Short film about two best friends

Content Warnings: none 

Overall: 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

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Had Potential and Then Took a Nosedive

Content Warnings: none

Overall: 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.

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Break Up While You Can

Content Warnings: tragedy

Overall: 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...

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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. 

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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

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The Hidden/Slow Plot (cut version) - watch suggestions

Overall: the first episode made me intrigued but it devolved into a non thrilling/confusing mess. Aired 10 episodes about 45 minutes each on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/17g7rz51mczkxkf-The%20Hidden%20Moon/a4100mvcw5u-EP01A%3A%20The%20Hidden%20Moon (uncut episodes were about 10 minutes longer)

Content Warnings: death, attempted suicide, sexual assault/rape?, self harm, scary images, violence, blood, mental health struggles, choking

Watch Suggestions (suggest watching the cut version except where noted, this focuses on sweet moments between the leads)
- watch episode 1
- episode 3 watch part 2 beginning-3; part 3 beginning-1:15, all of part 4
- episode 4 watch all of part 1; part 2 start at 7:12; part 3 beginning-4 and all of part 4
- watch episode 5 part 1 4:30-end
- watch all of episode 6 uncut, they cut out kissing/implied sex
- episode 7 watch part 1 16-end, part 3 3:40-end and can watch all of part 4
- episode 8 watch part 1 before the credits for a quick kiss (uncut version has a longer kiss but it's more of a dead fish lip press) and 12:20-13:15
- skip episode 9
- watch episode 10 uncut from 40:20-43

What I Liked
- intriguing premise with mystery/horror/supernatural elements
- at least they asked why the ghost sensitive one wasn't seeing them
- sweet moments especially in episode 6
- supportive mom
- some of the production value* (the off key music at the end and then the music at the end was especially fitting)

Room For Improvement
- *choppy at times (even in the uncut version it felt a little choppy)
- confusing and slow plot
- Khen and a friend had several moments that made me ship them which was especially bad because the other ML wasn't introduced until the very end of ep 1 (this was less an issue in the cut version)
- odd that a character went from trying to kill another character to suddenly liking him and then back to hating him, did not feel chemistry between the leads
- did not care at all about the drama in the past and it was confusing because a character made it sound like she didn't want something but then she seemed to want that when she talked to her friend later
- I was going to give this a 7 but the very confusing/rushed finale/dead fish lip press dropped it to a 5 (the uncut adds 9 minutes at the end but it basically shows Mas and Khen almost meeting and how Khen was recruited to join the rest of the group and go to that house, they aren't together
- the idea that Mas would watch reincarnated Khen grow up and then get together with him when he was 40 and Khen was 20 was icky (this is how the cut version ended)


Episode 1 cut ~43 minutes vs uncut ~57 minutes (the removal of the following scenes may have added to choppiness but it was good to have less romance coded moments between Khen and another character and that they reduced the sing-along)
- parts 1 & 4 didn't notice any changes
- beginning of part 2 they cut a scene when they are back at the house, a brief group conversation, then Khen brings sweets and chats with the housekeeper
- in part 2 they cut a scene where the group is by a river, a character tells Khen that he senses a spirit hanging around him and then a library scene where Khen is trying to find additional info about the house, later cut out them doing additional research
- in the beginning of part 3 they cut down some of the singing/camping stuff

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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

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I've checked out of this series

Overall: I'm sad because they took everything I liked about episode 0 (fast paced, likeable characters, great music) and wrecked it. The series should be called "Boring Cheaters." Watched on iQIYI.

Content Warnings: non con kissing that turned consensual, dub con kissing and non con kissing that did not turn consensual, stalking, manhandling, harassment, drunk driving?, slap, manipulation, possible past suicide attempt/s

What I Liked
- the outro song
- I think the actors are trying their best with a terrible script

Room For Improvement
- very confusing, we start with a scene at the end of the first episode, then jump back and forth several times between present day and flashbacks (also too many flashbacks in later episodes)
- meh intro
- boring/slow paced, I watched at 3x speed. The cut episodes were slightly less boring (around 40 min vs 1hr 10) but still boring
- unlikeable main characters, I don't mind flawed characters but I especially don't understand Nine at all
- switching back and forth from a steamy scene where both people are cheating to a scene where a boyfriend is setting up a nice dinner was not appealing at all
- I don't normally notice the music unless it's really good or really bad and this was the later, sometimes the music really didn't fit the vibe of the scene
- the toilet humor (twice in the first 4 episodes!!!)
- I don't know why they are going to OnlyFans, have they seen some of the stuff on Gagaoolala? Also it seems like the actors had to act in the 18+ scenes totally naked when previously they were told they'd have socks... I hope the actors find something with a better plot, editing, really better everything

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old school Thai romcom

Overall: it feels old school Thai BL romcom. This series is based on books which I haven't read and will review the series on its own merits. Uncut (~52 min) on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/1ci6pha8sn1tf5h-Fourever%20You/t4100l7xft2-EP1%3A%20Fourever%20You%20(Uncut%20Ver.) ; uncut for Wabi Sabi's YouTube Membership ; cut (~47 min) on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/ao1v1tecg9lpwhb-Fourever%20You%20(Uncut%20Ver.)/s4100zd55dq-EP01A%3A%20Fourever%20You and YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLb6_2JamS9iP_2lK0mjCScRwFJx8c8ru6

Content Warning: non con touching, homophobia, punch

Watch Suggestions
- watch episode 1
- watch episode 2: part 1 9-end, 2/3 9:30-end and all of 2/4
- watch episode 3: part 1 4-6 & 13:30-end, all of part 2
- watch episode 4: start part 1 at 3 min and watch part 4
- watch episode 5: part 2 beg to 5 min, part 3 2:30-end, part 4 5:30-end

What I Liked
- excellent way to start a series
- the F4 entrance was fun (though not the exposition dump to introduce the characters)
- nice to see several actors again
- supportive dad and grandma

Room For Improvement
- feels very old school Thai BL, there is zero reason for poor communication dragging on for a long time/not clearing things up right away in the past or the present, several things are not clearly explained to the viewer
- nonsense stuff like a character saying he would answer anything and then the other character not asking the most important question
- 5 episodes was much too long for the first couple's story
- the comedy sound effects didn't make things funny
- not a fan of what a character did while the other was sleeping in episode 1
- some of the haircuts/styles and acting like a child as a university student
- awkward body gap and hands at sides when kissing


Note: I skimmed thru the cut version to find the missing 5 minutes in ep 1 and other than the beginning being shorter, I didn't notice any changes. Episode 2 uncut was 1 minute longer. Right now I'd recommend watching the uncut version when there is NSFW as that will likely be reduced/cut in the cut version. (as of episode 5 there's no NSFW)

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wrong characters get redemption arcs/don't have consequences

Overall: it's obvious from the title of the series and the trailers that this isn't going to be a fluffy romance series (which is fine). Unfortunately the wrong characters are receiving consequences and the wrong characters are receiving redemption arcs. The 20 episodes are broken up into 4 stories, each one has 5 episodes. Aired on Gagaoolala and on AIS Play's paid Youtube channel.

Content Warnings: attempted suicide, manipulation, non con touching and kissing, homophobia, mental health struggles, fight scenes/violence, non con video recording/posting, sex trafficking, blackmail, cyberbullying, homophobia, drugging, kind of attempted murder

What I Liked
- intro/OST
- kissing/steamy scenes from Pan/Nott
- acting from Seng/Billy
- the sweet moments
- shout out to marriage equality

Room For Improvement
- it really bothered me that the wrong characters were receiving redemption arcs, I wanted to see jail! maybe this is supposed to be realistic but it's not my thing
- the kissing from the side couple was not good
- there are quite a lot of characters
- how would the manager not know what NC stands for?

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In Your Heart?

Overall: choppy BL with a bad ending. Watched on Gagaoolala (also on Viki).

Content Warnings: rape (portrayed as romantic), non con kissing/trying to kiss, punches, beaten up (off screen)

What I Liked
- the OST and intro sequence was well done
- there were a few funny moments like the music when they were sitting on the wall, broom fighting
- good production value

Room For Improvement
- the non con was totally unnecessary and the ending was stupid, it didn't make me throw my computer in rage but I was disappointed
- the female love interest part was confusing and unneeded
- that mom looked the exact same age as the high school student (actor is 29 apparently, the mom should have been an older actress)
- choppy editing/plot
- the side characters needed more development
- continuity error, after being beaten up with visible injuries, they are injury free in the next scene
- the scene in the principal's office/that money thing were too long

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typical gmmtv high school romance/coming of age (timings for BL scenes)

Overall: it's fine, nothing groundbreaking but it isn't trying to be that. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each. Aired on GMMTV's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszepnkojZI6GZkz9PZRxoeyTrwO5nu_J&si=PDNKfZbzu2ySo3I7

Content Warnings: bullying/beaten up, mental health struggles, punch, non con picture taking/sharing

BL Scenes
- episode 1 part 3 beginning to 2:28
- episode 2 part 4 10:13 to 13:15
- episode 3 part 1 6-6:45 (not between the couple but a fun BL moment)
- episode 3 part 3 1-4:50 and 9:12 to the end
- episode 4 part 1 11:10-12:40
- episode 4 part 2 6:50-11
- episode 4 part 3 9-end
- episode 5 part 3 4:35-6, 8-9:10
- episode 5 part 4 1:05-4:40 and 7.43-9.25
- episode 6 part 1 13:20-14:15
- episode 6 part 2 3:50-4:40
- episode 6 part 3 10:15-end
- episode 6 part 4 2-5:40, 12:30-13:05, 14:25-15:05
- episode 7 part 1 9:10-12:10
- episode 7 part 2 7:05-11:50
- episode 9 part 2 2:15-6:35
- episode 10 part 1 beginning to 3:15
- episode 10 part 3 5:35-6:30
- episode 10 part 4 3:20-5:55


What I Liked
- easy to understand premise
- sweet moments
- friendships
- her family and his dad (also talked about safer sex)
- the BL side couple (except they oddly had no scenes in episode 8)

Room For Improvement
- started with a voice over exposition/character dump
- two catch and falls in the first half of episode 1
- continuity errors
- cliche wannabe girlfriend
- the punch was too much
- multiple times jumps at the end

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too slow paced for me

Overall: I skimmed several episodes (5 and 6 were okay) but it was too slow for me and then I skimmed the final episode and am happy I didn't watch all episodes (not a fan of the ending) 12 episodes about 45 minutes each. Watching on GagaOOLala

Content Warnings: non con picture taking, harassment, manhandling, fight scene, manipulation (potentially more)

What I Liked
- clear premise
- how Kiao actually felt like he was from the past and not knowing several things like cell phones
- the other characters' reactions felt fairly realistic with the situation
- addressed transphobia/homophobia in a natural way (Kiao was using an older term)
- character friendships
- how the adults resemble the actors who play their younger selves
- neutral, there are comedy sound effects

Room For Improvement
- was really slow, scenes dragged on too long, a lot of unnecessary stuff
- set up for the 'gay for you' trope
- the plot, especially towards the end
- that ending

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First Impression: Caged Again

Overall: a promising romcom with a fantasy twist. 10 episodes about 40 minutes each. Airing on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/videos/4962/caged-again-2024-e01 and WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/album/b3s2uqh9es211rf (thus far I don't see a difference between GagaOOLala & WeTV).

Content Warnings: fight, manipulation, held against will/injury

What I Liked
- dynamic between the MLs
- sweet/caring moments
- the ghost/goddess character
- I did chuckle a few times
- some mystery

Room For Improvement
- a bit choppy at times, started with a flash forward and then goes back and forth on the timeline especially in the beginning of episode 2, some scenes jumped from one to the next a bit abruptly
- wish they kept 1 aspect more secret
- odd, why wouldn't he just want to go to the other pole where they do live
- cliche thing that happened in the beginning of episode 2
- that was not enough consequences at the end of episode 2, but perhaps there will be more later
- (neutral) comedy sound effects, mostly fine except I don't like the gulp noises

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interesting dynamic

Overall: I like the nervous office worker compared to the collected bad boy gangster; however, only episodes 1-3 are free to watch https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIBpX20YnmIiP897j9WiDoGMXkS_5XZE5&si=pq9pgBL_1VRDtGEo
The rest must be watched/paid on the mov, Inc app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=movie.mov.app&pli=1 / https://apps.apple.com/us/app/short-movie-tv-mov/id6648779972

Content Warning: fight

What I Liked
- their dynamic
- easy to understand plot
- visuals

Room For Improvement
- with only 10 episodes they could have moved the story along a bit faster (episode 3 had a large chunk of flashback)
- fight scene looked/sounded very fake

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