4
10
1
1
an enjoyable special
Overall: if you liked the series, then you'll enjoy this 40 minute special episode as well. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/city-of-stars-dehsu9gh8g?lang=en_us Here is my review of the series https://kisskh.at/profile/blcompilations/reviews/336795/What I Liked
- ongoing physical affection
- cute/sweet moments
- supportive friends
- laughed a couple of times (like when a character hid behind another character/pillar)
Room For Improvement
- again with the excessive comedy sound effects that often made things less funny for me
- voice over
- a main plot point is one we've seen countless times in specials and it annoys me every time, wish they had done something different
- (neutral), I enjoy GL rep but the way they explained it wasn't great
Was this review helpful to you?
well done short movie
Overall: wish this could have had more episodes because the actors had great chemistry. 8 minutes long https://youtu.be/A-0hx6lKIM0?si=FVx55QsQpfWI3Khk - later aired at https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/5991/actoreal-2024What I Liked
- great way to start, hooked me right away
- chemistry/tension
- clever title
- production value for an indie project
Room For Improvement
- wish it was a bit longer, could definitely use more screen time with the leads
- would have liked a slightly less open ending
Was this review helpful to you?
better than the series (start at 17 min)
Overall: maybe because for once Dino wasn't a walking red flag and it was only 36 minutes (the rest is behind the scenes/talking with the cast) I found this easier to watch than the series. Aired on iQIYI (have to pay an additional amount, about $2.80 USD), heard it's also on Vimeo to buy but can't find it in the U.S.What I Liked
- a few cute moments like the shopping trip
Room For Improvement
- the comedy sound effects didn't make anything funny
- almost nothing happened, watched it at 3x speed, they repeated almost the same conversation multiple times in a row
Was this review helpful to you?
better than the series...
Overall: these are slightly better than the series but maybe because it's just 2 episodes instead of 8. Each episode is about 45 minutes. Aired on iQIYI.Watch Advice: final story 1, skip to 10 minutes and then 21 minutes; final story 2, skip to 8 minutes and then 39 minutes
Content Warnings: stalking, punch, non con video recording
What I Liked
- at least there is lip movement in the kisses
- a few sweet moments
Room For Improvement
- the first final story starts with Dino being manipulative and insecure and then later there is a random/not needed stalker plot, the second final story has a large chunk of the side characters talking about their own love stories and we never see their faces
- constant comedy sound effects
Was this review helpful to you?
Content Warnings: violence, homophobia
What I Liked
- cute moments, domestic bliss moments
- the socioeconomic role reversal
- decent kissing
Room For Improvement
- the tone between serious and comedy was jarring along with the comedy sound effects
- not a fan of the sepia tone in the present
- what bizarre plan was that for 3 years?
- he's friends with that guy after what he did???
Was this review helpful to you?
A sweet BL set in the countryside
Overall: I thought this was a very subtle/gentle BL when I watched it originally. After watching Country Boy 2, it is definitely BL. Watched on YouTube.Content Warnings: none? (can't remember)
What I Liked
- the countryside setting
- the sweetness between the two leads (that swing scene in particular)
Room For Improvement
- I think they could have made the romantic interest/attraction a bit more clear. For example, one guy asking the other guy if he was dating anyone, saving the contact with a heart emoji, etc.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Love That Kind Of Speaks Its Name
Overall: These six 2-5 min episodes have a few cute moments but don't really satisfy in the end. Watched on Gagaoolala.Content Warnings: none
What I Liked:
- for what I'm assuming is low budget, I thought the production value and acting is fairly good. I watched the Making Of video and it was one of the actors' first time acting.
- there is an apology in the story which I always appreciate
Room For Improvement:
- I wish they had had the flashback in episode 3 be the first episode so the viewer better understood their relationship from the beginning.
- In episode 4 why was one in a bed and the other sleeping on the floor? If they only had 1 bedroom, wouldn't they either have separate twin beds or a large bed and sleep in the same bed???
- why did they stop living together? It would save money and they were good friends...
- I would have liked the ending more if they had just reversed it, if the other guy had been the one to initiate things
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A beautiful story about family, love, self-acceptance, regret & atonement
Content Warnings: (not between m/m) character death, suicide (not shown and not sure if that's what happened)Overall: I was moved to tears by a beautiful story about what it really means to be family (it's more than biology), how to accept oneself, and trying to right past wrongs. FYI the title on GagaOOLala is "On The Way Home."
What I Liked
- the themes of the story that I mentioned: family, love, self-acceptance, regret, atonement/2nd chances
- the friend's reactions were realistic, almost like going through stages of grief such as disbelief, anger, sadness and acceptance
Room For Improvement
- the m/m relationship was too off screen for me. It was a major factor of what happened, but if I hadn't read the synopsis, I wouldn't have even known anything until too far into the movie. I'm not saying that I wanted NSFW scenes, just to show the love between the characters and how the daughter was feeling left out (see below point)
- I realize the daughter was going through quite a lot, but there could have been additional motivation (like showing what was happening at school for example, was she being bullied? did she see classmates display homophobia and it made her worried?) to give her actions more reasoning behind them
Was this review helpful to you?
Short film about two best friends
Content Warnings: noneOverall: This is basically the same story told in two parts with the difference being the setting and the endings. It gives a bit of art film vibes. There's nothing amazing here, but it doesn't make me scream into a void so maybe worth a watch...
What I Liked
- I generally like a best friends to something more plot
- the actors are cute
- music in the 2nd part was nice
Room For Improvement
- 1st part had music that I know I've heard before so they need something more unique
- the voice sound in the 2nd part wasn't as good
- wasn't totally convinced by the crying acting
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Had Potential and Then Took a Nosedive
Content Warnings: noneOverall: small budget production with a realistic story that had promise but ruined the ending
What I Liked
- the 2 main guys say what their sexual orientations are and their preferred pronouns (Sam is gay and Andrea is bisexual with an ex-girlfriend who is a trans woman)
- Sam and his ex actually have a mature conversation/resolution
- the beachy vibe/location
- for being low budget, the production value was decent, subs had some errors but very understandable with 1 exception at the end
Room For Improvement
- the pacing was a bit slow
- Sam's ex's stupid "plan" to get Sam back
- episode 7 doesn't make much sense since Andrei seemed very romantically interested in Sam, but then did a 180.
- the final episode (6 minutes and a large chunk of flashbacks) was very confusing. It says "1 year ago" but I think they meant "1 year later." We see Andrei driving and talking about going to a wedding of someone he loved so I assumed it's Sam's wedding, but maybe it's his ex-girlfriend's wedding??? Then Sam has flashbacks about how it was the wrong time then and he concludes by saying it's the right time now and the visuals are Sam & Andrei getting married? Then Andre has the happiness jar in the car and says 'maybe.' Finally, there is a scene where Andrei gives Sam the jar and they hug. WTH???? They should have gotten together in episode 7 and then done a 1 year flash forward with a nice wedding in episode 8.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Break Up While You Can
Content Warnings: tragedyOverall: I absolutely hated the "moral" of the story which is to stay in a non-working relationship and hope that magically one day it gets better (spoiler alert, that very rarely happens in real life)
What I Liked
- I think basically everything was well done like production, acting, etc. I recognized one actor from In Between.
Room For Improvement
- I really disliked the terrible "moral". This couple had a huge deal breaker in their relationship which was shown to be a problem that they both acknowledged. They should have broken up, not spent 5 years being unhappy with the other person. Breaking up isn't necessarily bad, it can be the best thing for one or all people involved...
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Be Loved in House: I Do... want the plot to progress faster
(minor spoilers)Content Warnings: none that I can think of...
Episode 12 bumped up my score to 7.5/10 overall. If you want super slow pacing and breathtaking visuals, then this is the show for you. Otherwise watch the 1st two episodes, imagine in your mind every single romance/bl trope multiple times (accidental falls, getting out of the shower, healing time, etc) then skip to ep 11 to watch most of those happen in flashbacks and then episode 12 for the ending.
What I Liked
- amazing visuals
- acting
- the cat
- production
- the cameo
- the love triangle (I think the only 1 I've ever liked)
- the coworker/friend stopping the other coworker/friend from taking a picture of an intimate moment without the participants' knowledge
- the 12th episode
- the intro song*
Room For Improvement
The pace is sooooooooo slow. I watched it on 1.5-2x speed and it still felt slow. There is so little progression with either couple. I can like a slow burn done well, but this was not it. There is also little sense of time. Is this taking place over days, weeks, months? Why does the 2nd couple go soooo slow and then rocket ahead???
The plot - I'm used to plot holes and non logical things but this drives me nuts. So basically the new boss (Jin Yu Zhen) puts up a rule that no employees can be in a romantic relationship with anyone (even outside the office, is that even legal??) A m/f are about to get engaged so they want him to get rid of the rule. Logical response by the other employee/manager (Shi Lei) should be to get the boss to fall in love with him and then he has to remove the rule, right? Nope, I honestly can't even say what their plan was. Get more intel on the boss???
Boss - is attracted to Shi Lei. Logical thing, don't put up that rule and instead try to win him over. Actual response - move in with him, make some moves, then reverse your moves over and over again. Basically a ton of mixed signals. Also disappear off to places with no follow up explanations. Things are kind of explained in the last episode, but it still didn't do it for me.
Poor characterization of the boss - he started out super cold, then he went to really awkward/nervous, then he went to a pursuer, whaaaatt, I got whiplash.
Music - there is legit one and only song that plays over and over again. It's a nice song but it's like "This Is The Song That Never Ends..." song.
Was this review helpful to you?
too many characters
Overall: I wanted to give this indie (aka low budget) production a chance but there are just too many characters/confusing/non existent plot and I don't want to watch the remaining 7 episodes. 12 episodes about 16 minutes each cutting out the credits. Aired on KMD Studios YouTube Channel.Content Warnings: fight, (possibly more)
What I Liked
- OST
- the school nerd and the guy who wants to make money seemed promising (not much movement by ep 5)
- consent, asking for a kiss
Room For Improvement
- there were way too many characters, who are they, who do they like, what is their relationship with one another? I wish they had focused on just 2 characters and made it shorter instead of having so many characters/relationships
- music was too loud and it drowned out the dialogue, though in ep 5 it seemed not as bad
- intros/outros too long
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
enjoyed the unique premise
Overall: I was impressed with the horror/supernatural elements in the first episode, but several plot elements/pacing were disappointing. This series was based off of a book which I haven't read and I reviewed the series on its own merits. 12 episodes about 1 hour each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/play/khemjira-episode-1-wraawu50u8?lang=en_usContent Warnings: jump scares, attempted murders, blood, intimate partner abuse and violence, punch, suicide (it's complicated); (past: infanticide, torture, suicide, blood, manipulation, death on and off screen, grief, kidnapping)
Watch Suggestions (to focus on sweet/steamy parts)
- read the synopsis
- skip episodes 1-4
- episode 5 watch 8-end
- skip episode 6
- episode 7 watch 7:45-20:40 and 49:20-end
- episode 8 watch 37:30-end
- skip episode 9 (many major content warnings in this)
- episode 10 watch 21-23 and 57:30-end
- episode 11 watch 7-13:20 and 52-53:10 (watch all of episode 11 and 12 to get the whole plot resolution)
- episode 12 watch 38:30-end
What I Liked
- Jet as a supportive friend
- mystery of what happened in the past, how things came to be the way they are
- that Khemjira helped someone (or rather 2) in episode 1
- good consent and intimacy with the side couple
- the Thai culture and spirituality (not sure if that's the right word) aspects
- the finale
- production value
Room For Improvement
- the second domestic violence was handled very poorly, why didn't Khem tell him right away, it seemed like they only stepped in to help her because the guy was possessed and then how everything seemed fine and dandy at the end
- there is a difference between a slow burn and one character constantly rebuffing/hurting a sweet character, it was not enjoyable to watch for several episodes
- the horror aspect kind of vanished during some episodes
- love rivals
- a few writing tweaks would have made a character's actions much more understandable (specifically with ep 9 flashback of who did what/was at the most fault in that scenario then not being the ones punished forever)
Was this review helpful to you?
A cheesy musical that was almost so bad it was good
Overall: I wish they had really leaned into the "so bad it's good" but it didn't quite make it. Watched on YouTube.Content Warnings: a slap, non con touching/sponge bath (guy was unconscious), kidnapping
What I Liked
- the orchestral music was great, some of the musical numbers were okay
- a flirty protagonist who is clear about his intentions*
- made me laugh in several parts
- I liked Mikey's friends and they weren't just played for comedic relief
Room For Improvement
- the remarks about other people's weight
- there was some rough acting which I found hilarious but I don't think it was intentional
- invasive sponge bath while someone is unconscious
- *Mikey's reluctance was dragging on for too long
- too many characters
Was this review helpful to you?
