This is a review post. Lots of dramas and movies reviews...so without further adieu, here it is....

Starting off with a Taiwanese drama, Romantic Princess with Wu Chun and Angela Zhang as the main leads. The story is adapted from a Japanese manga called "Romance Godan Katsuyou" by Kazuko Fujita. I think most Taiwanese drama are adapted from Japanese manga these days (thanks to the success of Meteor Garden, Hana Kimi and ISWAK...) The story is about Xiao Mai, an ordinary girl turned into a "princess" in one day when she was discovered as the surviving granddaughter of a very rich family. The first couple of episodes focused on how she adjusted her life in the super grand mansion as she was taken in to live with her grandfather. There's also the 4 "potential to be heir" guys whom she have to deal with. Now I realized that the common number of guys that were on the shoujo mangas heroines especially on those mangas that have "wealthy families" are 4! Anyway, the plot is pretty predictable since it pretty much follows the usual shoujo manga plot lines. It was quite entertaining until the episodes where they decided to go on to "what happen" after the main character got together. It's a little bit draggy from then on since it's just a matter of gaining approval and whatnots. I don't really need to know how they continue their life after they got together, I just want to know how they get together and if they got together or not, maybe just a peek on the afterwards, but not too much. It got a very high rating in Taiwan though I think it's a just a bit overrated. Wu Chun's acting is alright, but that bow tie that he wore in the beginning episodes really looked silly on him. They should just give him a normal tie and it would look fine. Angela's acting is quite alright too though I like her better in Bump Off Lover 17 better.

The highest rating Japanese drama for winter 07 season is Galileo with Fukuyama Masaharu and Shibasaki Kou as the main lead. It's one of the best mystery drama in the recent years (still can't beat Trick though) The story is about a super smart physicist, Yukawa Manabu who helped a rookie cop, Utsumi Kaoru to solve difficult cases that seemed to have a supernatural phenomena on them. I think some of the cases that they had are interesting but some are just quite unlikely. There are a few "trademark" stuff that I found a little bit annoying after a few episodes or so. The "revelation" sequence is one of them. On the first episodes I think it's pretty cool with all the graphics and stuff, but after the second episodes and on, I just find them annoying. The funny part was the impulse on writing out those formulas and equations on anything; windows, walls, chalkboards, streets,...I wonder how relative is the formula and equations in trying to figure things out because sometimes I just think it's a matter of figuring how things fits in within the puzzle instead of science. Anyway, the chemistry was a little bit slow at first, but after a few episodes, they had a great chemistry together. SMAPXSMAP recently just did a parody of the drama and they did such a good job of it!



Another mystery drama this winter season is Mop Girl with Kitagawa Keiko and Tanihara Shosuke in the main leads. Kitagawa is Momoko, a girl who got transfered to a funeral service company and just figured out that she had the ability to transport back in time. This drama is surprisingly good. It's quite a surprise seeing Kitagawa who played the cool Sailor Mars in Sailor Moon Live Action played as a very careless Momoko. She did a pretty decent job, but I still find it a little awkward sometimes. She's no Ueno Juri for sure. Another surprise is also seeing Tanihara Shosuke played a harsh and strong character, it was very different from the characters that I seen him in a couple of dramas before. I always see him in the kind and soft gentlemen roles so it was quite a surprise seeing him played something other than that. He did a good job on it though. The bantering between them both is entertaining and the comedic timing is good. The drama got some episodes that end in a pretty reflective mode and some in a very light hearted manner. Overall, this is a good and entertaining drama.

Then, the thriller drama this season that I enjoyed watching is Joshi Deka! with Nakama Yukie and Izumi Pinko as the main leads. Yukie is Hatakeyama Kurumi, a rookie detective who's really good at shooting and she's partnered with Sakura (Izumi) a veteran detective. They somehow have to work together despite the fact that Sakura is very difficult to handle and they're very different from each other. The one thing that I found this drama interesting and different from the rest of the detective dramas is that the fact that this drama got one continuous case going on throughout the whole season instead of a case-per-case episodes that most "job related" dramas had. Though it also had some additional cases on the side, but they all relate to the one big case that they were working on. That really kept me wanting to know more each episodes because each episodes reveals a new discovery about the case. They also begin the first episode with an intro to the ending sequence. It got me interested because I was wondering what was that all about and how did they got there. I've successfully guessed who the murderer is towards the ending! Ryu Shi Won, a Korean actor/singer also acted in this drama and I have to say that his Japanese is pretty good though it's a little accented but he have a lot of dialogs so it must be quite a challenge for him. I wish there's a little bit more romance, although it was hinted and sprinkled on every now and then, but I just wish there's more.

Anyway, I watched Enchanted today. Even though it already opened since November but I didn't really know it until a week ago and once I saw the trailer, I wanted to watch it so bad. The story about Giselle, an animated typical Disney fairy tale character got thrown into the real world by the evil queen who happens to be her yet-to-be-mother-in-law. She met a divorce lawyer and he helped her while she was lost in trying to figure out the real world. Meanwhile, her charming Prince Edward followed her to the real world in attempt to save her and bring her back for their wedding. I grew up with Disney's fairy tales so once I knew the premise, I can't wait to see it. The opening sequence made me laugh! It was so Disney! I just love it how they kind of poke fun the "Disney fairy tales stereotypes". It's like Shrek, but better since this comes from Disney themselves. There's many funny scenes and it's just really entertaining to watch, especially if you know Disney's fairy tales well. The part where Giselle calls out her "friends" to help her clean out the apartment was really funny. In the typical fairy tales, the friends would be deers, squirrels, and various forest animals, but in this it's those "city" animals like pigeons, rats and cockroaches. Then, the whole dance number in the park, Disney style! LoL That was really funny. It's like watching a clip from Disneyland parade or something. Amy Adams really portrays the naive and simple minded Giselle really well. She had a natural charm that made her likable although her character acted like an airhead sometimes (naturally, just because she's from a Disney character) It's just funny how silly it actually looks if real people acted like Disney cartoon characters: breaking into songs every now and then, and just dreaming to be "happily ever after". Patrick Dempsey played Robert Philip, the divorce lawyer and he acted well too. It was fun seeing him all frustrated and annoyed on how weird Giselle was acting in the beginning. James Marsden's Prince Edward was also fun to watch. I really like how Giselle develop as a character, from a completely two dimensional straight from the story book to a more believable real person. In the end, everyone gets their happy ending ^^

I finally watched Heroes episode 11 (aka the end of volume 2) yesterday. I'm not happy with the endings. Seriously, what is wrong with them trying to get Nathan killed again? The end of season 1, we're not sure if he's alive or not, and it's still same situation now. Volume 2 was really sluggish from the start and the writer himself also noted that he did some mistakes and should have just moved the story a little bit faster.

I think the problem with volume 2 was that they have multiple plot lines with 2 villains running at the same time. The first volume establish that Sylar is the villain. Then there's the "save the cheerleader, save the world" which completely points to Sylar trying to get every power that he can get and save NY from the "bomb", that's what everyone was trying to do in the first volume. In the second, it's just all over the place. First we still have Sylar alive with no abilities, when we're wondering if they're going to redeem him in the second volume, we figured out that he's not going to do that, it's very un-Sylar like. Then there's Hiro in feudal Japan and I completely think that he spend his time too long there. I think what makes that part painful to watch at least for me was how unconvincing was their "feudal Japan" set/portrayal. If their portrayal is much more convincing and authentic, I think I wouldn't mind watching it since I love historical periods. But, no, their feudal Japan feels like Western Middle Ages to me and the fact that Takezo is a westerner doesn't help either. Next, Peter lost his memories. An amnesia? How cliché is that? No matter how much I like Peter, I found myself skipping a lot on his story in vol.2. I'm not interested in this Peter for some reason. I just want my old Peter back! When he's back, he's choosing on the wrong side....it's not even funny! The more interesting thing was, Caitlin somehow disappeared and never came back...and Peter after meeting with Nathan, didn't seemed to worry about her anymore. Well, I don't really care about her anyway. Another plot that I can't stand was the whole Claire "Daddy is suspicious" again. I'm watching and going, "wait, where's the trust that you guys gain at the end of season 1?" It now seemed like season 1 repeats itself again with Claire not trusting her Dad. On top of it all, there's the Shanti virus. They were trying to do a lot of things in the second volume; finding out who the murderer was and trying to stop the Shanti virus. Sylar is on the side because he's not as dangerous now, but still he killed 3 people along the way. I really don't like the fact that they made Takezo from 400 years ago the murderer. I was really disappointed when I know that because to me, it just sounded silly. I was expecting something better, not this kind of silly plot twist.

Now I'm not really sure if I want to follow Volume 3 or not when I saw the beginning of vol 3. Sylar is back, with his powers. I'm tired of him, seriously, he's probably going to do the same thing in season 1 and tried to get all the powers he can get. Then, maybe some new characters are going to be introduced, and there's another world destruction risk that they probably have to stop. It's getting repetitive now if it's going that way. I just really wish they killed Sylar on the first season. Move on, man!

I think that's probably the fault with American TV series. They followed the audience's demand so much and as long as it's successful, the series will continue on no matter how absurd and silly the story has become. If it's episodic like CSI, I don't mind because it's episodic anyway, so it doesn't really matter. But with stories that continues on like Heroes or Lost, I don't think many seasons will do them good. Season 1 of both Lost and Heroes are really good. I was really into the stories. But starting from season 2 and on...they were losing it. Heroes season 1 is really good and the ending of volume 1 just tie all the plot together. I wish it's just going to end that way. I don't mind if Peter and Nathan died, because they died heroically. Lost season 2 is still bearable, but the story is going to a place that got me really confused and by season 3, I'm totally LOST! I'm not even following it anymore now. Let's see when Heroes come back in volume 3, I might just watch the first episode to see if I'm going to follow it or not. I think there's a bigger chance I won't. This is probably the reason why I watched a lot more of the Asian TV series. Yes, they're lower quality, they're in no way can compare to the U.S TV series, but they didn't drag the whole story out until a few seasons (except for some....) Even in Asian TV series, I prefer Japanese series because they're short (11 episodes roughly) and they moved in a pretty quick pace and didn't drag the story if not needed.

Apparently after Shaolin Soccer's success, the "kungfu" mixed with "sports/other activities" theme become quite famous. There's "Kungfu Mahjong" from Hongkong. Then, next year there's going to be "Kungfu Dunk" starring Jay Chow and from the look of the trailer, it's probably something similar to Shaolin Soccer with lots of cg works. Jay Chow is a better filmmaker than actor though. His acting sucks. Seriously, he doesn't have much expressions at all. But him as a director, works better. I watched his directorial debut movie expecting a pretty crappy movie, but it turned out better than my expectation. He should just either stick with directing or improve his acting. Anyway, aside from that, Japan is also producing another kungfu-sports movie called "Shaolin Girl". Stephen Chow is producing it with some actors from Shaolin Soccer also staring, so it really felt Shaolin Soccer-ish, except instead of Soccer, it's Lacrosse.

Kungfu Dunk Trailer


Shaolin Girl Trailer

First try at Blogger. I just set up an account at Livejournal and decided to move to blogger instead because the interface is much more simpler. My other blog is at Xanga and blogger's interface is similar, so it's easier to use.

Anyway, so why another blog? Well, this blog is for my own random meanderings and musings on miscellaneous topics: entertainments, pop cultures, design, or anything under the sun.