Marry Me or Get Out Spiderman
Lets see, several things to talk about or work on the tall stack of folders at my desk...
Of course I'm going to slack off!
I watched this drama to get back to good old undubbed dramas. It's nice when you can get 100% of the actors' performance instead of maybe 60% in dubbed Chinese dramas. I also like the main leads, Alice Ke and Roy Chiu and its short at 15 episodes. In general, I would say I like the general story and the very detailed character portrayal though the second part was overly melodramatic and overlong.
The Plot
I was going to write a whole long thing about the plot, which is rather complex with various character relationships. Then I figured it'll be too long and confusing, so I'll just give the short version: Cai Huan Zhen (Alice Ke) and Hao Meng (Roy Chiu) started dating under false pretenses. She wanted to use him to get back at Hao Meng's sister, Hao Sheng Nan. He's very well aware of her plan and wants to teach her a lesson. They end up realizing they actually are in love with each other but has to get through various obstacles to get together for reals.
The Cast
Hao Meng is played by Roy Chiu, who I like to call Taiwanese Ryan Phillippe...
Visual aid.
...but much more attractive and aged a lot better (because Asian).
Cai Huan Zheng is played by Alice Ke.
I like both actors and they also played the main couple in Office Girls. So they have very good chemistry together.
Hao Sheng Nan is played by Joanne Tseng, who I know nothing about previously but kind of like because she has good resting bitch face (totally a compliment).
The Good
Cai Huan Zheng is refreshing as a main character in a romantic comedy in that she's a very competent, ruthless, modern female that needs no one's rescue. She's successful in her job and take charge in her love life. When confronted by her fiance about having many ex-boyfriends, she goes on a tirade about how society views men with many ex-partners as "experienced" while the same situation with a woman would be "slutty". She's not necessarily a traditionally "likable" character and she prides herself on being a bitch. Even more refreshing is that the drama plot doesn't try to change her to be a "better" person. She's a bitchy, slightly manipulative person throughout and the drama explains why she is who she is instead of changing her.
The same goes, to a lessor extent, to Hao Sheng Nan. She used to be best friends with Cai Huan Zheng in school but had a falling out over a misunderstanding with a boy. Both female characters are portrayed to be very competent females in their field. Their initial friendship, the breakdown in their relationship, and their eventual reconciliation are done very well. Cai Huan Zheng is described as someone too proud to explain and justify her own actions, which often times lead to a lot of noble idiocy misunderstandings and Hao Sheng Nan rightly calls her out on how selfish it is. Their friendship is done very well. While it started out catty, they make up and it's very well done.
The side characters, mainly the main characters' parents, are all well-fleshed out. They all have their own issues and the drama does a good job explaining how they came to be the way they are. The initial comedy is good as the first few episodes set up the premise. Cai Huan Zheng and Hao Meng's fake dating is incredibly amusing as is Cai Huan Zheng and Hao Sheng Nan's fake niceness towards one another.
The Bad
After the initial set up of the plot and after Cai Huan Zheng and Hao Meng fall in love for reals, the pacing of the drama and the general plot took a nosedive as the drama finds all manner of tedious reasons to keep Cai Huan Zheng and Hao Meng apart. Disapproving parents, national sex scandals, you name it. Cai Huan Zheng also pulls out the noble idiocy card by trying to sacrifice hers and Hao Meng's happiness so that he can pursue his dream as an environmental lawyer.
It ends with an ultimate bad ending of a very public proposal aided by flash mobs and family and friends. It's so cringey instead of romantic. There's also a side plot with Hao Sheng Nan and the manipulative guy that broke up hers and Cai Huan Zheng's relationship when they were in college. That went on for way too long and it was frustrating watching two women fight it out over some jerk.
And a very minor peeve is that I'm not sure if I like the filter that it seems like the whole drama was shot through. I think they did the same with Bromance, where everything in the background looks super...clean. On one hand, everything looks super clean and that's good. But on the other hand, I think it takes out a certain charm out of the scenes and make things that are not the characters look kind of colorless. I don't know if I'm describing it very well. But that's just how I feel.
The Music
This being a Taiwanese drama, their pop music is very good although not as memorable so I won't post any samples (and I'm also lazy and have two movies left to talk about).
Consensus
In general, I thought it was a good enough drama based on the likable cast, good fleshed-out characters, and amusing initial premise. But it does get very draggy halfway through. So I would recommend watching the first half and then just know that everything works out in the end and they all live happily ever after.
***
Get Out is the movie billed as the best movie of the year and it came out sometime in February or something. So, probably not that difficult to be the best movie of the year. Still, I like it enough in that it's short and to the point.
It's somewhat of a standard horror movie premise in that the main protagonist, Chris, is lured by false pretenses into a situation where everyone is out to get him. What sets it apart are the fast pacing, the current social commentary, and a smart and competent main character.
I don't think I can find one complaint about the movie, though I will probably say that (white) people who are "shook" (I have that term) by it had probably been living in a (probably white) bubble all their lives.
***
Spiderman? Spider-Man? So easy to look up, but I'm not going to bother and will just guess that it's Spider-Man.
In any event, the movie is a competent Marvel movie and probably considered excellent after the last Spider-Man movie. But not having a huge love of the character, I can only say that it's sufficient and competent as a movie.
The cast (not Spider-Man himself) is very good and I enjoy most of the side characters and the spider friends and classmates. It's also nice how they tie in the plot with the rest of the MCU without having to have all the Avengers show up for no reason. That's probably because the writers wrote a good conflict for Spider-Man where he's up against small-time arms dealers instead of having to save the world or even just save the city of New York. It's realistic (ish) issues for a high school superhero and he ends up saving the day with the help of a sidekick instead of having to do everything himself.
The one minor complaint is that the action scenes are sometimes dark (not well lit) and hard to follow. But otherwise, it's an okay movie. I would do a ranking of the MCU, but not in this post, I think.
And that's it for now! I'll do some work, and maybe post about the next possible drama (asides from the two I'm currently watching) to watch. Wow, so dramatic!
Of course I'm going to slack off!
I watched this drama to get back to good old undubbed dramas. It's nice when you can get 100% of the actors' performance instead of maybe 60% in dubbed Chinese dramas. I also like the main leads, Alice Ke and Roy Chiu and its short at 15 episodes. In general, I would say I like the general story and the very detailed character portrayal though the second part was overly melodramatic and overlong.
The Plot
I was going to write a whole long thing about the plot, which is rather complex with various character relationships. Then I figured it'll be too long and confusing, so I'll just give the short version: Cai Huan Zhen (Alice Ke) and Hao Meng (Roy Chiu) started dating under false pretenses. She wanted to use him to get back at Hao Meng's sister, Hao Sheng Nan. He's very well aware of her plan and wants to teach her a lesson. They end up realizing they actually are in love with each other but has to get through various obstacles to get together for reals.
The Cast
Hao Meng is played by Roy Chiu, who I like to call Taiwanese Ryan Phillippe...
Visual aid.
...but much more attractive and aged a lot better (because Asian).
Cai Huan Zheng is played by Alice Ke.
I like both actors and they also played the main couple in Office Girls. So they have very good chemistry together.
Hao Sheng Nan is played by Joanne Tseng, who I know nothing about previously but kind of like because she has good resting bitch face (totally a compliment).
The Good
Cai Huan Zheng is refreshing as a main character in a romantic comedy in that she's a very competent, ruthless, modern female that needs no one's rescue. She's successful in her job and take charge in her love life. When confronted by her fiance about having many ex-boyfriends, she goes on a tirade about how society views men with many ex-partners as "experienced" while the same situation with a woman would be "slutty". She's not necessarily a traditionally "likable" character and she prides herself on being a bitch. Even more refreshing is that the drama plot doesn't try to change her to be a "better" person. She's a bitchy, slightly manipulative person throughout and the drama explains why she is who she is instead of changing her.
The same goes, to a lessor extent, to Hao Sheng Nan. She used to be best friends with Cai Huan Zheng in school but had a falling out over a misunderstanding with a boy. Both female characters are portrayed to be very competent females in their field. Their initial friendship, the breakdown in their relationship, and their eventual reconciliation are done very well. Cai Huan Zheng is described as someone too proud to explain and justify her own actions, which often times lead to a lot of noble idiocy misunderstandings and Hao Sheng Nan rightly calls her out on how selfish it is. Their friendship is done very well. While it started out catty, they make up and it's very well done.
The side characters, mainly the main characters' parents, are all well-fleshed out. They all have their own issues and the drama does a good job explaining how they came to be the way they are. The initial comedy is good as the first few episodes set up the premise. Cai Huan Zheng and Hao Meng's fake dating is incredibly amusing as is Cai Huan Zheng and Hao Sheng Nan's fake niceness towards one another.
The Bad
After the initial set up of the plot and after Cai Huan Zheng and Hao Meng fall in love for reals, the pacing of the drama and the general plot took a nosedive as the drama finds all manner of tedious reasons to keep Cai Huan Zheng and Hao Meng apart. Disapproving parents, national sex scandals, you name it. Cai Huan Zheng also pulls out the noble idiocy card by trying to sacrifice hers and Hao Meng's happiness so that he can pursue his dream as an environmental lawyer.
It ends with an ultimate bad ending of a very public proposal aided by flash mobs and family and friends. It's so cringey instead of romantic. There's also a side plot with Hao Sheng Nan and the manipulative guy that broke up hers and Cai Huan Zheng's relationship when they were in college. That went on for way too long and it was frustrating watching two women fight it out over some jerk.
And a very minor peeve is that I'm not sure if I like the filter that it seems like the whole drama was shot through. I think they did the same with Bromance, where everything in the background looks super...clean. On one hand, everything looks super clean and that's good. But on the other hand, I think it takes out a certain charm out of the scenes and make things that are not the characters look kind of colorless. I don't know if I'm describing it very well. But that's just how I feel.
The Music
This being a Taiwanese drama, their pop music is very good although not as memorable so I won't post any samples (and I'm also lazy and have two movies left to talk about).
Consensus
In general, I thought it was a good enough drama based on the likable cast, good fleshed-out characters, and amusing initial premise. But it does get very draggy halfway through. So I would recommend watching the first half and then just know that everything works out in the end and they all live happily ever after.
***
Get Out is the movie billed as the best movie of the year and it came out sometime in February or something. So, probably not that difficult to be the best movie of the year. Still, I like it enough in that it's short and to the point.
It's somewhat of a standard horror movie premise in that the main protagonist, Chris, is lured by false pretenses into a situation where everyone is out to get him. What sets it apart are the fast pacing, the current social commentary, and a smart and competent main character.
I don't think I can find one complaint about the movie, though I will probably say that (white) people who are "shook" (I have that term) by it had probably been living in a (probably white) bubble all their lives.
***
Spiderman? Spider-Man? So easy to look up, but I'm not going to bother and will just guess that it's Spider-Man.
In any event, the movie is a competent Marvel movie and probably considered excellent after the last Spider-Man movie. But not having a huge love of the character, I can only say that it's sufficient and competent as a movie.
The cast (not Spider-Man himself) is very good and I enjoy most of the side characters and the spider friends and classmates. It's also nice how they tie in the plot with the rest of the MCU without having to have all the Avengers show up for no reason. That's probably because the writers wrote a good conflict for Spider-Man where he's up against small-time arms dealers instead of having to save the world or even just save the city of New York. It's realistic (ish) issues for a high school superhero and he ends up saving the day with the help of a sidekick instead of having to do everything himself.
The one minor complaint is that the action scenes are sometimes dark (not well lit) and hard to follow. But otherwise, it's an okay movie. I would do a ranking of the MCU, but not in this post, I think.
And that's it for now! I'll do some work, and maybe post about the next possible drama (asides from the two I'm currently watching) to watch. Wow, so dramatic!