:: Sixtwentyseven ::

Love is a romantic story directed by Niu Chen Ze who also acted as one of the characters in the movie. Love tells a story about 8 intertwined characters and how each of them overcome their problems with Love.

A Taiwan tycoon Mark (Zhao Wen Ting 趙又廷) has a relationship with a socialite Yi Rou 柔伊 (Shu Qi 舒淇). However, due to his past and childhood, he can't commit to the relationship. This upsets Yi Rou, and she promptly hook up with her lover Lu Ping 陆平 (Niu Chen Ze 钮承泽). On the way out of the hotel where she met up with Mark, Yi Rou pumps into a butler Xiao Kuan 小宽( Ethan Ruan 阮经天) who took a photo of Yi Rou. Xiao Kuan is the brother of Yi Jia 宜珈( Ivy Chen Yi Han 陈意涵), who in a drunken stupor, had a one night stand with Ah Kai 阿凯(Peng Yu Yan 彭于晏), who happens to be her best friend's Xiao Ni 小霓( Amber Guo Cai Jie 郭采洁) boyfriend. Worse still, she got pregnant from the incident. Xiao Ye 小叶(Vicki Zhao Wei 赵薇) is a housing agent in Beijing, who happens to serve Mark as a client. However, they did not hit off well from the start and by a coincidence of events, Mark has to play the role of Dad for Xiao Ye's son. What sparks may fly between the two? Love is a story of these eight characters and the sequence of events that will test each of them.

First off, I got to say that Love definitely has some loopholes in the plot. There are several circumstances that in this modern world, I doubt thing will occur in such pace. One particular loophole was at start where there's a scene whereby Xiao Kai riding a bicycle accidentally bumped into Mark's car at a traffic junction. As Xiao Kai rides off the bicycle after the accident and Mark drove past him, Xiao Kai miraculously disappeared from the scene.

However, I do appreciate the effort by the director to try to establish the links between each character right at the start of the movie so that you roughly know the part each character will take in the movie. Also, the acting by each actor and actress is top notch, although i have a bit of reservations for Zhao Wen Ting. Just felt that he is a bit stiff in the movie.

Nonetheless, the movie is a good feel movie and you have a rough idea of why love is the reason we all exist. Not to mention that this movie has a great song sung by Yoga Lin You Jia 林宥嘉.

Now how do I categorize Lan Kwai Fong? Judging from the movie poster, this is definitely a NSFW movie. And with that judgement, if you're expecting a movie with an intense plot and superior acting, I'd suggest you watch an art film instead, because this film is definitely not.

"Lan Kwai Fong"'s plot is mainly set in a fictitious bar "Club Billion" in the popular night district Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong. Boss (Sin Lap-Man), a retired triad leader frequents the club ran by Belina (Emme Wong). Steven (Z.O) run a alcohol distribution business who unexpectedly falls in love at first sight with LKF newbie Jennifer(Shiga Lin), a flight attandant. She is accompanied by her colleague Jeana (Jeana Ho), a fellow LKF newbie. Jacky (Jason Chan), a manager at the club, has his eyes on Jeana, but is always pestered by his girlfriend (Bonnie Xian). Lawyer Sean (Gregory Wong) sets his sights on Cat (Dada Chen), but Cat is the alpha-female who is only interested in looking for stand(s). Loberto(Gary Cheng) is the final piece in the casting, who pretends to be gay in order "play around" with unsuspecting girls.

As I've mentioned earlier, if you're looking for a plot then sorry to say Lai Kwai Fong is definitely not the movie to watch. It does have a loose plot of trying to tie the characters up together, but it is as loose as you can imagine. However, if you're looking for girls who bare their cleavage, boob-grabs by the male leads, stimulated intimate scenes, then you're only the right track. This movie only serves to shorten the bond between the M18 rating and the Cat III rating. The only difference being? There's no baring of boobs in this movie.

Perhaps, and ironically, the saving grace of this movie is actually the OST of the movie. Shiga Lin lends her voice to sing a nice little number called "I'm still loving you" which will totally throws you off. Shiga has a sweet voice and she pens the lyrics for the song as well. The other song from the OST is "Wonderland", sung by 24herbs featuring Janice Vidal. It's a song that fits the movie more with the dance-infused rhythm, cantonese rap and auto-tuning.

In summary, watch the movie for the intimate scenes but enjoy the songs more.

Due to my recent craze with Apple of my Eye and taiwan cinema in general, I've decided to catch a few movies based on the nominations at the recent 48th Golden Horse Awards. One of the movies that caught my eye was Jump Ashin!, where Eddie Peng (彭于晏) was nominated for best actor and the movie's theme song was nominated for best soundtrack.

Jump Ashin! is based on a true story of a gymnast called Lin Yu-hsin (林育信). Coming from a single parent family with his dad dying young, Yu-hsin or Ah Shin as he's commonly known, lives with his brother and mother. Born with a natural agile body, Ah Shin chanced upon the school gym one day and decides he wants to join the gymnastics team. He soon turned out to be a natural and Ah Shin loves gymnastics as well. However as he grew older, his mother disapproves him continuing gymnastics and wants him to help her with her fruit business. To rebel against his mother, Ah Shin became a street punk. Due to an incident with his good friend Pickle (Lawrence Ko, 柯宇綸) and his drug addiction, Ah Shin was forced to flee his hometown and flee to Taipei. To survive, both Ah Shin and Pickle joined a street gang. However, all that changed when Pickle was killed in a gang fight. Devastated with the loss of his friend, Ah Shin decided to head back to his hometown and resume his training in gymnastics.

Right from the start of the movie to the end, you could see why Eddie Peng was being nominated for best actor. Make no mistakes, Eddie was very dedicated in this movie with his body trained to be as strong and agile as a professional gymnast. Also, his facial expressions in various scenes makes the character believable, which is a marked improvement since I last saw him in Hear Me (聽說). Lawrence Ko, as his good friend Pickle, chips in with the good acting as well. I was especially impressed with the scenes where his addiction kicks in as well as silently feeling sorry to Ah Shin because of the trouble that he has created.

With all the acting kudos given, the only part i was disappointed in was the later parts that showed the determination of Ah Shin trying to become the best gymnast again. This is especially so when the director tried to tease the crowd at the beginning and seriously shortchanged the viewers when he replayed that scene later in the movie. I was waiting for something more and yet he just skipped to the next scene. I do not know if I call this bad editing or a serious lapse in the storyline.

As for the nod for best soundtrack, I do have to say the lyrics of the song is very apt for the movie, in the sense that it sang about the struggles of Ah Shin. Okay, this may be due to my bias in "Apple of my Eye" but I wonder is that enough to win the award. Probably the judges heard something that I missed out.

I would give a good to very good ratings for this movie, since I did shed a few tears, but I still feel I was seriously shortchanged at the back for its rushed ending. It could have been better and I do think an additional 15 minutes worth of footage would not kill the movie.

I realised through my reviews on the movies/dramas that I've watched, I've seldom review movies that are currently showing in cinemas. The last entry I could think of was Air Doll, and that is not even considered to be a current movie as it was aired in Singapore roughly a year after it was shown in Japan. But for this movie, You are the Apple of my Eye, something inside me was stirred, and I thought I should do an entry before it disappear.

You are the Apple of my Eye is a 2011 Taiwan movie based on the true story of the same name of a popular taiwanese writer, Giddens Ko(九把刀). In the movie, newcomer Ko Chen-Tung plays the lead Ko Ching-Teng, who is a prankster and does not like to study. Michelle Chen Yan Xi is Shen Chia-yi, an honor student who is very popular amongst the boys in her class. Due to an incident in class, Shen Chia-Yi is forced to monitor Ko Chen-Tung on the teacher's behalf and to tutor him on his studies. Initially, they cannot see eye to eye, but as time and events go by, their feelings for each other begins to grow. Upon graduation from high school, Ko wanted to follow Shen to the univeristy of her choice, but Shen fell sick on the examination day and did not do well for the exams. Hence they went to different universities. Even with the distance, they still kept in contact with each other. One day, Ko decides to organise a fighting competition within his campus to display his manliness in front of Shen, but Shen instead thinks that he is childish. Due to this, they had an argument and broke off. The next time Ko made contact with Shen was the Taiwan 9/21 earthquake, but by then the circumstances has changed. Nonetheless, the feelings have not.

As I try not to disclose too much of the details of the story, there will be spoilers within this post. So I hope I won't disclose too much and ruin your own experience in watching this movie.

If I thought Cape No. 7 is good, then I do have to put this movie slightly above Cape No. 7. Mind you, Cape No. 7 is the movie that transformed the Taiwan movie industry, proving to the chinese industry minimum that they can produce quality movies. The reason because I rate "You are the Apple of my Eye" highly is because it really connects on a personal level. Anyone who watched the show will know how the story is going to go and what the ending will be like. However, because the feeling is so personal, you will just feel it is as if the movie is answering the feelings you've hidden so long somewhere at the bottom of your heart. Personally, it did connect with me and some memories came back. If it didn't, I wouldn't have blogged this entry this early as well.

rating? 5/5 definitely.

p/s: do go to giddens' website http://www.giddens.tw for his views on the movie

Anybody who tried to conjure out how the synopsis of a story using just the movie poster is going to be terribly wrong with Au Revoir Taipei. Just when you thought this is gonna be a sweet love story between the two cast shown in the poster, again you'll be very surprised.

The story started with the departure of the Kai's (Jack Yao, 姚淳耀) girlfriend, Faye, to Paris. In order to attempt to join his girlfriend, he began going to a bookstore to self learn French through one of the guidebooks available. In the bookstore, he befriended Susie (Amber Kuo, 郭采潔), who worked in the bookstore. Susie, who has feelings for Kai due to his determination to learn, had always tried to make small talk with Kai, but he was more interested to learn than to bother her. However, things changed when Faye decided to break up with Kai. Kai, in his desperation to go to Paris to salvage the relationship. However as his family is poor, he decided to turn to soon-to-be retired triad boss Bao　(Gao Ling Feng, 高淩風) for help. In exchange for the money, Bao asked Kai to help him collect a parcel from another person. Bao's nephew Hong(Lawrance Ko, 柯宇綸), is jealous that his uncle did not ask him to do the job instead and decide to thwart the transaction. However, things got a little messy when a kidnapping and cop-chasing were involved in a messy night in Taipei.

Frankly speaking, I was thoroughly entertained by the movie as I was surprised by the storyline (FYI, I did not read any reviews or sort before I watched the movie). And one thing I love about the show is how the director tried to portray Taipei as Paris with the clever use of soothing background music that is jazzy yet utterly french, as well as the line dancing in the middle of the movie to convey Taipei can be romantic as well.

Credits has to go to the rest of the cast that has small parts but important for the movie. Characters such as Gao, Kai's good buddy who got abducted due to the parcel; Jiyong, who was chasing Kai due to the parcel and got dumped by his girlfriend on the same night, add colors to the movie which is already vibrant in its own nature. The director also showcased Taiwan's street snacks scene, making anyone who watched the movie with an empty stomach wanting to try those snacks as well. The director also stuck with the formula to keep each scene short and simple so that they do not bore the audience and kept the colors bright to make it a visual escapade.

Overall, I was very surprised with the storyline as well as the production of the movie and I'm beginning to feel the movie churning out from Taiwan is going to surprise quite a few persons. Although trying to replicate the success of Cape No. 7 is going to hard, they can still score in the indie film scene.

Here's the official trailer of the show:

To be frank, I seldom watch films that came out China.　There is a major difference between films produced by Hong Kong and films produced by China. However, what caught my eye for this show was that it was directed by one of China's hottest internationally known actress Xu Jinglei. Furthermore, the cast of the movie include Karen Mok, Stanley Huang and Pace Wu, making the movie seem somewhat more appealing.

The movie centers around the main character Du Lala, starred by Xu Jinglei. It basically describes how she managed to work her way up from a small position in a big company to become the HR manager of that company. Along the way as well, she fall in love and came to a crossroad as her job ambition clashes with her love.

Now, does the plot sound familiar? Why not? Afterall, it sounds like one of those Hollywood plots that we may be a bit familiar. However, this plot has a distinct Chinese flavor as the movie is adapted from a well known novel written by Li Ke. Apparently, this book has created quite a buzz in China and hence the movie adaption.

I'm sure if this is Xu Jinglei directorial debut, but if it is, I must say I'm pretty impressed with her work. The movie is not heavy at all in mood, everything's pretty enjoyable actually. Each character has played it part well and frankly speaking, there wasn't a dull moment at all. However, one thing the movie does not for me is letting me have the urge to re-watch it again. Sure it was enjoyable, but there are other movies out there in the market that is able to capture the audience and makes them wanna watch it again. I do not know if it's the storyline or what but most likely it may be a hi and bye show.

That said, I still think it was an thoroughly enjoyable movie. Do watch it if it's screening at a cinema near you. Quite good for de-stressing!