This review may contain spoilers
No BL, but a true gem
The last six months have seen some remarkable BL-highlights, like 'A tale of 1000 stars' or 'I told sunset about you', where a lot of money was spent to create beautiful series. Wayufilm once again proves that it's possible to compensate the lack of a huge budget and lucrative sponsorship with creativity, dedication, and a cast of highly talented and overwhelmingly cute actors. And – to make this clear from the start – although this is not BL, it is a true gem that BL fans will love, I promise.The plot is simple on the surface: A student from Bangkok visits Chiang Mai to experience life in the countryside and therefore travels with three Chiang Mai friends to a remote rural 'hotel'. This simple plot is, however, used to address some of the problems Thailand (like many developing countries) is facing, not by making the actors elaborate at length on migration from land to cities, left-behind marginal rural areas, unequal distribution of wealth etc, but by seemingly incidentally displaying their consequences in the daily lives of the people.
Let me give two examples. When the country boy's mother tells her son she's afraid she will be left behind alone some day, after her daughter has already escaped to the city with a guest, we see like in a magnifying glass what internal migration means for the countryside. When a debt collector of a money shark threatens Kep his boss will take the 'homestay' away from the family who have run out of money due to the covid crisis, this little scene en passant makes it obvious that the pandemic hits poor people the hardest and makes the rich even richer.
Now this may sound as if 'Country Boy' was a depressing account of poor people's problems, but it is exactly the opposite, thanks to the carefully constructed storyline, which contrasts the big problems with little pleasures on the personal level. In part 2, the film offers a solution to overcome the divide between prospering cities and left behind countryside: the visitors decide to help Kep and his mother improve their 'hotel' and attract more paying guests, and donate their money so that the outstanding debt can be paid. It is a small example of how the problems of marginalized regions can be solved: by the transfer of money and skills, on a much larger scale, of course, supported by many more good-willed people like these four boys, and local people ready to adapt to the changes.
So we have to talk about the characters. Kep is the country boy who succeeds in smiling away all the obstacles of the hard life in the country. However, he isn't the one-dimensional naive optimist, he has his moments of fear and frustration, too, but he always finds the beauty in the little things of life. As his guests expect 'activities', and there are none, he invents some over night: watering the plants, for example, which seems weird to the visitors at first, but then they love it.
The Bangkok student and the three Chiang Mai boys, on the other hand, at first only see the quaint, romantic side of country life, but soon realize that things are not so romantic when you have to face the naked truth behind the pictoresque scenery. They do appreciate the clean air, the beautiful landscape, and the rural life, but they are soon confronted with the basic problem of poverty. Unlike many well-off city people, they don't close their eyes, but do the best they can to help their new friend Kep. At the same time, they learn that the local food that looks like 'dog's puke' to them, tastes wonderful.
Now you may ask, 'where is the BL-factor' in this? Well, there actually isn't much, no kissing, no sex like in previous OakMon movies, just a few secret glances in episode 1, and two hugging scenes in the final part. That may be disappointing to some viewers who have expected more, but honestly, more wouldn't have fit the characters of Kep and Nabdao. Not so soon. But maybe in a sequel? Somehow it feels like Nabdao and Kep will meet again.
Which takes us to the actors, and they are just brilliant. Oak has proven he is able to give depth to his roles at the age of 16 already (if you haven't seen 'Key Love' or 'Night Time', you should watch them, too). The way he expresses joy, fear, surprise, shyness, and love proves he is a natural. With Mon he has a congenital partner which makes these two young actors an iconic couple already (even if they don't become a couple in this movie), and all that without the fan service from a big production company.
But this movie doesn't only rely on the talent and chemistry of the two leads. The supporting actors are all very good. What makes the performance of these five young men so outstanding is their natural way of depicting their roles. In many scenes it feels like the camera is only there to accompany a group of boys for two days, so you get the impression they aren't acting at all.
In some of the big Bangkok productions the main criteria to put together the cast of a series is the cuteness factor; talent and acting skills come second and sometimes are lacking completely. In this movie we have one of the rare cases where all the actors are extremely cute, each in his own way (don't tell me Oak isn't cute. Gosh, this smile, and these eyebrows!), and they are talented and skilled at the same time.
The settings are also carefully chosen. When at the beginning the Chiang Mai boys proudly take their Bangkok visitor to the most popular coffee bar, he's bored because he knows all the coffee bars in Bangkok, and coffee bars aren't the reason for him to visit the North of Thailand (which reminds me, a country boy myself, of proudly inviting my city-friend to our newly opened pizzeria, and he was complaining pizzas are much better in the city. He rather wanted me to take him to the forest which I find boring because it's just full of trees and nothing else. Well, the other man's grass...).
Kep's Homestay feels like a haunted house, opening the opportunity to show that boys from the city are more frightened of ghosts than the country boy who finds it completely normal his late grandmother's spirit still inhabits the room he rents out to the visitors. I had to smile when he apologized to her she will have to spend the next few days in his mother's room. The environment of Kep's 'hotel' is used to show the rural people's love of nature, e.g. when Kep teaches his visitors to water the plants, which for him is an act of pleasure and respect.
The cinematography of this movie (I won't call it a series, it's more a movie released in two parts) is an improvement compared with previous Wayufilm productions. This isn't meant to say the older ones weren't good, but the surroundings of Kep's Homestay allow more attractive shots than a classroom, a small flat, or a dirty alley like in previous productions. It doesn't reach the quality of series like '1000 Stars', but it's still good.
Finally, I must mention the soundtrack. The song performed by Mon and Oak is so beautiful it makes me smile every time I hear it, just like the movie makes me smile every time I watch it. I rarely re-watch series or movies, but I have already re-watched the first part three times.
To sum it up, this movie is a true gem, and a real highlight of 2021, maybe not as BL as you would have wanted, but Oak's smile and the natural acting of all the boys easily make up for that. If you're in a sad mood, watch it (again), and I'm sure you'll feel better. If you're in a good mood, still watch it (again), because you'll have one more reason to feel good.
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Interesting MINI with Twists
This was a good mini drama. The ML will be one to watch. The chemistry between the leads was good. The OST was a bit off and a little distracting. The 'inclusive' twists made things interesting. The FL was good at pacing herself throughout the series. Production could have been better with styling. The various twists even in the end felt as if they are prepping the series for a part 2. Which would be interesting yet trying. The ending was a bit rushed especially with the reveal. but this series overall is solid. A good watch.Was this review helpful to you?
Jpn dramas are the best when it comes to human stories
If it wasn't because a regular subber started working on this sub, I wouldn't have picked it. Boy, am I glad I watched this! One of my favorite dramas of this season. It was sweet, with a wonderful cast, soothing OST, and amazing script. Like Kounodori S.1. Medical dramas in the pediatrician department is usually more moving, and it always depend on the scriptwriter to not make it corny, and it worked with GD.I have to apologize to Yamazaki Kento, since when I've read he was going to be the lead, I wasn't interested. He is OK, but that's all for me. But he was amazing as Minato-sensei, since the very first episode. Portrayed wonderfully a sweet guy with Autism and Savant Syndrome (I've read that he did a research over the subject, so he was well prepared). I have not seen Freddie Highmore's version so I can't compare.
Of course, to me the MVP was Ueno Juri, such an amazing actress. Very natural, and looked very comfortable working with YamaKen.
I think I shed tears in every episode. I loved each one of them. Every episode was heartwarming, emotional and to the point.
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Orange Juice Meet Cute
This has to be one of the sweetest fucking things I've ever seen.This showed from start to finish the embarassing and exciting experience of finally talking to that person you're interested in and actually having them reciprocate. And all the missteps and moments of barely-mustered courage in between. From initiating a conversation and agonizing over what to say so much that you say very little, exchanging numbers, typing, deleting, and retyping the first text, to going on a date for the first time and making things official.
What a treasure these shy and real moments in a developing romance are.
Bless these two sweet, terribly awkward men.
That's it. That's all I had to say. NOW GO WATCH THIS MOVIE BECAUSE IT'S GOOD, I PROMISE!
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This review may contain spoilers
Compelling Rendition
My Final review take:
This has been 4 very charming episodes.
The way Yoon Ho grabbed-hugged So Hyun in the rain just striking. Palpitating darling moments, indeed.
This drama definitely has that angst, tension, thrills and a-tinge-of-romance which amped up the whole atmosphere on each scenes. And without any brooding bits, just makes it excitingly fascinating.
My first review take:
Why is it compelling? Because:
First. I am hooked with the music. Brit rock rules! Need the OST tracklist stat! Then again with this type of music tracks, it needs a good match. This drama has it, deserving storyline. It tells a story of a troubled girl. And she is even a pickpocket, for crying sake. Looking for her Dad. And just because she has unsettling mother-daughter relationship with an alcoholic Mum that is, does not justify her action for stealing. It still wrong. But, hey. Life is about planning and options with this case.
Second is the Acting. I just loves it when everybody delivers. So okay, the sweetest treats is still about a nice and kind next door boy. Yoon Ho is so adorable, and he’s the kind with Knights honor soul. The lady with vengeance is HeeJin/So Hyun with all of her ocean eleven mind game. Or is it in a way Sherlock Holmes would go the extra miles. Heroin like her and at nineteenth is a character indeed.
Third. The charm.
Attraction is made without hesitation. Confession is within a heartbeat. And that decoy kiss is just a tad of sincerity away. Bullies is tackled. But the suspense retaliation just puts you on the edge. With only 4 episode, this drama has that subtle approach. Let’s wait the next and final two episode...
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When Cute is not Enough
Over five years ago, “Lovesick - the Series” and it’s sequel “Lovesick 2” paved the way for the Thai BL genre. It opened the door for main stream young gay characters where the focal point of the story is their love relationship. Before “Lovesick” gay relationships were were often relegated to a secondary role. “Lovesick’s” success is due to a simple storyline, two lovable lead actors, straightforward interactions between secondary characters, and an iconic OST in “Shake” which is the best song from any Thai series regardless of genre. “Lovesick” made the slew of BL series, movies, and short films that followed possible as it showed high interest level for the genre. You know you’ve arrived when you’re one of the few series with a BL theme that’s playing on Netflix in the US.“Thank God it’s Friday” (TGIF) is supposed to carry on the “Lovesick” franchise as it takes place five/six years after the Seniors from “Lovesick” graduated. The Friday College Music Club is again in financial difficulty. Because of their lack of appreciable success and maybe actually music playing ability, they enlist the help of the music club at their sister school in Chaing Mai for assistance. Although their initial meeting was rocky, the two groups bond and relationships (both platonic and otherwise) occur.
TGIF is directed by Andy Kusolkulsiri the same director as the both the “Lovesick” series'. Unfortunately, the only connections between “Lovesick” and TGIF are the school’s name (Friday College), the music club that the two groups are involved in, and a brief exchange between Jump and Yong in episode 1 where Jump refers to Noh as his idol and Yong asking Jump if he knew the rumor of Phun and Noh being in a relationship. Let’s forget about the weird suggestion at the end.
Although the three main couple storylines were fairly straightforward, where TGIF fails is that the storyline was muddled, had unnecessary side stories that we’re confusing, poor character development, random intrigue between characters that don’t make sense, and a main plot line of the Bangkok music club getting help getting completely lost. Could these guys actually play or not? I was often left wondering if I missed a half episode in between episodes because I couldn’t figure out what was going on for awhile at the start of each episode, it took a while to settle into an episode.
I felt like the overall story was being made up as they went along. Let’s start with the premise of saving the music club. That isn’t working so let’s focus on the budding relationship between Home and Jump. That’s turning out bland so let’s focus on the Por and Yong and the Lun and Nana relationships but fail to give it real substance because they’re not the main characters. The lack of storyline focus was confusing especially when they added the other side stories and characters without enough development. How long can you run a minor storyline of a missing condom from a bag?
I did find that the story and characters matured from episode to episode - to a point. That point was pretty much at the middle of the series when the three couples end-up at the dam. After their return back to Chaing Mai everything, with the exception of the Lun and Nana story, regressed.
The young female actors were actually not bad but unfortunately the performances of the male actors were all over the place. This is a failure in casting where it appears they favored cute over substance. The main characters of Jump and Home we’re so wooden it was sometimes painful to watch. Their acting did get better as the series progressed but as their bangs got longer their acting again got worse. The second couple of Por and Yong were fine but, their storyline could have been streamlined with better developed conflicts and character struggles. The best developed and acted relationship was the third one between Lun and Nana. Their storyline and acting felt genuine due to the two actor’s having good chemistry and ability, which was lacking with the rest of the actors and couples.
The soundtrack of TGIF also seemed to get better as the series progressed - again to a point. The main soundtrack is cute and catchy. It’s no where near the level of “Shake” but pretty good. The Jump and Home relationship song at the dam was also pretty good. But just like the majority of the series, the music fell apart in the second half of the series with some awful music tracks sung by the actors in the series. Pluggy has a very unique voice, not sure of anyone else in the series has lead vocal quality, so if he was in the song it was fine.
Why I really come down hard on this series is because I’m watching this concurrently with a number of far better Thai series. The producers of TGIF chose to release it at the same time of the end of “Theory of Love” and “3 Will be Free” and the start of “TharnType”, “Dark Blue Kiss”, “I am your King 2”, and “Until We Meet Again.” Yikes! That’s crazy bad timing! How can you go up against those heavy hitters with green actors and a poor script? The quality of the storyline and acting of TGIF pales in comparison to any of those series. I rate each of the aforementioned series between a 9.5 and 8, while I give TGIF a generous 6. Maybe if I watched TGIF during a period where no BL series running I would be more forgiving,
Five years have passed since the groundbreaking “Lovesick” series. The Thai BL genre has evolved so much in those five years that just having a cute series is not enough. I think that audiences are expecting more coherent and developed storylines, better writing and frankly better acting from their series, regardless of genre. I did stick around and watched all 12 episodes of TGIF so cute may have a place?
PS - Had to go to another site to watch the last episode as it’s been over a month and the producers of TGIF have yet to translate the last episode on YouTube, which they had diligently done a week or less post-release of an episode. Did they also give-up on the series?
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Warm and Fuzzy, but.....
Watching Binary Love made me feel fuzzy inside. The love between the main leads were organic and it genuinely made sense. The male lead's boldness added to his quirky charm, seeing that he was socially awkward, but courageous in love. The story developed a one-track man into someone who is foolish in love. All while this story is great, it may be worth for the male lead solely.Dont get me wrong, the female lead was a good lead, but she was kind of flat. In the earlier episodes she seemed to be charming, but as the story progressed her character began to lack dimension. She began a generic female lead that you could find in many other dramas. The plot was great, but it was not in any way due to the female lead.
There was also the UNNECESSARY second male lead and the even more unnecessary third male lead. The second male was inevitable, seeing that he's on the promo cover, but his story went on until the bitter end. He was simply not someone you could route for. At the beginning the series his character was enjoyable because it added some drama, but he quickly became a very annoying entitled man who doesnt know his boundaries. I was fed up wifh him halfway through the show and his forceful behavior towards the female did not end until the bitter end.
And then the show introduced a third lead, who liked the female lead for no reason at all. It was very random and the male didnt even pay him mind, so the third lead was just there for fun I guess. And again the female barely has any depth, so its hard to believe that three men would be chasing after her.
But all in all, this showed had some powerful friendships that were entertaining. The second couple is honestly so cute. And the male lead is adorable, Ren YouLun did a great job acting out his role, and honestly he's the main reason the show was enjoyable.
If you can get passed someone of the negatives i have mentioned this was a good watch. But i have to say it was more entertaining the first episodes then it sort if fell off.
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Be sure to watch the Post Credit Scene
I saw Shining For One Thing: The Movie this morning in US and if you take nothing else from my review please WATCH THE POST CREDIT SCENE!Key points:
- Happy Ending
- You don't have to have seen the show to understand or enjoy the movie
- Twists you didn't see coming (just like the show!)
General Thoughts:
The movie took to heart the key theme of parallel universes and expanded on that. Therefore, the movie is more adjacent to the series than a direct continuation but don't worry, we still get our Happy Ending! Of course because it's a movie with a limited run time and not spanning multiple episodes it's unable to create or show a real or psuedo-relationship like the main characters had in the show but it still does a great job of conveying how strongly and deeply they feel for each other. Also, this is all about Zhang Wansen & Lin Beixing; the side characters we also love aren't apart of the story much. As someone who watched the series I found it incredibly satisfying and cannot wait to watch it again.
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Short and Sweet - good acting with an entertaining and concise story
This drama is like the best of both worlds combining the length of a longer movie with the juicy details of a drama. I highly recommend this for those who love sweet moments without spending hours fast-forwarding through those unneeded storylines.I have watched many dramas both of those long 40-minute episodes as well as those that are 2 minute long episodes. While most of the 2-minute episode drama productions are more on the lower budget that compromised on the quality of actors, costumes, and poor directing, etc. It usually makes me feel I am watching an amateur production, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one with quality actor/actresses (both good looking and good acting), pretty costumes, decent directing, etc... the entire production feels just as good as the normal full budget ones, but with a shorter concise story. A story that doesn't need to focus on too much plotting or any 2nd couple that I call the fluff, which I usually just fast forward, but this is a drama that gives you only the sweet romance and just the right amount of character development and story details of the main leads, from start to finish with beautiful chemistry between them.
Overall: The acting was good, both main leads have beautiful chemistry, the story was entertaining and sweet, just the perfect amount of story and romance without dragging on. In fact, it almost leaves you wanting more, wishing it was just a little bit longer. This story is completed with a 2nd season, which even with both seasons combined is still the perfectly nice and concise length. Instead of watching a 60-hour drama for the sweet storyline only, now you can have it without fast-forwarding together in these 2 seasons.
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Best PH BL movie by far
I dont want to spoil everyone. But i just wanted to say that every cent that you pay for the ticket for this movie is so WORTH IT!! It’s by far the best ph bl movie by far. I just cant get enough that i had to buy another ticket for tomorrow’s stream. ❤️ A chef’s kiss. 👌🏻When I saw the trailer, I thought it was that recycled plot where there’s an outing in the beach and all and that’s where they develop their feelings. But when i watched it, i was amazed by how good it was done. The build up and character development is so good, it will make you engrossed to your screen. Hope you guys will watch it. Support them by buying tickets via ktx.ph so that they will reconsider season 2 if it will be that successful... hopefully... ❤️
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Forget about the fact that Detective Kang is not in it, it's not the end of the world, it does not make the drama worse!
The new casts brings a new mood into the whole drama. Before even starting the drama I wasn't especially happy about the cast change but after the first moments and the first episode they grew on me, perfect for the plot that was set for this third season! Ahn Nae Sang was perfect for his role as well and his acting was just amazing! Was blown away! Supporting roles were great as well! Especially the other doctors! By the way, the relationship between the two main characters is hilarious and enjoyable, you just want to see them more on the screen while they argue with each other~ XD
Better watch it because it cannot be compared to the previous ones if you ask me... the ideas that come up are way over what we can handle~ XP
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At first early minutes, the movie itself is slow and I don't really understand what direction it is going to be. However, it got slowly crawling into my mind and become more and more interesting and suspense. Actyally, the first half of the movie is quite slow but really really important to the 2nd half of the movie, otherwise, you will not understand and feeling anything later.
The 2nd half of thie movie is really intense and suspense, it makes me shocked because never expect it will be that interesting.
I will recommened this movie for those who like suspense thriller, with gore and bloody scenes.
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This review may contain spoilers
This show is a very "to each it's own" kind of show. To me, I thought it wasn't as bad as people had said & I actually enjoyed it. Of course I wouldn't say that it's the best show in the world, but I definitely wouldn't say it's the worst. It had a lot of potential too. It seemed rather rushed as well but I guess that could be because they're apparently breaking them into seasons.
The overall story idea was very interesting to me, but the development was too quick. I found the chemistry to be pretty good but the acting wasn't always the greatest. (I still wouldn't say it was the worst.) I don't want to drop spoilers but I don't know how else to bring this up & I think it's an important scene to bring up to prove my point about something, but the scene where they're giving orders while playing the King game was probably one of my favorite scenes. Not because it got "steamy" (if you want to use those choice of words) but because it showed how comfortable they all were with each other.
With Newyear actually being gay in real life, I like that they all were still very okay with the touchy-feely scenes. That scene actually looked the most real to me. It looked as though they were all genuinely having a fun time joking around. Nothing about it seemed awkward or uncomfortable & I felt that was probably the most important scene to show them as actors & people.
Now outside of that scene, the acting seemed to digress a bit. However, I think it was more for all the less intimate scenes to be honest. BrightxAugust was the most interesting to me & I paid the most attention to them. I felt Mark (August) played his character very well & him & Best (Bright) had really good chemistry with each other.
Junho & Matt's scenes were a bit odd to me. More on an acting level though, Like they weren't the most comfortable together or they just couldn't completely figure out how to portray their characters. I really like their trailer-like episode for the next season though! It looks like it's going to get interesting so I'm quite excited for that.
New & Pound's scenes weren't as awkward as JunhoxMatt's scenes, but they weren't as great as BrightxAugust. Again, I really love the comfortableness they all have with Newyear, especially Kris since he played his love interest. I seen a lot of people dislike their storyline specifically because Newyear's love interest wasn't his real life boyfriend, Both. The thing is though, folks, is that Newyear is an actor. He won't get to have his real life partner play opposite of him all the time. But that doesn't mean that they would break up over it. I doubt Both was upset with any of it because as most partners of actors (should) understand is that acting is acting. Having a couple kiss scenes with another actor doesn't mean they'll fall in love & dump their current lovers. Despite having a boyfriend, I think Newyear still did really well as his character & I'm really proud of him for being able to land a role since he wasn't able to get the last role he tried to audition for because of his sexuality (which still makes no sense to me that he was refused the role of a gay character because he's actually gay, but whatever).
To avoid this review from being 14 pages long, I'll end it with a few more things. This show, in my opinion, isn't as bad as it might seem. Some might not like it, & that's completely okay, but I don't think you should be afraid to give this one a try if you're curious about it. People may say that you shouldn't waste your time, but I truly find it to be anything but a waste of time. I say you should try it out; there's only 5 episodes (so far because as of right now only season one is out) & they're each 25ish minutes so it won't be like you wasted a whole 10 hours of your life if you end up not enjoying it. & who knows, maybe they'll improve for season two! ?
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