‘Storm in a Cocoon’ (守業者) is a 2014′s Hong Kong TVB pre-modern series of 32 episodes that revolves on a large silk factory run by a wealthy businessman, which is later passed on to his third son, Ka Yeung while the latter encounter various challenges to take care simultaneously the huge business, family,friends and his love. The series starred Steven Ma, Tavia Yeung, Evergreen Mak, Maggie Shiu, Natalie Tong, Elliot Ngok, etc. It’s good to see the return of Steven Ma, a very great actor to TVB drama.

The plot first started with the return of Ka Yeung (Steven) to the family after five years becoming military doctor. Not long after the great news, her second sister died and he team up with Bing Bing (Tavia), one of his silk workers to investigate the murder. More stories unfold within the family that is already full of conflicts, and later problems emerged on the business too. The plot is quite interesting as there seems to be a lot of things going on (fighting within family to get to the top, business politics, complicated relationship within silk workers, and also the usual romance parts).

What’s exciting from this particular drama is that it has a lot of twists. TVB tend to put in a lot of surprises into their series recently but most are very much expected and nothing really turns out surprising in the end. However, ‘Storm in a Cocoon’ is proven to be the exception. First, some parts had me curious and guessing who is the person behind all these. That got me engaged to follow up with the coming episodes to know the answer. That’s a good thing. I had quite a few shocks here.

Steven Ma and Tavia Yeung. Both delivered exceptional performances as the main leads in the story. I’m still wondering why Steven Ma has never been awarded TVB’s Best Actor yet. I hope his time will come this year eventhough the early airing of the series this year may be a disadvantage. There is a huge number of supporting casts here, and all did very well too. And do you notice that you now see Elliot Ngok in almost all the series this year? This year, I already saw him continuously in ‘Outbound Love’ (as a photography-loving father), then in ‘Gilded Chopsticks’ (as an old emperor) and now here in ‘Storm in a Cocoon’ (as a rich businessman). Anyway, he is a very superb veteran actor. Always nailed all the supporting roles he had taken.

I watched the final two episodes just now. Hmm…I felt that the conclusion is too ‘simply’ done; the main villain gets caught and then killed so easily in just the first few minutes of the finale. Then, the lack of budget (typical for TVB series) made the flood scene to be not intense at all. And the part where Bing Bing gets on the floating signboard while Ka Yeung couldn’t and just stay by the side reminds me of Jack and Rose’s scene in ‘Titanic’. Haha. Luckily, the final few minutes that replay the flashbacks and depicting reunion of Ka Yeung (lost his memory) and Bing Bing are very touching and save the day. Overall, this is a fairly good series. There were still some boring scenes, and annoyingly too many characters dying, but with a fairly good plot, great casts, nice theme song and many ‘worked’ twists, I still consider this series the best in this first quarter of the year. (I prefer serious drama more than comedy like ‘Gilded Chopsticks’). Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Storm in a Cocoon’ a total of 7.7. Haha…I realized the title of this drama tells the many problems (symbolize those with storm) Ka Yeung has to go through and in the end, he literally faces the real storm too (hence the title).

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

The Ultimate Addiction (點金勝手) is a TVB series of 30 episodes with story centred on a group of individuals working in Hong Kong’s financial world and stock market. It starred Bosco Wong, Kate Tsui, Ben Wong, Sharon Chan, Nancy Wu, Elena Kong, Toby Leung, MC Jin, etc. This type of story with finance as the theme didn’t particularly gets me interested, but since there is nothing else having my attention lately, and due to the strong line-up of casts here in this drama, I’m spending my time on this.

Like I mentioned earlier, the ‘finance’ part of the story isn’t the reason I’m watching this series. It forms the setting for the story but sometimes, this non-engaging ‘finance’ part make things so complicated and hard for audiences to digest (especially the majority whom are not expert in this particular stock market field). However, I’m still happy that TVB is now finding other themes to explore in their series rather than being too typical or sticking to the frequent professions (doctors, police, lawyers, etc) into their stories. Well, the police element is still present for ‘The Ultimate Addiction’ but that is okay. It’s unavoidable to make things more interesting in a drama. In most series, one or few of the characters must or have to be investigated.

The story progresses too slow for almost half of the series. Nothing much develops in first 10 to 15 episodes of the series. Quite draggy plot in the beginning. However, once you have the patience to continue, then you will be surprised as the momentum and climax builds up in the later part of the series. More and more thrills are coming in, and that turned disappointment to satisfaction and relief. If not, this is going to be another failing drama from TVB. But still, this series isn’t getting many audiences. Hmm…I guess the ‘finance’ theme got people away.

Now, let’s move on to the acting. Bosco Wong is as usual; performed fairly well as the first male lead. Same goes to Ben Wong, and I especially like the scene in the final episode of his tragic response once Sheung Yi (Sharon) committed suicide by falling off a building. Well, the women overwhelms this series. I’m not saying Kate Tsui, since I find her performance here came with very little effort. She appears to convey no ‘energy’ or ‘heart’ to carry out the first female lead role. Perhaps it is her character’s fault. Nothing dramatic from her. The girl that portrays Ginnie is also quite awful. The females I’m praising are Nancy Wu and Sharon Chan. These two supporting actresses did exceptionally outstanding. I like many of their scenes especially some powerful ones like a scene showing Nancy’s facial expression when Bosco kiss her but then left behind their marriage ring onto Nancy’s hand indicating that he surprisingly agreed for divorce. Sheung Yi’s 180 degree transformation from a very good cop into a bad person taking revenge onto her own hands is also very well handled by Sharon Chan. At first, I thought she is working as a spy. But nope… Elena Kong is doing great too. Her classy and dignified look and manner in this drama is well-liked. Ohh…these three actresses I’m complimenting are all former winners of TVB’s best supporting actress. Great job by them. They are the ones making me to like this drama at some point. Also not to forget some daring scenes from them in this drama.

I don’t understand why TVB nowadays love to rush things up and jam-packed everything into the final episode. It helps to make things intense and exciting, but in the end, people will find it too rushed, illogical and lacks development to explain the conclusion properly. That’s the same case for this series. The ending is good (partly happy and partly sad ending), but not a great one that I’m expecting. Finally finished this 30-episodes series, and out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Ultimate Addiction’ a total of 7.0.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

寒山潛龍 (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain) is a 2014 Hong Kong period drama by TVB that revolves on the Tin Kei Agency, an investigation agency of the Northern Song dynasty that specialized on solving strange cases in the kingdom. It is headed by Fung Nam Tin (whom later turned out to be the villain), and he had mentored many talented constables whom include Cheung Sing (Kenneth Ma), Chuen Gong (Power Chan), Dai Lik (Pierre Ngo) and Yeung Mao (Lin Xiawei). As the main character, Cheung Sing is entangled into various conflicts and troubles, of which mostly are from the Mei Leung (Selena Li), a prostitute whom appeared to look exactly like his wife, Tou Fa (Selena Li).

Yup. Like I mentioned earlier, both Mei Leung and Tou Fa are portrayed by Selena Li. So she is the main female lead. This is the fourth Kenneth Ma and Selena Li portrayed as a couple. And I find this on-screen pair quite compatible and cute together. It has been quite some time not seeing them together in a series as in present, the pairing is always Kenneth with Tavia. But I also couldn’t deny that Kenneth and Tavia’s pairing creates wonderful chemistry too.

Ok..back into this series I have just finished watching. It is 30-episodes long. It also starred Raymond Cho, Lau Kong, Mary Hon, Ram Chiang, etc. It started off very interesting. Constables solving weird cases which will certainly involves a lot of careful observations and thinking. I like this kind of storyline. At first, it was like one case per episode. So, things came and got solved very quick. This fast pace system that got me interested didn’t last long. After first few episodes, everything gets slow and draggy back (similarly to many present TVB series). They will only excite you in the first few episodes and the last two. That’s all.

The only major point that saved the series is Selena Li. She hasn’t been heavily promoted by TVB eventhough she had been in the industry for many years. For this one, she is given the main lead and she did it extremely well. It’s also not easy to portray two characters at once, both with totally different personalities. There is still room of improvement for her, but I can say this is among her best performance so far. Very underrated. I guess she would not be given any award by the end of the year too, but I hope she will get acknowledged at least in the top 5. I like most of her scenes. Realistic and comfortable watching her. Her scenes as Tou Fa are light-hearted, fun and cute while at the same time, I didn’t find that annoying for even a single second. Then, it’s really good.

Kenneth Ma delivered another typical performance here. He isn’t that good or outstanding here. You can see a lot of his ‘puppy-eyes’ look here. I have seen that several times in his previous series, but for this one, his character made him went too far, and that disturbed me. On the other hand, Power Chan had given another solid performance. Pierre Ngo is not bad too. Lin Xiawei and Candy Chang have both improved a lot as observed from this series. Both may stand a chance to face against each other for Most Improved Female Artiste Award at the end of this year.

The plot isn’t good nor terrible. Just average. Some plot twists add points but the plainness of the story development brings the series down. Even the ending I had watched just now isn’t exciting of which it should be as I’m expecting it. Nothing spectacular and no intense or any memorable scenes. This series would be easily forgotten. Nevertheless, still a good form of entertainment to kill off your time every night on weekdays. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain’ a total of 6.8. Before I end this review, I want to say that this series’ title in English is a bit weird. Agree right?

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘忠奸人’ (Black Heart White Soul) is a 2014 TVB modern thriller series of 30 episodes. It starred Roger Kwok, Krystal Tin, Ron Ng, Kiki Sheung, Waise Lee, Louis Cheung, etc. At first, I didn’t plan to watch this series. When it aired its first twenty episodes, I’m still concentrating on another series named ‘Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain’. Once I finished that series and had nothing else to watch, I immediately switched over to this after hearing many positive feedbacks for the series. And it really turned out great. There was a time I had to catch up to its latest episodes and so I have to watch like more than five episodes per day. It is just so interesting.

The script for this series is by far among the best I have seen in TVB dramas in recent years. Brilliant plot and fantastic storytelling. The way the story builds up with more complicated sides is interesting while at the same time not confusing. It makes you get intense and excited for almost every episodes as the story progresses. You tend to feel curious of where this or that leads to and that is a good thing for a drama. Story development went well and not draggy all along too. Plenty of powerful scenes to get you thrilled too especially the parts where evil plan surfaced.

This is my first time seeing Roger Kwok taking on a villain role. He had previously praised for his villain role in 2008’s ‘Last One Standing’ but I didn’t watch that drama. He did a very good job in this series. He did those expressions like evil smirk or scheming eyes very well. However, I still couldn’t say that his performance here is outstanding. Just very good. His ‘split-personality’ character (hence the series’ title) is very strong and I considered Roger to have nailed this role too. Ron Ng had been previously criticized for having only average acting quality and had since been pushed to second lead or even supporting roles. Here, he shined again as ‘Funny Sir’ (reminded me of Raymond Lam as ‘Happy Sir’ in 2012’s ‘Highs and Lows’). His scenes especially in the last few episodes marked his breakthrough. Krystal Tin did another amazing performance. She handled those emotions very well which are so much required from her character. Another best actress chance for her this year after winning it last year for her ‘Yiu Man-ying’ role in ‘Brother’s Keeper’.

The only one I have to criticize is Lisa Lau, portraying as Gillian in the series. It is quite a heavy role and it is given to a totally new artist. That’s a superbly wrong decision. I prefer Vivien Yeo (the one portraying as Icy) to take on Gillian’s role whom is Ron’s girlfriend and later wife in the series. Lisa’s acting isn’t really that bad but her weirdly-proportioned face just make everyone simply hate her existence. Sorry for being too harsh but I couldn’t prevent myself from saying this. On the other hand, the other casts did great especially Louis Cheung as Marco. He is a talented actor and I guess he will win at least Most Improved Male Artiste in TVB Anniversary Awards end of this year looking from his solid and outstanding performance in this major supporting role. He can even be a strong challenger in Best Supporting Actor category too. Leanne Li also improved a lot in this series.

The background musical score also aided a lot on building up climax or intensity for most of the scenes. I had just finished its finale episode just now and I am impressed. The finale concluded this fantastic series very well. I like how they have Roger’s character still would not turn over a new leaf over what he had done and chose to be in prison longer just to get forgiveness from Krystal. That’s wicked cool. The series also taught us not to do anything bad even if it is in name of our loved ones or for our own’s advantage. However, there are still some plot-holes like what is the fate of Marco and Gillian in the end, but for me, that’s not important anymore.

Hmm…I would love to give this series 8.1 out of 10. But once ‘Gillian’ came into my mind, I have no choice but to deduct 0.2 point. So, my final rating to ‘Black Heart White Soul’ is 7.9. From A to A- now but still a very high marks from me. This is really a good and a remarkably intelligent series. So far the best series this year.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

It’s quite sad to know that ‘使徒行者’ (Line Walker), the recently airing hit TVB series has concluded just now with its intense and thrilling 2-episode finale. No more episodes to catch every night on weekdays. The series isn’t only receiving overwhelming good feedbacks but has also been widely discussed since it is first aired several weeks ago, and there must be a reason for that. People had been sharing their views on who the fifth UC would be? Is Benz Hui’s character one of the UC? Or is Michael Miu really turned evil in the last few episodes?Who will die next in the drama? The level of buzz the series created is unquestionable. And it is also by far the TVB series with highest viewership and rating this year. And it deserved all that.

As a crime thriller drama, ‘Line Walker’ tells the story of a chief inspector whom has to find all the five UC (undercover) agents previously assigned by his murdered friend. The series then follows lives of those UCs that must live a double life in secrecy. Not knowing when they can return to their normal life they endure the constant fear of being uncovered by those they are assigned to infiltrate. But their lives are also put in danger when it is discovered that there is a mole within the police who works for the criminals. Exciting plot. The story is full of layers, packed with mystery, full of dilemmas particularly revolving on the UCs and successfully created intense drama as well as provoking guesses and curiosity from all the audiences.

The most praise for the series goes to the acting of the casts. Michael Miu remains as a very professional veteran and his performance here is no doubt good and charismatic. Raymond Lam delivered outstanding performance as Bao Seed, and I shall say that he has a very high chance for TV King in the anniversary awards end of this year. His only fierce competitor by now would be Roger Kwok from ‘Black Heart White Soul’. Since Roger won Best Actor before, I think it should be time for Raymond. His acting has matured and this time, he impressed us. Charmaine Sheh also contributed a stellar performance. I enjoyed her character of which she absolutely nailed it in both comedic or emotional moments. She handled the role very well. Her tragic scene after her three mothers’ death is superbly done. She shall be crowned TV Queen. Sorry to Linda Chung whom is again heavily promoted in recent years. You had to try again next year and I’m sure your turn will come very soon for TVB Best Actress.

Supporting casts also did great job especially Benz Hui, Sammy Shum, Patrick Tang, Elena Kong, Lau Kong and Oscar Leung. Sharon Chan needs to go away from her usual image and expression to excel further in future. The only thing I’m not to happy of this series is on some scenes that were shot in slow motion. We seriously don’t need that. I also enjoyed the series because it combined both serious and light moments. It has time for hilarious comedy, for family warmth, for some great romance, for some deep serious cases to solve, some heartbreaking deaths, some great friendship, some brilliantly-crafted plans, evil acts, etc. So that sums up to an interesting and exciting 31-episode series for us to enjoy. The absolutely fantastic chemistry between Raymond and Charmaine as a couple here is a major plus point. This on-screen couple is funny and enjoyable to watch. Their scenes are mostly cute and heartfelt.

Fortunately, TVB didn’t ruin its finale episodes of which it usually does to its past series that started off well but ended terribly for most. The final big bad boss is revealed together with his not-so-important accomplices. There are also some climax-reaching and intense scenes throughout the whole series. So, you won’t really get bored in any moment as this has all the substance for a good quality drama. Even the theme song (I’m referring to the sub-theme song sang by a female) is good. I like that song. Many parts in the finale left us guessing but finally all are answered in the end. Hong Kong citizens had chosen the happy ending, as they had the choice to choose between two versions (happy or sad) to end the series. I’m quite surprised with the second very final scene of the series. That’s funny and a bit ‘dirty’ (adult-related). Cute way to end it. It’s okay…The very last scene in mid-credit is also a mysteriously good one showing on ‘Foon Hei’ file as UC being deleted. It means that he is actually also a UC. Now I actually wish to watch the sad ending too which may be giving much lasting impression. However, from what it is now, the series would still be a memorable and good one. Slightly better than ‘Black Heart White Soul’ which is first considered as another great production by TVB this year. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Line Walker’ a total of 8.1. The only series this year that goes beyond 8 point from me. Wonderful and superb series with top-class acting. No doubt the best of the year so far. And that’s why a long positive review over here. Worth my effort typing this long.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

As a loyal supporter to TVB series since many years ago, I’m glad that my country, Malaysia do organize an annual awards presentation to honour the best of Hong Kong TVB’s series and programmes in the past years. Last time, it was called Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards. Then, it is changed to My Astro On Demand Favourites Awards. And since last year, the awards has been using the name ‘TVB Star Awards Malaysia’. And this year, TVB Star Awards Malaysia 2014 (TVB馬來西亞星光薈萃頒獎典禮2014) will be held on 23rd November 2014 from 8pm at Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands.

The official website of the awards is here: http://www.tvbstarawards.com.my/2014/en. Malaysian citizens have to register first before they can pick their votes (only Malaysians are eligible to vote). Once registered, you can vote on its official website daily, and you may be the lucky ones to be gifted tickets to attend the awards night, TVBuddy goodie bag or TVB Calendar 2015. Here below is the nomination list followed with my personal picks and comments:

My Favorite TVB Series

01) Bounty Lady
02) Outbound Love
03) Gilded Chopsticks
04) Storm in a Cocoon
05) Never Dance Alone
06) Black Heart White Soul
07) Line Walker
08) All That Bitter is Sweet
09) Tomorrow is Another Day
10) Tiger Cubs 2
11) Come on Cousin
12) Overachievers

My opinion on Top 5: Bounty Lady, Storm in a Cocoon, Black Heart White Soul, Line Walker, Overachievers.
My pick: Line Walker.
Comment: I think ‘Outbound Love’ is going to replace ‘Bounty Lady’ to be in top 5 since parts of the series is shot in Malaysia, hence slightly more popular. Anyway, ‘Line Walker’ is the best so far. Dark horse would be ‘Black Heart White Soul’.

My Favorite TVB Leading Actor

01) Roger Kwok (Black Heart White Soul)
02) Ruco Chan (Outbound Love)
03) Joe Ma (Tiger Cubs 2)
04) Wong Cho Lam (Come on Cousin)
05) Wayne Lai (Overachievers)
06) Ron Ng (Black Heart White Soul)
07) Lawrence Ng (Tomorrow is Another Day)
08) Bosco Wong (The Ultimate Addiction)
09) Raymond Lam (Line Walker)
10) Michael Miu (Line Walker)
11) Kenneth Ma (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
12) Dayo Wong (Bounty Lady)

My opinion on Top 5: Roger Kwok, Ruco Chan, Wayne Lai, Raymond Lam, Dayo Wong.
My pick: Raymond Lam (Line Walker).
Comment: I knew Roger Kwok did very well in Black Heart White Soul. But for me, I think Raymond Lam deserved it very much this year too from his outstanding performance in Line Walker. Hence, I will put Roger Kwok as dark horse.

My Favorite TVB Leading Actress

01) Priscilla Wong (Swipe Tap Love)
02) Selena Li (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
03) Louisa So (Rear Mirror)
04) Linda Chung (All That Bitter is Sweet)
05) Joey Meng (Come on Cousin)
06) Aimee Chan (Outbound Love)
07) Nancy Wu (The Ultimate Addiction)
08) Kristal Tin (Black Heart White Soul)
09) Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker)
10) Kate Tsui (Tomorrow is Another Day)
11) Tavia Yeung (Storm in a Cocoon)
12) Carman Lee (Never Dance Alone)

My opinion on Top 5: Linda Chung, Kristal Tin, Charmaine Sheh, Kate Tsui, Tavia Yeung.
My pick: Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker).
Comment: Hands down. No competition. Charmaine’s superb acting in Line Walker won everyone’s heart. I can almost totally say that there isn’t any dark horse in this category this year. But if you still want me to list one, it would be Kate Tsui.

My Favorite TVB Supporting Actor

01) Louis Cheung (Black Heart White Soul)
02) Pierre Ngo (All That Bitter is Sweet)
03) Ben Wong (Gilded Chopsticks)
04) Raymond Wong (Overachievers)
05) Him Law (Tiger Cubs 2)
06) Raymond Cho (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
07) Oscar Leung (Line Walker)
08) Vincent Wong (Tomorrow is Another Day)
09) Edwin Siu (Overachievers)
10) Ram Tseung (Come on Cousin)
11) Lawrence Cheung (Never Dance Alone)
12) Benz Hui (Line Walker)

My opinion on Top 5: Louis Cheung, Pierre Ngo, Raymond Wong, Raymond Cho, Benz Hui.
My pick: Benz Hui (Line Walker).
Comment: Benz Hui has been praised by all for his performance in Line Walker. Dark horse would be Louis Cheung.

My Favorite TVB Supporting Actress

01) Eliza Sam (Coffee Cat Mama)
02) Gloria Yip (Never Dance Alone)
03) Sharon Chan (Line Walker)
04) Natalie Tong (All That Bitter is Sweet)
05) Mandy Wong (Tiger Cubs 2)
06) Maggie Siu (Overachievers)
07) Elaine Yiu (Swipe Tap Love)
08) Leanne Li (Black Heart White Soul)
09) Elena Kong (Line Walker)
10) Josie Ho (Tomorrow is Another Day)
11) Ivana Wong (Come on Cousin)
12) Lin Xia-wei (Outbound Love)

My opinion on Top 5: Sharon Chan, Natalie Tong, Mandy Wong, Leanne Li, Elena Kong.
My pick: Elena Kong (Line Walker).
Comment: No one stands out in supporting actress role this year. If Nancy Wu from ‘The Ultimate Addiction’ is in this supporting category rather than the strong leading category, then I will pick her. So now, I have to choose Elena Kong, whom is from her performance in my favourite series of the year (obviously), Line Walker. Dark horse would be Leanne Li.

My Favorite Most Improved Actor

01) Tony Hung (Outbound Love/Swipe Tap Love/Rear Mirror)
02) Matt Yeung (Outbound Love/Storm in a Cocoon/Black Heart White Soul)
03) Louis Cheung (Gilded Chopsticks/Black Heart White Soul/Come on Cousin)
04) Hugo Wong (The Ultimate Addiction)
05) Sammy Shum (Line Walker/All That Bitter is Sweet)

My opinion on Top 2: Louis Cheung, Sammy Shum.
My pick: Louis Cheung.
Comment: It’s quite hard to choose between Louis and Sammy. Both certainly had breakthrough this year. But I have to choose Louis Cheung. He is great particularly in Black Heart White Soul. So dark horse would be Sammy Shum.

My Favorite Most Improved Actress

01) Tracy Chu (Tomorrow is Another Day)
02) Lin Xia-wei (Outbound Love/Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
03) Vivien Yeo (Outbound Love/Ruse of Engagement/Black Heart White Soul)
04) Skye Chan (Line Walker)
05) Samantha Ko (Outbound Love/Line Walker/All That Bitter is Sweet)

My opinion on Top 2: Lin Xia-wei, Samantha Ko.
My pick: Lin Xia-wei.
Comment: Not a strong category this year. Nothing much to comment.

My Favorite TVB On Screen Couple

01) Dayo Wong and Kate Tsui (Bounty Lady)
02) Bosco Wong and Eliza Sam (Coffee Cat Mama)
03) Ruco Chan and Aimee Chan (Outbound Love)
04) Raymond Wong and Priscilla Wong (Swipe Tap Love)
05) Lawrence Cheung and Carman Lee (Never Dance Alone)
06) Roger Kwok and Kristal Tin (Black Heart White Soul)
07) Raymond Lam and Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker)
08) Sammy Shum and Sharon Chan (Line Walker)
09) Joe Ma and Linda Chung (Tiger Cubs 2)
10) Roger Kwok and Joey Meng (Come on Cousin)

My opinion on Top 5: Dayo Wong & Kate Tsui, Ruco Chan & Aimee Chan, Roger Kwok & Krystal Tin, Raymond Lam & Charmaine Sheh, Sammy Shum & Sharon Chan.
My pick: Raymond Lam & Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker).
Comment: Raymond and Charmaine both has very good chemistry as on-screen couple, and Line Walker pushed their collaboration to another level.

My Favorite TVB Drama Theme Song

01) 星斗群 (Never Dance Alone) Shirley Kwan & Mag Lam
02) 考驗 (The Ultimate Addiction) Fred Cheng
03) 越難越愛 (Line Walker) Jinny Ng
04) 再戰明天 (Tomorrow Is Another Day) Alfred Hui
05) 很想討厭你 (Outbound Love) Lin Xia-wei

My opinion on Top 2: 越難越愛, 很想討厭你.
My pick: 越難越愛 (Line Walker) by Jinny Ng.
Comment: The second theme song for Line Walker is fantastic. Enough said.

My Favorite Top 15 TVB Drama Characters

01) Sharon Chan (Line Walker)
02) Vincent Wong (Tomorrow is Another Day)
03) Tony Hung (Outbound Love)
04) Lawrence Cheung (Never Dance Alone)
05) Roger Kwok (Black Heart White Soul)
06) Raymond Lam (Line Walker)
07) Pierre Ngo (All That Bitter is Sweet)
08) Eliza Sam (Coffee Cat Mama)
09) Carman Lee (Never Dance Alone)
10) Power Chan (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
11) Louisa So (Rear Mirror)
12) Linda Chung (All That Bitter is Sweet)
13) Dayo Wong (Bounty Lady)
14) Tavia Yeung (Storm in a Cocoon)
15) Kenneth Ma (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
16) Louis Cheung (Black Heart White Soul)
17) Oscar Leung (Line Walker)
18) Josie Ho (Tomorrow is Another Day)
19) Bosco Wong (The Ultimate Addiction)
20) Kristal Tin (Black Heart White Soul)
21) Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker)
22) Lawrence Ng (Tomorrow is Another Day)
23) Ruco Chan (Outbound Love)
24) Loletta Lee (Never Dance Alone)
25) Raymond Cho (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
26) Michael Miu (Line Walker)
27) Natalie Tong (All That Bitter is Sweet)
28) Michelle Yim (Coffee Cat Mama)
​29) Priscilla Wong (Swipe Tap Love)
30) Selena Li (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
31) Waise Lee (Black Heart White Soul)
32) Raymond Wong (Overachievers)
33) Joe Ma (Tiger Cubs 2)
34) Steven Ma (Storm in a Cocoon)
35) Nancy Wu (The Ultimate Addiction)
36) Ron Ng (Black Heart White Soul)
37) Sammy Shum (Line Walker)
38) Kate Tsui (Tomorrow is Another Day)
39) Aimee Chan (Outbound Love)
40) Gloria Yip (Never Dance Alone)
41) Him Law (Tiger Cubs 2)
42) Mandy Wong (Tiger Cubs 2)
43) Benjamin Yuen (Tiger Cubs 2)
44) Wong Cho Lam (Come on Cousin)
45) Joey Meng (Come on Cousin)
46) Ivana Wong (Come on Cousin)
47) Wayne Lai (Overachievers)
48) Edwin Siu (Overachievers)
49) Maggie Siu (Overachievers)
50) Benz Hui (Line Walker)

My pick: The names in bold are my 15 picks from this long list. If I can add five more, I would choose Pierre Ngo, Kenneth Ma, Michael Miu, Raymond Wong and Wayne Lai.

So, what’s your choice? I think I’m a little biased towards ‘Line Walker’. We’ll see the result in a month. I didn’t include the nomination for some other not-so-important categories. No one cares about those host or programmes sections. By the way, this awards presentation is always seen as a hint or prelude to the prestigious TVB Anniversary Awards. But the nomination for that one isn’t even out yet. I wonder how many TVB artistes would come this year.

(Images in this post are from the awards’ official website at: http://www.tvbstarawards.com.my/2014/index.php)

In Singapore’s Starhub TVB Awards held in the past October, Ruco Chan and Charmaine Sheh won TV King and Queen respectively. In TVB Star Awards Malaysia held last Sunday, Charmaine too grabbed TV Queen title but the leading actor goes to Roger Kwok instead. Would that be the result too for the coming TVB Awards Presentation 2014 which will be held on 15th December? Hong Kong citizens, now it’s your turn to vote!

(Image source: http://event.tvb.com/tvb2014/nomination.php?type=1#voting)

Hereby is the nomination list for the prestigious TVB Awards Presentation 2014 (also known as TVB 47th Anniversary Awards) alongside with my top 5 picks and my preferred choice / prediction as what I did usually for every film or TV awards I’m interested in:

The one with * is my top 5 pick.

^Additional information : – Best Actor, Actress and Series will be voted by committee and public.
– My Favourite Character awards and Best Theme Song will be voted 100% by public.
– All other awards will be voted by committee and TVB artists.

Best Leading Actor
Nominees:
01.) Wong Cho Lam (Gilded Chopsticks)
02.) Ben Wong (Gilded Chopsticks)
03.) Steven Ma (Storm in a Cocoon) *
04.) Ruco Chan (Ruse of Engagement) *
05.) Bosco Wong (The Ultimate Addiction)
06.) Kenneth Ma (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
07.) Roger Kwok (Black Heart White Soul) *
08.) Ron Ng (Black Heart White Soul)
09.) Michael Miu (Line Walker)
10.) Raymond Lam (Line Walker) *
11.) Lawrence Ng (Tomorrow is Another Day)
12.) Joe Ma (Tiger Cubs 2)
13.) Him Law (Tiger Cubs 2)
14.) Wayne Lai (Overachievers) *
15.) Raymond Wong (Overachievers)

Expected to win : Roger Kwok (Black Heart White Soul)

Comment: If Roger really win this, then it will be his third Best Actor win, and that ties him with Gallen Lo and Wayne Lai as the most successful Best Actor in TVB. His performance in ‘Black Heart White Soul’ is critically acclaimed. But at one point, I think since he won it twice before, why not hand the trophy to Raymond Lam since ‘Line Walker’ is considered his last series with TVB and that he did very well in that one too. He would never have the chance to compete for it again in the future most probably. It’s also a pity since he is in the industry for many years but has never win Best Actor before despite his acting is already deserving for it. But I’m still happy if Roger takes it this year.
Best Leading Actress
Nominees:
01.) Michelle Yim (Coffee Cat Mama)
02.) Aimee Chan (Outbound Love)
03.) Nancy Sit (Queen Divas)
04.) Joey Meng (Gilded Chopsticks)
05.) Tavia Yeung (Storm in a Cocoon) *
06.) Priscilla Wong (Swipe Tap Love)
07.) Selena Li (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
08.) Kristal Tin (Black Heart White Soul) *
09.) Louisa So (Rear Mirror)
10.) Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker) *
11.) Linda Chung (All That Bitter is Sweet) *
12.) Kate Tsui (Tomorrow is Another Day) *
13.) Ivana Wong (Come on Cousin)
14.) Maggie Siu (Overachievers)
15.) Nancy Wu (Overachievers)

Expected to win : Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker)

Comment: The top 5 for Best Actor and Best Actress are very easily predictable. For Best Actress, I’m at least 90% sure that it would be Charmaine’s turn, making this her second time winning the coveted award. Her performance in ‘Line Walker’ is outstanding and easily topples the rest in the competition. The only dark horse here would be Kate Tsui as her performance in ‘Tomorrow Is Another Day’ is also well-praised. But I think she still couldn’t win it this year. As for Linda Chung, she has to try again next year by selecting a more potential and good role. 

My Favorite Male Television Character
Nominees:
01.) Ruco Chan (Outbound Love) *
02.) Steven Ma (Storm in a Cocoon) *
03.) Bosco Wong (The Ultimate Addiction)
04.) Kenneth Ma (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
05.) Roger Kwok (Black Heart White Soul)
06.) Ron Ng (Black Heart White Soul)
07.) Louis Cheung (Black Heart White Soul)
08.) Michael Miu (Line Walker)
09.) Raymond Lam (Line Walker) *
10.) Benz Hui (Line Walker) *
11.) Lawrence Ng (Tomorrow is Another Day)
12.) Vincent Wong (Tomorrow is Another Day)
13.) Joe Ma (Tiger Cubs 2)
14.) Wong Cho Lam (Come on Cousin)
15.) Wayne Lai (Overachievers) *

Expected to win : Benz Hui (Line Walker)

Comment: Since Benz Hui won Best Supporting Actor last year, I don’t think he will win again in the same category this year. His character as Brother Foon Hei in ‘Line Walker’ is very likable and his character has generated a lot of buzz since the series started airing. So, I guess he will win this. Deserving too. The other challenger would be Raymond Lam also from the same series. I think TVB will still grant him something this year as a goodbye gift to him (or just as a consolation since he would not be probably taking the TV King title). I also find it okay if Steven Ma win this. The time for him to get at least something is so much overdue.

My Favorite Female Television Character
Nominees:
01.) Michelle Yim (Coffee Cat Mama)
02.) Aimee Chan (Outbound Love)
03.) Nancy Sit (Queen Divas)
04.) Tavia Yeung (Storm in a Cocoon) *
05.) Priscilla Wong (Swipe Tap Love)
06.) Selena Li (Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
07.) Kristal Tin (Black Heart White Soul) *
08.) Louisa So (Rear Mirror)
09.) Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker) *
10.) Josie Ho (Tomorrow is Another Day)
11.) Linda Chung (Tiger Cubs 2) *
12.) Mandy Wong (Tiger Cubs 2)
13.) Ivana Wong (Come on Cousin)
14.) Susanna Kwan (Overachievers)
15.) Nancy Wu (Overachievers) *

Expected to win : Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker)

Comment: Don’t know why that there is a feeling that Charmaine will take this too, to become the double TV Queen of the year, duplicating the success she had back in 2006 when she won both Best Actress and My Favourite Female Character from her role in Maidens’ Vow. This year, her role as Deng Jeh in Line Walker is also very likable. It’s a cute and emotional character that you would like and pity for at the same time. The dark horse in this category would be Linda Chung. This may be a consolation prize to Linda, but I still prefer Charmaine in the end.
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees:
01.) Evergreen Mak (Return of the Silver Tongue)
02.) Tony Hung (Outbound Love)
03.) Elliot Ngok (Storm in a Cocoon)
04.) Eddie Kwan (Swipe Tap Love)
05.) Lawrence Cheung (Never Dance Alone)
06.) Louis Cheung (Black Heart White Soul) *
07.) Benz Hui (Line Walker) *
08.) Oscar Leung (Line Walker)
09.) Vincent Wong (Tomorrow is Another Day) *
10.) Kenny Wong (Tomorrow is Another Day)
11.) Pal Sinn (Tomorrow is Another Day)
12.) Ram Tseung (Come on Cousin) *
13.) Power Chan (Overachievers) *
14.) Edwin Siu (Overachievers)
15.) Raymond Cho (Overachievers)

Expected to win : Power Chan (Overachievers)

Comment: Two years ago, Power Chan is one of the hot favourites for Best Supporting Actor, but lost out to Koo Ming Wah for his popular ‘So Gay’ role. Maybe this is the year for Power as he did exceptionally well too in Overachievers. Other hot favourites for this category this year are Benz Hui (but won it just last year), Louis Cheung (still too new for this award) and Ram Tseung (his role is nothing much in Come on Cousin except than his brilliant singing). I will see how Raymond Cho performed in the remaining episodes of Overachievers to consider him as another strong contender too. This year, this category has tough and strong competition.

Best Supporting Actress
Nominees:
01.) Rosina Lam (Outbound Love)
02.) Nancy Wu (Gilded Chopsticks) *
03.) Louise Lee (Ruse of Engagement)
04.) Eliza Sam (Never Dance Alone)
05.) Becky Li (Black Heart White Soul)
06.) Leanne Li (Black Heart White Soul) *
07.) Oceane Zhu (Shades of Life)
08.) Sharon Chan (Line Walker) *
09.) Elena Kong (Line Walker) *
10.) Samantha Ko (All That Bitter is Sweet)
11.) Natalie Tong (All That Bitter is Sweet) *
12.) Josie Ho (Tomorrow is Another Day)
13.) Mandy Wong (Tiger Cubs 2)
14.) Susanna Kwan (Overachievers)
15.) Grace Chan (Overachievers)

Expected to win : Sharon Chan (Line Walker)

Comment: This is the weakest category for this year. No impressive or memorable performances from any of the nominees above. Since Sharon won the same in last week’s TVB Star Awards Malaysia, so I’ll pick her too. But to be honest, in terms of acting, Elena Kong in the same series is better (but won it last year). Sharon is just average this year. My other preferred choice would be Natalie Tong. But wait, since Leanne Li isn’t even nominated in Most Vastly Improved Actress award, so I think there is a chance for her to jump straight into Best Supporting Actress league strongly as her performance in Black Heart White Soul is also positively received.

Most Vastly Improved Actor
Nominees:
01.) Sammy Shum (Line Walker, All That Bitter is Sweet) *
02.) Tony Hung (Outbound Love, Swipe Tap Love, Rear Mirror, Pilgrimage to Football Meccas)
03.) Louis Cheung (Gilded Chopsticks, Black Heart White Soul, Come on Cousin, The Voice sr.4) *
04.) Jason Chan (ICAC Investigators 2014, Black Heart White Soul, Shades of Life, Overachievers, Dolce Vita, Quitto Win)
05.) Matt Yeung (Come Home Love, Outbound Love, Storm in a Cocoon, Black Heart White Soul, Shades of Life)

Expected to win : Louis Cheung.

Comment: Louis Cheung had more challenging and breakthrough roles this year compared to Sammy Shum, another hot favourites in this category. But actually, I don’t mind any one of these two to win. Both are talented actors. But my top choice is still Louis.

Most Vastly Improved Actress
Nominees:
01.) Rosina Lam (Outbound Love, Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain)
02.) Samantha Ko (Come Home Love, Outbound Love, Line Walker, All That Bitter is Sweet) *
03.) Grace Chan (Organized Dining, Overachievers, Pokoi Charity Show 2014, TVB Anniversary Special 2014)
04.) Jacqueline Wong (The Ultimate Addiction, Tomorrow is Another Day, Explore Japan Rail & Drive, Sidewalk Scientist)
05.) Priscilla Wong (Return of the Silver Tongue, Swipe Tap Love, The Conquerors, Pilgrimage to Football Meccas, Chef Minor) *

Expected to win : Samantha Ko.

Comment: Nothing much to comment. Actually, I prefer Rosina Lam to take this but she isn’t heavily promoted like Samantha in these days. Rosina’s acting has improved from what I have seen. But I’m still fine with Samantha winning. Priscilla is another hot contender but I didn’t get to watch any series with her in it this year. I just find it weird that Leanne isn’t even nominated here.

Best Series

As for best series, all series aired in the current year are eligible to be nominated.

Top 5 pick : Line Walker, Storm in a Cocoon, Black Heart White Soul, Never Dance Alone, Overachievers.

Expected to win : Line Walker.

Comment: Line Walker is my highest rated TVB series of the year, and I believe many agreed too. The series met with very positive reviews and had generated a lot of buzz across Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. This highly suspenseful drama that came with top-notch acting deserved to win Best Series of the year. The dark horse in this category may be Black Heart White Soul and Overachievers (I’ll see how Overachievers goes with its remaining episodes still airing now).

Best Theme Song

This is a new category introduced in this year’s awards. All theme songs (and also sub-songs) of the series in 2014 are nominated.

Expected to win : More Difficult, More Love (Jinny Ng) , Sub-song for Line Walker.

Comment: This award is introduced purposely this year just to give it to Jinny Ng for her popular sub-theme song for Line Walker which had also won Most Favourite Theme Song from TVB Star Awards Malaysia 2014.

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And I won’t put in the remaining parts of the nomination list (Best TV Host, Best Programmes, etc) since I’m not interested in those categories. Looking forward to TVB Awards Presentation 2014, scheduled to be held on 15th December 2014 (Monday) from 8 pm. Let’s hope that the result this year would be satisfying and may the deserving wins. Share your view here if you are interested.

Just a day after watching a magnificent film about Stephen Hawking ‘The Theory of Everything’ (a movie review for it is in my previous post if you want to check it out), there’s another movie that lives up to my expectation too today. It’s ‘Fury’, an American war drama film that starred Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia Labeouf, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal, etc. It tells the story of a sergeant and his four crewmen in command of a Sherman tank in a battle against Nazi in Germany during World War II.

Just like ‘The Theory of Everything’, the main praise to ‘Fury’ film also goes to the excellent performances by the main casts; Pitt, Lerman and Labeouf. They took on their respective roles (each with different type of characters or personalities) very well, as the film allows every three of them to shine in it respectively. Of course, I find that Logan Lerman’s character is being more heavily emphasized in this (he is the only one that survives in the end and his screen-time is even more than Brad Pitt) but Lerman nailed it. Previously, I always thought that he may not be able to handle this kind of army role but he did it fantastically here surprisingly.

The story is solid and is pretty intense. I like it. It’s a well-crafted war film that also deals perfectly good with the emotions and the true reality of the men involved in war unwillingly in the past. Of course, some parts of the film can be better. But currently, it is good enough for an interesting and engaging 2-hour movie experience. The action sequences are also cleverly made and climax-reaching especially in the final encounter with the Nazi group when the five men were left only with their limiting weapons and immovable tank.

That’s all I can comment on this film. Not the best, but definitely one of the appealing films this year for me. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Fury’ a total of 7.9.

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On the other news, TVB held its annual International Chinese New Talent Singing Competition just now. And as usual, Malaysia sent in representatives (Uriah and Elaine, our champion and second runner-up from Astro Star Quest 2014 competition) to compete at Hong Kong. Many must be surprised why Sean (our first runner-up and having a very good voice) could not attend. It is believed that he has some health reason. That’s a pity. Anyway, I would still be in front of my TV to watch the competition live and support my country.

Since the other competitors aren’t outstanding or having impressive voice or skills this year, there should be not much resistance for our talented Malaysians in the competition. I didn’t watch the first 30 minutes of the show and so I didn’t realize that Elaine got kicked out of the race so early. But luckily, Uriah performed steadily well and in the end, he won this competition too with the selection of his mastered songs (previously used them and gained high marks in Astro Star Quest). He must be very excited now. We are also happy for him and that win made Malaysia very proud. The winner of TVB International Chinese New Talent Singing Competition this year goes to Malaysian. Congratulation to Uriah!

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Come On, Cousin’ (老表，你好hea!) is a Hong Kong drama, and is one of the anniversary dramas for TVB this year. It is an indirect sequel to the surprisingly successful ‘Inbound Troubles’ last year. Almost the entire cast of ‘Inbound Troubles’ returns to this series playing completely different characters as the storyline has no relations to the first series. But ‘Come On, Cousin’ still stays with its modern comedy genre.

The casts include Roger Kwok, Joey Meng, Wong Cho Lam, Ivana Wong, Louis Cheung, Ram Chiang, Bob Lam, May Chan, Mimi Chu, Helena Law, Chung King-fai, Leanne Li, Kitty Yuen, Bowie Wu, Mary Hon, Tommy Wong, etc. When I ask myself how should I sum up what’s the main story of this series is about, I had a headache. This series simply has no main storyline and everything just goes with the flow till the ending without any solid stuff happening. And that’s the first reason why I said that this series is bad. It basically revolves on two main characters; Lam Joi Yeh, an environmentalist whom happened to work in a market owned by a very rich but lazy boss, Yau Tin who aimed to inherit all of his father’s fortune. There is also heavy emphasis on all the other plenty of supporting casts. In the end, the plot is weak and things ended up in mess and boring outcome for me. I thought I would be enjoying this 30-episode series, but it turned out that I’m disappointed. ‘Inbound Troubles’ has a better story and watching this ‘Come On, Cousin’ is simply wasting my time. It’s pointless and too nonsense at some points. Nevertheless, I have to still compliment on some very creative or fresh fun and laughters that this series brought to us too. But that’s just all. Not enough to save the film from being named ‘cheap’ and ‘lousy’. There are many jokes and hilarious stuff going on, but some are going too awkward and failed. Hmmm….another plus point for the series would be the Ram Chiang’s moments in the early episodes of the series. He did a wonderful job there and that secures him for a best supporting actor nomination for the annual TVB awards presentation coming this 15th December. But too bad, his character isn’t prominent and is sidelined after that. So, I’ll guess he could not win it too. I’m really surprised of his singing talent too. Roger Kwok contributed a steady performance here, but he would still shines in the coming awards presentation from his lead role as a villain in ‘Black Heart White Soul’. Louis Cheung and Bob Lam also did very well. Ivana Wong of which I remembered I hated her very much in ‘Inbound Troubles’ has also improved slightly here. Now, in ‘Come On, Cousin’, I don’t enjoy seeing Joey Meng. I find that her acting is bad and she looks like she is trying to act cute all the time. For me, that’s annoying. I also enjoy most of the cameo appearances (Kenneth Ma, Liza Wang, Kay Tse, Johnson Lee, Fred Cheng, etc) but too short.

Wong Cho Lam saved the series a bit from his very natural comedic presence in it. His character is lazy and evil here but he stole the limelight whenever he appears. He is almost the only source of entertainment here. Generally, this series is quite a disappointment and should not even deserved to be named one of the anniversary series this year which are usually of high quality. Yes,…many people are looking forward to it, but in the end, our response is ‘What the heck is this?!… Lame series.’ Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Come On, Cousin’ a total of 6.4. Its two-episode ending yesterday was also only average. I’m glad this series has ended as I don’t want to continue watching it anymore.

Maybe I’m ‘white-boy personality’ (guai zai sing gak), but this series is not that ‘organic’ looo…… (you will know what I mean only when you watch this series).

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Overachievers’ (名門暗戰) is a 30-episode modern Hong Kong television drama that revolves on Mike, the eldest son of a wealthy family whom breaks free from his dad’s business only to face much challenging situations outside from his business rival, his friends and even from within his family. It is one of this year’s TVB anniversary series, and it is also the last of the ten TVB series of the year I watched (Outbound Love, Storm in a Cocoon, Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain, Coffee Cat Mama, Gilded Chopsticks, The Ultimate Addiction, Black Heart White Soul, Line Walker, Come On Cousin, Overachievers).

From a very good line-up of casts to a story expected to be dramatic and exciting (in this kind of family, friend, business and betrayal thingy), I’m quite looking forward to ‘Overachievers’. I enjoyed this series thoroughly. Eventhough it did not brings out much climax, buzz or drama as wished for earlier, but the plot is still very solid and engaging. Perhaps, that is due to the huge number of interesting characters to focus on and that seriously helps to develop the storyline to put it above satisfaction. This series marked the return of all the five eunuchs from ‘The Confidant’, a 2012 ancient palace drama. They are Wayne Lai, Raymond Wong, Raymond Cho, Edwin Siu and Power Chan. Their chemistry and collaboration in ‘The Confidant’ is already well-praised and similar success is emulated here in ‘Overachievers’ eventhough this time it is a modern drama. The way they get along in this series, entangled in various problems or relationship issues is brilliant. All of them delivered excellent performances in their respective compelling and catchy roles, and surprisingly, everyone has their moments too. Perfect balance. Nancy Wu’s performance here should also be taken note of. She is still new in terms of taking on leading female role, but she did wonderfully here. Very solid acting, and she shall be placed on par with Kate Tsui and Linda Chung to fight for TV Queen next year onwards (this year already reserved for Charmaine all the way). Elliot Ngok also did fantastic here. Susanna Kwan’s character should be given more emphasis. More can actually be developed from her role as the wife whom can be more influential. But I guess most of the time is allocated for the five ‘eunuchs’. Haha…On the other hand, I don’t want to see Fred Cheng appearing in almost all the series now. I knew he is popular and is good in singing, but his acting should not have him being heavily promoted now by TVB. Maggie Shiu is downgraded to a minor role here, and I’m actually okay with that.

Had just finished its two-episode finale just now. I’m expecting memorable or at least a bit of plot twisting or over-the-top moments. In the end, everything seems to be short-lived here. Raymond Wong’s evilness falls short and died just like that. What a way to end his character. Maggie Shiu’s role ended yet by another typical car accident. Everything is too typical and predictable from its ending and that left me quite disappointed. It’s good all the way but ended so ‘normally’. Overall, it is still a good end-of-year series, but not a memorable one. Will only remember the strong five-men team and great Nancy from this drama. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Overachievers’ a total of 7.5. It tries to be overachiever, but ended up achieve nothing spectacular. With only three days left to the prestigious TVB Awards Presentation 2014, and I have also write up my list of predictions on the nomination list not long ago, I’m here to give my final view again. Best Actor will be a nice fight between Wayne Lai (from 80% reduced to 60% chance since he had won it three times) , Roger Kwok (80% chance), Raymond Lam (his last year with TVB and the company may present him this as a gift, hence 60% award chance) and Ruco Chan (not so popular and often put aside currently, hence only 40% chance). Outcome, Roger Kwok to take Best Actor this year. For Best Actress, everyone already admit defeat to Charmaine Sheh. She has 90% chance of winning. Top 5 would be her (90%), Kate Tsui (60%), Linda Chung (50%), Krystal Tin (30%, she won it last year), and Tavia Yeung (30%). I prefer to add in Nancy Wu (40%) too eventhough I knew it’s not her time yet. Actually would love to add in Selena Li (30%) too. Big race there.

Best Supporting Actor is a tough fight with all very deserving hot nominees popping out this year. Benz Hui (60%, reduced since he won it last year, and now he is tipped for Most Favourite TV Male Character instead), Raymond Cho (40%, popular but his role not memorable enough), Power Chan (60%, missed a chance in 2012 by slight margin, great comeback now with likable role in Overachievers), Louis Cheung (50%, good in Black Heart White Soul), and Ram Chiang (50%, critically popular after Come On Cousin). No comment on Best Supporting Actress as this category is very weak this year.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Noblesse Oblige’ ( 宦海奇官 ) is a Hong Kong drama sets during Qing dynasty that starred Kenneth Ma as To Chan Fung, a lazy but good-hearted county magistrate who is given the task to clear the government from corrupted officials. Tavia Yeung starred as Kenneth’s sidekick, Wai Lam whom is a Buddhist nun. The 21-episodes long drama also starred Joel Chan, Ram Chiang, Susan Tse, Lau Dan, Benjamin Yuen, Cilia Lok, Yoyo Chen, Lee Shing Cheung, etc.

This is the first TVB drama of the year that I watched, and the series ended just now with its two finale episodes on Saturday’s evening. I enjoyed this series because while it is a light-hearted production, the plot also includes in some serious matters (mostly on politics and corruptions) to create some exciting dramas. At one point, you get to be entertained by quite a number of good laughs from the series, while as the scene switches, you get to see real ‘business’ going on.

At the very beginning, the series reminded me of ‘Rosy Business’, a very critically-acclaimed drama back in 2009. That series, along with ‘Noblesse Oblige’ were also produced by Lee Tim Sheng. He usually stood out on delivering some very good quality series to save TVB. Of course, ‘Noblesse Oblige’ is not as serious or as intensely good like ‘Rosy Business’. This time, Lee puts a bit more emphasis on comedy to this series (for something different) and it still worked, eventhough ‘Rosy Business’ is still better. As the series progresses, ‘Noblesse Oblige’ gets back to ‘typical’ low-drama moments that many present TVB series are experiencing. That’s a bit of disappointment there. Luckily, this series is short and won’t waste much of our time on further pointless story development.

Kenneth Ma is mostly exaggerated on his acting in this series. I think it is needed for his type of role here to push things slightly beyond boundary a bit for better result. However, his acting doesn’t really improves. Same goes to Tavia Yeung. She is mostly shy, quiet and easily ignored in the series despite she is the first female lead. Even her fellow mate, Wai Yu (portrayed by Cilia Lok) had far more interesting and catchy role here. Tavia’s character is only needed to protect and love Kenneth. Her past story, revealed only in the last two or three episodes of the series appeared to be ‘forced’ into the drama and is unappealing. Ram Chiang is good as supporting role here (he is always good in this kind of role).

Fortunately, the drama’s ending is not bad. It’s a happy conclusion to Kenneth and Tavia (always like to see them as an on-screen pair. They are very compatible) and to his family and friends too. The main villain (Lee Shing Cheung) died, but I actually preferred him to be put to justice by the emperor himself rather than being killed by revenge. This implies to us that taking revenge like this is reasonable. That’s not the way it is supposed to be. The killing scene is also quite similar to that of ‘Overachievers’ drama last month in its finale episode too. Before I forgot, Lee Shing Cheung did absolutely brilliant as the villain here. Very good veteran actor. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Noblesse Oblige’ a total of 7.4. Better than many typical TVB dramas nowadays, but still not that good to the point that I can remember this for long.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Eye in the Sky’ (天眼) is a TVB crime thriller series of 20 episodes released this year that revolves on a police inspector brilliantly solving cases with the aid of careful observations and critical thinking from CCTV footages. That is the reason the series is titled ‘Eye in the Sky’ that refers to CCTV. He later changed job to a hotel security manager and found his long lost brother whom is actually a thief, and there goes the story. The drama starred Kevin Cheng, Ruco Chan, Tavia Yeung, Tony Hung, Samantha Ko, Becky Lee, Rosina Lin, Vivien Yeo, Lau Kong, Susan Tse, etc.

If you do catch up with my previous post few days ago, you should notice that I’m currently following closely and very engaged to this series as it progresses. I have high expectation and hope on this series since it started out really very well. The cast is strong and the story is good. I also enjoyed seeing Kevin Cheng back in TVB drama after not seeing him for some time already. This investigation-themed plot had my interest since success of ‘Line Walker’, a critically-acclaimed drama last year.

But as the series develops, things go downhill. Not very serious and not to the critical stage yet, but you can still sense the drop of intensity as each episodes passed. All I can blame is on the writing. Everything looks promising in the beginning, but the quality of writing keeps on deteriorating and the way it made Jan’s character too shallow is quite a major disappointment. Jan is the female lead, but in this series, I am more excited of seeing Vivien Yeo (the mysterious assassin and a hotel guest) than her. Vivien did improve in her acting after so many years. Susan Tse is acting quite weird in this series, and I knew her character would be killed off.

The highlight of the show is definitely on Ruco Chan. He is a very talented actor. No question to that. In this role of which he played a good son with a wicked heart inside, Ruco did an amazing job. He nailed the role and the way he conveys the emotions whether it is happy, sad, jealous or evil is very brilliant. Perhaps this may be the year for him to be crowned Best Actor, but the timing is not right as this series is released too early and will be forgotten by end of the year when TVB Anniversary Awards will take place. Kevin Cheng also did fairly well, but nothing outstanding. Tavia Yeung performed nothing, but she shouldn’t be blamed as it is the character’s fault, not her.

Things and certain aspects didn’t go deep or fully developed as they should be for an exciting drama till the end. For example, the romance between Kevin and Tavia is very short-lived. However, this series is still enjoyable and carries sufficient substance to be called a series worth my time to watch and remember for at least a few months. Its ending is nothing memorable or spectacular, but it wasn’t bad either. I prefer to have Ruco to inflict more shocking revenge, to have Jan died, etc (to push the drama further or crazier) in the finale. Its ending still has explosive and over-the-top moments but those should be scattered throughout the whole series for a more balanced affection to it.

Overall, it’s quite a good series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Eye in the Sky’ a total of 7.5. Ruco contributed a lot of points.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Limelight Years’ (華麗轉身) is a Hong Kong’s TVB modern drama of 22 episodes which starred Liza Wang, Damian Lau, Linda Chung, Alex Fong, Eliza Sam, Michelle Yim, etc. It mainly revolves on an unlikely friendship blossomed between a veteran singer (whom is successful in her career but failed in two marriages and her relationship with her two daughters) and a photographer (whom doesn’t want to move on after the death of his daughter and wife) when they met in a flight to Taiwan. First of all, I like the overall concept behind the drama’s storyline which is hinted in the drama’s title that is translated directly to ‘elegant transformation’. This drama teaches us that no matter how far or successful we go, we should look back to our root, turn around and mend the mistakes we make in our life. It also taught us not to give up, but to stand up elegantly from the problems, overcomes them and move on. It is certainly a drama filled with positive messages to all. The series also came with heavy emphasis on friendship and romance and touched on issues like fame and materialistic world we are in now.

Generally, I enjoyed every episodes of this drama. There is nothing intense or anything of actions, but there are still some dramatic moments, some hilarious scenes, some touching segments, some impressive acting-showcase bits, some beautiful sceneries (from Taiwan where parts of the shooting of the drama took place), and some meaningful messages as mentioned earlier. I am also surprisingly in the position to like the two songs (one always played almost in every episodes throughout the whole drama and another one is the main theme song) by Liza Wang, also the main actress in this drama. Both are very touching and have meaningful lyrics, and suit very well to this particular series.

Liza Wang is wonderful in this drama. Her character is fully presented, and she had no problem of taking this interesting character. She nailed all the emotional parts in the drama very well. She stands a chance for Best Actress award again by the end of this year. Damian Lau is also as good as always. Linda Chung is also far more natural on her acting in this series but her character here is too dumb and is easily fooled by Alex Fong. Talking about Alex, it has been many years of which he had not filmed any TVB dramas. Good to see him back but his acting is only at average. Even his buddy is more convincing than him. Eliza Sam is very bad (her shouting and facial expression are stiff and awkward). Even the newbie actor that portrayed her mentally-ill brother in this series did better.  The final two episodes had just been aired yesterday. I like how it ends for Linda and Alex as a pair. I’m glad that it’s not the typical happy ending for this couple of which I’m not too happy for. It’s good that now Alex has to wait for Linda after she had done so for the whole drama. That’s a good conclusion for both of them. It’s also nice to see Liza Wang and Damian Lau becoming best friend after all the things they have been through from Hong Kong to Taiwan. This is a good quality ending to a good quality drama. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Limelight Years’ a total of 7.7.

(Images in this post are from TVB.com)

‘Wudang Rules’ is a Hong Kong martial arts, action themed television drama of 20 episodes set in present days. It starred Chin Siu Ho, Tavia Yeung, Yuen Qiu, Timmy Hung, Derek Kok, Toby Leung, Jonathan Cheung, etc. This is the series that continues after the end of ‘Limelight Years’ drama of which the latter is slightly more interesting. Since the other series; ‘The Empress of China’ is a China drama and was already half way through, I decided to go with ‘Wudang Rules’ eventhough I’m not interested in every aspects of the series. However, it would be nice to see the return of Yuen Qiu and also Chin Siu Ho (older brother of Chin Ka Lok and previously popular for starring in Mr. Vampire movie as the disciple) in this one.

The plot; After a set-back in life, former Hong Kong undercover detective Pau Kai-chung (Chin Siu-ho) heads to the Wudang Mountains in Hubei, China to get away from life. At Wudang he re-connects with his former marital arts senior Mo Yee-shan (Yuen Qiu), who now operates an inn and martial arts school in the Wudang Mountains. She also takes in a mentally retarded man named Ho Ching-tung (Derek Kok) with a mysterious past. Kai-chung takes up a job as a chef at Yee-shan’s inn. All is peaceful until a group of martial art students lead by Yee-shan’s daughter Lok Yeung (Tavia Yeung) arrives. From there on, there are many conflicts and laughter in the school while more dark mysteries of Kai-chung and Ching-tung are revealed.

Eventhough the series is only taking up 20 episodes, but I already find it a bit draggy and boring particularly in the middle part of the drama. When the series started with picturesque setting at the Wudang Mountains and introduction of many interesting characters, it gets me going and wanted to see more of their developments. However, as the series progresses to half way mark, things aren’t seems to be developing with many boring and unnecessary scenes. I tried my best to get past that, and fortunately, the story gets back on track with better-paced plot in the later part of the series.

This is a series not meant to showcase brilliant acting. All of the cast delivered simply an average performances. Eventhough Jonathan Cheung’s character is a playboy and comes with many exaggerated behaviours, but he is the one that made me entertained in almost every episodes eventhough that is only a minor role. He is funny. Everyone else has their part of the story, but nothing comes out great besides the touching moment when a girl gave birth to a baby and decided not to sell it. Now, you must be wondering why I’m still not commenting on the two main leads; Chin Siu Ho and Tavia Yeung. It’s because they are simply too plain in the series. Chin Siu Ho’s acting is no where near the level to be considered good. His facial expression is mostly wooden and rigid. I think he should continue staying away from TV and just retires. Even his younger brother Chin Ka Lok can handle roles better than him. As for Tavia, it is just another role she needs to complete without any challenge or breakthrough stuff.

The ending of the series is quite good. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Wudang Rules’ a total of 6.8. The series also lacks a bit of ‘kung fu’ scenes or energetic/climax stuff as highlighted from the theme of the series. Now, I’m looking forward to new drama next week entitled ‘Master of Destiny’. This upcoming new series starred Liza Wang again after we have seen her not long ago in ‘Limelight Years’. She is usually good in her series.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

風雲天地 (Master of Destiny) is a Hong Kong joint China television drama created by famous Hong Kong director Wong Jing. At China of which it is aired earlier, the series has a total of 40 episodes as per information from its wikipedia page. However, we in Malaysia (also for Hong Kong) get to watch the version of the series that has only 32 episodes (8 episodes shorter) and the series had just ended with its finale yesterday.

When this series was at the early planning stage, I’m very excited by news reporting that award-winning actress Deanie Ip will be heading huge list of famous cast in this series helmed by director Wong Jing. Kenneth Ma will also be in the cast. However, both Deanie and Kenneth dropped out and Liza Wang and Edwin Siu were brought in to replace them. Lesser impressive cast, but I would still watch it because it’s refreshing to see a drama by Wong Jing whom is famous for producing brainless yet funny movies back in the 90s.

The series chronicles the rise and the eventual hardships of the affluent Cho family from Hong Kong, which eventually, they fight the corruption that reeks inside their family while being entangled in various troubled relationships. The series starred Liza Wang, Angie Chiu, Hawick Lau, Kenny Wong, Edwin Siu, Kimmy Tong, Natalie Meng, Monica Mok, etc. I thought Angie Chiu, a great veteran actress would have a heavy role here, but in the end, she is more of a minor supporting role only. I thought I would see more of her after her last TVB drama ‘Point of No Return’ 12 years ago that I have watched. Anyway, she is still amazingly beautiful at her current age of 60.

I decided to watch this series because of its kind of storyline. Revolving on a wealthy family with a huge business background would means a lot of quarrels, scheming and dramas. This series had all that but they are not up to my preferred way or style. There are too many story developments that are not making any sense; the villain (Song Chi Wah) can have so many money on ‘buying’ all the people around on helping to achieve her evil plans like she had nothing else to do besides that, the good girls being too naive (or I should say dumb) for the boys they blindly love, etc. And the thing that I don’t like is the dubbing. Well, I have to get over with it since it is a joint production and it involves cast from mainland China.

Liza Wang, is as usual, good on her lead role as the tough mother to the family. This year, we saw her in ‘Limelight Years’ and in this one and she was awesome in both of the series. A hardworking veteran actress with solid acting. Hawick Lau is getting more popular now but I think his acting is still not excellent. Just average. Even Kenny Wong and Edwin Siu (as his brothers in the series) were better than him in terms of performances. Also average level of performances by the girls (mostly China’s actresses in this series). I would like to praise Selena Li who portrays the younger version of Liza Wang’s character in the series. She is absolutely fantastic especially in her emotionally-heavy and crying scenes. She should be more acknowledged by TVB by now.

The title of the series suggests something epic, intense and dramatic but the series couldn’t really pull it off especially with the non-engaging storyline and draggy developments as it progresses. I felt bored and uninterested in most of the episodes. I’m left slightly disappointed and now I’m glad the series is over. The happy ending still could not save much of the troubled content of the drama. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Master of Destiny’ a total of 6.8.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Ghost of Relativity’ (鬼同你OT) is a 2015 Hong Kong romantic comedy drama of supernatural theme produced by TVB, starring Moses Chan, Kristal Tin and Nancy Wu as the main cast. The series has a total of 28 episodes and I have just watched its final 2 episodes just now. The Chinese title has a double meaning; when read accordingly it literally translates to “Ghost to Overtime With You”, however the word “ghost” (鬼) is also a Hong Kong slang that is equivalent to “who the hell” in English, so the Chinese title could also translate as “Who The Hell Wants to Overtime With You”. Interesting and a very catchy title.

The drama revolves within an architectural office in Hong Kong where an admin manager (Nancy Wu) have been very helpful and is secretly in love to the architect (Moses Chan). Unfortunately, she is electrocuted to death but her spirit (in electromagnetic wave form) is still present and can only communicate to an absent-minded woman (Kristal Tin) who was fired as a receptionist on her first day of work in that particular office. Kristal worked together with Nancy to stay in the office to continue helping Moses to realize his ambitious architectural project which leads to many conflicts and issues, and hence the whole story of the drama.

The story is fine with me. Despite the presence of supernatural element in this series, there isn’t anything scary at all and hence even kids will enjoy watching this series. Instead, this series delivered more laughters than ever with hilarious scripts, funny behaviours and entertaining scenes. I really enjoyed my time on this series and now I felt sad because it has already concluded. The only setback for the story is that the middle part is a bit too draggy with nothing much going on besides than dwelling into the same problem (of relationships between the three main cast) all over again.

Nancy Wu and Kristal Tin are very well on their respective role. As for Moses, he is too ‘stiff’ but it’s his character that requires him to do so. Other notable cast that are involved in this drama includes Eddie Kwan, Pierre Ngo, Vivien Yeo, Ram Chiang, Mimi Chu, Celine Ma, etc. Malaysian actress, Vivien Yeo did improve in her performance here as a sexy lady trying to seduce Moses for an objective. Her Cantonese had also improved but still not fluent enough. After her character is done, then Ram Chiang came in for the final few episodes. His character is very awkward as the IT man and I don’t really like it. Celine Ma is very hilarious. On the other hand, I am also not engaged to the drama between Mimi Chu (as Kristal’s mother) with an uncle (as Nancy’s father). It’s like forcing a poor side story to the whole series.

The visual effects are a bit lousy but I’m not really bothered by that. And one more thing; the works Moses have been doing is not really what an architect does (especially the part he worked on the engineering input for his leaning tower, it’s supposed to be engineer’s duty). The attention to detail in architectural profession, the focused career for this drama is poor. Anyway, I’m still happy that TVB used architecture setting for the drama right after interior design setting (in Romantic Repertoire series early this year that also has Moses Chan starring) rather than those typical lawyer, police or doctor theme.

The ending is quite exciting and lived up to my expectation with some intense as well as touching moments where everything is resolved for a happy conclusion. I’m happy on the way it ended with the three main cast being ‘indirectly’ together. This series delivered on bringing joy and laughter to me and my family as well. All of us watched this series. It’s highly entertaining and is so far the best series of the year. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Ghost of Relativity’ a total of 7.8. Still couldn’t get up to 8 yet.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘樓奴’ (Brick Slaves) is a 2015 Hong Kong romantic-comedy television drama by TVB and starring Vincent Wong, Selena Li, Evergreen Mak, Eliza Sam and Kiki Sheung as the main cast. The theme of the storyline is based on Hong Kong’s extremely unaffordable houses. Well, we knew Hong Kong is among the cities in the world with the highest property prices. Before I get into a review for this particular drama that had just concluded, I’m just going to tell you briefly how expensive purchasing a flat at Hong Kong is now.

Based on an accurate survey, the average price per square foot for a flat at Hong Kong is about USD$ 1200 or more. I’m not even talking about those strategically-located flat at the city centre region. Hong Kong is famous for having very limited land, and so their houses are usually very small and compact. A flat in Hong Kong would be somewhere in 700 sq ft or lesser. So, let’s multiply USD$ 1200 with 700 and you will get USD$ 840 000. Convert that to Ringgit Malaysia (oppss..now it’s multiply by 4), and the amount is RM 3.4 million. Crazy, isn’t it? With the same figure, I can buy at least 5 units of apartments in Malaysia.

So, you see…how hard is the life of Hong Kong people. They have to work, work and work to save money to own a house which is the most basic ambition for them. I understand that it is always feeling stable to own a house especially for those with family to take care of. Hence, not only in Hong Kong, but everywhere that people now are mostly ‘樓奴’. Working madly just to own a house. That’s what this particular TVB series is all about. Vincent Wong worked hard in his life and he finally had enough saving to pay for the deposit of a house which is his goal to start a family with his girlfriend. However, his girlfriend broke up with him and rented half of the house to her friend, Selena Li. Both are originally very much in conflict between each other due to difference in personalities. However, as time passes, they start to know each other more and felt in love.

Well, quite a typical plot but I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline. There are also many other supporting plots which are interesting enough to pull this into one piece of good drama to watch. The series is short, having only 20 episodes, but I think that’s enough for this light-hearted romantic comedy series. That makes the series entertaining most of the time with nothing much draggy in between. Vincent Wong is the male lead in the series and his performance is not bad. I’m fine with him taking on more leading roles in the future since TVB is now lacking leading artists. He had a good chemistry with the female lead, Selena Li in this series.

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Some say Selena is over-acting in this drama. Well, I think her character in this drama needs her to be slightly exaggerated, and hence it’s not her fault. Instead, I think she delivered the role very well. It’s seriously time to acknowledge her more in future series as I find her performances are always great. Even Liza Wang praised her when she guest starred in the former’s recent series ‘Master of Destiny’. She needs more leading roles too and I believe she can do it. TVB, just don’t keep promoting those newbies too much (Grace Chan, Eliza Sam, Mandy Wong, Tracy Chu, etc). Put more focus on Selena Li or Nancy Wu besides than the already emphasized Kate Tsui, Tavia Yeung and Linda Chung.

Opps…I’m getting way too far about the series. Eliza Sam had quite a major role in ‘Brick Slaves’. I knew she tried her best but still, she couldn’t pull it off nicely. Her crying scenes were awkward and I don’t feel anything when she speaks or delivers her emotion. She still needs to work hard on her acting. Well, the boy portraying as Dor Dor is also very poor in the series. On the other hand, Evergreen Mak and the one acting as his wife in the series were both great and acted very natural. Overall, the series is enjoyable to watch but very much will be forgotten after a month or two. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Brick Slaves’ a total of 7.4. Okay…to move on with new TVB drama next month.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

I believe today is a beautiful Monday for all Malaysians as we don’t need to go out for work or study today. It’s public holiday as the nation celebrates 58th independence anniversary today. Happy Merdeka Day to Malaysia! Wonderful timing as the National Day this year falls on Monday, hence extending our weekend break. There shouldn’t be any Monday blues mood today. I’m ending the month with two movie reviews as I have watched two films released this year recently; ‘Southpaw’ and ‘Robert The Doll’.

‘Southpaw’ is a 2015 sports drama film which revolves on a boxer, Billy Hope who turns to trainer Tick Willis to help him get his life back on track after losing his wife in a tragic accident and his daughter to child protection services. The film directed by Antoine Fuqua starred Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Rachel McAdams, Naomie Harris, Oona Laurence, etc. First of all, I’m quite enjoyed with the redemption theme of the storyline eventhough many said its’ very much predictable and shown nothing fresh to the audiences. The plot is quite engaging but the development may be a bit unnecessarily too long.

The focus of the film must be on the performance of Jake Gyllenhaal as he is rumoured to be a heavyweight potential for best actor nominee in Oscars next year from this movie. Well, he is doing another fantastic job by being very much committed to this role of troubled boxer. He turned from a skinny man in last year’s ‘Nightcrawler’ to a bulky body in ‘Southpaw’. However, I think his role here is not exceptional enough to put him in frontrunner for a nomination next year since the competition in best actor is always compacted. Anyway, he still carried the movie very well with great performance. Another thing lacking from this drama is that they failed to inject some really cool heart-stopping climax moments into the film. There are also quite a number of emotional scenes but they didn’t hit at high note. Hence, these issues prevent the movie from climbing up the rating from movie critics. As for me, I’m still thinking that it’s a good solid movie. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Southpaw’ a total of 7.5. This was the last film to be scored by James Horner before the composer’s death sadly.

Next movie is ‘Robert The Doll’, a very much unknown horror movie this year that are also based on a haunted doll. I still went for the movie despite knowing it received poor ratings from IMDb because I’m interested with haunted doll theme especially after being quite excited with ‘Chucky’ and most recently ‘Annabelle’ movie. ‘Robert’ film is said to be based on real life events when a family experience terrifying supernatural occurrences when their son acquires a vintage doll called Robert. I browsed the web to search about this doll and it do exists. However, the doll in the movie doesn’t look anything similar to the real thing which is now exhibited in a museum at Florida. Just like Annabelle, the doll looks more creepy in the movie. I knew they made it looks more terrifying for the scare effect.

The plot of the movie actually comes with potential to deliver. However, everything is ruined when scenes are poorly done, the characters are odd and the acting is bad. The worst thing is the acting part. The cast were just delivering their lines with forced emotions displayed on their faces. It’s so obvious that their acting is bad especially the woman portraying as the mother. Things are getting boring and unappealing even when it comes to the end when the doll start to show itself how evil it is. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Robert The Doll’ a total of 5.9. Many points are just given for the very creepy-looking doll itself. The movie just couldn’t pull it off at all.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

Prime Minister had just revealed its Budget 2016 in the Parliament yesterday’s afternoon and his announcement is broadcast live throughout television and radio station as usual. I do listen to parts of his lengthy speech while I’m working yesterday, hoping for some good news on highlighting and easing our financial burden beginning next year. However, as expected, there is no good news to be happy for as claimed by the many local news that back the government. Hence, I summarized the budget as ‘no good news in the time of all bad news’.

We are now in the pressure of high cost of living (higher price for house, toll, food, groceries, and almost everything else), Goods and Services Tax (GST), living under scandalous government (from corruption, cronyism, 1MDB issue, ineffectiveness, etc), haze and many others. Well, I do link the haze to the government too as they do not push Indonesia to solve the annual problem even after so many years having the haze to affect our country already. They even asked us not to pressure Indonesia and let them do the job. What? Of course, we have to pressure them as this is not a new issue; haze has been hitting us every year from decades ago.

Back to the budget, I do noticed that the budget this time is helping more for the people of East Malaysia; Sabah and Sarawak. Well, I do agree that those two states are pretty lacking behind in development compared to Peninsular Malaysia and they certainly needs more attention. However, I’m also quite sure that all the allocations given for them in next year’s budget would be going somewhere else in a huge portion (into own pockets). And it will end up as just simply talking without any action again. It is also very obvious that this emphasis is to prevent Sabah and Sarawak from getting out of Malaysia which will be heavily reducing the number of ruling coalition’s seats in the Parliament. Or in simple, the present government will certainly lose in the next general election if Sabah and Sarawak leave Malaysia. They are now in worry and to prevent that from happening, they would do all their can to persuade the two states to maintain in Malaysia after many decades of neglecting them. Literally, it’s a budget to buy votes.

I won’t list down all the items in the Budget 2016 as this would make my post extremely long and I would like to keep it short and straightforward with my direct analysis towards some allocations in the budget. The government increased the BR1M, as a way to continue giving ‘sweet’ to the poor people while on the other side, taking away more things from everyone. From the very beginning, I do not agree to this way of helping people. It actually helps the poor to be very lazy and dependent on this form of assistance. They should actually work something out to bring these people from poor class to at least to the stable-income group. And to those people who received this BR1M and are very grateful, you are wrong and do not think of a bigger picture. The money from BR1M is also from all of us.

The budget do highlight on the building of more affordable houses. Well, these houses are not much in quantity and they are mostly far from the city, not easily accessible and obviously meant for Malay individuals who wanted to purchase homes. Well, they are protecting their rights to the max and we in the other races are already used to it after their over 60 years of governing in Malaysia. What they should do is actually controlling the price of homes to be sold to buyers. I also noticed the allocation of huge sum of money to repair roads and improve internet speed throughout the country. Haha…do you think they would do that? Nobody think so except than the blind supporters of the government. We all have eyes to see on our road and internet conditions. I guess that allocation is actually going towards buying someone diamond rings or luxurious handbags.

Overall, this Budget 2016 is another piece of shit. I’m actually quite excited by a little drama that when the Prime Minister concluded his speech yesterday, most of the opposition members in the Parliament raised up the placard questioning where is the RM 2.6 billion? That’s the amount credited to Prime Minister’s personal bank account without proper explanation by him after so many months. I still remember the word ‘donation’, which is a joke of the year! It is so wrong to have a massive fund inside your personal account for a government member. Well, he can still get away from it since all of his party members are afraid to speak up or against in worry of losing their job, losing their source of income and losing their comfort zone they have been in for so many years. Useless. They think of themselves rather than for the people and the nation. Hence, it will all lead to the failing of the country as opposed to the claim by the Prime Minister that our people and economy is prospering. Every words from him is a bullshit.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

‘Captain of Destiny’ (張保仔, literally as Cheung Po Tsai) is a 2015 Hong Kong historical fiction sci-fi television drama of 32 episodes by TVB. The drama is a retelling of the story of 19th century Chinese pirate Cheung Po Tsai and his conflict with the Qing imperial army, meanwhile encountering a time-travelling police constable from the 21st century. The drama starred Ruco Chan, Tony Hung, Grace Chan, Ram Cheung, Elaine Yiu, Maggie Shiu, Joel Chan, Mandy Wong, Susan Tse, Lau Kong, etc. It is a grand production and is one of the four anniversary series of 2015 to mark 48th anniversary of TVB.

This series which concluded just now with its final episode also won the Most Favourite TVB Drama at the Singapore’s Starhub TVB Awards 2015 yesterday. Despite receiving average points in viewership rating at Hong Kong, the drama is being very well received and I’m one of them who have more praise to this series compared to all the other dramas released this year. It is just so good and always kept me intensely catching up to latest episode of the series every night. In the first few episodes, I came to watch the series with less expectation but then I’m surprised by the great quality of storyline and characters the series present to TV audiences as the drama develops. I still enjoyed the time-travel concept eventhough TVB had used this idea many times before in the past.

First, we were shown in the present setting of Hong Kong when a female police constable (Grace Chan) accidentally traveled back in time to Qing dynasty from a waterspout when she is on a mission to catch a criminal named Bandit King (Ruco Chan). Once back to 200 years earlier, she met the famous pirate Cheung Po Tsai (Tony Hung) and his gang. Here the story goes between the pirates’ life and the life in the palace emphasizing the 11th prince (Ruco Chan again) who is a hardworking prince in mission to eliminate pirates. Many events followed between these main characters and the story development went very well in a good pacing mixed with light fun moments as well as serious and intense situations.

Ruco Chan delivered yet another impressive performance as the 11th prince. His character here is very diverse, requiring him to deliver multitude of varying emotions and he nailed it. He conquered all the scenes he is in with powerful strength and expressions. Eventhough he is not in the titular role, but he shines over the rest in this drama. No wonder he won Most Favourite TVB Actor in Singapore last night too for his performance here. Very well deserved and I do hope his winning continues to TVB Star Awards Malaysia next month as well as the Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards in December. It’s time for him to be rewarded. Tony Hung portrayed the titular role and I’m fine with it. However, I find it weird that his character is not being given much attention throughout the series eventhough his name makes the series’ title. That has to be case when you have another lead role, the 11th prince of which I have said earlier that stood out better than the rest including this titular character of Cheung Po Tsai.

Grace Chan is a newbie artist and she should not be promoted too quickly by the TVB station by taking up this first female lead role here. The outcome is you get a performance that is poor and heavily criticized by many people. It’s not her fault mostly but I do cannot stand the overly exaggerated expressions and voice she shown in this drama. On the other hand, I also cannot stand anymore on the cute acts by the 11th prince’s lady servant, portrayed by Kelly Fu. However, her acting is far more natural than Grace. It is the veteran actors and actresses that back the series a lot too. Villains like Lee Shin Cheung (as admiral), Elaine Yiu (as concubine), and Lau Kong (as emperor) and others like Susan Tse (as concubine), Elliot Ngok (as imperial eunuch), Maggie Shiu (head pirate’s wife), and Ram Cheung (pirate’s strategist) did very well. Joel Chan and Mandy Wong also contributed very convincing performances in their respective supporting role too.

Besides that, I’m also surprised by the effort put on the visual effects of this series. The visual effects especially during the war between the imperial army and the pirates are exceptionally good if measured by TVB standard. I’m stunned and amazed by that battle scene. It looks very cool, technically brilliant, intense and exciting. However, I am actually hoping for like two or more of those battle scene to further expand the storyline on the strained relationship between the pirates and the government. So actually, I don’t mind the series to be 40 episodes long.  The effort put on production design, costume and make-up design, and editing should also be complimented for this drama. The drama’s opening theme song by Fred Cheng, closing theme song by Ruco Chan and episode’s plug song by Linda Chung are all very nice to listen to and suits well to this drama’s heart.

As for its ending just now, I’m very happy of how this series came to such a thought-provoking conclusion. It is an ending made with a lot of thoughts (and a nice twist) and I like that. I’m tired of typical non-moving yet happy ending made to most of TVB series in recent years. I’m also surprised to see Raymond Wong making a cameo appearance in the end as a pirate. Why him? It’s because he is originally cast to portray Cheung Po Tsai and not Tony Hung. So letting him to appear in the very last minute of the series’ ending would be quite interesting. In general, this drama is definitely the best TVB series of the year so far and if the next series ‘Lord of Shanghai’ isn’t as good as it is expected, then I see no problem for ‘Captain of Destiny’ to take home Most Favourite TVB Drama in both TVB Star Awards Malaysia and also in Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards. It is really very good and delivered beyond my expectation. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Captain of Destiny’ a total of 8.2. That’s the highest rating for a series I have given this year. Even Grace Chan’s bad acting here couldn’t pull the series down to below 8 points from me.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)