At first I thought that the story of Ae-Pete would continue to develop, but I was very wrong and in the first episodes I was a little put off by the fact that some scenes are repeated from the 1st season, apparently the creators wanted it that way. The second series is clearly dominated by the relationship between Tina and Cana, I wasn't very interested in those around them, and in the end the story develops nicely in relation to Tina's family, brother, father. I wanted to give a slightly lower rating, but the ending (episodes 11 to 13) was really powerful. And ... just as I don't need those young Asian girls with affines up to their eyes, there were also other types of young Thai men, and among them I was charmed by Hin right at the end, when the story of Tin's family unravels ...

Read More

Since I also saw the movie Macho Dancer years ago, I wanted to see this one as well. Yes, actor Allan Paule goes from a young man selling his body to an elderly father in this sequel, and his son also gets involved in selling his body. Unfortunately, she gets involved with a sadistic criminal and you will see how it all turns out. You will also see how the poor Filipino lives, unlike most fairy-tale BL series, in which middle and rich middle-class people play ...
Since I also saw the movie Macho Dancer years ago, I wanted to see this one as well. Yes, actor Allan Paule goes from a young man selling his body to an elderly father in this sequel, and his son also gets involved in selling his body. Unfortunately, she gets involved with a sadistic criminal and you will see how it all turns out. You will also see how the poor Filipino lives, unlike most fairy-tale BL series, in which middle and rich middle-class people play ...

Read More

It's an extreme movie. It was created during the pandemic.

On the one hand, comedy, "Asian comedy" - loud, affected, theatrical, convulsive, fake acting, you don't believe anything in the actors. Where Asians laugh, Europeans often just stare and those with less strong nerves turn off. I have to admit that in the beginning, even I had the urge to turn it off and forget about this pinoy idiot right away.

On the other hand, when you try further, suddenly a rather deep thought jumps out of the film "if I was already born this way and I don't change it, I can change those who perceive me to accept me as I am". And suddenly the film takes on a completely different dimension. I began to perceive the main character's acting performance quite well and also the fact that Maris Racal in the role of Nancy looks really good and does not remind me of an Asian woman at all.
I had to significantly increase the overall tone of the film because of the "message" that the film conveys, the acting and the music...

Read More

It is not a simple film, as it might seem at first glance, for many it may even seem uninteresting. But I can do dance films, especially if there is a clear interplay between music, movement of different styles and "what the poet wanted to say". And here it is directly connected with poems (fables?), it is difficult to understand these sequences of the film perfectly. From minute 36 I thought one instrument was slightly out of tune, but that's part of it and that's how it's supposed to sound in East Asia. For the final dance, the music is already largely influenced by Indonesian gamelan. And the two young actors Paulo and Rocco, even without previous dance training, are very likeable (in my opinion, downright beautiful), they look good and they took on their roles flawlessly...

Read More

The first two or three shots of the film will divide the audience into those who might give up or give the lowest rating, for example those from the local DP Club, and others who will begin to perceive the intention that the director is presenting, because none of the filmmakers would have made the film so easily and those who criticize have discovered America that it shouldn't or shouldn't spin like that. I already know the director, especially from the film The Greek (He Liu), which really hit me hard. Fifty-year-old Taiwanese Khang, played by the director's partner and younger Thai Non, providing erotic massages in Taiwan. City bustle and loneliness. Perfect loneliness, like somewhere "alone by the forest" ... There is no need to write more about it, every viewer will get their own picture of this piece.

Read More

According to reality, the film probably has the greatest "value" in the story itself and what, in this case, a young person is capable of. After the actors, I was impressed by his visage, the symposer David (Sandino Martin) and the other two items - the sound was only yes - no, that means average and the weakest link in this movie was the processing, which often happens with older pinoy movies ...
I evaluated by looking at the overall condition of older Filipino films.
According to reality, the film probably has the greatest "value" in the story itself and what, in this case, a young person is capable of. After the actors, I was impressed by his visage, the symposer David (Sandino Martin) and the other two items - the sound was only yes - no, that means average and the weakest link in this movie was the processing, which often happens with older pinoy movies ...
I evaluated by looking at the overall condition of older Filipino films

Read More

SOTUS S: This series is much different and even more interesting, and in my opinion it should have been listed here separately, as it is on more accurate Asian servers (eg MyDramaList), IMDb, "our role model", falters in this regard. The flaw remains for me - the boys like each other, but without touching, sex, and even after several years of relationship, the boys do not live together, and when one of them persuades the other to go to him once in a while, they look at books on the bed. But otherwise a much more interesting story, more variety, finally school and idiotic orders of mentors to their freshmen are left behind. Refreshing for me was my "sweetheart" Yong (Guy Sivakorn Lertchuchot), whom I already know from Tonhon Chonlatee and 2gether.

Read More

SOTUS THE SERIES: In my opinion, some scenes of freshmen and mentors are far-fetched, downright embarrassing, reminiscent of the buzzing of greasers and pheasants in the army. And on top of that, university students in Thailand have to pay tuition, walk around like a herd of donkeys in uniforms and put up with these humiliating idiots. The "story" is somewhat stretched and the famous Asian naivety is also present. Therefore, my rating of the story is the lowest of all criteria, it is definitely not out of ten.
On the other hand, both main protagonists are very original and are the backbone of the series, which attacks the soul (heart) more than the physical (maybe there could be at least a drop of it). If I evaluate both actors, then apparently, unlike the majority, I lean towards the character of Arthit, who gave more space for acting skills, and in the last parts of the first series I enjoyed how suddenly Arthit "became mad" with an undisguised love for Kongpob, whose character is more unambiguous and my "suspicion" that Kongpob is actually older than Arthit in civilian clothes was also confirmed. But overall, good above average. Czech baalberith subtitles for the first series are very decent.

Read More

So it was a totally freezing shower after being smothered by naked male bodies writhing like worms in various positions from the series Dante's Cove, I sat down to this. Cold physically, but warm mentally.

The creators probably searched all over Thailand for a long time before they found such a perfect representative of the main character Way, that perhaps they couldn't even find a greater innocence and purity. Many times I felt not like I was in college, but in eighth grade, but that's also why young Asians just look so "young" (or maybe mentally?).

The series is written completely decently, as if it should have been shown a hundred years ago, but that is actually its strength. Nice music.

Read More

Another of the Thai series on a school theme, this time high school students. It took me a while to get used to and "attached" to the main couple Phun and Noh, who so strictly wanted to follow the rule that a boy should date a girl (in their case, their girls were rather ugly little Thai schoolgirls).

A few episodes before I really got into the story, fed up with the previous series 2 Moons, Sotus and Boundary Crossing, I have to say that this one was a hair weaker and this time I was more bothered by the disintegrating stories of the other classmates that distracted from the main line of the story.

However, the "beautiful" that these series are able to evoke so well, even if naively from the point of view of a European viewer, I felt a hundred times. It's just Thailand too, with blurry shots of a glass of beer or a person smoking (and I thought that here in the European Union we have the strictest regulations) and on the other hand Phun is calmly driving around Bangkok at 17 years old without he had a driver's license...

Read More

In contrast to other Thai series from a school environment, there is a noticeable shift in this one, both in the plot line (like the small Thai Cuatro Lunas or Skam) and in the fact that the biggest "sex" is no longer just the final shy kiss in the fifteenth part.

The more colorful stories of the individual couples develop mainly in the later episodes, but the fate of the couple Ae (Tanapon Sukhunpantanasan) and Pete (Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana) accompanies the viewer throughout the series, which are the civilian names of the young actors, from which we can only break the tongue, and I mention them because these the two main characters are not listed in the Cast in Details section. Above all, the character of Ae is written very beautifully and even more beautifully and tenderly played by the seventeen-year-old, likeable and athletic Tanapon, as he gradually realizes everything about himself and conquers the fragile Prince Pete step by step.

I see a beautiful Thai woman for the first time, because otherwise Thai students are usually depicted as toothy, bespectacled or lilliputian schoolgirls, so I'm not even surprised that the overall tone of such series is such that the viewer thinks that 90% of Thais are into boys. Even the character of rich Tino, another footballer Can and some others are well written.

In my opinion, probably the best Thai series from a school setting in 2019 so far, and I definitely recommend it to romantic souls who understand and don't mind tougher Asian conversational acting...

Read More

It is the third film presented here by director Auraeus Solito and is completely different from his previous films. It starts with a long "chatty" scene, as if it were supposed to be a theater performance, the individual scenes are quite long, and I must admit that the booing, humiliation, machismo and sexism from the military environment never smelled good to me, because I hate it when "someone" has it in their hands too much, or if I should be commanded (not only in the army, but also in my job) by an even bigger idiot than I am.

Of course, the film raises questions and we have to answer them ourselves. The actors are "effortless" and I evaluate overall from the perspective of an East Asian viewer, because of course this movie has its own Pinoy perspective and dimension. Of the director's three films, I rate this one in third place.

Read More

An absolutely exceptional film by Philippine standards (highly rated on ČSFD, MDL and IMDb) collected so many awards, victories for the creator and actors at film festivals and nominations (56 in total) that it is perhaps impossible to count in America (Santa Monica, Montreal, Park City and Toronto), Asia (Tokyo, Singapore, the awards of the Philippine Film Academy and three other Philippine organizations) and Europe (Turin, Berlin, Rotterdam, Warsaw, Tallinn and Amsterdam) and is atypical worldwide mainly because of the main story of a young man, indeed almost still a childhood gay. Reality shines through, from the beginning of the film in a documentary style (how the poorest sections of the population live by necessity in the suburbs of Manila), later added the component of a young policeman, with whom he and Maximo fall in love, and criminal plots and, above all, excellent acting performances by almost all of them, led by a not even fourteen-year-old ( at the time of filming) by Nathan Lopez.
This reality was evident in Maxim's family, where the brothers and father were played by typically well-chosen actors and the Manila policeman Victor followed closely behind them. The fact that gays sometimes twist more and put flowers in their hair is typical for East and South Asia and the whole of Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), in some countries gays unfortunately have no other option but to play "at woman" (as a tolerated third gender) rather than being despised.
So if I take away the Pinoy mannerisms, the technical shortcomings (sometimes the camera and the tinny, rather strong music component - for that I deducted two points for the music and processing), then for me satisfaction and I agree with the absolute superiority of all reviewers on all world servers, who rate the film very positively. Actually, if the processing was perfect in the "American" way, it wouldn't be the right Pinoy movie for me. Here on GT, in my opinion, the director's best film, closely followed by Boy (I) and then Esprit De Corps.

Read More

It's a very different movie.
He is completely different than most.
It is Thai, where the Thai branch of Buddhism predominates.
It is necessary to look at him from this point of view and not to evaluate only through the eyes of a Central European viewer. Why is the scene like that, why are the actors playing it like that, why is the film pensive, poignant almost from the beginning.
The content of the film is very well described on ČSFD, be sure to read it before watching the film.

When the viewer is able to put all this together, he cannot make a bad assessment. It is a film about images, about feelings, about LIFE. It is a film whose message will remain forever in my soul...

Read More