RETURN OF THE CUCKOO

"Return of the Cuckoo" is a series that is set mostly in Macau and stars Julian Chueng Chi Lam, Charmaine Sheh Xi Man, Nancy Sit Ka Yin, Steven Ma, and Michael Tong Man Long. If a theme or moral has to be pinpointed to "Return", it would have to be sacrifice for the ones you love. Julian Chueng plays a mute person, Man Chor, whose muteness was directly caused by his mother when she tried to poison him to death. Saved and brought up by Q Yee (Aunt Q) who is played by Nancy Sit, the two most important women in Man Chor's life are his Q Yee and her daughter, Guan Ho (Charmaine Sheh). The complications start when Man Chor and Guan Ho realize that their love exceeds the boundaries of just brotherly and sisterly love and is trapped in a love triangle with Xi Tao Lie Suern (Steven Ma).
The script for "Return" is rather funny in the beginning with Julian Chueng and Charmaine Sheh bickering all the time as brother and sister. Julian doesn't get to talk much in the series--he's mute!--and communicates through sign language with his voice in the background as a translation for the audience. He is a pretty good performer while Charmaine Sheh is also improving. The subplot story has Michael Tong who, since his unexpected good performance in "The Kung Fu Master", plays Gum Sing, a renegade who is unacknowledged by his own rich father.
Some people have argued that it's unlikely and similar to incest for two people growing up as brother and sister to actually develop the kind of love between man and woman. Psychologically speaking, if in their minds they had always made the distinction that they were of different parents, then I believe that such feelings are possible and not unlikely at all.
I'm not too sure what year the series is supposed to be set in--it looks like present modern--but I did not see muteness to be such a big handicap in society. The series made it seem as if it is such a big hindrance, so much that Man Chor was unable to find a good job because his prospective employers never gave him a chance. It was also mentioned that he was not admitted into a prestigious school because of his muteness. Perhaps things work differently in Hong Kong but in the US, we would probably sue the butts off of the company-in-hire and the school for such discriminations. If a person had the skills and training--especially in the technical fields (think Internet)-- muteness does not appear to be a big problem to me. However, in "Return", Man Chor carried an inferiority complex because of his muteness and was afraid to declare his love for Guan Ho because he thought he was not worthy.
That is what vexed me most about "Return"--as if someone did not have the right to love and marry, and can't become successful just because he is mute! Are there not other ways to communicate between man and is really having a wealthier life superior to having the love of your life? The kinds of sacrifices made by Q Yee and Man Chor for Guan Ho just seemed unreasonable, too good to be true and too unselfish. This kind of storyline has the tinge of "A Kindred Spirit" (which I might add is a plague on mankind, but that is another review) because it goes into such romantic notions about the relationships between people. To me, it is just a form of surrender, a submission to your so-called Fate. Man Chor gives up his love because he thinks another man can provide better for her?! Whatever happened to trying to better your own education and quality of life and fighting for the person you love?

PS I do not own this review !!!

THE GREEN HOPE

Just when you're about to give up on the series that TVB produces, they come out with a savior called "The Green Hope" that surprises the viewer with a refreshing cast and an interesting storyline. The Chinese title translated literally is "New Fresh People" and "Green" is everything new and fresh. With a plot that entails the struggles of those inflicted with mental illnesses and the ordeals of their family and friends, the main cast members includes Bowie Lam Bo Yee, Stephen Fung Tak Lun, Joey Yung Cho Yee, Cathy Tsui Zhi Kay, Yoyo Mung Ka Wai, and Melissa Ng.
For such a new cast, except for Bowie Lam, all the other main cast picks have not made an appearance in a TVB series prior to "Green", though Stephen Fung - from the Dry Band -has made several popular Hong Kong movies ("Gen-X Cops", "Gorgeous", "He Comes From Planet K"). Their performances were pretty good, especially notable were Stephen Fung as the mentally ill younger brother, Fong Ka Him, of Fong Ka Fai (Bowie Lam) and Yoyo Mung as Lai Wah. Joey Yung was cute as Wai Man who pursues Fong Ka Him while Cathy Tsui was also not bad, though her voice seemed to teeter on cracking at times. Considering it is the first TV series for these three, performances are better than average. Another appealing factor of "Green" is of course the new matchups - triangular love between Stephen Fung, Joey Yung, and Cathy Tsui vs. Bowie Lam, Yoyo Mung and Michelle Ng Mei Shuet. Bowie Lam is an experienced actor and gets into his role with ease.
"Green" is a series that is heavy on the love between the two brothers, Fong Ka Fai and Fong Ka Him. It is a series that is deep with morals and good feel but done not in a preaching way. The only faulty points in the series is that flashbacks can get redundant at times and some might complain about the not so fast pace. However, character development is done very nicely at such a pace. Music is also good - the themesong written by Stephen Fung himself - with mixes from Stephen Fung's and Joey Yung's albums.
The ending is probably one of the best parts of the series. "Green Hope" is one of TVB's best modern series out thus far this year. For a while, one was getting worried that TVB would not take a series seriously anymore!

PS I do not own this review !!!

SLIM CHANCES

Chinese Title: "Ngor Yiu Fit Yut Fit" (translates into I Need To Get Fit)

Theme Song: Sung by Miriam Yeung, not sure of the title

# of episodes: 25 (20 when played in Hong Kong and on TVB's official website)
Cast:

Fennie Yuen Kit Ying as Wong Man Yee (Margaret; nicknamed "Mao Kwut", which means cat bones)

Ronald Cheng Zhong Kei as So Bing Man

Annie Man Chung Han as Suen Hao Bik (nicknamed "Din Mao", which means crazy cat)

Rain Lau Yuk Chui as Tim Boh (nicknamed "Boh Boh Lung", which means something like fierce dragon)

Kevin Cheng Ka Wing as Si Zhi Keung (Sean; nicknamed "Song See", which means corpse)

Lydia Shum as Salina Zhong Siu Lai (Salina, called "Sah Jeh", which means sister Sah)

Yuen Wah as So Si Fu ("Master So", father to Man)

Joe Cheng King Kei as Heng Kei

Ah Mong as Sheila (nicknamed "Zhu La", which means female pig)
Plotline
Margaret, Boh, and Bik are best friends with distinct personalities. Bright and fast-thinking Margaret is the top salesperson at her company, while the mouthy Boh, although working at the same company, spends her money on branded goods and is in a constant search for what she calls her "long-term rice ticket", which actually means a wealthy husband. Bik suffers from minor paranoia (just kidding, although it definitely seems like that), is ultra-sensitive to money matters and always guarding her bucks. Although she scratches people when they take her money, deep down she is a good-hearted girl willing to help out her friends whenever needed.
The passive and slightly clued-out Man's group of friends consists of Sean, a freelance advertising agent who entirely fits the epitome of a "flower flower prince" (Cantonese slang meaning a guy who is a player) but who, in reality, is witty and genuine. Sean and Fatty (the horizontally-gifted younger brother to an equally horizontally-gifted Salina) spend their days trying to convince Man to dump irritating big spender girlfriend Sheila, while Fatty temporarily entertains dreams of becoming an actor.
Eventually all of the characters, with the exception of Bik, get fired or laid off from their jobs. Sean ends up at the same company as Bik, much to her annoyance, while Man and Fatty also end up working there. Margaret and Salina partner up to establish a restaurant, and Boh? She drives a taxi. She and Fatty also accidentally sleep together when drunk (much to Boh's horror, who is less than fond of Fatty's looks and lack of riches). Boh gets pregnant, and reluctantly marries Fatty, while the latter caters to Boh's every whim like a slave. Bik and Sean get together, but both realize that Bik finds Sean too insecure, and break up.
Eventually everyone gets back together. Yay.
Comments
Can the plot get anymore predictable? The plot for this series goes nowhere. I have absolutely no clue what the point of the series is. Are the characters trying to get fit (as the series title implies)? The triumph of the underdog (Margaret)? What's with the romantic tension between Salina and Man's dad? The plot goes everywhere and nowhere. It could have been written by a 12-year-old as far as I'm concerned. Situations are contrived and overused. The series is nothing but recycled material, and badly recycled at that. It doesn't help that the cast is composed mainly of C-rate actors, with our leading lady being Lydia Shum, the most annoying actress and person in the HK entertainment industry of the 60's.
Let's start with the acting. Ladies first. I've never liked Lydia Shum, both as an actress and a person. In real life she seems obnoxious and loud, which isn't too far from how she acted her role. Her voice is unbelievably irritating, and like Nancy Sit, her acting is stuck in the opera-ish era of the 60's - noise, noise, noise, more noise, overdone body gestures and facial expressions. Horrible performance.
Fennie Yuen portrayed the strong-willed side of her character well, but for the most part she overdid it. Yes, Margaret is determined and has a "don't mess with me" and "never give up" personality, but Fennie showed no vulnerability in her character. Actually, during the whole series, she came off as icy to me. She has charisma on the screen, but that doesn't mean she's a good actress.
Now, for some compliments. Rain Lau is dependably funny as Boh, but the best performance (although that isn't saying much, considering the others) comes surprisingly from Annie Man. Although not TVB Big Sister material, she is hilarious here as the neurotic number-crunching Bik! Very good performance, and that's comic-wise, not dramatic-wise. She made a cute couple with Kevin Cheng too.
Speaking of Kevin Cheng, he's smoking hot in this series but has yet to prove his acting chops. I hated him in Burning Flame 2 (he was like a piece of wood throughout the entire thing) but here his acting skills have improved. Not a great performance by any means, but at least I wasn't annoyed (Lydia Shum) or bored (Fennie Yuen). Ronald Cheng brings his Hong Kong movies' comic presence into TVB, and that's useful as the slow-thinking Man, but he is definitely not meant to be the leading male. Yuen Wah and Joe Cheng are ok in their roles, and never-seen-before Tuck also handles the Mr. Nice Guy character of Fatty pretty well.
A few scenes stand out for me in this pointless series: 1) When Fatty talks back to his sister when she tries to convince him that acting isn't a realistic career. He says "Can fat people not have talent?". A very sad scene actually. 2) After Sean first confesses his feelings to Bik, and they go to a bar and listen to Heng Kei's song, which was actually written for Bik. Heng Kei's sad look as he sings and watches the two together was actually pretty touching. Sad scene also. 3) When Sean tries to lead Bik across the street to see if she trusts him, and she ends up letting go of his hand and opening her eyes before they even start to cross. Very disappointing for Sean. Even more ridiculous is the demands that Bik makes and acting like she is the "right one" after their fight/breakup.
Hmm, all the scenes that I liked were sad... maybe because the rest of it was boring. I probably fast-forwarded more than half while watching.
From the Grapevine
Lydia Shum's daughter (fathered by well-known veteran Adam Cheng) Yan Yee (aka Joyce) is planning to enter the entertainment business, and recently went through an intensive diet where she went from 230 or so pounds to only 130 or so. Also, for those of you who don't know, Joe Cheng is Canadian. He worked as a radio DJ in Toronto for many years and off-and-on acts for TVB. I've actually met him. Very nice guy and yes, the songs in the series that he sings are written by him.

PS I do not own this review !!!

A Love Song for You

Child
By: Little Fox
Re-written by: Me

Forever Love

When I saw you on the day we met
I know by then that I fell in love
A love that I
Can never turn away

You were to me special guy
You gave me joy every time you smiled
Each time you cried
I’m at your side to care

Boy you don't know
You'll never know
How far I'd go to give you all my love can give
To see you through
And god it's true
I'll die for you if I must to see you live

How many days had came and went
So many months have now been spent
For time ran fast and now at last you’re gone

Now what has gotten over you
You seem to hate what I’ve being doing
Speak out your mind why do you find I’m wrong

Boy you don't know
You'll never know
How far I'd go to give you all my love can give
To see you through
And god it's true
I'll die for you if I must to see you live

And now your path has gone astray
Boy you don't know what to do or say
You're so alone no friends are on your side

Boy as you now break down in tears
Let I drive away your fears
Where must you go my arms stay open wide

Boy you don't know
You'll never know
How far I'd go to give you all my love can give
To see you through
And god it's true
I'll die for you if I must to see you live

October 21

Let's say it's begin on Monday after PE. I heard my name being called to the office. So I went up, the assistant principal told me that I got a academic pass due to the fundraiser and I get to choose which class to use it, but I don't know which one to pick. Then I saw candy in math class so I picked it. On Tuesday or Monday, my team have a soccer match against his team in PE. He kicked the ball and I tried to block it, I didn't success kicking the ball out but it went straight to the side of my stomach and hit my bone. My friend, Ave, stood next to me and screamed : "OMG! You just hit Tiana." I was holding my stomach after the ball hit me, it was hurt but is not as hurt as my heart even the ones that I don't know concerned about me but he just look at me and walk away without a word. I felt very angry and I told Nhu-because she's my teammate that until I hit the ball to his head then I'm satisfy but I know for sure that I'm not going to be happy if that happen because I love him so much. It felt like a heartbreak to me, it happened lots of time but I'm still don't get use to it. Later at lunch his friend, Deejay, asked me why I don't talk to him and I like him. I told Deejay that because he hated me that's why I'm scared or I don't want to talk to him. Deejay told me that because I don't talk to him that's why he hated me, and it I talk to him he's not going to hate me. Now back to the dream, it was Halloween at that time and I'm in Mrs. Beals's class and it was funny that we went Trick-or-treating and later that math period, we have a substitute. We didn't do anything for math we were just getting candies and have a Halloween party. Our sub wants the class to sit close together so she arranged the sits and I get to sit next to him, his friend, Mico, in front of us. There was a big candy bag, I'm on the side for candies, my friend next to me try to get in for candies. It was so funny that my little crush grab my friend out and went in next to me, I wonder he wants to get candies or to be next to me. Later my other friends weren't be able to get candies because it was so crowded and they didn't want to go in, so I gave them all of my candies and I don't have any candies left. On the other hand, he and Mico got lots of candies and asked me to have it together, we sat and ate it and laughed, I tried to talk to him liked Deejay told me. It was a really good thing that when the period ended he asked me to be his gf and ours relationship started, it sure jump so fast. After school there is another party that belonged to his friends, he brought me with him. Everyone was laughing and especially Deejay, he kept making fun of me, but I love it though. Like a few hours later or a long time later, something happen between that time was a mystery, I have no of it. But suddenly we jump to a wedding it was just weird. It seems like I don't know what to do for a wedding and they took two people for an example. They didn't take Mico and Summin (a couple that's also our friends) nor me and him, but he and my friend, Nhu. Another friend and I always suspect that Nhu also like him and now this happen, it was just so weird. Then no one really pay attention about the couple though, after they both said "I do", they suddenly kiss each other, and it's looked like Nhu did it willingly. Everybody was giving a long "ooohh", the thunder appear, I didn't hear the thunder but a loud "crack" I know immediately it's the sound of my heart cracking, breaking and falling apart. The rain started to come down, everyone is still surprised about the two, I ran away some of friend-I don't know why they there and Nhu followed me but stop when the rain is too big. I kept running and he's didn't follow me, I stop, having no balance and fall down sat there and crying. It was the weirdest dream I ever have, I wish it just end at the part where we came to the after school party and met his friends, it'll be the best dream ever if it end like that. Life is never perfect and fair, its not like what you always it to be. Now back to normal life something happen that is very bad at lunch, when I told my friend that she said it's really bad because that happen. At lunch he and Nathan went to the bench after finish their lunch like always but there is no space left, and it always happen to be the place where I put my backpack and binder is the only space left. Since I'm not there, he put my backpack and binder down in the wrong position and and my binder fell open. It opened in the position of the pocket where I put all the stuff about me and him. In there are cards with our names and wishes that we'll be together forever from my friend, and hearts, and a drawing of me and him from Nhu. Nhi and I sat on the back of the building and I walked back I saw what happen I turn around and told Nhi and told her to go get the binder and her backpack for me I'll go to the restroom. When I got out something worse happen, Nhi opened to the pocket to check is the drawing still there. When she open it Dylan grab the drawing and ran to him, trying to show him what it is. Nhi ran in between Dylan and him trying to take the drawing back and bump into him, fell his Gatorade. She got the drawing back though but she told me he was mad she didn't even dare to look at his face and she said sorry a lot. All of his friend was there : Nathan, Deejay, Mico, and him I can't face them until they forgot about this. I hope nothing will happen tomorrow, such a horrible day I have today.

GREED OF MAN (CON.)

This is my greed of man videos collection, I will not post up the two themesongs because it takes so long, but enojy !!!

DANCE OF PASSION

Chinese Title: "For Moh Wong Sah" (literally translates to fire dance yellow sand) No. of episodes: 32 Year: 2006 Cast: Ada Choi Siu Fun as Jiu Yook Bowie Lam Bo Yee as Yim Man Hei Gigi Lai Zhi as Kai Ming Fung Moses Chan Ho as Sung Dong Sing Kenny Wong Tak Bun as Sung Dong Yeung Charmaine Sheh Si Maan as Ka Chun Fun Maggie Siu Mei Kei as Long Yuet Supporting Cast: Chung King Fai as Yim Lo Ye (father to Man Hei) Chan Hung Lit as Uncle Ma Chow Ka Yee as Siu Kam Rebecca Chan Sau Yu as Siu Hung (aunt to Man Hei) Foreword Dubbed 'War and Beauty II' by some due to the reappearance of more than half of its cast, I would consider this drama to be an equally good, if not better, TVB series. I've been waiting and waiting for TVB to return to its days of writing a script consisting of strong characters, secrets, lies, revenge, and hypocrisy and The Dance of Passion gives me all of that. An exceptionally well-acted, compelling series. Highly recommended. Quick Summary Northwestern China, 1930's. Yim Ka Po is a remote desert village located somewhere in northwestern China. It is a village inhabited by two families battling in a power struggle, the ruling Yim family and the more or less useless, gambling Sung family. The Yim tribe is headed by Yim Man Hei, a ruthless, deaf man and the Sung tribe is headed by Jiu Yook, the intelligent widow of the former Sung leader. Their lives are governed by their traditional emphasis on the purity and 'honour' of the women in the village, with any kind of destruction of a woman's honour having the power to bring the entire tribe down. This creates both internal and external tension within the village, with both families engaged in a cat-and-mouse game to reveal any suspicious activity concerning the women of the village. The women, in turn, rise above their suffering in an effort for self-preservation, sometimes befriending each other for support (Ming Fun and Chun Fun) and at other times turning against each other in the worst of ways (Long Yuet and Kwai Lan). The tension and drama all culminate in one of the most ridiculous endings in TVB history, which all but destroy the credibility of this series. You really have to see the ending for yourself because it is so hilariously out of place that I am pulling my hair out just thinking about it. I'm still mad about the ending. Anyway, for those of you who want to know who dies, here's the list – Jiu Yook, Jiu Yook's son Dong Hiu, Kwai Lan, and Bowie becomes blind too. On Acting Ada Choi was just weird. Usually she plays two kinds of characters. Type 1 is playful, young, and ever-energetic (Armed Reaction IV, Healing Hands I-II, Files of Justice), Type 2 is ladylike, gentle, and intelligent (Where the Legend Begins)... and as a person, Ada comes off as girly, friendly, and genuine. Jiu Yook is none of those things. She is young in age, but old in the sense that she has a high social status and is also a mother. She is calculative and yet everything she did (bad or good) was motivated by one thing only: her beloved son, so in that sense she is compassionate and does have a heart. While Ada did a good job portraying the many facets of Jiu Yook, including her transformation to the mellow, I-live-for-nothing-now-that-my-son-is-dead woman... there is something that isn't quite right with her. It could have been a breakthrough role, but in my opinion Ada was wrongly cast. Gigi Lai's performance gave me the shock of my life. She has never been on the top of my 'Actress to Watch' list, especially after her horribly overrated and overacting performance in War and Beauty (W&B). She's a sweet girl in real life, but she is one of TVB's ugliest criers (along with Flora Chan, Yoyo Mung, and Tavia Yeung). Thank goodness she only has one or two short crying scenes in DOP. In fact, she is exceptional in here and I commend this series for changing my opinion of her. Kai Ming Fung was my favourite character of this series, and Gigi gave her depth, strength, intelligence, and plenty of personality. Dare I say, she delivers the series' strongest female performance. Charmaine Sheh is in her 700th role as the weak, quiet waif and delivers nothing extraordinary. With that said, she has surprisingly excellent chemistry with Moses Chan and her friendship chemistry with Gigi Lai (who her character rivalled in W&B) is equally phenomenal. There are times when she whines too much as Chun Fun, but in general she gains the audience's sympathy with her character's many troubles. I have never really liked Maggie Siu, probably because she often plays icy characters (Healing Hands, At the Threshold of an Era) and even comes off as cold and unfriendly in real life. But I felt she gave a very nice performance here as the gentle, devoted wife Long Yuet. She was equally good when her character became a little stronger and smarter when she had to take over the family's leadership role. Good chemistry with Kenny Wong too. Kenny Wong, the least well-known member of the main cast, gives a good performance of a useless man. Not great, but adequate. But I have two words for him: Button up. No one needs to see your bare chest for more than one episode, thanks. Bowie Lam was excellent as usual. His performance was somewhat overshadowed by other actors whose performances improved so much in this series from past performances (Gigi Lai, Moses Chan, Maggie Siu, even Charmaine Sheh). Bowie, on the other hand, is consistently excellent. In particular, he made a very convincing deaf man who spent much of his life concealing the fact that he was deaf. He also has great chemistry with the entire cast. Moses Chan was a shocker too. I have never liked him in drama, but here he proves that he has improved a lot. He made a lovely couple with Charmaine Sheh's Chun Fun and achieves a remarkable balance between controlled emotion and explosive anger as Dong Yeung that I can only describe as shocking. I guess this series proves that many in TVB can act, as long as they're in the right role. Ke-le-fe nominated for Most Improved Actress Chow Ka Yee was wonderful as Siu Kam. Her performance was impressive simply because she was able to effectively emote even though she was behind a scarf 90% of the time. The older actress who plays Kwai Laan was also really good. Chan Hung Lit's accent is annoying as hell but he is one competent veteran actor and this series proves is once again. The one glaringly bad performance in this series comes from Chung King Fai, who plays Yim Lo Ye. A true pity because he is the oldest actor (and supposedly the veteran one of the cast). Why was he so awful? Because he seemed like a jolly old man, like Santa Claus almost. Yim Lo Ye is supposed to be cold, calculative, and unbelievably chauvinistic, but I see no sign of that kind of sinister intelligence in Chung King Fai's performance. I can only imagine what Lo Hoi Pang would have done with this role. There is also something wrong with the way Chung talks, like his speech is rhythmically wrong. I can't quite explain it. Basically when he talks there are unnatural pauses and he also speaks way too slowly – by the end of his sentences my eyes have already glazed over! Rebecca Chan's totally blank expression as his mentally disabled sister was more interesting to watch. On Characters Favourite Character: Kai Ming Fung. A strong woman who was truly in love with her husband and did everything in her power to protect him. Favourite Couple: I do like Ming Fung and Man Hei, no matter how badly Man Hei treated her. I also liked Long Yuet and Dong Yeung at the beginning of the series. Dong Sing and Chun Fun were fine but too predictable. Most Useless: A toss-up between Sung Dong Yeung and Yim Man Tin. Sung Dong Yeung was rash, impulsive, and unable to protect his family – he's like a cow, all strength and no intelligence. Man Tin was basically a dog to his father, obedient with no mind of his own, except his lovesick obsession with Ming Fung, who he earlier abandoned because he was such a coward. Greatest Transformation: Long Yuet. Though Jiu Yook could also take this award, her transformation was reasonable, because she lost the one motivation she had, her son. Long Yuet, on the other hand, suddenly became a more manipulative, cunning, and cold person for her family's interests, while her love for her husband (which is what drove her at the beginning) somewhat dimmed at the end. I blame the writers. Most Pitiful: Nope, not Chun Fun, who many a time whined about how everyone connected to her is ultimately doomed. Not Ming Fung, who was raped by Man Hei. Not Jiu Yook for being married at a young age. I thought the most pitiful was Kwai Lan, who was not only raped by her master but became pregnant, then suffering from illness when her fetus died and was never removed from her stomach, and then ultimately murdered (by Long Yuet, of all people). Or maybe Dong Hiu, Jiu Yook's young son who was accidentally shot and killed by Man Hei. Best Scenes Plenty. 1. When Ming Fung confronts Man Hei about her will to leave and how she will do anything to leave: “If you don't let me leave I will continue to do everything in my power to do so. One day passes and I will burn down your house. Another day passes and I will burn down your business. As long as I am your wife, I will be against you”. 2. Whenever the two families meet to discuss various issues. Enormous tension and amazing acting by some of the veterans. 3. When Ming Fung discovers that her aunt-in-law (Rebecca Chan) isn't actually mentally disabled. Only an actress of Chan's calibre can convey so convincingly without uttering a single word. Things That Make You Go “Huh?” - How Ming Fung ended up falling in love with Man Hei. She had always been against her arranged marriage and loathed the man, and then he ended up raping her as well. What woman in her right mind would end up falling in love with a man you already hated and then raped you as well? Totally illogical. - Same goes for Chun Fun. In a sense Dong Sing raped her as well because Chun Fun thought she was sleeping with Dong Yeung. How on earth did she end up falling in love with Dong Sing? - Did Man Hei actually love Jiu Yook or was he just regretful about accidentally killing her son? I suspect he did love her for some time but then realized that Ming Fung was the woman for him. Criticisms There are some negative reviews out there about this series, and also websites and media reporting that this series started out with high ratings and then declined in popularity as the drama went on. Although personally I highly enjoyed this series, I can understand why the ratings dropped so drastically over time. Here are the three main criticisms I have with this series. - Cinematography: Although the desert and mountain terrain is breathtaking at first glance, the series is eternally stuck in its yellowish background that gets very tiresome on the eyes. Trust me, by the 15th episode I thought I'd be getting jaundice. - The premise of the series can really turn off modern audiences – in this day and age where La Femme Desperado wins the TVB award for Best Series, I'm pretty sure many people feel disgusted by how much women suffered in the storyline of this series. I know I was one of the ones who were pretty sickened by it. While War and Beauty was adored for its presentation of women as strong, intelligent, and powerful figures, I figure that you have to see this series as entertainment and not get so caught up in the whole 'omigod I can't believe they treat women this way' social aspect in order to enjoy this drama for what it is – good writing, good direction, good acting - The ending: I praised the writers of War and Beauty for giving us an unconventional yet fitting ending, and I condemn the writers of The Dance of Passion for ruining the previous excellent 31 episodes with the final 10 minutes of the drama where they unsuccessfully attempted to 'connect' the ancient element of this series to the present day with scenes of tourists in the modern age visiting and taking photos of the village. This, along with the scene of an old granny who looked nothing like Charmaine Sheh grinning from ear to ear as she spotted the aged Moses Chan in the crowd was supposed to be touching, but I laughed. Through the Grapevine I watched an interview with the cast members shortly after I watched this series. Some interesting discoveries (voted by cast members): Gigi was the pickiest member of the cast and has a long list of phobias including heights, bugs, and germs. She also packed so much for filming that she exceeded the travel limit. Bowie was voted the most caring cast member: he bought down jackets for the entire cast as well as the filming crew. Moses Chan and surprisingly Charmaine Sheh were voted most able to withstand the tough conditions of the desert setting (including sand blowing everywhere, a mini tornado during filming and getting stuck in a well for hours to film one of their love scenes). This series was nominated for a slew of TVB Awards including Best Series, Best Actor/Actress, Best Supporting Actress/Actor, and Most Improved Actress. Kenny Wong won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Dong Yeung in this series. PS I do not own this review.

THE REMEMBRANCE

Cast:

Chilam Cheung

Kenix Kwok

David Siu

Betsy Cheung
Summary: (Spoilers!) The story starts out as Chilam and his non-blood brother David are going back to Shanghai for a new beginning. There are some flashbacks which tell the two men’s childhood stories. 17 years ago, Chilam’s family went to Shanghai because his father had to start his new job as chief of police. The leader of Shanghai triads wanted to bribe his father so that his father would cover the triads’ illegal work. However, his father was a very good man and he refused to accept any money. The leader of triads then hired his henchmen to assassinate him. Both Chilam’s father and mother were blown up in a restaurant. Chilam then became an orphan. David was also an orphan and he adopted Chilam as his brother. Both Chilam and David grew up to become professional killers.
The two men are in Shanghai and have been hired by a wealthy man to assassinate the leader of the triad. On the same day, Kenix and her father have just come back from France. Kenix's father is hired to be a French-Chinese translator for an important meeting. Kenix and Chilam get to meet each other and Chilam then finds out that Kenix was the baby that he had met on a train 17 years ago. Back then, while Chilam’s family was on their way to Shanghai, Kenix’s parents were trying to run away with her in their arms. A rich and powerful army man wanted to marry Kenix’s mother; therefore, the couple tried to get away. However, they were caught and the mother had to go with the man. Kenix’s father then thought that his wife had committed suicide and was very depressed. He took Kenix with him and they both left Shanghai for France. Chilam, the young boy, had witnessed everything; therefore, even though he only knew Kenix for a day, he already knew of her past.
Chilam and David are preparing for their new mission to kill the leader of the triads. One night, David goes to a bar called Xa Loi Phi and meets the lady owner there. Her name is Betsy. He falls in love with her right away. He tells her that he has to do something very important tomorrow and promises to come back to marry her. Then the two men go off to do their work. The scene takes place at a ball. Coincidentally, Kenix and her father are there also. Chilam sees Kenix playing the piano and then the shooting starts. Kenix is scared and tries to hide from the flying bullets. Her father goes up the stairs to rescue her and Chilam jumps up there also. There is a guard standing between Kenix’s father and Chilam. Chilam tries to shoot the man but accidentally shoots her father. Her father dies. For some reason, Kenix becomes blind; perhaps because of the gunfire smoke.
Chilam and David fail their mission and try to run away. David tells Chilam to go to the bar to take care of Betsy. Chilam gets chased and it is at this time that he meets Ching. Ching is the daughter of the king of triads. The rich man who hired Chilam and David now sees that their mission has failed. He orders his henchmen to kill the two. David has to hide and tells Chilam to go tell the leader of the triads that David knows who wants to kill him. The leader then hides David in jail so that nobody can find him and waits till the day of David’s release to know who is behind the assassination.
Ching falls in love with Chilam. Meanwhile, Chilam finds out that Kenix is blind and that she tried to commit suicide in hospital. He immediately goes there and lies that he is her father’s best friend. Now that she doesn’t have any relatives, he will take care of her. He takes her to Xa Loi Phi bar and leaves Kenix in the care of Betsy. Ching then invites Chilam out on a date with her and while he is not home, things happen. Betsy’s drunken brother accidentally goes to Kenix’s room and tries to rape her. Kenix gets scared and runs out on the street. Because she is blind, she gets lost and is kidnapped by a man. This man then sells Kenix into prostitution. On the way home, Betsy sees a person wearing Kenix’s shoe but she doesn’t know that it is Kenix. Chilam then gets home and gets mad at Betsy’s brother. He runs out to the streets and finds another of Kenix's shoes. Betsy says that she might know where Kenix is and they go to find the man who leads them to the brothel. Ching wants to go with them, but Chilam gets mad at her and yells at her to go home.
At the brothel, Chilam rescues Kenix and is beaten up by the owner’s henchmen. The owner says that if he wants to take Kenix out of there, he has to take part in a boxing match and win because the owner has put a heavy bet on it. Chilam is beaten up so badly but he tells himself that he must win because he has to rescue Kenix. Suddenly, Ching’s father who is the leader of the triads comes and solves the problem. He asks Chilam to work for him but Chilam refuses.
Betsy understands Chilam and she says that Chilam must have fallen for Kenix for he risked his life to rescue her. Chilam starts to realize that he loves Kenix. However, he knows that one day when Kenix regains her sight, she will recognize that he was the one who shot her father. He refuses Ching’s love for him. Ching gets depressed and decides to be a nun. Meanwhile, David is released from prison. The leader of the triads find out that his friend’s son is the person behind his assassination. He solves his triads’ problem and wants David and Chilam to work for him. David is really happy because he sees that this is his chance to get rich and become a leader. Chilam doesn’t care about the work and only stays to support David.
David later finds out that Kenix’s father was shot by Chilam and that Chilam has fallen for her. David tells Chilam that it is dangerous to keep her with them. From that time on, he starts to suspect Kenix of pretending to be blind and always picks on her. Chilam sees that and he decides to buy a new house and takes Kenix out with him. He buys a ring and asks her to marry to him. However, at this time, Kenix has to do a surgery for her eyes, which means she can see again. Chilam knows that when Kenix can see again, he will lose her. However, he can’t be that selfish so he lets her do the surgery. He asked Betsy to take care of Kenix because he has decided to leave Shanghai. He doesn’t want Kenix to see him. When Kenix can see again, she starts looking for him. When she sees him, she recognizes the murderer and then realizes that the man she loves is the murderer. She goes mad, holds a knife and accidentally stabs him near the heart. She runs outside and Chilam chases after her. She says that everything he has told her was a lie. Chilam tells her that he has lied a lot to her but his love for her is true. He says that he has known this day but he couldn’t control his feelings for her. He cries and says that he truly loves her. Kenix declares him to be her enemy and that she cannot love the person who has killed her own father. She buys a ticket and decides to leave for France but later, she cannot leave. Chilam goes wild when he thinks that Kenix has left. David punches him on the face and tells him to wake up to make a new start. Chilam obeys David but deep inside, he isn’t happy.
David and Chilam are the trusted aides of the leader but the leader somehow likes Chilam more. He judges that Chilam is a good person and David can betray him at any time. He later decides to kill David and wants to give his properties to Chilam. Chilam of course doesn’t want money but David starts to suspect that Chilam will betray him. He also thinks that his love, Betsy, is falling for Chilam. He begins to get jealous and beats Chilam. Betsy then tells him that Chilam doesn’t love her. He only loves Kenix.
After leaving Chilam and Betsy, Kenix has nowhere to stay. She runs out of money and wants to find a job. She reads the paper and sees that someone is hiring a translator who knows French. She wants to apply but then finds out that the place is really a brothel with professional prostitutes. The owner there persuades her to be a prostitute and she in her depressed moments agrees. At the club, Kenix gets noticed by a very wealthy man named Fung who loves her at first sight. He pays her to be his partner for one month. While they are on the street, Chilam sees Kenix and chases after her into a drug place. He asks Fung about her, but Fung says Kenix’s name in French. Fung doesn’t know Kenix’s real name and says that she is a professional prostitute. Chilam thinks that he has mistaken, so he leaves.
Fung takes Kenix to a meeting with other people. Coincidentally, those people include David and Chilam. Kenix sees Chilam and starts to run away. Chilam chases after and catches her. She has changed her name and doesn’t admit that she was the girl he knew. She says words that hurt Chilam’s feelings and leaves. However, deep inside, she is hurt as well. Chilam becomes so depressed that because of him, she has decided to ruin her own life by being a prostitute.
Fung’s identity is then revealed. He is actually a secret agent who works for the Chinese government. He and his people do underground work to help prevent the Japanese from invading China. Suspecting that Fung is not just an ordinary man, Chilam forces Kenix to leave him. Fung then tries to kill Chilam because Chilam has known everything. However, when Fung is about to shoot Chilam, Kenix, who always wants Chilam to die, pushes Fung to the side and the bullet doesn’t hit Chilam. Then Fung tells Kenix to leave him because he has his missions. He doesn’t know that if someday, he will be forced to kill her to keep the secrets. Chilam tells Kenix to leave the prostitution but she doesn’t listen. He then goes to see the Shanghai’s leader of triads’ wife, who is Kenix’s long lost mother. Kenix insults her mother for re-marrying another man and she then leaves Shanghai without telling anyone. Also at the same time, David keeps suspecting that Chilam might betray him. Chilam says that he won’t fight with David just for money and feels guilty about Kenix’s mischief, so he decides to leave Shanghai and heads for A Nhi Bang, his homeland.
Ching, who is a nun right now, misses Chilam and decides to go to A Nhi Bang looking for him. They meet each other at A Nhi Bang and encounter the Japanese soldiers. The soldiers try to kill them and they have to hide in an empty house located in a snowy mountain. Ching’s church-uniform is accidentally burned, a sign that Ching is no longer a nun. At one night in the house, Ching somehow induces Chilam so the two sleep together. Chilam promises Ching to take care of her forever. On the next day, Chilam wants to go down the mountain to look for people and food. He hears voices of children from a school. He goes near and surprisingly, Kenix is the teacher of the class. She tells him that she has forgiven his guilt and that she wants to be with him. Hurtfully, Chilam already has a relationship with Ching but he tells Kenix that no matter what happens, she is the only one he loves the most. Kenix decides to stay at A Nhi Bang and tells Chilam and Ching to go back to Shanghai. Ching then discovers that she and Kenix are half-sisters. Later, all of them go back to Shanghai.
While Chilam is at A Nhi Bang, David plans to assassinate the leader of triads. However, his plans fail and he has to hide from the police and the guards. Chilam finds David and tries to get him out of Shanghai. The leader’s guards follow them and send guards to kill David. David knows ahead and now he mistakenly believes that Chilam has betrayed him. He then reveals to Chilam that he was the person who put the bomb in a restaurant to kill Chilam’s parents. Chilam is shocked by the news and says that he has to kill David to get revenge for his parents. However, Betsy stops Chilam; David and Betsy then get on the truck and drive away. They don’t know that a bomb is set on the truck so everything explodes. Chilam believes that David and Betsy have died. The leader soon finds out that Chilam is the son of the chief police who he had murdered 17 years ago. Knowing that Chilam is looking for the enemy who killed his parents, the leader sends people to murder Chilam.
At this time, Ching wants to get together with Chilam. Kenix meets Fung again and Fung reveals that he truly loves her. Chilam gets jealous and wants to leave Shanghai with Kenix. He is afraid to tell Ching the truth, so he writes her a letter. Ching guesses the content of the letter and wants to speak with Chilam in person. At this time, the leader has his guard to shoot Chilam. Ching runs to Chilam and accidentally gets shot. She becomes unconscious and doesn’t want to wake up. Chilam promises Ching that he will marry her and that the letter is a proposal. Then Ching wakes up and they have to prepare for the wedding. On the night before the wedding, Chilam and Kenix spend their last time together. In their saddest moments, they indeed sleep together.
The next day at the wedding church, David phones Chilam and tells him who is really behind his parents’ assassination, and that is the leader of triads, Ching’s father. The leader knows that Chilam has known everything, he still agrees the wedding because he knows that his daughter truly loves Chilam. At that night, he commits suicide so that his daughter will have happiness with Chilam. He also passes his entire legacy to Chilam. David wants the leader and Chilam to kill each other. However, it turns out that Chilam gets the entire legacy, David has gone wild. Therefore, he decides to join into the Japanese forces and indeed becomes one of their leaders. At this time, Kenix finds out that she is pregnant. Fung asks her to marry him and that he will accept the baby as his own child. Kenix agrees and after the wedding, they both leave for France.
Three years later in Shanghai:
It is the 3rd anniversary of Chilam and Ching's marriage. Kenix and Fung come back to Shanghai because Fung has another mission to do. Chilam, Ching, Kenix, Fung, and Betsy all meet again at Betsy’s bar. Chilam and Kenix still have feelings for each other. Chilam keeps wanting to see Kenix so he goes to Kenix’s house. At this time, Betsy has a son by David. Kenix also has a three-year-old daughter named Nhu, who is also Chilam’s daughter but he doesn’t know. Ching gets mad upon knowing that Chilam keeps seeing Kenix, so Chilam promises her that he won’t anymore. He starts to concentrate on being a good husband.
The Japanese are invading China. Chinese important people have problems with each other; one person doesn’t believe the other. They have to unite to fight back Japan. There is a man whom everybody trusts. He will come to Shanghai to unite the Chinese forces. However, the Japanese wants to kill him, therefore, he will only come if he knows that he is under a perfect protection. Fung and his leader see that at Shanghai right now, Chilam is the only person who can take this responsibility. Fung goes to see Chilam and asks him to provide forces and guards to protect this important man. Chilam refuses to help. He says that he doesn’t know anything about politics, so he won’t join them. Fung tries to persuade Chilam to help but he fails. At the end, Fung thinks of a plan which he knows that once he applies this plan, he will lose his happy family. He takes Kenix’s daughter, Nhu, and hides her. He then goes to tell Chilam that Nhu is his daughter with Kenix and that if he doesn’t agree to help, Nhu will be killed. Chilam indeed agrees. Kenix gets angry at Fung and decides to leave him.
Chilam provides his people to protect the important man. On the other hand, David with his Japanese forces tries everything to kill this man. David doesn’t mean to help the Japanese; he just wants to make Chilam’s life miserable. Ching then finds out that her husband and Kenix have a daughter. She gets mad and slaps Kenix. Kenix tells Ching the truth that Chilam only loves her, that they had planned to leave Shanghai together, and that the letter wasn’t a proposal but a break-up letter. Ching then realizes that Chilam doesn’t love her. So she now tries to help her sister to get Nhu back.
David later discovers the hiding place of the important man and goes there to kill him. The man dies and the Chinese forces have broken. Fung’s leader gets Chilam to be the responsible person, so Chilam gets caught. Chilam tells Betsy to take everybody out of Shanghai to avoid danger. Kenix wants to rescue Chilam so she agrees to get back with Fung so that Fung will release Chilam. On the day that Ching, Betsy and her daughter leave Shanghai, Chilam is released. Fung drives Kenix and her daughter to the train station to unite with Chilam. Fung knows that Kenix doesn’t love him and he also has his missions to do. He can’t go to France with her. Chilam finds out that Kenix leaves with Fung, so he goes find her. They all leave Shanghai together and head for Thien Son.
The Japanese people are invading Thien Son. Kenix wants Chilam and Ching to be together, so she takes her daughter and leaves. Ching also wants Kenix and Chilam together, so she also leaves. Betsy meets David again and David thinks that his wife and Chilam are living together. He gets mad and shoots into their house wildly. He accidentally shoots his own son who is also in the house. David takes his son’s body and leaves the place. Chilam and Betsy get chased by the Japanese and then get separated. Months later, Chilam meets Ching at a hospital. She is now a real nun and taking care of the wounded people from the war. She tells him that she now has found her true happiness. He then joins a group of soldiers and goes back to Shanghai.
Years later, he becomes a policeman and the Chinese have driven the Japanese people out of China. He goes back to Xa Loi Phi Bar and meets Betsy there. Betsy takes him to a pagoda to see a person. That person is David. David has become a monk to live a quiet life. He has regretted his guilt and now wants to do good work. Chilam then goes to a clock repairing shop and recognizes Kenix’s clock. He keeps standing in front of the shop to wait if somebody will take the clock. One day, a girl comes in and takes the clock. He follows the girl to a house. He recognizes that this house was the one he bought for Kenix when she was blind. A woman comes out and it is really Kenix. She recognizes Chilam and they hug each other.
My Opinion:
Performance: Chilam Cheung: During this time Chilam just entered showbiz; therefore, I'm very surprised and impressed to find his acting so natural and convincing in this early work of his. He has successfully portrayed every trait of his character. Great job!
Kenix Kwok: Even though this was only her second serial for TVB, she has indeed done a wonderful job. She was very convincing playing a blind girl. You could tell her eyes were not moving but still speaking to give you the feelings. She was also excellent at playing a girl who was torn between love and hatred toward her man. Kenix did a great job as a newcomer in this piece of work.
David Siu: No doubt, David has never disappointed me in any role he played. He was just simply excellent, very convincing as an ambitious man who never trusted anybody.
Betsy Cheung: I notice this actress rarely appears in series nowadays. The last series I saw of her was Cold Blood Warm Heart. She was a great actress who was good in every role she got.
The overall plot: Remembrance was indeed one of the best TVB works I saw. The story was very well plotted and well casted. It is definitely worthy of collection.
Favorite character: Chilam Cheung
Favorite villain: David Siu
Favorite couple: Chilam-Kenix: It is a shame that TVB does not pair this couple again in a second series. They definitely have chemistry. If TVB ever pairs them again as a love couple, it's like a dream come true for me.

PS I do not own this review.

LIFE FOR LIFE

"Life for Life" is surprisingly not as bad a TV series as I thought it was going to be. The cast ensemble, consisting of Cheung Dat Ming, Marianne Chan Miu Ying, Mui Siu Wai, Che Tin Wah, and others, was a refreshing combination of actors and actresses. The series, as advertised, is about a novice Soul-Snatcher (Che Tin Wah) of the heavens who fell in love the first day on the job with the generous Fong Ka Hei (Mui Siu Wai) who doesn't have long to live because of a health ailment. Deciding to switch the fates of Fong with the bossy and seemingly heartless lawyer, Chong Yuk Xue (Marianne Chan), he changes the date of their deaths in their Books of Life and Death. However, things get complicated when his actions are found out in the heavens and the fates of these two women are permanently switched. What appears to be a meaningless series turns out to be a penetration into the human psyche--or am I just interpreting too much these days?

Cheung Dat Ming, since "Justice Sung II", has not made an appearance in a series lately. His performance in "Life" was certainly more bearable than "Justice", though--forgive me for saying--his physical appearance is sometimes hard to get by. In "Life", he does a pretty good job of portraying his role. Mui Siu Wai, who also has not made any recent series, is back in "Life" and it is interesting to watch her play the part of someone who did not have long to live suddenly have back a normal life. Most notable though, is Marianne Chan's performance where she goes from a despicable person to a changed and likeable personality.

The most successful point in the series is the analysis of fate and the environments we are brought up in and how our personalities, thoughts, and values, are inevitably shaped by the environment we are born into--which, if you are an atheist, is just randomness and probability. The idea of the haves and have nots also comes into mind, where a person's actions are always imprisoned by what he/she holds at the moment.

What is disappointing about the series is the seemingly rushed ending. Not enough attention is given to development of love between the main couple and I could still not understand why the Soul-Snatcher was never punished for switching the fates. Just when things begin to get heated between the two women whose fates were switched, the series concludes with one dead and the other jailed, without giving more time to develop their new character.

PS I do not own this review.

THE CHARM BENEATH

Cast:

Moses Chan

Gigi Lai

Yoyo Mung

Anne Heung

Mandy Cho

Sharon Chan
Storyline: '

The Charm Beneath' is a very complicated series because of its rather complex storyline. As you can tell from the Chinese title 'Yin Zhi Sui Fun' (in Cantonese) it is about makeup. The Zhu family is managing a makeup shop called 'Geng Fa Tong' (in Cantonese). They go through many family and business troubles because the other side of the Zhu family, the second uncle and aunty, are very greedy and always try their best to cause problems so they can have all the money and take full control of the makeup shop. The second uncle and aunty are very devious but surprisingly their son is nothing like them;, he is a kind and good-hearted young man. There are many surprises and twists in this series, which makes it very interesting.
Cast Analysis: Moses Chan- In this series Moses was great! He worked well with his character and he could do both humorous and upsetting scenes. Moses played his character wonderfully. He was very good in the comedic scenes because just listening to his jokes and looking at his face would make the audience laugh. He was a really funny character.
Gigi Lai- Gigi was not a humorous character like Moses. She was much more sophisticated and elegant, taking things seriously. Gigi did a good job in this series but I found that her character was sometimes a bit too serious and this may have made some of her funny lines not as humorous as they could be. But Gigi showed in this series how excellent she can cry because when she was upset you could just see her tears come out so naturally. She also showed that she can work with a variety of characters since this character is has a different background from her 'Shades of Truth' character.
Yoyo Mung- In this series Yoyo was pretty good but I found that sometimes she would have the same facial expression over and over again. I think that she can be really funny though because she and Moses were both very humorous whenever they had scenes together. Yoyo has improved from her performance in 'Split Second' and this character has showed that she can act well when given a character with more meaning and depth.
Anne Heung- Anne was pretty good in this series. She had a range of facial expressions and her tone of voice suited her character's emotions. I do think that Anne needs to work on her crying skills though because she cannot cry very well. In the scenes where she cries she would have a sad look on her face but no tears seemed to come out. This is why I think that her performance was not as good as it should have been. Anne's character went through so many upsetting problems but still no tears seemed to come out.
Mandy Cho- Mandy's character was quite cute and sweet. I think that Mandy has improved from 'Guts of Man' for her crying skills and acting. She acted pretty well as her character in this series, even though it was not as big a role as in 'Guts of Man'. Hopefully TVB will give Mandy more opportunities to improve and have more variety in characters.
Sharon Chan- Sharon was pretty good in this series but I found that it was a bit unfair that her character didn't have as much scenes as it could have. I guess it is for the storyline's sake but Sharon should be given more chances in TVB. I think Sharon definitely improved in acting since her 'Dreams of Colours' series. Sharon acted very well and her facial expressions were really good! I hope that she will be given more opportunities in TVB too.
Conclusion: To conclude this review, I would like to say that 'The Charm Beneath' is a fantastic series. Some people say it starts off slowly and boring but I disagree. 'The Charm Beneath' links many things together to make itself a fantastic masterpeice.

PS I do not own this review, enjoy the video, I upload it but you can find it on Youtube, enjoy !!!