Limelight Years review

Sean Seong (Alex Fong) is a journalist who writes novels and upload youtube videos for a living. He found Tik Tik Szeto (Linda Chung ) a perfect naive girl to star in his new video to promote his new book about cheap lady. Sean’s dream has been always getting famous, he wrote a book under the name of his girlfriend Marjorina. The book Marjorina is his most well known work giving advices to women about men.  His girlfriend Marjorina broke up with Sean due to tired of waiting for him seeing no future him. Sean then used his own ability in anyway to become famous, including using Tik Tik many times. Tik Tik is a naive girl who is a huge fan of the writer of the book Marjorina.

There is two parts in this series, the story of Wah Fong Ying and Ben Law family conflicts and the love story between Sean and Tik Tik. Ben Law (Damien Lau)’s deceased wife Ming Ha (Michelle Yim) was a huge fan of singer Wah Wong Ying and she loves to catch fireflies in Taiwan. His wife last wishes before she died from cancer is to give the plum honey to Wah Fong Ying. Ben enjoy taking photos for memories and he leave messages in his wife’s voicemail to have hopes she is still alive. You’ll get to see Damien in a more comedic role. There’s a drama side of Wah Fong Ying neglected her family for work. Ben also has two best friends and a son. They run a photography studio. Ben’s son Hugo has a trauma of his sister’s dying in an accident and afraid to start a family. Ben regrets not buying his deceased daughter a purple rabbit sticker to match the color of raibow, unexpectedly she died the day after. Tik Tik is singer Wah Fong Ying’s loyal assistant. Sean filmed embarrassing moments of Linda and posted on youtube which created huge amount of hits. Due to the famous singer Wah Fong Ying’s status, she was able to cause Sean’s book to be banned. Tik Tik didn’t realized that Sean is the writer of Marjorina until his best friend Buddy (William Chak) told her and apologized on the behalf of Sean after his books have been banned. Sean then got an idea of revenging Wah Fong Ying by writing the bad side of Wah Fong Ying and he found out a huge secret and even used Tik Tik to get near Wah Fong Ying’s disabled son Tong Wing (Jonathan Wong).

There were several small love triangle between (Ka Ming, Tik Tik, and Sean), (Marjorina, Tik Tik and Sean), (Buddy, Sean, and Tik Tik), and (Diamond, Sean, and Tik Tik). Buddy sided with Tik Tik when Sean told Marjorina that Linda is his buddy when Sean was actually dating Tik Tik. Buddy usually approves Sean tricks until he uses his marriage with Tik Tik to promote his book. In the second half of the series , Buddy will have more roles in helping Sean and Tik Tik be together with his money. Buddy loves Tik Tik but finds that Sean is the most suitable for Tik Tik, so he helped all he can for them to be together including paying the lawyer fees for Sean when Brother Tang sued him for copyright. Buddy has to work in his father’s hotel for compensation.

The main theme of this series is Glamorous Transformation. Sean and Wah Fong Ying are two of a kind will do anything for success and neglected their loved ones but they realize in the end, family and their loved ones are the most important. They have a second chance to make a glamorous transformation to make up for their loss.

Rating: 7/10 The plot is well written but the story is kinda draggy. Gotta give props for writing Alex as such as despicable character but can still received the love of the naive Linda. It was warm for Damien and Liza to help each other during tough times. There were numerous classic songs being played to complement the series.

The Ultimate Addiction Review

The Ultimate Addiction has the eye candy pairing Bosco and Kate from Lives of Omission and Don Juan Mercardo.

The series has many subplots such as Sharon’s burden to take care of her family financially and her family affair. Sharon is more of the focus of the series like how she has to work hard to take care of her family, dealing with her boyfriend and being jealous of his ex, and being in jail for crashing someone. Half of the series is dealing of how Sharon is feeling unfair with her life causing her to have character change from a righteous cop to evil. She compares herself to Elena that Elena is the owner of a bank while she has to work hard as a cop but still struggle financially to help her family.

The plot introduces some interesting topics such as the C-Coins. TVB wouldn’t go out of their way fully and do a lesbian scene between Nancy and Kate. The kissing scene is just to show Nancy’s anger and how she tries to get near Bosco.

The series keep on diverted from Kate, Bosco, and Nancy which makes the main plot of Kate’s scheming undeveloped. It’s like the writer don’t know how to end Bosco’s conflict with Kate so he had to make Kate’s father’s death like an accident. The finance theme and business term keeps people away from watching this series. Bosco and Elena’s conflict was interesting to watch.

Both Bosco’s sister and Kate’s father died from drowning and Bosco couldn’t do anything about it. I guess the scene where we see Stephen pushed Bosco and yelled at him for not doing the CPR for Gloria is kinda similar to when Kate saved Bosco when he was drowning in the see. Not sure if Bosco can swim in this series or not but I agree with Stephen and Kate that he should have done something instead of standing there.

The series tells that Bosco is selfish and greedy for money and not caring about the people around him. Gloria blames Bosco for her boyfriend’s dead. Kate and Ben blames Bosco for Kate’s father’s dead. It wasn’t surprising that Bosco turned more caring and realizes his mistakes after his beloved sister’s death. Bosco wasn’t that evil to begin with, he was just hungry for money.

There’s a love square and a love triangle: Bosco, Kate, and Nancy, and Jack; Ben, Elena, and Sharon. Unfortunately Bosco only feels gratitude toward Nancy for helping him financially and taking care of his company. Bosco realizes he loves Kate. Bosco’s sister is infatuated with Stephen due to her boyfriend lookalike but Stephen took advantage of it to revenge Bosco.

On acting, Elena did well in her role as a hardworking and independent and righteous bank owner but I find her voice kinda low and boring at times. Ben did okay as usual but I find it irritating how he always yells and jumps to conclusion and blames Bosco. Sharon is unconvincing as a Madame. Kate’s character has a bad script and her acting as mysterious girl is sub par. Nancy’s acting is good as usual but her role has nothing much to do. Bosco is doing well in his role as usual. Everyone would agree the newbie Gloria Tang acting is bad but nowadays the new rising stars aren’t up to par with the current fadans and veterans.

MC Jin and Toby Leung adds a bit of comedy into the series. June is kinda old to be Stephen’s wife. Jack and Jazz were okay as Kate and Bosco’s best friend.

Costume wise, I dislike Bosco’s short ever since I saw the trailer. I liked Kate’s striped shirts.

Overall, watchable if there’s nothing to watch. Watch for Bosco but do not have big expectation for the plot.

Rating: 3/5

Gilded Chopsticks review

Hey guys! It’s been a while I haven’t reviewed a drama but Gilded Chopsticks is one of the recent few dramas I think it is is alright.

This drama is more of an adventure drama that have some historical figure in it.

I have a mixed feeling about watching this series. It has weak casts but the ancient historical plot about Yongzheng is what I’m interested in. I was surprised that TVB can mix modern comedy in an ancient drama.

Ben Wong as Yongzheng: Ben’s acting was good as always but I can’t see him as a lead. I was surprised that he fits his role. He fell in love with Kei Mo-suet at first sight when she was performing street martial arts. He was a good friend of Cho Lam. I find it funny when Cho Lam and Joey mistaken Ben for an eunuch. Ben helps the crown prince even after he lost his position. Ben fell in love with Cho Lam’s salted fish bun. Ben and Cho Lam’s relationship reminds me of Steven Ma and Jordan Chan in Duke of Mt. Deer 98. At the end Ben lets Cho Lam leave the palace since he knows Cho Lam likes to be free. This is the weakest Yongzheng character I’ve seen. He is unwilling to participate in the scheming. He doesn’t care for the throne. Scholar Wu convinced him to fight for the throne. He married General Nian’s sister and Lady Lai for having allies power. When Lady Nian framed Joey, he couldn’t interfere and let Empress Dowager punished her. Joey and Scholar Wu even able to hid from him about Joey’s fake death. Well, there’s a flaw of being nice or too nice. Yongzheng in this drama reminds me of how the fourteenth prince in Secret Battle of Majesty is nice which makes it a flaw if he ever get used by the bad guys.

Louis Cheung: Louis plays the role of Yinsi the eight prince. He is good as always like he was in Inbound Troubles and Brother’s Keepers. He is a careful and intelligent prince who schemes against Yongzheng. He has good networking skills and managed to get Longkodo to side with him. I would consider Louis more of a semi villain than the villain. I thought the ninth prince was even more evil than him by poisoning Kangxi. He’s not blindly evil. He slapped the ninth prince when he knew that he killed his father. He wants what’s good for the people. In real life, people also needs good networking skills too. He open sa school for the foster kids. I thought it was cute how he teased Joey. He killed himself in the end and told Joey he always loved her.

Wong Cho Lam as Ko Tin Po: Cho Lam is a chef who cares for his friend. You can tell how much he loves Nancy since he is willing to switch his eyes for her when Nancy is blind. He forgives Bob in the end to not let his revenge cycle continues.

Joey Meng: as Kei Mo-suet. She is a martial art street performer. Kangxi mistakenly executed her Dai family. She plays She loved Yinsi and believed that the throne belongs to him. She even helped Yinsi to steal the throne back from Yongzheng.

Nancy Wu as Nin Yeuk-bik: Nancy is great in acting as usual. Her brother is not pleased with her hanging out with Cho Lam since he’s not a royalty. She married Yongzheng on behalf of her brother General Nian. When she got married in the palace, she cut ties with Cho Lam to avoid troubles. Her character is pitiful. She is kind but has to go through the scheming of Lady Nian and lost her baby and her brother got beheaded.

Stephanie Ho: She disguised as a boy going to the palace to search for the Five Taste Master.

Couples:

I believed that Louis Cheung has more chemistry with Joey or is it cause Ben lacks the x factor? i believed Joey loved Louis more than she loved Ben. Would you rather Ben and Joey be together or Louis and Joey?

It’s refreshing to see Stephanie Ho as Mai Su Yiu pairing with Wong Cho Lam. They were a comedic relief when they argued with each other. I liked Mai Siu Yu’s independent character She is scared of thunder but the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star song from Cho Lam calmed her down and helped her win the contest against Funimatsu, a Japanese Chef.

Things I didn’t like:

-The dialogues were a bit too modern. Well, it it has Cho Lam in it, you know that it’s going to have a bit of modern comedy in it.

-The clothes were too flashy and ugly.

– Prince number nine didn’t have enough charm to be the villain and I thought they focused too much screentime on him.

-It’s diverted from the history.

-Ben as Yongzheng in this drama is just too weak as the king.

-The screentime of Joey and Louis were just too minimal. I wished Joey’s character has more things to do than simply be a love interest.

Plot were predictable but it does have a bit of scheming and side relationship plot to keep you watching. I thought the best part was when the Asin Goro tries to find the will which Cho Lam possessed.

Watch it if you like ancient comedies. I would not recommend if you want a real historical political plot.

I would rate this drama a 4 out of 5 stars despite the weak casts but it was entertaining.

A Change of Heart review

A Change of Heart deal with many characters twists and changes. What happens if you found out that your lover has a change of heart? The thing I like about this series is seeing many complex characters changes. This series has a lot of morals at the beginning and ending of each episode and make us think what leads us to do in different situation.

I believe Joey has the hardest role out of the main leads in this drama. She plot everything for her husband and will get rid of anyone getting in her way. After Michael got a heart transplant, his view on society changes which cause a lot of troubles. Michael tries to turn Joey to the right path. Michael is such a good boss to Bosco. Who wouldn’t want a boss that promote you right? Joey and Benjamin use each other to relieve their stress. Benjamin is jealous of Yuet for getting promoted by Michael at a short time. Joey is jealous of Niki being with Michael.

This drama has two cases: Yat’s death and Niki’s mother killer though the series isn’t focused on those cases and has a bunch of random scenes thrown in. I find the second half of this series drags with Niki persist trying to find her mom’s killer and misunderstood Michael for it. Yet it is tear jerking that Niki has to arrest her best friend’s mother. It would be easier for her to arrest someone she doesn’t know right?

Boco’s Yat Doctor Role is everyone dream guy. I honestly prefer him over Yuet though Yuet is funny. Yat cheer Niki up with the smiley cloud and fireflies. Bosco did a good job portraying two different characters. Didn’t really fell for the love for Yuet and Niki. The swimming pool scene was just awkward. Both Yuet and Niki’s personality different. Yuet is amusing but Niki is serious. Niki also has a complex character dealing with her mother’s killer. She has to stay strong as the boss of the police but she has to deal with finding her boyfriend’s killer. She then sees Michael’s personality similar to Yat which leads to Joey’s misunderstanding of Michael and Niki’s relationship.

Vincent Wong, Elaine Yiu, and Mandy Wong brings some entertainment. Elaine’s character is arrogant on the outside but nice on the inside. Vincent Wong likes to play detective. Mandy is a funny con girl.

I feel so sorry for JJ Jia. She’s the most innocent in this drama. She lost her baby. Her boyfriend has an affair with Joey and then got shot by Niki.

The series kinda drags with Sammy blackmailing Joey for money. I did feel poor for Joey getting her face scratched by Lam Keng. Michael end ups dealing with enemies by the law instead of by force. I can see how Joey is frustrated with Michael’s character change. The plastic surgery was unrealistic. It did freaked me out seeing two Niki. How can Joey get a plastic surgery to look exactly like Niki? Ending of this drama is okay to watch. The Joey lookalike was unnecessary. It was touching how Michael hugged Joey and Joey found out that Michael only loves her all along.

I appreciate this series is fast paced though there are some unrealistic and draggy scenes. It’s one of the better drama this year.

Rating: 4/5.

Three Kingdom RPG, Reality Check, and Seasons of Love Overview

Since I’ve finished Three Kingdom RPG, Reality Check, and Seasons of Love during my vacation in Vietnam, I will write an overview of those three series in one post. This will be my first drama post on my come back. 🙂

Three Kingdom RPG
-This is the first time I’ve watched a drama about the history of Three Kingdom. I heard China’s Three Kingdom is really good and there are also many remakes on this drama. I’m not familiar about the history of China so I couldn’t critique of its history. Kenneth’s character annoys me and it was a different character from rhis usual character.Well it’s a hard character to act. Raymond’s beard surprisingly didn’t bother me too much. The plot about war and bad graphics overwhelmed me. Tavia’s character was boring but Tavia did a good job as usual. I prefer Tavia’s ancient look than modern look actually. There were many mini war stories and different characters show up at different time.

-I thought the arranged marriage between Raymond and Kaki was pretty right. Kaki eventually felt she’s not good enough for Raymond but I thought she was a good wife for Raymond always thee giving him suggestions. Kenneth is a flirty guy at the beginning of the drama but eventually falls for the heart of Tavia.

-Ruco Chan and Pierre Ngo appears at the middle f the drama. Ruco got jealous of how Pierre favors Raymond’s intelligence as the counsel.I thought it was interesting how Kenneth used the ham sandwiches to the people at the war so they have more energy to fight, and he taught the card games to Pierre. Pierre thought he wasn’t good as his brother so he keeps on enjoying his life instead of focusing on ruling the world. Later on, Kenneth found out that Pierre killed a famous general, and Kenneth unfortunately becomes the scapegoat. Kenneth arrived in the present in time of the chaos of the drama.

The ending was sad and a bit unrealistic how Tavia went to present at the time Kenneth died from being old.

Reality Check:
-I thought the first five episodes about the boy in the rural village was unique. After the reality show, the series starts to move toward the storyline of Louise Lee’s gambling addiction. When Louise Lee lost everything due to her gambling addiction, Ruco was the only kin there for her. Ruco dislike her biological mother Rebecca and has a lot of misunderstanding toward her.

-I thought there were a lot of newbies in this series which I don’t recall some of the names. Looks like I’m missing out on the new stars in TVB. I’m flattered of how surprisingly good Priscilla Wong is in the series. She is one of the best newbies in TVB. I thought the series shouldn’t dragged too much with the Evergreen Mak and Louise Lee’s family affairs. Would be sweet if there are some romantic lines between Ruco and Priscilla.

-I never really liked Ruco because I always thought Ruco lacked the main lead aura but I liked him in this drama. This drama has a good moral that we should appreciate what we currently have and there are many people less lucky than us. It also has a moral that we should cherish our family.

Seasons of Love:
-Kenneth appears in heaps of episode in the Spring, Summer, and Autumn Seasons as a private investigator and being a matchmaker. I believe the series started when Kenneth first broke up with Myolie and end with Kenneth and Myolie getting back together. I thought the Autumn and Winter Seasons is a bit more complex than the Spring and Summer Seasons.

-The Spring Season is about the Idol Him Law and the flower store owner Toby misunderstand each others personality based on their status. They started to help and like each other. It was an open ending between Toby and Him.

– The Summer Season about Ron and Kate is about Kate doing a reality show trying to find a boyfriend. I thought the reality show was interesting and how Kate deducted points of a doctor for having too many points ahead of the other contestants. Kate met her ex boyfriend Ron Ng who left her due to having one leg amputated. The painting that Ron drew for Kate and wanted to give to her but didn’t have a chance to, was cute.

-The autumn Season had 3 stories in it and it features the word “IF” and how well we can handle the situation. The Vincent story in the Autumn Season was about if Nancy chose to date Vincent and didn’t care about her mother in law feelings. It features Oscar having a kid with JJ in the second story. You can see how Nancy was stubborn in the first 2 stories but I have to admit her acting was really good. Oscar cheated on Nancy with JJ in the first and third story.Nancy manage to change her attitude and be understanding toward Oscar’s mother in the third story. I thought the time traveling transition was not organized therefore it can confuse some viewers.

Inbound Troubles Review

This series shows tours and food of Hongkong and mainland. It has a lot of songs too. I like the background music in this drama.

Choi Sum played by Wong Cho Lam goes from Mainland to Hongkong to participate in the Voice contest and find his long lost cousin. He asked Mung Lo played by Mimi Chu to teach him singing lesson. Mung Lo happens to be Choi Sum’s biological mother. Mung Lo abandoned Choi Sum when he was little for her singing dream. Tommy Wong plays Cho Lam’s father. Tommy is really rich and can hire chef to cook good food right away. Tommy tries to prevent Cho Lam to meet his biological mother.

Roger Kwok is a tourist who got cheated by his fiancee Angela Tong. Angela Tong has a one night stand with Roger’s best friend Siu Shan played by Bob Lam. Angela is greedy for money but then started to love Siu Shan because he’s the one who truly cares for her. Joey Meng, an elegant social worker who loves to help people was there for Roger. Roger and Joey ends up falling in love.

Roger Kwok’s sister Chi Ching played by Ivanna Wong hid from Roger that she is majoring in music. She dated a flamboyant guy Louis Cheung, which happens to be Roger’s boss. Louis Cheung loves fashions and broke up with Ivanna. Louis dated the model Monica D but then Monica ends up dumping him. Cho Lam started to like Ivanna but Ivanna hesitate since they are cousins but ends up accepting him.

Bowie Wu playes Joey Meng’s father. He tried to set up a date for Joey. Helena plays Roger’s grandmother.

Wong Cho Lam, Ivanna, May Chan, and Corrina Chamberland forms the team Oh Baby. They got in the finalist of the singing contest.

Favorite character: Joey Meng as Yik Suet Feit. I liked Joey Meng since Heroic Legend of the Yang II and Chor Lau Heung 2001. She is still gorgeous and has good acting school. Her voice can be irritating but I kinda blamed the comedic script for that.

This is one of the few series starring singer Louis Cheung and Ivanna Wong.

Cho Lam is good at his comedic role just like he was in Best Selling Secrets.

Watch this series if you want a relaxing and comedic drama. Don’t watch it if you are not in to romance and are into action dramas.

I would rate this series 4 out of 5 because I’ve enjoyed this series from the beginning to the end.

Friendly Fire Review

I was hesitating if I should write a review on this drama. Some parts were good but some parts were boring.

I thought Michael Tse and Tavia Yeung was a funny and lovely couple at the beginning. The hugging contest was so cute. They met an old couple who hugged each other to give hope for their grandson with disabilities. After Tavia broke up with Michael. I realized that Tavia always hide her feelings and wouldn’t step up. She assumes a lot. It’s funny when she mistaken Michael having and affair with Grace when Grace was trying to find her earrings. I like how Michael and Tavia can fairly collaborate as lawyers after they broke up. They didn’t let their feelings affecting their cases. They still love each other but wouldn’t tell each other. The cancer part of Tavia didn’t play that much of a role in the series except for the excuse that Tavia breaks up with Michael.

Some noteable performance in this drama was Sammy Leung and Alice Chan.

I first saw Alice Chan in ATV The Snow is Red 1997, and she looks prettier and was a bit more chubby back then. Now Alice is still pretty but looks skinnier and her face looks similar to Sheren Tang or Kenix Kwok to me. Her villain character on the final case stood for me. She never fall in love with a guy before. It’s either she’s picky or no one dare to be with her. Her first love is Derek Kwok. Derek Kwok is an outstanding lawyer but he got beaten by Alice. Love can be blind.

This series is the first time I’ve seen the host Sammy Leung in. He’s looking hot. Not bad for his first time acting. He’s so funny when he courted Sharon. Sharon was like “Have you ever court or kissed a girl before?” I like Sammy and Sharon together but I thought it was kinda rushed how Sharon admit liking Sammy. Thought they should have give more time to show Sharon starts to like Sammy. I did enjoyed their scenes together and how they send each other stuff since Sharon lives next to Sammy.

Sharon looks pretty in this drama. I think the first time I thought Sharon was pretty was in Catch Me Now.

Nice to see Samantha Ko again after Last Steep Ascent. Her character is totally different. I’m impressed how Samantha was calm during her trial and after being raped by Alice’s brother. Oscar Leung likes Samantha Ko but scared to date her because he doesn’t want her to think that he dates her out of pity. It was cute how Oscar helped Samantha during the rain after the rape case. It was also cute how the trainees sung a song to encourage Samantha.

Louis Yuen and Grace Wong plays a comedic couple. At first Louis wants to court Grace to prevent her being the third party between Tavia and Michael but he ends up falling for her.

Some of the cases are mini and some of the cases are big. The cases give the perspective that sometimes you have to go out of your way to win. It made us think if it is right to follow the law. Patrick Tang put gun and drugs in Sammy Sum’s room. Michael Tse bribed a witness to lie that he saw Alice Chan crashed Ben. They know that it is true but don’t have the evidence. In the final case Michael Tse and Sammy Leung gave Alice a scare since she killed his dad.

Some scenes I find ridiculous or lame is when Sharon pulled Sammy’s pants off. I thought that was kinda cliche. There’s also pulling pants off of Kevin Cheng in Ghetto Justice 2 or Kenneth Ma in Man in Charge. The other scene I find it lame is when people laughed at Sammy and Sharon for showing their underpants when they got soaked.

It also showed some sexual scene like when Michael and Tavia took each other’s clothes out. Oscar Leung looks at Samantha’s long legs. Alice Chan kissed Derek.

The bike and car chasing scene between Alice and Ben was ridiculous. How could Ben still get up and ride his bike home. I kinda laughed when Ben returned home all bloodied.

The ending was sweet where everyone gets together. Michael told Sammy to fight for his happiness and find Sharon.

Rate: I would rate 3.5 out of 5 stars for the spectacular performance from the casts but some of the cases are irrelevant and some scenes are unrealistic. It is a good series to watch but not a must watch.