Meng Li Jiang Shan, Zhang Zhong Feng Hua (2025)

enjoyable prime example of what VD excels at

Great chemistry underplayed for the purpose of the audience longing for more. FL who is a self-determined power and a ML who is loyal, compassionate for his girl and kicks ass of anybody crossing him, but both smart and open to share intimate moments with abandon and no shame.
A simple story stripped of superfluous subplots and unnecessary explanations presented in a concise (even if at times illogical) manner with just a few characters that exude humanity (the good the bad and the ugly) and actors who embody these characters and give their best to make us care about or hate them. All of that presented in (what I call) VD frames: selective focus on mood with the use of close ups and extreme closeups and chest+head shots interspersed with use of color/lack of it, blurring/fog/muslin cover that take away attention from well-known vistas, locations, exteriors and interiors and make you connect with the feelings on the screen, but with immaculate costumes, hairdo and makeup and occasional artistic detail that is very pleasant to watch. Except the occasional bumming of the shot like the failure to erase the wires from the falling down shot 🤣🤣🤣
I really enjoyed the mature (age and screen work) acting of the leads including almost chuckling moments and since I am not a fan of angst but collaboration of the leads - this was 7.25 for me.

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All within My Palm (2025), aka Mountains and Rivers in the Dream (2025) is a very good rebirth revenge miniseries with a small lovely dose of romance with ML: Chen Rui Feng (as Xiao Jing Zhan) and FL: Yang Zhi Wen (as Shen Zhi Wei) in the leading couple's role. The cast did a very good job bringing their characters to life, and in less than two hours, this drama delivers a well-thought-out revenge/vindication plot with some well done action scenes (ignore the wires from the falling down shot) and a fiery romance from the leading couple that managed to convey intense emotions through body language and two beautiful and sensual intimate scenes done with finesse. Overall, this drama is very entertaining, enjoy it!
In the meantime, you can watch the drama on YouTube:"The common daughter of Zhao State returns with memories" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkWm_lNrsv8)
Also: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buambeBdU6M)

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