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Monday, July 18, 2011

Weibo Fever #6: Deric Wan (溫兆倫) and Maggie Zhong ( 鍾純妍) Duet

As I was “stalking” on Weibo, I came across the below from one of my favorite artists – Deric Wan!

As most fans know, Deric actually started in the industry as a DJ, then subsequently became a singer – it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that he started acting in TV series, which is what shot him to stardom. Due to his excellent acting skills as well as tremendous versatility when it came to portraying different types of characters, Deric made a name for himself as one of the top lead actors in the HK television industry during the late 80s / early 90s. He is still active in the industry even now, though he has moved his career out of HK and primarily participates in Mainland China as well as Taiwan TV series now.

Due to his accomplishments in the acting field, many people may have forgotten that he was actually a singer (a ‘professional singer’ who actually released albums) before he was an actor – well, now we can add another ‘title’ to the list…SONGWRITER! Not only is Deric an awesome singer and actor, his songwriting skills are also quite good as well.

The below is a duet that Deric performs with Mainland China new artist Maggie Zhong. What makes this song special is that Deric actually wrote the lyrics to this song and according to him, the lyrics reflect his journey through love in a sense.

Excerpted from Deric’s Weibo (7/4/2011):
 《一个人的恋爱》歌词,算是我人生经历当中感悟所带来的灵感。爱不是时时刻刻在一起才叫做幸福,爱是可以超越时空的。
Translation: The lyrics to《Love Alone》can be considered ‘inspiration’ that was brought about by my life experiences. Happiness through Love doesn’t have to mean being together every moment of the day – love can transcend time.

After listening to the song and watching the video, I am definitely able to appreciate the message of “love transcending time” that the song conveys. The video is a bit sad, but the song is very nice!

Enjoy!

.***.




Below is a link to the MV (sorry, no YT link):
一个人的恋爱 (Love Alone)

I’ve also translated the lyrics to the song into English (courtesy of Deric Wan’s blog):

一个人的恋爱
LOVE ALONE


作词: 温兆伦
Lyrics: Deric Wan

演唱: 温兆伦/钟纯妍
Performers: Deric Wan / Maggie Zhong

(F = Female, M = Male, T = Together)

(女) / (F)
再也得不到你的拥抱
Will no longer have your embrace
再也看不见你的微笑
Will no longer be able to see your smile
空气中弥漫着童话般的回忆
The air is filled with fairytale like memories
错被你爱过 也算幸福过
Was once loved by you, experienced happiness with you

(男) / (M)
离开你的温柔我一个人走了
Leaving your tenderness behind, I went away by myself
要忘记你对我说过的承诺
Need to forget the promise you once told me
我不知所措也无处可让我躲
Not knowing what to do and nowhere for me to hide
一个人的恋爱很寂寞
Loving alone by myself is a lonesome feeling
等不及让你触摸
Can’t wait for your touch again

(女) 亲爱的你不要 再爱我疼我 你越爱我越难过
(F) My beloved, please do not love me anymore, the more you love me, the more sad I feel

(男) 祝福你和他的以后 幸福快乐 我已经满足了
(M) Wishing you and him happiness and love in the future, I am already satisfied

(女) 爱你的人总会在
(F) The person who loves you will always be present
(男) 爱你的心离不开
(M) The heart that loves you will never leave
(合) 含着你的爱 我沉睡在大海
(T) Containing your love, I can sleep snugly in the vast seas

(女) / (F)
看看你的眼眸傻傻的哭过了
Seeing the tears in your eyes, knowing you once cried
看看你的头发也是乱乱的
Seeing your hair is also disheveled
我心痛无法形容 身躯像被掏空
The pain in my heart is hard to describe, as though my body has been emptied
就这样爱你的一个我 只能见你在梦中
I who love you in this way, can only see you in my dreams

(女) 亲爱的你不要 再爱我疼我 你越爱我越难过
(F) My beloved, please do not love me anymore, the more you love me, the more sad I feel
(男) 祝福你和他的以后 幸福快乐 我已经满足了
(M) Wishing you and him happiness and love in the future, I am already satisfied

(合) / (T)
爱你的人总会在
The person who loves you will always be present
爱你的心离不开
The heart that loves you will never leave
含着你的爱 我沉睡在大海
Containing your love, I can sleep snugly in the vast seas

(女) 真挚的一份爱
(F) A love so sincere
(男) 守护你一生不改
(M) Guard you forever unchanging
(合) / (T)
Woo。。。。为什么老天让你我 走不到白头
Woo…Why do the Heavens not let us grow old together?
要我们这样折磨 心如刀割般难过
Make us feel tormented, feel saddened as though a knife pierced our hearts

(女) 如果是天意安排 (男)和你分开
(F) If it’s the fate of Heaven (M) For us to be separated
(女) 为何要我们相爱 (男)我不明白
(F) Why have us fall in love (M) I don’t understand
(女) 再续这份爱 我到未来等待 答应我你会 好好的过
(F) Continuing this love, I will go to the future and wait, promise me that you will live happily

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Review of “Golden Snake Sword 金蛇郎君" (1993)

Cast: Ekin Cheng, Angela Pang, Jacqueline Law, Wun Yeung Ming, Lau Kong, Ma Ching Yi, Cheung Yik, etc.

** Note: The series was originally filmed in 1991, but warehoused and released overseas in 1993. I’m not sure if the series ever aired in HK (though I assume it probably did at one point).

I will be the first to admit that I didn’t think I would like this series at all, given that the cast – on first glance – did not seem entirely appealing to me (Ekin and Jacqueline have always been steady in terms of their acting and I like them overall, but I’m not a huge fan of either – plus Angela was supposedly the female lead in this series and you know how I feel about newbies leading when they don’t have any acting experience….). Also, based on the title, I thought at first that this series would be another one of those dreaded, butchered, “cheap adaptations” of Jin Yong’s novel (which TVB was notorious for in the 90s), so I was a bit reluctant to give this series much thought. Needless to say, I only watched the series because it came on TV – if it hadn’t come on TV, I probably would not have chosen to watch it on my own accord.

First off, I realized while watching the series that it totally has the wrong title – I’m actually not sure why they used the title 金蛇郎君 (literally translated as “Golden Snake Master”) because the series has nothing to do with that at all. It’s not a remake of that particular JY story, that’s for sure. True, it does try to ‘incorporate’ certain elements of that story in the series – for example: having Ekin’s character discover some mountaintop cave during one particular episode where he finds the golden snake sword and martial arts manual belonging to the Golden Snake Master and learns the kungfu from there – but that was for only one episode. Though there are mentions of the Golden Snake Master throughout the series, the way the mentions were done made it seem like his role was more of a “historical figure” or a “rumored legend”. I’m thinking that perhaps that particular title was used for the series because Ekin’s signature weapon was the golden snake sword and also because in a way, they were trying to draw some similarities between Ekin’s story and the Golden Snake Master’s story (they also used the title “Golden Snake Master” for Ekin in the laster half of the series). I think the best way to describe the intent of the title is to say that it was meant to tell the story of a “Golden Snake Master” in a later generation who goes through similar suffering. Also, those familiar with Jin Yong’s “Crimson Sabre” story will definitely recognize the similarities in the storyline (in fact, Angela’s character in the story is totally a ‘rip-off’ of the Wan Yi character in JY’s “The Crimson Sabre” except with a few important differences – more on this later).

I actually wasn’t paying much attention to the series in the beginning because I didn’t think the series was going to be any good (and quite a few of the beginning parts were truly boring), so not surprisngly, I didn’t understand much of what was going on in the first 5 to 6 episodes. Also, there were various parts in the storyline in the first couple episodes that really did not make much sense either and I was so confused, it sort of turned me off from wanting to continue watching. It wasn’t until around episodes 7 and 8 (or so) when the love story involving Ekin and Angela’s characters started that the storyline picked up a little and I became more interested in watching (ok, I confess – I’m a sucker for “tug at your heartstrings’ type love stories in done correctly with artists who match up well – plus Ekin and Angela had good chemistry and it was refreshing seeing someone other than the ‘usual female leads’ paired up with Ekin for a change).

This series was very much a ‘hit and miss’ for me – there were some parts of the storyline that were okay and kept me interested, but there were other parts of the storyline that were quite illogical and ‘non-sensical’. If it weren’t for the fact that I liked Ekin’s character (and Angela’s to some extent) and also enjoyed the story between the two, I probably would not have bothered to keep watching, especially since there were so many things about the series that annoyed me. Also, one word of caution for those who may be debating whether they want to watch this series or not – if you’re a die-hard Jin Yong fan, you may want to think twice about watching this series because there is a high probability that you may get ticked off. There are SO MANY elements in the storyline that are obvious “rip-offs” of various Jin Yong works (and other famous martial arts-themed stories) that it’s not even funny – it’s almost as though the scriptwriter and producer were lazy and simply lifted some of the ideas from the novels, changed some things around, then put it all together to form a “supposedly” un-related story (a ‘hodge-podge’ of sorts of JY’s works) – which could be why I felt that some parts were choppy and didn’t make sense…a poor editing job (certain scenes cut out) could have contributed to the confusion as well. Die-hard Jin Yong fans with a keen eye will surely recognize many of the so-called “coincidences” between the series and his works (I’m not a ‘die-hard’ fan, but even I recognized certain ‘similarities’ to at least 3-4 of his works). TVB definitely took a lot of liberty with the script, that’s for sure (similar thing that they did with “The Crimson Sabre” in 2000, but that was worse because that was promoted as an adaptation when it was a completely different story while this one wasn’t a direct adaptation but rather a “copy cat”). In my opinion, this series really shows how much the writers lack creativity (or in some cases, lack the time to produce a truly good script) – which is probably one of the (many) reasons why TVB stopped producing as many ancient series in the 90s and after 2000 compared to back in the 80s.


Here’s a brief rundown of some of the main characters from the series as well as my comments on the artists who played the characters:

.>> Ekin Cheng (Gai Lien Wan)– Not surprisingly, Ekin plays a chivalrous warrior who is skilled in martial arts. His character appears to be a playful, spoiled youth in the beginning who is pampered and protected by his ‘sifu’ (and god-father of sorts), but it turns out that he is actually a very righteous person who really hadn’t gone through much hardship in the beginning so didn’t really understand the difficulties of life or how evil people around him could truly be. After he is framed by his enemies and accused of killing a lot of people (which he obviously didn’t do), resulting in his god-father’s entire family – including his fiancee Loong Yee, whom he loves very much – sacrificing their lives in order to save him, he ‘grows up quickly’ so to speak and his personality changes – he becomes ‘cold and unfeeling’ to everyone around him (or tries to at least). He also becomes hell-bent on doing everything he can to find out who the mastermind was behind the killing of his god-father’s family and seeking revenge for their deaths (sound familiar?). He finds the Golden Snake sword and martial arts manual, learns the skills in there, and sets off on his path to ‘revenge’ – though later on, it also becomes a mission to find out who he truly is and the reason why his sifu’s family had to sacrifice for him.

On the way, he meets Ha Hou Yin (played by Angela Pang), who is the daughter of the man responsible for framing him and causing his god-father’s family to be killed (Ha Hou Yi, who was played by veteran actor Cheung Yik). Even though Lien Wan vows never to love another woman again after his fiancee died, he ends up falling in love with Yin and subsequently does everything possible to take care of her and protect her. Later on in the series, we find out about Lien Wan’s true identity (which he didn’t even know himself, since he was adopted by his god-father at a very young age) – he is actually supposed to be a ‘prince’, since his biological father was originally supposed to be a successor to the Ming Dynasty imperial throne. Supposedly, Lien Wan’s background is the catalyst for most of what happens in the series, as a powerful Eunuch (play by Lee Sing Cheong) was plotting all along to get rid of all the potential descendants of the throne, which included killing Lien Wan. In a nutshell, without revealing too much about the ending or details of the storyline, that’s basically the premise for Ekin’s character and everything he goes through in the series.

I’ve never been a fan of Ekin’s, but I do have to say that he did a great job in this series. He’s one of those actors who has that ‘martial arts warrior’ type look and feel, so that’s probably why he’s put in those types of roles often. I actually liked his performance a lot in this series, as I felt that he balanced the ‘good’ and the ‘not so good’ sides of his character quite well, probably because he’s good at portraying the dramatic, conflicted type characters who are inherently good, but sometimes resorts to extreme tactics to achieve justice. I like how Ekin’s character in the series is very strong-willed and doesn’t let the people around him push him around and he doesn’t give up easily – even when he is defeated, he continues to fight for his loved ones as well as his convictions. I’m glad whoever wrote the script didn’t make his character a villain because frankly, I’ve never felt that Ekin’s villain roles are convincing enough. He does play the tragic warrior/hero characters quite well though! If I had to choose, I would have to say that his character was my favorite in this entire series.


.>> Angela Pang (Ha Hou Yin) – Angela’s character is very compassionate (which is what attracts Ekin’s character to her) and even though she looks like a meek, quiet woman on the outside, she is actually very strong and brave on the inside (she doesn’t know any martial arts whatsoever). To understand how Angela’s character is, just think of the character Wan Yi from “The Crimson Sabre” or “Sword Stained with Royal Blood”, as the character was pretty much a direct copy from there (personality traits and everything). Even the situations that Yin goes through are similar: she is a docile but defiant young woman who is kidnapped by the man her father is trying to destroy (Lien Wan), then falls in love with him when she realizes he is actually a good righteous man, marries him, and eventually has a child with him. Of course, she also defies her father later on because of his evil deeds.

Even though the character was an obvious copy, I would have to say that Ha Hou Yin is a more “ideal” version of Wan Yi because of some of the extra elements that were added to her personality (which the original character didn’t have) and also the fact that she and her lover do have a happy ending. Some of the differences that I saw between the 2 characters (Ha Hou Yin and Wan Yi): 1) Yin doesn’t die in the end and gets to live ‘happily ever after’ with the man she loves, 2) Yin goes through a lot more pain and suffering than Wan Yi did (mainly at the hands of her former fiance Ying Tin Ming, played by Vincent Wan) – this part is probably because she is a ‘main character’ who appears throughout the story, whereas Wan Yi only appears during certain parts of the story, 3) Yin is a lot stronger in personality than Wan Yi: she knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to do what is right -- plus even though she is filial to her father, she is not blind to his actions and doesn’t let him control her.

I admit that during the first 7 episodes or so, I had no clue that the character of Ha Hou Yin was played by Angela Pang. I was able to recognize and name all the other artists up to that point except for her – it wasn’t until I saw her name in the closing credits during episode 8 that I finally realized it – though I probably should have guessed because she was the one who sang the theme song and subtheme song when it would have made more sense for Ekin to sing it.

I actually don’t know too much about Angela because she hasn’t been in the industry for that long – the most I knew was that she is a singer, as she entered the industry after winning a singing contest, but I didn’t know that she had participated in TV series as well (though the number of series she participated in were very few – her role in this series was probably the biggest one of her career). Like most people, I mostly remember Angela from her popular duet with William So 《從不喜歡孤單一個》(a beautiful song, by the way) in 1993/94 –from hearing her perform that song and others, I’ve always associated her with having a very strong, powerful singing voice, plus physically, she is quite tall and comes across to me as the ‘tomboyish’ type for some reason, so it was just difficult for me to imagine her playing such a feminine, demure character as she did in this series. (Actually, just listening to how she sings the themesong and subtheme to this series, it’s very hard to imagine that the person playing the role is the same person – those who choose to watch the series will know what I mean).

I feel that Angela’s character was ok for being a ‘newbie’ (to the acting scene at least). There were some parts where it felt like the dialogue was rehearsed, but then again, I felt that way during other parts of the series with some of the other artists as well, so I can’t really blame that on her acting in particular. One indication that her performance was ok – I actually liked her character…in fact, her character was my 2nd favorite one after Ekin’s. Anyway, I’m not going to comment too much on her acting because I honestly don’t have enough information to go off of -- though I will say that I did like her pairing with Ekin and they had pretty good chemistry (in the second half of the series at least).


.>> Jacqueline Law (Yuet Buen Wan) – Jacqueline plays one of the ‘Holy Maidens’ from the Sa Tin Ba Sect – a sect that views all females as superior and males as mere ‘slaves’ whose sole purpose is to help them continue the family line, after which the male’s fate is to die (um, I didn’t really get the ideology here, but ok) – basically, the sect is one of the biggest ‘evil cults’ in the martial arts world. She’s actually the daughter of the sect leader so she has an important position as the future leader of the sect. When Ha Hou Yi uses the sect to frame Lien Wan (accusing Lien Wan of being in cahoots with the sect to destroy the rest of the world), Yuet Buen Wan rescues Lien Wan and falls for him, even defying all sect rules in order to be with him. Unfortunately, Lien Wan only loves his dead fiancee and even though he is grateful to Yuet Buen Wan for saving him and taking care of him when he was injured, he doesn’t love her and will only treat her like a sister. Yuet Buen Wan is so in love with him and obsessed with him that she won’t accept the fact that he doesn’t love her and subsequently does all sorts of crazy things to try to get him to change his mind – then, when he refuses to change his mind and declares that he only loves Yin, she plots to kill him out of rage and jealousy (um, yea, that’s a dumb move!). I don’t know if I would consider her character a villain – she’s pretty much tortured by love for a man who will never be hers and it causes her to do a lot of very evil things. Plus she does sort of redeem herself (somewhat) in the very last episode. I guess the most I can say is that her character in here is a “mad woman” (meaning crazy and stubborn).

My thoughts regarding Jacqueline’s character -- um, TVB must have known that she was leaving their company and therefore gave her such a crappy character in here. Her character was downright annoying, stupid, crazy, wicked, unreasonable, stubborn, bxxchy, etc. (I could apply so many more adjectives to describe her character, but will stop here). Her obsession with Ekin’s character was WAY overboard – she went from loving him to wanting to kill him because he didn’t love her, then still loving him and wanting to be with him and getting jealous and envious….geez, she was like all over the place – she basically keeps making advances at him when he had already made it clear to her over and over again that he doesn’t like her. They made her character out to be such a desperate and unreasonable woman in here, it really ticked me off. Oh, and it really disgusted me to see her keep pushing herself on Ekin’s character and wanting to be his lover, even after she finds out in the later half of the series that she
is actually his half-sister (same father, different mothers)…I mean, is that gross or what??? Urgh!!! The one redeeming factor is that she comes to her senses in the end and saves Ekin’s character (and later dies protecting him).

Jacqueline’s character was such a waste in this series. First of all, her role was clearly a supporting one because Angela was the lead in this series (one indication that TVB didn’t think too highly of her at that time, probably because this was her last series and she was going to leave TVB). Having a lead actress relegated to a supporting role isn’t necessarily a bad thing if the character she plays is a well-written and well-developed one – but in this case, not only was Jacqueline playing a supporting role, her character absolutely sucked! With Jacqueline’s good looks and acting skills, it’s such a shame that they gave her such a pathetic character to play in this series!


.>> Vincent Wan Yeung Ming (Loong Zheng/Ying Tin Ming) – Vincent’s character in this series is obviously the villain -- well, not really during the first 5 episodes or so, but he does turn into the evilest of all villains later on as the series progresses (and when I say ‘villain’ I mean it – he’s basically crazy and likes going around killing innocent people for no reason). Ying Tin Ming’s original name is Loong Zheng -- he is the son of Lien Wan’s god-father, Loong Sau Yat (played by veteran actor Chu Tiet Wo) and is therefore Lien Wan’s “see hing”. Tin Ming never had a good relationship with Lien Wan because he always felt that he was better than him and as his god-father’s son, had a certain authority over him. In a way, he was also jealous of Lien Wan getting all of his father’s attention, especially since Lien Wan was a bit rebellious in his youth and didn’t always listen. When Lien Wan is accused of being a traitor and is being pursued by the other sects wanting to kill him, Tin Ming doesn’t understand why his father goes to such great lengths to protect Lien Wan, even at the expense of sacrificing the lives of everyone in their family to do so (we later find out that it’s because Loong Sou Yat used to be a palace guard in the Ming Dynasty so it was his responsibility to protect Lien Wan, who would have been a potential successor to the throne). After everyone in his family dies except for him (because he refused to heed his father’s instructions to sacrifice in order to save Lien Wan), he takes refuge with the Ha Hou family and changes his name. He does not realize that Ha Hou Yi is actually a traitor in cahoots with the Eunuch and instead of seeking vengeance on behalf of his family, he embraces Ha Hou Yi as a father. As he gets more and more powerful in the area of martial arts, he also becomes more and more evil and maniacal – even more so than his ‘mentor’ Ha Hou Yi -- which eventually leads to his demise.

Tin Ming’s biggest problem is that he lets hatred and jealousy overtake him and push him over the edge. His hatred is primarily directed toward Lien Wan -- he hates Lien Wan's guts because 1) he blames Lien Wan for the tragedy that resulted in all of his family being killed (even though it was really Ha Hou Yi who was the mastermind behind it), and 2) he is humiliated that his fiancee Ha Hou Yin (whom Ha Hou Yi endowed to him as his wife only because the families were very close) falls in love with Lien Wan and runs off with him -- even the woman who eventually becomes his wife, Yuet Buen Wan (whom he truly does love a lot), only loves Lien Wan and not him.

In terms of Vincent’s acting – I really don’t have a lot of say about it because I’ve always been indifferent to him – I neither like him nor hate him, it’s just that his acting really isn’t my style. I will say though that his villain character in here was truly evil – even worse than Ha Hou Yi’s character in a sense – to the point that at times, I really felt like slapping him (maybe that’s an indication that he did a decent job in this series?). Well, there WERE some scenes where he was a bit stiff and his lines came across as rehearsed, but unless you’re really paying attention, you probably wouldn’t really notice it. Good thing they had him play the villain role in here as those are the roles that suit him best – I actually don’t like watching him play the ‘good guy’ roles because he just isn’t convincing in those roles.


.>> Lau Kong (Gai Po Gwun) – I actually didn’t like this character very much, as he is very selfish and majority of the time, is only thinking about himself. I mean, yes it is a pity that he was supposed to be successor to the throne but because of the evil Eunuch and the traitor Ha Hou Yi, he becomes crippled and is constantly locked up as a prisoner in Ha Hou Yi’s dungeon. I can understand him wanting revenge against those who wronged him, but he shouldn’t pull innocent people into it and use them / manipulate them selfishly for his own gain. The way that he treats his former lover Chor Lau Ying (played by Ma Ching Yee) is actually quite deplorable in my opinion – he knows that she loves and admires him deeply, however because he only loves his first wife (Lien Wan’s mother), he won’t allow himself to love her, yet still has an affair with her (hence Yuet Buen Wan is born) but leaves her to fend for herself. Even 20 years later, Lau Ying is still devoted to him and saves him numerous times whenever Ha Hou Yi tries to inflict harm on him – yet he takes advantage of her devotion to him to manipulate her to do things for him!

Also, the way he treats his son Lien Wan is pretty despicable as well. Even though he knows that Lien Wan is his son (though the son doesn’t know it), he doesn’t treat him as such and doesn’t even let him know of his lineage for most of the series so that he could use him to do things that he wanted – it’s almost like he isn’t capable of emotion or feelings and can only think of exacting revenge, no matter what it costs him. I absolutely hated how he kept trying to ‘use’ his son to get revenge for him after they were reunited – when he knew full well that Lien Wan was against seeking revenge and only wanted to live a normal, peaceful life with his wife (Lien Wan has never been one to care about title or power – at that point, he just wanted to retire to a hidden place with his wife Yin and anticipate the birth of their child).

In efforts to accomplish his mission of “revenge”, Po Gwun even lures Lien Wan away and captures Yin, then notifies Ying Tin Ming so that he could kill her, hoping that would spur Lien Wan to want to kill Tin Ming (and thereby indirectly help Po Gwun get his own revenge) – that is just so wrong that he would even think about hurting his son and daughter-in-law like that! Luckily, Po Gwun finds out just in time that Yin is pregnant with Lien Wan’s child and decides at the last minute to protect Yin instead of harming her for the sake of his future grandchild (and he gets captured by Ying Tin Ming because of it). That’s pretty much the only ‘unselfish’ and sensible thing he did throughout the entire series!

Lau Kong’s acting is great as usual – well of course, since he is a veteran actor, I definitely expect it to be good. I’ve always appreciated Lau Kong’s performances from the many series I’ve seen of his in the 80s – he’s one of those steady actors with tons of experience who is pretty much convincing no matter what character he plays.


.>> Ma Ching Yee (Chor Lau Ying) – This character is another pitiful one, though not as bad as Jacqueline’s character in my opinion. Lau Ying is the leader of the Sa Tin Ba Sect – on the surface, she makes people think that she dislikes men (because of the pain she endured from her previous relationship with Po Gwun), but in reality, she is still very much in love with Po Gwun and is still pining for him. When she finds out about Po Gwun’s plight, she is pained and does everything she can to save him from danger time and time again, hoping that he will have a change of heart and return to her and their daughter. Unfortunately, he does not return to her – he only uses her to help him carry out certain tasks that he can’t do himself. I would have to say that Lau Ying is a ‘tortured soul’ her entire life, as she even dies a tragic death at the hands of her daughter, who is upset at her for having given birth to her to be Lien Wan’s half-sister (ok, this part was REALLY twisted – how the heck is Lau Ying at fault for Yuet Buen Wan’s fate? And her daughter kills her because of it? Makes no sense!). Also, even at the point of death, Lau Ying is still concerned about Po Gwun’s safety and asks Yam Zhi Zhai to go save him (even though it’s obvious he didn’t love her) – pitiful and sad indeed!

I actually have never really liked Ma Ching Yee’s acting because she just comes across as too fake to me. Luckily, most of her roles have been supporting only and usually, because of her age, she usually plays the ‘mother’ characters and therefore generally does not have a whole lot of screen time. She was tolerable in this series....


.>> Cary Choi (Fung Fei Shuet) – She belongs to one of the 8 Main Sects that is deceived by Ha Hou Yi in the beginning and therefore her fiancé kills Lien Wan’s first lover, Loong Yi. After Lien Wan becomes powerful in martial arts due to learning the Golden Snake Master’s skills, he returns to seek revenge on the 8 Sects and purposefully kills Fei Shuet’s fiancé on their wedding day – she helplessly watches her fiancé die right in front of her eyes and instantly becomes a widow. From that day forward, she hates Lien Wan and vows to avenge her fiance’s death by killing Lian Wan at all costs. Later on, when she encounters Lien Wan again, she continues on her mission to kill him and wants to do so in front of Yin so that she can feel the pain of becoming a widow – unfortunately, Fei Shuet’s skills are no match for Lien Wan’s and she is defeated by him again and again (he doesn’t hurt her though because by this time, he is already remorseful for what he did and causing her so much pain). When Yin becomes really sick and needs a special medicine in order to save her and the baby, Fei Shuet steals the medicine before Lien Wan is able to get to it. In exchange for the medicine, Fei Shuet tells Lien Wan to drink a poison that will cause him to be in pain for 49 days, after which he will die an ugly and painful death – he agrees to drink the poison in order to save his wife and unborn child. Throughout the 49 days, she follows the couple around and sees how much they love each other and are willing to sacrifice for each other – she realizes what true love is about and so lets go of her hatred and gives Lien Wan the antidote that saves him. She forgives him for killing her fiancé and even becomes his ‘sworn sister’ and helps save him several times after that.

Cary has a small part in this series – to the point that I wouldn’t even call her a “supporting” character because she has way little screen time, but her role is very important during the last few episodes especially. I don’t have too much comment with regard to her acting, as she has never really played a big enough role in most of the series of hers that I’ve seen for me to make a judgment. She was primarily active in the late 80s/early 90s and retired from the industry back in the 90s, marrying a producer and living an ordinary life now.


.>> Choi Kwok Hing (Yam Zhi Zhai) – He plays the ‘grandmaster’ of the Loong sect who also happens to be a friend of Po Gwun (as well as his love rival 20 years ago in pursuit of Chor Lau Ying). He takes a liking to Lien Wan (well, he’s one of the few who knows both Po Gwun and Lien Wan’s true identities) and helps him constantly. Of course, being the grandmaster, his martial arts is quite good. His character is really a comical one in here, as he has a happy-go-lucky type personality and never seems to take anything seriously. He is the one who ends up revealing that Po Gwun is really Lien Wan’s father.

The character is played by veteran actor Choi Kwok Hing. I really don’t know a whole a lot about him, so can’t really comment – in fact, I’ve seen him in so many series, but never even knew his name! I only researched his name recently while writing this review.


.>> Lee Sing Cheong (Eunuch Cao) – He is the evil Eunuch who is trying to get rid of Po Gwun and Lien Wan because the Emperor feels threatened that they may overtake the throne some day (even though Po Gwun already expressed earlier on that he had no intentions of becoming Emperor). He shows up every once and awhile throughout the series to direct either Ha Hou Yi or Ying Tin Ming to do his bidding.

Even though he had a small role, Lee Sing Cheong was great in this series. His Eunuch role was very convincing – I can’t remember if I’ve seen him play eunuch roles before (it’s possible, since he’s been active in the industry for so long), but he was definitely perfect for the role.


.>> Cheung Yik (Ha Hou Yi) – His character is the ‘original’ villain in the series, but his status and power is later overtaken by Ying Tin Ming (who even kills him off to get rid of him). He’s the father of Ha Hou Yin (Angela’s character) and on the surface, he appears to be a righteous person, having tremendous power and respect in the martial arts world – but underneath, he’s actually a bad person who does various evil deeds. Plus he’s a traitor in that he works for the Eunuch to wreak havoc on the martial arts world.

This series doesn’t do justice to veteran actor Cheung Yik’s great acting skills. I know that Cheung Yik usually plays evil characters, which is where he excels (though he has also played the ‘benevolent father’ role a few times before as well), but in this particular series, his evil side never really showed through – I mean, if you compare him to Vincent Wan’s character, well, Cheung Yik’s character can be considered ‘tame’.

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Overall, as I said earlier, I was ok with the series. There were definitely some parts that were overly draggy and I felt were very unnecessary (while at the same time, there were some parts that seemed incomplete, as though scenes were cut out). And yes, there were definitely a lot of ‘illogical’ things that happened – I mean, I know that with ancient series, there is a certain amount of leeway and it will never be ‘realistic’ like a modern series, but still, there were things that happened that didn’t even make sense in an ancient series setting (again, part of this could have been due to editing as well).

I do have to say though that the second half of the series was a lot more fast-paced than the first half and so that made the series more tolerable. Also, the big battle scene near the end of the series in which Lien Wan tries to save his dad and instead gets badly injured and supposedly 'killed' – that actually was quite an intense and suspenseful scene…the most climactic scene in the entire series. Oh, and the ending was a bit illogical in my opinion – all I’m going to say is that it’s a ‘happy’ ending to some extent, which I guess I really didn’t have too much of a problem with for this series because I don’t like overly tragic endings and this one was just right in that regard (though I can tell you that the ending is definitely predictable). Even though I’m glad the ending occurred the way it did, I still have to mention the fact that it was not entirely logical.

In terms of whether I recommend this series or not – well, that’s a tough one because I wouldn’t say that I hated the series, but I wouldn’t say that I loved it either (it was sort of in the middle for me). Fans of Ekin Cheng should definitely watch because his performance is actually quite good in here (I’m not a fan, but even I couldn’t help admiring his character in this series). And those who are familiar with Angela Pang and would like to see how she fares as an actress rather than a singer will probably be interested in this series as well (like I said earlier, Angela is the female lead, so she has a lot of screen time). Also, the Ekin / Angela pairing was quite interesting and I actually liked seeing them together, so that’s another plus. Oh, and of course, if ancient series are your thing, then that could be another reason for watching (though to be honest, there aren’t as many large-scale ‘fighting’ / martial arts scenes in this series compared to some of the other epic ancient series that TVB has made in the past – BUT there are enough fighting scenes to satisfy most martial arts series lovers). As for the illogical parts – well, if you’re able to ignore it and just watch the series for the message it is trying to convey, then you should be fine.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Jacky Cheung celebrates ‘half century’ birthday in Nanning, China

Today is Jacky's birthday (well, technically yesterday if you go by Hong Kong time), so of course, I can't pass up the opportunity to send my idol well wishes for his birthday. What makes this particular birthday a special one is that Jacky is turning 50 -- definitely a milestone for him as well as for long-time fans such as myself.

To celebrate, I decided to translate/post this article from Mingpao that talks about Jacky's latest show in Nanning, Guangxi, China and how the fans there celebrated the happy event. Enjoy!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKY!!

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Jacky Cheung celebrates ‘half century’ birthday in Nanning, China

Article originally published:  July 10th, 2011
Source:  Mingpao, Sohu.com

Translated by:  llwy12



Today [July 10th] is “God of Songs” Jacky Cheung’s 50th birthday. Two days ago, after completing the 65th show of his World Tour concert in Nanning, China, Jacky rushed home to Hong Kong so he could celebrate on the official day with his family.

The weather in Nanning 2 days ago was as high as 36 degrees Celsius and the concert was held in an outdoor arena with an audience of 50,000 people – despite already being drenched in sweat from the heat, Jacky continued to put 100% effort into his performance on stage, dancing and singing in thick, heavy outfits. Jacky expressed that this particular performance in Nanning can be considered the most difficult one for him on his Concert Tour so far, as the weather was so hot that he felt like he was suffocating from lack of oxygen. Jacky jokingly stated that he felt as though he was ‘showering’ on stage, as he was dripping from head to toe with sweat [from the heat as well as from all the dancing].

Despite the difficulty of the performance, Jacky was sincerely moved by the passionate enthusiasm of his fans in Nanning – since the fans attending that show knew that Jacky’s birthday was coming up in a few days, they arranged a special ‘gift’ for him. During the last segment of the show, when Jacky was getting ready to sing the final song “Blessing”, the entire audience of 50,000 shouted out “Happy Birthday”, then sang him the birthday song in unison – Jacky was extremely overjoyed!

Right after the show, Jacky’s concert manager Florence Chan and the rest of the concert crew arranged a special ‘early’ birthday celebration for Jacky – wishing to share the moment with everyone, Jacky also invited the rest of the crew who also had birthdays in July to come on stage and celebrate with him. Asked about his birthday wish, Jacky indicated that he hoped for good health and peace for everyone. In addition, as a birthday ‘gift’ for himself, Jacky will be taking one month off to rest for the summer, as his next show won’t be until August, when he will be resuming his concert Tour at the Taipei Arena in Taiwan. [TN: The exact dates of the Taiwan leg of Jacky’s concert tour will be August 18th to 21st]

Review of “The Legend of Master Chan 吉星報喜” (1989)

It’s been a long time since I watched this series, so of course, when I saw that it was coming on TV, I was ecstatic. Despite having watched this series several times already, I didn’t mind rewatching again, since I love old TVB series (“old” meaning from the 70s/80s/early 90s) and this series in particular is especially enjoyable.

Even though this series is set in the Qing Dynasty era, it has nothing to do with the Imperial palace or anything of that nature – this is important to note because in recent years, most of TVB’s Qing dynasty era series have been dramatic epics filled with stories about the Imperial palace, the emperor, and infighting between various magistrates, concubines, etc. (to the point that I’m sick and tired of watching series with that theme). This particular series is way different – first of all, it is a comedy rather than a drama, and second, it focuses on the “adventures” of ordinary people as well as those who work for the government bureaucracy…the emperor and his wives are nowhere to be found and in fact only get a mention or 2 in the series (thank goodness!!).

There is definitely a lot to like about this series – the “intelligent” comedic humor interspersed throughout the series (the jokes and such are genuinely funny, to the point that I got a stomach ache afterwards from laughing so hard – and the humor is very wisely done..there’s none of that stupid raunchy slapstick stuff that is characteristic of many TVB comedies nowadays), the storyline is well thought out and fast-paced, the characters are well-developed and believable, etc. But what really drew me in to this series was the cast, which consists of many of my favorite actors/actresses (many of whom are no longer active in the HK TV industry).

The main cast consists of Deric Wan, Kathy Chow, and Margie Tsang, with a strong supporting cast (for the most part) with the likes of Hugo Ng, Paul Chun, Lau Siu Ming, Bak Yan, Michael Tao, Nixon Pang, Gallen Lo, Angelina Lo, etc (there are many more people in the series – I only named the ones that most audiences would be familiar with). The chemistry between this particular cast – especially the trio of Deric, Hugo, and Paul – is absolutely awesome, which is interesting given that it was the first time that a few of the main actors had worked together.

I will admit that one of my primary reasons for watching this series was because of Deric Wan – he is just such a brilliant and versatile actor, it’s very hard not to be drawn in to his series. “The Legend of Master Chan” was actually Deric’s first ancient series and -- if I remember correctly – the only Qing dynasty era period drama that he starred in at TVB (it’s known that Deric dislikes acting in period dramas because he hates shaving his head)….so of course, this series is particuarly special for Deric fans.

As is typical of most of my series reviews, my focus will be on the characters / cast rather than the storyline itself, since most of the time, certain aspects of the storyline end up being revealed in the character analyses anyway.

Here are the highlights:

Deric Wan (Chan Mong Gat) – Deric plays the historical scholar Chan Mong Gat, who is known for his intelligence and wisdom. In the series, his character is extremely smart and talented, but because he has a very playful personality, he sometimes lets that get the better of him and does some mischievious things that make people think that he is a “brat”. His dad (played by Lau Siu Ming) owns a rice shop in the Chan village and is constantly lamenting to his wife (played by Bak Yan) how naughty his son is and how it’s her fault because she spoils him so much. Instead of being serious about his studies in school (which he could definitely excel in if he had put in the effort), Mong Gat spends most of his time hanging out with his classmates and playing tricks on others. Later on, he ends up fleeing the village because of the woman he loves (To Yi Mui) and settles down in Guangdong, where he meets Lau Wah Dong and Fong Tong Gang (more on them later). Also, he re-encounters the ‘fiancee’ Kam Ngin Fung, whose family used to live in the same village, however the parents broke off the engagement when both were just children (mainly because at the age of 10, Mong Gat didn’t know how to talk and Ngin Fung’s family thought he was a mute). They are enemies at first, constantly arguing but then end up falling for each other.

Of course, it’s Mong Gat’s smarts that eventually makes him successful, as he soon becomes a rich and successful businessman (with ties to both the underground world as well as the bureaucracies) and later on, becomes one of the “Three Great Advisors of Guangdong” due to his quick thinking and intelligence. The interesting thing about the character is that he may appear to be a ‘brat’ on the outside, but on the inside, he is actually a very righteous, good man who has a great sense of humor but also is willing to help others and has a certain amount of respect for elders – also, he has no problem forgiving those who have wronged him, primarily because he is able to see the good qualities in them and he respects them.

I love Deric’s performance as well as his character in this series! He is so funny in this series and his interactions with the other artists / characters comes across so natural that you feel like you are right there with him, experiencing what he is experiencing. His portrayal of Chan Mong Gat is very endearing and also refreshing (he’s wearing ancient costume, yet has cool sunglasses on – now how often do you see that?). Watching how Deric’s character deals with the two women in his life (who are constantly arguing with each other) is just plain hilarious – despite his “smarts” and his success everywhere else, his one “weakness” lies in the difficulties he encounters in ‘taming’ these two strong women.

As for how close Deric’s portrayal of Chan Mong Gat is to the actual historical person – well, to be honest, I can’t really comment on that piece because I don’t know too much about the real person. Therefore, when I watched the series, I pretty much took out the historical aspect and treated it as a regular series.

Kathy Chow (To Yi Mui) – I would have to say that Kathy is really the female lead in this series (over Margie), as she has the most screentime (appearing throughout the entire series). Kathy’s character Yi Mui is the daughter of a group of ‘Robin Hood’ type bandits (led by Angelina Lo) and so growing up, she has always carried with her a sense of justice and righteousness, sticking up for people and situations whenever she feels that an injustice is being carried out. Even though she is not too educated, she is a smart woman and very strong-willed, plus she is extremely skilled in martial arts. She is actually a great match for Deric’s Chan Mong Gat, as she is very much on the same level as him in terms of ‘street smarts’. In the beginning of the series, she passes herself off as a male, as her mother sends her to the local school in the village town so that she could get an education (the school only accepts males) – therefore, she has many opportunities to ‘match wits’ with Mong Gat and his classmates. Initially, she falls for Mong Gat’s classmate Chan Gwan Yat (played by Nixon Pang), but after he betrays her and cuts ties with her (and she sees the guy for who he really is), she realizes that Mong Gat is truly good to her and so ends up falling for him.

I like Kathy’s character in this series – she’s smart and loud, but not annoying. Plus she’s a strong character, not meek and shy like traditional Chinese women of that era – I also like how she is very straightforward and isn’t afraid to show her emotions (she is definitely not what I would characterize as ‘weak’ or ‘stupid’, which is great because everyone knows how much I hate weak, badly developed characters).

I also enjoyed the interaction between Deric and Kathy in this series – knowing how many times the two have collaborated, mostly in modern series (though not always paired together), it was interesting to see how they interacted in an ‘ancient’ setting and in a comedy. These two definitely shared a lot of funny scenes together!

Margie Tsang (Kam Ngin Fung) – Margie actually does not have as much screen time compared to Kathy, as she really only appears in the later half of the series (after Deric and Kathy escape to Guangdong). Her character Ngin Fung is supposed to be the polar opposite of Kathy’s Yi Mui, as Ngin Fung had a more Westernized upbringing and so she dresses and talks like Westerner as well (she even has a Westerner boyfriend when she first appears). As is typical of an only child of a somewhat well-to-do family, Ngin Fung is spoiled and has a very willful personality – she likes to throw her weight around and have people heed her every whim. She’s also quite strong-willed as well (yay – another strong character) and sometimes, when she encounters someone she doesn’t like, she purposefully tries to be unreasonable, just because she can (for example, her relationship with Mong Gat in the beginning). When Ngin Fung ends up falling for Mong Gat later on in the series (in the typical TVB formula), she does change her ways a bit in that she is less obnoxious and willful, but still loud-mouthed and strong-willed.

I’ve always liked Margie as an actress and I definitely enjoyed her performance in this series, even though her role was not unique (she’s usually typecasted into playing willful characters). As always, Margie’s acting is very natural (which is one of many reasons why I like watching her performances). Her endless bickering with Kathy in the series is funny, though to be honest, I find Deric’s reaction (as well as the reactions of the other characters) to the arguing to be even more hilarious – the things that they do to try and sabotage each other in order to gain Deric’s attention are a bit formulaic, but funny nonetheless.

As for the Deric and Margie pairing – well, considering how rare it is for the two of them to be paired together (I’m having difficulty thinking of another series that they even collaborated on, let alone being paired together!), I have to say that I would have loved to see more of them. Too bad they didn’t have a whole lot of screen time together (compared to Deric and Kathy, that is).

Paul Chun (Fong Tong Gang) – Paul’s character is a smart aleck who is cunning and smart but can't exactly be described as 'righteous'. I wouldn't call him a villain, but he's not necessarily a 'good' person in the traditional sense because he does things in a way that can be deemed 'inappropriate' or 'outside of the rules'. Most of his time is spent trying to outwit and outsmart Chan Mong Gat, though in the end, he proves unsuccessful in this endeavor and ends up submitting to Mong Gat, even becoming his friend and confidante. And it's pretty much because of him that Mong Gat and Ngin Fung end up together.

As always, Paul Gor puts in an awesome performance as the devious assistant to the magistrate who eventually reforms and changes his ways. Paul Gor has always been one of my favorite veteran actors (I've been watching his series since the 80s) -- what I love about him is that he always puts 100% effort into his roles and whether he plays a good person or a villain (or a somewhat comedic role as with this particular series), he is ALWAYS convincing with his acting. It was alot of fun to watch the 'battle of the wits' between him and Deric in this series, with their characters constantly trying to outsmart and outdo the other, yet in the end, they are able to see each other's good qualities and mutually become friends.


Hugo Ng (Lau Wah Dong) – Hugo’s character is another wise and intelligent man who, when he first appears, works for one of the bad guys, but eventually realizes his faults and becomes a righteous person, going over to Mong Gat’s side and helping him manage his businesses. Wah Dong is actually a friend of Fong Tong Gang’s and even though he didn’t work for him, he supported Fong Tong Gang at first in trying to ‘outwit’ Mong Gat and sabotage him, until he realized that both of them were no match for Mong Gat. He is moved when Mong Gat easily forgives him for doing him wrong and becomes dedicated to helping him, evenutally becoming a good friend.

Hugo does a great job in this series, however his role is very small in here – in fact, I would venture to say that he has even less screentime than Paul Chun. I’m not sure if he was perhaps filming other series at the time because I noticed that there were some group scenes in the latter half of the series where it seemed like he should have been in the scenes, but he wasn’t.

Anyway, I’ve always felt that Hugo was a bit underrated as an actor. He certainly had the potential to be ‘leading man’ material (the looks as well as the acting), but for some reason, he just never really made it very far. I’m actually used to seeing Hugo play serious characters or villains (he’s one of those actors who is perfect for ‘ancient’ series because he looks good in ancient costume and just has that overall ‘ancient’ era feel), so to see him play a somewhat comical character like this one is quite refreshing.

Nixon Pang (Chan Guan Yat) – The best way to describe Nixon’s character in this series: A PIECE OF WOOD!!! (hey, that’s actually pretty similar to his acting in real life…LOL!). His character is one of those ‘book-smart’ types who excels in school, but pretty much sucks in everything else. He’s the “boring” type who doesn’t really know how to think for himself (relies on his dad and the servant boy who takes care of him to think for him and give him advice on stuff) – because he is so ‘rigid’ and ‘by the book’, he is not able to think outside the box and so in a sense, is inferior to Mong Gat, who may not do well in school, but has the street-smarts and intelligence to survive in the ‘real’ world. Nixon becomes a magistrate in the second half of the series, but that’s only because he got lucky (and also because of his dad’s ‘connections’ as the village leader). Both Yi Mui and Ngin Fung like him at first, but after he betrays Yi Mui and then later avoids Ngin Fung because of her “incident” with Mong Gat, he ends up in an unhappy marriage with a woman that his dad arranged for him.

If I had to choose a character to dislike, it would definitely be Nixon’s character – his character is so dense and weak, it’s not even funny! I got so annoyed and bored with his character that I just kept wishing for his scenes to hurry up and be over!

I hate to say this, but I’m glad Nixon is no longer in the industry – the guy just cannot act! He wasn’t in very many series to start with and was only the “lead” in one series while at TVB (bad decision on TVB’s part) – good thing because his “acting” his extremely wooden and boring. Can’t stand watching him!


Angelina Lo (To Dai Leung) – Angelina plays Kathy’s mother and also the leader of the bandits who steal from the rich and give to the poor. Despite being a bandit, she is still a very ‘righteous’ and ‘upright’ woman who understands very clearly right from wrong. Even though she always has to appear strong on the outside because of her position as a leader, it’s obvious that she is also a loving and caring mother, as is constantly looking out for her daughter and wanting what’s best for her future (one of the reasons why she sends her to the village school to get an education). Also, when she finds out that Gallen’s character is actually her long lost son, she is overjoyed that she is finally able to reunite with him, but also understood that in his position as magistrate, he may not want to acknowledge her as a mother, so she was ready for that (luckily, he did acknowledge her).

Angelina is another veteran actress whom I enjoy watching – I remember the first time I saw her was in the “The Seasons” (which coincidentally also starred Gallen Lo) and I’ve watched most of the series that she was in before and after that. She’s a very versatile actress who can play both the benevolent mother as well as the evil, bxxchy roles really well!


Gallen Lo (Magistrate Wun) – Gallen’s character only appears in a few episodes near the end of the series, so I wouldn’t really say that his role was even ‘supporting’. He plays one of the higher Magistrates (Chan Guan Yat’s boss) who comes to Guangdong for the purpose of capturing Mong Gat’s ‘sifu’, who has been on the run for over 20 years (the ‘sifu’ is a blind monk who used to work for the emperor in the palace but ends up going on the run because he accidentally revealed the ‘fate of the Heavens’, which the emperor didn’t like, so he became a fugitive). The Magistrate is actually a very ‘rigid’ person who is very upright and does everything by the rules, so it’s very hard to find fault with him. It is later revealed that he is actually To Dai Leung (Angelina Lo)’s long lost son and because he is a very filial person, he accepts and acknowledges Dai Leung despite her ‘bandit’ lifestyle.

This was actually one of Gallen’s earlier series and it’s obvious that his acting skills were not very polished back then – as is typical of his earlier series, Gallen’s acting in this particular series is a bit wooden (though in my opinion, better than Nixon’s). The thing that stood out most to me about Gallen in this series is that he looked extremely thin and pale, almost as though he was sick or something (maybe filming too many series and didn’t get much sleep?). Anyway, those who are interested in seeing how much Gallen has changed in terms of appearance as well as acting, this series is a good choice for the ‘earlier works’ part.

Michael Tao (Yat Dim Hong) – Michael’s role in this series is also relatively minor, as his character is one of the members of the bandit group led by Angelina’s character (his name Yat Dim Hong comes from the big red mole that he has on his face). He’s the type of person who acts before he thinks (he’s already not very bright to begin with, but add to that the fact that he sometimes acts brashly and doesn’t use his brain when he should, and you’ll see why he finds himself in ‘awkward’ situations more often than not).

Michael may not have much screen time in this series, but his character is absolutely hilarious! I know I had said once that Michael’s strength in terms of acting skill is in dramatic and villain roles, but he doesn’t do too well with comedic roles – at the time I said that, I completely forgot about his role in this series. I definitely enjoyed Michael’s performance in this series – it was funny seeing him make a fool of himself in a lot of different situations!

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Honorable mentions:

Lau Siu Ming / Bak Yun (Mr & Mrs Chan) & the actor who played Deric’s ‘sifu’ – Definitely need to give an “honorable mention” to these 3 veteran artists, especially Ming Sir, who had some of the funniest scenes in the entire series (special ‘kudos’ to Ming Sir for maintaining his hilarious accent throughout all of his scenes!). I don’t know if it’s the tremendous amount of experience that these artists have or if it’s just that they are truly excellent actors – whatever the case, it was a joy to watch these artists’ performances!

Gregory Lee (the young Chan Mong Gat) – Yup, you guessed it – child-actor (at the time) Gregory plays the ‘kid’ version of Deric’s character…I guess you could say that he has a cameo in this series because he’s only in the first episode and only in a few scenes. As usual though, he does a great job with those crying scenes!

Lam Yien Ming (Lo Yuet Ngor) – She plays Chan Guan Yat (Nixon Pang)’s precocious, outspoken cousin who at first is ‘smitten’ with Kathy (when she was pretending to be a guy), but then when she finds out Kathy’s true identity, she supports her cousin’s efforts to court her. Her character is actually quite funny because of all the ‘messy’ situations that she gets herself into – especially near the end when she ‘re-appears’ after being gone for a number of episodes and almost messes up all of Deric and Kathy’s plans (another funny moment)! An interesting fact about Lam Yien Ming (the actress) – for those who may not know, she is actor Kent Cheng’s wife in real life…of course, she retired from the industry long ago and nowadays, is a housewife taking care of her children with Kent.

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I definitely recommend this series for many reasons. First of all, if time is of the essence, this series is only 20 episodes, so it won’t take too long to get through (plus the storyline is quite fast-paced, so that adds to the overall ‘quickness’ of it). Also, the fact that this is a comedy is another advantage, as you will probably spend most of your time laughing, which will help you forget some of the flaws in the series (which is pretty much what happened in my case). The biggest reason why I recommend this series though – obviously – is the CAST….this series has an absolutely great cast (with a few exceptions), so definitely it is high on the ‘recommend’ list for me!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

My ‘TVB Rant’ # 10: TVB's “infamously bad” English

I didn't think that I'd be doing another TVB rant so soon -- I guess they've really been annoying me lately....

Anyway, the topic of this particular rant is something that I've noticed for a long time already (and have complained about before) -- I just got "reminded" of it recently and so I felt like ranting about it.

I was flipping through a few TVB Weekly magazines the other day and again, something caught my eye (I always seem to find something wrong in those magazines). As they've been doing for a few months now, the magazine has a section where they feature some of the latest Weibo trends and include pictures as well as screenshots from certain TVB artists' (and non-TVB artists) Weibos, along with commentary.

Well, this particular spread was on Celebrity moms-to-be, so of course, actresses such as Ada Choi, Cindy Au, Eileen Yeow, etc. were mentioned (obviously I'm behind on my magazine reading, since all 3 ladies have had their babies already -- the magazine itself is from May). I didn't have a problem with the content in terms of the artists mentioned in the article. What I DID have a problem with though is the fact that whoever wrote that article for the magazine (and perhaps the Editor of the magazine) seriously needs a lesson in proper English!!!

In the section of the article that talked about Cindy Au and her Weibo conversations with her mom-to-be friends Ada and Eileen, there was a short paragraph of commentary by the writer of the article that accompanied a screenshot from Cindy's weibo -- in that 1 short paragraph commentary, Cindy's name (in English) was mentioned 3 times....BUT, instead of writing "Cindy", the article writer wrote "Candy" (since when did Cindy change her name to Candy??). Now, if this only happened 1 time and the rest of the paragraph had the correct name, then I would attribute it to a simple misspelling error -- but the fact that Cindy's name was mentioned 3 times in the same paragraph and ALL 3 TIMES it was spelled wrong -- that tells me that the person who wrote the article has no clue what they are doing. To add 'insult to injury', in the various screenshots that they included on that same page from Cindy's Weibo, the actress even wrote her name in English before writing her comments (her Weibo posts always start with her name "Cindy: ________" because she shares the account with her husband Roger Kwok and doesn't want people to be confused with who is posting) -- so tell me then, how could the writer of the article STILL get her name WRONG??? It's written RIGHT THERE in the picture -- couldn't they just "copy" it correctly from the picture? It makes absolutely NO SENSE to me!!!

As I mentioned earlier, this is NOT the first time that I've found language-related mistakes in stuff put out by TVB -- I've found various misspellings and "bad English" in other issues of their magazine several times before. But I guess I really shouldn't be surprised because the language thing seems to be a long-time, widespread issue at TVB. If you think that the above example I cited is bad, check out the English subtitles on the DVD versions of their TV series (believe me -- it's bad....I'm just glad I know Cantonese and don't need subtitles, or else I would be pulling my hair out seeing all the mistakes they make in the subtitles).

But to be honest, even the subtitle issue is a 'minor issue' in comparisons to the plot summaries / synopses that they include on the back cover of their DVD sets....I mean, if you are ever interested in seeing what HORRIBLE ENGLISH looks like, I recommend reading the English plot summaries on those DVD boxes -- not only are there varying degrees of misspellings and grammatical errors, the sentence structure is also completely wrong (to the point of the entire summary being incomprehensible). The English in those plot summaries is so poorly written that, if I were them, I would be ashamed to even release that stuff to the public!

Come on now -- if TVB is truly serious about expanding into the International market, they REALLY need to clean up their issues in the language area, especially if most of the international population they are trying to cater to is English-speaking! (Yea, and they can start with hiring some decent translators and writers who actually KNOW ENGLISH!!) So far, based on what I've seen, TVB's attempts into the international arena have been LAME and INSINCERE at best.....I mean, just look at the magazine example I cited above -- if they can't even do something as minor as copying down someone's English name correctly when it's right there staring them in the face (and I say "copying" because Cindy's name was already written by her in her Weibo post -- if the writer did not know English, just freakin' copy the name from her Weibo, for Heaven's sake!), what does that tell you about how they operate?

The way I see it, this language issue goes back to the 'attitude' issue that I've been complaining about them for years -- the 'smugness' and 'arrogance' with which the company's executives run operations and also the way that they are always trying to 'underestimate' the intelligence of the audience / general public. Why should they be bothered with quality and attention to detail when they are already reaping huge profits? Plus, in their minds, the audiences are 'too stupid' to pay attention to that stuff anyway (well, some die-hard fans who refuse to believe that TVB can do anything wrong probably fall into that category -- I obviously don't!!).

Whatever the case may be, I have some words of advice for TVB: Don’t think for a minute that people (like me) won’t notice the details – because we DO notice….all these seemingly ‘minor’ issues are starting to add up and I’m sure they will (eventually) turn into something bigger down the road. So yes TVB, CLEAN UP YOUR ACT (and do it quickly)!!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

2011 Hong Kong Celebrity Breakups (SO FAR)...

Written by: llwy12
(Originally written and published as an Editorial for Asianfanatics.net)

We're only halfway through the year and already, there have been a number of celebrity 'breakups' in the HK entertainment industry -- many of them high-profile. Could it possibly be that the Hollywood 'breakup' bug has finally hit Hong Kong? Or perhaps it’s all in the stars and was just meant to be?

Whatever the reason, it’s worth taking a look back at some of the more notable breakups that have made headlines in the past few months (and hope that the breakup trend does NOT continue!).

Note: The below list is definitely not all-inclusive, as I’m sure that there were more celebrity breakups that occurred this year that are not mentioned. I just chose to mention some of the more ‘high profile’ ones that dominated headlines for awhile.

Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung -- To divorce or not to divorce, that is the question


Is it just me, or is anyone else sick and tired of the whole Nicholas / Cecilia divorce drama thing?

After almost a month of occupying the headlines of practically every newspaper and magazine in HK (and in other parts of Asia for that matter), this high-profile (soon-to-be ex) celebrity couple's divorce saga is finally showing some signs of dying down -- that is, until either Nic or Cecilia physically show their faces in public anywhere in HK (or elsewhere) -- then the mayhem starts all over again (well, at least that seems to be the pattern right now).

Indeed, the Nic / Cecilia situation has played out like a soap opera in the past few weeks, with speculations galore by the Media (and the general public) as well as varying degrees of mudslinging and PR ploys from both camps. Without judging who is right or wrong (because it is pretty much impossible to determine at this point), just look at what kind of impact the public airing of the couple’s marital woes has had on the family and friends (on both sides) thus far….

Take for example Nic’s dad Patrick Tse – I’m sure he is probably fed up by now with all those annoying reporters hounding him everywhere he goes, asking him the same questions over and over again (Are Nic and Cecilia really getting a divorce? How do you feel about it? Is Cecilia still 'The Pride of the Tse Family'? Are you going to yell at Eileen Cha when you see her? How long has it been since you've seen the grandkids?....and the questions go on and on). At the rate that things have been going, I wouldn’t be surprised if old man Tse gets so exasperated that he ends up punching one of those pesky reporters in the face (like we need more Tse family drama, eh?). Until that happens though, I continue to find Patrick’s responses to the Media (regarding his son’s situation of course) quite amusing -- definitely gives me my ‘laugh of the day’ listening to his responses.

Oh, and how about all those celebrities affected by the reporters camped out at the HK International Airport for days on end, waiting for either Nic or Cecilia to show up? Those reporters probably bumped into more celebrities at the airport than they would ever bump into attending any other event (boy would I like to be one of those reporters – reading about all the celebrities they encountered, I couldn’t help thinking how lucky’ they were)! And I’ve got to say that seeing the ‘shocked’ expressions on the faces of some celebrities who showed up at the airport to find swarms of reporters was actually quite funny.

At this point though, in my humble opinion at least, it doesn’t matter whether majority of the public are on Nic’s side or Cecilia’s side -- and frankly, I don’t care to know the timeline of when (or if) Nic has already filed divorce papers or not…I’m sure I’m speaking for a lot of people (including the members of the Tse and Cheung families) when I say -- can we just be done with this mess and move on? Please?

One last note -- just for the record, I’m not a fan of either artist (and never will be) so I really don’t care either way how this fiasco ends up turning out…but I do feel sorry for Nic and Cecilia’s two kids, Lucas and Quintus, and I sincerely hope that history doesn’t end up repeating itself 20 years down the road (though with the Tse family genes, it’s definitely hard to say)…


Gregory Lee and Shirley Yeung – From sweet bliss to controversial breakup?


After 9 years of dating, Shirley Yeung announced a couple days ago (at a public event no less) that she and her boyfriend Gregory Lee have broken up. I will admit that I was shocked when I first heard the news, as I had always thought that this was one of those celebrity couples that had a high chance of ‘making it’. I mean, let’s face it -- they look cute together and personality-wise, seem to be compatible in so many ways (or so I thought).

Before I proceed, just a brief mention for those people reading this who may not know who Shirley and Gregory are: Shirley is a 2001 Miss Hong Kong winner (and current record-holder for winning the most awards during a Miss HK pageant) and currently is an actress at TVB; Gregory is a former 1980s child actor (those following TVB series during that time will definitely remember him, as he was the child actor of choice back then) who comes from a veteran acting family and is currently working for TVB again (his career in adulthood is lackluster compared to when he was a kid).

As with any celebrity breakup where very few details are provided by the ‘main players’ themselves, Media speculation is bound to arise -- and so far, that is exactly how this situation is playing out. With Shirley refusing to comment further and Gregory too upset to think or speak clearly, it’s no surprise then that everyone else around them (family, friends, the general public) is speaking for them -- and of course, the HK Media is pouncing on ‘every juicy detail’ and reporting on it as though it were the truth.

What makes this particular breakup attention-worthy is the ‘controversy’ surrounding it -- the supposed ‘one-sided’ announcement of the split, the shocked reactions from family, the rumors of a third party, speculations of infidelity and deceit, and even a possible pregnancy, etc. Oh, and then there are the questions about the timeline not adding up – i.e.: did they break up a few months or a few days ago? Did the parents know or not know? Did Gregory only find out when the public announcement was made or did he truly know in advance? And so on… (Heck, the controversial nature of this split makes the whole Nicholas/Cecilia thing seem boring in comparisons!)

In the days to come, I’m sure the ‘true story’ related to this situation is going to emerge (eventually), so until that occurs, I’m going to reserve judgment on who is telling the truth and who isn’t. One thing is for sure though -- based on Shirley and Gregory’s public comments so far, both of them are definitely NOT on the same page!


Moses Chan and Bernice Liu -- From ‘rumored relationship’ to real breakup


Ever since their pairing in TVB series “Love Bond” back in 2003, Moses and Bernice have been rumored to be in a relationship in real life, despite the fact that neither party had officially confirmed it (until just recently that is). Though no one really knew whether these two were truly a couple in real life (“BerMo” fans probably didn’t care, as long as the on-screen chemistry was there), TVB definitely took full advantage of the rumor -- pairing them up in typical ‘couple team’ fashion for subsequent collaborations in series as well as commercials, promotional events, and even the Anniversary Awards ceremony. Talk about ‘milking’ the rumored relationship to the fullest -- hey, free promotion for TVB (not that they need any more promotion…)!

The relationship was no longer a “secret” when, at the end of last year (2010), Bernice was photographed hanging out with her “rich male friend” Alastair Lam -- almost immediately, accusations of Bernice “cheating on Moses” started flying and Bernice’s public image went down the toilet. Needless to say, “BerMo” was no more and the turn of events made the breakup ‘official’ (at least in the eyes of the public). Of course, the HK Media jumped on the chance to ‘fan the fire’ and so the focus shifted from ‘bad Bernice’ to ‘poor Moses’: aww, poor guy, he looks so forlorn -- hey, let’s dub him ‘the deal of the century’…that should surely make him feel better and show Bernice what she ‘lost’! (Yeah, whatever…it’s the HK Media – they’re not the smartest of people anyway…). Then after that, Aimee Chan comes into the picture (that was mighty convenient, eh?) and hence, Moses’ ‘fairytale courtship’ of Aimee begins…Meanwhile, the Media is clamoring for Bernice’s ‘reaction’ to Moses and Aimee becoming a rumored couple and next thing you know, the headlines read “Bernice Liu hints that Aimee Chan is Third Wheel in relationship with Moses Chan”…wait, but didn’t Bernice and Moses break up already back when that Alastair thing surfaced? So how is Aimee the 3rd wheel? So does this mean Moses was cheating on Bernice instead of Bernice cheating on Moses? I’M CONFUSED!!! Ah, let me guess -- the Media is twisting people’s words again, right??

In a dramatic ‘turn of events’, Bernice revealed recently in an interview that she and Moses actually broke up back in 2008 -- which means that even if she was truly dating Alastair Lam last year, she was not ‘cheating on Moses’ as the public claimed she did. (Of course, she also took the opportunity in the same interview to ‘criticize’ her former employer TVB --I definitely got a kick out of that…LOL!).

Anyway, regardless of how much of the whole thing is fact or fiction, the bottom line is that the relationship between Moses and Bernice is officially OVER. Period.

P.S.: In case you’re wondering why I included the Moses / Bernice breakup in this article when it technically occurred in 2010 -- well, basically because I felt like it for one, but also because the issue sort of overlapped into 2011 as well. (Plus, according to Bernice, the official breakup was in 2008, so technically, the 2010 date isn’t accurate either).


Richard Li and Isabella Leong -- No longer a “Cinderella” story


Honestly, who was actually taken by surprise when news came out that billionaire tycoon and chairman of HK telecom company PCCW (and Asia’s richest man Li Kar Shing’s son) Richard Li had broken up with actress Isabella Leong? I mean, just look at the facts -- Isabella was a ‘struggling’ actress at the time that she met Richard Li and he was a rich dude who wanted a male heir (or two). Less than a year after they met in 2008, she was already pregnant with his child and in 2009 bore him a son -- then last year, she became pregnant again and gave him twin boys. BUT the two of them are NOT MARRIED -- without the commitment of marriage, how realistic is it that a rich guy like Richard is going to remain with Isabella for the rest of his life? Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure THAT ONE out!

To be honest, I’m sort of indifferent to the whole Richard / Isabella situation because, well, frankly I don’t really care. I definitely know who Richard is as well as who his father is (which Hong Konger doesn’t know them? Plus there are enough references to them in TV series and such that a TV fanatic like me would have no reason not to know) -- but that doesn’t mean that I care. As for Isabella…well, let me just say that prior to her connection with Richard Li, I barely knew who she was -- all I knew was that she was an actress who was having contract issues with EEG and after she got together with Richard, her contract issue ‘disappeared’’(it’s actually more like Richard paid the money that was required in order for Isabella to break off her contract early) -- obviously, I had never watched any of her movies prior to that (and I have no interest whatsoever in watching them any time in the future either).

Isabella announced her split with Richard Li back in February and a few days later, Richard issued his own statement to the public confirming the matter. Not surprisingly, rumors immediately arose of a possible third party in the relationship (which Richard as well as Isabella’s spokesperson denied)…but the ‘unique’ aspect of this particular breakup was the rumor of a ‘separation fee’ in the amount of several hundred million dollars that Richard supposedly gave Isabella (which again, both parties have vehemently denied). Of course, only when the breakup involves a millionaire or billionaire will such a rumor exist!

Hmmm, now I’m starting to wonder…was it really a ‘good move’ for Isabella to have 3 children with Richard without being married to him? I would think not…but then again, that’s just my opinion -- others may actually feel she was ‘smart’ for having the children, especially since she did provide the ‘male heirs’ that the Li family wanted.

.***.

As I said at the start of this write-up, I sincerely hope that this ‘breakup trend’ among the celebrities does not continue (though I know that’s probably unrealistic given the nature of the industry). I guess we will have to see at the end of the year whether there will be a ‘part 2’ to this particular post!