Reviews

Carries depth!

As you might have guessed, this is no light watch at all. It can gets quite heavy but it is extremely thought provoking and touching towards the end

I throughly enjoyed the show- especially the ending- the bromance definitely gave it an added touch- love the plot twist after plot twist

What I love the most is the part where Lee Je Hoon said "At least I can fail all I want"- something along that line. It's really DEEP. When we live in a society with freewill, one of our greatest fear is fear of failure and yet he was coming from a perspective where his whole life was dictacted as such that failure wasn't even an option coz he simply has no freeodom, not even to fail, let alone to dream.

That really makes us think about the little things we might take for granted, and to an extent, to give us the courage to live our life fully. Also the quote that Piano Bro gave him is amazing and I'm glad he got reminded of his quote himself.

I mean the show isn't anything new, it is a portrayal of escape- literally thats what the entire show is about and Lee Je Hoon delivered a stunning performance. The emotions portrayed throughout is really felt by audience- it wouldn't have been the same without him.

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Acting range of Lee je hoon

Lee Je-hoon delivers an exceptional performance, showcasing his remarkable range as an actor. From the moment he appears on screen, he pulls you into the emotional and psychological depths of his character. His portrayal is intense, yet nuanced, allowing the audience to fully connect with the desperation and determination that drive his actions.

What stands out most is Lee Je-hoon’s ability to balance the high-octane tension of the film with moments of quiet vulnerability. His facial expressions and body language convey so much more than words ever could, making each scene he’s in deeply impactful. Whether he’s navigating the chaos of the escape or reflecting on the personal costs of his journey, Lee Je-hoon brings a level of authenticity that is both compelling and heartbreaking.

This performance is a testament to Lee Je-hoon’s talent and his ability to elevate any role he takes on. Escape is a gripping film, and Lee Je-hoon’s performance is undoubtedly one of the key reasons it succeeds so powerfully.

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Imaculate Cast

Lee Je Hoon being one of my favourite actors, I simply could not resist watching this movie. I loved Koo Kyo Hwan in DP and this is similar role except on the North Korean side of the tale. There were also a few actors that have worked with LJH in Taxi Driver so that was a fun discovery! I was also surprised to see Song Kang. So the cast in this movie are another plus point.

The plot is quite simple. It is about a man's planning involved in defecting to South Korea. The main thrill lies in how difficult that plan actually is to execute. There are some predictable moments and a few that feel unbelievable. But the movie is engrossing despite that. It does have some incredible moments and a few comical ones.

I also liked the message behind the movie about having the freedom to choose. That is something everyone can connect with.

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Not bad. Too rushed though to be a well developed romance.

7/10 is my rating.This is a 2017 Chinese comedy romance movie with a run time of 96 minutes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

Xiao Bo (Joseph Chang) works long hours as a deliveryman to save up money to fund his deaf nephew’s surgery. Nothing is more important to him than his nephew having the life changing surgery which will restore his hearing. Ye Jin (Sammi Cheng) has it all, she is a successful CEO of an insurance company with a fiancé who will fulfill her desire to start a family. Everything changes for Ye Jin when she discovers her fiancé has been unfaitful. She decides to give up on men but not on her desire to have a child. She asks her secretary to find a man who meets all her criteria as a sperm donor. They are not honest about the true nature of the job up font and let the men think they are interviewing for Ye Jin’s assistant. Just when Ye Jun is about to give up, not finding any suitable men among those that applied, she has a chance encounter with Xiao Bo when he saves her from being injured by a disgruntled employee. The lucrative salary causes Xiao Bo to wholeheartedly agree to the rigorous interview process as he is so eager to apply the generous salary he would make to the savings for his nephew’s surgery. He is selected and after he works with Ye Jin for awhile, they pitch the sperm donor with a huge financial incentive idea to him. It seems Xiao Bo is already developing feelings for Ye Jin and wants to help her fulfill her wish. As time goes on, the two fall deeply in love which makes Xiao Bo desire a real relationship with Ye Jin. But Ye Jin had a traumatic childhood, where she would have been better without a father. And then Ye Jin was betrayed by her fiancé causing her trust issues to deepen. Can Xiao Bo convince Ye Gin to see him as more than a donor?

Review

It was simple, straight forward, and ended happy. I would not seek it out to watch it again but I would not turn it if someone else had it playing. It ends well.

Spoilers

The humor in this was very slap stick in parts. A bit too silly for my liking. When the disgruntled employee went after Ye Jin, the whole swirly scene was unbelievable. If we had seen him being a talented fighter before his sudden fight, his ability would have been more believable.

It felt rushed. It went from you are my assistant, to you are my donor, to you are my boyfriend really quick. If they had decided to make a baby the traditional way and he slowly fell in love with her it would have increased the chemistry factor. But it was like warp speed from one stage to another. Too rushed.

#LoveContactually #JosephChang #SammiCheng

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"Every place is the same"

Xiu Xiu the Sent Down Girl was a haunting and angry film set during the Cultural Revolution. The Tibetan steppes with an ocean of green and endless blue skies belied the ugliness taking place in a small, ragged tent.

Xiu Xiu waves goodbye to her family as she and other youth from her community are sent to the “countryside” during the Cultural Revolution. At fifteen years of age she is assigned to work with a horse herder in order to learn the skills to come back in six months to lead the Iron Girls Cavalry. Lao Jin is a skilled horseman who understands the land he lives on. During a battle twenty years ago he was castrated, something none of the local men let him live down. Xiu Xiu doesn’t care for her remote assignment but gamely works with Lao Jin in the sun and rain. When the six months come to an end, homesick Xiu Xiu packs her belongs and eagerly waits to be picked up. The bus home never arrives. One by one men come to her and convince her that they can help arrange her permission documents if she will give them the favor of using her body. Desperate to leave the steppe and return to her mother and father she opens herself to the degenerate men while slowly and surely her hope and dignity begin to ebb away.

This was an infuriating movie to watch. Director/writer Joan Chen left most of the politics out and focused more on human nature. Xiu Xiu was a naïve child who wanted to go home. The vast steppe wasn’t freedom to the teenager, more like being stranded on a desert island. As evil men do who have power over women or in this case a beautiful teen girl, they took what they wanted offering empty promises in return. Like the child she was she committed to the only path she could see that might help her escape. Lao Jin allowed her to make her own choices even when he saw how disastrous they were. Only when something happened that wasn’t her choice did he spring into action.

The connection between Xiu Xiu and Lao Jin was engaging. The difference in age was substantial which Lao Jin respected if the men at headquarters did not. He cared for her more as a ward than possible love interest. Xiu Xiu tended to boss him around yet Lao Jin tried to make her as comfortable as possible. Li Xiao Lu (Lu Lu) and Lopsang gave natural heartfelt performances that drew me in as the mismatched work couple.

Both Joan Chen and the author* of the novel this film was based on lived during the Cultural Revolution which gave them some basis for their artistic endeavor. Watching a child willing to do whatever was necessary to break through the corrupt bureaucratic red-tape and institutional abuse of human rights and dignity was devastating. Joan Chen took advantage of the stunning scenery and cloudy skies as the backdrop for the film. Even when human darkness began to erode Xiu Xiu’s self-worth the sun shone brightly. The juxtaposition was jarring. With these kinds of films I worry that they can be more exploitive than revealing. Instead, there was a coiled fury underlying the manipulation and mistreatment of a child who had no money, no power, and no knowledge of the ways of the world. The Cultural Revolution didn’t have a monopoly on those vices. To quote Lao Jin, “Every place is the same.” Every place is the same when those in power are free to do as they will to those with less power.

31 August 2024

*Yan Ge Ling wrote the short story Celestial Bath in 1981

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In a Taiwanese village, surrounded by a picturesque landscape, two teenage best friends, Yan Ming and Shao An, have known each other since they were children, play together and maintain a close friendship. Although they share very different personalities, they both complement each other. One weak and one strong, one calm and one active.
As Shai An tries to win the interest of Yu Xuan, a girl, Yan Ming discovers new feelings for his best friend. Meanwhile, both children will play typical adolescent games, activities that serve to uncover, or activate, a sensuality that springs from all the pores of young people.
All this happens in a violent, bleak and claustrophobic atmosphere, as Yan Ming is harassed by the other students, so he must be defended by his friend. These characteristics increase in their own homes, since they live their particular drama in their humble homes. With absent mothers in their respective homes, without the presence of other loved ones, Shao An lives with his violent father, while Yan Ming has his alcoholic and negligent father as his only family member.
Shao An and Yan Ming are experiencing an effervescence of their sensuality. The former is very comfortable with girls, while Yan Ming begins to realize his attraction to his friend and feels guilty for harboring a forbidden love within him.
Let's point out the sad scene of the two boys' arrival at school, with a happy Yan Ming attached to Shao An's back while he pedals his bicycle to school, which represents the catharsis in the face of the first's incipient and misunderstood homosexuality (see how the boy they are in love with chases the girl as soon as he sees him at the school entrance), and that anticipates the open crack, and the discomfort that Yan Ming begins to suffer with his friend.
Jealous of Yu Xuan, Yan Ming decides to play a prank on her to get her away from Shao An, which provokes the two's anger when they discover the author of the prank. Confessing his secret will cause the brotherhood to face an unprecedented challenge, in addition to increasing the ridicule of his companions about him.
The film portrays the pain of growing older, of not escaping the terrible gaze of those who will never understand your emotions, of the stupidity of others.

ISSUE
The 2016 Taiwanese romantic drama 'The Confession' (Native title: 男孩心事/Nan Hai Xin Shi) is about friendship, sensuality, discovering sexuality and how it affects them personally, and hidden passions.
It is a film that, in its scarce 25 minutes, shows the germ of homosexual attraction, the awakening of the sexuality of some boys who are defining their sexual orientation, who explore their body and their emotions, at the same time as a love triangle.
It is also about the agony that Yan Ming suffers from knowing that he is in love with his heterosexual friend, the shame that this forbidden love causes him, the pain of seeing how Shao An also falls in love with a girl in the classroom and the breakup of a friendship.
It is the pain of becoming an adult and leaving behind the joy of childhood; We will see Yan Minh, with his heart wounded by the blows of life, perhaps the first of many, looking at himself with pain through the reflection of the mirror in his room, while marking the sadness on his face with paint. His gaze also gets lost in the horizon, in the nature that surrounds his house, the school and the park where he once played with the friend who now, after hearing his confession, abruptly separates him from his life. When the secret is revealed and coldness conquers the heart of the loved one, game time is over and it is time to face the harsh adult reality.
SCENERY
Everything takes place in a humble town in Taiwan, which is surrounded by natural landscapes, which will serve as an escape route, games and walks for the protagonists.
Despite the suffocating atmosphere in which the characters operate, the director divides the short film well into two moments, which will show the moods of the protagonists, that of the joy of the innocence of youth, and that of sadness, discord and misfortune.
The young protagonists, new actors, play their roles quite correctly, giving verisimilitude to the restlessness typical of an adolescence that awakens to sexuality.
The narrative focuses more on the experiences of Yan Ming, who carries the weight of the anguish and the plot of the film, whose suffering and dismay are transferred with notable note from the script to the screen.
It is a visual film, where it is described more with images and silences than with the characters' dialogues. This circumstance forces the viewer to pay more attention to the viewing.
Despite its low budget, the rich photography helps the staging of the film, with beautiful framing and use of light, although it intentionally uses dark scenes, but not to recreate it, but to associate it to a certain extent point to the emotional state of its protagonists.
In short, it is not a film that will brighten your day, and the approach of inviting tolerance and not discriminating against homosexuals is too vague, and of course the adult characters do not help, as if between alcohol, violence and depression would have aged prematurely and would have bequeathed their own unease to new generations.

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Forget where did I stumble on this one. But really happy can watch this.

Story about 2 teenage boys, Song Xuan (SX) and Liu Wen (LW). LW's school comes a new boy, SX, an a cold and introverted but smart boy. Because of his introvert personality, SX have no friend. One day LW stumble SX who having problem with neighborhood bad boy, LW help SX. And with their friendship begin.

SX start to open up with LW & SX told LW he has no friends cause his parents like to move from place to place due to their work. Since that day, SX also start help LW with his study & their friendship deepen...

Yeah... Unfortunately this only short video. So not much I can tell you about this. But for sure... This one hell good short BL from China. Oh yeah... Don't lie to ourselves and said it just bromance. No... Their eyes tell much more than any word can describe their relationship. The only missing is kissing and hugging to make it official... Haha...

If you want to see a little BL from China this really good examples... :D

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I don't want to say much about the plot, or the film's main theme -- because, in the end, this is one of those films where every viewer can and must(!) find their own meaning behind what they've seen. This film expects you to find your own take -- especially the "last scene" is packed with layers upon layers of -- sometimes contradictory -- meaning.

If you saw a light teenage summer film, fine! If you saw an allegory about modern tiktok-shorts, easily consumed and easily forgotten, versus feature-length old-style slow-paced films, good! Or if you saw an essay about how similar rival relationships in classic samurai films (and also wild west movies and thriller dramas, btw) are to love relationships, also nice!
And if you saw a completely different meaning in the film, especially in the last scene -- impressive! The author is dead. It's your film as soon as you watch it.

Maybe one word about the cast -- they were all great! I love the subtle pining of Bito-Ban's, I love the banter between the technical crew of the samurai movie. And Ito Marika, who played Hadashi was overwhelmingly good -- I loved how she managed to change her body language depending on the mood and setting her character is in: Awkward and angular at school, relaxed and engaged when with her friends and when directing, focussed and precise when imitating Samurai fighting. Her facial expressions range from subtle to exaggerated. I cannot imagine another actress taking this role.

Thank you, Elisheva, for giving me the push to finally watch this film. I'm glad I did.

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Rollercoaster

I want to start by saying it was an enjoyable watch with great actors and supporting cast, the atmosphere worked and the location was perfect.

My main gripe is the very beginning of the series. After the happy conclusion of the first series, scene 1 of series 2 completely put a damper on the first series final. I was not expecting their relationship to be perfect, can’t have a show about that, but what we got I felt was a bit extreme and unrealistic after what we sure previously.

I also understand this review is more opinion based than I usually do but I felt a little ripped of for the first half of series 2 and initially regretted starting the second series.

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Still lingering...

Where Your Eyes Linger was my very first BL.

Before watching it, I did not know what BL meant (thank you, google! lol!). This was the drama which led me down the BL rabbit hole I don't seem to be able to free myself of (just like CLOY led me down the k drama rabbit hole, I fortunately managed to get out of but that is another story!).

I remember loving the initial bodyguard premise, the chemistry, the dark cinematography, the beautiful ending scene. But I also remember there were things that kept bugging me while I was watching the drama. The first time I just decided not to pay attention to them. Unfortunately, I rewatched it a few times since then and even though I still enjoy it as much as the first time, I keep finding more and more flaws with it and consequently, my ratings keep dropping.

The drama was too short which left some things out: most importantly Kang Guk's backstory. We know NOTHING about him only that he has been Taeju's bodyguard for 15 years. Since Taeju seems to be in high school probably 18 years old, how old is his bodyguard? Probably much older than Taeju, logically speaking! Even though he goes to school with him, he must be older than 18. I am surprised nobody's screaming scandal, grooming!!!! Maybe the father? Taeju's father is a big company chairman but looks and acts like a mafia don. He sends his son away but lets him come back three years later?!? He must have had a change of heart? Yeah, right, like that is going to happen....

I haven't seen either the drama or the film in a long time so I cannot tell you what differences there are: apparently the voiceover, present in the drama is back in the film and it truly helps with explaining the plot and the title. It looks like they recorded additional voiceover for some of the final scenes.

I love this director's films and dramas: they are practically the only ones I rewatch regularly (To My Star is by far my favourite BL!). But that does not mean that I am blind to their flaws which, in spite of excellent stories, sometimes sound false and cringy...

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Would be better if it were longer

After the rather heated production woes of the previous film, John Woo split from Tsui Hark and went off to self-finance his original draft for A Better Tomorrow III and in the process create his masterpiece, Bullet in the Head. With Woo and Hark's working relationship having deteriorated, Hark decided to helm his vision of a prequel himself. Unfortunately what we get ultimately feels like Hark being lazy, cashing in on the name with Hark's take on the heroic bloodshed genre, one of which he grounds into a harsh reality. The biggest problem with this film for me is its writing, it doesn't really feel like a prequel to A Better Tomorrow because the character depth and dynamics we loved so much about the previous two just aren't here.

However, there's still some good stuff to be found in A Better Tomorrow III, Hark's direction is fabulous with so many of his trademark imaginative camera shots and the action is brilliant, especially the finale involving machine guns, a tank and a motorbike; the music by Lowell Lo is lovely and makes good use of Joseph Koo's cues and, despite him really not giving a shit about this film or how his character was written, Chow Yun-fat turns in a marvellous performance as Mark once again. All in all, if you go in with much lower expectations, A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon will deliver an enjoyable if immensely flawed ride.

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