both of them to win Most Improved Male and Female Artists end of this year. They really deserved it, not only in this series, but also in their other works this year. On the other hand, even the little girl who acted as the daughter of Joyce Tang gave a very good performance. As for the veteran cast, they were simply amazing as well.

The story is a good one. It is quite fast-paced and I enjoyed every episode of this drama. I had a very great time watching it every evening before I’m going to bed. This series truly had given me a lot of entertainment with many funny moments and also at the same time, intense scenes especially those quarrel scenes. There were mysteries, some plot twists, touching times and above all, this series taught us to love and spend more time with our family. There were still some flaws like some unresolved questions (why only Nancy Wu’s character cannot see ghosts but all other characters can?, how about his two male housemates…what are their conclusions?, etc). I personally think some issues can be expanded further. This series would be much better if it has 40 episodes. 31 episodes right now is just a bit not enough. We are craving for more due to its engaging storyline and impressive cast. The NG scenes at the end of every episodes are also very hilarious.

Overall, this drama is certainly a great one and has brought me laughs and tears (especially in the final episode just now) for over a month. It also feel so good to see the family transitioned from being cold among each other to the heartwarming outcome in the end. The happy ending gave a perfect conclusion to this drama eventhough it’s still sad to see the ghosts leaving but they have to since their wishes were all fulfilled and the family is now harmonious. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘House of Spirits’ a total of 8.2. I’m also glad that this drama is getting high popularity (currently among the highest rated dramas of 2016) and a lot of attention not only from Hong Kong but also from overseas. This drama is also so far, the best TVB drama of the year in my personal opinion. Not to be missed. Very interesting, entertaining, engaging, dramatic and a good quality series this year. It will be a strong contender for best series in this year end’s award season.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Two movies (‘Spectre’ and ‘Goosebumps’) this long weekend, or possibly more.

The excitement over the current four-day long break in this weekend is erasing my sadness from losing quite a lot of money in rummy game last night with my family. I guess many would take a day of leave tomorrow too so that we can enjoy a long four-days weekend break as this coming Tuesday is Deepavali holiday. With a lengthy period of break, it won’t be nice without a visit to the cinema for some great movies released recently. I have just came back from Mid Valley Megamall with my friend, and we had a movie marathon; watched two movies in a row (lunch in between). The two movies are ‘Spectre’ and ‘Goosebumps’.

‘Spectre’ is the 24th James Bond film and it features Daniel Craig in his fourth performance as James Bond, the 007 agent which is one of the two most iconic fictional characters by UK, the other being Mr. Bean. I always find Daniel Craig to be the right man to portray this insanely popular character as he possessed the look, coolness and the stamina Bond requires for his stunts and actions in the movies. In this latest film of him, he returned with the same charm alongside other cast members, Ben Whishaw, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Naomie Harris, Andrew Scott, Monica Bellucci and Ralph Fiennes (still couldn’t get off my thought of Harry Potter’s Voldemort whenever I see him in other films). However, the movie disappoints in many level to me as I find almost the whole film to be very boring with absolutely draggy story development. There is also too much unnecessary and unessential lengthy dialogues going on between multiple places that left me to look at my watch frequently during the movie.

The film started very well with fantastic setting of Mexico City during the ‘Day of the Dead’ festival and a wonderful opening action sequences. However, it all leads to nothing intense or dramatic for the next 2 hours before the ending which is also rather ordinary. I’m annoyed of not only seeing too many boring talks between characters but also by Bond making love with this girl and then the other. I’m not here to see him do that, I’m here to see him performing daring and breathtaking stunts. And this film delivered very less of that and it is definitely not a good thing for a James Bond film. Eventhough Daniel Craig’s performance is good, but the film’s plot is pulling the whole Bond adventure down. I’m thrilled with the story leading to the Spectre organization that linked all the past three Bond movies together. However, it ended up short of that anticipated greatness of how this Spectre can do to hurt Bond more. Things didn’t work out well at all for this latest Bond movie but I think it will still make huge bucks in global box office. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Spectre’ a total of 6.8. The poorest Bond movie out of the recent four films with Daniel Craig in it.

Next up is ‘Goosebumps. I’m relieved that ‘Goosebumps’ do give me the entertainment I need after that lengthy two and a half hours of Spectre’ film that is all serious yet uninspiring at all. ‘Goosebumps’ is a live-action computer-animated horror comedy movie based on the popular children’s book series of the same name by R.L. Stine. It follows a teenager who teams up with the daughter of young adult horror author R. L. Stine after the writer’s imaginary demons are set free accidentally on the town of Madison, Delaware. The movie starred Jack Black (long time didn’t see him in movies and he is still good in this kind of role), Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Amy Ryan, Ryan Lee and Jillian Bell.

I know this movie is probably more fun and exciting for the kids but I also having a good time and engaged throughout the whole movie unlike ‘Spectre’. The storyline is very interesting as expected. The stories and the imagination are powerful tools here and they are being utilized well with great visuals and direction. The only thing that I wish for more is that we can see more of the main characters bumping and dealing with more types of monsters on their way for a much compact adventure. But right now, things are still fine and actions are pretty sufficient too, complete with some nice hilarious moments especially from Champ, the character that is sometimes annoying but he is the one there who contributes most of the laughter. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Goosebumps’ a total of 7.5. I’m having a fun time watching this spooky yet kids-friendly entertainment.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Captain of Destiny’, the best TVB series of the year so far.

‘Captain of Destiny’ (張保仔, literally as Cheung Po Tsai) is a 2015 Hong Kong historical fiction sci-fi television drama of 32 episodes by TVB. The drama is a retelling of the story of 19th century Chinese pirate Cheung Po Tsai and his conflict with the Qing imperial army, meanwhile encountering a time-travelling police constable from the 21st century. The drama starred Ruco Chan, Tony Hung, Grace Chan, Ram Cheung, Elaine Yiu, Maggie Shiu, Joel Chan, Mandy Wong, Susan Tse, Lau Kong, etc. It is a grand production and is one of the four anniversary series of 2015 to mark 48th anniversary of TVB.

This series which concluded just now with its final episode also won the Most Favourite TVB Drama at the Singapore’s Starhub TVB Awards 2015 yesterday. Despite receiving average points in viewership rating at Hong Kong, the drama is being very well received and I’m one of them who have more praise to this series compared to all the other dramas released this year. It is just so good and always kept me intensely catching up to latest episode of the series every night. In the first few episodes, I came to watch the series with less expectation but then I’m surprised by the great quality of storyline and characters the series present to TV audiences as the drama develops. I still enjoyed the time-travel concept eventhough TVB had used this idea many times before in the past.

First, we were shown in the present setting of Hong Kong when a female police constable (Grace Chan) accidentally traveled back in time to Qing dynasty from a waterspout when she is on a mission to catch a criminal named Bandit King (Ruco Chan). Once back to 200 years earlier, she met the famous pirate Cheung Po Tsai (Tony Hung) and his gang. Here the story goes between the pirates’ life and the life in the palace emphasizing the 11th prince (Ruco Chan again) who is a hardworking prince in mission to eliminate pirates. Many events followed between these main characters and the story development went very well in a good pacing mixed with light fun moments as well as serious and intense situations.

Ruco Chan delivered yet another impressive performance as the 11th prince. His character here is very diverse, requiring him to deliver multitude of varying emotions and he nailed it. He conquered all the scenes he is in with powerful strength and expressions. Eventhough he is not in the titular role, but he shines over the rest in this drama. No wonder he won Most Favourite TVB Actor in Singapore last night too for his performance here. Very well deserved and I do hope his winning continues to TVB Star Awards Malaysia next month as well as the Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards in December. It’s time for him to be rewarded. Tony Hung portrayed the titular role and I’m fine with it. However, I find it weird that his character is not being given much attention throughout the series eventhough his name makes the series’ title. That has to be case when you have another lead role, the 11th prince of which I have said earlier that stood out better than the rest including this titular character of Cheung Po Tsai.

Grace Chan is a newbie artist and she should not be promoted too quickly by the TVB station by taking up this first female lead role here. The outcome is you get a performance that is poor and heavily criticized by many people. It’s not her fault mostly but I do cannot stand the overly exaggerated expressions and voice she shown in this drama. On the other hand, I also cannot stand anymore on the cute acts by the 11th prince’s lady servant, portrayed by Kelly Fu. However, her acting is far more natural than Grace. It is the veteran actors and actresses that back the series a lot too. Villains like Lee Shin Cheung (as admiral), Elaine Yiu (as concubine), and Lau Kong (as emperor) and others like Susan Tse (as concubine), Elliot Ngok (as imperial eunuch), Maggie Shiu (head pirate’s wife), and Ram Cheung (pirate’s strategist) did very well. Joel Chan and Mandy Wong also contributed very convincing performances in their respective supporting role too.

Besides that, I’m also surprised by the effort put on the visual effects of this series. The visual effects especially during the war between the imperial army and the pirates are exceptionally good if measured by TVB standard. I’m stunned and amazed by that battle scene. It looks very cool, technically brilliant, intense and exciting. However, I am actually hoping for like two or more of those battle scene to further expand the storyline on the strained relationship between the pirates and the government. So actually, I don’t mind the series to be 40 episodes long.  The effort put on production design, costume and make-up design, and editing should also be complimented for this drama. The drama’s opening theme song by Fred Cheng, closing theme song by Ruco Chan and episode’s plug song by Linda Chung are all very nice to listen to and suits well to this drama’s heart.

As for its ending just now, I’m very happy of how this series came to such a thought-provoking conclusion. It is an ending made with a lot of thoughts (and a nice twist) and I like that. I’m tired of typical non-moving yet happy ending made to most of TVB series in recent years. I’m also surprised to see Raymond Wong making a cameo appearance in the end as a pirate. Why him? It’s because he is originally cast to portray Cheung Po Tsai and not Tony Hung. So letting him to appear in the very last minute of the series’ ending would be quite interesting. In general, this drama is definitely the best TVB series of the year so far and if the next series ‘Lord of Shanghai’ isn’t as good as it is expected, then I see no problem for ‘Captain of Destiny’ to take home Most Favourite TVB Drama in both TVB Star Awards Malaysia and also in Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards. It is really very good and delivered beyond my expectation. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Captain of Destiny’ a total of 8.2. That’s the highest rating for a series I have given this year. Even Grace Chan’s bad acting here couldn’t pull the series down to below 8 points from me.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Brick Slaves’, a Hong Kong drama which tells us how crazy the property value in the city is.

‘樓奴’ (Brick Slaves) is a 2015 Hong Kong romantic-comedy television drama by TVB and starring Vincent Wong, Selena Li, Evergreen Mak, Eliza Sam and Kiki Sheung as the main cast. The theme of the storyline is based on Hong Kong’s extremely unaffordable houses. Well, we knew Hong Kong is among the cities in the world with the highest property prices. Before I get into a review for this particular drama that had just concluded, I’m just going to tell you briefly how expensive purchasing a flat at Hong Kong is now.

Based on an accurate survey, the average price per square foot for a flat at Hong Kong is about USD$ 1200 or more. I’m not even talking about those strategically-located flat at the city centre region. Hong Kong is famous for having very limited land, and so their houses are usually very small and compact. A flat in Hong Kong would be somewhere in 700 sq ft or lesser. So, let’s multiply USD$ 1200 with 700 and you will get USD$ 840 000. Convert that to Ringgit Malaysia (oppss..now it’s multiply by 4), and the amount is RM 3.4 million. Crazy, isn’t it? With the same figure, I can buy at least 5 units of apartments in Malaysia.

So, you see…how hard is the life of Hong Kong people. They have to work, work and work to save money to own a house which is the most basic ambition for them. I understand that it is always feeling stable to own a house especially for those with family to take care of. Hence, not only in Hong Kong, but everywhere that people now are mostly ‘樓奴’. Working madly just to own a house. That’s what this particular TVB series is all about. Vincent Wong worked hard in his life and he finally had enough saving to pay for the deposit of a house which is his goal to start a family with his girlfriend. However, his girlfriend broke up with him and rented half of the house to her friend, Selena Li. Both are originally very much in conflict between each other due to difference in personalities. However, as time passes, they start to know each other more and felt in love.

Well, quite a typical plot but I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline. There are also many other supporting plots which are interesting enough to pull this into one piece of good drama to watch. The series is short, having only 20 episodes, but I think that’s enough for this light-hearted romantic comedy series. That makes the series entertaining most of the time with nothing much draggy in between. Vincent Wong is the male lead in the series and his performance is not bad. I’m fine with him taking on more leading roles in the future since TVB is now lacking leading artists. He had a good chemistry with the female lead, Selena Li in this series.

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Some say Selena is over-acting in this drama. Well, I think her character in this drama needs her to be slightly exaggerated, and hence it’s not her fault. Instead, I think she delivered the role very well. It’s seriously time to acknowledge her more in future series as I find her performances are always great. Even Liza Wang praised her when she guest starred in the former’s recent series ‘Master of Destiny’. She needs more leading roles too and I believe she can do it. TVB, just don’t keep promoting those newbies too much (Grace Chan, Eliza Sam, Mandy Wong, Tracy Chu, etc). Put more focus on Selena Li or Nancy Wu besides than the already emphasized Kate Tsui, Tavia Yeung and Linda Chung.

Opps…I’m getting way too far about the series. Eliza Sam had quite a major role in ‘Brick Slaves’. I knew she tried her best but still, she couldn’t pull it off nicely. Her crying scenes were awkward and I don’t feel anything when she speaks or delivers her emotion. She still needs to work hard on her acting. Well, the boy portraying as Dor Dor is also very poor in the series. On the other hand, Evergreen Mak and the one acting as his wife in the series were both great and acted very natural. Overall, the series is enjoyable to watch but very much will be forgotten after a month or two. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Brick Slaves’ a total of 7.4. Okay…to move on with new TVB drama next month.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

 

TVB’s ‘Ghost of Relativity’ is really fun to watch.

‘Ghost of Relativity’ (鬼同你OT) is a 2015 Hong Kong romantic comedy drama of supernatural theme produced by TVB, starring Moses Chan, Kristal Tin and Nancy Wu as the main cast. The series has a total of 28 episodes and I have just watched its final 2 episodes just now. The Chinese title has a double meaning; when read accordingly it literally translates to “Ghost to Overtime With You”, however the word “ghost” (鬼) is also a Hong Kong slang that is equivalent to “who the hell” in English, so the Chinese title could also translate as “Who The Hell Wants to Overtime With You”. Interesting and a very catchy title.

The drama revolves within an architectural office in Hong Kong where an admin manager (Nancy Wu) have been very helpful and is secretly in love to the architect (Moses Chan). Unfortunately, she is electrocuted to death but her spirit (in electromagnetic wave form) is still present and can only communicate to an absent-minded woman (Kristal Tin) who was fired as a receptionist on her first day of work in that particular office. Kristal worked together with Nancy to stay in the office to continue helping Moses to realize his ambitious architectural project which leads to many conflicts and issues, and hence the whole story of the drama.

The story is fine with me. Despite the presence of supernatural element in this series, there isn’t anything scary at all and hence even kids will enjoy watching this series. Instead, this series delivered more laughters than ever with hilarious scripts, funny behaviours and entertaining scenes. I really enjoyed my time on this series and now I felt sad because it has already concluded. The only setback for the story is that the middle part is a bit too draggy with nothing much going on besides than dwelling into the same problem (of relationships between the three main cast) all over again.

Nancy Wu and Kristal Tin are very well on their respective role. As for Moses, he is too ‘stiff’ but it’s his character that requires him to do so. Other notable cast that are involved in this drama includes Eddie Kwan, Pierre Ngo, Vivien Yeo, Ram Chiang, Mimi Chu, Celine Ma, etc. Malaysian actress, Vivien Yeo did improve in her performance here as a sexy lady trying to seduce Moses for an objective. Her Cantonese had also improved but still not fluent enough. After her character is done, then Ram Chiang came in for the final few episodes. His character is very awkward as the IT man and I don’t really like it. Celine Ma is very hilarious. On the other hand, I am also not engaged to the drama between Mimi Chu (as Kristal’s mother) with an uncle (as Nancy’s father). It’s like forcing a poor side story to the whole series.

The visual effects are a bit lousy but I’m not really bothered by that. And one more thing; the works Moses have been doing is not really what an architect does (especially the part he worked on the engineering input for his leaning tower, it’s supposed to be engineer’s duty). The attention to detail in architectural profession, the focused career for this drama is poor. Anyway, I’m still happy that TVB used architecture setting for the drama right after interior design setting (in Romantic Repertoire series early this year that also has Moses Chan starring) rather than those typical lawyer, police or doctor theme.

The ending is quite exciting and lived up to my expectation with some intense as well as touching moments where everything is resolved for a happy conclusion. I’m happy on the way it ended with the three main cast being ‘indirectly’ together. This series delivered on bringing joy and laughter to me and my family as well. All of us watched this series. It’s highly entertaining and is so far the best series of the year. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Ghost of Relativity’ a total of 7.8. Still couldn’t get up to 8 yet.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Movie review: Jurassic World (2015)

I still couldn’t get my mind off the classic musical score for the original ‘Jurassic Park’ film that also has its strong presence in ‘Jurassic World’ movie. 1993’s ‘Jurassic Park’ was one epic movie by Steven Spielberg and remained as one of my most favourite childhood movies of all time. This excellent director returned as the executive producer behind this latest fourth instalment of its movie franchise. I’m overly excited as the movie is finally out, and I have watched it after many years of waiting!

The plot; sets twenty-two years after the events of Jurassic Park, Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, as originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to re-spark visitor’s interest, which backfires horribly. And that new attraction is the introduction of a new hybrid dinosaur named Indominus Rex, a dino bigger and more aggressive than T-Rex.

The story is very much predictable but I don’t really mind about that as long as we got to see ample of breathtaking dinosaur moments of which ‘Jurassic World’ perfectly delivered. I like when they show the rides and attractions available in the theme park, making the audiences thinking as if they are part of the visitors there. I was actually hoping for more as those scenes are shown too quick. In the beginning I was quite disappointed that T-Rex and the giant marine reptile Mosasaur (shown earlier in the movie’s trailer) are very much put aside. However, they do play bigger roles especially in the end (sorry for a bit of spoiler) and I love it. The climax is very intense and gave me one thrilling and heartstopping ride throughout the island to kill the extremely intelligent and dangerous Indominus Rex.

 

The main cast of the movie includes Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Irrfan Khan, etc. Chris is cool but there is nothing much to talk from his role. Bryce looks wooden in the movie’s trailer, but surprisingly she is the only human in the movie that steals the show besides than all the dinosaurs. It’s nice to see B.D. Wong in this movie, as he was also portraying a scientist in the original 1993’s Jurassic Park film. On the other hand, the CGIs are good, while the musical scores that include the original classic score from the 1993’s film is a great move. It helps to bring us back to the nostalgic moment of watching our favourite dinosaur movie back over 20 years ago. It feels so good. That epic score is right below:

Well, this ‘Jurassic World’ is still not as epic or as great as the 1993’s film, but it still manages to live up to my expectation and delivered as a good sequel. I like how many parts of the movie pay homage and references to the 1993’s film. It’s not perfect though, as some parts in between are a bit boring before entering the exhilarating climax where Indominus Rex wrecks havoc on the island. The fight scenes in the end are wonderful, but still I hope for more. Haha. As for the ending, it’s a happy ending, but not enough to conclude with many things unanswered. Where is B.D. Wong going to? What will happen to the theme park after all the destruction and instability? My best guess is that the park will be closed again, and the dinosaurs are allowed to roam freely in the island. Wouldn’t the flying dinosaur already went out of the island and on its way to mainland? And this movie actually taught us that we can be friends with raptors and should not be treated as control. Ehh…well, forget about it. I hope that countless questions are actually a hint that there may be more follow-up movies to this. Wow…..

Nevertheless, ‘Jurassic World’ is a great dinosaur movie that is both entertaining and exciting! It’s going to be a massive blockbuster this year. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Jurassic World’ a total of 7.8.

 

Just finished my first TVB series of the year, ‘Noblesse Oblige’.

‘Noblesse Oblige’ ( 宦海奇官 ) is a Hong Kong drama sets during Qing dynasty that starred Kenneth Ma as To Chan Fung, a lazy but good-hearted county magistrate who is given the task to clear the government from corrupted officials. Tavia Yeung starred as Kenneth’s sidekick, Wai Lam whom is a Buddhist nun. The 21-episodes long drama also starred Joel Chan, Ram Chiang, Susan Tse, Lau Dan, Benjamin Yuen, Cilia Lok, Yoyo Chen, Lee Shing Cheung, etc.

This is the first TVB drama of the year that I watched, and the series ended just now with its two finale episodes on Saturday’s evening. I enjoyed this series because while it is a light-hearted production, the plot also includes in some serious matters (mostly on politics and corruptions) to create some exciting dramas. At one point, you get to be entertained by quite a number of good laughs from the series, while as the scene switches, you get to see real ‘business’ going on.

At the very beginning, the series reminded me of ‘Rosy Business’, a very critically-acclaimed drama back in 2009. That series, along with ‘Noblesse Oblige’ were also produced by Lee Tim Sheng. He usually stood out on delivering some very good quality series to save TVB. Of course, ‘Noblesse Oblige’ is not as serious or as intensely good like ‘Rosy Business’. This time, Lee puts a bit more emphasis on comedy to this series (for something different) and it still worked, eventhough ‘Rosy Business’ is still better. As the series progresses, ‘Noblesse Oblige’ gets back to ‘typical’ low-drama moments that many present TVB series are experiencing. That’s a bit of disappointment there. Luckily, this series is short and won’t waste much of our time on further pointless story development.

Kenneth Ma is mostly exaggerated on his acting in this series. I think it is needed for his type of role here to push things slightly beyond boundary a bit for better result. However, his acting doesn’t really improves. Same goes to Tavia Yeung. She is mostly shy, quiet and easily ignored in the series despite she is the first female lead. Even her fellow mate, Wai Yu (portrayed by Cilia Lok) had far more interesting and catchy role here. Tavia’s character is only needed to protect and love Kenneth. Her past story, revealed only in the last two or three episodes of the series appeared to be ‘forced’ into the drama and is unappealing. Ram Chiang is good as supporting role here (he is always good in this kind of role).

Fortunately, the drama’s ending is not bad. It’s a happy conclusion to Kenneth and Tavia (always like to see them as an on-screen pair. They are very compatible) and to his family and friends too. The main villain (Lee Shing Cheung) died, but I actually preferred him to be put to justice by the emperor himself rather than being killed by revenge. This implies to us that taking revenge like this is reasonable. That’s not the way it is supposed to be. The killing scene is also quite similar to that of ‘Overachievers’ drama last month in its finale episode too. Before I forgot, Lee Shing Cheung did absolutely brilliant as the villain here. Very good veteran actor. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Noblesse Oblige’ a total of 7.4. Better than many typical TVB dramas nowadays, but still not that good to the point that I can remember this for long.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)