Butterfly Lovers

Butterfly Lovers Synopsis: (from Yesasia)
Life is fleeting as the butterfly, beautiful yet transient. As legend has it, a pair of butterfly lovers re-appears once more after having gone through three lifetimes of repeated pain and tears. This time, they find each other in the world of martial arts. Liang is highly skilled in martial arts and resides in the mountains. When his Master tasks him to take care of Zhu, a girl from a wealthy family who dresses as a guy to hide herself from a revenge, it sparks off the painful journey that they must go through once again. Zhu’s father, in order to repay the kindness shown to him, has betrothed her to a General Ma although Zhu is in love with Liang. Love can fester into hate in some while in the selected few, it can lead to undying love that survives one lifetime after another.


My comments:
I read a lot of criticisms regarding this version of Butterfly Lovers. I didn't think it was that mediocre but it isn't wonderful as well. I was into the story, I cried at the end but I wasn't as moved as I should be as I thought it was a bit shallow. There are a few laughs here and there but the biggest comedy effect was Harlem Yu dubbing his own voice in the Cantonese version. I swear how he delivered his lines are just so LOL hilarious because it's so heavily accented and so Mandarin that I have rely on the subs (similar to Jay Chou's case in Initial D).

The love between Charlene Choi and Wu Chun was cute to watch, they had good chemistry and they were passable in their roles, so was Hu Ge. I thought that He Ge had a meatier role than Wu Chun and I had sympathy for Hu Ge until he slaps Charlene for refusing to marry him, he did love Charlene but just over passionate in the wrong way. Harlem Yu was very likeable too.

My problems with this movie: there are some random dialogues that seem so out of place that is laughable, check out what were the dialogues after Wu Chun and Hu Ge's bloody duel at the end. (~roll eyes~) Next, the part with the fake death pill, it's so Romeo and Juliet. Although the legend of Butterfly Lovers share some tiny similarities with Romeo and Juliet but they are two completely different things therefore, by using this important aspect of Romeo and Juliet, it made this adaptation unoriginal.

Khalil Fong - Orange Moon

Wow, it's been a year already since Wonderland! I got my copy of Orange Moon yesterday and I'm still listening while typing this. It's so LOVE! It's so laid-back, smooth, relaxing and romantic, suitable for the holidays mood. Orange Moon didn't give as much surprise compared to Wonderland but I admire its simplicity and the arrangement of each song is worth checking out. I don't have a track that I feel like skipping. I'm 200% positive that there will be a 2nd edition with a bonus DVD...wanna bet anyone?

My 5 favorite tracks (very hard to choose though):

- Singalongsong => A simple and heartfelt song. When I heard the first 2 lines, I thought it will be Love Song's lyrics in English. Khalil singing in English is just so dreamy...

- 小小蟲 => I didn't feel much when I heard it at first but when I read the lyrics, it scores extra points. The lyrics are written by Fama, it's just so cute!

- 黑白 => one of my top 3 favorites of the album, reminds me a bit of 每天每天 but more jazzy. Just listening to the melody is romantic enough.

- 黑洞裡 => Romantic and the lyrics are so beautiful!

- 每個人都會 => I've been listening to this song for half a year and it's easily one of my top 10 of the year. The lyrics are just so heartwarming.

At around 16 minutes of the last track, there's a hidden track called Orange Moon, which is the demo of Eason Chan's 倒帶人生...

Jay Chou concert @ Toronto

I joined the Jay Chou concert tour to Toronto just to watch the show...I do consider this a chance of a lifetime to see him live since I've been a fan for 7 years. It was totally worth it despite that huge snow storm in Ontario that delayed a lot of things and that I have to work the next day...

The concert lasted about 2 1/2 hours and the crowd was pretty high. I was in fangirl mode by screaming and singing along out loud too! I managed to shoot clips of every song and as always, I complain that my camera just sucks at shooting in the dark...so the pictures were not too satisfying; they are either blurry or you see a minuscule Jay...sigh...

Concert ticket, booklet and glowstick...I was part of the 'mountain peak crowd'...

Jay playing GuZheng!!! I wish that the quality of this pic is better!

Concert rundown:

- 黄金甲

- 無雙

- 最後的戰役

- 不能說的秘密

- 安靜

- 聽媽媽的話

- 黑色幽默

- 最長的電影

- 說好的幸福呢

- 牛仔很忙

- 千里之外

- 青花瓷

- 本草綱目

- 夜的第七章

- 夜曲

- 迷迭香

- 稻香

- 雙截棍 (acoustic happy version)

- 彩虹

- 開不了口

- 陽光宅男

* Encore (the best part of the concert!!!):

- 周大侠

- 髮如雪

- 霍元甲 + 雙截棍

***Youtube has lots of clips of the concert, wow, a big thank you to the uploader so I can relive back!

Playlist of early December

- 鑽禧 - Shirley Kwan => Themesong of TVB's Gem of Life, which I'm not watching obviously but as a song, it's just super cool.

- 天國的微笑 - Fiona Sit => A song that sounds like standard pop but it isn't and that needs a few repeats to warm up but I see improvements in Fiona's singing.

- 小酒窩 - JJ Lin & Charlene Choi => A saccharinely sweet karaoke friendly duet but I like it and find myself humming after listening to it once. Surprised at JJ's Canto pronounciation...

- 今夕是何年 - Hacken Lee => The last time that I really like a Hacken song was probably 六呎風雲; although there is still the trademark Hacken singing here, there is a fresh feeling in this song.

New Breath Of Love

I don't know how to classify New Breath Of Love (26 episodes), is it a Taiwanese drama or a Mainland drama?

New Breath Of Love Synopsis: (from Yari's Blog)
New Breath of Love,
There is Breath of Sweetness,
But Also Sadness’s Bitter

Lam Jing Wai (Tammy Chen) is a thirty-years old financial trading assistant, and once encounter advertiser Tsui Hoi (Raymond Lam) whom is humor, handsome and romantic. After meeting Tsui Hoi her life change from peace and calm to an up and down roller coaster. On the other side, Wong Ming Zheng (Alex Fong) whom is a business man but has totally different personality from Tsui Hoi also fell in love with Jing Wai. Unlike Tsui Hoi whom is a playboy and surrounded by girls, Ming Zheng’s heart only contains Jing Wai and no other women. Should Jing Wai choose Ming Zheng that is stable or Tsui Hoi that gives her sweetness and also bitterness? Can Jing Wai really ignore the fact of having Lisa (Ady An) by Tsui Hoi’s side, and Sophia who tolerate everything that Ming Zheng does?

Cast:
Tammy Chen as Lam Jing Wai
Raymond Lam as Tsui Hoi
Alex Fong as Wong Ming Zheng
Ady An as Lisa Fan
Jiang Hua as Ching Ling

My comments:
I watched the Cantonese version of New Breath Of Love with Raymond Lam and Alex Fong's real voice and with pretty much everyone else dubbed. It's interesting to see Raymond and Alex in a non TVB production working with non TVB actors/actresses. The leading actresses are Tammy Chen and Ady An, both from Taiwan.

It's a trendy modern city romance type of drama about different people's perceptions and perspectives of love set in Shanghai. This drama centers mostly on Lam Jing Wai. Jing Wai is the goody good girl who is boring, serious, conservative and leads this routinery life (sounds 80% like me :D). Tsui Hoi is completely the opposite of Jing Wai as he's spontaneous, carefree and romantic. Wong Ming Zheng is like a mirror of Jing Wai so it seems like they are the perfect match but if they are together, it makes two boring persons together while Tsui Hoi can provide a lot of surprises to the boring Jing Wai. Although that Tsui Hoi is very sweet and does a lot of romantic things to dote on Jing Wai, I can't help to think about Lisa, who supposedly is together with him for seven years. It makes Tsui Hoi a two timer, even though he later explains that he only treats Lisa like a sister and cannot upset her because of her disease so he cannot break off with her that easily. Lame excuse if you ask me...and he's a guy who is afraid of commitment so if you ask me, Ming Zheng is a better choice.

The drama can be slow moving at times so patience is required. A lot of time is focused on Jing Wai's confusion and insecurities about her relationship with Tsui Hoi. When she slowly opens up to him, you a different side of her but it's also sad to see the professional and confident Jing Wai performing badly at work and desperately waiting for Tsui Hoi's calls. I'm touched by the ending although that I'm a bit disappointed that it's not the guy chasing the girl back. Guys can learn tricks from Tsui Hoi about how to win a girl's heart and can learn what not to do from Ming Zheng, especially that classic proposal line: "Are you willing to be buried at my backyard?" (~faints)

The other couples are interesting to watch too. I think everyone acted well in this drama although overall chemistry wise, it's lacking. However, Raymond and Tammy make a compatible couple and I've never seen Raymond this charming (I didn't watch Heart of Greed and Moonlight Resonance and I still have no intention to do so) so yeah...

* Themesong of the drama

TVB 41st Anniversary Awards

Just finished this year's TVB awards show and it's entertaining compared to last year, at least everyone looked less zombie-ish and it's less messy and rushed...As expected, Moonlight Resonance (I still refuse to watch this drama for various reasons) swept everything!

My observations:
- The results are actually fair and satisfying, no WTH moments, so there should be no controversy post-show
- All the nominees get to say something at the beginning, which I think is cool but too bad a lot of artists didn't attend.
- Unexpected guest presenters; I mean you see Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Athena Chu, Dicky Cheung and Karena Lam in TVB?!

- Strange to see Tavia Yeung nominated again for improvement award when she already won this ages ago (in 2003).

- When the top 5 best actresses were announced, shocked to see Susanna Kwan out and Linda Chung in.

Congrats to all winners!

Last One Standing

Last One Standing (21 episodes) is my fifth TVB drama that I finished this year...not bad as I only finished one last year...

Last One Standing Synopsis: (from DramaWiki)
Cheung Sing Hei was sent to prison for murdering his stepfather. The key witness of the case turns out to be his cousin Tong Lap Yeen. Ten years later, Sing Hei is released from prison. Lap Yeen is now one of the most influential people in the city while Sing Hei's reputation and future are in ruins. Feeling extremely frustrated and harboring suspicions about the case ten years ago, he is desperate to find out the truth behind his stepfather's death. After some investigation, Sing Hei realizes who the real killer is, but there appears to be no motive. More importantly, evidence is also lacking. This story is about how Sing Hei exposes the truth and ultimately proves his innocence.

Cast:
Kevin Cheng as Cheung Sing Hei
Roger Kwok as Tong Lap Yeen
Yoyo Mong as Lei Pui Ka (Carmen)
Kiki Sheung as Lau Kit Yee
Ellesmere Choi as Yeung Kin Yip
Yvonne Ho as Cheung Chung Si
Macy Chan as Ma Ngoi Lam (Kelly)


My comments:
I heard a lot of good things about Last One Standing so I was curious what it was all about. Boy, it was an intense drama! It was suspenseful but you know right from the beginning who is the true villain. It's the process of how to find the evidence that is exciting; it had a lot of moments where I was like "Oh no!". The drama was nicely built up in the beginning but watching the beginning can be very tiring as there are a lot shouting, yelling and kicking.

Seriously, I'm pretty impressed by Kevin Cheng's performance this time. I never considered him a good actor but he gave a more than fine performance. Hei is a psychologically complex character, very boiled up with lots of rage and anger and I felt his desperation. It's interesting to see him changing from a character full of rage to a calm 'actor' gathering evidences against Yin. I rooted for him all the way. Kevin's character is a great contrast to Roger's character. Roger Kwok is also very good as Mr. Nice Guy on the surface but deep down is a crazy monster. Once, you learn more and more about Yin, he becomes creepier. Everytime he gives that sinister smile, I have chills. What he did to his adoptive family is just beyond shocking! I believe that he really love his family and Carmen but when everyone turned against him, he becomes this psycho maniac. Sigh...money is evil! The actresses are a disappointment. Yoyo Mung didn't have much to do here and I didn't really care about her relationship with either Kevin or Roger and I'm glad that there isn't really a closure in their relationship because after all the things that happened, it's really hard for Hei and Carmen to be together. Yvonne Ho as Kevin's sister was almost unbearable, a very over the top performance and luckily she had less screentime toward the end. Macy Chan is still very raw in acting and is completely miscast as the mature accountant and as the woman who's deeply in love with Kevin.

I'm pretty satisfied with the ending, although the last scene can cause nightmares. I swear this drama has the horror/slasher movie feel! My biggest problem with the drama is how can Hei get sentenced 13 years for manslaughter but Yin, who committed more crimes get such a low jail sentence? Worse of all, viewers can see that he isn't remorseful. Potential sequel? No please!

Note: Seeing Kevin and Roger against each other in this drama reminds me that they worked together as buddies in that wacky drama Not Just A Pretty Face... :p

* Themesong of the drama