Friday, March 28, 2008

Changing Partners

Changing Partners Synopsis: (from http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/)
Young-joon and So-yeo are a young couple with their marriage relatively stable. On a day their mutual friend opens a wine bar, they come across Min-jae and Yu-na, a couple quite the opposite of themselves. After a trade of talks, Young-joon becomes a client of fashion consultant Yu-na, while hotelier Min-jae agrees to help So-yeo book a hotel for her Hong Kong business trip. So-yeo meets Min-jae by chance in Hong Kong, while Young-joon trades suggestive remarks with Yu-na who visits him on a consulting session. That night, the four of them find in the other partner what had been missing in their respective marriages…


My comments:
A movie starring by two actors who I’m fond of (Park Yong Woo and Uhm Jung Hwa) and two others who I’m not (Lee Dong Gun and Han Chae Young). I think that Changing Partners is worth a watch; at least I wasn’t bored for a movie that’s almost 2 hours long.

The likelihood of two couples cross-having an affair was questionable and I felt that there is a stronger emphasis on Min Jae (Park Yong Woo) and So Yeo’s (Han Chae Young) affair and that they were more passionate than the other pair. It’s very obvious that they were attracted to each other when they first met but it’s a mystery to me why Young Jun was attracted by Yu Na (that boxing match was priceless though!). However, I find myself surprisingly more interested in Young Jun (Lee Dong Gun) and Yu Na’s (Uhm Jung Hwa) story although I really don’t see them as a ‘couple’. I really like the scene when both women fell into the water and you’ll just wonder who will save So Yeo and who will save Yu Na, the husband or the ‘lover’. I’m a sucker for these kinds of scenes so I find it pretty touching.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Warlords

Warlords Synopsis (from Wikipedia):
The film is set in the 1860s, during the Taiping Rebellion in the late Qing Dynasty in China. The story, based on an unresolved crime in 1870, tells of three sworn brothers (played by Andy Lau, Jet Li and Takeshi Kaneshiro) who are forced to turn against one another due to the harsh realities of war and political intrigue.


My comments:
Period epic movie packaged with a mega cast, grand scenes, lots of blood, battles and flying limbs is usually not my type of movie but I must say that Warlords is pretty spectacular. I’ve seen a lot of brotherhood movies in which the brothers turn against one another for personal gain/selfishness but this time, I find it hard to blame Jet Li’s character. In their situations, Andy is right but so is Jet, so we’re facing a big dilemma. Technically, the three main guys are not evils but they are not heroes as well, they are just pawns. Therefore, when I finished the movie, I find it suffocating, dramatic and depressing. A movie like this, you cannot expect a bright ending…

I have to admit that it bothered me a bit that they guys are screaming/shouting hysterically a little too much during the battle scenes. The romance element was bleh because it's too restrained and there is also a lack of chemistry. Not only that, I also felt a lack of chemistry between the three sworn brothers but the overall acting is fine and effective.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Seventh Day

Wow, I can’t believe that I didn’t watch any drama during the last months…I decided that I would watch The Seventh Day when I saw the preview clip in the TVB sales presentation and since I saw Under The Canopy of Love with exactly the same cast so yeah…

The Seventh Day Synopsis (from Wikipedia):
Different people have different attitudes to love - even those born on the same day in the same year do not necessarily share the same views. YAU CHI-WING (Cheng, Kevin) and HUI WAI-YAN (Wong Chung Chak,Bosco) were both born on the seventh day of August, but one takes relationships seriously while the other is so money-minded and sees love as a tool to get higher up the social ladder.

The tale begins on the seventh of August, when WING and YAN first encounter their own dream girl on the same island. WING works as a lifeguard on the outlying island. He gets to know pet shop assistant LING KA-YAN (Chow Lai Ki, Niki) by chance and is soon mesmerized by her endearing personality. YAN who works at a coffee shop meets a romance comic artist called WONG CHI-KWAN (Tong Sze Wing, Natalie). Being misled into believing that the girl is from a rich family, YAN decides to chase her. He would never have thought that someone as calculating as himself would end up falling into a love trap.

Cast:
Kevin Cheng as Yau Zi Wing 游志穎 (Wayne)
Niki Chow as Ling Ka Yan 凌加恩 (Niki)
Bosco Wong as Hui Wai Yan 許懷仁 (Don)
Natalie Tong as Wong Chi Gwun 王芷君 (Sa Sa)
Ken Wong as Ching Yat Long 程逸朗
Charmaine Li as Wong Wai 王慧 (Jessie)
Elaine Yiu as Yeung Hau Yee 楊巧兒 (Jade)
Joel Chan as Ma Teen Fook 馬天福 (Martin)
Yvonne Ho as Chu Lei Lei 朱莉莉 (Julie)
Eddie Lee as Lee Geen Kwok 李建國 (KK)
Sam Chan as Shek Ka Wing 石家榮 (Dino)


My comments:
It’s similar to Under The Canopy of Love, meaning it’s still shot in blurry style and still a fairytale-ish trendy city drama. The whole feel and atmosphere actually reminds me of Korean dramas because of the snowy scenery and mainly because of the forever evil terminal disease element.

First, I’ll talk about the bad. It was trying to highlight two men born on the same day but facing different fate but I think that part was not too deeply and well developed. The story can get draggy at times and I felt that the part with Kevin and Niki in Japan was totally pointless and unimportant for the drama. Yes, it’s beautifully shot there but I had my good share of snow this year, so the scenes didn’t amaze me that much. Initially, I thought that I would enjoy the Kevin-Niki pairing more because I found the Bosco-Natalie pairing loud, childish and silly but it turns out later that I enjoy the latter pairing more. Lots of familiar moment and let’s do a recap…The first scene with Kevin and Niki involving the drink…where I did see something similar? A Moment To Remember (Korean movie)! Kevin’s special and odd car…where did I see something similar? A Moment To Remember again! The scene with Kevin covering Niki’s mouth after the fight in the alley…where did I see something similar? Dalja’s Spring (Korean drama)! The antics that Natalie uses in hope to dump Bosco…probably inspired by How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days (Hollywood movie) and possibly My Sassy Girl (Korean movie)!

So is it a total failure? Not really. As predictable and cheesy as it can get (those I have a disease and I don’t want to be your burden blabs…), I was actually moved and I did get teary at some scenes. One thing that is worth to praise is that this story is actually not a love square involving the 4 main characters. Kevin and Niki have their own storyline so did Bosco and Natalie and these stories are not really interconnected. Only Kevin and Bosco have scenes together and their relationship in this drama was nothing more than coworkers. Therefore, Kevin didn’t have scenes with Natalie (okay, maybe one scene), Niki didn’t have scenes with Bosco (maybe one scene as well) and Niki and Natalie didn’t as well. The pairings had good chemistry and the friendship of DDMK and 3J + Sasa is also a pleasure to watch. The best acting goes to Jack, Niki’s dog in the drama. Once you watch the drama, you’ll know what I mean, a true scene-stealer. It’s too bad that he had fewer scenes toward the end. I like the ending, although a bit sad but not overly melodramatic and it’s satisfying this way.

Watch it if you have free time and if you don't mind occasional stiff acting. Really, Kevin is still the same Kevin, Niki still the same Niki (I hope that she can improve her crying though), Bosco still the same Bosco. Only Natalie improved…

* Themesong of the drama

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Gary Chaw - Super Sunshine


I got this album last month and I was going to post this earlier but due to some circumstances, it’s delayed until now. The packaging of this album is worth praising, it’s glossy and very nice in colors. Overall, I like this album but I do prefer his fast songs in this album more. I remember not like the first single Super Sunshine when I first heard it and I still don’t…


My favorite tracks:

- 起床歌 – My favorite track of the album, it’s so swingy that makes me want to shake as well

- 無辜 – a ballad song that displays Gary’s strong vocals but there’s also a sense of deja-vu as it really reminds me of 背叛 in terms of sadness

- 吹吹風 – very comfy, light and relaxing bossa nova, heard the Cantonese version first but I like the lyrics of this Mandarin version more

- 奈斯男孩 – I have no idea what 奈斯 means but I guess it means ‘bad’, it’s the only song that seems out of place in this album in terms of content but fits in terms of style. Weird…

- 愛到最後一秒也不委曲 – familiar melody since there’s a Cantonese version, which I heard first and really like the lyrics, this version is still good.

- 愛愛 – very sweet proposal song, you can hear a Cantonese segment with sounds from a traditional Chinese wedding.

- 你的歌 – if you’re his fans, then you’ll feel warmness hearing this song.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Random post

I’m feeling crappy lately. I’m having headaches and muscle pain and I’m pretty much dans la lune even at work…Is it because of the weather? Maybe. Is it because of overworking? Huge contributing factor!

Anyway, I’m having a good time watching yesterday episode’s 我愛黑澀會 with Khalil Fong as guest! OMG, what a surprise to see him in that program…glad that he’s getting more recognition in Taiwan…LOL at how the mei mei(s) are butchering his song…bwahaha…

I wish I could embed the Youtube files…I have to download this episode…

Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkBEW8KdfQk
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khq_mMZiwIg
Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJHIobF8rv0
Part 4 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNBb5b0cHqI
Part 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZ-sYfmKeU

I think he will appear in 娛樂百分百 again next week....ooooh!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Playlist of early March

- 雜技 - Janice Vidal => typical karaoke friendly song on first hearing but grows on me after listening for some time, the piano intro reminds me of Tori Amos' Silent All These Year, maybe it's just me...

- 周大侠 - Jay Chou => fun song and I still LOL at the tofu and kungfu parts...

- 失眠幻想曲 - Eunix Lee => newcomer from last year who has a lot of potential but underrated because she's not singing karaoke-friendly songs, reminds me a bit of Kay Tse in terms of style.