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Reviews

A Chip Off the Old Block (TVB, 2010) Thoughts 7

How well do you know your parents? Why is it so hard to live up to their expectations? It’s their fault, right?!

Wrong, as Chor Chi (Ron Ng) and I eventually figured out. Unlike Chor Chi, I love my dad, but like Chor Chi, I know very little about my dad. Back in high school, I interviewed my dad for an assignment but he was reluctant to tell me anything and I think that’s because he had went through a lot of (war) trauma he didn’t want to recall. Throughout my life, I’ve only heard snippets of his life from my relatives. Unlike Chor Chi, I wanted to know more but obviously wouldn’t ever chance upon a time vault. Stepping away from my boring connection with Chor Chi though, what I’m driving at is that this theme of "understanding between parent and child" is what makes A Chip Off the Old Block emotionally and perhaps educationally good. It’s important to realize that just as your experiences shaped you into who you are today, the same goes for your parents. You definitely don’t know their whole story and sometimes, there are things they keep hidden for your benefit. (I realize this is a generalization but I believe it applies to most parents.)

Whether the writers of Chip intended to portray this struggle toward understanding between parent and child or not, I don’t know. But the theme wasn’t fully explored anyway. There were also various loopholes in the plot, which I assume is because there were 5 writers putting together this story. Still, with the addition of some layered main characters, a neighborhood of whackos, and nice comedy flare, I would say Chip is a slightly better than average show with a subtle tinge of depth.

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Filed by Annisa on 04-17-2010 under Reviews, Mandy Wong, Myolie Wu, Nancy Wu, Ron Ng, Shirley Yeung, Sunny Chan, A Chip Off the Old Block.

Beyond the Realm of Conscience (TVB, 2009) Thoughts 20

Many forms of entertainment are judged on the foundation laid by other similar forms of entertainment simply because there has to be a baseline, a scale of sorts. You don’t know how good something is until you’ve seen something worse, just as you wouldn’t know how bad something is until you’ve seen something better. There are exceptions. Certain dramas are so uniquely good, they shouldn’t be compared to anything else. Similarly, obscenely bad dramas don’t deserve to be compared either. Beyond the Realm of Conscience is one of those exceptions and it, unfortunately, falls into the latter category.

I jumped onto the bandwagon back when Beyond first started filming because I firmly believed I would one day witness a glorious, fascinating, poignant, outstanding hybrid of two magnificent hit productions–War and Beauty and Dae Jang Geum. What I failed to remember is that this is TVB. What I failed to notice is Choi Ting Ting. Choi has done her fair share of scriptwriting, some of which include Last One Standing, Forensic Heroes II, Burning Flame II, To Catch the Uncatchable, Slim Chances, Hard Fate, Always Ready, and soon-to-be-aired A Watchdog’s Tale. Most of her scripts are decent and I had enjoyed some of them. However, I overlooked the fact that she wrote The Threshold of a Persona. And guess what? I feel the same indifference for Beyond as I did Persona. Seriously, I don’t get why TVB didn’t pull Cheung Wah Biu (Heart of Greed, Moonlight Resonance, Rosy Business) over to write the script for Beyond? Why? Beyond has everything! Everything!! All but a golden script …

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Filed by Annisa on 12-30-2009 under Reviews, Charmaine Sheh, Kevin Cheng, Michelle Yim, Moses Chan, Selena Li, Tavia Yeung, Yoyo Chen, Beyond the Realm of Conscience.

A Bride for a Ride (TVB, 2009) Thoughts 2

A Bride for a Ride, in short, is a great parody with occasional witty dialogues that tried too hard to be funny and thus, lacked any attention-grabbing charm. Without an understanding of Chinese history or folktales, the audience would easily fall asleep even if the cast is a joy to watch. For me, Bride is simply a messy and draggy musical version of A Colorful Life.

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Filed by Annisa on 08-23-2009 under Reviews, Louisa So, Nancy Wu, Sammul Chan, A Bride for a Ride.

Plain Love II (TVB, 1999) Thoughts 2

One of the best romantic country drama trilogy ever done by TVB consists of 1995’s Plain Love starring Kathy Chow Hoi Mei and Gallen Lo, 1999’s Plain Love II starring Gordon Lam and Maggie Cheung Ho Yee, and 2001’s Country Spirit starring Gordon Lam and Charmaine Sheh. None of the stories actually connect but all of them introduce the audience to some unique aspect of Chinese heritage, including the art of making tea and wine. I had watched Plain Love and Country Spirit back when they first released and remember loving the touching relationships between the main characters and the beautiful country fields where things grow and die, where people smile and cry, and where they come and go. Not until recently did I pick up interest in Plain Love II due to several recommendations and rave reviews. I had a lot of expectations for this series, especially since it is produced by Lau Si Yu who had done Dark Tales, Dark Tales II, Journey to the West, Journey to the West II, and Plain Love.

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Filed by Annisa on 08-10-2008 under Reviews, Louisa So, Maggie Cheung, Plain Love II.

Index

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