Bluebird and origami

Well this was cute, quick to watch and utterly forgettable. Taiwan can definitely do better than this but I guess they must have somehow lost their touch in 2023 to produce a string of misses and a rare hit. This was a miss!

VIP Only is a love story between a chef and a novelist living above the chef's restaurant. It is wrought with tropes: falling into your arms, accidental kiss, helpful best friends, a third party, childhood connection, a mother-in-law from hell......there is nothing fundamentally wrong with tropes as long as you find a novel way to use it. Here, they just put one after another and called it a series! While I was watching it, I had a weird impression that, originally, the script was for a straight M/F romcom and they just cast a man as FL because his behaviour, his actions, his attitude, the way he talked and the way he was dresses in flowing oversized clothes, all screamed woman! I don't know, maybe the character is trans? Did I miss something? I know, those codes come from mangas! They'd tried and tested and we are fed up! Come up with something new, shake up the genre!!!!

More interesting than the main pair were their friends. They pushed and connived to get the chef and the writer together, and their interactions were funny. I would not mind watching more of them! When the writer's college crush reappears in his life, the chef feels threatened, and the way they bicker over the writer is silly and funny!

The cinematography was all over the place: from scenes that were too sharp and cold to dreamy scenes with lighting obscuring faces (really pretty) to some weird camera angles. The same goes for editing: sometimes smooth and other times jerky. And then there was the omnipresent music, all the time in the background, that boring elevator music not adding anything to the plot, just annoyance! The actors were there, going through the motions, chemistry rather weak but the cringe was minimal. Except for the surprise visit of the couple from a parent drama. The main actor Stan, reminded me so much (doppelgänger) of the ML from Hello Stranger(I have to find his name...), a pinoy bl!

Surprisingly so, I think I might rewatch this when I need something simple and silly to cheer me up.

Read More

Lonely hearts

Present Perfect, the feature movie which was based on this short film, was my first thai movie and I liked it very much but I never saw the original before. It is different as it takes place in Thailand and not Japan like the feature. But the core story is the same.

Two men meet in the middle of nowhere. One is escaping a broken heart, and the other is trying to muster up the courage to get married. The first one is openly gay, the second one is still hiding in closet, or at least his gay side! They become friends and then more while healing and growing.

The opening credits have Bangkok University logo so if I remember correctly this is a student movie. And for a student movie it is beautifully made: the production values are high is spite of limited budged. The cinematography is stunning, the sets are beautiful (those little houses have amazing architecture), editing smooth and the music correct. The actors seem inexperienced but they pulled it off nicely in spite of minimal chemistry. There are no explicit scenes, everything is in the glances and gestures: the hottes scene we got is a chaste hug but it is fairly obvious what happened. This only proves the fact that good writing does not need in-your-face NC scenes to make a story about love. Nevertheless, the story draws the audience in and we wish to see more of these characters. Which we got in two feature films, I recommend you watch!

The cast
Oat - Supaponpong Jarin
Toey - Tarathon Noylean
May - Nanthawon Sriwisanpob (the resort owner)
Faii - Suyanee Jaemmankang (Oat's fiancée)

Read More

Searching for love to win a bet

I watched the edited, movie version of this drama.
There is nothing much to say about this low budged endeavour: the eagerness and the will are ok when you are starting out but WayuFilms have been at it for a long time now and, frankly, a couple of years ago they managed to use shoestring budgets admirably well, crafting beautiful short movies with a good story. Not any more!
Recent offerings follow the same structure in a 30min format separated into three distinct parts: introduction with a lot , and I mean A LOT of awkward, OTT acting. Next is a silent montage of the couple being lovey-dovey, getting to know each other, etc. etc. accompanied by elevator piano music. And finally the third part, when they come out and the problem from the introduction part has been solved and the acting is suddenly much, much better.
There is nothing much to the story: a girl makes a bet with her brother and in order to win enrols into a Family class. That does not work, so another girl, she barely noticed, offers to help her. This reminded me of the plot of a couple of Korean web dramas.
The actors are young and still learning. The bickering siblings were well done and the gl couple had decent chemistry. For once they filmed outside a couple of scenes and the drama suddenly became warmer and mellower.
This short offering is not going to change the world but it is a cute watch and, anyway, independent producers need to be supported and cheered on. I just wish they'd find the creativity they lost!

Read More

Pretty paintings and crime

DISCLAIMER: My opinion, that's all!

The concept of this drama reminded me very much of many US shows, police procedurals in which they usually pair up a gruff but extremely honest policeman and a quirky highly intelligent civilian (mostly mathematicians or psychology professors or some such profession) who comes up with the right remark/discovery at a crucial moment thereby solving the case gaining admiration by everyone!
It is the same here: this time an art history professor and highly skilled painter is brought in to help with investigations. At first there is animosity between him and the detective but that quickly vanished when the painter skilfully solves the case in the nick of time, impressing the detective who becomes his main fan.
I was actually a bit disappointed that the conflict was resolved so quickly: I hoped for the tension to last a bit longer. From episode three onwards, we were on the full bromance(not chines censors' one though which it could have been seeing the physical differences between two characters who looked like they just came out of a shounen ai manhua!LOL).
Once their relationship was firmly established, we were treated to a series of "case of the week" episodes featuring different stories: murders, scams, suicides (the slightly GL overtone one did not sit well with me: it sent the very wrong message!)
Over these 20 episodes we did not find much about the main characters: their past and their families are barely mentioned.
And this is where the plot holes come in: the detective comes from a well off family but was caught being a delinquent in a gang fight. Painter looks like he was a homeless kid, taken in by a kind art teacher but still living as a rebel? He was nearly drowned to death (who saved him the first time?) and forgot the face of the woman who asked him for a sketch (that too: why did she have a photo of a 3yr old to find someone easily found 30 years later?I must have missed the explanation!LOL). A psychologist told him he needed to have another near death experience to jog his memory but he had had another such event just a few days previously and nothing happened to his memory. As the plot progressed, the painter got to have many new capabilities: highly observant, highly knowledgable in anatomy, highly competent in psychology (the way he manipulated the computer baron was amazing and of course chess master and extremely talented painter.Makes you wonder how the police managed to catch anyone before he joined with his drawing skills.
Last but not least, the police is painted in such a positive light; everyone is nice, honest, competent, trustworthy and cheerfull, supporting each other for the greater good! Amazing!

The paintings and the drawings were beautiful: in the last scene we are shown sketches of characters from the cases they solved and each sketch is in a different style! There are some really pretty pictures! The painter who did these for the drama production is a very talented individual!

I must admit that as much as I enjoyed this at start, I was getting bored with it by the end. It is not half bad, a fun watch but I just have trouble getting used to c dramas. Again I had the impression they first filmed everything, edited everything in a block then chopped it up into 40min pieces: sometimes the episode would end mid-sentence. They should really learn how to make a cliffhanger cliffhangy!

Read More

Love at first sight

This instalment of My Universe was messy but cute and not too bad. Just a bit too long, a bit draggy and a bit too many flashbacks!

The story is a bit simpler than the synopsis makes it out to be. Pheem is a university student, son of a garage owner and pretending to be rich. His ex-boyfriend, Ta, is pestering him to get back together which Pheem refuses citing a new boyfriend, unfortunately an imaginary one. So Ta invites them both to a major party he organizes in a few weeks time. Now, Pheem is hard-pressed to find a new boyfriend. He crosses paths with a student he bumped into a few days earlier and fell for at first sight. But he refuses to talk to him. Until Pheem finds a way to blackmail him into pretending to be in a relationship. Spending time together, makes Pheem fall hook line and sinker for Phol. And vice versa.

The story is interesting but not fleshed out enough. They had time to do it but they spent it on very long flashbacks, very long and totally unnecessary! The fake relationship became real very quickly! Some people consider it too fast but what is wrong with love at first sight? Which was exactly what Pheem experienced!

Production value is really low here. The filming is lazy, the extras practically non existent, and they should definitely avoid putting scenes of parties and clubs in this whole collection: they just cannot make it believable with 2 extras, 5 balloons and paper cups strewn on the floor! Music was better in these episodes: we were not subject to endless repetition of title song: there was actually some different background music insisting on the comedy aspect of the story!

But this is saved by the actors: they are cute, charismatic (especially North) and have good chemistry. I really hope to see them again in something better produced!

Read More

Double POV for a love story

I am still trying to figure out what have I just watched: a short bl movie or a governement sponsored film about dangers of hook ups(song with animation!)....An experimental movie? A student assignment?

There are two parts in this movie, each telling the story of how they met from different points of view. The parts a separated by a weird song sung by a brilliant actress in a bizarre role of Cupid(?!?). Other than that, the movie has no dialogue and everything is told through gestures and looks. Sometimes less is more, as they say!

One guy is a shy photographer, the other bullies him and then falls for him. The actors played their roles well: we could see every though that was going through their minds: the reluctance to approach, the courage to apologize, the audacity to confess.

I saw a very bad quality copy on youtube but the production value does not seem very high, editing is a bit choppy and there was no need for this weird Cupid: the story was perfectly fine without that singing/animated interlude. The music was awful: it sounded like elevator/porn music: one short theme repeated over and over again with slight changes and synthesizer rhythm section. Very distracting! The movie is actually 11min long, the rest are credits!

Read More

Always look on the bright side of life!

I really do not know what to think about this one: it comes highly praised by "opinion makers" here and yet I found it somehow lacking, swinging between being pretentious and a Korean tourism ministry ad! It was beautifully filmed, slow burn and inviting introspection.

The episodes are a mixed lot but they all somehow reflect real life, and I guess that is not what I am looking for in a drama. There are a couple of episodes that stand out, in my humble opinion, the one on Jeju island with a little girl looking for bread and the one with the comic book writer. On the other hand, the episodes with the artist and the writer in the temple were rather pretentious: look and admire me!

The main character is a single woman in her 30s who takes day trips in order to recharge her batteries. She visits beautiful tourist spots in Korea and meets interesting people. In contact with all these different people, she learns a lot and grows as a person. The whole series has optimism written all over it.

This is an extraordinarily well filmed and written drama: the cinematography is stunning and some episodes' writing is rather original, as if they were trying out different genres (episodes with the comics writer and her best friend stand out in that respect).

I personally have a problem with this kind of overly optimistic dramas: it hits too close to home for comfort, as I see them as a criticism of my own life and the lack of effort I put in. So instead of inciting me to try to change, it has a completely opposite effect on me: I get even more depressed!

Read More

Tout ça pour ça?!?

"Naughty boy, your life is falling apart in front of your eyes, you can't catch a break, you are depressed, there is not end in sight to the misery you feel, and , yet,you are not considerate of feelings of people around you?!?!? How dare you? Their feelings are more important than yours!" This is, in short, what Death wants our hero to understand.

I am a bit undecided now: the ending was not really to my liking, though it is a positive one: it reminded me too much of the shock I felt when I watched Tunnel. Everything was rebooted, he went back to the beginning, so all the running around trying to outsmart the murderers was for naught?!?

The main character, depressed and at the end of the tether, commits suicide. He is met in the afterlife by Death who offers him twelve chances, lives of soon dying people, to beat her, i.e. death. While he fights for survival and gets repeatedly murdered, he realizes: 1 that all those lives are connected to a serial killer and 2, life is precious not only to the person living it but also to all those who love them! Eventually he wins the chance to repent and continue living his own life.

The cast was amazing. But the characters were just cliché: rich chaebol heir who can buy his way out of every trouble, poor people willing to do anything to get out of poverty, some brave and a lot of corrupt policemen, poor brave mother, long suffering girlfriend.....One problem with the cast is that I did not find convincing the 60 yr old actress (a very very good actress) playing the 30yr old version of her character!

Cinematography was stunning in the parts with the Death: the doors to hell looked like an upside down christian cross. The killer often went to church as well, so I guess the religion plays a bit part in creating this universe: sin, repentance, belief....

This was a great watch, bloody and gripping but with the reboot happening in the end, what was the point of getting the serial killer when he is eventually still free. It looks unfinished since he is back at the moment of his death when the serial killer had not been discovered yet. There is definitely one episode missing! Or they did it on purpose so we can decide ourselves where the story goes on from there?
It is a story of how a society you live in puts goals in front of young people who are forced to achieve them or perish because shamed...

Read More

Aaah, the swoonworthy romance...

This is what chinese xianxia/wuxia dramas should be: short, to the point, perfectly written and produced and short! No time wasted on pointless side characters and complicated plots: focus only on two couples and their interactionsand that suffices.

The story is full of clichés and habitual tropes and follows two brothers vying for power in the Immortal Realm. One is good, kind and wise while the other one is mean, stupid, envious and jealous. The good brother falls for the Demon Lady (childhood connection!) and the girl who wanted to marry him gets in the cahoots with the evil brother for revenge. Sometimes, halfway through, as a punishment, they all descend into the mortal realm keeping the same roles (princes and princesses of course) and find themselves again in the revenge plot. The final battle takes place back in the Immortal realm when the evil couple turns completely demoniac!

The plot is highly predictable and unoriginal. But what puts this short c drama above the rest, is the high quality of the production. The story is well written (and funny too boot), and filmed: the cinematography is pretty (a couple of kisses and love scenes were expertly filmed, all with interlaced fingers and floating curtains: they do use that wind machine a lot!), just like the sets and costumes (though I must admit that I find their head dressings a bit ridiculous when they go to bed with their head decked in kilos of jewellery!). The music was nice, the usual xianxia pop. The special effects and the CGI were perfect: don't you just love these battles where nobody hits anybody else and all they do is finger battle? The only thing I found was missing is the chemistry between the leads: there was some but not enough and not to the level of immortal, forever and ever kind of love story!

Everything considered, this is definitely one of the best short dramas ever. It probably would be the best if the chemistry had been to higher level. Nevertheless, it is an excellent, gripping and quick watch!

Read More

Butterflies inducing hope

Practically perfect in every way!

A butterflies inducing, tears of rage provoking story of two lost men who find happiness and solution in each other's company, with love being the cherry on the top! One, Hiro, is a programmer convinced by his boss(workplace bullying/harassment) that he is incompetent and therefore putting more and more effort into ungrateful work. So much so that he is completely exhausted and drawing onto his last drops of strength. The other one, Kai, is a taciturn man used to being alone and always abandoned, expecting nothing from the world. When these two meet, their worlds slowly but surely start to change and merge, almost unwittingly!

The drama is full of romance tropes: opposites attract, childhood connection but it works perfectly well here. The actors have good chemistry and the evolution of their relationship is slow but steady, with their respective insecurities taking turns in blocking it. Misunderstandings appear but are solved immediately! There was only one problem I found in the first episode: in order to help him sleep, Kai "helps" him release the stress through a handjob which can be seen as SA since Hiro keeps saying No. He does sleep well afterwards but this scene just repeats the aggressive gay man stereotype! I thought we were beyond this!

Kudos to casting director who found young actors who resemble the main actors. I find this often in j dramas: more often than in other countries' ones! They really make it an issue of finding a believable looking young counterparts.

And of course there is food: what would a japanese drama be without it? Love goes through the stomach, everyone knows that!

The opening credits are actually the "happily ever after" sort of compilation of scenes we never really see since the drama stops when they get together.

It is a great watch. Japanese have done it again! Except for the weird title...

Read More

Sports and mental health!

Overcoming mental /psychological disorders through sport: inspiring! This is the second series of this anthology I am watching. The first one was about dealing with depression through skateboarding. This one is about autism and learning through badminton.

The actors are amazing: just as skilled as actors as badminton players! While watching, I thought they must have had doubles but there were too many close shots with their faces on to make that realistic! They are amazing! The child actors are just as good, if not better considering their age (10 years old or something like that). The casting director gets a huge credit for finding child actors who look like their teen counterparts, who are talented actors and who can play badminton skilfully.

The series is short, as in it is long enough not to have precious time wasted on unnecessary things. And so much better for it! I binged it in one day. I must admit that I watched the first episode three months ago and the topic was to difficult for me to bear at that moment (too depressing) but it is actually optimistic and uplifting: going for one's dreams in spite of obstacles! It is definitely worth the watch: for the actors, for the story and how it deals with a milder case of autism and for the exciting way the matches are filmed! The last episode is almost entirely a competition match between Gym and Dong and the emotional turmoil it provokes in them while they are playing. You can literally see them grow and mature through the game!

Here are the notes I jotted down while watching!

So, I have only seen two episodes so far and that mother is driving me mad! Yes, her nephew is autistic but is it fair to ask of her own little son to be understanding when she favours the other boy more? She obviously cares more for the autistic boy than for her own son: everything for him, nothing for the "normal" boy! Her son is sweet and kind and she is taking a very wrong, criminal advantage of him, neglecting his needs completely! I hope she realizes the error of her ways! And the autistc boy's mother sees everything and does nothing about it. Nothing yet, I hope! So far she's the only one who is in a position to do something!
On one hand it is admirable what she is trying to achieve here: get mentally challenged athletes accepted in the mainstream sport competition but on the other hand, her own son has to pay the price for it! Is it fair to ask or expect of a child to look after his cousin whose tantrums are robbing him of a normal childhood (ep. 3: they are 10 yrs old and Gym is all sulky and upset because Dong went to play with the neighbour so the 10 year old Dong has to calm him down!)
In ep;4 we finally find out the reason for this behaviour: she had an affair with her sister's husband, got pregnant and had a healthy boy. She feels guilty about it and therefore she looks more after Gym neglecting completely her own son who is not allowed to have a life away from Gym! Is he going to have to pay for his mother's mistakes all his life? By the end of the episode, Dong rebels and asks to be given the freedom to make his own decisions about sport. Seeing that nothing good would come out of stubbornly controlling her son, the mother finally relents and gives in.
And even though Dong is independent and can take care of himself (ep 6) he still needs the support a family can give, words to cheer him up and on. So stop feeling guilty towards your sister and start feeling guilty for forgetting about your own son! Be a mother finally!
Separating boys eventually proved to be a good thing but the nagging worry that he is not good enough, still haunts Dong. And when Gym decides to go back to playing but in singles, Dong sees the tiny territory of independence he managed to conquer through endurance and hardship, being again threatened by Gym, completely unaware of the struggles Dong is going through!
The incredible thing, shown throughout the drama, is the acceptance of mental disability by the society. I had expected actually to be made uncomfortable by the rejection and difficulties people meet while dealing with autistic children: none of it here! Nobody is really making fun of Gym (except once and that was nipped in the bud)! People can be cruel towards others who are different, so showing the ideal world is a bit jarring. Maybe it is true, in Thailand! I hope it is!

Anyway, this is a great short watch dealing with serious matter but gripping and eventually uplifting!

Read More

THIS IS NOT A BL!!!!!

Yes, there is romance! Yes, there are hot guys kissing! And yet, it is not a bl, it is so much more! So if you are here for the bl, you are bound to be disappointed, hence the awful rating this drama has on MDL! Go watch something else!

This is a story about grief, relationship break up, life, selfishness and love.

Sunshine is an up-and-coming actor whose boyfriend, Rain, dumps him a week before Valentine's. He finds himself drinking in a bar/flower shop, and someone takes him home dead drunk. That someone turns out to be Kyu, a cupid reaper who offers him seven chances to win his boyfriend back by erasing people he thinks are responsible for the break up. As the days go by and people get deleted without Rain coming back to him, Sun comes to the realization that the break up was actually his fault!

What an interesting concept as grief management! Sun is incapable to see his own flaws and erasing people puts those flaws in the spotlight, so the more he denies them, the more they are visible until he has to admit it is his fault and nobody else's! Sun is young, cocky, full of certainties, like a lot of young people are, unwilling to accept that they do not know everything and that they are not the centre of the universe! Kyu, the cupid reaper, tries to warn him, make him realize the error of his way but he stubbornly ploughs forward. Their relationship is admirably well written: starting from the initial animosity and impatience to friendship and to love. Nothing is rushed!

The production is perfect: it is well written, very theatrical in its set up since we mainly see Sun and Kyu on screen talking. Most of the action (dialogue!) takes place in Sun's small flat. They talk a lot and the director transposed to tv the theatrical set up with different lighting of different parts of the flat. When Sun tells the story of his relationship, we see the flashback acted out in the background. Amazing idea! Works perfectly well!

The acting was top notch by the entire cast but especially by Atom. That guy is a walking, overflowing fountain of talent that just needs a bit of streamlining. He managed to show every side of Sun's personality: the odious, self centred one, desperate one when the realization struck(lots of crying involved: he's rather bad at it!) and finally a new man who matured through the experience (he actually looked older and calmer!). And that smile! The rest of the cast was just as good: the dialogues are delivered lively, realistically. There is a scene where Sun and Kyu argue while talking over each other. I was stunned by it: for the first time in a drama I see a real argument. Or Sun's audition scene: extraordinary piece of acting! Some side characters could be deemed annoying but Jared, the flower shop assistant and the landlady were just quirky and lovable!

The music was excellent: two songs played during the drama giving subtle hints as to the plot!

Last, but definitely not least, the cinematography and set design: breathtaking. The colours were mostly dulled shades of cold colours, so the only visible colour was red. There were touches of red all over the place: red lamp, red flowers, red taxi, red chair etc.etc. usually one single item per scene! There were also indication throughout the set of the widespread consequences of Sun's deletions: through posters, costumes and sets! The constant in all those changes is the poster campaign for the new perfume Sun did an ad for: Once the Devil! Which makes watchers wonder if Kyu is an angel of the Devil. The final scene explains that they were both a Devil, once for each other!

The ending is a bit surprising. Suffice to say it is a happy ending! Almost perfect, Kyu(not Kyu anymore but Sky) and Sun meet on the plane calling each other Q! They were actually each other's Q: halloween Q and cupid Q and they saved each other's lives! I binged it in two days: episodes are short and easy to watch if you are fan of slow burn dramas!

Just one final remark: the character of Kyu (or Q) reminds me of Star Trek: The Next Generation character Q! Kyu puts Sun through trials by demanding him to erase people in order for Sun to learn about himself! Didn't Q do similar thing in Star Trek? Just a thought!!!!

Read More

Food and...love?!?!?

I know that this whole franchise has a big fan base so they are probably not going to like my musings on this special episode!

I am sorry but I do not see the chemistry between these two men. They act like a stern father and a naughty kid pair. The stern lawyer is the adult in this relationship while the middle-aged hairdresser is the kid, hiding and scared of being told off. I had the same impression when I watched the first season of the drama: they looked like two best friends sharing an apartment. If I am not mistaken, they each had their own room so they are not sleeping together. There is a scene in this special episode, when the lawyer comes home late, sleeps and leaves without his "partner" noticing it.

Some would say that they had been living together for a long time, the routine has been set and the passion felt at the beginning of a relationship never lasts forever. That is true here, if that is the case! They obviously care for each other but the intimacy is not there. And I do not mean the NSFW kind of intimacy but simple, daily, spontaneous touch of hands, the obvious ease of being together, a sense of content and happiness. Nothing is there! Maybe it has to do with their generation, the culture, their upbringing which forbids them from expressing emotions? Kenji, the hairdresser, is obviously in awe of his "partner", wanting his approval and very jumpy around him when he thinks that he's done something wrong. I haven't read the manga, but Kenji's exaggerated gestures and twirling around is very cringy to watch. He looks and acts like one of those trans thai BL characters used for comic relief, very OTT! But he can be serious and not overact which he showed in a couple of scenes when he suddenly stopped fidgeting and started talking normally and not with the usual baby voice!

There is the interesting second couple: funny to watch, completely toxic and happy to be so! And with so much more chemistry than the main couple!

This special brings nothing new to the drama or any development of their relationship. At one moment, the lawyer falls asleep on the couch and Kenji, trembling like a leaf, tries to steal a kiss, but the lawyer wakes up before he manages to do anything. What kind of relationship is this when you cannot kiss the man of your life freely, at ease at your own home?

Therefore, I wish they would stop selling this as a BL: it is a simple roommates bromance, though one would like to be more! No matter how much the lawyer claims to be gay, he does not act like someone who is in love with the person they are living with. He seems to be what people nowdays call Aroace. Right?

Read More