Reminder
Before I let you read this long and tedious review, well I felt tedious writing this one, if there are any grammar error, MY FAULT. And if there are any wrong spellings, like THE becomes TEH, well read it as THE instead of TEH. Too darn tired to check the spelling..And i usually is "I". And please give me some face and don't laugh at those errors lar har....Is it ok if I use "lar har.."? Can right? Nope? Want perfect English? Seagulllllll..I want to retireeeeeeee
Length
13 tapes, 25 episodes. Nope, you "read" it right, 25 episodes but 13 tapes because the 13th tape has only one episode which is the final episode.
Who Played Who
There are many names in here that I could remember but there are many more that I can't. So all those I did not put the real actor's name next to the characters mean I do not know. Those that I put their names and their real names next to their characters' names mean yes, I do know. Those that I did not mention at all mean that the rest of the casts are either unknown or entirely not in this series. And so for my last line before I venture to tell you who plays who, my point is that I do not know all their names. I know.....this is why my reviews are always so darn long because I waste space in writing things I do not know and things I could not tell and I should save space and write about things that I do know but then if I do just that my reviews will be way too short that the length will be the exact length as this paragraph beginning from "There" right up until the . symbol which is right here .
So Who Played Who?!
Bobby Au Yeung - Bak Chong Sai
Sharon Tang - Koi Ying Jing
Tse Tin Wah- Lam Kwong Cheong
Lee Ka Sing - Bak Leong Kam
May Kwong Mun Shun - Jan Ching
Lou Jan Soon
Yuen Keng Tan - miss Bo
Wu Fung- Koi Lan
Tong Ying Ying-Polly
Yuen Siu Cheung-Wong King
Hong Wah-Faye Wong
Rest of the cast has King Kong, and plenty more of unknowns with characters of reali life famous people. I really can't remember some of the names but I do know who they were playing.
A Short Overview
This is a series about actors playing and poking fun at other actors by being them but the real funny thing is that in the end, though they resemble the real counterparts, right down to the way they breath, they have their own personalities that somehow you as the intelligent viewer will no longer associate them with the real actors and see them as just another actor playing a character that so happens to resemble a bit like the real counterpart.
A Message Of Conflicting Emotions By The Reviewer
Have you ever watched a series where you liked it so much you could tell a thousand great things about it? Yes right? Have you ever watched a series that you hated it so much that you either finished it and criticised it like your greatest and most hated enemy or alternatively you watched half way through and you hated it so much you stopped watching and then criticise it like you most hated enemy or worst yet, you do not even bother to watch it? Got right? Well how about this; have you ever watched a series where you didn't quite like it but you stick with it and then discover that you quite like it and finished it and then one day you sat down and thought about it and realised that it ain't that great but yet you can't really criticise it that much and yet you can't compliment it either as it is neither good nor bad and thus you have this feeling like "I have wasted my money on this"..and the next split second you'll say "But.....but....it wasn't THAT bad...."? Yes, you have a big problem, like me because that was how I felt about this series. My point is that I can't give you a definate verdict or a definate recommendation, in fact I'll try not to impose my own personal taste on you and let you as the intelligent viwers who could appreciate a series more than I because ever since I 've started writing reviews I have this annoying habit of noticing the bad point and totally ignore to the good points because it's sexier to be mean...yeah I am so sexy. JOKING! I just have this annoying habit, full stop. So you decide for yourself by reading this review, if you're still reading right now....hey, I've gotta warn you guys/girls, my other reviews are just as long...anyway, in true Malaysian slang I shall end this long winded paragraph by saying;
"You decide lar har, because I really don't want to decide for you leh because I mean, you are reading this for fun mah, right?"
But if you must insist, the fact that this review took me 3 weeks to write and yet has a readable length(meaning not TOO long) would be an indication of how I felt about this series..there are only two types of series that I will eagerly write..one that I really hate and one that I really like. For this series, I do not have a "FEEL" for it. Jump straight to verdict if you must.
The Story/Plot/Storyline/Plotline/Structure/Basis/whatever
Simply, and nothing complicated at all, Sharon is a young and educated new age film maker, disgusted by the VCD pirating and low quality of films made in HK, who gets this chance to make a real movie when her father, Wu Fung dies leaving a huge debt and failing production company. Her film is funded by his father's latest recruit of an idealistic young actor trying to make a name for himself in the movie world, Tse Tin Wah's sleazy uncle. He wasn't the fuirst choice to act opposite his future love interest May Kwong as Bobby, the self-appointed Producer of the film(he wants this position to make sure than Sharon's budget is not cheated and so that he could get back the money owed to him by her late father by his promise to but an antique watch subsequently broken by Sharon. They disliked each othet but co-operated when he proved to be quite a capable producer though he may have taken some of the money for himself. Then things begin to crumble. Attacked by the cunning producer Wong king and his two headed snake of an assistant Brother Wai, to whom Sharon's father owes a huge amount of sum, and in the war to publicise their own up and coming actors and coming film in the country where entertainment success could only be achieved by popularity to who you're seeing, and being chased day and night by "Doggie team"(press), Bobby advised Tse wrongly and Tse ended up hurting his now girlfriend May by denying theri relationship and his cousin who never looked at him went on TV hugging and kissing when she realised that when her philandering parents divorced, he was there for her and she wanted him all for himself. That led to the personal rivalry between May and Tse (she hated him for being such a coward), Sharon and Brother Wai(who by now has taken over Wong King's company for revenge when Wong King seduced his beloved Pauline who never really looked at him at all) and Tse and Bobby (because Tse thought Bobby was seeing May as he used to be crazily in love with May who never really looked at him but now he is in love with Sharon who has yet to accept his love and thinks that he is seeing May). But in the end, all rivalry and all hatred are forgotten for they all have one passion that draws them together and to at last find love, friendship and personal fufillment in careers and well.. if I am not repeating myself too often...LOVE.
Who,How, Where,What and Why
I prefer not to tell you everything and why it all happened that way because if I do just that, there will not be any reason for you to watch this series at all! Moreover I am getting a bit tired of writing so much, so I guess let me just give you the verdict.
KIDDING! But seriously, whatever I would put under this heading, if you just scroll down...not now! Finish this first lar! Where was I? Oh yeah, if you just scroll down you'll find them in a different heading created specially for this review;
Dissect, Detect And Discuss
Some Criticsms
I have nothing much to say about the performances at this moment but let us talk about something else. The obvious problem with this series is that the scope is so limited. I have always complained of TVB being too wide in it scope but now my complain is that it is too narrow. Why narrow? Too much emphasis on a certain subject such as Entertainment. If it is supposed to be funny I didn't laugh much because there is nothing funny about it. it is a rather sad series because lots of stuff happening in here could be quite depressing, having hope and then hopes dashed. But the real problem is again the focus...this is probably those few series that could be said that 90% of its scenes are filmed indoors, inside studio. What is so refreshing about Plain Love II is that it is outdoors, most of the time. This series is the opposite......indoors and with nothing else to see like sceneries, pedestrians, cars, etc, what is a good viewer to do? Well look at the actors acting as actors and that is when you'll have so much so little to see you'll either be bored to death or noticed too many flaws with this series. I guess we do need some distraction. And people's first main complaint is that they always see the house. True since they're supposedly filming in the house anyway, but too much of a house is boring and tiring to many, me included. So the real problem with this series is the location scout...and I do think in this series they had none because nothing to scout for.
Dissect, Detect, Discuss
Now let us look at the charcaracters, see them from every angle as a viewer and perhaps as a charcacter expert, we shall then proceed to see their inner values and perhaps even venture to guess who is playing who. And I guess this is the best part of the series...guessing who is playing who and we get excited just by being able to identify the real life scandals they're parodying.
Actors Playing Actors
The Character: Lam Kwong Cheong (Tse Tin Wah)
He is your talented but undiscovered talent slowly rotting away in a miserable show for children until he met with Sharon's father and was offered a contract deal for one movie and he took it without thinking. However when Sharon's dad died, everything crumbled. He didn't have a job in the end and he had to beg for his old job at TVB lookalike sudio.But luckilly Sharon wanted to make a movie in the hope of repaying the debts owed to Wong King's company and Tse persuaded his sleazly and lusty uncle to pay for the costs. But alas, he was not the lead actor, until the lead actor played by Onn Tak Juen went AWOL. So after much opposition from his very best friend, Bobby he got the lead role. But even before the movie came out, he became really famous due to his very misleading relationship with his cousin whom he has been in love for the longest of time untile she cruelly rejected him, but later as he fell May, his uncle and bad bad auntie divorced and left their only child emotionally scarred and suicidal. And so to avoid her from kiling herself again, and to enable the funding keep coming for the film, Bobby concoected a lie that they're seeing each other. When he wanted to stop the lie, he couldn't because of the film and because dear cousin-girlfriend kissed him in front of the world. May became very angry and refused to take him back and Tse thought May was seeing Bobby who was crazy about her but now is in love with Sharon. Misunderstanding after petty misunderstandding later, Tse signed with Wong King, but when Wong king was forced out of the directors' board by Brother Wai who hated Wong King for stealing his future girlfriend Pauline (tong Ying Ying), Tse was forced to act in a 3rd category nude movie and Sharon was forced to direct it. But luckilly our hero managed to live through this ordeal and became very famous and May forgives him at last.
The Real Counterpart : Stephen Chow Sing Chi
Don't tell me you didn't know it was him? It was so obvious, the lazy talk, the lazy eyes, that hairstyle, alwasy in t-shirts and slacks, that expression, the story of Lam KwonG Cheong being a chilren's show host, suffered in TVB, found fame in movies, and at the last scene, an image from his upcoming movie with Vicky Zhao.....very very obvious. But something fall short for Tse's performance. Stephen Chaow, though not looking funny, is FUNNy and he is FUNNY without trying hard at all. A natural born comedian who didn't have much luck until small but pivotal part in a family comedy that gave him a name to the audience together with Sandra Ng. The came that movie with Danny Lee (yes, that guy you ALL HATED in AMOC) that gave him a Neewcomer Award and Alex Man's guidance, became even more famous with a TVB classic that I can't remember the English title where we could see the start of all the Mou Lei Tau(Nonsense comedy) in the future. Hits after hits, but frankly it was his own written and directed movie which i think was semi-autobiographical called King Of Comedy that was truly a classic. Comedy looks easy but actually he gave us the truth....that many thought has been put into it. It may not be funny hahahahaha but frankly, this is a movie with superb acting, heart and lots of soul in it. I hope Stephen Chow who is now busy with his new movie and paving ways for young new talents will make more of such movies. HK needs that desperately. My favourite comedian and actor. Most Western counterpart called him Jim Carrey of the East, bujt I beg to differ. Stephen was here first, so I shall say Jim Carrey is the Stephen Chow of the West.
The Character : Jan Ching (May Kwong)
She looked innocent but she is actually very street wise and tough talking young girl. A good girl that helps her father with his cafe business, takes care of her family like a mother including her older half sister from China(Tong Ying Ying's Pauline) who always gave her mean words. She has a talent for acting and when she was given the opportunity to act for Wong king's movies (she looks like his first love) she took it only to be degraded and insulted by Brother Wai who secretly offered her to a rich man like a prostitute. She left showbiz but ca,e back after she was offered in Sharon's new movie. She didn't like Tse at first but fell for him after he supposedly saved her from the burning set (it was Bobby actually). She stood by Tse and even forgave him for the cousin's incident until he became too unreasonable and accused her of being with Bobby. That was the last straw and though she loves himdesperately, she wouldn't budge. More so when he signed with Wong King. But everything is A-OK after the whole mess was dealt with and she became famous and went back to Tse.
The Real Counterpart : Cecilia Cheung
Don't tell me you didn't know it was her?! It was very obvious, not in the terms of looks but the personification of her character. Demure in public, bloody noisy with her family. But I must admit, Cecilia Cheung is a much better actress than May Kwong, and who can forget her stunning debut in Stephen Chow's King Of Comedy? You may hate her voice, you may hate the way she behaves, you may even hate her for whatever reasons, but you must admit, she is a very talented actress, and a very beautiful and fleshy kind of actress, rarely seen in HK. But again, I must admit, I hate her voice, and I just hope she stops singing. Some said the way she sings, is different from the way she talks. TRUE! But let me rephrase it without sounding rude or offensive..she reminds me of Leo Koo, with one big difference. Leo has a very nice singing voice but like Cecilia, they never really sing their heart out. I mean the way they sing are too fake in my own personal and unbiased opinion. I don't feel for their songs, and I don't feel for their voices. And I certainly do not feel for their music, if you can call those music. They sing expressionless, happy they sing that way, sad they sing that way. Putting too much emphasis on trying to project a good singing voice, I do have a feeling that the idea of singing your heart out kinda have to be sacrificed for the idea of a nice voice. You don't need to be beautiful or have a perfct voice to sing a good tune, as long as you feel for your song. Maybe they feel for their songs but as a listener, i feel nothing which is sad. But acting wise, Cecilia Cheung is a talent that should be nurtured. If only she tones down a bit on her "Ducky" voice. And frankly, May Kwong..nowhere near Cecilia in acting department but i do not know much about her singing voice.
Note
I have wanted to do a detailed analysis on all the characters in this series but I am just too tired to write long. So the above are th two notable ones and below are some of other notable characters for which I do not know their real names nor the real counterpart's names. But I do recognise the scandals involved.
Most Despicable Character
Bobby's Bak Chong Sai could have been the one but he was sincere towards the end. He started out as a very sleazy type of guy, not promiscuos but someone without strong morality in terms of stealing. Yes, VCD pirating is stealing but let's just forget the fact that this site has plenty of downloadable MPEG segments for you to watch.Anyway, you can't help but feel that this guy is completely useless, always money minded and putting his parents in tough situation, having to pay off his loan shark debts. But when Bobby saw how much of pain he has caused his "beginning to be " estranged father, and having a good job as a producer for Sharon's movie, he bucked up and became a better person. Which will be why I will name him as ...
Most Giving Character
You may call this man any name, but you can't call him disloyal. when he knew that his object of desire, May was secretly seeing Tse, he was angry at first but later he forgave them for not telling him and making him into a lovesick fool and even tried to make them be happier, by creating this illusion that Tse is a hero that saved her and Sharon from the burning studio. But actually it was Bobby who did the saving, however selfish he may have been and let Tse takes the creadit when he saw reporters out there taking photos. That was the start of Tse's popularity, and Sharon who has all along misunderstood him as the sleazy producer didn't know he saved her until some episodes later when Tse told her the truth. that was when she shanged her opinion of him and began to like him a lot, but denying those feelings of course. Bobby in the end was a giving man, and not wanting the film to stop because of one scene less, where there was supposed to be a stunt man roling down the stairs, Bobby did it and was injured badly, thinking that Sharon went back to her old BF.
Most Pitiful Character
At first, Tse's Lam Kwong Cheong who was talented but had little luck in the showbiz. Parents died early and so he lived with his emotionally abusive aunt who never minced her words when it comes to his future success (meaning he won't have any at all), living in a kitchen cabinet (yes, kitchen cabinet) having little respect by even the maid and never really having the love of his cousin. But all that changed later into the series as he gained fame and fortune.
Most Ungentlemanly Character
Who else but Sharon's ex BF. i can't remember the character's name nor the real actor's name but anybody who has seen Kindred Spirit would have known the actor that played that despicable Brother Kwong/Lee Chi Hou that met a sad end. thatw as the actor that played this character that not only dumped Sharon for an older DJ BUT had the nerve to demand back all those money he had spent on her during their courtship! BUT later he had the nerve to come back and proposed! Sharon said NO but Bobby saw the ring and thought she said yes, when that ring was meant for someone else. he will have my vote as the Most Hated Character if not for this one character that clearly stole the "thunder" from this guy...
Most Hated Character
Annoying, irritating voice and very very mean character, that is the character of the lady DJ that spoke with a distinctive voice, I can't remember the name, but let me take a wild guess and correct me if I am wrong..Bak Yin or something. I really can't remember. Anyway, horrible character, that not only stole people ideas, but really I can't see what that guy above saw in her BUT I guess they were meant to be with each other. you just have to see this series to know how mean this woman could be.
Most Unreasonable Character
Tse's Lam Kwong Cheong. He staretd out as a nice guy, up until he thought that May and Bobby were seeing each other. that was when he became totally unreasonable, insulting a giving friend like Bobby. Sure Bobby was wrong to advise him to go underground with May about their relationship, caused a great big misunderstanding between them when cousin sister went onstage in front of live tv and May and kissed him. Bobby didn't even stop her, because he wanted continued funding from that girl's father. But the sad thing was Tse kept blaming Bobby for the berak up, again and again and again until it really bored the hell out of me. Sometimes felt like slapping him and saying to him "If you're man enough, why don't you just stop listening to that guy and revela tgo teh world who you love most?". he almost did and Bobby with really bad judgement stopped him. But a guy as smart as Tse should have known the real reason why bobby did what he did and not for trivial reasons like wanting may. I mean by that time he wanted Sharon not May. The funny thing was that even May knew it, recognised Bobby for who he really was and continued to be close to him and yet was tremendously hurt when Tse accused her of two timing him, gave him chance after chance to reddem himself but he never did.
Most "Come one Give Him A Break, Why You So Stubborn" Character
May Kwong's Jan Ching. A nice girl, no doubt about it, even willing to do odd jobs just to save enough money for the continued filming of their film BUT frankly, she should understand why Tse had to go underground with her. if she could understand Bobby why not Tse? She actually forgave him when she said "Let's break up", only waiting for him to come begging for her. But when he did, she just stood her ground and denied him her love because she was bloody stubborn. Can't blame Tse for the misunderstanding her and Bobby, but being such great friends with Bobby, I can't accept his blatant insults to Bobby. Anyway, this woman, mouth said NO but heart said YES a long long time ago. An epitome of stubborness.
Most Adorable Character
Lou Jan Soon's character of the effiminate DJ that I can't remember the name. Somehow a lot of names I can't remember. He was too cute in here, love his hairstyle.By the way, he plays the best friend of Sharon's. His picture, if you can see the nice graphic on your right on top of this review, he is the 5th person.
And I must say this actor, don't know his name but I am sure you remember the character of thefaithful black labrador of the 3 eyed God in JTTW II? That actor played Jackie Chan in here and he was so cute! The way he talked, was so Jackie Chan!
Most Misunderstood Character
Yuen Siu Cheung's Wong King.He was playing prolific Producer Wong Jing. I almost thought...well another defamation suit on the way for TVB but surprisingly after this series I will see Wong jing in a different light. he may use tricks into getting more box office receipts, but he never did any illegal stuff, it was his assitant Brother Wai. When he used Polly (Tong Ying Ying playing the reali life Pauline), he actually fell for her when he saw her crying watching his very first art movie which was a bomb. you though Wong King made stupid movies but he was quite learned in here, quoting from famous directors. So I can only draw a conclusion that he chose his road to his career..it was a concious choice to make nonsensical movies..
Most Boring Character
I was never her fan but I must admit, she looked very healthy. Sharon's Koi Ying Jing was just a plain one dimensional character with little to tell. I can;t say it was her lask lustre performance but the charcater itself was something terribly missing. Sure got some drama but apart from that her character was basically there to say "ACTION!".."CUT"..and find funding. That was it.
Most Interesting Episodes
If there were a few episodes that if you ask me that you should watch, then you must not kiss the last 3 tapes, where Bobby and Tse's relationship were on breaking point. the way they screamed at each other, I felt heartsick for Bobby, all the things that he has done came down to that shoutiong match..was he worth all the hard work? In fcat those are the best scenes that truly showed how well Bobby and Tse could act, the reluctance, the hatred, the anger, the angst all in 5 minutes segment. Excellent work there. At least some drama there.
And one scene with Nicholas Tse (in here called Tse Lui Ting-Thunder Lightning) and Faye Wong, with her manager and her kid, discussing about whether to go public with their relationship. Faye was trying to persuade Nic to let it be and go underground but he was like a kid needing to be cajoled, and presuaded and at the same time we see Faye's manager that didn't like Nic trying to persuade the daughter to eat porridge and the tone was the same. In that one scene we see what HK viewed the relationship as..Nic was just a kid.
Most Disappointing Aspect
The whole series was a disappointment to me apart from the above and some that I will note below. People's NUMBER ONE complaint was that this series was always shot in the house. If you're expecting plain Love II with plenty of outside sceneries, you'll be very very disappointed. Always the house where they were supposedly filming their movie, always the back alley, always steamboat for LUNCH! That will be the worst aspect of this storey, the scenes were too focused. And then there was the weak script. Was it supposed to be a comedy? I wasn't laughing at all. Was it supposed to be a drama? Except for those few scenes, I didn't see any drama. Was it supposed to be a love story? where then were the love stories? Totally predictable, the only unpredictable part would be when Bobby fell for SHaron. When exactly did he fell for her? That will be one of the weakest point in this story..to many holes and too little plot. I have always complained that TVB series are way too general, because thye talk about too many things in too short a frame time or too much things for too long a frame timke with too many repetitions....for this series my criticsm would be the opposite..it was just too pigeon holed into one specific plot, too few focus, and too little to tell. The whole series was basically about Bobby, tse and an unseen movie in the making. Boring. And to focue entire series in the making of ONE movie is soooooooooooo boring. Entire 25 tapes, ONE FILM ONLY.Too tired to watch how they almost succeed then failed then succeed almost again and then failed again and again and again. BORING!
Most Unbelievably Silly cum Stupid Aspect
I shall be blunt.
I know that HK real actors have little regards to Category III movies, where you know nudity and excessive sex scenes..too little plot and too much action so to speak. And in this series, Tse was forced to make a Cat III movie to end his contract. I know lawyers are all dead in HK, the law does not exist, judges do not have courtrooms to preside over but WHAT ABOUT THE CONTRACT? You know..WRITTEN AGREEMENT? If in his written agreement Tse did not agree to nudity, Brother Wai can't force him! That is one thing I hate about HK series, they may show that HK Police as efficient, but the law was always made an arse. Stupid storyline.
And what is so wrong about nudity in movies? That could be a very big insult to Hollywood or European art films. believe me I have seen much more realistic European Art Films, where thye even won awards BUT of course that does not mean i like the movie but it does show, what is so wrong about nudity in film as long as it is part of the story? Of course there are always other ways to tell a story about longing without having the actors strip and start pretending to have mad and frenzied sex, but again it depends on the story itself. But there was a good scene where Sharon asked Tse "Do you trust me?" and Tse said yes and Sharon explained that "Even Category Three films have their good and artistic points" and in the end they made quite an artistic category 3 film, with some artistic fliming techniques shown in this series as a 1 minute clip.
Most Favourite Couple
Nope, not the main two pairs which I find them to be tiring and boring BUT the characters of Miss Bo (Yuen Keng Tan) and lou Jan Soon's character of the DJ. Miss Bo was very rich, and they met one day. in teh morning it was Miss Bo and Mr....in the afternoon it was their english names..in the evening, it was Bobo and ....and at the end of the day it was "Little Devil" and "Naughty Rascal". Love that scene, it was very funny.
Most Starry Eyed
Would be us the VIEWERS! Try to spot a very obvious Nicholas Tse and Faye Wong, played excellently by the unknown actor and Hong Wah..try to spot Bak Leong Kam, try to figure out who King Kong was playing (he was actually playing a character from Stephen Chow's movie, King Of Comedy, that young triad member with the same hairdo that almost disappointed his old grandmother....touching scene), who Tong Ying Ying and the guy that played her father was playing(Jackie Chan's manager, a Malaysian by the way), spot Jackie Chan, Spot Shu Qi, Andy Lau, Tony leung, Carina Lau,etc. Beleve me, the best time you would have would be trying to figure out who plays who and recognising the scandals.
Best Impersonations/Performances
I like the direction that Bobby is taking with his acting career. no longre playing the underdog, beginning with Four Authenthic Geniuses, he played a very despicable character and so too in here. No longre those lovable heroes..there is nothing lovable about him in here but you'll still like him. Sure the facial expressions were the same as in all his series, kidna boring but he is trying to reinvent himself by giving a different aspect to his usual charcaters..at least something different and I welcome that change.
Tse really sounded, looked like, walked like, talked like Stephen Chow> Even dressed like him. Kudos to this actor for being such a good impersonator.
Hong Wah as Faye Wong was very very good. Right down to the way she dragged her lines like Faye does.
Who played Nicholas Tse? Great impersonation.
Lou Jan Soon and Yuen Keng Tan, excellent performances and impersonations.
Scroll up again and look at the graphic to your right? Notice the last pic of a cross eyed lady? I do not know the actress' name but guess who she was playing? Awwww come one....Remember Kenny B's ex-wife? Yep she was playing that woman...what? Who is Kenny B ? Maybe his name is spelt as Bee or Chung Chan Tou? Still don't know who? Aiyar..I can't help you then...
By the way, notice how I use impersonations for ome and performances for others? This series is about impersonations, but don't just assume that they're not good either. All were good, some stood out some didn't. Though this series started out with impersonations, but in the end you'll realise that as a good actor you let the viewers see your own interpretation of that impersonation. So in the end, Tse may have played Stephen Chow BUT I could still see him as Tse Tin Wah because he didn't let his great impersonation overshadowing his ownself.
"Spot The Scandals" Time
I have mentioned some above but notice if you see any of below :-
Faye and Nicholas' very public affair, entering motel, karaoke, hugging, etc
Kenny B's ex wife with that white haired guy that angered millions of man when he carried her shoes around
Pauline, an ex starlet after breaking off with her rich boyfriend became a bit unstable mentally
Cecilia Cheung becoming truthful about her background, triad incident
Gigi Leung and Ekin Cheng's very public outcome of their secret underground affair but in here it was in teh form of Tse and May Kwong's characters, Notice the champagne and birthday cake.
The old Lady DJ and a younger man who by profession is a lawyer..actually they're happily married.
Notice Uncle Six (Boss of TVB) at the end...it should be him unless it was supposed to be Raymond Wong....
Which Stars Should Be Pleased With This Series
Jackie Chan because this series depicted him as a very very nice guy
Bak Leong Kam because showed him as a loyal friend
Cecilia Cheung because showed her as a hardworking girl
Wong Jing showing him as an intellectual guy
Pauline that showed her a bit desperate at first but actually loved the Wong King character and knew how to appreciate good art
Miss Bo and her DJ lover...some derogatories remarks have been made but i felt personally that none of those directed at them personally but actually towards the story and this series actually showed them as good people who worked hard for their money and truly loved each other
I do not know who Sharon and Bobby were playing but if they were playing real people, then these people should be very pleased because showed them as loyal friends.
Stephen Chow perhaps because it did showed him as a talented actor, though a bit small minded and unreasonable.
Which Stars Should Really Sue The "Money" Out Of TVB
That lady DJ and her younger husband should really sue TVB...very derogatory remarks made and I really thought perhaps the real life people could be like that also. Hey, i am easily influenced by TVB....
Ex Mrs Kenny B for showing her in effect as a slut, and her now lover should sue as well for showing him as a lusty old man
The real person played by Onn Tak Juen should sue because this series really talked bad about him but well, perhaps he won't win because perhaps there were some truth in the series about him.
Choi Lan for the very fact that in this series his character Koi lan played by Wu Fung showed that his character died whilst eating. that guy is still very much alive by the way.
But What To Sue TVB?It Was Just Pure Fun....
Defamation/slander/libel, which basically means telling a third party something that distorts the real truth about the real character, menas or standing of that person. mostly about character. Of course, an example. Let's just say I call Seagull and announce it right here, I say..
"Seagull IS UGLY and she steals people's ideas..."
And you , having read this and really admire me and so really believe all my nonsense, really thought Seagull is ugly and steals people's idea. So her reputation is at stake and it is an important reputation because all her web designing career she based it on one fact..she designed her own graphics, so she is original and maybe she looks like a Miss Universe. So she could sue me if people believed that accusations. If nobody believes me, then cannot sue because reputation not spolit what?! But if yes, she could sue me for slander/libel/defamation, having written this and get me to apologise plus retract this review plus pay her the money equivalent to her loss of reputation that could be millions.And then it depends whether I've said it with full intent of hurting her reputation, or whether it was just a joke. Itf it was just a joke, then lesser amount of money of course. But it will be an entirely different matter if whatever I've said above is based on a fact..then I have a defence.By the way, you do realise that the above statement was just an example right?
Well let's just say I say..
" Seagull Is gorgeous and she is original in her designs.."
Can she sue me? For WHAT?! So in this kind of law suit, if people said bad things about you that killed your reputation, you can sue. if people said nice things about you, then cannot sue. BUT what if there is this killer out there who is bloody proud of his repuatation as a killer, and he is caught and imprisoned, then came this article that wrote about how nice he is, how he did charity and never killed a single person in his life...can he sue? Well he buoilt his reputation on the fcat that he loved and had killed that many people and now came this article that said he was all "B.S". Never happened in Malaysia but it could happen.. of course he won't win but frankly, you can sue for anything..but the real thing is can you win?
Who Really Is Suing TVB Oh Great One...
As of 3 weeks ago, and I am not sure if the suit has been dropped or not....
Never thought that TVB could be and would be sued but it does happen. The real counterpart of Yuen keng Tan's Miss Bo is suing TVb for defamation. In one scene, the character of Miss Bo after being interviewed by that despicable DJ woman, walked away and that DJ woman said openly and to the microphone that "She is in lust of men....if her husband did not leave her any money she could never have made it...", quite derogatory remarks. So she is suing because of this. but I really do think that the person who should sue is that real counterpart of that DJ woman. Really bad mouthed her in here. But as for that Miss Bo, actually this series showed her as an understanding and capable career woman. if that staement defamed her, I did not think so. That statement when said was trying to illustrate how small minded that DJ woman was, not how old or lusty that Miss Bo was. So that gave me a better impression of Miss Bo and worse impression of that DJ woman. I don't see any defamation in there because I did not believe these accusations.
The Ending
Perhaps a bit on the ending befroe I give my all important verdict. Bobby ends up with Sharon, May with Tse, Lou Jan Soon went back to yuen keng Tan, Polly married Wong King, and the film became a critical success. THE END.
So...The Verdict? How?
Five BIG words after the . symbol.
AVOID THIS LIKE A PLAGUE.
What Was Wrong With This Series Oh Great One.....
I love writing reviews for one main reason..whatever I write above and however much you protest about how I imagine how you would call me...I can't hearrrrrr youuuuuu
Anyway, whatever I've said above applies in here, with a few addition. The script wass terribly weak...when I saw the poster and the title "Screenplay" I thought it was about Bobby as either a struggling director or script writer, but none of those. it failed as both comedy and drama, being neither here nor there. the problem was the script which was funny because this series was all about making a good movie, ala Wong Kar Wai's way..taking months. And this series felt like months..focusing entirely on the process of making one GREAT FILM was boring and even at the end, we the viewers never got to see the end product, just snippets of it. They tried to be too preachy, since with the big problem of HK triads meddling into film making and VCD pirating. But being too preachy meant that you have to be politically correct, which meant no fun for us as viewers. I hate preachy series that preached about soemthing that I already am aware of and then show some real life situation the wrong way. You know, the stupid thing that law is dead, that entertainment world is so dark.. if talentless people like Anne Heung who is not that pretty can make it via Miss HK i really believe you do not need to show people how as a rising star you either have great talent and patience before you become famous or you are impatient and so you dress sexily, tried to get into pictures and news everyday, do Category Three movies, sleep with the director. i find that insulting, as a woman. Why not show a bit of TVB? There were indications of a big studio like TVB but why not show that as a struggling actor you act in series? the concept of this series was that they forgotten about TV series and just said movies, movies, movies when we all know in HK, movies could as well be dead. the quality shows are on TV these days and that quality is going downhill if TVb does not buck up soon with new talents.I find this series misleading and very very inaccurate in the depiction of the entertainment world. Notice how our heroes became famous.; not one movie out yet and they were already famous for all the wrong reasons, scandals, or singing part time..creating false news..these I believe exist in HK and it's true how some stars seemed so famous when in actual fact they aren't..just like a chinese saying, it's all "boiling water", with someone boiling the water, not the water boiling itself. And this series made it sounds so easy to be famous, it tried to show the perspective of someone appreciating art making a movie and acting in one and yet this very same person would agree to sing in JSG when he loved to act! What does that mean? That Nicholas Tse was right? that to be famous or to be anywhere in HK you have to suck up to the big timers by going to game shows or singing, even if you didn't want to? If this series was all about pure fun, then i say Ok, no big deal though it ain't fun to watch. If it was about purely situation drama, OK I'll say no big thing because well, not much drama in here...but from the start of this series this series was about teh values that one filmaker or artist should adopt in presenting their art..to be diligent..to be honest...to be true to your art...that was preachy and because of that this series failed terribly because it presented nothing but falacy, except for some points that I have mentioned and agreed upon.
Which Was Better.....
Believe me when I say that those Impersonation series with Gordon Lam were ten times better than this one. So rent those. but to those in Malaysia, tough luck..Golden Star did not handover the old tapes to the new distributor so people like me cannot watch any prior releases before Healing Hands II. And those wanting to buy those VCDs of old series, better do so now because no more releases for old series in VCD formats.
By the way, i really wish Gordon lam was a small time actor because when he was small time he did those impersonations of Jacky Cheung and Arron Kwok which i considered classics. now too big to act in such roles.
That Scene...So Familiar....
In this series there is this one scene that you'll find funny but I found it distasteful..anybody saw Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin's film called "Bowfinger"? This series I believe was actually based on that excellent Hollywood production about a struggling director and his oddball crew members trying to make a good movie but could not afford to hire Eddie Murphy and so they secretly filmed him. It was very funny and this one scene in this movie was copied in in this series, blatantly, where this time Sharon can't afford to hireJackie Chan and so she secretly filmed him. But in the end, the whole idea was busted. But shame shame TVB. This will be the second time I saw such a blatant plagarism, the other time was Untraceable Evidence II that had one case following a scene from the book by Patricial Cornwell. (I hope this is the right spelling of her name..)
Interesting Fact
Many stopped watching after tape 4, because they found it boring. I finished it just to write this review...ahhhhh come on...don't cry..I can already feel your love for me without those tears............
Anyway, bombed big time.
The character of Polly played by Tong Ying Ying was actually about Pauline, a one time actress who had a long term affair with this rich playboy who dumped her and rumour had it that she became a bit senile, complaining and always suspecting of ghosts, people trying to harm her...she looked a bit tried to me..in fcat almost lifeless at one point but now she is I heard acting again...
There is a character played by Onn Tak juen with this bees stung lips and always wearing shades and black coat. I can't remember his name but he was very famous in the arly 80's if I am not mistaken but he made one great big mistake that cost him his whole career..in an award ceremony he said of Leslie Cheung who won the major award that night ..."One moment of glory is not forever", and his career nosedived from then onwards. he is making a comeback and rumour had it that at one point he pursued that Pauline woman.
What can i say about Nicholas Tse? Boy wonder? Or not? If he read this he could sue me but I am making a frank observation from hwat I've read and frankly i do not think my words will have any impact on his integerity as a person and as a musician.Because I am a nobody! Thank you for reminding me of that fact. You see, I was quite amazed by this young man, looked cool and way mature for his age, in fcat he fell for a woman a decade older than he is and so there is hope for women like me. Anywah but that was right until I read that controversial article with Time Asia (if I am not mistaken). i realy do not care about the hoopla about the article untile I read the interview and I kenw why TVB freezed him for awhile. he said derogotary remarks about TVB, stupid gameshows and all. That was bad and I admit game shows in TVB could be quite embarrasing but like Sandra Ng said of this young man's observation..."I don't like TVB, that is why I never appear for them anymore..". True. But what i found distatseful was what he said about his music and his albums. Let us forget about the rumour and allegations that he said the "F" word in the interview, that i do not care about. he mentioned that he was not able to make his brand of music, sad...churing out albums after albums that he thought weren't good enough and his fans still bought them. i can't remember the exact phrase or sentence but the spirit of it was that bad quality albums and his fans still bought them and he didn't said that in an appreciative note. i find that insulting, even when i was not his fan and I am still not his fan. Farnkly if he can't stand the music he was making then by all means take 5 years to make an album and notv enter the race to be famous too fast and too soon. But if you want to be in that race you gotta do the way the HK market dictates. he said he wanted to change the music scene in Hk, but frankly is he qualified to make comments on the HK Music scene? how long has he been making music? I don't even like his music, and franklly I think he should just stick to acting as he is a better actor than a singer. And one frustrating thing, he was more than ready to reveal his personal realtionship with faye in that article but not with the HK media. why the double standards? teh mroe he didn't talk the more the press will become obsessed. All market strategies. And is he really THAT famous? I do not think so. And then later his publicist retracted some of the statements saying the interpreters got him wrong in the interview. I do think the Interview was in English and even it wasn't, do tell me..who would you believe? A kid who actually knows so little of this thing called life or a magazine that has been interviewing big politicians and businessmen for decades and never has there been such an open accusation of misinterpretation of an interview? I rest my case.
And one more thing i must comment on before I conclude this review.
I read in an article in my local mail that Nicholas Tse was once chided by Roman Tam for smashing guitars on stage and he replied that it was normal , just like some American rock bands. Really? I have a rule. you may hate your government, so by all means burn the party's flag but you will cross the thresehold of human decency and loyalty by burning your country's flag. Hate your government but you must love your country because that was where you were born and possibly nurtured. Likewise with a guitar. You're a musician, and a guitar if your tool in expressing yourself musically, a tool to touch the world and to break the language barriers by creating something universal. i dare say a guitar is like a bowl of rice , you need it to survive, to grow as a musician. it depens on you musical tool it could bee a piano, etc. To Nic it must have been a guitar because he is always carrying one. To do something so careless as to smashing the very symbol of your livelihood, that is way too much. And to justify it by saying some people did it so why can't I kinda remind me that in the end, he's just a kid. He'll grow up and he'll mature as an artist but hopefully he won't make such blatant and insulting mistakes in future. He still has a long way to go and like the above statement made once by an up and rising singer...
" One moment of glory is not forever ".
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