Every year there would be some major awards presentations happening to honour the best of Hong Kong major television station, TVB annually. These awards ceremonies are not only held in Hong Kong but also in Malaysia and Singapore for the oversea Chinese audiences. I consider myself grew up with TVB dramas. In Malaysia, we have no nice local Chinese TV dramas to watch and so we depend on Astro to catch up to Hong Kong’s latest series and other variety programmes. For the awards this year, the Singapore Starhub TVB Awards was in last month, and tomorrow we would have the TVB Star Awards Malaysia. It will all end with the Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards next month.

I myself do make my own list of the best of TVB dramas every year. I started this in 2007 but I never put up my selection to my blog here. I think this would appeal to some of my blog readers who are interested on things about TVB dramas, and so, I put it up now, at here below:

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2007

Best Series: Heart of Greed

Best Leading Actor: Moses Chan (Heart of Greed)

Best Leading Actress: Louise Lee (Heart of Greed)

Best Supporting Actor: Louis Yuen (Heart of Greed)

Best Supporting Actress: Tavia Yeung (Dicey Business)

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2008

Best Series: Moonlight Resonance

Best Leading Actor: Raymond Lam (Moonlight Resonance)

Best Leading Actress: Michelle Yim (Moonlight Resonance)

Best Supporting Actor: Wayne Lai (The Gentle Crackdown II)

Best Supporting Actress: Tavia Yeung (Moonlight Resonance)

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2009

Best Series: Rosy Business

Best Leading Actor: Wayne Lai (Rosy Business)

Best Leading Actress: Sheren Tang (Rosy Business)

Best Supporting Actor: Michael Tse (E.U.)

Best Supporting Actress: Susan Tse (Rosy Business)

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2010

Best Series: No Regrets

Best Leading Actor: Wayne Lai (No Regrets)

Best Leading Actress: Sheren Tang (No Regrets)

Best Supporting Actor: Evergreen Mak (No Regrets)

Best Supporting Actress: Fala Chen (No Regrets)

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2011

Best Series: Ghetto Justice

Best Leading Actor: Kevin Cheng (Ghetto Justice)

Best Leading Actress: Myolie Wu (Curse of the Royal Harem)

Best Supporting Actor: Sam Lee (Ghetto Justice)

Best Supporting Actress: Sharon Chan (Ghetto Justice)

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2012

Best Series: The Hippocratic Crush

Best Leading Actor: Kenneth Ma (The Hippocratic Crush)

Best Leading Actress: Kate Tsui (Highs and Lows)

Best Supporting Actor: Power Chan (The Confidant)

Best Supporting Actress: Elena Kong (Silver Spoons Sterling Shackles)

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2013

Best Series: Brother’s Keeper

Best Leading Actor: Ruco Chan (Brother’s Keeper)

Best Leading Actress: Krystal Tin (Brother’s Keeper)

Best Supporting Actor: Him Law (The Hippocratic Crush II)

Best Supporting Actress: Elena Kong (Triumph in the Skies II)

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2014

Best Series: Line Walker

Best Leading Actor: Roger Kwok (Black Heart White Soul)

Best Leading Actress: Charmaine Sheh (Line Walker)

Best Supporting Actor: Benz Hui (Line Walker)

Best Supporting Actress: Sharon Chan (The Ultimate Addiction)

BEST OF TVB DRAMAS OF THE YEAR 2015

Best Series: Captain of Destiny

Best Leading Actor: Ruco Chan (Captain of Destiny)

Best Leading Actress: Liza Wang (Limelight Years)

Best Supporting Actor: Kenneth Ma (Lord of Shanghai)

Best Supporting Actress: Alice Chan (Lord of Shanghai)

I only provided five categories. Very limited places and so making each categories more prestigious. This is not like giving out pork chop awards to as many people as possible like those ‘my favourite characters’ awards. I also decided to kick out the smaller categories like most improved for the same reason. Well, you will notice that some of my selection differs from the TVB awards results for that particular year as this is solely depending on my own analysis without influence from the past TVB awards. My selection is also different since it only involves dramas that I have watched only every year and not all.

You may have forgotten some of the great performances several years ago that I include in my list but is not visible in TVB awards for that particular year. Maybe posting this up from 2007 (till this year) will refresh your mind a bit on some classic nice dramas we have watched from 8 years ago. You may also comment here on your own selection for best of TVB this year, particularly if you differ from my thought that ‘Captain of Destiny’ is the best series of 2015. I do think a lot that this year is the battle between ‘Captain of Destiny’ and ‘Lord of Shanghai’ for best series, but in the end, after a careful analysis, I ended up picking the former with my own reasons. I welcome all of your thoughts if you are also interested in TVB dramas like me.

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

‘Lord of Shanghai’ (梟雄) is a 2015 Hong Kong television pre-modern period drama by TVB, and it is the last of the four anniversary series marking the 48th birthday of the television station this year. It is also a grand production featuring heavyweight casts that include Anthony Wong (film king), Kent Tong (one of five ‘tigers’ of TVB in 1980s), Wayne Lai (triple TV king) taking on main roles accompanied by many supporting roles portrayed by Kenneth Ma, Myolie Wu, Ron Ng, Alice Chan, Louis So, Jade Leung, Eddie Kwan, Natalie Tong, Pierre Ngo, Lau Kong, etc. The drama with a total of 32 episodes is set in 1930’s divided Shanghai when many troubles hit and tells the story of three powerful business tycoons who are friends and also enemies within themselves. The story is loosely based on real people (the 3 tycoons) and events in Shanghai around that particular decade.

When I first heard of the development of this drama about a year ago, I was very excited because Anthony Wong is in it. He had won multiple best actor and supporting actor nods in past film awards and it would be refreshing and cool to see him in small screen now (television). This is also Kent Tong’s first drama in 30 years. The storyline of the drama which is revealed not long ago also further put me in a position to anticipate desperately for it. Time flies. The series has now ended with the broadcast of its final episode just now. Maybe I came in with high expectation, and so in the end, I think the series is just good overall with nothing truly breathtaking as expected earlier. Even the ending is a bit ordinary but still a good conclusion to this drama.

Before the drama began few weeks ago, this drama somehow reminds me of ‘Rosy Business’ and its unrelated sequel ‘No Regrets’, the two highly successful series few years back. However, ‘Lord of Shanghai’ failed to live up to the quality found in that two mentioned dramas despite having a huge cast of professional actors and actresses. The storyline is good but I’m slightly disappointed that there aren’t much climax-reaching parts in this drama. I remembered I enjoyed watching ‘Rosy Business’ very much because it has intense scenes in almost every episodes and I don’t find it here in ‘Lord of Shanghai’ to my surprise. I felt emotionless watching the series besides than enjoying the great performances by the cast. I’m only slightly more interested on the major flashback scenes depicting Kiu Ngo-tin in his younger days and how he eventually chosen the path to be a mean tycoon.

Yes…the cast helped a lot on the series. Everyone from the major to minor characters contributed very well to the drama. Anthony Wong delivered subtle expressions and is very convincing as the main lead of the drama. His expressions are very minimal but displayed a lot of emotions. The only thing I’m not fine of him is his usage of Shanghai accent sometimes in his dialogues while no one else do the same. Wayne Lai on the other hand used exaggerated approach to convey his role as the main villain of the story. Some people disliked his overly done expressions but I think that is what best for his role and he nailed it. Kent Tong’s character is a bit overshadowed by Anthony and Wayne. Alice Chan who resembles the late Anita Mui is also very good as Sister Kwai Sang. This is my first time seeing her and she is already that good. As for Kenneth Ma, first I was annoyed by the dubbing of his voice by other actor (why not use his original voice?) but his exceptional acting as the young Kiu Ngo-tin had me forgetting the voice. Ron Ng is given an ordinary role that turned evil out of sudden in the last one and a half episode that means nothing to me.

The theme song named ‘Regretless’ by Alfred Hui is a good song to listen to and the score matches quite well to the series. In this drama, we also get to see many scenes depicting Shanghai back in 1930s and it do bring us back to that particular era, getting us more engaged to the setting of the story. Expected since it is a grand production. Overall, the series is still interesting to watch with top-notch acting performances and solid plot. However, in my personal opinion, ‘Captain of Destiny’ is still the best series in 2015 while ‘Lord of Shanghai’ is only my no.2 this year as the former surprised me in many ways while the latter ended up being just good and nothing spectacular. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Lord of Shanghai’ a total of 7.8. I still think this series is going to be the biggest competitor alongside with ‘Captain of Destiny’ for Best Series award in TVB Anniversary Awards next month. Let’s see which one will win…’Captain of Destiny’ had already won in Singapore and Malaysia. I guess Hong Kong one will be for ‘Lord of Shanghai’. What’s your thought on this? You can share it in the comment section below.

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

I would be flying with my parents to Australia this weekend for our once-in-a-year vacation for the Chinese New Year break. Two more days and I would be heading to the airport for flight to Australia, the country that I have not visited before. I should be very excited by now for the trip but I just couldn’t. Why? I felt sick. I was having fever, cold and my throat is feeling very bad. The same illness that I caught before my trip to Singapore in Christmas two months ago. Why am I always falling sick before a vacation?

Well, if I’m to take it positively; it’s better to fall sick before a vacation rather than during a vacation. It would just destroy all the mood of being a happy tourist. Now, the only thing I hope is that I will recover soon enough before the trip starts with all the plenty of medicines I have to swallow in these few days. Anyway, I’m still looking forward to this upcoming trip since it is so costly and that I would be able to visit several famous landmarks over there in Sydney and Melbourne, like the Sydney Opera House, Eureka Tower, etc.

Recently, I have been catching up to a new TVB series called ‘Love as a Predatory Affair’ starring Kitty Yuen, Jason Chan, Samantha Ko, King Kong Lee, etc. This is the first TVB drama that I watched. It is currently airing but will finish with its 21st episode tomorrow. This series is about woman (Kitty Yuen) who is not good looking, short but had a very good personality and is a master in cooking. She had a good friend (Samantha Ko) who is very beautiful but doesn’t know how to cook. Both of them felt in love to the same guy (Jason Chan) who is helping his father to run a restaurant-chain business. They then knew each other and entangled themselves into multiple issues mostly in romance and friendship. There are several other smaller plots too in this storyline involving many other supporting characters.

Overall, I do enjoyed the series so far. There are many hilarious scenes that kept me entertained in almost all the episodes from plenty of awkward moments, funny dialogues, and interesting expressions. It’s been a long time since TVB last produced a series on cooking and so it’s nice to see this theme back from this drama. I understood that many skipped this series because it has a poor line-up of cast (not featuring any famous artists) but I think this is what makes the actors and the actresses in this series to act without pressure. Very natural performances from all of the cast especially from Kitty Yuen. Many hate Samantha Ko in this drama due to her annoying character, but to the haters out there; if her character isn’t like that in this series, then how can the story develops further? Think again before bashing out on someone who is merely portraying a role as required for the story. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Love as a Predatory Affair’ a total of 7.3. A light-hearted romance comedy drama that is highly entertaining. Hmm…this is the first time I’m reviewing a drama even before it has finished airing. Well, there is only 2 more episodes left that we all haven’t watch out of the total of 21 episodes, and so I think I can basically review for this drama right now already.

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

Right after coming back from a housewarming party organized by one of my classmates, I’m super excited to watch the final episode of a TVB drama called ‘Short End of the Stick’ (公公出宮) tonight. This Cantonese drama had been giving me a lot of fun in the past few weeks and it is a bit sad to know that it has concluded. If you didn’t know about it, it is a period comedy drama that centers around the lives and struggles of eunuchs after the fall of Qing Dynasty and their eviction from the Forbidden City. This group of eunuchs then settled in a village headed by Kam family.

This series is an indirect sequel from 2012’s ‘The Confidant’ series. ‘The Confidant’ is a serious drama (I enjoyed that drama too) while this ‘Short End of the Stick’ is more of a lighthearted comedy. The same cast portraying the eunuchs in ‘The Confidant’ returned to this series except for Raymond Wong. Edwin Siu is no longer portraying an eunuch this time. Overall, the series starring Wayne Lai, Raymond Cho, Edwin Siu, Power Chan, Nancy Wu, Rosina Lam, etc is highly entertaining. There are plenty of moments that will surely give you a good laugh and all of the cast did a great job.

The outstanding performances shall be from Nancy Wu (great as first female lead role here, but her role is not that prominent anymore in the last half of the series), Rosina Lam (well, she improved a lot and had been delivering very stable and excellent performances nowadays…so much better compared to all the newbies currently highly promoted by TVB) and Raymond Cho (he is very realistic in portraying the most soft and feminine eunuch here…maybe it’s time for him to get Best Supporting Actor award end of this year?). Wayne Lai, Power Chan and Edwin Siu are as usual nailing their roles too. The series is also good because the story keeps on going and presence of many plot twists gave further advantage for the overall story development. It is dramatic and at the same time hilarious. Nowadays, not many TVB drama would have such quality. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Short End of the Stick’ a total of 8.0. A highly entertaining and interesting drama which I can say is the best for first quarter of the year before we get to see more before the year end’s TVB Anniversary Awards.

Talking about TVB also on the other hand, there are many recent surprising news of popular TVB artists getting married. First of all, Myolie Wu got married not long ago. And then, Linda Chung announced her marriage to a wealthy man out of a sudden. That is still shocking to me as I find that it is a waste for such a beauty to end up on a hand of a bad-looking guy. And then, the most recent marriage is between Tavia Yeung and Him Law. Well, this is expected as their relationship has been very obvious for the past few years already. So, who’s next to deliver another shocking marriage news? This had been such a trend in TVB now.

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

It’s wonderful to have tuition-free week somewhere in between the semester. It is a much needed break to relax for a while before continuing to the last half of the semester. Too bad, it’s almost the end of Friday by now and my last tuition-free week of the semester is over. In this break, I get to chill, having a lot more rest, and do assignments slowly…I mean very slowly. After this, there is no such thing as ‘slowly’ anymore as more important deadlines are around the corner before the end of my first semester.

The coming Monday is ANZAC Day, and is a public holiday here in Australia. Yup, my holiday would be extended for an extra day. Searching up the web leads me to learn that ANZAC Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served. Oh, now I know. It’s a memorial day. We have no such holiday back in Malaysia. I only remember April 25 every year as my second sister’s birthday.

Recently, I had concluded watching a new TVB drama entitled ‘The Last Healer in Forbidden City’. It is a Hong Kong historical fiction period drama of 20 episodes which revolves on the account of a physician played by Roger Kwok, of the Guangxu Emperor mysterious death at the age of 37. The story tells mostly before the Emperor’s death and how the very talented physician make his way and contribution into the palace. The drama is actually partly based on true events (real history) and partly fictional for the drama purpose. I’m happy with this mixture as I’m quite interested in the history of the late Qing dynasty and I’m happy to see how it mixed with the fictional storyline to create this series.

It’s a short series and I quite enjoyed it overall. Roger Kwok is excellent as the main male lead while Tavia is also steady as the first female lead. The supporting cast consisting of Pierre Ngo, Jonathan Cheung and veteran actress, Helena Law as Empress Dowager Cixi were all fantastic in their respective roles. The story, despite not the best I have seen (I expected better) and also came with several plot-holes, is acceptable in current TVB’s standard. However, the very ending of this series left me frustrated. They just kept showing the two main leads suddenly staring at the sky for almost a minute long in the very end of the drama’s 20th (final) episode when Roger Kwok asked Tavia Yeung whether she managed to find her love. I knew the way the scene was done is to make it an open-ending but I absolutely didn’t find it right or necessary here. Keeping it closed and everything resolved would be be a better conclusion in my opinion. Anyway, I still enjoyed this drama but will be quickly forgotten by the year end before the awards season. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Healer in Forbidden City’ a total of 7.3.

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

‘Presumed Accidents’ (纯熟意外) is a 2016 Hong Kong drama by TVB that has its story centred on insurance investigation and fraud with several other side plots that make up for the whole series that contained 28 episodes in total. The drama starred Lawrence Ng, Sisley Choi, Selena Li, Chris Lai, Raymond Cho, Joyce Tang, Chow Chung, Snow Suen, etc. 

I didn’t have any plan or interest to watch this series originally. I’m tired of seeing Sisley Choi again. She now appeared in almost all the TVB series this year. I knew TVB is now trying to push her into stardom as soon as possible due to many leading female artists now leaving the company but this is too much. However, I didn’t have any other series to watch after finished watching ‘My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan’ and hence I give this one a go. It turned out to be quite good to my surprise due to the interesting fresh new subject explored in this series which focused on insurance investigation as mentioned earlier.

However, the series went beyond logic with the main male character being discovered to have eternal life. I’m fine with some out-of-the-world ideas for dramas but some things just couldn’t appropriately fit in even with all the explanations provided. I simply just felt weird and too illogical. Anyway, dramas are meant for entertainment and they are fictional and so I’m not having major problem with that. However, I still personally think it would be much better without adding this ‘eternal life’ subject into this series.

Lawrence Ng is a very professional veteran actor and there isn’t any issue at all with him taking the lead role. At first, I’m very annoyed seeing Sisley Choi taking over the female lead role again and also annoyed seeing her going past Selena Li for the main lead role in this drama. Selena Li is a much more preferable choice and has been in the industry for many more years than her. However, after watching the whole series, I find that Sisley Choi has seriously improved a lot. Her performance has been now more natural. Her voice is not that disturbing anymore at least. However, there is still long way to go before I can call her a promising leading actress. Despite getting a smaller role, Selena Li did well again to tackle this supporting yet remarkably challenging role. I think she deserved some serious attention and recognition from TVB. I think this is my first time seeing Chris Lai portraying a villain character. He can act but his evil expression and shouts especially in the last few episodes didn’t work out well. I’m not convinced yet. Other cast did well on their part.

The story is not bad with all those fresh new subjects explored. I like the concept of having a mysterious dark organization working for clients with intention to murder people to cheat insurance claims by setting up fake accidents. However, the overall story development isn’t very well proportioned. It started off slowly with many questions, made us curious in several episodes and ended with intense and exciting scenes and happy conclusion. It’s not an excellent drama but is still a nice one. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Presumed Accidents’ a total of 7.2.

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

My eyes are teary now. Why is that so? I have just finished watching the final episode of a TVB drama called ‘House of Spirits’ and that finale was full of many very touching scenes. I also felt sad right now because this drama is now over as I wanted to watch more from it. I believe many people out there who have been catching up with this series since end of June would feel the same like me too. You will not understand how much I wanted this series not to end this quick.

‘House of Spirits’ (一屋老友記) is a 2016 Hong Kong drama of 31 episodes by TVB that has concluded just less than two hours ago with its airing of the final episode. It revolves around an eldest brother who has to unite his family (brothers and sisters) and mend the bad relationships among them after their father has passed away. They were all forced to live in the same home due to their father’s inheritance. It is an old house previously occupied by their deceased father and was now also inhabited by two kind ghosts. The drama has a mixture of comedy, family and supernatural themes, and they make up for a very interesting series.

The series starred Bobby Au, Nancy Wu, Joyce Tang, Jonathan Cheung, Koni Lui, Helena Law, Bowie Wu, Lau Kong, Tsui Wing, Bob Cheung, and many other supporting cast. Their performances were very natural and impressive in this drama. It is actually not easy to act in comedy drama too because you have to withstand all the funny things while you are acting those hilarious scenes. Those hilarious expressions are also not easy to be delivered and the cast were all convincing in it. Bobby Au still shined and he managed to lead this huge cast very well. I’m supportive of him being crowned best actor end of this year for his performance in this drama.

Nancy Wu is the first female lead but Joyce Tang, the second female lead had overshadowed her here. Joyce is an impressive actress that should be recognized more and she really did an amazing work in this drama. Nancy Wu has been crowned best actress last year, and so I have no issue giving this year’s TV Queen title to Joyce for her excellent performance in this drama. Nancy’s character isn’t that well rounded here, but she do gave her best as well and she do really catch some attention particularly in the last episode when she cried in front of an empty bed as she couldn’t see the two ghosts whom had just been revealed as her grandparents.

Jonathan Cheung is considered quite new in TVB and I can see a lot of potential for him in the future. He managed very well in all his past supporting roles he had been given. This is also not an exception. Koni Lui also gave fantastic acting as his wife in this series. I’m supporting both of them to win Most Improved Male and Female Artists end of this year. They really deserved it, not only in this series, but also in their other works this year. On the other hand, even the little girl who acted as the daughter of Joyce Tang gave a very good performance. As for the veteran cast, they were simply amazing as well.

The story is a good one. It is quite fast-paced and I enjoyed every episode of this drama. I had a very great time watching it every evening before I’m going to bed. This series truly had given me a lot of entertainment with many funny moments and also at the same time, intense scenes especially those quarrel scenes. There were mysteries, some plot twists, touching times and above all, this series taught us to love and spend more time with our family. There were still some flaws like some unresolved questions (why only Nancy Wu’s character cannot see ghosts but all other characters can?, how about his two male housemates…what are their conclusions?, etc). I personally think some issues can be expanded further. This series would be much better if it has 40 episodes. 31 episodes right now is just a bit not enough. We are craving for more due to its engaging storyline and impressive cast. The NG scenes at the end of every episodes are also very hilarious.

Overall, this drama is certainly a great one and has brought me laughs and tears (especially in the final episode just now) for over a month. It also feel so good to see the family transitioned from being cold among each other to the heartwarming outcome in the end. The happy ending gave a perfect conclusion to this drama eventhough it’s still sad to see the ghosts leaving but they have to since their wishes were all fulfilled and the family is now harmonious. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘House of Spirits’ a total of 8.2. I’m also glad that this drama is getting high popularity (currently among the highest rated dramas of 2016) and a lot of attention not only from Hong Kong but also from overseas. This drama is also so far, the best TVB drama of the year in my personal opinion. Not to be missed. Very interesting, entertaining, engaging, dramatic and a good quality series this year. It will be a strong contender for best series in this year end’s award season.

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

‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ ( 城寨英雄 ) is a Hong Kong martial arts action television drama by TVB that has recently concluded airing with 28 episodes in total. The story of the series mainly takes place in Kowloon walled city during the early 1960s, when the city was ruled by Hong Kong triads. It revolves on two Bajiquan masters who formed an alliance together to protect the walled city from falling into the hands of ruthless gangs with other intertwining side stories. The series starred Ruco Chan, Nancy Wu, Benjamin Yuen, Philip Ng, Grace Wong, Moon Lau, Yuen Qiu, etc.

This series aired after the ending of ‘House of Spirits’, a series that has received critical acclaim. ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ continued with that momentum with highly positive reception as well and I understood why is that so. ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ is a highly engaging series with great storyline and characters’ development, awesome fight sequences, impressive acting by the cast, wonderful setting, and intense plot suspense and twists. It is now also one of the highest rated TVB dramas of the year.

Well, it isn’t going all perfect throughout the whole series. I find some fight scenes delivered in slow motion are exaggerated, unnecessary and distracting. I also find the series less appealing after the death of the three triad leaders before the final few episodes. The revelation of the ‘big boss’ isn’t made intense enough and by the time this part arrived, I only wanted this series to finish. The death of many characters in the last few episodes stands by TVB cliche again to get rid of excessive people and to make it tear-jerking.

Back to the positive side of the drama. As I mentioned earlier, the plot is intense and engaging with suspense present in almost every episodes, making the audiences wanted so badly to watch the next one. The martial arts segment is also delivered very well. Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu who are the main leads in this drama delivered outstanding performances. They both stand a strong chance to win Best Actor and Actress respectively at the end of this year. Nancy Wu’s work here is even better than her performance in ‘Ghost of Relativity’ last year that won her Best Actress at TVB Anniversary Award. Supporting cast also shined, particularly Grace Wong. She handled all her scenes exceptionally well to my surprise. She even nailed those tough emotional scenes that I think only very experienced actor/actress can do. KK Cheung and Carlo Ng also surprised me with their fantastic portrayal as the triad leaders. On the other hand, Philip Ng couldn’t really act in this drama while his frequent co-star, Moon Lau managed to save their scenes with natural performance. Ruco and Nancy’s pairing has a very a good chemistry and the same goes to Benjamin and Grace as a couple.

Overall, this series is a good one with only the last two to three episodes being a little letdown for me. It started off nice, and then proceeded strongly, but ended with a little disappointment in my personal opinion. The climax just fell down in the last few episodes as I had stressed on quite a few times in my review here earlier. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ a total of 8.0. Most of that points actually comes from the cast performances and the three triad leaders’ segment. The happy ending is also somehow predictable, but deep down in my heart, I actually wanted this series to conclude in the opposite direction (sad ending) so as to make it more memorable and touching.

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

Starhub TVB Awards is an annual awards presentation in Singapore to honour the best of Hong Kong’s TVB series, artists and programmes each year. This year’s Starhub TVB Awards (2016) was held last night (22nd October 2016), becoming the first presentation of annual TVB awards season that will be followed by TVB Star Awards Malaysia in November and end with the prestigious TVB Anniversary Awards in the coming December.

Here is the full result of Starhub TVB Awards 2016 along with my brief opinions for each categories:

TVB Best New Male Artiste: Matthew Ho.

Opinion: I rarely notice his presence in the dramas he is involved in this year.  I think TVB should combine this with ‘Most Improved’ categories. This is like giving out too many unnecessary awards to all the attending artists.

TVB Best New Female Artiste: Moon Lau.

Opinion: Well, she deserved it. She handled her roles quite well with very realistic and natural acting which is considered very good for new actress level.

Bottom Slim The Perfect Figure Award: Rosina Lam.

Opinion: An unnecessary award just to give to the girl with best look and dress.

Tokyo Bust Express The Sassy Award: Tracy Chu.

Opinion: Same thing as the previous category.

TVB Most Improved Male Artiste: Mat Yeung.

Opinion: Well, it’s about time to give him a recognition. I have been seeing him in dramas for a lot of year but he never get the spotlight due to insignificant roles he got in the past. This year is different for him as he finally had some good roles and he deserved this award.

TVB Most Improved Female Artiste: Ali Lee.

Opinion: I didn’t see her before in the past and out of sudden, she appeared in a lot of TVB dramas this year. She is new to me, but her acting is as though she has been long in this industry. Very talented actress.

My Favourite TVB Info-tainment Programme: Not Far But Away (Sr. 2). 

Opinion: Didn’t watch it so no opinion.

My Favourite TVB Variety Programme: Eating Well With Madam Wong In Singapore.

Opinion: Also didn’t watch it, but I guess Singaporeans voted for this because this programme was filmed in Singapore.

My Favourite TVB Variety Show Host: Carol Cheng, Luk Wing & Cheng Sze-Kwan (Do Did Eat).

Opinion: Saw that programme and it’s really fun to see how they collaborated in it. A strange combination for the hosting but worked out surprisingly. They also hosted this awards ceremony.

My Favourite TVB On-Screen Couple: Ruco Chan & Nancy Wu (A Fist Within Four Walls), Benjamin Yuen & Grace Wong (A Fist Within Four Walls).

Opinion: Two couples got this award. They should really just limit award recipient to one. Anyway, I already knew it will be Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu. I’m fine with that other couple in the same drama winning this too, but next time, just keep it to one.

My Favourite TVB Drama Theme Song: ‘Never Know You Are The Best’ by Ruco Chan & Nancy Wu (A Fist Within Four Walls).

Opinion: Also another expected result. The sub-theme song is nice to listen to and it goes very well with the love storyline between the singers (also the two main leads who are on-screen couple) in that particular drama.

My Favourite TVB Supporting Actress: Rosina Lam (Short End Of The Stick).

Opinion: Well, she is a good actress that has been overlooked in the past especially in TVB Anniversary Awards. She is considered new but her acting is generally good already. She had a nice role in that drama and it’s her luck to win this.

My Favourite TVB Supporting Actor: Raymond Cho (Short End Of The Stick).

Opinion: Considered a veteran actor who had contributed so much in this industry. Finally, he won something and it is very well deserved from his funny role in that drama.

My Favourite TVB Female TV Characters (6): Kristal Tin (Brother’s Keeper II), Mandy Wong (Law dis-Order), Alice Chan (Lord Of Shanghai), Grace Wong (A Fist Within Four Walls), Selena Li (Presumed Accidents), Tracy Chu (Over Run Over).

Opinion: I’m fine with all the winners, and I’m particularly happy that they award Selena Li for her challenging role in ‘Presumed Accidents’. She is another good actress who is always not acknowledged. It shall be time for her to take on more leading roles rather than giving them to Grace Chan, Tracy Chu, Sisley Choi (that gang that are not ready at all).

My Favourite TVB Male TV Characters (6): Edwin Siu (Brother’s Keeper II), Benjamin Yuen (A Fist Within Four Walls), Moses Chan (Fashion War), Kenneth Ma (Lord Of Shanghai), Bobby Au-yeung (House Of Spirits), Vincent Wong (Over Run Over).

Opinion: It’s pity that Bobby is being downgraded to just this character award. He did very well in ‘House Of Spirits’ but I think that drama is not that well received in Singapore to my surprise. That drama should have got more recognition.

My Favourite TVB Leading Actress: Nancy Wu (A Fist Within Four Walls).

Opinion: Very predictable result. This is her first Best Actress award in Singapore. She deserved it from her performance in ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ that is considered the stood-out one this year since ‘House Of Spirits’ is not well received in Singapore as mentioned earlier. If not, Joyce Tang may stand a chance. Kristal Tin may stand a chance too but ‘Brother’s Keeper II’ is not getting good viewership rating.

My Favourite TVB Leading Actor: Wayne Lai (Short End Of The Stick), Ruco Chan (A Fist Within Four Walls).

Opinion: An award for two people again! Oh no…I guess they are bored giving Ruco Chan the Best Actor in Singapore for third time in a row. He still deserved this award from his wonderful performance in ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’. So, they slotted in Wayne Lai this year as well. Fine, he is a great actor and I don’t have big issue of him winning but next time, please limit winner to one for each category.

My Favourite TVB Drama: A Fist Within Four Walls.

Opinion: Expected. This drama is good with great story, great acting, great actions, great setting and great climax. Enough said.

(Images in this post are from TVB Facebook page)

‘Dead Wrong’ (致命復活) is a Hong Kong television drama by TVB that revolves around Vincent, a man who was abducted and imprisoned on a deserted island in Vietnam for ten years. After being rescued, he struggled to adjust to his new life, but soon learns that there was more to his abduction than it meets the eye. It is the last of the three anniversary dramas this year to celebrate TVB’s 49th anniversary. It is also the last drama this year in contention for the TVB Anniversary Awards to be held tomorrow.

Before the series started, I look forward to watch it because I read a number of news about it, highlighting that Roger Kwok (portraying as the main lead, Vincent) has filmed several challenging scenes particularly on his abduction and has also purposely lose down weight for this role. There was hype even before this drama’s release and everyone is anticipating for Roger Kwok’s performance in this one.

Yes, Roger did well in this drama. His acting experience and determination to get into the character enabled him to shine again. However, I have to say that this is not a breakthrough role for him as he is already professional enough and has set a bar that is almost impossible for him to achieve further. He nailed the abduction scenes, he nailed the skinny look, he nailed the crying times, and he also nailed the scenes when he has to carry out his revenge. However, there are times when I find that he overacted slightly and that some of his expressions are a bit forced and exaggerated. Just a bit. But that’s the bit that pull him down in best actor race tomorrow. Well, that is just my opinion. He still stand a strong chance as a dark horse contender for the best actor race tomorrow in the TVB Anniversary Awards while Ruco Chan is the current frontrunner. He has won the prize three times in the past, and so I think it is better to award best actor to Ruco this year for his equally well-received performance in ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’.

Joey Meng also did very well in ‘Dead Wrong’. I don’t really like her in her past TVB dramas but this one changed my mind. She is also a great actress and she still looks young despite her current age. Vincent Wong also did incredibly well as the supporting character who helped Vincent (Roger) a lot in this storyline. He is one young talented actor that I think TVB can give more opportunities to him than many other ‘younger-generation’ artists who are not up to the standard yet. Kenny Wong, taking on the villain’s role in the story, is as expected, unlikable. I don’t enjoy seeing him in any dramas as I always find his acting to be slightly wooden. I would prefer other actor to replace him for this role.

As for the storyline, the first few episodes look quite intense. However, the plot goes slow and draggy after that unfortunately. This series tried too hard to extend the whole story into a 28-episodes drama. It would be better if they shorten it to 20 or 25 episodes so that there would be something intense or exciting for audiences to catch on in every episodes. Hence, it started to feel a bit boring in the middle. The final 2 episodes aired just now was good and saved the day. It was a good ending and the plot twist at the end there is quite shocking yet predictable too.

Overall, this drama still has chance for best actor award (Roger Kwok), and Vincent Wong is snubbed for a nomination in best supporting actor race from his role here, and in the end not the quality yet for best drama honour. I also find it annoying to keep seeing flashback scenes repeating over and over again. Those were too much. I think I saw flashback of the abduction scenes for more than twenty times throughout the whole series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Dead Wrong’ a total of 7.6.

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

TVB Anniversary Awards 2016 (萬千星輝頒獎典禮 2016) concluded a moment ago with some predicted and also some shocking results this year. This awards, held back in Hong Kong is the last of the three awards presentations to honour the best of TVB artists, dramas and programmes annually with the earlier two ceremonies being held in Singapore and Malaysia. For the full nomination list of the TVB Anniversary Awards 2016 before scrolling down to check the winners’ list, you can view back my previous post on that particular nomination list at this link:

https://vincentloy.wordpress.com/2016/12/02/nomination-list-for-tvb-anniversary-awards-2016/

Here below is the full result of the TVB Anniversary Awards 2016 along with my opinions:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Chow Chung

Opinion: Chow Chung deserved this honour. Eventhough he will be already reaching 86 years old next month, he still actively participates in many recent dramas and I admire his commitment to TVB. Eventhough he appeared mostly in very minor or supporting roles, but his dedication is no doubt strong. I’m glad for him winning this award.

Most Improved TV Female Artist: Ali Lee (Fashion War, Brother’s Keeper II, Law dis-Order, Sidewalk Scientist, Organized Dining, Anchors with Passport Series 2)

Opinion: I’m fine with Ali Lee winning as I do see she did very well this year with many good roles. I predicted earlier that Moon Lau to win this as I find Moon Lau slightly better with more notable and likable roles this year. Anyway, I still think Ali Lee deserves this award too.

Most Improved TV Male Artist: Jonathan Cheung (The Last Healer in Forbidden City, House of Spirits, A Fist Within Four Walls, Spirits on Vacation)

Opinion: I’m very happy for Jonathan Cheung. His hard work paid off and I truly saw his excellent performances in all of the dramas he was involved in for this year. He is one good actor and shall be given more opportunities from now on. He nailed all the roles this year and there is no other person to take this award away from him.

Most Popular Series Partnership: Vincent Wong & Tracy Chu (Over Run Over)

Opinion: I didn’t watch ‘Over Run Over’ and so I couldn’t comment much on this one. Anyway, I’m fine with them winning. I believe they did have very good chemistry and have produced some sparks in that series.

Best Supporting Actor: Raymond Cho (Short End of the Stick)

Opinion: Finally! I’m happy that Raymond Cho is finally winning. He has been in the acting industry for decades and finally this year, his work in ‘Short End of the Stick’ is paid off. Not only that an award for him is long overdue, but he also did very well portraying as one of the eunuchs in that drama.

Best Supporting Actress: Katy Kung (Two Steps from Heaven)

Opinion: I didn’t watch ‘Two Steps from Heaven’ and so I couldn’t comment further. Deep down in my heart, I wish for Joyce Tang (House of Spirits) or Grace Wong (A Fist Within Four Walls) to win this. The race in this category is particularly strong this year. I read from news that Katy Kung has the hype due to her crying scene in ‘Two Steps from Heaven’. I don’t like the way that Hong Kong citizens now prefer to judge a person’s acting based solely on his or her crying ability. It’s a poor judgement, and that leads to a poor decision to this result. I’m nothing against Katy but I still think Joyce or even Grace’s performances are more solid than Katy. This is the first shock of the evening.

Most Popular Drama Theme Song: ‘Never Know You Are The Best’ by Ruco Chan & Nancy Wu (A Fist Within Four Walls)

Opinion: An expected result. This song which is only a sub-theme song for the drama ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ turns out to be a big hit. It’s a nice song and once you hear it, you know which drama we are talking about. That’s how good it is. A deserving win.

Best Variety Programme: I Heart HK

Opinion: I prefer ‘Sunday Stage Fight’ to win this. ‘I Heart HK’ is not much entertaining compared to ‘Sunday Stage Fight’ with much lesser games and funny scenes this time.

Best Enrichment Programme: Sidewalk Scientist

Opinion: No comment on this category as I have not watched any of the enrichment programmes this year.

Best Special Programme: Heaven and Earth

Opinion: Also no comment for this category.

Best Programme Host: Carol Cheng, C-Kwan & Luk Wing (Do Did Eat)

Opinion: I have no issue with them winning this. Everyone wants them to win since Carol Cheng is a very respected figure in TVB. Her partnership with C-Kwan and Luk Wing also turned out to be surprisingly awkward yet good. They created interesting hosting atmosphere.

Professionalism Awards x 3: Koo Ming Wah, Carlo Ng & Chun Wong.

Opinion: Out of these three, I find Koo Ming Wah to be the least deserving. He has won Best Supporting Actor several years ago and that should be more than enough to recognize his contribution. This is a bit too much for him. I would rather have Power Chan to take this one since he is one great actor that has always been left out in races to win awards. Carlo Ng and Chun Wong are very deserving winners of this professionalism awards.

Most Favourite TV Female Character: Grace Wong (A Fist Within Four Walls)

Opinion: Second shock of the evening. I would prefer Grace Wong to win for supporting actress rather than this one. This is also a bit too much for her. She did very well in ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ but I couldn’t accept the fact that Joyce Tang didn’t win anything for the evening. This is so unfair and unfortunate for Joyce Tang who gave extremely brilliant and likable performance in ‘House of Spirits’.

Best Actress: Nancy Wu (A Fist Within Four Walls)

Opinion: This is a predicted outcome. There is not many strong competitors this year for best actress and so it’s the second consecutive win for Nancy. Anyway, she did a very good job in ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’. There is no other choice as she is the only one that stood out this year. I would prefer her to get this Best Actress for the first time this year as I still think Liza Wang from ‘Limelight Years’ is a much better choice for best actress last year.

Most Favourite TV Male Character: Benjamin Yuen (A Fist Within Four Walls)

Opinion: Third shock of the evening. I hardly put my eyes on Benjamin’s character when I was watching ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’. His role is nothing much and out of sudden, he won this coveted ‘Most Favourite TV Male Character’. I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it. I wonder how Hong Kong citizens vote? They have very poor judgement. Bobby Au should easily win this from his impressive and well-received performance in ‘House of Spirits’.

Best Actor: Ruco Chan (A Fist Within Four Walls)

Opinion: Finally, it’s time for Ruco Chan to be awarded best actor after he lost out to Anthony Wong last year in this category. He is one talented actor and since ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ is such a hit and is a drama that required him to put in a lot of effort, in the end, he managed to pull it off, and that leads to his victory here. Very deserving. There was one moment when I’m afraid that Roger Kwok may win this again and snatch the best actor prize away from Ruco. Roger is good in ‘Dead Wrong’ but I find his acting is a bit forced, brittle and exaggerated this time.

Best Series: A Fist Within Four Walls

Opinion: Also another quite expected outcome. ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ is a fantastic drama this year with many suspense, plot twists, great action sequences, incredible cast performances and wonderful production. This drama is a huge hit, gets high viewership rating, and get us all talking about it when it was airing. A deserving win for this drama. It is also the biggest winner of the evening, also taking almost all the major acting awards as well as the song award. I felt pity for ‘House of Spirits’ that got snubbed heavily. They should award something to Bobby Au and Joyce Tang.

This year’s result for the TVB Anniversary Awards is not that good. Some are deserving but most of the major awards went to the people who I don’t think deserved them. I believe many out there share similar thoughts with mine too. Not a very good outcome this year. Poor voting decision by Hong Kong audiences in certain categories obviously.

As for the ceremony, I am annoyed by the poor editing of the ceremony as well as very rude cut-off of award winners’ speeches just to make time for the excessive slots for advertisements. I also hate it when they cut off the part when Ruco and Nancy sang their winning drama theme song for advertisements again. Very bad. I only enjoyed the ‘Mannequin Challenge’ done in the introduction part of the ceremony, but for that, it has sacrificed a usual segment to introduce all the attending nominated actors and actresses. Carol Cheng, Luk Wing and C-Kwan should have just stayed on stage all the time to host together with Sammy Leung rather than staying inside a room doing nothing much. The guests presenting the ‘Most Favourite TV Male Character’ and ‘Best Actor’ prizes should be of heavyweight celebrities rather than having two almost unknown young actresses presenting that two highly coveted honours. I hope TVB can do much better next year for its 50th anniversary gala and awards show. This year is pretty bad in almost all areas, and that includes the awards’ result.

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

This year, I have watched 11 Cantonese dramas by TVB, the biggest television station in Hong Kong. The station usually released over 20 dramas every year and it’s not bad that I have watched about half of them this year. There are awards presentation in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong to recognize the best of TVB series, actors, actresses and programmes annually. For me personally, I have my own set of selection for which series or cast that I think is the best out of the dramas that I have watched.

Kindly take note that this only applies to the dramas that I have watched and that is unfortunate for the dramas that I missed but are still good and praise-worthy. However, I usually covered major and heavily-debated dramas and this year is not an exception. The previous results from the Singapore’s Starhub TVB Awards, Malaysia’s TVB Star Awards and Hong Kong’s TVB Anniversary Awards are not influencing my decision but serve as the precedents for my selection.

TVB Dramas in 2016 that I have watched:

• Love as a Predatory Affair.
• Short End of the Stick.
• Fashion War.
• The Last Healer in Forbidden City.
• My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan.
• Presumed Accidents.
• House of Spirits.
• A Fist Within Four Walls.
• Brother’s Keeper II.
• My Lover from the Planet Meow.
• Dead Wrong.

So, here below is my picks for the best of TVB dramas (excluding their variety programmes) for the year 2016 in 15 categories. Some categories are new and not available in the other awards presentation.

Best Drama – A Fist Within Four Walls.

(Other top 4: Short End of the Stick, Presumed Accidents, House of Spirits, Dead Wrong)

Best Leading Actor – Ruco Chan (A Fist Within Four Walls)

(Other top 4: Wayne Lai – Short End of the Stick, Lawrence Ng – Presumed Accidents, Bobby Au – House of Spirits, Roger Kwok – Dead Wrong)

Best Leading Actress – Nancy Wu (A Fist Within Four Walls)

(Other top 4: Tavia Yeung – The Last Healer in Forbidden City, Sisley Choi – Presumed Accidents, Kristal Tin – Brother’s Keeper II, Joey Meng – Dead Wrong)

Most Favourite TV Male Character – Bobby Au (House of Spirits)

(Other top 4: Wayne Lai – Short End of the Stick, Roger Kwok – The Last Healer in Forbidden City, Ruco Chan – A Fist Within Four Walls, Benjamin Yuen – A Fist Within Four Walls)

Most Favourite TV Female Character – Joyce Tang (House of Spirits)

(Other top 4: Kitty Yuen – Love as a Predatory Affair, Nancy Wu – A Fist Within Four Walls, Grace Wong – A Fist Within Four Walls, Kristal Tin – Brother’s Keeper II)

Best Supporting Actor – Raymond Cho (Short End of the Stick)

(Other top 4: Power Chan – Short End of the Stick, Carlo Ng – A Fist Within Four Walls, Hugo Ng – Brother’s Keeper II, Vincent Wong – Dead Wrong)

Best Supporting Actress – Grace Wong (A Fist Within Four Walls)

(Other top 4: Rosina Lam – Short End of the Stick, Ali Lee – Fashion War, Selena Li – Presumed Accidents, Joyce Tang – House of Spirits)

Most Improved TV Actor – Jonathan Cheung (The Last Healer in Forbidden City, House of Spirits, A Fist Within Four Walls)

(Other top 4: Jason Chan – Love as a Predatory Affair, Mat Yeung – My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan, Brother’s Keeper II, Tsui Wing – House of Spirits, Brother’s Keeper II, Bob Cheung – Short End of the Stick, Fashion War, Presumed Accidents, Brother’s Keeper II)

Most Improved TV Actress – Moon Lau (House of Spirits, A Fist Within Four Walls)

(Other top 4: Samantha Ko – Love as a Predatory Affair, Ali Lee – Fashion War, Brother’s Keeper II, Stephanie Ho – Love as a Predatory Affair, Dead Wrong, Koni Lui – Fashion War, House of Spirits)

Most Favourite Drama Theme Song – ‘Never Know You Are The Best’ by Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu (A Fist Within Four Walls – subtheme song)

(Other top 4: My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan – main theme, Presumed Accidents – main theme, House of Spirits – main theme, Brother’s Keeper II – main theme)

Most Favourite On-Screen Couple – Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu (A Fist Within Four Walls)

(Other top 4: Mat Yeung and Eliza Sam – My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan, Jonathan Cheung and Koni Lui – House of Spirits, Benjamin Yuen and Grace Wong – A Fist Within Four Walls, Edwin Siu and Grace Chan – Brother’s Keeper II)

Most Favourite TV Villain – Hugo Ng (Brother’s Keeper II)

(Other top 4: Lee Shin Cheung – Short End of the Stick, Chris Lai – Presumed Accidents, Ali Lee – Fashion War, Carlo Ng – A Fist Within Four Walls)

Best Visual Effects, Editing, Costumes, Make-Up, Hair-Styling and Production Design – A Fist Within Four Walls

(Other top 4: Short End of the Stick, Fashion War, The Last Healer in Forbidden City, My Lover from the Planet Meow)

Outstanding TV Veteran Artist – KK Cheung (A Fist Within Four Walls, Dead Wrong)

(Other top 4: Helena Law – The Last Healer in Forbidden City, House of Spirits, Chow Chung – Presumed Accidents, House of Spirits, Dead Wrong, Lau Kong – Love as a Predatory Affair, House of Spirits, Angelina Lo – House of Spirits, Brother’s Keeper II)

Outstanding TV Cast Ensemble – House of Spirits

(Other top 4: Short End of the Stick, A Fist Within Four Walls, Brother’s Keeper II, My Lover from the Planet Meow)

‘A Fist Within Four Walls’ topped my list of selection above while ‘House of Spirits’ came in runner-up in number of picks. My selection above has very slight difference only if compared to the awards result in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong this year. It’s more or less the same names in most categories. I believe most of the people out there would be more satisfied with my picks here than the result by the TVB Anniversary Awards 2016 held yesterday.

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

The 74th Golden Globe Awards honouring the best of Hollywood films and television series for the past year (2016) was held just now at the Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, California. Produced and with votes determined by members of Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), this is one of the five major annual Hollywood film awards. Jimmy Fallon, a popular comedian hosted the show that lasted for three hours.

I watched the last two hours of the show because I woke up late. It’s so nice to be able to watch it through live streaming from YouTube from its official Golden Globes channel. The awards ceremony was noted for delivering some shocking result in some categories. Here below is the full result for the 74th Golden Globe Awards with a bit of my personal thoughts on few categories:

Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Meryl Streep

Opinion: I thought she would have got this award long time ago. A talented actress who has dedicated over 40 years of her life in theatre, television series and films. Nominated for 19 Academy Awards and winning three, nominated for 30 Golden Globe Awards and winning eight, are records that no one else has accomplished. I long admired many of her performances in films such as ‘The Iron Lady’ and ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. She truly deserved this honour. The moment when she stood up and walked to stage to receive the award accompanied with standing ovation of all audiences and ‘Mamma Mia’ music playing in the background is emotional.

Films

Best picture, drama: “Moonlight”

Opinion: With this win, ‘Moonlight’ is racing to the top as another frontrunner to win best picture in Oscars next month. I don’t like to watch this kind movie and I find that Hollywood is now trying too hard to acknowledge back works by the Black after being faced with harsh criticisms in the past for not nominating any Black actors or actresses in the past Oscars.

Best picture, comedy or musical: “La La Land”

Opinion: An enjoyable movie that received critical acclaim. So no reason for it not to win. 

Actress, drama: Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”

Opinion: First shock of the winner list. Would prefer the hot favourite Natalie Portman to win for her excellent performance in ‘Jackie’. It’s okay. She has won it before few years ago for ‘Black Swan’. 

Actor, drama: Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”

Opinion: Looks like Casey Affleck is almost 100% lock for the Oscars for best actor. 

Actress, comedy or musical: Emma Stone, “La La Land”

Actor, comedy or musical: Ryan Gosling, “La La Land”

Supporting actress: Viola Davis, “Fences”

Opinion: Looks like Viola Davis is also almost 100% lock for the Oscars for this category.

Supporting actor: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, “Nocturnal Animals”

Opinion: Second shock of the list. Many predicted clear favourite Mahershala Ali to win for ‘Moonlight’. And out of sudden, Aaron Taylor-Johnson who didn’t receive any award buzz earlier at all took this.

Director: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”

Screenplay: Damien Chazelle, “La La Land”

Animated film: “Zootopia”

Opinion: I enjoy watching ‘Zootopia’ but in terms of judging the best, I prefer ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ to win.

Foreign language film: “Elle” (France)

Original score: Justin Hurwitz, “La La Land”

Original song: “City of Stars,” “La La Land”

Opinion: Very much predictable to have a movie heavily centred on music to win both original score and song. 

Television

Best series, drama: “The Crown,” Netflix

Opinion: This series took down ‘Stranger Things’, earlier favourite to win this honour to surprise of most people. Conclusion is, voters love works that are based on real life people and real life event. This one is based on Queen Elizabeth II.

Best series, comedy or musical: “Atlanta,” FX

Best television movie or mini-series: “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” FX

Actress, mini-series or television movie: Sarah Paulson, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

Actor, mini-series or television movie: Tom Hiddleston, “The Night Manager”

Opinion: It’s great to see Tom Hiddleston being honoured even is on this television category.

Actress, drama: Claire Foy, “The Crown”

Opinion: I haven’t watch the whole series yet. I have only watched some clips from that series and I can already see the strength of her performance in ‘The Crown’. She is one young, beautiful and talented actress.

Actor, drama: Billy Bob Thornton, “Goliath”

Actress, comedy or musical: Tracee Ellis Ross, “black-ish”

Actor, comedy or musical: Donald Glover, “Atlanta”

Supporting actress: Olivia Colman, “The Night Manager”

Supporting actor: Hugh Laurie, “The Night Manager”

‘La La Land’ is the biggest winner of the evening for film categories with a total of 7 awards. The film breaks the record for the most Golden Globes won by a single film. It looks like ‘La La Land’ is going to win big in Oscars next month too, but I think the film will only take those awards in technical categories, and not the major ones like motion picture, lead actor and lead actress. ‘The Night Manager’ is the biggest winner in television categories by snatching 3 awards while ‘The Crown’ took 2 major wins. What’s bad for the awards ceremony is that the producer heavily cutting off time for acceptance speeches which is disrespectful to make way for excessive advertisement time. So for now, the next major awards to look forward to is the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards to be held on 29th January 2017.

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

‘Recipes to Live By’ (味想天開) is a 2017 historical comedy drama from Hong Kong by TVB with food as the theme. Having 25 episodes, the story centers on Ding Yat-san, a poor village boy who is a foodie and has a ‘golden tongue’ (can identify all ingredients in a tasted food) and later discovered that he is the son of the God of Cookery. He then investigates the past accusation against his father that got him killed. The drama starred Tony Hung, Sisley Choi, Rebecca Zhu, Hugo Wong, Ram Chiang, Mary Hon, Stephanie Ho, Toby Leung, Maria Cordero, etc.

It has been such a long time since TVB last produced a series with food as the theme. Hence, this one got me interested eventhough I’m not that satisfied with the cast. With food as the theme, I’m expecting to see a lot of nice dishes, tricks and cooking competitions throughout the series. Yes, I do see them in this drama but they are not exciting as hoped. The story then swifts to many other directions to cover other smaller plots. That is necessary to keep the series going with more things to catch up. However, the excessive use of plot twists especially near the end of the series which are supposed to make the drama more exciting to watch turned out to be quite anti-climatic. They also forcefully put in too many unnecessarily tragic, ‘misunderstanding’ and ‘curse effect’ storyline to the characters in this drama. I’m annoyed when they are too many. Anyway, overall, the drama still has a decent storyline that goes back to the food theme.

As for the cast and their performances, my expectation is right. Tony Hung is not a good actor and giving him the first male lead role here is a bad decision. There is still much for him to learn in acting. I think he did his best but there is something not right to his expression. Similar issue goes to the first female lead that goes to Sisley Choi. However, I find that she has at least improved. Anyway, I just don’t like her for being too thin and tiny, and having a sharp voice. Just not the right person for a leading lady role. Rebecca Zhu and Hugo Wong are both great in their supporting roles (or I shall say second leading roles). I hardly notice Hugo in the past but after seeing this and also in ‘Burning Hands’ where he is also involved, I think he is one underrated actor. Other veteran cast are great and I wish to highlight on Lee Kwok-lun who portrayed the main villain here. He is one excellent actor and is especially good in taking on bad roles. TVB should honours him with at least a professionalism or a supporting actor award soon.

This drama is worth to watch when you have nothing else to do. It is not a great series but still good enough with some comedic, touching and suspenseful moments. The only problem is the leading cast (Tony and Sisley). Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Recipes to Live By’ a total of 7.0.

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

‘Burning Hands’ (乘勝狙擊) is a 2017 Hong Kong drama by TVB that revolves on a team of con-artists and illusionists who are hired by a casino tycoon to find the mastermind behind his casino’s embezzled funds. But the leader of the gang, Chak Koon-yat, has his own reasons for helping the mogul. Things then lead to unexpected development of conflict, betrayal, friendship and hardship to the characters. This 28-episodes drama starred Ruco Chan, Joel Chan, Rosina Lam, Pal Sinn, Kelly Fu, Rebecca Chan, Hugo Wong, Hugo Ng, etc.

This drama is the best TVB drama so far for this first quarter of the year. Having casino as the main theme drives the plot to an interesting direction. It is at least a fresh take on a TVB drama that usually goes with typical occupation themes like doctor, lawyer, or police. Now, it all revolves mainly on a group of con-artists and businessmen. On top of that, the many tricks executed by the characters in the series to excel in their missions are exciting to watch and had me looking forward to watch every episodes. The series also explores into friendship value between friends and business partners as well as love relationship between the young as well as the old couples (surprisingly nice to see the pairing of Pal Sinn with Rebecca Chan).

Ruco Chan is as usual being great in his roles and this one is not an exception. As the leader of his gang, he put in a lot of energy and passion to act the best out of that character and he nailed it. Joel Chan is also convincing as the main villain, a person that nobody expects would turn this bad from the earlier episodes. TVB should give more good roles to Joel and I look forward to him getting some recognition soon. Rosina Lam on the other hand is not doing well. Her expressions were limited and it looks like she couldn’t concentrate on her role here. Also not performing well are the actors acting as his brother and father in this series. The other cast are fine especially the veterans like Hugo Ng, Pal Sinn and Rebecca Chan. Hugo Ng is making a huge comeback last year from his role in ‘Brother’s Keeper II’ and he is great as the other villain in this story too.

One good thing for this drama is that it delivered quite a number of suspense. There are a lot of plot twists especially near the end of the series when things really get intense and literally mad when the villains are ‘betting’ all out to succeed. That was good. The very final scene of the last episode of this drama I had just finished watching revealed to us that Joel survived the bullet, imprisoned, having mental problem and showing to us a deck card of ‘2’. What a cool way of hinting to us that there may be a sequel that continues from this concluded story. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Burning Hands’ a total of 7.5.

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

First week of the semester is considered a happy-go-lucky week as no one would like to start on the assignments on the first week itself. Now, even the second week is gone and there is no more time to be wasted anymore. There are several submissions coming very soon already and I’m way not prepared yet. I did do my work, but 24 hours a day is just not enough. I’m not on track in my progress in all the units this semester. Well, I took that off my mind for a while first to enjoy this weekend.

Last Friday, I get back to the court to play badminton with my friends for about 3 hours. That was after a very stressful design studio with nothing from my part to show to the lecturers and I don’t really get what they want with their super-hard-to-understand words. It’s good to be back playing badminton after several months of not playing it already, and unfortunately, my badminton skill has not improve. The gathering did not stop there as we went for some snack and drink after that. Then, yesterday evening, we had another gathering in a friend’s house to enjoy the potluck dinner as well as to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Several hours later, I will heading out with my housemate to watch a movie. So many activities, and hence, not much time to focus on my assignments. Well, I will promise to myself to concentrate on my study from tomorrow onward.

Recently, I finished watching another TVB drama. It’s ‘Destination Nowhere’ (迷), a Hong Kong drama about a female news reporter who get caught up in the problematic collusion scheme between government official and businesses. All the hardship she faced has lead to her to be forced to become cunning and evil especially after the murder of her daughter. Those complicated cases that were actually linked to one another were then investigated by a police inspector who later felt in love with the female news reporter. This 30-episodes series starred Kevin Cheng, Kristal Tin, James Ng, King Kong Lee, Winki Lai, etc.

The plot is very interesting but there are several obvious plot holes that ruin the logic of the story in some major parts. The main cast, Kevin Cheng and Kristal Tin only get to bump onto each other in the very later stage of the series. I’m fascinated by the director’s decision to show them crossing over but not knowing each other in many occasions in earlier episodes but that were taking too many episodes. Once they knew each other, their relationship builds up too quickly. It’s a fresh thing to see this new pairing between Kevin and Kristal by the way. Their acting in this drama were also top notch especially Kristal. I’m stunned yet by another groundbreaking performance by Kristal. Her character is a very challenging one that requires execution of variety of emotions. She has a role that has to show the innocent side, leadership side, crying side, and cunning side all in one drama. She nailed it. There were time when I was sleepy and not paying attention while watching new episode of this drama on late night, and then, I immediately paid attention and went fully awake by her performance. I don’t mind giving her another best actress award but it is too early to tell right now since awards season is at the end of the year. This drama is being shown too early in the year and will be usually forgotten by the time awards season come. Other cast also did good job such as James Ng (still don’t like his face and his crying is too ugly to watch) and Winki Lai. Even the bad guy portraying ‘Wat Dee’ is putting on a very good performance. I don’t know his name but I pity him for always portraying bad guy in TVB dramas. He has the bad-guy look.

Overall, this drama is nice to watch. It is all good due to the amazing performances by the cast. Their acting kept me not wanting to leave my seat watching every episodes of this drama. There is also a good amount of suspense and dramatic moments throughout the whole series to keep engaging the viewers. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Destination Nowhere’ a total of 7.5.

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

Gallen Lo is a famous veteran actor who has starred in many critically successful TVB dramas particularly in 1990s and 2000s. In recent years, he took extensive long break and didn’t shoot any dramas. His last TVB series is 2009’s ‘Born Rich’ (I didn’t watch that). However, I do remember well and admired some of his past iconic and powerful roles in dramas like ‘Golden Faith’, ‘Feminine Masculinity’, ‘Secret of the Heart’, ‘Old Time Buddy’ and ‘At The Threshold Of An Era I & II’. He has won best actor in TVB Anniversary Awards for three times, becoming the actor with most best actor wins in TVB (a record tied with Roger Kwok and Wayne Lai). He is also the first recipient of best actor award in 1997 when TVB started introducing their awards presentation that year.

Now, he returns for a new TVB drama called ‘Provocateur’. I’m watching this drama because he is in it. He portrayed a cosmetic business mogul who encounters various difficulties such as his business challenges, his long lost son who came back to take revenge on him, his declining health, etc. This 25-episodes drama also starred Fred Cheng, Ali Lee, Jacqueline Wong, Jonathan Cheung, Lee Shin Cheung, Raymond Cho, etc. I think this is Fred Cheng’s first leading role in a drama.

I have high expectation from Gallen. He did well on his part but I think his role isn’t anything special. There is not much ways for him to showcase his acting or express his talent. In most of the time, he was just walking around, having his hand on his head while thinking on some business strategies and chatting with the others. I knew sometimes acting is from the very subtle yet powerful facial expression. Gallen did has those moments in this drama but those scenes are too much and it lessen the essence and strength of the outcome. Even the part when he had terminal illness, he also couldn’t perform to the point that it moves me. I also noticed that he is getting really old looking now. Well, he is 55 already. But I do enjoy his involvement in this drama as a senior and his collaboration with many young cast.

I have heard that Fred Cheng actually didn’t get this leading role at the first place. It was supposed to be someone else but due to schedule conflict, the other actor dropped this role and Fred came in. He is not bad in acting but I think he is incapable of taking this important leading role, plus he has to face Gallen most of the time throughout the whole series. He is much better in supporting role. His expressions especially in scenes when he has to show his revengeful face are awkward and appeared ‘forced’. He just can’t balance it and went overboard. His character in this drama is being helped by a group of his friends specialized in pulling off tricks. This reminded me of ‘Burning Hands’ which is released not long ago before this series. In ‘Burning Hands’, we saw Ruco Chan being helped by a group of his friends too. Such a similar idea in both dramas. Fred’s chemistry with his on-screen partner in this drama, Ali Lee is very low too.

Ali Lee has a big year in 2016. She has starred in a lot of dramas last year and she won Most Improved Female Artiste Award in TVB Anniversary Awards 2016. She is good. But his acting in this drama is just very average and a bit wooden at some point. It felt like she is uninterested on this role. On the other hand, Jacqueline Wong who is also a newbie actress contributed a lot of her passion into her role as Gallen’s daughter. Let’s give her more roles. At first, I didn’t have any expectation from her, but after watching this drama and seeing how she develops together with her character, I’m engaged. I have no issue seeing her nominated for Most Improved Female Artist award end of this year.

I’m glad that this drama only has 25 episodes. Not any longer. The plot fits best in this 25 episodes. While I particularly didn’t enjoy some decisions in the storyline, the overall drama is still solid. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Provocateur’ a total of 6.8. It’s a series that will be easily forgotten after a month or two. A ‘cheaper’ version of ‘Burning Hands’ and a plain comeback role from Gallen Lo.

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

Ohh..we have come to the month of May 2017. One third of the year is gone. I have had a very imbalanced past four months. January and February have been a very free and easy months for me since I’m still enjoying my study break. Once my study commenced from March onward, it’s been a hell. I am freaking jealous of my housemates who can be very free and don’t have much to work on for their assignments. They always hang out and chill in the living area or even go out the whole day frequently. I wish my student’s life will be like that too. Too bad, an architecture student will never be able to enjoy to that extent.

Recently, I have finished watching a new TVB drama entitled ‘Mind Hunter’ (心理追兇) and is also called ‘My Dearly Sinful Mind’. It is a 28-episodes drama about a mentally ill psychologist who goes all out to investigate the death of his girlfriend of which he believes that it is not simply caused by just an accident. The drama starred Kenneth Ma, Sisley Choi, Pierre Ngo, Grace Wong, Vivien Yeo, Michelle Yim, Mat Yeung, Raymond Cho, etc.

I always have this mindset that TVB dramas that are released at this time of the year are usually not that good. But hey…this drama goes against my opinion. It is actually quite interesting and intense at some points, and I totally didn’t expect it. The reason I watch this drama is because I don’t feel like watching the one in the other time slot and that I also like most of the cast in this series. The psychological tricks by Grace Wong and later by Raymond Cho are thrilling to watch in this series. I also enjoyed the way they put in some side stories nicely in between to support the whole flow of the plot.

This is a drama that shows off how great the acting was done by the supporting cast. How about the leading cast? Nope. They (Kenneth and Sisley) delivered only average performance. Their roles in this drama are not impressive or challenging. I just don’t like seeing the scenes when Kenneth hallucinates of his late girlfriend in his home with the same song playing all the time. As for Sisley, she is just too small and too unnecessary for a presence here.

On the other hand, Grace Wong did exceptionally great for her evil role here. I am fascinated by how quick she can change her emotion and expression in several scenes. She had some stellar roles in recent year and she had won the Most Popular Female Character in TVB Anniversary Awards last year for her performance in ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’. Looks like there will be more awards for her soon. Pierre Ngo is great as the policeman who has psychological trouble with his leg and Mat Yeung is also excellent in portraying a character that has Asperger’s disease. The ending was also not bad and I’m thrilled to see Grace surrendering herself to the police in the end, right during the plan in killing her own brother who wanted to get rid of her earlier. What a scene. You will usually see bad people that doesn’t admit his or her fault or even want to walk near the police station. In this ending, Grace walks happily to the police station to surrender. The total opposite and that is cool. Kenneth’s ways of resolving the situations with ill intentions are not forgivable and hence his character attempts to commit suicide in the end. I think Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Mind Hunter’ a total of 7.5.

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

Another new Hong Kong series is watched completely just now with the airing of the final two episodes. It is ‘My Unfair Lady’ (不懂撒嬌的女人) that starred Jessica Hsuan, Frankie Lam, Natalie Tong, Vincent Wong, Samantha Ko, Zoie Tam, Chris Lai, etc. This 28-episodes drama is TVB’s first 4K production (ultra high definition) and also saw the return of Jessica and Frankie to TVB. The series basically revolves around two strong-willed cousins who are great in career but not in romance. The older cousin (portrayed by Jessica) heads an office department with her strict and mean personalities while her younger cousin (portrayed by Natalie) is under her control and supervision all the time.

My review of the drama? Hmm…it’s a very boring drama. I’m not interested in a series that focuses too much on romance. I’m just not into this kind of genre. I think females may like this series more. I’m surprised that this drama received quite a good reception and TV viewership ratings. I felt the opposite. It’s boring, draggy and pointless. The earlier episodes are still fine with me as I’m interested to watch the office politics and the time when Molly (portrayed by Jessica) is still a mean boss. When she and Gordon (portrayed by Frankie) quit the jobs in that office, the plot starts to get really dull and I’m not engaged to it at all since then. The overuse of the romantic song when showing the Saving-Cherry pair (portrayed by Vincent and Natalie) is annoying. Even their pairing in this drama appears to be time-wasting. People who enjoyed romantic stuff will bash me for such comment.

I’m so glad that the drama is over. I first watched it because I’m looking forward to see Jessica Hsuan back in a TVB drama. She did well, but this role is not much challenging to her except in the earlier episodes when she kept on voicing out lengthy dialogues in stressed mode. Some supporting cast did good job in here such as Chris, Vincent, Natalie, Zoie and the man that portray Oscar (I don’t know his name). Their good performance couldn’t save this drama from being almost like a rubbish with nothing exciting or appealing. This is like the first drama this year when I went on to do something else while having most of its episodes playing on my laptop every evening. It’s so boring that I couldn’t have my eyes on it for 40 minutes every day (40 minutes is the rough duration of an episode).

Out of 10 points, I rate ‘My Unfair Lady’ a total of 6.1. I really couldn’t believe it receives good feedback. A lot of viewers now are desperate for some romantic dramas while I’m onto something more action, suspenseful or climactic. It looks like I have to wait till later of this year for release of some really cool dramas. Right now, the line-up of coming dramas are not appealing. It’s bad timing as I will soon have a bit of free time beginning next month as my current semester is ending (I hope it ends very soon…I want to escape from all the madness from the assignments) but have no good quality series to watch during the holiday. Good dramas will only be up by end of this year as predicted and that is the time when I’m working on my thesis. Damn…

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

‘Phoenix Rising’ (蘭花刼) is a TVB drama that is already 10 years old but is only released in Hong Kong this year. It is first released overseas in 2007 and has been warehoused for a decade before a full release this year. It is such a strange move by TVB on releasing a 10-years old drama. Didn’t they have a lot of completed dramas in waiting list for release? Why ‘Phoenix Rising’? Nobody know the answer. And for now, I just treat it as a 2017 drama.

The drama which has 20 episodes revolves on 3 orphan sisters. They are then separated as they leave the orphanage. They were reunited, but under bad event when one of the sisters is receiving death penalty soon for murdering her foster mother. The murderer then uses various tricks and evil plans to escape the death penalty, even by sacrificing her own sisters. The drama starred Kristal Tin, Louisa So and Leila Tong as the 3 sisters and also Sunny Chan, Ben Wong and Jack Wu as other significant characters.

The drama is actually quite nice to watch. I like to watch drama with some vicious plots. I always felt that a series would not be intense or thrilling without those evil plans by the villain characters. I never see Louisa So portraying a villain character before and she did quite well here. Actually, I seldom see her in dramas at all. So, this is actually a great opportunity for me to see back some past artistes such as Louisa So, Sunny Chan and Leila Tong. I wonder what is happening to them right now…

Sunny Chan is the main male lead of the series but this series is never intended to emphasize on the males anyway. It’s mostly about the three sisters. And for that, I’m a bit disturbed by the way that Sunny Chan’s character will occasionally disappear throughout the series, most notably in the last two episodes. Ahh…it’s so nice to see Leila Tong. Eventhough I’m not that fancy of most of her characters in the past as she didn’t leave any memorable or powerful roles, but it’s delightful to watch her in this series. As for Kristal, I didn’t realize she has such good acting skill back then. She handled this lead role well and it is just that her character here that is too unbelievably stupid and being over kind, and in the end she herself ended up to be the one to suffer to protect everyone else. Well, if she didn’t do so, we wouldn’t have a drama to watch.

So, this drama is short and engaging. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Phoenix Rising’ a total of 7.2. And Nancy Wu has a small supporting role as a pregnant prisoner in this drama. Back then, she was not yet reaching her fame. Now, she is a two-time TV Queen. As for now, I’m hoping that TVB will get back to its form by releasing back its recent dramas. Or maybe TVB knew its recent dramas are mostly bad. Come on, get up on your game…it’s your station’s 50th anniversary this year!

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