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A rare occurrence : an adaptation that I enjoyed more than the original Taiwanese movie
I was really curious to see the Thai version of this story featuring a supernatural mariage between a gay ghost and a straight guy who wants to become a police officer. The original story was fun but not without flaws and I appreciated Thailand version more. It is adapted well to fit the local culture, balancing some very slap stick humor and over the top moments, with very actual queer questioning in a world that is progressing on acceptance on the topic but not fully free and liberated yet.The strongest point of the movie is the actors performances, especially Billkin. Full disclosure, I'm a big fan and once again, he did not disappoint. His acting is the heart of the movie. He is very versatile, has a great sense of comedy and can deliver angst like no-one. He has iconic scenes in this movie : really fun ones that I will remember for a long time as well as more touching scenes that he nailed. He managed to outshine everyone, even PP Krit, which is not an easy fit. PP still did a commendable job with the extrencity and likebility of his role. Their characters bonding through the film were the best part of it all.
Production was quite good and colourful. I particularly enjoyed the scenes at the club as well as the "Fire Boy" reference. Those were simply unforgettable (contrary to the soundtrack which was alright but is already fading away from my memory).
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a Thai action comedy with a lot of heart and fun. The friendship that the two main characters built together is great to follow. If you like Billkin and/or PP Krit, it is definitely a must watch. If you enjoyed the original movie, you should definitely give it a shot as it is a real adaptation, improving on the source material and embedding it in Thai culture, rather than just being a basic copy.
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Mixed feelings about it : the first half got me invested but then it was quite a let down
I really enjoyed the first half of the series but I vibed much less with the second part. At the start, the series felt very real with a deeply wounded main lead with huge mental shift and scary side. The fighting scenes were gritty and the drama took my breath away with the mental hurdle faced by the main protagonist, the way pressure was put on him by his family environment. However the series then went into more of a shonen style with characters trying to be "heroes" and fights feeling much less realistic and relatively repetitive. There were also introduction of new characters that were quite purposeless. Still, the ending hint at a sequel, which I felt could be quite interesting.The cast was good but also definitely too old (with maybe the exception of Lee Jung Ha but even for him it was an hard sell) to play realistic high schoolers roles. The level of acting was good but the credibility really was missing. Still, I enjoyed finding back Lee Jung Ha in this drama: he is clearly breadening his range of acting, far from his sunshiny role in Moving. Production was good overall. They have not an outstanding amount of budget but the fight sequences are dynamic and well-made. I especially loved the flashback and the grey scenes making very clear the suffering of the main lead.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a highschool fight drama. It is in my opinion less good than Weak Class Hero but it is exploring relatively similar thematic, so if you enjoyed one, you might appreciate this one as well.
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DMD Friendship the Reality, It Takes Two
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Another season for DoMunDi TV production to promote his next BL pairings
A little less than 1 year after "DMD Friendship the Reality" featuring 3rd gen actors, DoMunDi TV production is coming back with a new season introducing this time its 4th gen actors.While the novelty factor is not there anymore and this season feel much more orchestrated, scripted and in overall more produced than S1, I quite enjoyed myself. If there were (a lot) of expected results regarding the pairings (especially if you have seen most recent DoMunDi TV production or are deep into BL series' news), there were also a couple of more candid moments that I found really touching. Those very little tidbits, seemingly pure and non-scripted, really made me want to follow more of some of the talents.
As in season 1, this show is not without flaws. The budget feel once again super limited. I also wish that the various missions were more fleshed out and featuring more acting with some workshops between participants. The cast is not as balanced as it could be, with some very junior people and some much more seniors participants, making it kinda difficult to have a fair competition, without feeling there are obvious favorites. Still, I'm looking forward to the next projects of most of the "newly" formed pairings.
I would recommend this to people that have enjoyed the previous season or that are a fan of DoMunDi TV production. It is both very cute and very cringe as it features the participants trying to find their "partners" with rewards being "friendship time" very similar to a dating show.
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From S1, I knew it would probably not go the way I wanted it to go...and indeed it did not !
Did I enjoy this second part of "Lost You Forever" more than the first part? Certainly not.Did I think this second part had the best episodes of the full series ? Definitely.
Let me explain...
This second season was a let down to me because of the romance not going the way I wanted it. It might be unfair to the show, that still delivered a solid and compelling journey to the throne tale for Cang Xuan (my favorite character) but I never go onboard on the romantic aspects that the series was trying to sell me. Still, there were a couple of episodes between the heroine and one of the main male lead that were so good because of all of the build up in their relationships that I definitely don't regret watching the series.
As in season 1, this second season (which is really a direct continuation of season 1, the show needing to be splitted in 2 over different years to fit new requirements imposed by the Chinese governement) had the same qualities and flaws. The acting is quite good, especially for Zhang Wan Yi (in the role of Cang Xuan) and Tan Jian Ci (in the role of Xiang Liu) who have a lot of very impactful moment. The OST and the production were overall good despite some cringey CGI and noticeable green screens.
I would recommend this series to those that have seen season 1. Of course, even if the endgame is not to my taste and that the romance was hardly palatable at times, there are really a couple of impactful episodes that made me not regret the watch. Outside of its romance (which was not my cup of tea), the overall journey followed by the characters made sense, with some great and heartbreaking moments as you get more and more attached to protagonists and their world.
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A heartbreaking and inspiring movie
I was not expecting this movie to be such a punch in the gut. The writing was tight, the pacing was excellent and if I would have liked a longer epilogue and to spend a bit more time outside of the plane, I must say that I was properly captivated (and in distraught) for the full duration of the film. It managed to say so much in a relative short amount of time. It featured an heroic character as well as a pitiful and hateful villain. And the fact that it was inspired by real events is giving it a bitter note with a long lasting impact.The acting was excellent. I love Yeo Jin Goo and here again, he is brilliant, portraying a role that could have really been just one note and instead giving it nuance and perspective. Ha Jung Woo is definitely up to par and does not disappoint as well. Both brought me to tears, when I was just expecting thrills and action, I got very emotional. The production was really solid : all the historical aspects of air flight from that era in time was really interesting and well made. Action sequences were intense and very believable. The soundtrack was not overly present but very fitting for the epicness and dramatic of the plot.
I would strongly recommend this movie if you are looking for very well acted and emotional action story. It has a lot of nuances in addition to a lot of intense moments, and it will definitely keep you on your toes.
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Such a guilty pleasure : short vertically filmed South Korean series with a lot of steamy kisses !
This vertically filmed series took me by surprise at how much entertaining I found it. It was an enjoyable trashy show : the plot could be written on a (small) napkin, the dialogs are right out of pretty average fanfic...and still, it takes you in a so fun ride as the viewer follow the heroine participating in a dating reality show and literally going from one "relationship" to another.There are various options for the heroine to date, all very caricatural. It is pretty obvious that this series is an adaption of a dating game with all the archetypes : the tsundere cold guy, the nice guy, the rich guy, the wild girl, the pure girl,.... Once again, no time to really ponder and give some sort of deepness to those various types of characters...The focus of the script is clearly elsewhere : let's put these characters in hot situation and make them smooch each other. And while shallow, it was really fun to watch !
Production budget is clearly limited but appropriate for the format and the kind of light series. The cast do a convincing job in the hot scenes but other than that, there are not a lot of emotional moments or anything else to really demonstrate a lot of range.
I would recommend this to people looking for a no brainer show filled with hot moments with very little content and thoughts. It is all in good fun and if you watch it with no (or low) expectations, I think you are in for an enjoyable watch.
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1st episode was incredible, too bad the whole series is not at the same level
After an amazing introduction episode, probably one of the best in Dramaland out there, my expectation were huge. Park Hye Ryun writes usually very strong introduction episodes and here again, the start of the story is brutal and gripping with great and heartbreaking performances of the younger cast (Moon Woo Jin and Lee Re). Unfortunately, the remaining of the story does not hold a candle to the introduction arc. It is not bad per se, it is just not as good as it requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, especially with the flashbacks involving the heroine.I quite enjoyed the romance, even if it never went in the direction I wished. There are a lot of thrills and angst thanks to the familial aspect : it is the best part of the scenario. I think the series would have benefited from streamlining more the side-storylines which were much less interesting. The main cast was very good. The two main male lead played by Chae Jong Hyeop and Cha Hak Yeon were both very charming. They had some adorable moments with the heroine (played by Park Eun Bin) and part of the fun of the story was putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Once it is done, there is less meat to the story and the romance pale in comparison to the relationship of the younger version of the characters.
The making was lovely and very colorful, with a very nice summery vibe. I liked the soundtrack with some songs sang by the heroine. It is not very memorable but sweet to listen to. The island flashbacks were unrealistic : I wish they would have made it much more gritty than what seemed to be fairy tales scenes. I feel pacing could have been better, the lengthy episodes felt unnecessary, they could have made the plot much tighter with less filler plotlines (such as the diva one which remained pretty lukewarm all along).
I would recommend this to people looking for a rom-com with an almost fairy tales feel. The first episode is one of the best I have seen. The journey of the heroine is pretty entertaining to follow and the romance is sweet. I wish the writing and the tone of the series would have been as good as first episode for the full drama but overall show was still fun to follow even if not up to par with its very solid introduction.
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Unlikeable characters made it impossible for me to really care about their destiny
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this movie. Don't get me wrong, there were some pretty cinematographic moments but overall, I never managed to get invested in the journey of the main character. At not point did I find him sympathetic, despite how bad his family background was. This was a big deterrent because the movie takes the viewer on the journey of the (anti-)hero as he elevates himself out of poverty and became a big shot on the black market of Bogotá. If you don't like or don't care about the character, there is not real angst regarding his fate and no interest in following his uprising.There were some striking scenes but most of the action sequences felt a bit lacking : it was too clean, not gritty enough given the context of the story. Pacing of the story could definitely have been improved as well. The cast and the acting was a strong point of the film, even the acting of the foreigners in the support cast was alright, which is often a rarity when Western actors act in Asian movies and series. It was not great but suitable.
I would not necessarily recommend this action movie as I did find it lacking in the characterization of the main character and his relationships with others. Despite its relatively short length, it felt quite long to get to the point.
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Quite predictable locked-room mystery lacking in rythm despite its solid cast & interesting premise
This movie, as its title indicates, is centred around 12 suicidal teens as they are planning to end their life together. They don't know each other, they all have various motivations and they are grouped together to solve a mystery as in the room they met they uncover an already dead boy. I wish the scenario digged even more into the characters personnality as well as the bond they formed together. I think they should have maybe reduced a bit the number of characters to deep dive into their psyche, their motivations as well as their evolution.There is a quite a few familiar faces for me in the cast : Hagiwara Riku, Mackenyu, Kitamura Takumi and Takasugi Mahiro. I was happy to see them, especially Hagiwara Riku and Mackenyu, that I really love. The ensemble cast did a solid job overall. Not all the roles were as interesting but I liked the variety in characters.
Production was not outstanding but efficient in highlighting the main points of the locked-room mystery. Overall, the editing could have been better to make it more intense. It also lacked in terms of pace as well as thrills factor. The soundtrack was very forgettable and there was a dull aspect to the picture which might be expected given the thematic but did not help in making the story more interesting.
If you are looking for an investigation movie, with some psychological aspects and featuring a locked-room mystery involving 12 suicidal teens, you might want to give it a shot. I honestly found it relatively predictable in its ending, but at least the resolution of the mystery made sense. The morale behind the story felt a bit too light given the heavy topics at stake. I feel that an epilogue, combined with a reduced number of characters might have made the outcome of the story more fullfilling.
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A trashy drama : flawed and repetitive, in the guilty pleasures realm
It is a very flawed but quite entertaining drama (especially at the beginning for the novelty factor). It features the "romantic" relationship between a yakuza boss and a student, both suffering of insta-lust for each other (not sure it can be called love). After the introduction, the story gets quite repetitive as the yakuza boss is fighting some enemies, the heroine waiting for him to came back to her and then having some sexy time together. That's the whole plot. The end.The acting was really bad. I commend the commitment of the main male lead to his slow motion entry scenes, and there are also some hot kiss scenes. Unfortunately, that's about all the positive I can find there. Other than that the actors (the main as well as the supporting cast) are really not convincing at delivering the entertainingly cringy lines. The main actress has a mono expression all along the drama, with big rounded eyes as unique way to emote anything, making her acting very fake and flat.
The production is not great but not as bad as the script and the acting. I felt it was quite in line with other Japanese drama I have seen with not a huge budget. The background music is quite forgettable despite its repetitive effect.
I would not recommend this to people unless you are looking for a mindless trashy short drama. And sometimes, there is nothing wrong at watching that kind of show, as it can be pretty entertaining and just what you need. Given the (lack of-) quality in the writing and the acting, and the repetitive aspect to the series, I cannot rate it higher but I cannot deny that I had quite a bit of fun watching it.
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Guilty pleasure : highly entertaining despite its flaws
A very entertaining guilty pleasure BL series : I found the premise pretty interesting and there were some crazy developments that really kept my attention all along the show.One of the main lead was a pretty gentle stuntman with not any survival instinct, the other was a rich heir with a crazy side, full of red flags. Their relationship was quite toxic, with an intoxicating push and pull factor between them. It was not healthy, frustrating at time, but mostly highly entertaining. The last quarter of the series felt a bit more tame and I wish the ending would have been a bit less "easy" on some character, but overall I'm satisfied by the wild ride the scenario took me on.
The acting could have been better, most of the support roles were not as well acted as I would have wanted...With the exception of Porsche, the actor playing Sol which managed to make his character endearing to me all along the series despite the repetitive aspect of his role. The two main leads Poom and Up had a good chemistry between them but I still think it is not the most sizzling I have seen in a BL and that their acting in some of the more emotional scenes felt a bit lacking at time.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for an exciting and wild BL. There are some bonker elements in the story and it is a very fun ride. I feel the story lost a bit of steam in its last quarter and that acting could have been better for some part. Nevertheless, I have no regret to have watched it : it is a good guilty pleasure show !
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Gripping plot, I wish it went even deeper on characterization for more emotional payoff
The movie follows the story of a duo of scammers, brother and sister, as they are grifting on old people, leading a very despicable lifestyle. They are living in a parallel world to regular society, full of misfits and scums. It is not necessarily an anti-hero tale but rather a dark thriller as they are trapped in an infernal spiral of events following succession of very bad decisions as well as very poor family background.I think some of the emotional, more intense moments could have been elevated even more. I feel we were deprived of emotional payoff relating the fate of some of the characters. I think the heroine was so cold, despite having some fit of rage that sometimes scenes that could have been heart-gutting were handled in a too detached manner. There were of course some clear bonds between characters and I loved the relationship between the heroine and her younger brother. But it could have been even more elevated: as the script could have spent even more time detailing the sibling relationship, making it even more twisted to accentuate that unhealthy but also ultra solid bond they share.
Even though I wish Ando Sakura (who played Neri, the main protagonist) would have been able to show more range and nuance, especially in the more sweet or painful moments...I liked her overall. What brought the story to life was the gallery of characters who are surrounding her: there are many colorful support roles that were very well-played with the right touch of craziness and darkness. Yamada Ryosuke, as the other main role, is shining in his part. His character is the triggering factor of the events and he is the driving force of the movie.
The production value was very good. The decors in which the characters are evolving are really well made. The costumes are participating is setting up the characters in a very efficient way, allowing the viewer to grasp what's not directly told...The music is not memorable but felt fitting for the movie.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a dark thriller. There is some psychological aspect to it that I really enjoyed but I wish it would have been pushed even further. There are a lot of interesting elements relating to the relationship between the two main roles that could have been elaborated more for deeper emotional payoff. However, it was still a pretty exciting story to follow with a lot of craziness and darkness. I don't think it aims to make us love the protagonists neither to provide a well rounded social critic. But it is in overall pretty entertaining and quite captivating.
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Sweaty hands that wrecked my heart...A brutal and nuanced story
This short movie managed to convey a fully fleshed story featuring two characters that clearly love each other in different way. Love can be hurtful when not reciprocated at the same level but different kind of love can coexist without one being necessarily more powerful than another. I think there was some room to do much more with the script but given the duration of the movie, they effectively convey the point of the story.Honestly, the scenario got me teary-eyed a couple of times which is quite an impressive achievement for a movie of only 19 minutes. The acting was pretty good: I totally believed in the feelings portrayed on screen by Bible and Jes. Maybe for some scenes, it could have been even more raw but they found a right balance to have the characters act naturally in some heart-wrenching situation.
The production value was quite good with a soundtrack fitting the melodramatic arc of the story. It was maybe a bit overpowering and could had been toned down, but nothing really deterrent to the story depicted.
I would recommend this movie to people that are looking for a short emotional story that will leave you with a strong lasting impression. It might wreck you heart but it is worth a shot for the simplicity in which it portrays two characters loving each other albeit somewhat differently.
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Solid live action adaptation of the introduction arc of a legendary manga
Disclaimer : I have not read the entirety of One Piece (-yet) but I have loved what I have read so far and I have even dabbled into watching some of the anime. I have most certainly read much more of the story than what the series is covering and therefore it is very difficult for me to review it without comparing it with the original material.I think this first season did a great job at building a story made both for people having no knowledge at all on the manga as well as for the ones that are fans of it. The drama manages to introduce all the characters with their various personalities and backgrounds, dreams and aspirations as well as showcasing the budding teamwork as the ship crew forms itself around its captain. The series definitely took some shortcuts with the source material (regarding some of the fights as well as some characters missing) but still respecting the spirit of the introduction arc of this legendary manga.
In terms of cast, I found it quite good overall in making the characters take life on screen. Regarding acting, overall it was suitable and believable, without being too caricatural despite some characters being over-the-top by essence. I particularly enjoyed the acting of Mackenyu playing Zoro as well as Jeff Ward playing Buggy the Clown. I was less convinced by the acting of the kids playing the characters in the flashbacks as well as the actors playing the fishmen.
The production value was excellent. I felt they really managed to bring life to the various places visited by the characters in the manga. The ships were particularly well conceived as well as the costumes, weapons, flags. The specific characteristics and design of the various protagonists are really well done with maybe some minor things that feel a bit too plastic/stiff for the fishmen and that could have been improved in order for their emotions to be better be portrayed. One of the best thing of the series was its soundtrack. A lot of epic music perfectly fitting pirates adventures with even some reference to the anime OST.
I would recommend this to people looking for a series that will take you on the start of an epic journey. It is a this stage more an introduction of an incredible gallery of characters in an exciting universe. Still, it provides a complete narrative arc satisfactory enough for both the manga readers and total newbies. The series took some shortcuts but respected in overall the source material and even if I would have liked some additional scenes to have been shown, I'm still pretty satisfied of the outcome of this adaptation.
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Entertaining gangster movie in the context of nightlife / clubbing, featuring numerous twists
I quite enjoyed this movie. There were some interesting twists and a good pace to the story that I found quite exciting to follow. The set up of the characters and their motivation was very quickly established in an efficient way. I don't think the story aims to be taken very seriously despite all the politics hijinks and usual corruption trope.I liked the energy of the main character as well as how developed the relationship around him. I found the romantic aspect the writer tried to insert there useless. It did not work for me because of the lack of development.
I would recommend this to people looking for a gangster action movie. It is not that memorable and quite standard for the genre in terms of storylines. But it is an energizing watch thanks to the main character drive and the context of the nightlife and clubbing is always an interesting setting for that kind of story.
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