‘Line Walker: Bull Fight’ or commonly known just as ‘Line Walker 3’ (使徒行者3) is one of my most anticipated Hong Kong dramas this year. It certainly does live up to its expectation though not as good as the first series released back in 2014. Well, at least it is way better than the second series in 2017 from my personal opinion.

‘Line Walker 3’ has a total of 37 episodes (very odd number) and starred Raymond Lam, Michael Miu, Kenneth Ma, Mandy Wong, Benjamin Yuen, Priscilla Wong, Sisley Choi, Owen Cheung, Benz Hui, etc. It does have a pretty big and popular cast including some surprising cameo appearances by several other famous actors.

The storyline runs quite smoothly in this third instalment without confusing transitions as it focuses from one side story to the next and eventually joining up everything to the main plot without too much complications. Although it doesn’t manage to deliver as many cliffhanger or intense moments as the first series (the reason why I loved the first series so much), but the plot is still pretty engaging and deserves my full attention. However, there are still some minor scenes involving some supporting characters (like the story arc between Shiga Lin with Benjamin Yuen, etc) that felt a little draggy and unnecessary at times.

It’s good to see the return of Raymond Lam to TVB series as he had left the station for many years. His last role in the first series almost won him Best Actor on that year’s TVB Anniversary Awards but he eventually lost to Roger Kwok. He came back in this third series and he carried the role very well too. I do hope that he can finally win his first best actor award. He deserves it…and it would be cool to see Charmaine handing the award to him too. They are very compatible as on-screen couple and it is a huge pity not to see him reuniting with Charmaine in this third series. It’s really unfortunate that Charmaine isn’t returning for this third series although we kept hearing her name mentioned a lot of times throughout the series (I was hoping she would make a cameo though near the end but nope…).

Kenneth Ma on the other hand also surprised me with excellent performance as the main villain in this series. His eyes and facial expressions are on point. The female cast line-up is not that strong and it is further weakened by an underwhelming performance by Mandy Wong. I can sense her acting very hard to portray the strange personalities of Madam G and her performance felt forced. Sisley Choi on the other way acted way more naturally. Benjamin and Priscilla makes a good pair but their story arc is not interesting.

The last two to three episodes are certainly very intense and exciting, and that is what I hope for. However, I don’t really like the very last section of its final episode that shows some very odd cliffhanger scenes to tease us that there may be another sequel coming in. The way these scenes are plotted out felt very similar too.

Anyway, in overall, this series didn’t disappoint. It had a strong shot for best series win at TVB Anniversary Awards near the end of the year with its good storyline, multiple action-packed or climactic scenes, and of course solid cast with most of them delivering great performances. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Line Walker: Bull Fight’ a total of 8.0.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Happy Deepavali to my Indian friends and to everyone else who are celebrating this occasion too. Let the colours of this holy night decorate your life with peace, prosperity and success! By the way, it’s a bit sad that we don’t see much of Deepavali decorations set up on public places, streets or in malls. Instead, most places already have their Christmas decorations ready although it is still more than a month away.

This year’s Deepavali falls on a Saturday and I spent most of the day resting at home, binge watching my Hong Kong drama (quick review below) and strolling around Jewel, Changi Airport in the evening. The indoor waterfall accompanied with great lighting and ambience never fails to impress me each time I visit the place. While the terminal areas of the airport appear to be very quiet (very less flights nowadays due to the current global pandemic), it is totally the opposite atmosphere at the Jewel (it is so crowded!).

This year’s Deepavali falls on a Saturday and I spent most of the day resting at home, binge watching my Hong Kong drama (quick review below) and strolling around Jewel, Changi Airport in the evening. The indoor waterfall accompanied with great lighting and ambience never fails to impress me each time I visit the place. While the terminal areas of the airport appear to be very quiet (very less flights nowadays due to the current global pandemic), it is totally the opposite atmosphere at the Jewel (it is so crowded!).

Let’s move on to my quick review of yet another TVB drama that I have finished watching. The series is called ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ and it is a direct sequel to the 2017’s ‘Legal Mavericks’. The plot continues with the blind barrister who strives for justice for the disadvantaged, using his other heightened senses and legally controversial methods to seek truths behind his court cases. Standing alongside him is his very close buddies; a female legal executive, a private investigator, and a newly made female barrister friend. The 28-episode series starred Vincent Wong, Sisley Choi, Kelly Cheung, Owen Cheung, Paul Chun, etc.

I enjoyed the series just as much as its predecessor. Each court cases are unique in its own (never feels repetitive) and are interesting to watch. However, I was slightly disappointed by the very last court case in this drama that felt a little too simple and poorly written. The final case should usually be the most intense or complex one but it didn’t really turn out that way. I also wasn’t too happy with its ending; Sisley not waking up, and Vincent still not revealing his true feeling to her. They deserve a happy ending there but we ended up getting another cliffhanger (typical of TVB series nowadays).

Vincent Wong continues to deliver stellar performance as the blind barrister (he won Best Actor from the first series three years ago) and so does Sisley Choi (who won Most Popular TV Female Character from the same role too). Kelly Cheung came in to replace Ali Lee in this second series. I can see huge improvement from Kelly but the way the script wrote her character that resembles a lot like Ali in the first series causes her performance to lose originality. It’s also good to see Paul Chun, an award-winning veteran actor starring in this series too. It’s weird but it’s fun to watch his character. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ a total of 7.8. A solid drama that lives up to its expectation and is almost as good as its predecessor.

(Images in this post are from various online sources except for the shots of the Jewel)

I have recently completed yet another TVB drama called ‘The Witness’. It is the 11th TVB drama I have watched this year and since there is more than a month to go before 2020 ends, there are still time for me to watch one or two more this year. ‘The Witness’ is a 20-episode drama that revolves on a sergeant getting into a close friendship with a witness he is protecting, and in the meantime falling in love with his younger sister. He then learns that there is a link connecting them to the death of his father years ago.

The series starred Him Law, Kelly Cheung, Willie Wai, Pinky Cheung, Tsui Wing, Lau Kong, etc. This is mostly a light-hearted drama. There is quite a lot of funny scenes in the beginning especially coming from Willie’s character but it all dies down quickly as soon the series reached the middle. It gets boring all the way before the very last episode. Him Law and Kelly Cheung couldn’t lead the series well (still don’t find them fit to take on first lead roles). Willie Wai saved the drama a bit but I felt that it was Tsui Wing that impresses more especially near the end of the series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Witness’ a total of 6.0.

TVB had just celebrated its 53rd anniversary last week in a usual evening gala show that saw attendance of over 100 artistes led by the two usual ‘big sisters’; Liza Wang and Carol Cheng. The only interesting part of the show is the singing segment by Miriam Yeung (the only popular celebrity of the night). Even the comedic parts of the show felt lame and not hilarious. I’m looking forward more to the upcoming TVB Anniversary Awards for the year. I think the nomination list will be out very soon.

Looks like the hot contenders for best actor this year would be Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3), Kenneth Ma (The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter), Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020), Shaun Tam (Brutally Young), and Wayne Lai (Death by Zero). Competition for best actress is very weak this year. So far I can only think of these five; Mandy Wong (Brutally Young), Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020), Ali Lee (Death By Zero), Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4) and Samantha Ko (Go!Go!Go! Operation C9). My top 5 series so far would be Legal Mavericks 2020, Line Walker 3:Bull Fight, Brutally Young, The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter and Flying Tiger 2.

That’s it for my post today. One more week and we will be welcoming the last month of the year and I will be turning 29 in 10 more days. It’s all about Covid-19 in 2020. I’m glad that there is no community cases here in Singapore for 14 consecutive days already, but at the same time, I’m worried over the increasing number of cases back in Malaysia (reaching new record high of over 2000 cases today!). If this continues, how can I return to KL for the Chinese New Year celebration in the coming February?!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First released in Malaysia on last November, ‘The Offliners’ is finally getting its local release in Hong Kong end of last month. Since most of its episodes are released in January, I consider it as a 2021 series rather than 2020. Hence, this is the first TVB series of the year that I have completed watching. And it looks like TVB is now fine to release Jacqueline Wong’s dramas after her explosive scandal with Andy Hui in 2019.

‘The Offliners’ is a 20-episode drama that revolves on a nerd yet an IT genius (Owen Cheung) who begins to develop his passion on IT and joined a tech start-up company. He then grow close with his colleagues, his love interest (Moon Lau) and also his lady boss (Katy Kung) who he later developed feeling for as well. Besides Owen, Katy and Moon, the series also starred Jacqueline Wong, Karl Ting, Jason Chan, Brian Tse, Joseph Lee, Bowie Wu, Akina Hong, Suet Nei, etc.

This drama is never meant to be big but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s relaxing and entertaining to watch it every evening after work. Owen Cheung is very convincing in this role and I can see his effort in portraying as a nerd in this drama. He nailed it. Katy Kung is also doing well as the first female lead here and she has a good chemistry with Owen too. She is very natural and I do impressed with her emotional scenes. It looks like Owen can just pair very well with any actors/actresses in any dramas he is in.

This pair did well on last Sunday too when they won Most Popular TV Male and Female Character respectively at the TVB Anniversary Awards for their performance in ‘Al Cappuccino’ and ‘Hong Kong Love Stories’. I do see huge improvement from their acting over the years and it looks like they are prepared for more leading roles.

Even the supporting cast are doing great in the series. Every characters including the supporting ones are given important story to develop and no one is left out. Particular credit to Joseph Lee as the stern father who turns good in the end and Akina Hong who portrayed his wife for her breakdown scenes after the death of her son. As for Moon Lau, I just don’t like her voice and expression that seems to be acting cute the entire time. I knew she didn’t mean it but that’s all I can see from her performance. She needs to broaden her range of expressions and work on her voice too maybe.

‘The Offliners’ is not pretentious and is able to deliver on what it needed to be from its straightforward and light-hearted plot and solid acting. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Offliners’ a total of 7.7. Yes…tomorrow is Friday already. Weekend is coming!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Yay! My one-week long Chinese New Year break officially begins now after having finished my work few hours ago on the last day before the holiday. Tomorrow is already the CNY’s eve. I managed to catch the last few episodes of ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ (陀槍師姐2021) just now, a TVB series that I have been watching recently. So here comes my quick review to the second TVB series that I have watched so far this year.

‘Armed Reaction 2021’ actually does not have any link to the first 4 series in its franchise besides than retaining the character of Chan Sam Yuen, portrayed by Joyce Tang. For me, it is unjust to name this series as part of the franchise which was once very popular back in late 1990s to early 2000s. It was just a tactic to attract more viewers who once loved the earlier series in this particular franchise. This series should be treated as an independent police comedy drama, which sounds more right.

The 30-episode series starred Moses Chan, Jessica Hsuan, Him Law, Joyce Tang, Benz Hui, Tony Hung, Gloria Tang, Toby Chan, Fred Cheng, etc. It has quite a remarkable line-up of cast for both the main and supporting roles. Moses is the main male lead but I find that his role is too ordinary here. There is nothing wrong to his performance but this role is simply too lackluster. It was Jessica who steals the show with a more interesting character and she nailed every scenes from hilarious, to intense or emotional ones. Her effort here deserves a compliment.

Joyce appeared in first few episodes and then disappeared for most of the series before returning back in the last few episodes. What kind of arrangement is this? I thought she is one of the female leads too since she is the main part of the original ‘Armed Reaction’ franchise. Now, she has been relegated to more like a supporting role here. What a pity…By the way, special mention to Gloria and Toby who improved significantly in their performances here.

The plot for this series is very predictable. TVB fails to offer new twist or surprises again. From the beginning, I already knew who would be the main villain and where the story will lead and end to. There isn’t any originality especially after you have watched so many past police dramas by TVB with similar formulas. Anyway, the series is still quite entertaining at times and I do enjoy the chemistry between Moses and Jessica. Things do get draggy and boring in the middle and I felt the series would be more enjoyable if it is squeezed into 25 episodes. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ a total of 7.3. There are also a number of cameos to look out for throughout the series although they were pointless.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Not long after Zack Snyder’s Justice League version is released, another one of his works is out to the public this year too. It is ‘Army of the Dead’, a zombie heist film that follows a group of soldiers who plan a Las Vegas casino heist amid a zombie apocalypse. The film starred Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Theo Rossi, etc.

It is a fairly entertaining and enjoyable zombie movie to watch especially on a comfortable Saturday’s night at home. We have got to spend most of our time now at home again due to the current ‘heightened alert’ of Phase 2 reopening in Singapore which saw increased number of daily Covid-19 cases in the community and more restrictions kicking in including ban on dining-in.

Let’s get back to the movie. The gore is there, the visuals are great and the actions are cool. However, the movie is lacking emotional punch extensively; I couldn’t feel the characters including the story arc between the main lead, Ward with his estranged daughter. The runtime of the movie is also extremely long (it’s nearly 2 hour and 30 minutes long, untypical for a zombie movie). I have to skip some of the unnecessary scenes.

Out of 10 points, I would rate ‘Army of the Dead’ a total of 7.1. It’s stylish and quite entertaining but even with a ‘zombie tiger’ in it, it still hasn’t manage to cross the line yet.

Recently, I have been watching three TVB series concurrently; ‘Shadow of Justice’, ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’. As mentioned earlier, more time at home means more time for movies and TV series. The first of out of the three to end is ‘Shadow of Justice’ (伙記辦大事), a 32-episode crime drama starring two TV kings, Bobby Au and Joe Ma. The drama also starred Joey Meng, Jeanie Chan, Mat Yeung, Pierre Ngo, Winki Lai, Timothy Cheng, etc.

I am purely disappointed with this drama. I am expecting to see more screen time of Bobby showing his intelligence in solving difficult cases and his chemistry with Joey. However, the drama is overly filled with Jeanie Chan’s love relationship with Joe Ma and Mat Yeung. It looks like as though Bobby is just playing a supporting role here. Jeanie is more suited for supporting role and she isn’t ready for leading role yet. Instead, she was given the most amount of presence here in this drama and it mostly revolves on her absolutely boring love storyline with Joe and Mat (also not to mention the huge age gap between Joe Ma and her which made the whole thing awkward too).

Both Joe Ma and Joey Meng delivered nothing to the show, thanks to their very stiff expression and poor acting. I still can’t get over how Joe Ma can win best actor few years ago over Dicky Cheung in that year. The one who shines in this series is not any of the main actors but a veteran actor who played an antagonist role here as a pervert rich businessman. He is Timothy Cheng, and he nailed the role.

The story development of the drama is also a mess. Bobby get to have his own story arc, Joe Ma has its own part too and it is up until 20 episodes only then they start to bump into each other. It is way too slow. People are expecting to see the dramatic clash between the two and it only started after two third of the whole series. That’s lame.

Out of 10 points, I can only rate ‘Shadow of Justice’ a total of 5.0. The lowest rated drama of the year so far (also among the lowest in recent years). It is bad…near to being awful. The drama should be called ‘Shadow of Love’ rather than ‘Shadow of Justice’. Jeanie Chan’s super frustrating, awkward and boring love storyline occupied 80% of the whole series. The clash between Bobby and Joe came in too late. Poor use of Bobby Au’s talent. What a waste. I’m glad this series is finally over. ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’ are way better.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First of all, Happy Wesak Day to all who are celebrating the festival! It’s the day to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha and devoted Buddhists and Hindus will pay a visit to temple and be a vegetarian for the day. Wesak is a public holiday (in both Malaysia and Singapore) and it gives me a much needed short break in the middle of the week filled with countless online meetings.

Just yesterday alone, I was already occupied with 6 Teams meetings that took nearly 7 hours of my time. That’s very exhausting. Having online meetings are much more convenient now to discuss on work progress and unresolved issues in this time of pandemic. However, this made it so much easier for everyone to simply organize plenty of such meetings (of which some are meaningless and repetitive…and some even beyond normal working hours) and sacrifice all the time to truly work.

I’m going to spend the day chilling at home and watch some new movies. By the way, I have completed another Hong Kong drama series yesterday. The series is called ‘AI Romantic’ (智能愛人), has 30 episodes and starred Ali Lee as a high-end AI robot who accidentally loses her way while being shipped from factory and ends up among a family of weirdos as an AI company employee (portrayed by Luk Wing) found her and decided to keep her for himself. The family eventually developed strong bond with her and she even begins to experience human emotions, love and desires. The drama also starred Crystal Fung, Mayanne Mak, Angelina Lo, Ram Chiang, C Kwan, etc.

It’s a very refreshing theme for a TVB drama as I believe TVB has never produce any drama yet with AI (artificial intelligence) robots as the theme. I’m also pleased that we are seeing some fresh faces taking on main roles in this drama such as Luk Wing and Mayanne rather than seeing all the recent usual actors again. Ali Lee nailed the role as the AI robot. It’s a very challenging role as it requires her not to exhibit any emotion with robotic movement while slowly transforming into a much more ‘human’ robot as the series progresses.

All the story arcs including the ones that involve only the supporting characters are interesting and engaging. This is quite uncommon for TVB standard nowadays. They are very funny to watch too. Besides that, the chemistry among the cast portraying the family is fantastic too. Basically, it’s all compliments from me to this drama. A good effort and an interesting premise further supported by excellent performance, I rate ‘AI Romantic’ a total of 8.2.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

My dad just told me that he had finally received his first dose of vaccination today and is scheduled to take the second dose next month to complete the vaccination. Seniors above 60 years of age are among the most vulnerable groups to the health effects of Covid 19 and it’s a relief for me to hear that my dad had completed at least the first dose today especially knowing the very slow progress of nationwide vaccination for Malaysia. He took the China-made vaccine, Sinovac which is his first preference too.

He sent me a picture this afternoon doing what most people did after their injection; posing in front of a cardboard cutout with the words ‘I have been vaccinated’. Many have shared such pictures in recent weeks. Both of my sisters are opting for the AstraZeneca vaccine which is not under the national vaccination programme but my sisters had successfully registered for it last month and will be taking the first shot next week.

How about me, over here in Singapore? There is a news today stating that 50% of Singapore’s population has received at least a dose of vaccination. It means that I’m in the other 50% who is still waiting and waiting. Well, this is expected because I’m a foreigner and is only a long-term pass worker here, hence I have to be at the back of the queue. I’m estimating that it will be my turn for first shot end of next month and the second shot in September. The government has opened up for everyone to register for vaccination by now, and all we have to do are just to wait for the appointment. I’m eagerly waiting for my SMS now.

Hopefully with majority of population (over 90%) fully vaccinated near end of the year, more things can probably be opened up and I can then return home to Malaysia or even travel to certain low-risk countries for leisure travel by next year. Vaccination isn’t a 100% answer to this Covid-19 pandemic. All the safe measures are still have to be followed and the situation depends largely on the rate of vaccination and infection rate of other countries too.

Staying at home most of the time is still the best thing everyone can do to limit the community transmission. This is the only time when being introvert is recommended. I do have more time to learn and cook new recipes and also more time to catch up on movies and series. Now I have a habit of cooking new dishes on every Sunday for dinner.

By the way, I have also recently completed another TVB series. It is ‘Final Destiny’ (一笑渡凡間), a 20-episode comedy fantasy series that starred Edwin Siu, Roxanne Tong, Sammy Shum, Rebecca Chan, Jessica Kan, etc. This period drama tells about a man who is intelligent in solving crime cases in the town and slowly learns that he has supernatural powers that are proven to be useful later against a vengeful black demon who happened to be his best friend.

It’s a fast paced light-hearted drama and there is actually nothing more for me to comment. The storyline is very predictable (I knew who are the antagonists already at the beginning of the series before they are revealed) but still quite fun to watch though. Edwin Siu plays the male lead role very well and he is very suitable for this type of quirky role. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Final Destiny’ a total of 6.9.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

It’s just the mid of July and I have already completed 9 TVB series. It looks like I’m going to break the record of having watched most number of TVB series by end of this year. Well, it is highly possible since I have been spending more time at home now like everyone else due to the current pandemic.

‘Murder Diary’ is a 25-episode series that revolves on a police officer, King Fung who has dissociative identity disorder caused by his mother, Bik Sum who herself suffers from mental disorder and almost killed him and his younger sister when they were children. The series starred Vincent Wong, Kara Hui, Philip Keung, Benjamin Yuen, Mandy Wong, Chris Lai, Alice Chan, Venus Wong, etc.

The plot isn’t as simple as what I have described above. In fact, it is way far more complicated and is quite hard to digest if you don’t really invest into the series as it progresses. I find it difficult to invest into it due to the boring storyline despite featuring some bizarre crime cases. The dark colour palette for the visual made the series very distressing. The story also features many ‘crazy’ characters that made it not family-friendly. I do admire the effort by the production team on this fresh new attempt to deviate from typical light-hearted themed series but the outcome for this one just didn’t quite appeal to me.

Anyway, the drama do contains excellent performances by the cast, particularly Kara Hui. She is well known for portraying emotionally unstable characters (and thus won many acting awards before) and this role should give not much of a challenge to her. She is very good but I felt that she had portrayed such characters countless of times. Vincent Wong also shines for portraying his character that has split personality. He can change realistically from one personality to another in a second. Both of them had a shot to clinch best actor and actress respectively again for this year’s awards ceremony.

Vincent is good but he always has no chemistry with his on-screen partner. He isn’t compatible at all with both Mandy and Venus in here. By the way, this line-up of cast is so similar to another past TVB series called ‘The Defected’. Almost the same cast. I prefer to shake up the cast a bit by replacing Benjamin and Mandy as both of them delivered nothing to the show. Always wooden acting from both of them. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Murder Diary’ a total of 6.0; quite low rating because it doesn’t appeal to me. Everything just went too dark and complicated. All the points are given for only the acting and the fresh direction used.

Next up is my review for ‘Plan B’, a much light-hearted series (also has 25 episodes) that revolves on the hardship of a couple in bringing up their young daughter while attending to the challenges posed by their own family members and jobs. The series which starred Kenneth Ma, Eliza Sam, Kiki Sheung, Mimi Kung, Hugo Wong, Joseph Lee, Yoyo Chen, Jonathan Cheung, etc is an indirect sequel to another popular series in the past called ‘Who Wants A Baby?’.

I do have a good time watching this series and each episode taught us on a lot of meaningful life lessons (like the need to be more positive, accepting, patient and understanding, etc) derived from the storyline of the series itself as it moves forward. Kenneth is really very suited for this kind of family-guy role while Eliza is not the best pick, but I can see that she has placed effort to portray the female lead role here. She isn’t an experienced actress and her delivery of dialogues may appear unnatural at times but overall it is still bearable. The veteran actors and actresses are all very solid in their roles as the parents of Kenneth and Eliza. They played huge roles to hold the series well and they deserves huge compliment, if not awards.

Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Plan B’ a total of 7.8. Quite engaging and touching at times, this series do connects with the audiences because of the realistic portrayals of hardship of a young family of which many will feel very relatable to. Alright. That’s all for my reviews to these two dramas. It turns out to be quite a lengthy post already.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘Line Walker: Bull Fight’ or commonly known just as ‘Line Walker 3’ (使徒行者3) is one of my most anticipated Hong Kong dramas this year. It certainly does live up to its expectation though not as good as the first series released back in 2014. Well, at least it is way better than the second series in 2017 from my personal opinion.

‘Line Walker 3’ has a total of 37 episodes (very odd number) and starred Raymond Lam, Michael Miu, Kenneth Ma, Mandy Wong, Benjamin Yuen, Priscilla Wong, Sisley Choi, Owen Cheung, Benz Hui, etc. It does have a pretty big and popular cast including some surprising cameo appearances by several other famous actors.

The storyline runs quite smoothly in this third instalment without confusing transitions as it focuses from one side story to the next and eventually joining up everything to the main plot without too much complications. Although it doesn’t manage to deliver as many cliffhanger or intense moments as the first series (the reason why I loved the first series so much), but the plot is still pretty engaging and deserves my full attention. However, there are still some minor scenes involving some supporting characters (like the story arc between Shiga Lin with Benjamin Yuen, etc) that felt a little draggy and unnecessary at times.

It’s good to see the return of Raymond Lam to TVB series as he had left the station for many years. His last role in the first series almost won him Best Actor on that year’s TVB Anniversary Awards but he eventually lost to Roger Kwok. He came back in this third series and he carried the role very well too. I do hope that he can finally win his first best actor award. He deserves it…and it would be cool to see Charmaine handing the award to him too. They are very compatible as on-screen couple and it is a huge pity not to see him reuniting with Charmaine in this third series. It’s really unfortunate that Charmaine isn’t returning for this third series although we kept hearing her name mentioned a lot of times throughout the series (I was hoping she would make a cameo though near the end but nope…).

Kenneth Ma on the other hand also surprised me with excellent performance as the main villain in this series. His eyes and facial expressions are on point. The female cast line-up is not that strong and it is further weakened by an underwhelming performance by Mandy Wong. I can sense her acting very hard to portray the strange personalities of Madam G and her performance felt forced. Sisley Choi on the other way acted way more naturally. Benjamin and Priscilla makes a good pair but their story arc is not interesting.

The last two to three episodes are certainly very intense and exciting, and that is what I hope for. However, I don’t really like the very last section of its final episode that shows some very odd cliffhanger scenes to tease us that there may be another sequel coming in. The way these scenes are plotted out felt very similar too.

Anyway, in overall, this series didn’t disappoint. It had a strong shot for best series win at TVB Anniversary Awards near the end of the year with its good storyline, multiple action-packed or climactic scenes, and of course solid cast with most of them delivering great performances. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Line Walker: Bull Fight’ a total of 8.0.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Happy Deepavali to my Indian friends and to everyone else who are celebrating this occasion too. Let the colours of this holy night decorate your life with peace, prosperity and success! By the way, it’s a bit sad that we don’t see much of Deepavali decorations set up on public places, streets or in malls. Instead, most places already have their Christmas decorations ready although it is still more than a month away.

This year’s Deepavali falls on a Saturday and I spent most of the day resting at home, binge watching my Hong Kong drama (quick review below) and strolling around Jewel, Changi Airport in the evening. The indoor waterfall accompanied with great lighting and ambience never fails to impress me each time I visit the place. While the terminal areas of the airport appear to be very quiet (very less flights nowadays due to the current global pandemic), it is totally the opposite atmosphere at the Jewel (it is so crowded!).

This year’s Deepavali falls on a Saturday and I spent most of the day resting at home, binge watching my Hong Kong drama (quick review below) and strolling around Jewel, Changi Airport in the evening. The indoor waterfall accompanied with great lighting and ambience never fails to impress me each time I visit the place. While the terminal areas of the airport appear to be very quiet (very less flights nowadays due to the current global pandemic), it is totally the opposite atmosphere at the Jewel (it is so crowded!).

Let’s move on to my quick review of yet another TVB drama that I have finished watching. The series is called ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ and it is a direct sequel to the 2017’s ‘Legal Mavericks’. The plot continues with the blind barrister who strives for justice for the disadvantaged, using his other heightened senses and legally controversial methods to seek truths behind his court cases. Standing alongside him is his very close buddies; a female legal executive, a private investigator, and a newly made female barrister friend. The 28-episode series starred Vincent Wong, Sisley Choi, Kelly Cheung, Owen Cheung, Paul Chun, etc.

I enjoyed the series just as much as its predecessor. Each court cases are unique in its own (never feels repetitive) and are interesting to watch. However, I was slightly disappointed by the very last court case in this drama that felt a little too simple and poorly written. The final case should usually be the most intense or complex one but it didn’t really turn out that way. I also wasn’t too happy with its ending; Sisley not waking up, and Vincent still not revealing his true feeling to her. They deserve a happy ending there but we ended up getting another cliffhanger (typical of TVB series nowadays).

Vincent Wong continues to deliver stellar performance as the blind barrister (he won Best Actor from the first series three years ago) and so does Sisley Choi (who won Most Popular TV Female Character from the same role too). Kelly Cheung came in to replace Ali Lee in this second series. I can see huge improvement from Kelly but the way the script wrote her character that resembles a lot like Ali in the first series causes her performance to lose originality. It’s also good to see Paul Chun, an award-winning veteran actor starring in this series too. It’s weird but it’s fun to watch his character. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ a total of 7.8. A solid drama that lives up to its expectation and is almost as good as its predecessor.

(Images in this post are from various online sources except for the shots of the Jewel)

I have recently completed yet another TVB drama called ‘The Witness’. It is the 11th TVB drama I have watched this year and since there is more than a month to go before 2020 ends, there are still time for me to watch one or two more this year. ‘The Witness’ is a 20-episode drama that revolves on a sergeant getting into a close friendship with a witness he is protecting, and in the meantime falling in love with his younger sister. He then learns that there is a link connecting them to the death of his father years ago.

The series starred Him Law, Kelly Cheung, Willie Wai, Pinky Cheung, Tsui Wing, Lau Kong, etc. This is mostly a light-hearted drama. There is quite a lot of funny scenes in the beginning especially coming from Willie’s character but it all dies down quickly as soon the series reached the middle. It gets boring all the way before the very last episode. Him Law and Kelly Cheung couldn’t lead the series well (still don’t find them fit to take on first lead roles). Willie Wai saved the drama a bit but I felt that it was Tsui Wing that impresses more especially near the end of the series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Witness’ a total of 6.0.

TVB had just celebrated its 53rd anniversary last week in a usual evening gala show that saw attendance of over 100 artistes led by the two usual ‘big sisters’; Liza Wang and Carol Cheng. The only interesting part of the show is the singing segment by Miriam Yeung (the only popular celebrity of the night). Even the comedic parts of the show felt lame and not hilarious. I’m looking forward more to the upcoming TVB Anniversary Awards for the year. I think the nomination list will be out very soon.

Looks like the hot contenders for best actor this year would be Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3), Kenneth Ma (The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter), Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020), Shaun Tam (Brutally Young), and Wayne Lai (Death by Zero). Competition for best actress is very weak this year. So far I can only think of these five; Mandy Wong (Brutally Young), Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020), Ali Lee (Death By Zero), Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4) and Samantha Ko (Go!Go!Go! Operation C9). My top 5 series so far would be Legal Mavericks 2020, Line Walker 3:Bull Fight, Brutally Young, The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter and Flying Tiger 2.

That’s it for my post today. One more week and we will be welcoming the last month of the year and I will be turning 29 in 10 more days. It’s all about Covid-19 in 2020. I’m glad that there is no community cases here in Singapore for 14 consecutive days already, but at the same time, I’m worried over the increasing number of cases back in Malaysia (reaching new record high of over 2000 cases today!). If this continues, how can I return to KL for the Chinese New Year celebration in the coming February?!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First released in Malaysia on last November, ‘The Offliners’ is finally getting its local release in Hong Kong end of last month. Since most of its episodes are released in January, I consider it as a 2021 series rather than 2020. Hence, this is the first TVB series of the year that I have completed watching. And it looks like TVB is now fine to release Jacqueline Wong’s dramas after her explosive scandal with Andy Hui in 2019.

‘The Offliners’ is a 20-episode drama that revolves on a nerd yet an IT genius (Owen Cheung) who begins to develop his passion on IT and joined a tech start-up company. He then grow close with his colleagues, his love interest (Moon Lau) and also his lady boss (Katy Kung) who he later developed feeling for as well. Besides Owen, Katy and Moon, the series also starred Jacqueline Wong, Karl Ting, Jason Chan, Brian Tse, Joseph Lee, Bowie Wu, Akina Hong, Suet Nei, etc.

This drama is never meant to be big but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s relaxing and entertaining to watch it every evening after work. Owen Cheung is very convincing in this role and I can see his effort in portraying as a nerd in this drama. He nailed it. Katy Kung is also doing well as the first female lead here and she has a good chemistry with Owen too. She is very natural and I do impressed with her emotional scenes. It looks like Owen can just pair very well with any actors/actresses in any dramas he is in.

This pair did well on last Sunday too when they won Most Popular TV Male and Female Character respectively at the TVB Anniversary Awards for their performance in ‘Al Cappuccino’ and ‘Hong Kong Love Stories’. I do see huge improvement from their acting over the years and it looks like they are prepared for more leading roles.

Even the supporting cast are doing great in the series. Every characters including the supporting ones are given important story to develop and no one is left out. Particular credit to Joseph Lee as the stern father who turns good in the end and Akina Hong who portrayed his wife for her breakdown scenes after the death of her son. As for Moon Lau, I just don’t like her voice and expression that seems to be acting cute the entire time. I knew she didn’t mean it but that’s all I can see from her performance. She needs to broaden her range of expressions and work on her voice too maybe.

‘The Offliners’ is not pretentious and is able to deliver on what it needed to be from its straightforward and light-hearted plot and solid acting. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Offliners’ a total of 7.3. Yes…tomorrow is Friday already. Weekend is coming!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Yay! My one-week long Chinese New Year break officially begins now after having finished my work few hours ago on the last day before the holiday. Tomorrow is already the CNY’s eve. I managed to catch the last few episodes of ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ (陀槍師姐2021) just now, a TVB series that I have been watching recently. So here comes my quick review to the second TVB series that I have watched so far this year.

‘Armed Reaction 2021’ actually does not have any link to the first 4 series in its franchise besides than retaining the character of Chan Sam Yuen, portrayed by Joyce Tang. For me, it is unjust to name this series as part of the franchise which was once very popular back in late 1990s to early 2000s. It was just a tactic to attract more viewers who once loved the earlier series in this particular franchise. This series should be treated as an independent police comedy drama, which sounds more right.

The 30-episode series starred Moses Chan, Jessica Hsuan, Him Law, Joyce Tang, Benz Hui, Tony Hung, Gloria Tang, Toby Chan, Fred Cheng, etc. It has quite a remarkable line-up of cast for both the main and supporting roles. Moses is the main male lead but I find that his role is too ordinary here. There is nothing wrong to his performance but this role is simply too lackluster. It was Jessica who steals the show with a more interesting character and she nailed every scenes from hilarious, to intense or emotional ones. Her effort here deserves a compliment.

Joyce appeared in first few episodes and then disappeared for most of the series before returning back in the last few episodes. What kind of arrangement is this? I thought she is one of the female leads too since she is the main part of the original ‘Armed Reaction’ franchise. Now, she has been relegated to more like a supporting role here. What a pity…By the way, special mention to Gloria and Toby who improved significantly in their performances here.

The plot for this series is very predictable. TVB fails to offer new twist or surprises again. From the beginning, I already knew who would be the main villain and where the story will lead and end to. There isn’t any originality especially after you have watched so many past police dramas by TVB with similar formulas. Anyway, the series is still quite entertaining at times and I do enjoy the chemistry between Moses and Jessica. Things do get draggy and boring in the middle and I felt the series would be more enjoyable if it is squeezed into 25 episodes. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ a total of 6.8. There are also a number of cameos to look out for throughout the series although they were pointless.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Not long after Zack Snyder’s Justice League version is released, another one of his works is out to the public this year too. It is ‘Army of the Dead’, a zombie heist film that follows a group of soldiers who plan a Las Vegas casino heist amid a zombie apocalypse. The film starred Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Theo Rossi, etc.

It is a fairly entertaining and enjoyable zombie movie to watch especially on a comfortable Saturday’s night at home. We have got to spend most of our time now at home again due to the current ‘heightened alert’ of Phase 2 reopening in Singapore which saw increased number of daily Covid-19 cases in the community and more restrictions kicking in including ban on dining-in.

Let’s get back to the movie. The gore is there, the visuals are great and the actions are cool. However, the movie is lacking emotional punch extensively; I couldn’t feel the characters including the story arc between the main lead, Ward with his estranged daughter. The runtime of the movie is also extremely long (it’s nearly 2 hour and 30 minutes long, untypical for a zombie movie). I have to skip some of the unnecessary scenes.

Out of 10 points, I would rate ‘Army of the Dead’ a total of 7.1. It’s stylish and quite entertaining but even with a ‘zombie tiger’ in it, it still hasn’t manage to cross the line yet.

Recently, I have been watching three TVB series concurrently; ‘Shadow of Justice’, ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’. As mentioned earlier, more time at home means more time for movies and TV series. The first of out of the three to end is ‘Shadow of Justice’ (伙記辦大事), a 32-episode crime drama starring two TV kings, Bobby Au and Joe Ma. The drama also starred Joey Meng, Jeanie Chan, Mat Yeung, Pierre Ngo, Winki Lai, Timothy Cheng, etc.

I am purely disappointed with this drama. I am expecting to see more screen time of Bobby showing his intelligence in solving difficult cases and his chemistry with Joey. However, the drama is overly filled with Jeanie Chan’s love relationship with Joe Ma and Mat Yeung. It looks like as though Bobby is just playing a supporting role here. Jeanie is more suited for supporting role and she isn’t ready for leading role yet. Instead, she was given the most amount of presence here in this drama and it mostly revolves on her absolutely boring love storyline with Joe and Mat (also not to mention the huge age gap between Joe Ma and her which made the whole thing awkward too).

Both Joe Ma and Joey Meng delivered nothing to the show, thanks to their very stiff expression and poor acting. I still can’t get over how Joe Ma can win best actor few years ago over Dicky Cheung in that year. The one who shines in this series is not any of the main actors but a veteran actor who played an antagonist role here as a pervert rich businessman. He is Timothy Cheng, and he nailed the role.

The story development of the drama is also a mess. Bobby get to have his own story arc, Joe Ma has its own part too and it is up until 20 episodes only then they start to bump into each other. It is way too slow. People are expecting to see the dramatic clash between the two and it only started after two third of the whole series. That’s lame.

Out of 10 points, I can only rate ‘Shadow of Justice’ a total of 5.0. The lowest rated drama of the year so far (also among the lowest in recent years). It is bad…near to being awful. The drama should be called ‘Shadow of Love’ rather than ‘Shadow of Justice’. Jeanie Chan’s super frustrating, awkward and boring love storyline occupied 80% of the whole series. The clash between Bobby and Joe came in too late. Poor use of Bobby Au’s talent. What a waste. I’m glad this series is finally over. ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’ are way better.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First of all, Happy Wesak Day to all who are celebrating the festival! It’s the day to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha and devoted Buddhists and Hindus will pay a visit to temple and be a vegetarian for the day. Wesak is a public holiday (in both Malaysia and Singapore) and it gives me a much needed short break in the middle of the week filled with countless online meetings.

Just yesterday alone, I was already occupied with 6 Teams meetings that took nearly 7 hours of my time. That’s very exhausting. Having online meetings are much more convenient now to discuss on work progress and unresolved issues in this time of pandemic. However, this made it so much easier for everyone to simply organize plenty of such meetings (of which some are meaningless and repetitive…and some even beyond normal working hours) and sacrifice all the time to truly work.

I’m going to spend the day chilling at home and watch some new movies. By the way, I have completed another Hong Kong drama series yesterday. The series is called ‘AI Romantic’ (智能愛人), has 30 episodes and starred Ali Lee as a high-end AI robot who accidentally loses her way while being shipped from factory and ends up among a family of weirdos as an AI company employee (portrayed by Luk Wing) found her and decided to keep her for himself. The family eventually developed strong bond with her and she even begins to experience human emotions, love and desires. The drama also starred Crystal Fung, Mayanne Mak, Angelina Lo, Ram Chiang, C Kwan, etc.

It’s a very refreshing theme for a TVB drama as I believe TVB has never produce any drama yet with AI (artificial intelligence) robots as the theme. I’m also pleased that we are seeing some fresh faces taking on main roles in this drama such as Luk Wing and Mayanne rather than seeing all the recent usual actors again. Ali Lee nailed the role as the AI robot. It’s a very challenging role as it requires her not to exhibit any emotion with robotic movement while slowly transforming into a much more ‘human’ robot as the series progresses.

All the story arcs including the ones that involve only the supporting characters are interesting and engaging. This is quite uncommon for TVB standard nowadays. They are very funny to watch too. Besides that, the chemistry among the cast portraying the family is fantastic too. Basically, it’s all compliments from me to this drama. A good effort and an interesting premise further supported by excellent performance, I rate ‘AI Romantic’ a total of 8.0. My highest rated TVB series so far for this year!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

My dad just told me that he had finally received his first dose of vaccination today and is scheduled to take the second dose next month to complete the vaccination. Seniors above 60 years of age are among the most vulnerable groups to the health effects of Covid 19 and it’s a relief for me to hear that my dad had completed at least the first dose today especially knowing the very slow progress of nationwide vaccination for Malaysia. He took the China-made vaccine, Sinovac which is his first preference too.

He sent me a picture this afternoon doing what most people did after their injection; posing in front of a cardboard cutout with the words ‘I have been vaccinated’. Many have shared such pictures in recent weeks. Both of my sisters are opting for the AstraZeneca vaccine which is not under the national vaccination programme but my sisters had successfully registered for it last month and will be taking the first shot next week.

How about me, over here in Singapore? There is a news today stating that 50% of Singapore’s population has received at least a dose of vaccination. It means that I’m in the other 50% who is still waiting and waiting. Well, this is expected because I’m a foreigner and is only a long-term pass worker here, hence I have to be at the back of the queue. I’m estimating that it will be my turn for first shot end of next month and the second shot in September. The government has opened up for everyone to register for vaccination by now, and all we have to do are just to wait for the appointment. I’m eagerly waiting for my SMS now.

Hopefully with majority of population (over 90%) fully vaccinated near end of the year, more things can probably be opened up and I can then return home to Malaysia or even travel to certain low-risk countries for leisure travel by next year. Vaccination isn’t a 100% answer to this Covid-19 pandemic. All the safe measures are still have to be followed and the situation depends largely on the rate of vaccination and infection rate of other countries too.

Staying at home most of the time is still the best thing everyone can do to limit the community transmission. This is the only time when being introvert is recommended. I do have more time to learn and cook new recipes and also more time to catch up on movies and series. Now I have a habit of cooking new dishes on every Sunday for dinner.

By the way, I have also recently completed another TVB series. It is ‘Final Destiny’ (一笑渡凡間), a 20-episode comedy fantasy series that starred Edwin Siu, Roxanne Tong, Sammy Shum, Rebecca Chan, Jessica Kan, etc. This period drama tells about a man who is intelligent in solving crime cases in the town and slowly learns that he has supernatural powers that are proven to be useful later against a vengeful black demon who happened to be his best friend.

It’s a fast paced light-hearted drama and there is actually nothing more for me to comment. The storyline is very predictable (I knew who are the antagonists already at the beginning of the series before they are revealed) but still quite fun to watch though. Edwin Siu plays the male lead role very well and he is very suitable for this type of quirky role. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Final Destiny’ a total of 6.9.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

It’s just the mid of July and I have already completed 9 TVB series. It looks like I’m going to break the record of having watched most number of TVB series by end of this year. Well, it is highly possible since I have been spending more time at home now like everyone else due to the current pandemic.

‘Murder Diary’ is a 25-episode series that revolves on a police officer, King Fung who has dissociative identity disorder caused by his mother, Bik Sum who herself suffers from mental disorder and almost killed him and his younger sister when they were children. The series starred Vincent Wong, Kara Hui, Philip Keung, Benjamin Yuen, Mandy Wong, Chris Lai, Alice Chan, Venus Wong, etc.

The plot isn’t as simple as what I have described above. In fact, it is way far more complicated and is quite hard to digest if you don’t really invest into the series as it progresses. I find it difficult to invest into it due to the boring storyline despite featuring some bizarre crime cases. The dark colour palette for the visual made the series very distressing. The story also features many ‘crazy’ characters that made it not family-friendly. I do admire the effort by the production team on this fresh new attempt to deviate from typical light-hearted themed series but the outcome for this one just didn’t quite appeal to me.

Anyway, the drama do contains excellent performances by the cast, particularly Kara Hui. She is well known for portraying emotionally unstable characters (and thus won many acting awards before) and this role should give not much of a challenge to her. She is very good but I felt that she had portrayed such characters countless of times. Vincent Wong also shines for portraying his character that has split personality. He can change realistically from one personality to another in a second. Both of them had a shot to clinch best actor and actress respectively again for this year’s awards ceremony.

Vincent is good but he always has no chemistry with his on-screen partner. He isn’t compatible at all with both Mandy and Venus in here. By the way, this line-up of cast is so similar to another past TVB series called ‘The Defected’. Almost the same cast. I prefer to shake up the cast a bit by replacing Benjamin and Mandy as both of them delivered nothing to the show. Always wooden acting from both of them. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Murder Diary’ a total of 6.0; quite low rating because it doesn’t appeal to me. Everything just went too dark and complicated. All the points are given for only the acting and the fresh direction used.

Next up is my review for ‘Plan B’, a much light-hearted series (also has 25 episodes) that revolves on the hardship of a couple in bringing up their young daughter while attending to the challenges posed by their own family members and jobs. The series which starred Kenneth Ma, Eliza Sam, Kiki Sheung, Mimi Kung, Hugo Wong, Joseph Lee, Yoyo Chen, Jonathan Cheung, etc is an indirect sequel to another popular series in the past called ‘Who Wants A Baby?’.

I do have a good time watching this series and each episode taught us on a lot of meaningful life lessons (like the need to be more positive, accepting, patient and understanding, etc) derived from the storyline of the series itself as it moves forward. Kenneth is really very suited for this kind of family-guy role while Eliza is not the best pick, but I can see that she has placed effort to portray the female lead role here. She isn’t an experienced actress and her delivery of dialogues may appear unnatural at times but overall it is still bearable. The veteran actors and actresses are all very solid in their roles as the parents of Kenneth and Eliza. They played huge roles to hold the series well and they deserves huge compliment, if not awards.

Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Plan B’ a total of 7.8. Quite engaging and touching at times, this series do connects with the audiences because of the realistic portrayals of hardship of a young family of which many will feel very relatable to. Alright. That’s all for my reviews to these two dramas. It turns out to be quite a lengthy post already.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

By now, I guess most of you would have known or watched this Netflix series that has gone viral since middle of last month. You would have already seen people sharing content related to a large creepy female doll or sugar honeycomb cookie which were featured in this series. Titled ‘Squid Game’, it is a South Korean survival drama television series of 9 episodes broadcast by Netflix. It is the first Korean drama to top Netflix’s charts globally.

I joined in the party (don’t want to be left out as the series has been a surprisingly massive-hit worldwide) by binge-watching the entire series in two days in my previous weekend. I must say that the series is very fun and exciting to watch but I felt it is slightly overrated. I got hooked to it immediately after the end of first episode though when the first game concluded.

If you are not aware, the series tells the story of a group of debt-ridden 456 people who are invited to participate in a mysterious survival game (consisting of 6 children-themed games in total) that could win them the prize of 45.6 billion Korean won. However, they did not realize that they will be killed if they lost in the game. The series starred Lee Jung-jae, O Yeong-su, Park Hae-so, Wi Ha-joon, etc.

The series no doubt achieved success due to its creative concept. Who would have thought of turning children games into violent and bloody life-and-death situation. The scenes when the games are being played are so tense and got me glued to the screen while holding my breath. It is that intense (especially the glass floor and the tug-of-war games)! The cinematography and the set design deserve huge praise. The hidden details (contrasting colour of outfits of the participants and games staff, painting on the wall in the participants’ room, plot twists, etc) are brilliant and intriguing too.

The main cast bring life to their respective characters to the point that you felt them (and deeply understand their stand or choice) as the story progresses where hard decisions have to be made. The series also taught us a lot of valuable and meaningful life lessons that reflect the somehow hard reality of this world. There are still some poor aspects to the series such as the awful acting and dialogue by the Western actors as the VIPs, some unanswered loopholes and unexplained background/details in the story. Since there is no plan for a sequel to it, this series should have been better with few additional episodes to sort those issues out.

That’s all for my review to ‘Squid Game’. I would rate it a total of 8.5 out of 10. A great, solid and engaging series that deserves (and got its) attention but I felt it is overhyped and slightly overrated (as the series still has its set of flaws…but its creative concept simply overpowers almost everything for general audiences, hence its current massive success and popularity).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

TVB, Hong Kong’s largest television station had successfully held its 54th anniversary gala on last Friday with the attendance of over 200 artistes from both the acting and singing fields. Popular veteran actor Eric Tsang may have hosted the annual gala show many number of times in the past but this year’s gala is the first under him as the newly appointed general manager of the station in charge of content operations.

Famous actors and actresses in attendance include past TV kings (Vincent Wong, Kenneth Ma, Moses Chan, Ruco Chan), past TV queens (Natalie Tong, Sisley Choi, Ali Lee), Mandy Wong, Chris Lai, Benjamin Yuen, Shaun Tam, Elaine Yiu, Owen Cheung, etc. Famous singers present at the gala include Hacken Lee, Gin Lee, Joyce Cheng, Hana Kuk, Jinny Ng, etc. Carol Cheng, Nat Chan, Liza Wang hosted the gala along with many other young artists.

Recently, I have completed watching another two TVB series, ‘Take Two’ and ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. These two are part of the four anniversary series this year. Out of the two, I find that the former is better with more interesting and engaging plot although the twist at the ending is short-sighted.

‘Take Two’ is a 25-episode series that revolves on a engineer who is transported back to months before (yes…time travel!) the collapse of a residential building and his death to find out the culprits behind all these. The series starred Shaun Tam, Gloria Tang, Brian Chu, Cheung Wing Hong, Angel Chiang, Moon Lau, Gilbert Lam, etc. This drama has quite an interesting storyline only to be disappointed by the plot twist at the end which I have highlighted earlier. Shaun has improved in his acting and even Gloria did quite well taking on her first ever lead role here. Gilbert Lam nailed the villain role. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Take Two’ 7.9. Second highest rated TVB series this year so far.

The same cannot be said for ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. This medical drama which has quite a strong cast (Kenneth Ma, Kevin Cheng, Linda Chung, Him Law, etc) couldn’t excel in my opinion although I have read from reviews that many actually quite like this series. I’m in the opposite. There are quite a lot of sad or touching cases involving sick children in the hospital of this drama but I just couldn’t feel or get immersed into their stories that only scratch at the surface level. They just couldn’t pull me in unlike past similar drama like ‘The Hippocratic Crush’. Full of realistic surgeries’ scenes but lack emotional drama or intensity. The cast performed fairly well but that’s not enough. I’m starting to get tired of seeing Kenneth Ma portraying a doctor again. People are touched by Linda’s crying scene in this drama but I don’t find it exceptional as I have seen the same from her in the past. Same goes to Kevin who did not bring anything new to the screen after not acting for quite some years. Just an average medical themed drama that will be easily forgotten. Out of 10 points, I rate this series 6.6.

So..whose names are brought up so far in contention for best lead actor and actress for this year’s TVB Anniversary Awards? While it is still quite early and the nomination list is not out yet, I am starting to predict that the best actor race will be between Owen Cheung (from the upcoming ‘The Ringmaster’), Shaun Tam (Take Two), Roger Kwok (The Forgotten Day), Kenneth Ma (Plan B) and Vincent Wong (Murder Diary). Vincent gave the most impressive performance but he had won it twice already and ‘Murder Diary’ series performed badly in rating (so nope). I am thinking Shaun Tam may take it.

Best actress race will be between Ali Lee (AI Romantic), Kara Hui (Murder Diary), Eliza Sam (Plan B), Priscilla Wong (Battle of the Seven Sisters) and Linda Chung (Kids’ Lives Matter). Kara Hui gave the best performance out of the five but the series is not for everyone and failed in rating as mentioned earlier (so nope). My second choice would be Ali Lee but I don’t think TVB will give the award to her again so soon. The trophy most likely goes to Linda Chung. Where is ‘Barrack O’ Karma 2′? I thought this series will be released end of this year (anticipating it for very long already!). If so, it will give a good fight for the awards.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)