Year 2011 TVB Series & TVB Sales Presentation - AsianFanatics Forum - Page 2
Source for clips: Asianfanatics
***
As I was writing up a response to DTLCT’s sales presentation post, I figured I might as well do my own blog post on it as well, since I have so much material written up already.
Ok, after watching the clips, here are my comments (for links to the actual clips themselves, go the above thread in AF):
Back to the Three Kingdoms 回到三國 -- I WAS looking forward to this one, but now after watching the clip, I'm starting to have doubts. First, the comedic elements part was a bit lame -- I hope they don't try to incorporate that because it would be dumb. Second, it seems to me like another 'recycled idea' -- pretty much a remake of "A Step into the Past" theme but with different artists and with a comedic element added. I still hope they actually make this one, but not in the way that they presented it in the clip.
Colorful World of Sister Fa 花花世界花家姐 – I’m sorry, but this one looks beyond lame to me. Like I said before, it’s pretty much a remake of “Life Made Simple” except the female version. And Charmaine really does NOT look convincing to me in the clip – it seems to me like she was trying way too hard to be a mentally challenged person and it just didn’t fly with me. Plus I’m not too keen on the cast either (I pretty much don’t like anyone in the cast)….though I will say that the series will definitely do well in the ratings because both Raymond and Charmaine have a lot of fans, so they will tune in just to watch them (doesn’t really matter how the script turns out).
Yes Sir, No Sir 點解阿Sir係阿Sir – Don’t like this one either….the cast doesn’t impress me first of all and the whole “school” thing has been recycled way too many times already…I think I would be able to endure the recycled theme if the series actually had a cast I liked (i.e. “Shine on You” which was also the recycled ‘school’ theme but it at least had a cast that I liked – even if the script was so-so, just watching the fine actors do their magic was a treat in itself). Let’s see if things end up changing – if not, then it will probably be a “no” in my book.
The Boxing King 拳王– Ok, one question: is this supposed to be a tragedy or a comedy? They certainly didn’t do the clip too well because the last few seconds were extremely lame. Again, I’m not too keen on the cast, but that’s not the reason why I don’t want to watch it – the reason is because I absolutely hate sports-themed series / movies because they bore the hell out of me (yes, I’ve tried watching quite a few and never got through the first half of the series/movies). So this one is a definite “no” for me.
King of Ten Thousand Phoenixes 萬凰之王– I think I’ve commented on this one before and even after watching the clip, my opinion has not changed. I love Sunny and ok with Jessica too and was looking forward to another collaboration with the two – BUT TVB had to go and add Myolie into the series…and not only that, it seems that Myolie will have more screen time than Jessica (well, that’s the impression I’m getting because in every single thing I’ve read from TVB introducing the series, Myolie’s name is listed first, before Jessica’s and sometimes even before Sunny’s). Everyone knows how much I hate watching Myolie’s series because I absolutely just cannot stand her (and for sure there will be crying scenes in this series, which means TORTURE) – plus I’m still bitter (at TVB) for pairing Myolie with Sunny in “War and Destiny”, which is a series I would have liked a lot if it weren’t for Myolie and also that upcoming “Flying Fish” series where she is paired with Julian (lover) and Damian (father). Oh and of course that joke of a series with Gallen (the Cat and Dog one). Ughh!!! (Note to TVB: STOP PAIRING MYOLIE WITH MY FAVORITE ACTORS!!!!!). I think I’m going to protest this series just because of Myolie – plus I’m quite sick of the whole Qing dynasty theme too (another recycled idea…please don’t tell me that this is another “War and Beauty” wannabee!!!!).
The Truth 真相 -- finally, a series that actually looks promising! Just like DTLCT said, I’m not too keen on the female cast either, but the male cast looks interesting….plus, it looks like there will be a lot of guest stars in this one, which is another thing to look forward too (oooh, Kenneth Ma looks like he will be playing a baddie, which will surely be interesting to watch!). I read some stuff about this series earlier and it looks like it’s going to be one of those “Files of Justice” type series, which I’m ok with because there is so much material that can be done with lawyer series (unlike other themes, lawyer and doctor themes are more easily recycled without seeming too lame). So far, this looks like a keeper….
The Gods.com 福祿壽.COM– so WHAT is the point of this show, may I ask? Just to spoof the various series and get a good laugh? Sorry, but I can get a good laugh from watching a good comedy, so don’t need this junk for that. I’ve actually never liked the whole parody / spoofing / imitation stuff because I just think it’s lame (that’s why I’m not interested in watching the ‘three gods’ perform). I’m definitely skipping this one, as I have a feeling that watching this show will make me feel ‘dumb’…
Relic of Emissary 洪武三十二 – I didn’t recognize the English title at first, but then when I watched the clip, I realized that this is the ‘Hongwu 32’ series that was originally touted as the ancient version of “The Academy” (since it had similar cast). Even back before the clip came out (when they were showing all the cast pictures and behind-the-scenes filming stuff), this was already a ‘skip’ in my book, as I’m completely turned off by the cast (I don’t like anyone in the series – well, none of the main leads at least). After watching the clip, I’ve reaffirmed my ‘skip’ decision even more because the series just looks extremely boring and lame.
Psychological Warfare 心戰– Um, ok…looks way too intense for my liking (some of the stuff shown in the clip looked like it was borderline horror)…plus I’ve never been too keen on Adam Cheng, though I’m not opposed to watching his series if the script/storyline is good. And so far, this is the only series with a female lead that I actually like (Maggie) – hmmm…the sales clip actually plays out like a movie, which I think may be a disadvantage because the series probably will not be able to deliver in terms of the horror / suspense piece (there are certain limitations / restrictions in the TV world that are not there in the movie world). This one may be better off scrapped and made into a movie instead….
Mahjong Flying Southeast 麻雀東南飛 – Oh, so THIS is the series I was reading about on Weibo (when I saw the pictures, I was wondering what series they belonged to). Finally, a cast that I like (Raymond, Kenneth, Ruco, Crystal, etc.) and a comedy at that – plus, based on the clip, it looks like this is going to be one of those ‘clever comedic’ pieces where the jokes are actually funny and not the lame type where one feels ‘stupid’ after watching it. Looking forward to this one (so far)….hopefully it actually happens though because based on what I read on weibo, it sounded like a ‘maybe’ in terms of moving forward with filming.
Only You 只有您 – don’t know enough about this one to make a decision on whether it will be a keeper or not (the clip was way too short and I couldn’t really figure out who the leads were supposed to be). I guess I’ll have to read up on this one more before I decide.
The Great Eunuch 大太監– first of all, Bosco as emperor? Really? Hmmm….ok, we’ll see. Though intense, this one actually looks promising to me – plus this is the only series out of the 12 showcased where nearly the entire cast is talented in terms of acting and can really give each other a ‘run for the money’ in terms of acting skill (well, except for Bosco and Tavia, both of whom I wouldn’t classify as ‘talented’ but at least they’re ‘tolerable’ in my book – depending on their characters that is). The others – Wayne Lai, Michelle Yim, John Chiang, Elliot Ngok, King sir, Susanna Kwan – are already proven talents…this sounds like it will be a high quality series…a keeper so far (unless TVB makes major changes to the cast).
LL's Musings 小賢角落
Pages
▼
Monday, November 29, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
"A Journey Called Life 金石良緣"
I just finished watching this series for the 3rd time (again, not intentionally, but because it happened to come on TV, so I decided to watch again). I’m actually quite glad I did because again, it reaffirmed for me what great actors both Steven and Kent are and how much I enjoy watching their series.
I’ve heard many good things about this series and in my opinion, all the accolades that it has gotten are absolutely well-deserved – this series is one of those rare gems that has a very well-written script, great cast, good chemistry, and just overall brilliant performances from the artists. The fact that I took the time to re-watch this series not twice but three times shows how good it is, as I’m the type of person who has very little patience with badly made series and can barely finish watching bad series even once, let alone more than that (I can truthfully say that I’ve struggled through most of the series from this year, finishing only a handful of them) – so when a series like AJCL comes along (though it’s from a couple years ago), it’s definitely very refreshing!
This is also another one of those rare series that does a good job with balancing dramatic elements with comedic ones, bringing both together to come up with a great story that is tragic, yet not without humor. The story itself is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, making the audience laugh one minute (i.e. Kent’s banter with Steven and his relationship with his wife and Halina, Steven/Linda constantly teasing Kent, etc.) and cry the next (i.e.: the birthing scene, the death scenes, etc.). Not all series are able to incorporate both elements so well without making the series turn out awfully cheesy, so I definitely applaud the writers as well as the cast and crew of AJCL for doing such a great job.
There is so much good stuff to talk about with this series, it was sort of difficult for me to decide what to include in this post. So instead of doing an in-depth analysis, I decided to focus only on a few things that stuck out for me (pretty much the first things that came to my mind regarding this series).
So here goes…
.>> Steven / Linda relationship – I have to say that I was quite impressed with Linda’s performance in this series. I for one am not too keen on Linda and am one of those who feels that she can’t really act (sorry, but HOG and MR totally ruined my impression of her), but for some reason, I’ve actually been able to tolerate her performance in a few series – this being one of them. But I also have to say that it’s not completely Linda’s own merit because I also feel that depending on who her male co-star is, he has the ability of bringing out the best in her. This is definitely the case with her performance in AJCL – I feel that Steven complemented Linda and helped bring out one of her better performances.
The best way to describe Steven’s and Linda’s relationship in the series is pretty much ‘opposites attract’. I mean, you’ve got the typical ‘good boy’ (good personality, loves his family and friends, hardworking, doesn’t fool around, etc. etc.) paired with the ‘bad girl’ (the ‘wet girl’ who leads a ‘colorful’ and sexually promiscuous life) who eventually is reformed and becomes a ‘good girl.’ Although Linda’s performance can’t exactly be characterized as ‘stellar’, she did much better than in her previous series – during her scenes with Steven, especially the poignant ones (for example, the scene where she tells Steven that she can’t have children, their ‘breakup’ and ‘makeup’ scenes, the birthing scene, etc.), I could really sense the emotion of the scenes and therefore was thoroughly moved by their performances. I also feel that they had great chemistry in the series, though I will admit that so far, in all of Steven’s series that I’ve seen, I’ve felt that he had good chemistry with all his female co-stars, not just with Linda (i.e.: Charmaine, Ada, Fala, Bernice, etc.).
.>> Chemistry between Steven / Kent (and Linda) – Ok, I will have to admit that Steven and Kent were really the ones who ‘sold’ me in terms of wanting to watch this series at first, as both of them are truly fine actors and I’ve liked most of their individual works thus far. This was the first time that they collaborated in a series and I was amazed at how great the chemistry was! Though their relationship was technically that of boss/employee, their friendship really exceeded beyond that, resulting in an almost father/son like relationship. In my opinion, their ‘friendly banter’ throughout the series was very sweet and it was partly what made the series so enjoyable for me (I love that type of ‘light comedy-esque’ banter that injects a little bit of humor in an otherwise serious and tragic story, yet not going overboard to the point of sounding cheesy). The ‘Kent-isms’ throughout the series were very endearing and also made it memorable for me (i.e.: Kent’s nickname for Steven’s character is “On Boy”, his own son Raymond is “Bad Boy”, and he’s always saying “So Bad!”whenever something bad occurs….). Of course, the parts where Steven and Kent tease each other (or better yet, when Steven and Linda ‘gang up’ to tease Kent) are especially hilarious (and sweet).
.>> Storyline / script – As I said earlier, this series is very well-written…it wasn’t too overboard with its plot nor did it rely on repetitious scenes throughout the series (compared to a series like MR for instance, which had arguing scene after arguing scene and got to the point where I just felt like asking “can’t everyone just get along?”). And even though there were a lot of emotionally-charged scenes in the series, there wasn’t an overwhelming number of ‘crying’ scenes (again, unlike HOG and MR, which went overboard in that area) – also, the ‘crying’ scenes that did exist were done quite well and brought out just the right amount of emotion….most importantly though, I didn’t ‘cringe’ through any of the crying scenes (which is always a good sign, since the crying scenes in many of TVB’s series lately have been ‘cringe-worthy’ for me).
Overall, this was a great series, one of the few from this decade that I would put in the ‘high quality’ and ‘like’ categories (those of you who know my history with TVB know that my lists for these 2 categories are very short when it comes to series from the past 10 years). I like the storytelling that goes on in the series as well as the various lessons that are learned. Most of all though, I like that it brings forth a message of love and hope in the face of adversity, but does so in a way that is realistic and believable rather than cheesy and ‘over the top’. A definite ‘recommend’ for those who have not seen this series yet (or those who feel like re-watching).
Lastly, I need to put in a ‘plug’ for the themesong “A Little Story” sung by Steven Ma and Linda Chung. The themesong complements the series perfectly and the lyrics are very moving. I’ve always enjoyed Steven’s vocal skills (I’ve got quite a few of his songs in my ipod), but never been a fan of Linda’s – this song, however, is excellent and will definitely be a keeper for me.
I’ve heard many good things about this series and in my opinion, all the accolades that it has gotten are absolutely well-deserved – this series is one of those rare gems that has a very well-written script, great cast, good chemistry, and just overall brilliant performances from the artists. The fact that I took the time to re-watch this series not twice but three times shows how good it is, as I’m the type of person who has very little patience with badly made series and can barely finish watching bad series even once, let alone more than that (I can truthfully say that I’ve struggled through most of the series from this year, finishing only a handful of them) – so when a series like AJCL comes along (though it’s from a couple years ago), it’s definitely very refreshing!
This is also another one of those rare series that does a good job with balancing dramatic elements with comedic ones, bringing both together to come up with a great story that is tragic, yet not without humor. The story itself is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, making the audience laugh one minute (i.e. Kent’s banter with Steven and his relationship with his wife and Halina, Steven/Linda constantly teasing Kent, etc.) and cry the next (i.e.: the birthing scene, the death scenes, etc.). Not all series are able to incorporate both elements so well without making the series turn out awfully cheesy, so I definitely applaud the writers as well as the cast and crew of AJCL for doing such a great job.
There is so much good stuff to talk about with this series, it was sort of difficult for me to decide what to include in this post. So instead of doing an in-depth analysis, I decided to focus only on a few things that stuck out for me (pretty much the first things that came to my mind regarding this series).
So here goes…
.>> Steven / Linda relationship – I have to say that I was quite impressed with Linda’s performance in this series. I for one am not too keen on Linda and am one of those who feels that she can’t really act (sorry, but HOG and MR totally ruined my impression of her), but for some reason, I’ve actually been able to tolerate her performance in a few series – this being one of them. But I also have to say that it’s not completely Linda’s own merit because I also feel that depending on who her male co-star is, he has the ability of bringing out the best in her. This is definitely the case with her performance in AJCL – I feel that Steven complemented Linda and helped bring out one of her better performances.
The best way to describe Steven’s and Linda’s relationship in the series is pretty much ‘opposites attract’. I mean, you’ve got the typical ‘good boy’ (good personality, loves his family and friends, hardworking, doesn’t fool around, etc. etc.) paired with the ‘bad girl’ (the ‘wet girl’ who leads a ‘colorful’ and sexually promiscuous life) who eventually is reformed and becomes a ‘good girl.’ Although Linda’s performance can’t exactly be characterized as ‘stellar’, she did much better than in her previous series – during her scenes with Steven, especially the poignant ones (for example, the scene where she tells Steven that she can’t have children, their ‘breakup’ and ‘makeup’ scenes, the birthing scene, etc.), I could really sense the emotion of the scenes and therefore was thoroughly moved by their performances. I also feel that they had great chemistry in the series, though I will admit that so far, in all of Steven’s series that I’ve seen, I’ve felt that he had good chemistry with all his female co-stars, not just with Linda (i.e.: Charmaine, Ada, Fala, Bernice, etc.).
.>> Chemistry between Steven / Kent (and Linda) – Ok, I will have to admit that Steven and Kent were really the ones who ‘sold’ me in terms of wanting to watch this series at first, as both of them are truly fine actors and I’ve liked most of their individual works thus far. This was the first time that they collaborated in a series and I was amazed at how great the chemistry was! Though their relationship was technically that of boss/employee, their friendship really exceeded beyond that, resulting in an almost father/son like relationship. In my opinion, their ‘friendly banter’ throughout the series was very sweet and it was partly what made the series so enjoyable for me (I love that type of ‘light comedy-esque’ banter that injects a little bit of humor in an otherwise serious and tragic story, yet not going overboard to the point of sounding cheesy). The ‘Kent-isms’ throughout the series were very endearing and also made it memorable for me (i.e.: Kent’s nickname for Steven’s character is “On Boy”, his own son Raymond is “Bad Boy”, and he’s always saying “So Bad!”whenever something bad occurs….). Of course, the parts where Steven and Kent tease each other (or better yet, when Steven and Linda ‘gang up’ to tease Kent) are especially hilarious (and sweet).
.>> Storyline / script – As I said earlier, this series is very well-written…it wasn’t too overboard with its plot nor did it rely on repetitious scenes throughout the series (compared to a series like MR for instance, which had arguing scene after arguing scene and got to the point where I just felt like asking “can’t everyone just get along?”). And even though there were a lot of emotionally-charged scenes in the series, there wasn’t an overwhelming number of ‘crying’ scenes (again, unlike HOG and MR, which went overboard in that area) – also, the ‘crying’ scenes that did exist were done quite well and brought out just the right amount of emotion….most importantly though, I didn’t ‘cringe’ through any of the crying scenes (which is always a good sign, since the crying scenes in many of TVB’s series lately have been ‘cringe-worthy’ for me).
Overall, this was a great series, one of the few from this decade that I would put in the ‘high quality’ and ‘like’ categories (those of you who know my history with TVB know that my lists for these 2 categories are very short when it comes to series from the past 10 years). I like the storytelling that goes on in the series as well as the various lessons that are learned. Most of all though, I like that it brings forth a message of love and hope in the face of adversity, but does so in a way that is realistic and believable rather than cheesy and ‘over the top’. A definite ‘recommend’ for those who have not seen this series yet (or those who feel like re-watching).
Lastly, I need to put in a ‘plug’ for the themesong “A Little Story” sung by Steven Ma and Linda Chung. The themesong complements the series perfectly and the lyrics are very moving. I’ve always enjoyed Steven’s vocal skills (I’ve got quite a few of his songs in my ipod), but never been a fan of Linda’s – this song, however, is excellent and will definitely be a keeper for me.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
My ‘TVB Rant’ #6: Another LAME-O decision by TVB!!!
"Gun Metal Grey" neglected at TVB Anniversary Gala, Michael Miu & Felix Wong bursts in anger at TVB - AsianFanatics Forum
Felix Wong anger continues: Don't rape the public; TVB tries to 'put out fire' - AsianFanatics Forum
Source: Asianfanatics.net
***
Once again, TVB makes a stupid move and successfully pisses off one of its former artists as well as legions of fans and audiences / netizens! When will TVB ever learn their lesson? (Never mind – that’s a rhetorical question….)
I can't believe there was barely any mention of GMG at the anniversary gala -- in fact, it was in the news that the cast of GMG was not even invited to the gala (the supporting cast who were there -- I.e. Nancy, Grace, Oscar) were there only because they were performing in other segments not related to the series.
After watching the show, it was obvious to me that CBML and NR dominated -- NR I can understand since it's an anniversary series, but CBML? Obviously they're playing favorites...
I can totally understand why Felix is mad and goes off on TVB – they are definitely acting stupid again by blatantly showing their favoritism through complete neglect of GMG….extremely DISRESPECTFUL to say the least!
To make things worse, TVB once again responds STUPIDLY to the situation. Talk about lame!!! TVB once again puts their stupid foot in their mouths!!! They now claim that they didn't include GMG in the anniversary gala because it's a cop series and needs to be taken seriously so they can't parody it? Must I remind them that NR is also a "serious" series (in fact, the scenes and theme are probably way more intense than GMG) and it's also about cops? Or did they "conveniently" forget that just so they could cover themselves for neglecting GMG? What kind of a BS lame excuse is that?
And for the stupid producer of the anniversary gala to ‘blame’ the GMG cast by saying that they didn’t show up to rehearsal and so that’s why they weren’t invited? Really? WHAT REHEARSAL? The GMG cast WASN’T EVEN SLATED TO PERFORM!!!! What, was TVB expecting Felix / Michael / Jessica to show up and practice standing around waiting for them to draw names for the raffle prizes? That’s SO STUPID!!!!
Oh, and then for Mr. Ho Lai Chuen to say that there was no favoritism and TVB would invite the GMG cast to the awards ceremony….come on, dude – that’s another lame response and proves that Ho Lai Chuen as well as TVB are “out of touch” with the true situation! Felix DOES NOT CARE about the awards – he is upset that both himself as well as the cast of GMG was disrespected at the anniversary gala….why even mention the awards ceremony????
I am totally with Felix on this one and kudos to him for speaking out! TVB went too far this time and they continue to add insult to injury by deflecting blame and running around in circles with their responses. Why don’t they just simply apologize and move on? Oh, I know why – because that would mean they are wrong and God forbid that they’re ever wrong….they are THE PREMIERE TV station in HK and the biggest and most powerful – they can never do anything wrong!!!!! UGH!!!!!
I could go on for longer since I’m so worked up about this issue, but I think I’m going to stop here before I say something that I’ll probably regret….so I’ll end it with a few last words for TVB: The days of the audiences being stupid and naïve are OVER!!!! So don’t you dare try to ‘play’ us by trying to pull the wool over our eyes…IT’S NOT GOING TO WORK ANYMORE!!!!!
Felix Wong anger continues: Don't rape the public; TVB tries to 'put out fire' - AsianFanatics Forum
Source: Asianfanatics.net
***
Once again, TVB makes a stupid move and successfully pisses off one of its former artists as well as legions of fans and audiences / netizens! When will TVB ever learn their lesson? (Never mind – that’s a rhetorical question….)
I can't believe there was barely any mention of GMG at the anniversary gala -- in fact, it was in the news that the cast of GMG was not even invited to the gala (the supporting cast who were there -- I.e. Nancy, Grace, Oscar) were there only because they were performing in other segments not related to the series.
After watching the show, it was obvious to me that CBML and NR dominated -- NR I can understand since it's an anniversary series, but CBML? Obviously they're playing favorites...
I can totally understand why Felix is mad and goes off on TVB – they are definitely acting stupid again by blatantly showing their favoritism through complete neglect of GMG….extremely DISRESPECTFUL to say the least!
To make things worse, TVB once again responds STUPIDLY to the situation. Talk about lame!!! TVB once again puts their stupid foot in their mouths!!! They now claim that they didn't include GMG in the anniversary gala because it's a cop series and needs to be taken seriously so they can't parody it? Must I remind them that NR is also a "serious" series (in fact, the scenes and theme are probably way more intense than GMG) and it's also about cops? Or did they "conveniently" forget that just so they could cover themselves for neglecting GMG? What kind of a BS lame excuse is that?
And for the stupid producer of the anniversary gala to ‘blame’ the GMG cast by saying that they didn’t show up to rehearsal and so that’s why they weren’t invited? Really? WHAT REHEARSAL? The GMG cast WASN’T EVEN SLATED TO PERFORM!!!! What, was TVB expecting Felix / Michael / Jessica to show up and practice standing around waiting for them to draw names for the raffle prizes? That’s SO STUPID!!!!
Oh, and then for Mr. Ho Lai Chuen to say that there was no favoritism and TVB would invite the GMG cast to the awards ceremony….come on, dude – that’s another lame response and proves that Ho Lai Chuen as well as TVB are “out of touch” with the true situation! Felix DOES NOT CARE about the awards – he is upset that both himself as well as the cast of GMG was disrespected at the anniversary gala….why even mention the awards ceremony????
I am totally with Felix on this one and kudos to him for speaking out! TVB went too far this time and they continue to add insult to injury by deflecting blame and running around in circles with their responses. Why don’t they just simply apologize and move on? Oh, I know why – because that would mean they are wrong and God forbid that they’re ever wrong….they are THE PREMIERE TV station in HK and the biggest and most powerful – they can never do anything wrong!!!!! UGH!!!!!
I could go on for longer since I’m so worked up about this issue, but I think I’m going to stop here before I say something that I’ll probably regret….so I’ll end it with a few last words for TVB: The days of the audiences being stupid and naïve are OVER!!!! So don’t you dare try to ‘play’ us by trying to pull the wool over our eyes…IT’S NOT GOING TO WORK ANYMORE!!!!!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
TVB 43rd Anniversary Gala (萬千星輝賀台慶2010)
TVB’s annual anniversary “birthday party” occurred today (yesterday in HK) – it was a bit lackluster compared to years past (well, it’s actually been lackluster for the past decade and can’t compare at all to the ones from the 80s and 90s)….
Anyway, here are some of the highlights from this year’s anniversary gala that I felt were worth mentioning (good or bad):
.> It was obvious that Moses and Wayne were the biggest ‘stars’ of the anniversary gala show, as they were probably the biggest names there in the ‘fa dans & siu sangs’ category. Many of the other ‘big names’ and TVB’s current ‘favorites’ (i.e.: Charmaine, Sheren, Raymond, Steven, Myolie, Bosco, etc.) were all no shows . There was also barely any representation from anniversary series GMG (well, the 3 main leads didn’t show up at least) – it was pretty much the NR / CBML anniversary gala if you ask me (the cast from both series were the focus and pretty much overshadowed everyone else).
*** SIDENOTE: Found out some more information about the GMG thing, but gonna save it for my next post, which will be another one in my “TVB Rant” series….
.> TVB pretty much recycled some of the same ideas from last year’s anniversary gala this time around – namely having artists who are not known for singing partner up and perform songs, having the veteran green-leaf artists (the 50+ year old crowd) do a song and dance number, doing the whole ‘wet dance’ thing, etc….the only difference is that TVB shuffled things around in terms of order and also they had different artists perform in those segments from the ones who did so last year.
.> I must say that the anniversary skit that they did this time around was one of the funnier ones from this decade (though not as funny compared to the ones from the ‘old days’) – it was pretty clever how Eric Tsang did a parody of Virginia Lok and TVB’s infamous internal politics (I was cracking up because a lot of it was so true and he would irreverently poke fun at it). Oh, and for once, they didn’t make a huge mess and ‘torture’ artists with whipped cream, water, etc. (though I did feel sorry for Moses, who was pretty much the only one who ‘fell victim’ to Eric’s shenanigans….).
.> The ‘3 Gods Award Ceremony’ was interesting – I was actually expecting it to be funny, but it wasn’t really. The only thing I liked about that segment was the first part when they showed pictures of a few artists when they were young – the Kiki ones were nice and the Evergreen part was hilarious (the Evergreen / Raymond Lam pictures were quite clever –hey, who would’ve thought that Evergreen as a teenager would resemble Raymond Lam?
.> The last segment where TVB artists whom we are not used to seeing them sing were paired up with the Voice contestants for a ‘sing-off’….the 4 artists who sang were King Kong, Evergreen, Kiki, and Eric Tsang. All 4 of them did pretty good jobs, but I was most impressed with Kiki and Eric’s performances: Kiki sang like a pro – the way she carried her pitch and tone…wow, she sounded like a real singer! And Eric – well, I’ve always known that he’s a good singer because I’ve heard him several times, but he definitely did an awesome job (hey, in my opinion, he sang way better than his partner Mag Lam!!!) Evergreen was ok, but I think he could have done better – probably because his Mandarin pronunciation wasn’t that great, so it distracted me a bit from actually concentrating on his singing. As for King Kong, well, he did good, but I’m actually not surprised because I thought I had heard of him before back when I was following Taiwan entertainment in the late 90s / early 00s and if my memory serves me correctly, I think that he was a professional singer? I could be wrong, but his name just sounds familiar.
Overall, the show was a disappointment – though of course, not too surprising given TVB’s lack of star power in the past few years. My assessment: if you didn’t get to watch it, don’t worry – you didn’t miss anything!
Anyway, here are some of the highlights from this year’s anniversary gala that I felt were worth mentioning (good or bad):
.> It was obvious that Moses and Wayne were the biggest ‘stars’ of the anniversary gala show, as they were probably the biggest names there in the ‘fa dans & siu sangs’ category. Many of the other ‘big names’ and TVB’s current ‘favorites’ (i.e.: Charmaine, Sheren, Raymond, Steven, Myolie, Bosco, etc.) were all no shows . There was also barely any representation from anniversary series GMG (well, the 3 main leads didn’t show up at least) – it was pretty much the NR / CBML anniversary gala if you ask me (the cast from both series were the focus and pretty much overshadowed everyone else).
*** SIDENOTE: Found out some more information about the GMG thing, but gonna save it for my next post, which will be another one in my “TVB Rant” series….
.> TVB pretty much recycled some of the same ideas from last year’s anniversary gala this time around – namely having artists who are not known for singing partner up and perform songs, having the veteran green-leaf artists (the 50+ year old crowd) do a song and dance number, doing the whole ‘wet dance’ thing, etc….the only difference is that TVB shuffled things around in terms of order and also they had different artists perform in those segments from the ones who did so last year.
.> I must say that the anniversary skit that they did this time around was one of the funnier ones from this decade (though not as funny compared to the ones from the ‘old days’) – it was pretty clever how Eric Tsang did a parody of Virginia Lok and TVB’s infamous internal politics (I was cracking up because a lot of it was so true and he would irreverently poke fun at it). Oh, and for once, they didn’t make a huge mess and ‘torture’ artists with whipped cream, water, etc. (though I did feel sorry for Moses, who was pretty much the only one who ‘fell victim’ to Eric’s shenanigans….).
.> The ‘3 Gods Award Ceremony’ was interesting – I was actually expecting it to be funny, but it wasn’t really. The only thing I liked about that segment was the first part when they showed pictures of a few artists when they were young – the Kiki ones were nice and the Evergreen part was hilarious (the Evergreen / Raymond Lam pictures were quite clever –hey, who would’ve thought that Evergreen as a teenager would resemble Raymond Lam?
.> The last segment where TVB artists whom we are not used to seeing them sing were paired up with the Voice contestants for a ‘sing-off’….the 4 artists who sang were King Kong, Evergreen, Kiki, and Eric Tsang. All 4 of them did pretty good jobs, but I was most impressed with Kiki and Eric’s performances: Kiki sang like a pro – the way she carried her pitch and tone…wow, she sounded like a real singer! And Eric – well, I’ve always known that he’s a good singer because I’ve heard him several times, but he definitely did an awesome job (hey, in my opinion, he sang way better than his partner Mag Lam!!!) Evergreen was ok, but I think he could have done better – probably because his Mandarin pronunciation wasn’t that great, so it distracted me a bit from actually concentrating on his singing. As for King Kong, well, he did good, but I’m actually not surprised because I thought I had heard of him before back when I was following Taiwan entertainment in the late 90s / early 00s and if my memory serves me correctly, I think that he was a professional singer? I could be wrong, but his name just sounds familiar.
Overall, the show was a disappointment – though of course, not too surprising given TVB’s lack of star power in the past few years. My assessment: if you didn’t get to watch it, don’t worry – you didn’t miss anything!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Green Room (今日VIP): Interview with Michael Miu and Felix Wong – PART 2
In part 2 of the Green Room interview, the focus was more Michael and Felix’s personal lives rather than on work. Also, I like how this part talks more about ‘the good ole days’ (the 80s).
Here are the highlights:
.> When Carlo asked Felix how he felt about coming back to film GMG, Felix said that he rediscovered the feelings from when he collaborated with Michael back in the 80s – the good times they had hanging out with each other, working together, eating together, etc.
.> Michael actually was really desperate to have Felix film GMG and so was willing to make any accommodations needed in order for it to happen. For example, Felix is not too keen on doing the early morning shooting scenes since he sleeps late, whereas Michael sleeps early so he gets up early as well, so he agreed to take on all the early morning shifts and give Felix the later shifts so that he can sleep in.
.> Felix hadn’t been back to TVB in 9 years, so Carlo asked him from that period until now, what differences has he noticed stepping back into TVB City. Felix jokingly replied that when he watched the video playbacks of his scenes, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes.
.> Michael mentioned again why Felix doesn’t have to film series nowadays and why he is able to live such a comfortable, leisurely life for the past 10 years: his Condor Heroes Trilogy from the 80s still continues to be popular all over the world and has an especially huge following in mainland China…so Felix is invited to do various performances on stage all over China and Asia (one performance is actually quite lucrative)….plus all the royalties from the trilogy repeatedly airing everywhere is enough to last him a lifetime.
.> Felix says that he has gotten into singing and doing karaoke recently, so he’s been doing a lot of ‘Fai Wong’ (輝黃) c oncerts in China with his buddy Eddie Cheung (the ‘fai’ is Eddie and ‘wong’ is Felix).
.> Of course, at some point during the interview, Carlo asked the 24 thousand dollar question: Will Felix do another series any time soon if at all?
Felix’s response: Leave it up to fate – he doesn’t want to ‘shut the door’ immediately by saying that he never will, as no one knows what may happen in the future. Felix also emphasized that during the filming of GMG, he was able to ‘rekindle’ those feelings from the 80s when he would collaborate with his buddies and it made him want to work with them again (though he also said that realistically, it wasn’t going to happen – more on this later).
.> They also talked about their fellow Tiger buddy Andy Lau. Michael said that Andy had promised that if the 2 of them (Michael and Felix) did a series, he would do a cameo or be an ‘extra’ in the series – however he didn’t honor his promise (there’s a story behind it actually – more on that later)…Felix chimed in that Andy at least did come to visit them on set (though Michael claimed that the reason why Andy came was because Felix was known for being a bit temperamental on set in the olden days and so Andy came to see if he was going to ‘flare up’ like in the past….LOL!)
.> Felix said that Andy caused a huge commotion in TVB when he visited because he was walking around all over the place saying hi to people – everyone (especially the newbies who idolized him) went wild and wanted to take pictures with him. (Well, we know Nancy Wu was one of those ‘crazy’ ones because she talked about it on Weibo and also uploaded the picture she took with Andy, Michael, Felix, and Jessica).
.> The other big question that everyone wanted to know was whether Andy would ever go back to film another series for TVB. They said that Andy actually really wants to do a series, but realistically, it's not going to happen because of his tremendously busy schedule -- but he is open to doing cameos and such....in fact, he almost did a cameo for GMG -- he had visited the set while they were filming and when he was in the TVB canteen chatting with Michael and Felix, they had to shoot the next scene...Andy kept sitting there and didn't want to leave, so Michael asked him if he wanted to be in the scene...Andy said "sure" and continued to sit there....in the end, Michael and Felix decided not to let him do the scene because it would be wasted, since the focus would be on Andy (Michael said that even if Andy sat in a far corner with his back to the cameras, everyone would know it's him, since he's easily recognizable) -- they jokingly said that they didn't want Andy to steal their thunder so they kicked him out -- plus he had already caused such a disruption on set already just by showing up (LOL!).
.> Felix did say that he is open to doing another series if the right opportunity presents itself, but it’s not something that he actively seeks (especially since he does not like the crazy lifestyle of the television industry). Felix did mention that he is interested in doing a comedy – he said that people think he is too ‘upright’ (people always have that ‘hero’ type view of him from his character in Condor Heroes and also from all the ancient series he had done) and wonder at his comedic abilities, so he wanted to prove to people that he is capable of comedy (as a side note, Michael interrupted and said that he was just about to mention this about Felix, but was afraid to, so glad that Felix brought it up himself…hahaha).
.> A funny part was when Carlo mixed up Felix’s Kwok Jing character with Andy’s Yang Guo character (Carlo accidently said ‘Shun Diao’ instead of ‘Sheh Diao’)…Michael and Felix pretended to be shocked (like how dare he mix them up…LOL!) and then corrected him.
.> After this, the conversation turned to Michael and Felix’s 30 year friendship and also 80s Acting Class stuff…
.> Michael and Felix actually met back on September 1st, 1979 as part of TVB’s 9th Acting Class…when asked about their classmates from that class, they said that most of them are no longer in the industry.
.> They also described how the Acting Classes in those days worked and how different it is from today. Pretty much the acting classes during that time lasted 1 year and were separated into 4 quarters of 3 months each. There would be a total of 5000 to 6000 people who would apply and only 60 would get accepted; those 60 would then do through classes and various tests – those who didn’t pass the tests would get eliminated…by the end of the year, there would usually only be about 20 people (at least that was the case with their class) who get to graduate. Once they graduate, they get a chance to sign with TVB to become part of the drama department, but of course not everyone signs in the end (so realistically speaking, it’s actually only a handful who go through the entire course, pass all the tests, graduate, and sign with the company).
.> I really liked the part where Michael and Felix talked about their 30 year friendship: they described how they went through thick and thin together and almost all of life’s milestones together (marriage, children, etc.). Also, they love playing soccer (that’s one of their common interests – bowling is another one)…Felix said that they’ve been through so much together that they’ve even seen each other in their underwear! (hahaha). Michael quickly clarified that what Felix meant by ‘underwear’ are the soccer shorts that they used to wear to play (shorts so short that they could almost see each other’s underwear….lol!)
.> Asked if they ever fought in their 30 year friendship, both Michael and Felix confidently said “No” – not even verbal arguments! They said part of the reason for this is because the 2 of them have always been especially close – they play all types of ‘ball’s ports together (soccer, bowling, etc.) and since they live so close to each other and know each other’s families, they also have family gatherings together a lot, so they have a pretty deep relationship.
.> We know that Michael and Felix have a close relationship, but how about the rest of the Tigers? Michael was about to respond and Felix jumped in to tell Michael to be careful what he said (hahaha)…Michael expressed that the 5 of them are definitely good friends due to being colleagues for so long and seeing each other a lot during the 80s because of work. However, in terms of personal life, Tony is more shy and quiet and has fewer common interests with the other 4, so they didn’t hang out as much outside of work.
.> How about the possibility of a 5 Tiger reunion (aka the 5 Tigers getting together in another series or film)?
Michael’s response: Never say never – again, let’s leave it up to fate. He also said that realistically speaking, it would be very hard due to their schedules. Michael said that the closest they came to a reunion was when they did the movie ‘Brothers’ back in 2007 – Andy had actually suggested them getting back together, but unfortunately Tony was too busy and wasn’t able to do it. Michael added that the opportunity for a reunion – though highly unlikely – is still open as long as there’s still ‘heart’ to do so.
.> Felix chimed in by saying that it would be so great if the 5 of them would be able to get together and do a ‘world tour’ of sorts (pretty much travel all over the world to perform)…when he said this, Felix put his head on Michael’s shoulder and sighed (hahahaha…that was a funny moment – it was like they were a couple or something….teeheehee…)
.> Next, Carlo asked if it was possible that Felix’s wife would make a comeback (since both Michael and Jamie as well as Felix already did). Felix pretty much said no, there is not much opportunity for that, since she is tremendously busy (she’s an insurance agent) and has no interest whatsoever in the entertainment industry anymore.
.> Both Michael and Felix stated that their next goal is to get Andy to come back and do a cameo in a series (he wouldn’t have time to do an entire series, but a cameo would be nice)
.> Near the end of the interview, Carlo asked about Michael’s and Felix’s family, especially their kids. Now that all of their kids are grown, does this mean they are more free now to do their own thing? Carlo was really interested in Michael and Felix’s interaction with their children because he has 3(?) children of his own and so wanted to get some pointers. Both guys are good friends with Carlo and hang out with him a lot as well: they said that Carlo is actually a very good father – when he plays bowling with them, he is always looking at his watch and when time comes to pick up his kids, he leaves no matter what happens (he puts his wife and kids above ‘playing’ with his buddies)….they kept praising how Carlo is such a good father and husband.
.> Michael said that back in the 90s, when he immigrated overseas, he did so because of his kids, but now that they are grown (his son is 17 and his daughter is almost 20), he and Jamie don’t need to ‘take care’ of them anymore.
.> As for Felix, he stated that in terms of interacting with his daughter, it’s not as much about the physical strength as it is about mental energy and spirit. Michael interrupted and teased Felix, revealing that the other reason why Felix doesn’t have time to film series is because he has to do ‘chauffeur’ duties (drive his daughter and wife around).
.> Both guys have been successful in raising their children, so how do they interact with their kids – like friends or parents?
Michael didn’t really answer the question (though he’s said before that he treats them like friends). However he teased Felix again by revealing that Felix’s daughter is very pretty and looks almost exactly like his wife, so when he communicates with his daughter, it’s reminiscent of when he was courting his wife (hahaha…how does Michael know?). Michael also said that Felix is like ‘putty’ when it comes to his daughter (hinting that he is ‘afraid’ of her and waits on her hand and foot…LOL) – he says that Felix buys everything for his daughter and if she says that he is wrong about something, then he’s wrong – but then Michael added that he is like that with his daughter as well (ahahahaha!!).
That was pretty much the end of the interview (definitely a great one)!!
Here are the highlights:
.> When Carlo asked Felix how he felt about coming back to film GMG, Felix said that he rediscovered the feelings from when he collaborated with Michael back in the 80s – the good times they had hanging out with each other, working together, eating together, etc.
.> Michael actually was really desperate to have Felix film GMG and so was willing to make any accommodations needed in order for it to happen. For example, Felix is not too keen on doing the early morning shooting scenes since he sleeps late, whereas Michael sleeps early so he gets up early as well, so he agreed to take on all the early morning shifts and give Felix the later shifts so that he can sleep in.
.> Felix hadn’t been back to TVB in 9 years, so Carlo asked him from that period until now, what differences has he noticed stepping back into TVB City. Felix jokingly replied that when he watched the video playbacks of his scenes, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes.
.> Michael mentioned again why Felix doesn’t have to film series nowadays and why he is able to live such a comfortable, leisurely life for the past 10 years: his Condor Heroes Trilogy from the 80s still continues to be popular all over the world and has an especially huge following in mainland China…so Felix is invited to do various performances on stage all over China and Asia (one performance is actually quite lucrative)….plus all the royalties from the trilogy repeatedly airing everywhere is enough to last him a lifetime.
.> Felix says that he has gotten into singing and doing karaoke recently, so he’s been doing a lot of ‘Fai Wong’ (輝黃) c oncerts in China with his buddy Eddie Cheung (the ‘fai’ is Eddie and ‘wong’ is Felix).
.> Of course, at some point during the interview, Carlo asked the 24 thousand dollar question: Will Felix do another series any time soon if at all?
Felix’s response: Leave it up to fate – he doesn’t want to ‘shut the door’ immediately by saying that he never will, as no one knows what may happen in the future. Felix also emphasized that during the filming of GMG, he was able to ‘rekindle’ those feelings from the 80s when he would collaborate with his buddies and it made him want to work with them again (though he also said that realistically, it wasn’t going to happen – more on this later).
.> They also talked about their fellow Tiger buddy Andy Lau. Michael said that Andy had promised that if the 2 of them (Michael and Felix) did a series, he would do a cameo or be an ‘extra’ in the series – however he didn’t honor his promise (there’s a story behind it actually – more on that later)…Felix chimed in that Andy at least did come to visit them on set (though Michael claimed that the reason why Andy came was because Felix was known for being a bit temperamental on set in the olden days and so Andy came to see if he was going to ‘flare up’ like in the past….LOL!)
.> Felix said that Andy caused a huge commotion in TVB when he visited because he was walking around all over the place saying hi to people – everyone (especially the newbies who idolized him) went wild and wanted to take pictures with him. (Well, we know Nancy Wu was one of those ‘crazy’ ones because she talked about it on Weibo and also uploaded the picture she took with Andy, Michael, Felix, and Jessica).
.> The other big question that everyone wanted to know was whether Andy would ever go back to film another series for TVB. They said that Andy actually really wants to do a series, but realistically, it's not going to happen because of his tremendously busy schedule -- but he is open to doing cameos and such....in fact, he almost did a cameo for GMG -- he had visited the set while they were filming and when he was in the TVB canteen chatting with Michael and Felix, they had to shoot the next scene...Andy kept sitting there and didn't want to leave, so Michael asked him if he wanted to be in the scene...Andy said "sure" and continued to sit there....in the end, Michael and Felix decided not to let him do the scene because it would be wasted, since the focus would be on Andy (Michael said that even if Andy sat in a far corner with his back to the cameras, everyone would know it's him, since he's easily recognizable) -- they jokingly said that they didn't want Andy to steal their thunder so they kicked him out -- plus he had already caused such a disruption on set already just by showing up (LOL!).
.> Felix did say that he is open to doing another series if the right opportunity presents itself, but it’s not something that he actively seeks (especially since he does not like the crazy lifestyle of the television industry). Felix did mention that he is interested in doing a comedy – he said that people think he is too ‘upright’ (people always have that ‘hero’ type view of him from his character in Condor Heroes and also from all the ancient series he had done) and wonder at his comedic abilities, so he wanted to prove to people that he is capable of comedy (as a side note, Michael interrupted and said that he was just about to mention this about Felix, but was afraid to, so glad that Felix brought it up himself…hahaha).
.> A funny part was when Carlo mixed up Felix’s Kwok Jing character with Andy’s Yang Guo character (Carlo accidently said ‘Shun Diao’ instead of ‘Sheh Diao’)…Michael and Felix pretended to be shocked (like how dare he mix them up…LOL!) and then corrected him.
.> After this, the conversation turned to Michael and Felix’s 30 year friendship and also 80s Acting Class stuff…
.> Michael and Felix actually met back on September 1st, 1979 as part of TVB’s 9th Acting Class…when asked about their classmates from that class, they said that most of them are no longer in the industry.
.> They also described how the Acting Classes in those days worked and how different it is from today. Pretty much the acting classes during that time lasted 1 year and were separated into 4 quarters of 3 months each. There would be a total of 5000 to 6000 people who would apply and only 60 would get accepted; those 60 would then do through classes and various tests – those who didn’t pass the tests would get eliminated…by the end of the year, there would usually only be about 20 people (at least that was the case with their class) who get to graduate. Once they graduate, they get a chance to sign with TVB to become part of the drama department, but of course not everyone signs in the end (so realistically speaking, it’s actually only a handful who go through the entire course, pass all the tests, graduate, and sign with the company).
.> I really liked the part where Michael and Felix talked about their 30 year friendship: they described how they went through thick and thin together and almost all of life’s milestones together (marriage, children, etc.). Also, they love playing soccer (that’s one of their common interests – bowling is another one)…Felix said that they’ve been through so much together that they’ve even seen each other in their underwear! (hahaha). Michael quickly clarified that what Felix meant by ‘underwear’ are the soccer shorts that they used to wear to play (shorts so short that they could almost see each other’s underwear….lol!)
.> Asked if they ever fought in their 30 year friendship, both Michael and Felix confidently said “No” – not even verbal arguments! They said part of the reason for this is because the 2 of them have always been especially close – they play all types of ‘ball’s ports together (soccer, bowling, etc.) and since they live so close to each other and know each other’s families, they also have family gatherings together a lot, so they have a pretty deep relationship.
.> We know that Michael and Felix have a close relationship, but how about the rest of the Tigers? Michael was about to respond and Felix jumped in to tell Michael to be careful what he said (hahaha)…Michael expressed that the 5 of them are definitely good friends due to being colleagues for so long and seeing each other a lot during the 80s because of work. However, in terms of personal life, Tony is more shy and quiet and has fewer common interests with the other 4, so they didn’t hang out as much outside of work.
.> How about the possibility of a 5 Tiger reunion (aka the 5 Tigers getting together in another series or film)?
Michael’s response: Never say never – again, let’s leave it up to fate. He also said that realistically speaking, it would be very hard due to their schedules. Michael said that the closest they came to a reunion was when they did the movie ‘Brothers’ back in 2007 – Andy had actually suggested them getting back together, but unfortunately Tony was too busy and wasn’t able to do it. Michael added that the opportunity for a reunion – though highly unlikely – is still open as long as there’s still ‘heart’ to do so.
.> Felix chimed in by saying that it would be so great if the 5 of them would be able to get together and do a ‘world tour’ of sorts (pretty much travel all over the world to perform)…when he said this, Felix put his head on Michael’s shoulder and sighed (hahahaha…that was a funny moment – it was like they were a couple or something….teeheehee…)
.> Next, Carlo asked if it was possible that Felix’s wife would make a comeback (since both Michael and Jamie as well as Felix already did). Felix pretty much said no, there is not much opportunity for that, since she is tremendously busy (she’s an insurance agent) and has no interest whatsoever in the entertainment industry anymore.
.> Both Michael and Felix stated that their next goal is to get Andy to come back and do a cameo in a series (he wouldn’t have time to do an entire series, but a cameo would be nice)
.> Near the end of the interview, Carlo asked about Michael’s and Felix’s family, especially their kids. Now that all of their kids are grown, does this mean they are more free now to do their own thing? Carlo was really interested in Michael and Felix’s interaction with their children because he has 3(?) children of his own and so wanted to get some pointers. Both guys are good friends with Carlo and hang out with him a lot as well: they said that Carlo is actually a very good father – when he plays bowling with them, he is always looking at his watch and when time comes to pick up his kids, he leaves no matter what happens (he puts his wife and kids above ‘playing’ with his buddies)….they kept praising how Carlo is such a good father and husband.
.> Michael said that back in the 90s, when he immigrated overseas, he did so because of his kids, but now that they are grown (his son is 17 and his daughter is almost 20), he and Jamie don’t need to ‘take care’ of them anymore.
.> As for Felix, he stated that in terms of interacting with his daughter, it’s not as much about the physical strength as it is about mental energy and spirit. Michael interrupted and teased Felix, revealing that the other reason why Felix doesn’t have time to film series is because he has to do ‘chauffeur’ duties (drive his daughter and wife around).
.> Both guys have been successful in raising their children, so how do they interact with their kids – like friends or parents?
Michael didn’t really answer the question (though he’s said before that he treats them like friends). However he teased Felix again by revealing that Felix’s daughter is very pretty and looks almost exactly like his wife, so when he communicates with his daughter, it’s reminiscent of when he was courting his wife (hahaha…how does Michael know?). Michael also said that Felix is like ‘putty’ when it comes to his daughter (hinting that he is ‘afraid’ of her and waits on her hand and foot…LOL) – he says that Felix buys everything for his daughter and if she says that he is wrong about something, then he’s wrong – but then Michael added that he is like that with his daughter as well (ahahahaha!!).
That was pretty much the end of the interview (definitely a great one)!!
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Green Room (今日VIP): Interview with Michael Miu and Felix Wong – PART 1
Just finished watching the episode of The Green Room where Carlo Ng Kar Lok interviews Michael Miu and Felix Wong a few days before “Gun Metal Grey” is slated to air.
Since I’m an 80s girl and a 5 Tigers fan (plus I love interview shows), I definitely paid attention to the interview so I could absorb what Felix and Michael had to say about their experiences filming GMG.
Some highlights from the episode:
.> I love Michael and Felix’s chemistry – it’s obvious that they have a long-time friendship (30 years!) and get together often in their personal lives, as they are very comfortable around each other. It was funny how they were able to finish each other’s sentences at certain points during the interview – in fact, it didn’t feel like a formal interview at all…instead, it felt like 3 friends (they’re good friends with Carlo as well) hanging out and talking.
.> Felix started off by recounting the story of how he came about agreeing to film GMG after 9 years away from the small screen. I was cracking up big time during this part because it was hilarious how Felix kept getting interrupted by Michael and how they kept joking with each other when telling the story. The story of how it occurred is quite funny!
.> As the story goes, Michael actually really wanted Felix to film GMG with him, but he knew that if he personally asked, Felix wouldn’t do it (Felix jokingly told the story of how Michael would always win his money whenever they played snooker and so Felix would pretend to get mad and out of ‘revenge’, refuse to do anything for him…lol!!). Therefore, Michael asked his wife Jamie (also good friends with Felix) to go talk to him and persuade him. So one day, Jamie went over to Felix’s house (apparently, Michael and Felix are ‘neighbors’ as well, since they live very close to each other), put on a very serious expression, and told him that she really needs his help. Felix thought at first that she needed help in terms of money or some other favor (the part where he says he doesn’t have any money was hilarious!), but it turns out she wanted him to consider filming a series with Michael.
.> As Felix was recounting the story, Michael interrupted at certain points to clarify some parts (like when Felix said there were 2 cop characters and he ended up portraying Stone Sir – Michael reminded him that he LET him choose which character he wanted to be because he so desperately wanted him to do the series – it was funny how Michael pulled out all the stops and agreed to do anything Felix wanted as long as he agreed to film the series).
.> When Felix was recounting the story of how Michael/Jamie convinced him to film GMG, he was saying how Jamie started off by saying "Hey, Baldie....", then Michael interrupts and tells him to tell everyone where that nickname came from (another funny moment!). Felix said that he got that nickname because back in the days, he filmed alot of ancient series and for almost every single one, he had to shave his head (practically the only ones he didn't have to shave his head for were the modern ones....lol!)....so Michael and Jamie took to calling him "Baldie" from that time on.
.> Michael kept teasing Felix on how he has such an 'easy, leisurely' life now (drinks tea, cuts the grass, takes care of rabbits, etc.)....hahahaha....cute!
.> During the interview, Michael revealed a "secret" behind how Felix came about returning to the small screen. Those of us who have raved on and on about how much we love Felix and enjoy seeing him on the small screen again (I'm one of them!!) can actually thank veteran actor (and the 2nd of my two idols) Chow Yun Fat!! Fat Gor is very good friends with Michael and Felix and get together quite often to 'drink tea' and go for walks in the mountains (Michael teased Felix that he is actually living that type of leisurely life right now). One day, after they went for a long walk in the mountains, Fat Gor told Felix that he should consider filming series again, since he's good at it and it's been so long....Michael jokingly recounted how Fat Gor pretty much told Felix that if he doesn't put those acting skills to use again and film another series, he will disown him as a friend (hahaha -- actually, Fat Gor didn't say that last part -- Michael was actually just kidding -- but Fat Gor did tell Felix that he should do another series). So when Michael heard this (he was there I assume), that's when he quickly got to work figuring out how he was going to convince his buddy to film another series.
.> Michael also revealed that when Felix films series (or anything for that matter), he never brings the script with him -- in fact, he leaves the script at home. Yet, as soon as the cameras roll, Felix has no problems doing his lines (except for this one time when the script changed and Felix wasn't aware). Michael kept saying how amazed he was that Felix is able to do that. Felix said that it goes back to his acting class days, as that was the way he was trained and that's actually the way alot of the veteran artists did things. He also said that it was actually Dodo (Carol) Cheng who opened his eyes to that because she always did it when filming series -- back in the early 80s when they filmed "The Lonely Hunter" together (he was a newbie back then), she told him that they are not allowed to have scripts on set and so took his script and threw it out of the studio. Since then, he's trained himself to memorize all his lines at home and not bring his script to work with him. (I actually already knew about this 'trait' of Felix's through weibo -- but it was awesome to hear him recount the story again -- plus I didn't know the part about Dodo).
.> Felix kept referring to himself as a "Newbie" to TVB (lol)....newbie or not, as Michael pointed out, the newer generation artists definitely have alot of respect for him -- especially those he worked with in GMG (i.e.: Oscar Leung, Grace Wong, Nancy Wu, etc.)
.> It was so cute how Michael would be the 'big brother' (though technically Felix entered the industry before Michael) for Felix during the filming of GMG. Michael said that he had promised Felix that he would 'take good care of him' (it was also one of the reasons why Felix agreed to comeback).....therefore, whenever Felix came across an issue while filming, he would let Michael know and Michael would work it out for him (not because Felix was afraid to say anything, but because he hasn't been back to TVB in 9 years and so was less familiar with things -- plus he didn't want to impose on others)
.> With GMG being a cop series, there are bound to be dangerous scenes chase scenes, so host Carlo asked Michael and Felix about the most dangerous scenes they had to film for the series and whether stunt doubles were used. Felix described this one scene where he had to jump off a building in order to chase a crook -- the way he described the shooting of that scene was absolutely hilarious!!! I won't go into detail about it here, since I wouldn't be able to do justice to it (gotta hear him describe it himself)...
.> All in all, the interview was a trip down memory lane for me because Felix and Michael also recounted how things were like during their generation (the senior artists / elders would teach the newbies how to act / give them pointers whereas now people pretty much do their own thing, etc.)
To be Continued (the interview is a two-parter)…..
Since I’m an 80s girl and a 5 Tigers fan (plus I love interview shows), I definitely paid attention to the interview so I could absorb what Felix and Michael had to say about their experiences filming GMG.
Some highlights from the episode:
.> I love Michael and Felix’s chemistry – it’s obvious that they have a long-time friendship (30 years!) and get together often in their personal lives, as they are very comfortable around each other. It was funny how they were able to finish each other’s sentences at certain points during the interview – in fact, it didn’t feel like a formal interview at all…instead, it felt like 3 friends (they’re good friends with Carlo as well) hanging out and talking.
.> Felix started off by recounting the story of how he came about agreeing to film GMG after 9 years away from the small screen. I was cracking up big time during this part because it was hilarious how Felix kept getting interrupted by Michael and how they kept joking with each other when telling the story. The story of how it occurred is quite funny!
.> As the story goes, Michael actually really wanted Felix to film GMG with him, but he knew that if he personally asked, Felix wouldn’t do it (Felix jokingly told the story of how Michael would always win his money whenever they played snooker and so Felix would pretend to get mad and out of ‘revenge’, refuse to do anything for him…lol!!). Therefore, Michael asked his wife Jamie (also good friends with Felix) to go talk to him and persuade him. So one day, Jamie went over to Felix’s house (apparently, Michael and Felix are ‘neighbors’ as well, since they live very close to each other), put on a very serious expression, and told him that she really needs his help. Felix thought at first that she needed help in terms of money or some other favor (the part where he says he doesn’t have any money was hilarious!), but it turns out she wanted him to consider filming a series with Michael.
.> As Felix was recounting the story, Michael interrupted at certain points to clarify some parts (like when Felix said there were 2 cop characters and he ended up portraying Stone Sir – Michael reminded him that he LET him choose which character he wanted to be because he so desperately wanted him to do the series – it was funny how Michael pulled out all the stops and agreed to do anything Felix wanted as long as he agreed to film the series).
.> When Felix was recounting the story of how Michael/Jamie convinced him to film GMG, he was saying how Jamie started off by saying "Hey, Baldie....", then Michael interrupts and tells him to tell everyone where that nickname came from (another funny moment!). Felix said that he got that nickname because back in the days, he filmed alot of ancient series and for almost every single one, he had to shave his head (practically the only ones he didn't have to shave his head for were the modern ones....lol!)....so Michael and Jamie took to calling him "Baldie" from that time on.
.> Michael kept teasing Felix on how he has such an 'easy, leisurely' life now (drinks tea, cuts the grass, takes care of rabbits, etc.)....hahahaha....cute!
.> During the interview, Michael revealed a "secret" behind how Felix came about returning to the small screen. Those of us who have raved on and on about how much we love Felix and enjoy seeing him on the small screen again (I'm one of them!!) can actually thank veteran actor (and the 2nd of my two idols) Chow Yun Fat!! Fat Gor is very good friends with Michael and Felix and get together quite often to 'drink tea' and go for walks in the mountains (Michael teased Felix that he is actually living that type of leisurely life right now). One day, after they went for a long walk in the mountains, Fat Gor told Felix that he should consider filming series again, since he's good at it and it's been so long....Michael jokingly recounted how Fat Gor pretty much told Felix that if he doesn't put those acting skills to use again and film another series, he will disown him as a friend (hahaha -- actually, Fat Gor didn't say that last part -- Michael was actually just kidding -- but Fat Gor did tell Felix that he should do another series). So when Michael heard this (he was there I assume), that's when he quickly got to work figuring out how he was going to convince his buddy to film another series.
.> Michael also revealed that when Felix films series (or anything for that matter), he never brings the script with him -- in fact, he leaves the script at home. Yet, as soon as the cameras roll, Felix has no problems doing his lines (except for this one time when the script changed and Felix wasn't aware). Michael kept saying how amazed he was that Felix is able to do that. Felix said that it goes back to his acting class days, as that was the way he was trained and that's actually the way alot of the veteran artists did things. He also said that it was actually Dodo (Carol) Cheng who opened his eyes to that because she always did it when filming series -- back in the early 80s when they filmed "The Lonely Hunter" together (he was a newbie back then), she told him that they are not allowed to have scripts on set and so took his script and threw it out of the studio. Since then, he's trained himself to memorize all his lines at home and not bring his script to work with him. (I actually already knew about this 'trait' of Felix's through weibo -- but it was awesome to hear him recount the story again -- plus I didn't know the part about Dodo).
.> Felix kept referring to himself as a "Newbie" to TVB (lol)....newbie or not, as Michael pointed out, the newer generation artists definitely have alot of respect for him -- especially those he worked with in GMG (i.e.: Oscar Leung, Grace Wong, Nancy Wu, etc.)
.> It was so cute how Michael would be the 'big brother' (though technically Felix entered the industry before Michael) for Felix during the filming of GMG. Michael said that he had promised Felix that he would 'take good care of him' (it was also one of the reasons why Felix agreed to comeback).....therefore, whenever Felix came across an issue while filming, he would let Michael know and Michael would work it out for him (not because Felix was afraid to say anything, but because he hasn't been back to TVB in 9 years and so was less familiar with things -- plus he didn't want to impose on others)
.> With GMG being a cop series, there are bound to be dangerous scenes chase scenes, so host Carlo asked Michael and Felix about the most dangerous scenes they had to film for the series and whether stunt doubles were used. Felix described this one scene where he had to jump off a building in order to chase a crook -- the way he described the shooting of that scene was absolutely hilarious!!! I won't go into detail about it here, since I wouldn't be able to do justice to it (gotta hear him describe it himself)...
.> All in all, the interview was a trip down memory lane for me because Felix and Michael also recounted how things were like during their generation (the senior artists / elders would teach the newbies how to act / give them pointers whereas now people pretty much do their own thing, etc.)
To be Continued (the interview is a two-parter)…..