Rocklobster

I will have to the same. Right now, I am going in a rather odd direction. I am watching the Japanese film, Bullet Train Explosion. It is the kind of title I would expect Sylvester Stallone to be in!

You did it again. You have me laughing hard. Thank you. I will not bore you with my life challenges at this moment; we all have them. Suffice it to say that you cheered up this old guy right before he drifts off. I just finished Bon Appétit. It was harmless, kind of dumb, but at least they kissed and it looked real. I will say that my partner of 30 years enjoyed the parts about the food. I lived in Seoul as a kid, then worked there often. So, seeing the beautiful food helped my mind relax. Your sense of humor is like a Michelin star for today. Thank you..

What a wonderfully written review. Thank you. It let me know all that I needed to know in order to decide to watch it or not. It will be near the bottom of "To Watch" list. I am sure that I will get to it, but in due time. Again, thank you for the review and the chuckles.

I am late to the party on this film. Great review. You are so right, nothing wrong with it, but it has been done so many times. That can work if new elements, now storyline sub-plots, even a change of time frame by a few decades. This would be amazing if moved to the 1960s. Still, the acting string, the directing OK. Thank you for the review.

I am enjoying it quite a bit. It is something I needed right now. Sometimes tough times in real life can be made a bit lighter by a good BL!

Three years after you write this beautifully crafted review I came across it today. This review describes just what I was looking for as my next BL. Thank you. As I watch the episodes I can fully understand what you enjoyed about this story. Thank you for taking the time to write the review and for such a great recommendation.

This is a beautiful review. I am only tour episodes in and I see everything that you discuss. Thank you for taking the time to write such a well written and intelligent review.

I don't think so. As I posted above, I have some major issues with out main character. Yet, at the same time, I am enjoying this. Overall, at least as far as I have watched, this is fun. It also has me thinking about how I might handle having made a promise to a dying friend. That is a tough spot to have put one's self. The show has the normal jealousy factor and it does it well. It has the interloper and again, done well. It has the requisit second couple, done very well. It has the pull of the musician part of the character with his familial obligation. It is all there and it is fun.

There is a chance that we could be surprised. I would like that. It seems as if they wish for is to forget about the dying brother. Granted, this is TV, not real life. However, if we could see more of the pain that Du Zhi is in die to the upcoming loss of his friend and if we could see more of the pressure that Du Zhi feels in keeping this a secret. The fact is that most of is would find it hard to forgive Du Zhi for keeping the fact that one's brother was dying. Plus, by not sharing this information it limits the time we might have with our brother. At the same time, Du Zhi agreed to do just what he is doing, he made a promise. He is keeping that promise. The fact is that in doing so Du Zhi would be torn up. I believe seeing some of that angst would give is an way into understanding just how loyal Du Zhi is and just how important his fulfillment of the promise he made to a dying friend really is to him, it is part of his character. It is this type of situation where we typically reevaluate our decisions we made due to our character. We may follow the same path, but the question usually arises and we have to deal with that. In that space, that small window where we doubt, that is where Du Zhi can breakout and find a way to honor his dying friend while acknowledging his growing feelings for his new love. It would also be good to see Du Zhi with his brother once again. Perhaps his brother, younger as he may be, can guide him just a little. I know that my brothers, 5 and 6 years younger helped me see the depth of my love for my partner. These are just my ramblings. Just thoughts. I take nothing away from the creators of this series. Having cone from the entertainment field, oh, how I know the feeling that even a simple comment from a viewer can engender. No negative intent is meant. These are nothing but my simple observations.

This would be my issue, as well. It is hard to connect with Du Zhi. I am trying to do just that. However, the script gives him no room to open up, not at all. Even the most dedicated of us would show some real emotion versus these quick furtive glances that the character gives. This is the character that could drive the show. The pain, the confusion, the pull of loyalty against desire, the growth from larvae to butterfly are what should be the fuel of this story. it should be driven by Du Zhi. Instead, the director and writer have him in a box and they will not let him push out or expand that box. instead, it feels as if they tell him to look constipated, as if that is an emotional release. This cast is solid. They are just chained to the wall by a script that does not seem to trust the main actor enough to give him a key so he can free himself from a script that is closer to a prison. Perhaps the next episode, number 8, will will see the character take a step toward the sunlight that is expressing his feelings.

After reading this great review, seriously fun to read, I have no choice. I am dropping everything I am watching to turn this on right now. Thank you for a really fun review.

Simply brilliant in so many ways...

Brilliant. Kubrick knew how to create a film experience. As he cut page after page of dialogue for 2001 and other films, his cast stayed right with him. He even had the studio behind him after the dialogue had been reduced by 53 percent.

For me, after only 3 episodes, they have captured the feeling of being that young and not having the confidence we wish we did. I think that type of confidence comes with experience. It has been over almost 5 decades since I went through this stuff. Certainly, it was riskier in meeting someone. Still, it felt the same as this show has brought to the viewers. The production values are excellent. The choice to use so much natural sound is both intriguing and effective. In any show from pretty much anywhere, all of the streets sounds are added much later. This director seems to want catch the sounds just as his actors hear them. Very well done. I look forward to the rest of the episodes. I told my partner that this might be the Apocalypse Now of BL series, in how this is so character driven through a minimal use of dialogue. When I see the characters really just working things out in their heads, I see reality. We do not always have quick comabacks or brilliant opening lines. We do not always look cool or maintain our composure. These actors feel real, the look and move as if we were dropped in among them and joined the group. At times it is the energy of the shot composition and movements of the actors that carry the story along. Its use of silence by the actors in many scenes is excellent. I have to go back all the way to 1969 when Kubrick released, 2001: A Space Odyssey. A writer and director have to have confidence is the entire production to go down this road. They have done so very well. I look forward to the rest of the series.

The fact that we remember that given our ages illustrates how horrible it was for so many people. I look forward to the rest of this series. I am serious, just in two episodes they have gone deep into how it was to be gay in 1974 and how frightened everyone was about doing or saying the wrong thing and having the wrong person hear it. Such a different life than I had. In 1973 or 74 my parents sat me down with my older sister, my kid brothers were not there, and explained that they thought I was gay. It was cool. I didn't have figure anything out, just be me. For that time, being in a military family, this was amazing. When they gave me books about sexual intimacy between people of the same sex I about passed out. I was kind of slow with this. I wanted to be outside playing football/soccer. To this day I thank my parents.

This review had gotten me to start the series. I am on episode 3. The only issues, as you point out is that the sound recording is not great. That is always an issue when shooting on location with a limited budget. The script and the layers of truly deep emotions from two time eras. I am old enough to remember that time. I was going to junior high school in Seoul at the time. Marcos was in the news, especially the US papers, all of the time. While I was only in 7th and 8th grades, we were well informed. We would have talks at dinner about world events.

Thank you for such a solid review. It is in depth and the clarity of yoyr words is that of a professional. Again, thank you for taking the time to write this review.

You are so right. It was as if they said, "Oops, the script is too long. Just cut out all of those lines and have them be happy at the end. Still, an enjoyable series just seemed to fade at the end.

This is, and no doubt about what I am saying, one of the best reviews of anything I have read in my many, many decades in this business. You lay out the issues with time frame, characters being well developed or not, things that seem to just disappear, then pop-up again, and over all oacing, in a wonderfully written, concise, kind, and intelligent way. Thank you. I am just over half-way through this series. I am feeling the things you wrote. I just could never have laid them out as concisely as you have. Again, thank you for taking the time to do this for the rest of us.

Great review. I was looking for series that maybe had not been discussed very often. You know, the hidden gems or at least the hidden pleasures of a nicely written and executed program. I am but one episode in, and I can tell that I am going to enjoy this show. As the reviewer above stated, there are complexities to the characters that have been brought out in a highly nuanced manner. I look forward to the next episodes.

So true. We are all flawed. There was something about Ming that carried a sadness to it. It does not make it OK to slam your boyfriend over the head with a board. Still, there is something that he craves. It is obvious that, as you stated, his family never have it to him.