Drunken To Love You and Fated To Love You Square-Off

Okay, time for a Taiwanese drama. Wait. Make that 2 dramas. I’ve been too busy to finish my review for Fated to Love You. I actually discovered its spinoff entitled Drunken to Love You before I did. This post is actually kind of a “how are they connected” comparison between the two. I’ve always liked making tables and whatnot so here goes:

	Fated to Love You(2008)	Drunken to Love You(2011)
Male Lead	Ji Cun Xi- started out hot tempered, inconsiderate but responsible director of Mo Fa Ling Corp.	Song Jie Xiu- started out as very thoughtful and considerate, has violent tendencies
Female Lead	Chen Xin Yi- Sticky Note Girl, always does what she’s told, put’s others’ happiness before her own	Lin Xiao Ru- Mountain Boar, very tough, put’s others’ happiness before her own
2nd Male Lead	Dylan- art agent, likes Xin Yi, rich	Yi Xian- Xiao Ru’s ex boyfriend Daniel- CEO of a huge company, has a history with Xiao Ru
2nd Female Lead	Anna- Ji Cun Xi’s girlfriend for 2 years, ballet dancer	Tang Ai Wei- Song Jie Xiu’s girlfriend for 4 years, actress/model
Assistant of Male Lead	Anson	Tony
Relatives of Male Lead	Ji Wang Zhen Zhu- Cun Xi’s Nainai(grandma)	Samantha- Song Jie Xiu’s estranged mother
Relatives of Female Lead	Chen Lin Xi Shi- Xin Yi’s mother	Ah Sang- Xiao Ru’s mother
Favorite Food	Jiang Jun Buns	Pudding Buns
Director	Chen Min Zhang
Other Similarities/Connections	Both male leads rose to stardom because of their roles in this franchise. The female leads were already famous in their own rights when cast.The female leads’ mothers were played by the same person.Most of the cast in the first drama were recast into different roles in the spinoff In both dramas, there is a doctor that makes the leads realize the importance of making their relationship work Jie Xu says somewhere in DTLY: “If Ethan Ruan is Fated to Love You, the I am Fated to Be Cursed by You”

Now, FTLY is kind of old news. It aired 3 years ago, after all. My interest, however was piqued by its spinoff.  Also, DTLY was aired just this year , last year I mean. (still adjusting to the new year 😉 ) and I read somewhere that it is now airing in GMA network, so it’s pretty recent. So here’s my review of DTLY:

DTLY is about 2 people who were dumped by their respective loved ones on the same day. They get into a drinking frenzy for 24 straight hours. They wake up the next day married to each other with no recollection of what happened. They soon go on a quest to right every wrong they did during those drunken hours. And as they did, they found love on the way.

Now, one word I can use to describe this drama is…fluffy. Really. It is so unlike most dramas which take you on an emotional roller coaster ride about 10 times per episode. This one runs its plot in a totally stable manner. Not much 180 degree turns can be found and you get the feeling of being “cushioned” from reality. The characters are written really well. They may look like a couple you can only see in movies, yet, you can totally see them as friends you could actually meet in real life situations. The plot is pretty simple. The mood is almost always euthymic and there is little angst involved (in most episodes anyway). Rainie Yang played her character, Lin Xiao Ru with such brevity that you couldn’t help but stare at her whenever she’s onscreen. Her new look really made her prettier and more mature.

The only thing that really bothers me is the poor development of the 2^nd leads as what usually happens in dramas with great OTPs (one true pairings). Alien’s character, Daniel feels like it’s just there for the sake of having a history with Xiao Ru. Tiffany Hsu’s Ai Wei feels a bit all over the place. I do like Tang Ai Wei and Rickie ending together because they made an extremely beautiful couple and I’m pretty sure they’d make beautiful amerasian babies in HappilyEverAfterland.

But the real deal maker in this drama is Joseph Chang’s Song Jie Xiu. No, I don’t think it’s Joseph Chang’s physical appearance that does it. I mean, sure, he is cute in a thoughtful and manly way. But he fits the role so perfectly that you couldn’t help but root for the character (not the actor) all the time. Also, his character was not written as the typical drama hero.(You, know, the asswipe-who-eventually-changes-into-prince-charming character) He started out as already being considerate and responsible.  He plays it so awesomely, serious when needed but extremely hilarious in his jealousy and crazy antics. Best of all, his character is so deeply, crazily in love with Xiao Ru that any female(or female-hearted) viewer could not help but ask: Where can I get one?

Here’s one of my favourite scenes from the drama. Even if it’s a scene already done a million and a half times before, DTLY creators managed to make it awesome. There’s nothing but pure, undiluted emotion there. 🙂

Nail Decal Care 101

Ever wonder how people get their nails like this?

credits to Sally Hansen

that’s the magic of nail decals. No, not nail stickers by a long shot. Nail decals are special papers which are printed with designs then coated with a sheet of acrylic. Sally Hansen released their line on this. Or you can buy here if you want.

Now you have ém but you don’t know what to do with them.

STEPS IN PLACING NAIL DECALS

1. Clean your nails of any trace of former nail polish
2. Shape them accordingly
3. Paint them with your base coat. Let it dry.
4. Prepare a glass of water, a piece of cotton and your nail decals
5. Shape the nail decals accordingly (it doesn’t have to be precise, a rough estimate will do)
6. Get a piece of decal and dip it in water for 10-15 seconds. Remove from the water.
7. Slide off the decal
8. Stick the side formerly touching the paper backing to your nail.
9. Flatten bubbles using the cotton
10. Coat with colorless nail polish and repeat on the other nails.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR NAIL CARE

• make sure to moisturize your nails regularly using cuticle oil or vitamin e
• have grace periods when changing nail polish, a few days will do
• make sure that your base coat is dry before you apply nail decals. I advise a couple of hours of waiting time.
• if at all possible, use nail polish removers which are gentle on the nail and not containing any acetone. This will prevent occurrences of cracking
• throw out old nail polish. Some old polishes can cause yellowing of nails which takes very long to disappear.
• try to apply a top coat of colorless nail polish every 3 to 4 days if you’re wearing nail decals. This can prevent premature fading of the design
• last but not the least, enjoy!

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

 

I’m not an avid fan of Tom Cruise. I’m also not a big fan of action films. And if I do watch these types of films, I usually just wait for the DVD. M:I 4 however was a totally different story. I watched it in the cinema. Twice.

The plot is simple. IMF(a gov’t organization much like the CIA/NSA) was shut down and Ghost Protocol was initiated. However, Ethan Hunt and his now-rogue team has to save the day by acquiring the Nuclear launch codes to stop a nuclear bombing. Their quest takes them all over the world. From Budapest to Dubai to India.

The plot may be simple but the gadgets are awesome. They have gloves which could allow one to scale a building, a machine which could fashion a mask out of a picture of a person. Also, every scene is well directed(it’s not very obvious they hired a Pixar director for this one). Watching it kinda makes you feel smart.

Don’t even get me started on the landscapes. They shot the Burj Khalifa so spectacularly. They actually got Tom Cruise scaling the tallest building in the world himself.

Performances by Simon Pegg(he’s so funny) and Paula Patton(she pulls off a tough chick quite well) also make this movie worthwhile.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch this awesome flick. 🙂

Praybeyt Benjamin

In the past, Filipinos are contented with bootleg or pirated copies of films instead of watching them in cinemas. These days, that does not seem to be the case. Filipino films are grossing higher and higher. In fact, Praybeyt Benjamin is now the 2nd highest grossing Filipino film of all time. It has grossed 218 million pesos(about 50 million pesos shy of the gross of No Other Woman) just 2 weeks after its release .

So what’s the fuss all about? This is the story of Benjamin Santos VII. By the way, he has an uncle named Benjamin Santos X. Ben10, get it? 🙂 Anyways, storywise, a friend has commented that it is a bit like Mulan(1998). And as the movie progressed, she was right. More and more “Mulan Moments” are shown onscreen. Here are some of them:

1. Ben’s escape in the middle of the night to go to the army in the place of his father is reminiscent of Mulan’s own escape. Just a whole lot funnier.

2. Ben becomes linked to his leader in the army, Brandon (played by Derek Ramsay)

3. He becomes teamed with the “losers” which include a guy who has food with him wherever he goes, even in combat training,a guy who sees his dead parents all the time and others

4. One particular scene shows Ben dressing his friends as girls to infiltrate a camp. Familiar?

The film also addresses society’s disapproval towards gay people, Philippines being a conservative country and all. Although it is really not as rampant as before, it still makes good cinema.

So, if you’re a fan of Vice Ganda’s brand of humor, Derek Ramsay’s abs, comedians such as Eddie Garcia, Jimmy Santos, Nikki Valdez, Vandolph and others, as well as good old pinoy humor, this movie is for you.

I Am Number Four

I have been waiting almost a year for an Alex Pettyfer movie. No, it is not this movie, I had intended to watch Beastly. Unfortunately, our theaters only had it by invitation only basis and I was not invited.

Anyways, this turned out to be a nice movie. We were sitting smack in the middle of the IMAX theatre and so the opening sequence was shown to us in full blast of its 2Dness. As the movie progressed, it turns out being quite near to the screen can be quite dizzying, we transferred a few seats further.

The story is about 9 children who are out of this world and are being killed one by one. Starting with number one. And now, number Three is dead. Number Four is next(duh!). It is quite simple in its context but the special effects were amazing. Maybe because of the theatre experience but then again, a good movie is a good movie.

One of the things that make it a good movie is the leading man (yep, should’ve seen THAT coming). Alex Pettyfer is just smoking for an English dude. He stars with his real-life girlfriend and the girl from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, whose accent I just can’t place.

The monsters or what they call, the Magadorians are bordering on ridiculous with their facial breathing holes and poor communication skills and apparently, their love for Comic books.

I’d have to rate this movie a 3 and a half out of 5. Well made and great for a lazy evening with nothing else to do. 🙂

3 Idiots

It seems like more and more movies from different parts of the world come out into the open and show who’s boss. In the post before this, I talked about a Thai teen movie. Now I got an Indian movie.  I don’t know much about indian movies because as far as I am concerned, Slumdog Millionaire is what passes for an indian movie and Aishwarya Rai is the most famous Bollywood star. According to my father, who is also a total movie buff,  most indian movies contain everything, from romance, to comedy, action, drama and even cheesy musical numbers. It has just that and also it is almost 3 hours long.

It turned out to be the shortest 3 hour movie i have ever seen.

Why?

1. The story is quite simple, told in a very adventurous way. About 2 friends, Raju and Farhan who are searching for their long lost friend, Ranchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad(quite a mouthful, but as said by Farhan, he was as unique as his name). They encounter extremely comedic mishaps on their way. Their journey is mixed with narrations of their college life.
2. The lesson taught is also very simple; about having the joy of learning and making your passion your profession. But it is told in an emotional rollercoaster that can make you laugh and cry.
3. The soundtrack. Like I said before , this movie contains cheesy musical sequences. They are, however, very fitting to the scenes and are very well executed.
4. The actors. No, I am not gonna rave about how hot the leading man is. After all, they got a 44 year old playing an 18 year old. But that’s just part of this movie’s appeal. You’re not gonna see a lead whose face is full of age-defying make-up that’s too obvious ,you can’t help but laugh. Instead, they transformed Aamir Khan so naturally and meticulously, his performance is just so believable. The other 2 idiots, Farhan and Raju were played so well by the actors, you can’t help but sympathize with their plight as the last 2 guys in their batch. The love interest is also pretty and not awkward at all. The antagonist, Virus, is a bit ridiculous, you can’t help but laugh at him, but then again, maybe that’s his purpose.
5. The background. I really don’t know which parts of India they were shooting but the landscaped were stunning. A perfect background to a beautiful story.
6. The script. Did I mention that the dialogues are in Hindi? Even with subtitles, the messages are so direct, you still could feel them.

Taken as a whole, the movie takes you on a wild ride full of laughs and life lessons.

Aal izz well. 🙂

A Little Thing Called Love

 

Oh well, the last few days have been a pretty busy time for me. Not much time to drool on new hot asian superstars. But then again, if there’s a will there’s a way. Since my last few posts have been on TV shows from Taiwan, I have now decided to have a post on a movie from Thailand.

A friend of mine introduced me to this “new korean series”. It turns out, it was a movie. More and more classmates have watched it so I gave in. I googled the movie and my, oh, my! the leading man is so hot. (I know, I know, I AM a little biased towards hot guys, but come on, who isn’t?) Turns out there is so much more to the movie than Mario Maurer.

Reasons Why You Should Watch A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

1. the hot guy- he could have starred in a crappy movie and 2 hours is still worth it
2. the cinematography-it is so well done and does a lot in the film’s pace
3. the girl- she is just so like-able, you can’t help but root for her
4. their chemistry- it’s kinda rare for young artists like them but they’ve got it
5. the story- like the trailer says, it IS a true story based on everyone’s

So get this, this movie is about a plain girl (Nam) who falls for a guy(Chon) her senior while they were in high school (i couldn’t be quite sure, I never could figure out the M.1, M.2 M.3 system in the Thai educational system shown in the movie). She begins to do, with her friends, the usual things…like passing by his room just to see him, keeping whatever mementos she has of him. She is so inspired that she began to change herself, she became beautiful and smart. Later, Chon’s bestfriend, Top, began to court Nam. Nam didn’t think much of it but went out with Top nonetheless. When Nam couldn’t take it anymore, she broke up with Top, who in turn asked his bestfriend to never pursue Nam for the sake of their friendship.

Now i hate spoiling things for people so I shall stop myself right there. All I can say is, it is a very cute rom-com about first love and everything that goes with it. It is not so cheesy, yet it is also romantic at the same time. The supporting characters (her friends and her teacher) are so funny, you can’t help but laugh out loud. Basically, it is a cliche presented in the most non-cliche manner: unpretentious and not dragging at all.

 

Just the way I like it. 🙂