Friday 16 January 2015

Down with love


Taiwanese title: 就想賴著妳 (就想赖着妳)

16 episodes
Aired on CTV
From 2010 January to May

Main cast:
  • Jerry Yan: Xiang Yu Ping 項羽平
  • Ella Chen: Yang Guo 楊果
  • Kelly Huang: Yang Duo 楊朵
  • Michael Zhang: Qi Ke Zhong 齊可中
  • Chen Zi Han: Ding Hui Fan 丁卉凡
  • Amanda Chou: Xu Yan Ling 徐雁玲
  • Gu Bao Ming: Yang Bo Tong 楊伯通
  • Yan Yi En: Liang Zhi Hao 梁志豪

  • Notes:
    Many familiar faces: Hello Vicky Chen and Amanda Chou who I had seen in The legend of Brown sugar chivalries! Hey Renzo Liu who is always playing lawyers and the cutest little boy ever Xiao Xiao Bin... both of them were in Autumn's concerto.

    Review: +


    Title: Generic. Shared with a movie starring Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger. No relation, storywise.

    Girl: You know the drift. Plain, not particularly smart or educated but nice and energetic. She's passive -but that can be explained by her always having been bossed around by her sister (passive!)- and insecure -but not in an annoying way.

    Boy: I won't put Jerry Yan on that list but he would top a list of actors with the best facial expressions. Actually, he would BE this list. I could go to tumblr and find some gifs to illustrate my point but I'm afraid I'd fall into a rabbit's hole and come out tomorrow morning...
    Ok, I just went and I'm already back because... there's nothing! How is it possible? Internet, you have failed me.
    Um, let's go back to his character. I labelled him "Arrogant jerk" because that's what he's supposed to be but real quick, it's obvious that he's a marshmallow. He's a lawyer, if you care about his occupation.

    Other boy: He's an interior designer. He's so charming and how can he be so perfect?
     
    Other girl: Narcissistic actress. I didn't like her, in case you were wondering. It was intentional, I think, but why does he like her?
     
    Other girl: The aforementioned Girl's older sister. At first, she was a caricature but in the end, I liked her the best. Though she's throughout a very funny character, her personality is straightforward and really strong. She would be terrifying in real life. As a non villain, she's an unusual character.
     
    Plot/ Relationships: I was watching the 14th episode and thinking: "How can they be two more episodes?" I have no idea how they managed to make 16 episodes out of this story without ever boring me. So that's a good point. Another one is that the drama doesn't commit the two cardinal sins I've been complaining about recently: out of place parallel story and overstuffed finale. However, I wish the drama hadn't rush that much at the beginning, taking a very cliché narrative shortcut and dropping in a cavalier fashion what I thought was a promising premise.
    Romantic, friendly, family connections are mostly well done. The characters don't evolve but they reveal more shades.
     
    Other characters: They are everything: Girl's best friend, Other Girl's manager, coworkers, the kids... even one who grated on me at first turned out to be a good addition.
     
    Music: WANT.
     
    Funny factor? Yes. That may be a reason why this is a Plus. This drama is funny till the end, thanks to its characters.
     
    Most egregious cliché: Kids scaring away nannies.
     
    What the... ? People coming in and out at during work hours. Super busy lawyer not working at all.

    Bottom line: I hesitated between a + or a +/-. In the end, it's a + because I didn't hate anything too much. The good weighted more that the bad. Faint praise, I know. I guess I'm tired of +/-.

    Sunday 11 January 2015

    The Legend of Brown Sugar Chivalries


    Taiwanese title: 黑糖群俠傳 (黑糖群侠传)

    Aired on StarTV
    From 2008 June to October
    13 episodes

    Main cast:
  • Wang Zi as Linghu Cong
  • Albee Huang as Ren Ying Ying
  • Ah Wei as Guo Jing
  • Yako Chan as Lu Jian Ning
  • Wang Jing Qiao as Xiao Long Nu
  • Ah Ben as Wei Xiao Bao
  • Xiao Yu as Chu Liu Xiang
  • Xiao Ma as Yi He Cang Tai
  • Mei Mei as Guardian Sheng Nu
  • Zhang Ke Fan (張克帆) as Lu Da You
  • Wang De Sheng (王德生) as West Side principal
  • Amanda Chou as Tian Shan Tong Lao
  • Ao Quan as Hong Shi Ba
  • Christine Fan as Dong Fang Bu Bai

  • Notes:
    - Like Brown Sugar Macchiato, it features members of music bands Lollipop, Hey Girl and Choc7 in the main cast and in cameos.
    - It's a spoof of modern wuxia novels.
    - Warning: Special effects are really bad. Since they are aware of it, they don't use them that much.
    - Rewatching!

    Review: Fav!


    Title: "Brown Sugar" is a callback to "Brown Sugar Macchiato"

    Boy: He's an orphan who was brought up by the principal of a magical martial arts school. Naturally gifted and hard-working, he is the strongest of his generation. Besides that, he's also a great leader.

    Girl: She's an outcast because her father worked for the big bad. Moreover, she's quite shy so she seems cold and stand-offish.

    Boy: He's a particularly clumsy and selfless guy. I didn't really care.

    Girl: She's the only daughter of a teacher. She acts like a spoiled kid but she is not annoying as she is prompt to recognise her faults.

    Plot: So there is a big bad who is threatening the balance of the land. He's currently ill so he needs a magical thingie in order to restore his powers. There is also a traitor inside the school.

    Relationships: We follow three couples and there is no insta-love. Everyone has his agenda, his personnality with qualities and flaws. I was invested in the romantic relationships, but also in the friendships and the family bonds.

    Other characters: I will single out the bad guys and especially The bad guy who is really scary. We don't see him much but these scenes are effective at conveying his evilness.

    Funny factor? Yes, silly but funny.

    Music: Good.

    What the... ? One might say "the entire drama". But I give a pass to a lot of things (beggars society?) because I suppose it comes with the genre. However, I don't think a character's deafness being played for laugh can be excused. It only happens at the beginning or it would have ruined everything.

    Bottom line: Under the silliness and bad special effects, I like the characters and care about what happened to them. Though its resolution was lacking, the plot was interesting, progressing steadily. Fab!