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Dai Gaozheng is spectacular
Dai Gaozheng as Gu Linyuan is spectacular in this costume drama.I did not know Tu Zhiying (who plays Yun Feifei) despite she was in small support roles in Only For Love and The Pavilion, plus another one that I have yet to complete (was too busy at the time).
The story is well paced, time goes quickly since it is only 20 x 10 minutes or so; can be watched in two sittings with a pause for snack, or like a 2 hours movie. It is an original script.
Although a costume drama, it is not historical. It is a wuxia fantasy in martial universe, opposing a sect and an enforcement agency the backing of which is not very clear: sect or government? It does not really matter.
The synopsis says that Yun Feifei is the (female) "headhunter of the Six Sects", the incompatible rival of Gu Linyuan from "Qiankun gang". In Chinese, qian(乾) means heaven and kun(坤) earth ; qiankun （乾坤） is the universe. In many fantasy xianxia, wuxia or xuanhuan dramas, we may encounter a "qiankun bag", a magic one where all sorts of things can be stored and hidden from sight, but there is no such bag in this drama. Instead, qiankun conveys the occult, dishonest nature of the sect whose leader's daughter is a shameless minx, intent on tying Gu Linyuan to her in an unholy marriage and binding him and her minions further with a Perish Pill (a potent drug with addictive effect). Cultivation powers were just a tool for the leads, to use extraordinary strength, even bordering telekinesis, and to fight spectacularly, but not to the point of flying. But acupoints were used to subdue a victim, poisonous arrows were shot, and specially poisoned darts to cause memory loss. The leads still united to find a cure for the Perish Pill, despite mortal dangers and possible betrayers.
The sets are familiar for those who watch many fantasy or wuxia dramas. One scene with changing rooms had me chuckle since it featured the same rooms that were used in another drama (probably more than one): a modern one that also had a steamy scene there (Embrace in the Dark Night). Less than ancient urban setting, the story takes place in rooms of cult seats, "libraries", and away from town, in a remote but tastefully furnished ancient country house near a bamboo forest which sways in the wind, not too far from a temple which sports "fate" or "good luck wishes" : rectangular pieces of red painted wood inscribed by fortune seekers in handwriting and hung as pendants on "holy" trees, blessed by the fengshui master there (such good luck charms are traditional in some such real places in China).
That said, the chemistry between the leads in Lost You Found You was sweet, despite the induced misunderstandings, and the kiss scenes are quite excellent. We don't get as much a glimpse of Dai Gaozheng's spectacular abs (as in Maid's Revenge): after all, costume dramas can't go much into undressing! Anyway, the costumes are pleasing to watch, if expected, and the pendant in two parts is a nice looking sign and jewel.
The main, ending song : Your Last Name, My First Name (你的姓氏我的名字) by Liu Da Na (刘大拿) is very sweet, somewhat wistful : an ear-worm one.
The end was hovering between tragic and happy ; the happy one prevailed, probably in order not to displease audience, but I felt it to be rather implausible, so only 9.5 for me. But I would still recommend Lost You Found You to those who have some notions about this type of c-drama, and of course, to those who like watching the evolution of Dai Gaozheng's acting career.
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A snack with mustard for rainy days and rants
This drama had beautiful scenery in the famous water town (50km from Shanghai) a part of which is scenic ancient Zhou zhuang (village of the Zhou family). Those who have been there will recognize the ancient and modern parts of the city, which won an award for ecology in 2016 (her is some date about it : https://iwa-network.org/city/kunshan/).The family name of the three grown daughters is Xiang, but only two are blood related to the retired father and mother. Xiang Nan 向南 (played by Wang Yuwen) is an adopted survivor from a friend's family which was killed in an accident. Xiang Qian 向前 (played by Bai Baihe) is the eldest, as her name gives away, and Xiang Zhong 向中 (Li Chun) is the middle one, as her name also points to.
The title in Chinese means 'Good reunion' (Hǎo tuányuán 好团圆) and the drama is adapted from a novel the title of which translates to "The Years of the Goddess" ; it is a relatively ordinary family drama, which was included in Tencent catalogue in May 2023 with a first poster in June announcing the three FL, and authorized to shoot for 12 months starting in July 2023. It did not take that long since by December, the first trailer was released with main moments (https://weibo.com/7843789699/NxdPDkdYh) , the final trailer was released in June with English subtitles on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-C-_QaMFhM).
The cast was composed of seasoned actors and actresses ; newcomer Chang Huasen (noticed in A Journey To Love) had a brief role. Bai Baihe and Wang Yuwen stood out, as expected; the stubborn and righteous character stuck in the middle, played by Li Chun, stomped her way through the story. The male "spouse" or "boyfriend" characters were a collection of misfits or villains from start, and Deng Haiyang (played by Chen He) the sloth seemed the worst, until Gao Ping the schemer (Zhang Tao) revealed his true colors, overshadowed by the violent and controlling narcissist Yu Jinwei (Jiang Hongbin) : a cautionary tale for young naive ladies hoping for marriage. A fleeting flirt added sizzle but no future, with Wang Yuxi (Chang Huasen). The drama was so female centric that the more acceptable males : hot headed dad and ever supportive boss and godfather, friend of the sloth, seemed unable to lift the men into more desirable role models.
The OST features nice songs; one sung by Liu Yuning : 这一路 (On This Road) ; another by Curly Gao : 遇见 (Meet You) and a third one by Shi Yue/Abby : 最好的答案 (The Best Answer) The following is a video compilation of those three songs, with Hanzi, pinyin transcription and English translation on screen : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80bobz97yFM (total time 13 minutes)
The drama fell flat for Chinese audiences who were not enthralled by what they felt was too much of a hackneyed theme. It has not achieved a Douban rating, and the Chinese press did not rush to comment, was not kind, describing it as a pastime if you have time to kill, and as too reminiscent with less thrills of a reality show that aired before it.
Our Days, therefore, is only an okay drama, not groundbreaking, with some flaws (drag, fillers, plot holes if you look for those, too stereotyped "villain" men so the story may feel preachy in its "warning ladies" purpose). But it can indeed be enjoyed on WeTV as a modern aside. It is not full of annoying product placement (well, the cars and phones, of course, some children's books and toys, modern home appliances perhaps, the remote controlled curtains, .... in line with the "smart home" profession of Xiang Qian, and the many bottles of beer, a staple in c-dramas ; I was almost surprised by the absence of the elsewhere ubiquitous face masks). And the characters are pretty, if stereotyped; the sibling relationship of the sisters was rather good, if a bit idealized.
I came to watch it after Liu Yuning's mentioned it in his long livestream, where he was singing samples from the songs he sung for 5 dramas that aired almost at the same period. I watched it for Wang Yuwen, admiring also Bai Baihe, and the pleasant surprise of Chang Huasen who brought a too short spark of sizzle, enjoying the views of the canal town in Kunshan, of Suzhou a stone's throw away, and Shanghai.
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Three minutes travelogue for Wu Lei fans - not a drama
I had watched this before, but not noticed until now that it was included on MDL as if it was a full movie or drama.It is not uncommon for actors to do travelogues or vlogs of their trips, even modeling abroad, videos that can be shot quite professionally, like the most recent fours short videos linked under the title "On The Road" that Chen Zheyuan shot in Dubai in mid April 2024. Such pieces are usually watched mainly on the original social media of their idols by fans of the actors or of the fashion they showcase in foreign settings, or discovered by the fandom explorers.
This video, If I'm Not Wu Lei, shot in Sri Lanka, dates back to the times when tourism boomed in Asia before covid. It comes with a message : "Don't Wait For Life, Live It". Wu Lei has lived it up to do road trip vlogs of his bike travels in the Xinjiang, and an introduction to the coastal city of Xiamen, as brand ambassador. If the latter featured well known highlights of the "must see" circuit, it also included experiences that felt more personal, like this little video , where Wu Lei watches the country fly by from the train window, or briefly encounters curious youngsters of a different culture, in a kaleidoscope of pictures that make those in front of the screen feel the rush and impermanence of traveling.
But traveling abroad can also be romantic, and this was incorporated later in his full drama Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, set for a good third in Helsinki, Finland, with a small trip, not unlike this Sri Lanka one, to Annecy in France, before the evening out stargazing on top of a mountain.
For the rookie fans of Wu Lei (in addition to trawling his Weibo pages and other social media), I recommend the pages of the blog and YouTube channel of " Wu Lei Galaxy ", which is very comprehensive and up to date.
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Chinese family feud to kill time on a rainy day
This is a chaotic story, less comedy than caricature of the survival into modern days of outdated customs and the clash of greed and family.An awful looking fortune teller, who of course had a hidden backer, instructed a gullible middle aged woman (Chen Guihua) to get her son (Gu Jiahui) and daughter in law (Yu Jing) to "make a descendant", less for her own desire than for getting back a dowry she was cheated out of when she agreed to divorce her son's dad (Gu Dequan). She suddenly arrived at her son's apartment, in company of her "step daughter" (Yu Chun).
The daughter in law was busy setting up a company with a best friend (Xiao Shan), so making babies was not her primary goal ; Xiao Shan, feeling the threat if Yu Jing changed her mind, with all the baby care products she sold online, took a drastic step to force a divorce between her friend and her wimpy husband.
The old man was quite the fiend, aided and abetted by his second wife cum free caretaker (Li Xiao), who was not even pitiable.
The couple found out about the conspiracies and tried to confront the ones who were behind them. Even those who seemed close to Chen Guihua and Yu Jing were double faced.
Fights, abduction, slanders, embezzlement, wife beating, mistreatment.... That family, the couple is saddled with, is as dysfunctional as can be. Will the old fiend, at the brink of death, get a redemption and escape punishment for his decades of wrongdoings ? He does get a slap in the face when he is confronted with the truth about his younger son. If tradition requires descendants, he has in fact no choice. He is afraid to die alone and get to afterlife with no proper mourning in his luxurious mansion in cherry growing countryside, despite his ill gotten wealth.
The drama is fast paced, sometimes jumpily so, and there is a happy end of sorts.
Can be watched for a few hours on a rainy day, amused by the wives epic hair pulling, like hens flying into each other's feathers ; a fat rabbit once steals the show.
The full cast was not disclosed on Baidu, despite there are only 7 who drive that mini drama. Here they are, from end credits :
Chen Guihua 陈桂花, is played by Shen Chang 沈畅
Yu Jing 于静 is played by Li Yizhen 李奕臻
Gu Jiahui 顾家辉 is played by Danson Tang /Tang Yuzhe 唐禹哲
Xiao Shan 肖珊, played by Pang Yixin "Scarlett" 庞奕欣
Yu Chun 俞春 is played by Chen Zhiqiao 陈芷翘
Gu Dequan 顾徳全 is played by Li Ou 李欧
Li Xiao 李晓 is played by Suxiu 苏绣
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Worth watching to know more about Grand Canal culture in the 2000-2010s !
It is a coming of age, period piece, around the Grand Canal of China, and Beijing in the period 2008-2016, about family matters, close community friendship and the choices faced with changing times, changing ways of transport, of work, of cities, of health, from the 2000s to the late 2010s, recovering and valuing humble proof of ancient roots to strengthen the ties together, and realism of the sentiments. There are sweet moments, but since it is between childhood sweethearts, there is also a lot of pulling back and forth, no misunderstandings but uncertainty since the ML, and the group of 3-4 boys and 2 girls that he leads informally, need to choose their path and the way to stay together and support each other. Work comes first, and there is stiff competition in studies and on the job market, so the ML, even if he has bright ideas, cannot hope to become an industry leader in his twenties without strong backing that he lacks. So he and his friends struggle, until they find what and who they are made for.Culturally, even if it is not at all "a musical", the specificity is the music which deploys an anthology of the Chinese pop songs that were known to all, in those 15-20 years of the 21st century (Pengyou, Ting Mama de Hua, Mama Hao, Beijing Huanying Ni, Beijing Beijing, Two Bufferflies aka "亲爱的你慢慢飞 Qīn'àide nǐ mànman fēi" ...), with 6 additional new OST songs by emerging composer Zhang Yilin (who has also been music director for c-drama Six Sisters). Zhang Yilin composed music for six songs in Go North, sung by others, including the nostalgic "Yuǎnfāng" sung by relative newcomer Li Wanda/Vanda Margraf (she has an unusual background, so I added a "Profile" for her in Discussions section. The FL Xia Fenghua is in love with the songs of Chris Lee, who is still very much favored as an idol singer of original Chinese pop music, so a few of her songs are used repeatedly.
The cast is outstanding, both the 6 of the "young generation" and the parents.
Bai Lu (as Xia Fenghua "Da Huazi") did a fantastic job to portray the character evolution from "ugly duckling" tomboy to woman of decisions.
Vanda Margraf (as Ma Siyi) is a relative newcomer and this is her first drama, but she certainly has potential
Ou Hao, the ML, showed with nuances the optimistic young leader who learns from disappointments
Zhai Zilu (as Shao Xingchi) stood out, playing a young man who chooses the most difficult path of struggle
Gao Zhiting (as Zhao Haikuo) was memorable for his playing the nerd who prefers hometown to anonymous position in IT business
Liu Hengfu (as Chen Rui) played a crucial role in staying true to his values
The supporting cast of the elders also had memorable characters and actors :
Hu Jun (as "Boss" Xie Tiancheng) played skillfully his role as defeated mariner, overcoming finally his difficulty to accept changing times and role in his small family
Qi Huan (as Liang Haihong) portrayed well the change in women's lives and the challenges faced with new risks and heartache
Wang Xueqi (as "grandpa" Zhou Yipu) was memorable for his position as anchor, slowly weakened by time
Sa Ri Na (as "grandma" Ma) was the link and spark to recover the hidden truths and ties that bound everyone together
Yue Yang (as Shao Bingyi) was the star-crossed writer with spiky character hiding a hidden benevolence
Li Naiwen (as Zhou Yanlin) was convincing as a chef loyal to his cooking art and his roots
Tong Lei (as Luo Zhimei) was true in her portrayal of a woman suffering from incompatible choice between family and vocation
Tu Ling (as Li Yan) was the woman who refused family feudalism, but whose moral commitment not to burden others could have wrecked her daughter Fenghua's happiness.
Sun Dachuan (as teacher Xu) emerged as an inspiring educator figure
There were villains and heroes, cowards and timid types, decisive and ruthless people, selfish and generous characters, a cross-section of ordinary people in realistic environments and changing patterns of life and society.
There is humor and sadness, hopes and disappointments, but a clear moral emerges from the sticky mud : go for it, North or to foreign land, to find your own path and still remain true to your roots and allegiances. An excellent story, beautifully filmed, and the drama is a good interpretation of the award winning serious novel.
For more information, links to songs and more, you can turn to my illustrated Companion Piece, housed in Discussions section : https://kisskh.at/discussions/740015-bei-shang/139272-companion-piece-for-northward-beishang
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This review may contain spoilers
A different time travel romance
I was really taken by this thrilling drama which took us high in the Ferris wheel and low in the hidden haunts of modern criminals, and back and forth in space and time to sweep away the misunderstandings that pushed Qian Wei into her first 2022 predicaments.This story was very satisfying for me and I enjoyed the mix of modern real life, "long gone" past of 2011, and a dash of mystery, even magic with the destiny changing ring, "seeing" the future and use the warnings to avoid disasters despite events sometimes being unavoidable.
Song Zu'er, playing the shrewd staccato fire talking lawyer's paralegal and Z.Tao the star lawyer of the firm, with his unmistakable deep voice, are very good actors; the rest of the cast did not put their work to shame.
It was not a mere love story, though, and it was interesting to learn about the evolution of some laws and regulations in China from 2011 to present day, and Chinese college of law life where the students competed for first place, debated, participated in community work, amateur theater, were hired by law firms, worked on intellectual property cases and less obvious ones; and also how justice was served and how criminals were sentenced.
There were a lot of twists in the sub plots that ,ever strayed too far from the main story. The aspirations of the characters were varied, in the field of law but also business, music, media producing... There was food for thought including about food!
The OST is of course very good, with songs penned by Z.Tao.
So even though it was 33 episodes long, it was not boring and the end could even have been spinned further for the ones who, well hooked on this drama, were relunctant to see it come to an end after having been kept on tenterhooks for the best part of the last few episodes until today.
Now, I'll move to rewatch for the small details that were unavoidably missed!
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Sweet realistic romance
The story is indeed slow burn, and I admit there were moments when I felt slightly bored, but I still think the actors were excellent, both Yang Zi and Xiao Zhan and the supporting cast of younger and older actors. Special mention to the nice little boy who played the role of Cupid in the hospital ward.I was not drawn in immediately, found the bar scene a bit hysterical and Yang Zi despite her dimples looked too old at first (she is 29) to play the role of a supposed 23 year old behaving like a rash and rebellious adolescent in the first episodes. But turning out to be a rather repressed girl afraid of going all the way with her partner despite being able to enter his apartment almost at all times and getting a sterling occasion when she could share a room for a weekend. She was hiding their relationship from the terminally ill father and the mother who might also be opposed to her dating a doctor with a big age difference.
Xiao Zhan was quite well cast here, as the serious and attentive bachelor doctor wrapped up in his profession, who still had not found a love interest before his attraction to the ebullient girl. His talks with her were very reasonable, and the chemistry was rather natural, although I am not fond of lengthy deep inscrutable stares, to express his character's difficulty when he was in a quandary because of nasty news or events. Nor did I like the plot device of having him suffer from a psychological trauma because of a previously unsuccessful operation.
It got better on the way. The story is very simple. It carried some lessons about interpersonal relations, touched on the present world dangers to some professionals when they get in the cross hairs of social media rumors and disputes.
The ending was very satisfactory, romance wise.
I don't know if the difference between the TV version (which was unavailable to me) and the other version (DVD or international online 29 episode release) is only a question of cutting to size for ads or if there was more in the 32 episode TV version. I found the 29 episode version sufficient to my taste, but I don't think I will go back to rewatch it soon.
I am not that fond of the OST songs either: one makes me feel like it is a sort of lullaby, too sugary for me. But the whole story being steeped in honey brew, I cannot be too critical there. It is a "nice" story, very clean, very respectful of current social rules, and it deals with problems that anybody can expect (age, illness, protecting one's reputation) and hopes that everyone may have (the oath of love in the end is very sweet). It certainly is worth watching once at least.
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Let's go on holidays !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVAqlybDwc&t=287s (episode 1) 19.50 minutes full screenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU3e6PssdY4 (episode 2) 19.08 minutes, mobile phone screen format in the beginning, to get in the mood of the mobility
both subtitled or double subtitled Hanzi + English.
It feels like a while now since episode 1 was out, I was almost despairing to get to see episode 2. At last, it dropped on screen today :-)
I love this feeling of traveling by proxy with a smiling and humorous travel companion ! Islands, markets, volcanoes, and now underwater : exhilarating! I too used to collect postcards to send souvenirs including to self, and visited some unusual post offices, that had unusual stamps, but did not know about this one which makes the trip particularly interesting.
And a beautiful sunrise on June 29 (2023, presumably), after the time stamp 5 am on the phone's screen,, so we know when that was filmed : did "post production" take that long that we only got to see it now?
That episode 2 outing to discover another island in the archipelago felt like best of holiday making : dream like accommodation with a pier, dancing on old music, night sky illuminated by fire eaters to remind us of the previous episode where the Earth itself blew fire.
Wu Lei stated in another video (the one about Xiamen in the Marvelous City series), that he had a fear of the sea ; yet, he pushed his limits and overcame it, even diving under potentially dangerous rocks or hard coral : he admitted he was a little scared, but curiosity drove him to do it anyway. He got a reward from the lofty sky down to azure stellar life of those clear waters.
Short episodes but so nice to share his view of the world he travels to!
"best supporting actor goes to the mouse" :-D
There was not much music there. Since this is French speaking islands, I would have suggested Polnareff's "Holidays" song, an oldie but goldie : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oTIf6AvsaY (especially the hook and riff with the last chorus)
That will be my review, then, in waiting for further micro adventures.
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Food for thought, Dear spiky mommy, darling daughter who doesn't lose her aims in life
As most audience noticing in headlines Yang Zi and Xu Kai, I had got sold on an office romance when indeed it is a family drama about, at center, the conflicted relationship between a mom and daughter. But there's more than just that, it's a dark cuisine take on sustenance and food for thoughtThat mom was to start with extremely grating on the nerves : a character one loves to hate ? As episodes went by, it looked like it, but of course, lack of reason and shrewish behavior had to run their course until spent.
From the moment the mom realized how important it was for all to be more appeased, she became what everyone hopes for, a caring and doting person, who wraps the worst heartaches in warmth and nourishment. Could she get the same when she needed it? It was not easy: she did not wish to have roles reversed. What she was faced with is ultimately what many women fear, not divorce, not sudden death...
Redemption does not always bring sweet rewards as we also saw. Although it was rather expected, it was very well performed and logical.
It was a roller coaster of an emotional journey. "Liu Wan Yu", the alley queen mom, will certainly be a memorable role for He Saifei, who showed so many sides of what moms can be. She indeed should have been billed among the main roles.
Yang Zi and Xu Kai were, as expected, good leads, in an almost too reasonable adult relationship (so those who crave hot fire will be disappointed, but those who like it more down to earth will feel the warmth of realistic human touch). Their Huan Huan and Ming Ming were sometimes very funny, scaling walls and catching all sorts of fish although the returnee initially preferred raw sashimi (and raw treatment of peccadilloes) and the "alley princess" looked less for pearls and fairy tale frogs, more to the fabled crucian carp white soup with tofu. One image of simply, lovingly held in hand, half peeled soft skinned immaculate hard boiled egg struck me. Breakfasts should never be skipped...
Most of the other actors and actresses are good in their supporting roles. The father, who can shout but prefers to play the role of peace maker. The son, who looks to find his own way with the best friend, helping her and himself ultimately. The ironic but faithful male secretary. The insufferable in law hicks with their fat bully offspring. The scheming colleagues and bosses, those who care more for money than for honesty. The queen bee grandmother who provided the fairy honeyed glue to bind the leads. The repentant father who strayed like a cat craving for a family. They formed a rich dark cuisine of varied tastes, some disgusting, some wholesome, and some surprising in their changeability.
The music score and songs was very appropriate, especially the episode end song sung by the two stars, Yang Zi and He Saifei: "It’s mother, it’s daughter" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcljQOCYmg4 with translation and pinyin). This is a simple, but gripping song that resonates for all who are or have been mothers... It also embodies well the struggles of the generational gap the characters faced.
The last handful episodes were very good and healing --ok, I know : as expected, but so well performed, with beautiful cinematography, and a snippet of performance of a favorite Huangmei opera (The Female Consort), that Zhou Shen a few years back included in one of his endearing songs titled Huangmei Opera, where he weaves in his song the nostalgy of attending those performances and a short snippet, that is easy to recognize for those who reach episode 37 of BCE, warts and all. Here is the link to the Zhou Shen song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z325SnsDIU
By the way, the dishes featured in BCE are not bad either, I was relishing the gamut from raw fish sashimi to crucian carp white soup with tofu, and of course that mandarin fish dish which gave me a literal craving to up and storm the stores to get ingredients and start cooking!! These were some of my best take away from the roller coaster of emotions that audience were subjected to, in the mother-daughter relentless sparring. Now why do I come back to that... Just finished it, so digesting.
Don't look down on that drama because of its tepid Douban opening rating; it is worth much more, in the end.
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Short thriller, for a rainy day
This is a thriller, where two sisters investigate the suicide of their father, years earlier.Coincidentally, the younger sister Lu Xi finds that her childhood playmate Xie Ziyu has now become the young (prince) vice president of a large company after a long stay abroad. But the expected budding romance is minimal, while the elder married sister’s marriage is on the rocks and her position as director in the Xie group does not totally protect her from malicious men.
Clue-hunting, both women almost get killed several times, but is it prescience or dreams or magic time travel? Lu Xi manages twice to get back to original point before her sister could be killed. This reset device looks so matter-of-fact that it appears almost unnecessary for the plot, like an added fig in a plum tree..
The drama started with some promise, but soon became humdrum. The reasons for the murder were rather weak and why the two women started investigating there and then remains murky.
The short drama is still watchable, but none of the actors really stand out, and the chemistry is not that strong.
The plot, at times, is very weak, with implausible pursuits, too predictable villains, hoodlum kids who don't serve a real purpose and look like they only filled time...
There's not much to take home from that drama, except it may help kill time on a rainy day if nothing more exciting is up there.
The music was not remarkable. There's no real point re-watching. Watching it once is enough: once the mystery is gone, it is like a burst soap bubble, not one of the most dazzling ones either.
The 18 episodes are short and have been compiled into 3 parts which have been posted to YouTube.
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A wonderful two episode fantasy very short mini drama about a phone
This mini drama (about 12-13 minutes for each of the two episodes) is very refreshing and endearing.The story revolves about the imaginary friend of a lonely little girl who will grow up and find the imaginary friend yielding to a real life one in the second episode, as it should be. But the phone, despite it needing to be updated periodically, may still accompany her faithfully even into the future. At the time, the Oppo brand was still not very well known, now it is.
It shows an optimistic and imaginative vision of a peaceful present and future, and showcases the use of a phone not only as a means of communication, but also as a treasured possession at the service of its owner, almost like a full friend in the flesh.
The bleating of the alarm is a tongue-in-cheek play on Yang Yang's acquired nickname "mie mie" and his Chinese zodiac star sign as a Sheep. The actor's youthful, slightly clownish or android like appearance and act complement the liveliness of the little girl who is the other main character.
The two episodes are easy to find on YouTube, using the keywords "[Eng subs] Yang Yang @ phone mini drama - part 1 of 2"
It is well worth the half hour watching, for every public, not only the die hard "yangmao" fans.
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A delightful movie about how cinema came to China.
This movie is delightful and deservedly won praise when it was shown. Being familiar with the history of Chinese cinema and the famous 1905 early movie Dingjun Mountain, directed by Ren Qingtai (任慶泰) a.k.a. Ren Jingfeng (任景豐), who was assisted by his cinematographer Liu Zhonglun (劉仲伦), I found it endearing to see these pioneer's life and hopes be portrayed in this movie, including the photograph taking of Empress Ci Xi, and the risks of handling the earliest film strips.Writer, producer and director Ann Hu's 35mm debut Shadow Magic (2000) won both the Chinese Academy Award and Presidential Award in China for Best film among other international prizes. The film premiered at the 2000 Sundance film Festival and released by Sony Classics in 2001.
Synopsis : "Beijing, 1902: an enterprising young portrait photographer named Liu Jinglun, keen on new technology, befriends a newly-arrived Englishman who's brought projector, camera, and Lumière-brothers' shorts to open the Shadow Magic theater. Liu's work with Wallace brings him conflict with tradition and his father's authority, complicated by his falling in love with Ling, daughter of Lord Tan, star of Beijing's traditional opera. Liu sees movies as his chance to become wealthy and worthy of Ling. When the Shadow Magic pair are invited to show the films to the Empress Dowager, things look good. But, is disaster in the script? And, can movies preserve tradition even as they bring change?"
The movie has a fuller Wikipedia page : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Magic#cite_note-1
The director also has an interesting story :
Ann Hu / Hú Ān 胡安 born 胡小平 (Hú Xiǎopíng) in 1956, grew up in Beijing. After finishing middle school, she was assigned to work as a waitress but studied by herself in view of passing college entrance examination, when those exams resumed in 1977. She next studied English at Beijing International Studies University in 1977 and came to the USA in 1979 to study at New York University as one of the earliest students to go to the United States after the Cultural Revolution. She stayed there as a businesswoman, working in an international company, shifting carer to study film making at NYU Film School after meeting Chen Kaige in 1987.
In 1992, she wrote and directed her first film, "Old Stories of Mountains and Rivers" 《山河旧话》
In 2000, her film "Shadow Magic" 《西洋镜》 was released in mainland China, and she won the 37th Taiwan Golden Horse Film Award for Best Cross-Media Adapted Screenplay.
In 2005, the film "Still Beautiful" 《美人依旧》 directed by her was released.
On December 4, 2020, the family inspirational film "Confetti" English title of 《五彩缤纷》("Colorful"), inspired by her struggle to help her dyslexic daughter, written and directed by her was released in mainland China. It was also shown abroad in 2021.
Douban page : https://www.douban.com/personage/27515319/
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Some nice songs of the time, but not by Z.Tao - where was he ?
The drama was an average rom com about a hard working Cinderella from a township in the backwards interior country, gone to earn money in a Qingdao convenience store. Her purpose in giving up her freedom as a sort of indentured worker was to support her brother's studies. We barely see the brother in the beginning and he does not reappear, but she falls in love with a handsome customer who came back to hand over the excess change he had got on a purchase. It turns out that this "shuai gege" was a famous photographer on the brink of separating from a long time lover who never acknowledged publicly their ties, because of her contracts prohibiting relationships... Could little "leaf" (Ye Zi) grow to stand beside her crush, who was more overshadowing her, than letting her break free and grow from her family's expectations?Joe Cheng played quite well in my opinion, Li Fei'er and PeiPei (Ye Zi and Flora) were projecting the expected contrast of the poor (but not destitute) girl and the glam starlet. Some half annoying accompanying characters made up most of the rest of cast, : Ye Zi's childhood friend, her mother, her nosy colleague and her over-enthusiastic clownish boss, with exception for a shortly seen adorable old couple whose dearest wish is easy to fulfill : a wedding picture! That's perhaps the first time Z.Tao appeared in the background (ep.7), for his "silent cameo" : otherwise, perhaps a glimpse in ep11 too, although the Ke Chuan name of his character eluded me. Baidu only listed Z.Tao as 客串 (cameo), with a further note (歌手，演员) : singer, actor, but he does not appear to be singing in the drama, be it in front of camera or as bgm.
The theme song is played over and over again : Qin Ai Mo Sheng Ren (亲爱陌生人) Beloved Stranger by Della Ding (丁当). This was at the time a hit song, produced by Mayday's Ashin and was the latest creation of MP Magic Power lead singer Tingting (廷廷) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhFBCtysub4
The ending song was also a hit one, title song of Yen-J ( 严爵 ) Taiwanese lyrics and tune composer and singer's first album : Thanks for Your Beautifulness (謝謝你的美好) released 2010-04 (and also used as end theme for another TW drama that did not make much waves and is not included on MDL) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LioVy6CQfxc (with lyrics)
Some other songs are strewn in, including two Rene Liu ones : Chang Yi (长椅) Bench and Zhi Jie (直接) Straightforward
I was looking for Z.Tao, since the drama was listed in his filmography as first appearance in such type of work, but came away frustrated, unsure I recognized him ; unless he disguised as singer Yen-J lookalike then... (That singer is not supposed to be included in cast, except for OST).
As a drama, this one is marred by repetitiousness, overuse of flashbacks, and sudden cuts (perhaps for inserting ads). Also, by a terribly low picture quality, border to blurry, in the only accessible online version; it may be better on other type of recording, but it is not really going to appeal to present day audiences, because much there is so outdated now (use of cash in stores...), and the story was already too cliché unrealistic. It is not unwatchable, but requires patience and interest in the past, although a past not far enough in time to make it into a document.
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Thriller and comedic, fun for some who are not afraid of tropes, Luo Zheng and He Ruixian drama
Synopsis on dramawiki : "This tells the story of Gu Yi, a strong and assertive man who is unruly, promiscuous, and ignorant about love, and Qiao Jing, a seemingly weak woman who is actually determined, courageous, and intelligent. " Official Baidu presentation has it as ""Heartbeat" tells the story of Gu Yi (played by Luo Zheng), a "strong man" who is rebellious, romantic, and doesn't understand love, and Qiao Jie (played by "two-faced girl") who seems to be weak, but is actually resolute, courageous and resourceful. He Ruixian), the love story of the two from falling in love and killing each other to sadistic and infatuated love" (Google translation; and no, they never "kill each other"! This was a mistranslation of an expression which would have been better termed "torturing each other" which even then is rather exaggerated; as for the sadism: there is no BDSM or overt sadism in the couple's relationship, that we could witness.)This was the second time I watched a drama starring Luo Zheng (罗正).
The first one was "Time to fall in Love" which I ended up hating despite the pretty Hanfu dresses, because of the silly and annoying twin plot. I had not really been impressed by ML then, so came to this one with a wary bias, only because I was advised it would be a thriller romance. Coming more for the thriller than the romance, "Skip A Beat" did not disappoint me with all the twists and turns.
Lets quickly state for “parents guidance” that this drama is "not for everyone", because of some intense scenes, psychological and physical violence, gang style bloodying fight, death threats, a fall that induces a miscarriage (actual miscarriage discussed but not shown), drunk scenes (but no drugs, rape, or smoking), and miscellaneous questionable behavior (and, as usual, let's not use dramas as a moral compass to how we should behave in real life!)
There was not much product placement fun : cars, beer (was there a beauty cream: I am not sure?).
As for actors, I thought drama actress He Ruixian (何瑞贤), who was playing in her 10th drama the FL Qiao Jing 乔净 , was rather unmoving, looking very cold, which was in tune with her undercover investigation of a mystery that involved ML family and her former friend. I did not warm up to her for a while, especially during the “willing victim” beginning. I thought her character did not mesh with the "sharp cookie" description, and I was not really admiring her "independence" when she broke away, or her "fidelity to first love". As the episodes went by, they centered mostly on her relations with ML, a passing friend who grandly gave her a lease for a pretty house with a garden (before conveniently leaving the country) and a confidante in the form of a journalist best friend. She did cry nicely once, and kissed well, but did not look much like a romantic lover, mostly like a tepid one, too often with trust withheld, such as when she explored the contents of a phone record while ML was sleeping...
(As this was the first drama I saw where she featured, I did not come "for her", and I was not part of her 艾瑞丝 fandom: she seems to have garnered some faithful followers, from what I checked about her. So it was an interesting introduction to her style of acting, although I still am reserved about it).
But perhaps because of the mystery, and the blessed absence of the twin trope, I was not as annoyed by FL and characters as I was by those in TFIL.
There were plenty of antagonists and a festival of tropes, which after first puzzlement, I found very entertaining!
Watching comments, I was amused to find one that termed it as a "mix of Bollywood, Korean, Indian, even Turkish surprise" and just now, as I was checking what had been excerpted to Youtube, I had fun with one Turkish MV titled : "Yeni Dizi • Çin Klip | Sevdiğine başta acımasız davrandı sonra çok sevdi💜" But this drama would not make it to the standards of those musical summaries made by another well-known C-drama lover and Youtuber ; and I am not skilled enough to try doing it to the tune of the song "For I know that love is pain, please don't go away from me again, promise me that you'll be back: I can't stop loving you again" that featured in a much more torrid and sweet romance.
Places : The drama was shot from July 2018 in Changzhou, Jiangsu province. Changzhou is a 4 million inhabitants third tier city on the Yangtse river and the Grand Canal, between Nanjing, Zhenjiang and Suzhou-Wuxi. It has boomed in the 2000s with a business and hi tech district, busy highways and rapid transit, and skyscrapers, built on the sites of former factories, such as the developing area featured in ep.16. You can see the skyline under several angles in the drama, esp. in episode 20. Nevertheless, the shots purposefully don’t show the most recognizable landmarks (China's tallest Buddhist pagoda that was built in the city in the 2010s, dwarfing the ancient Tianning temple that was famous once for its 500 arhats and 12 jade Buddhas collection ; nor the well known Grand Canal side architectural gem called Qingguo Lane, that was home to Song dynasty poet Su Shi and many more scholars later). Aside from the modern business corporate offices, we do get a glimpse of Jiangnan house style (white-washed brick walls, more or less curved “hanging” or “hard hill” roofs with the signature, stylized, horizontal snake/dragon-like ridge ending with upturned fantastic beast pointed tails or blunt snouts on each side, flush gables or high firewalls at the ends, slate grey tiles). The Gu family home in the drama, with its green terrace for outside dining, is built in a modern quarter in this style, adding a few modern touches such as the diamond shaped window (ep.10). The nearby countryside under Changzhou prefecture has varied landscapes, including wooded hills, which could be the “Xilin mountain” in the drama (real Xilin is a part of the Changzhou city), with winding roads and hilltops and viewpoints, but I do not know the precise one used in the drama (the one with white railings on top of stairs partly masked by bamboos, appearing a few times such as in ep13, perhaps it is a new feature near Tianmuhu reservoir, or elsewhere ; I doubt it is in the Maoshan Mountain Scenic Area since we do not see the famous tea growing terraces there).
OST : The intro instrumental theme, with storyboard drawing pictures and live action clips, is nice. The background music is not overwhelming, fits the atmosphere of the scenes, and the pieces of classic piano music are well chosen. The ending theme song is called 《嘉宾》(Guest), written and composed by Wang Zeyan 王泽言 and Zhang Yuan 张远 (who is the male singer, with a pleasant voice). Lyricist and composer Fu Hao 付毫 also sang the song《空气》(Air) during episode, and is the author of the song 《Tell me why》 sung by He Ruixian in an interlude (but I can't remember exactly where these two songs featured). From discussion I was informed that "嘉宾 is played frequently throughout the drama. It is a very popular Chinese song that was released in 2021! It’s got like 41 million views on YouTube and ...it’s frequently used as the background music in Chinese social networking apps such as Douyin and 快手" (hmm perhaps that's why it sounded nicely pleasing, like a forgotten memory to me).
Back to description and my impressions, spoilers included :
The Bai Yun 白纭 SFL rival “fiancée” (played by Zhu Jintong 朱近桐) was not much present : she interacted infrequently with FL, except for first episode and later, the nasty shove moment). Bai Yun, a pianist and heir to a wealthy family, unlike FL, was the puppet of her ambitious family who had made her haughty (publicly humiliating FL in first episode) and unable to deal with setbacks (she would drink herself into a stupor).
She also was the puppet of her fawning music agent, and soon, of the scheming SML, Su Jue 苏倦 , played by Guo Jianan (郭迦南: an actor who has appeared in about 15 dramas since 2020, mostly as support, but also as sweet ML in 2022 short drama My dearest boss : he has much experience in varied roles, and played a convincingly vicious two-faced antagonist here).
I wondered if Luo Zheng whose shape and hair style reminds me somewhat of Xiao Zhan (but stiffer), also has a severe myopia necessitating contact lenses and giving a strange wide-eyed and often cold feeling look (different from XZ’s cross-eyed smiles with the slight gap between front teeth, whereas LZ’s does not show teeth in this drama) ? The "moody" or deranged, or bipolar (according to plot description) "condition", that got rather miraculously "successfully treated" out of camera focus, in the first episodes, were in tune with that look. So, his sudden morphing into a funny guy (Mr Rabbit) did both surprise and make his Gu Yi 顾译 more sympathetic in my opinion. But I do agree with those who think he was too pale, even when he supposedly was sunburned. Would that be because he was a former heart condition patient, who had undergone successful heart transplant ? Yet, he did not seem that sickly in many episodes. He did look vampire-style evil when “angry”, in the first “scary” episodes. Next, he suddenly became a driven suitor, who was trying his best to regain his position next to FL after their breakup. Gu Yi realizing he could not have both ladies, discarded resolutely the fiancée agreed on for business ties between families. He faced courageously the staunchly opposing mom and dad who could demote him from his CEO position and even have him work in a physically difficult position as construction worker.
Luo Zheng could and did act adequately in the various dramatic parts, as wronged son, struggling professional faced with treason from a “sworn brother” friend, bereavements.
ML interaction with FL was as I expected, and I did notice the kissing skill, justifying the "romance" tag.
He was quite comedic in the scenes as Mr Rabbit, those “botching chores” and “fat mama's son in law candidate” again doing chores. I did laugh there.
The fight scene (almost choreographed as copied out of MG script?) to defend FL was OK, although I thought that part too contrived in the scenario ; on the other hand I was much more dissatisfied by last fight scene with Su Juan and the knife wavering there. ML looked too weak and movements were too slow in that scene, so the drama, despite finally explaining all or most of the loose threads still hanging, ended up on the wrong side of bitter or better ending for me.
I don't really care about rating, but let's say this one also went down a notch for me because of the shaky justifications for some actions : Why on earth would a pregnant woman accept to meet a supposedly wheelchair and cane using sick man on top of an isolated platform involving climbing many stairs? (Phoning to get help getting back was not sufficient when she could have insisted to go later, with Gu Yi or with friend) and the implausible fight on company rooftop, mom in tears and FL stony-faced looking on. And then the rushed end resolution. Could we have had something warmer than just a poster bearer mom shoving household registration booklets into CP's hands to order them to get married ?
So, to sum it up, I did have fun and thrills. This included looking for, betting on, and counting the many tropes and twists on tropes that this drama offered. And comparing how they were used and adapted from the “model” dramas (MG...) that spawned them.
Now will I recommend this drama? Certainly not to everyone: not to pregnant women, not to easily triggered people, not to those who seek life lessons in drama (although the convicted criminals do get appropriate jail sentences, and the other offenders show regrets and will to reform). If roller coaster thrills, plot twists, cliff hanger episode ends, gleeful counting tropes, and watching with a "black humor" mental shield (let's say like coping in such fashion with GOT "Red Wedding" episode – but this drama never gets as gory as that classic) are fun to spend time, then it is quite enjoyable. I was not bored except dissatisfied with the way loose ends were tied in the finale.
Will I rewatch it? Likely not, despite my still feeling annoyed at myself for not having remembered immediately the names and composers of the famous piano pieces excerpted in the Bai Yun parts (I like to put names on places, people in dramas, and references, lol). But not because I regretted the time I spent watching it, nor are afraid of anything in that one, it is not toxic enough to cause me any nightmares! Just because I have watched and checked it carefully enough, and can now move on to other more remarkable dramas that are on my watchlist. (But I may rewatch the nice official iQiyi MV with the "Guests" theme song, which can be found, titled " 主題曲：張遠演唱 《嘉賓》細膩詮釋虐心愛情｜愛奇藝 "on YouTube).
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Predictable fast-food like youth c-drama
At Decheng Technical University (fictitious), set near Xiamen and its well-known twin towers raised like gigantic 58-stories high surfboards close to shore, Lu Hui (Duan AoJuan), a face-blind student, is starting another year together with her best friend, bespectacled Zhen Fanxing (Kuliko Shen). Lu Hui often takes photos of young men’s walking, backs turned to her, in the hope of finding a long-lost savior boy from her childhood, and wins a prize with one such picture, submitted by Jiang Yiming (Lu YunFeng), the president of the photography club, whose almost same age niece Guo Jiajia (Zhang Xinyi) leads the News club. Two young guys, handsome and athletic Lang Chenzhou (Chen Bohao), and his cutely bespectacled cousin Lang Youlang (Xiong Wenwen) join these clubs…. The story, from then on, is very predictable, and despite some choppy editing, it could have even been further reduced in episodes. The students are shy, can’t get together swiftly, don’t dare even to kiss, until last episodes. Still, the drama amusingly ends on an encouragement for one couple to have three children in 5 years (yes, the message is that China has turned its back on the one-child policy for a while, and urges young couples to alleviate the greying of its population, together with being more accepting of some physical or cognitive defects, such as prosopagnosia, i.e. face blindness).There is not much more to say.
The actors are not very well-known, most have hitherto only played support roles in some other dramas, except Zhang Xinyi, who was FL in unremarkable “Warm Time With You” but is playing a rather annoying and insensitive part here; and Lu Yunfeng who had a number of roles including a few ML ones in other unremarkable dramas, and is perhaps best remembered for his short guest role as Xia Xue / "Snowing" ['King of Glory' professional player] (Ep. 13-14) in “You Are My Glory”. He also has support roles in recent “Song of the Moon” and in “Insect Totem”. 26-year-old ML Chen Bohao, a graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, has a pretty face which will appear again in upcoming “Till The End Of The Moon” as supporting actor, and in four other upcoming dramas. 22-year old Duan Ao Juan is a singer, born in Chengdu, Sichuan. She was a “member of Rocket Girls 101 (火箭少女101), which debuted in June 2018 and disbanded in July 2020”. This is her third screen appearance, except for TV entertainment shows.
Hidden ads are not hilariously obvious. This drama is probably going to be boring and unsatisfactory for many, despite the cute childish green or blue rimmed clear glasses of Lang Youlang (the production did not dare throw in rose-hued ones…). Having just changed my own to nylon-thread rimmed light sensitive lenses turning to purple color, complementing the deep red temples and bridge, I was musing whether finally I should instead have dared a flashy green rim in cat-eye form? Anyway, this was an OK show to watch while waiting in the car, on a long weekend. No surprises and not too much excitement. Just like for a serving of bland fast food. There are some jiaozi pictured at one moment, and this reminded me that the CNY celebrations are still on, until Lantern festival this weekend. But I won’t re-watch this over the final bowl of sweetJust like for a serving of bland fast food. There are some jiaozi pictured at one moment, and this reminded me that the CNY celebrations are still on, until Lantern festival this weekend. But I won’t re-watch this serving over the final bowl of sweeter tangyuan.
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