We are now entering into 6th weekend of the circuit breaker. There was only 1 local Covid-19 case here in Singapore yesterday but there were still over 700 cases among foreign workers living in dormitories. With this statistic, it looks like the circuit breaker will most probably ends on June 1st without any more extension (I certainly hope so!) but there would still be many restrictions in place. The number of cases among foreign workers daily are still very high due to the extensive testing and this number isn’t expected to go much lower any time soon since Singapore had over 300 000 foreign workers living in dormitories and only a small percentage of them have been tested so far.

Let’s get back to the main topic of this post; my review to another Hong Kong TVB drama called ‘Brutally Young’ (十八年後的終極告白). I have not had any expectation before watching this 20-episode series, thinking of it as just another drama for me to kill off time on every weekday’s evening. The outcome is; this series is a surprising hit! Starring Shaun Tam, Joel Chan, Mandy Wong, Vivien Yeo, Anthony Ho, Dominic Lam, etc, the drama revolves on the life of seven high school friends through obstacles and worries after a body that they have buried 18 years ago was discovered and led to police investigation. They were unsure of the identity of the killer and trying all ways to keep the secret to their own.

The plot is interesting and the story development is fast paced and intense on every episode. I even find that 20 episode isn’t enough to do this drama a justice. This drama can be delivered in 25 episodes or more. I felt it’s a waste that nice dramas ended so quickly (similar to Barrack O’Karma last year that is also a surprising hit and only has 20 episodes too). And then, we have an awful drama like ‘Airport Strikers’ that has 25 episodes and every single episode is a trash. When you have the urge to know what happened next, or guessing who is the killer, or curious on the conclusion to these characters, then you know it is a good drama. It gets you hooked to the storyline immediately. This series nailed it.

I never liked Shaun Tam as I find his acting is mediocre. However, he improved a lot in this drama as the main male lead. Perhaps it is most probably due to the very good script and overall good quality of the series that elevate his performance. There are many ‘explosive’ scenes of him that demand huge emotions and he started to deliver them satisfactorily. It’s a huge contrast to his typical overly bland performances in the past. Mandy Wong complements him well in this drama and she too delivered a solid performance (she also appears as main female lead in another concurrently airing drama that I’m watching too; ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter).

Joel Chan is good as usual and her romance with Vivien Yeo in this series is quite interesting and touching to watch. I wouldn’t say Vivien Yeo is an excellent actress but I can say without any doubt that this is her best performance to date. Her role as a deaf-mute girl here is very well executed. Her effort in delivering the sign language while showing intense emotions at the same time deserve praises. My last compliment would be to Dominic Lam who takes investigation over his son’s death into his own hands and to Anthony Ho as well. These two supporting actors are above the rest in this series.

The final episode of the series (aired yesterday) gives a worthy ending to the story. Spoiler ahead; Shaun admitted to his crimes in the end and most importantly admitted that his way of using lies on top of lies to cover secrets are wrong. This shouldn’t be the way in our life. ‘Admitting a mistake just took few seconds but having a guilty conscience takes a lifetime’; a very awesome yet hard-hitting quote from the final episode of this series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Brutally Young’ a total of 8.6. It’s definitely the best series I have watched so far for this year. No competition…This series is also getting rave reviews from most audiences. It deserves all the praise. I do recommend you to watch it especially in this time when all of us have to stay at home most of the time and need something to occupy ourselves.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

The original TVB supernatural drama ‘The Exorcist’s Meter’ which was released three years ago was a surprise hit. The drama captured the heart of many audiences and won couple of awards that year too. Supernatural genre is very uncommon in TVB and such series will usually not perform very well. ‘The Exorcist’s Meter’ broke the norm with its surprisingly meaningful and touching storylines paired with impressive performances by the cast. It offers a very refreshing take / direction on supernatural theme.

Everyone is expecting a sequel and finally it comes out this year. In ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter’, Siu Ma continues his full-time job as a taxi driver while committed to being a skilled demon hunter. He embarks on an adventure to free the spirit of his childhood friend, Ho Zai from a curse by a sea spirit. This 25-episode series starred many returning cast (Kenneth Ma, Hubert Wu, Susan Tse, Ram Chiang, Moon Lau, Mandy Wong, etc) and new ones too (Zoie Tam, Gloria Tang, C Kwan, etc).

There has been a famous saying that there is no other actor who can portray as a taxi driver as real as Kenneth Ma. His award-winning performance in the first series is a memorable one. He continues to do well here but this sequel plays down his role a bit to allocate screen time evenly to all the other supporting roles (a lot more secondary characters to focus on this time).

Although Mandy Wong is the first female lead here, but I felt she is outshined by other female cast (Moon, Susan and even Gloria). There is no important storyline or character development for her. On the other hand, many people seems to like Moon Lau in this series but I am not. I felt her cutesy voice and expression are a bit over. In the episode when she finally leaves the world which is supposed to be very moving, I hardly felt anything. Instead, I actually wish her to leave as quick as possible.

There are a lot of scenes that require huge emotional delivery from Susan Tse and this veteran actress nailed it. The scene where she had to let Siu Ma to kill Ho Zai (both are his sons) in the final episode is so heartbreaking. Besides that, there are also quite a number of tear-jerking scenes in this drama. This is what distinguish this drama franchise from the past supernatural series; touching storylines of which I have highlighted earlier.

Although this sequel is not as good as its predecessor, but it is still a decent sequel. There are some unanswered questions (people may be complaining of several open endings like what did Siu Ma see when he looked to the backseat of his taxi again – same ending in the first series too, no conclusion to Kenneth-Mandy pairing, and who is that mysterious spirit that has the ability to grant life to a person by taking the soul of another, etc) but no worry…the third series will be coming to answer those. There are news saying that this is a 3-part series. Hope that is confirmed.

Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter’ a total of 7.7. It doesn’t get beyond 8 point from me because it still has some fair share of slightly disappointing aspects like the character’s development of the sea spirit that is written badly near the end, annoying presence of Moon Lau (she seems okay in first series but not in this), and poor CGIs.

By the way, this series has a very nice sub-theme song sang by Hubert although not quite as compelling as the songs in the first series also.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘Line Walker: Bull Fight’ or commonly known just as ‘Line Walker 3’ (使徒行者3) is one of my most anticipated Hong Kong dramas this year. It certainly does live up to its expectation though not as good as the first series released back in 2014. Well, at least it is way better than the second series in 2017 from my personal opinion.

‘Line Walker 3’ has a total of 37 episodes (very odd number) and starred Raymond Lam, Michael Miu, Kenneth Ma, Mandy Wong, Benjamin Yuen, Priscilla Wong, Sisley Choi, Owen Cheung, Benz Hui, etc. It does have a pretty big and popular cast including some surprising cameo appearances by several other famous actors.

The storyline runs quite smoothly in this third instalment without confusing transitions as it focuses from one side story to the next and eventually joining up everything to the main plot without too much complications. Although it doesn’t manage to deliver as many cliffhanger or intense moments as the first series (the reason why I loved the first series so much), but the plot is still pretty engaging and deserves my full attention. However, there are still some minor scenes involving some supporting characters (like the story arc between Shiga Lin with Benjamin Yuen, etc) that felt a little draggy and unnecessary at times.

It’s good to see the return of Raymond Lam to TVB series as he had left the station for many years. His last role in the first series almost won him Best Actor on that year’s TVB Anniversary Awards but he eventually lost to Roger Kwok. He came back in this third series and he carried the role very well too. I do hope that he can finally win his first best actor award. He deserves it…and it would be cool to see Charmaine handing the award to him too. They are very compatible as on-screen couple and it is a huge pity not to see him reuniting with Charmaine in this third series. It’s really unfortunate that Charmaine isn’t returning for this third series although we kept hearing her name mentioned a lot of times throughout the series (I was hoping she would make a cameo though near the end but nope…).

Kenneth Ma on the other hand also surprised me with excellent performance as the main villain in this series. His eyes and facial expressions are on point. The female cast line-up is not that strong and it is further weakened by an underwhelming performance by Mandy Wong. I can sense her acting very hard to portray the strange personalities of Madam G and her performance felt forced. Sisley Choi on the other way acted way more naturally. Benjamin and Priscilla makes a good pair but their story arc is not interesting.

The last two to three episodes are certainly very intense and exciting, and that is what I hope for. However, I don’t really like the very last section of its final episode that shows some very odd cliffhanger scenes to tease us that there may be another sequel coming in. The way these scenes are plotted out felt very similar too.

Anyway, in overall, this series didn’t disappoint. It had a strong shot for best series win at TVB Anniversary Awards near the end of the year with its good storyline, multiple action-packed or climactic scenes, and of course solid cast with most of them delivering great performances. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Line Walker: Bull Fight’ a total of 8.0.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Happy Deepavali to my Indian friends and to everyone else who are celebrating this occasion too. Let the colours of this holy night decorate your life with peace, prosperity and success! By the way, it’s a bit sad that we don’t see much of Deepavali decorations set up on public places, streets or in malls. Instead, most places already have their Christmas decorations ready although it is still more than a month away.

This year’s Deepavali falls on a Saturday and I spent most of the day resting at home, binge watching my Hong Kong drama (quick review below) and strolling around Jewel, Changi Airport in the evening. The indoor waterfall accompanied with great lighting and ambience never fails to impress me each time I visit the place. While the terminal areas of the airport appear to be very quiet (very less flights nowadays due to the current global pandemic), it is totally the opposite atmosphere at the Jewel (it is so crowded!).

This year’s Deepavali falls on a Saturday and I spent most of the day resting at home, binge watching my Hong Kong drama (quick review below) and strolling around Jewel, Changi Airport in the evening. The indoor waterfall accompanied with great lighting and ambience never fails to impress me each time I visit the place. While the terminal areas of the airport appear to be very quiet (very less flights nowadays due to the current global pandemic), it is totally the opposite atmosphere at the Jewel (it is so crowded!).

Let’s move on to my quick review of yet another TVB drama that I have finished watching. The series is called ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ and it is a direct sequel to the 2017’s ‘Legal Mavericks’. The plot continues with the blind barrister who strives for justice for the disadvantaged, using his other heightened senses and legally controversial methods to seek truths behind his court cases. Standing alongside him is his very close buddies; a female legal executive, a private investigator, and a newly made female barrister friend. The 28-episode series starred Vincent Wong, Sisley Choi, Kelly Cheung, Owen Cheung, Paul Chun, etc.

I enjoyed the series just as much as its predecessor. Each court cases are unique in its own (never feels repetitive) and are interesting to watch. However, I was slightly disappointed by the very last court case in this drama that felt a little too simple and poorly written. The final case should usually be the most intense or complex one but it didn’t really turn out that way. I also wasn’t too happy with its ending; Sisley not waking up, and Vincent still not revealing his true feeling to her. They deserve a happy ending there but we ended up getting another cliffhanger (typical of TVB series nowadays).

Vincent Wong continues to deliver stellar performance as the blind barrister (he won Best Actor from the first series three years ago) and so does Sisley Choi (who won Most Popular TV Female Character from the same role too). Kelly Cheung came in to replace Ali Lee in this second series. I can see huge improvement from Kelly but the way the script wrote her character that resembles a lot like Ali in the first series causes her performance to lose originality. It’s also good to see Paul Chun, an award-winning veteran actor starring in this series too. It’s weird but it’s fun to watch his character. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ a total of 7.8. A solid drama that lives up to its expectation and is almost as good as its predecessor.

(Images in this post are from various online sources except for the shots of the Jewel)

I have recently completed yet another TVB drama called ‘The Witness’. It is the 11th TVB drama I have watched this year and since there is more than a month to go before 2020 ends, there are still time for me to watch one or two more this year. ‘The Witness’ is a 20-episode drama that revolves on a sergeant getting into a close friendship with a witness he is protecting, and in the meantime falling in love with his younger sister. He then learns that there is a link connecting them to the death of his father years ago.

The series starred Him Law, Kelly Cheung, Willie Wai, Pinky Cheung, Tsui Wing, Lau Kong, etc. This is mostly a light-hearted drama. There is quite a lot of funny scenes in the beginning especially coming from Willie’s character but it all dies down quickly as soon the series reached the middle. It gets boring all the way before the very last episode. Him Law and Kelly Cheung couldn’t lead the series well (still don’t find them fit to take on first lead roles). Willie Wai saved the drama a bit but I felt that it was Tsui Wing that impresses more especially near the end of the series. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Witness’ a total of 6.0.

TVB had just celebrated its 53rd anniversary last week in a usual evening gala show that saw attendance of over 100 artistes led by the two usual ‘big sisters’; Liza Wang and Carol Cheng. The only interesting part of the show is the singing segment by Miriam Yeung (the only popular celebrity of the night). Even the comedic parts of the show felt lame and not hilarious. I’m looking forward more to the upcoming TVB Anniversary Awards for the year. I think the nomination list will be out very soon.

Looks like the hot contenders for best actor this year would be Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3), Kenneth Ma (The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter), Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020), Shaun Tam (Brutally Young), and Wayne Lai (Death by Zero). Competition for best actress is very weak this year. So far I can only think of these five; Mandy Wong (Brutally Young), Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020), Ali Lee (Death By Zero), Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4) and Samantha Ko (Go!Go!Go! Operation C9). My top 5 series so far would be Legal Mavericks 2020, Line Walker 3:Bull Fight, Brutally Young, The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter and Flying Tiger 2.

That’s it for my post today. One more week and we will be welcoming the last month of the year and I will be turning 29 in 10 more days. It’s all about Covid-19 in 2020. I’m glad that there is no community cases here in Singapore for 14 consecutive days already, but at the same time, I’m worried over the increasing number of cases back in Malaysia (reaching new record high of over 2000 cases today!). If this continues, how can I return to KL for the Chinese New Year celebration in the coming February?!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

The nomination list for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 is finally out today. TVB hold a press conference this afternoon (broadcast live through social medias) to announce the nomination list for their annual awards presentation. The presentation ceremony will be held on the evening of 10th January 2021 and there will be a total of 17 awards to be presented including 3 new awards that represents votes from Malaysia for favourite drama, leading actor and leading actress.

I won’t list down the full nomination list (because it is very long, and basically if you have acted in a TVB series released this year, you are basically nominated…hence there is not much of a high value of being nominated actually). This year, we see a lot of very young, inexperienced and unfamiliar faces getting not even one but multiple nominations (well, that’s actually what we see in these recent years too). Most of the popular artistes have left the station unfortunately.

I have watched a total of 11 TVB series this year. My top 5 pick for best actor would be Shaun Tam (Brutally Young), Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3), Wayne Lai (Death By Zero), Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020) and Kenneth Ma (Line Walker 3). Out of the 5, only Shaun and Raymond have not win it before and in terms of experience, I would give it to Raymond since Line Walker 3 is also his comeback drama after many years. He is nevertheless doing good in the series too and he is considered overdue as well.

My top 3 pick for best actress would be Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4), Ali Lee (Death By Zero) and Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020). Why only top 3 pick for actress? Well, the category for leading actress is very weak this year. I can’t choose anymore from the list to fill in to 5 slots. Also in my opinion, I felt Samantha Ko should be nominated for Go!Go!Go! Operation C9 instead of Al Cappuccino and Mandy Wong for Brutally Young instead of Line Walker 3 (would have higher chance for that but still won’t be able to win).

My top 5 pick for best drama would be Brutally Young, Legal Mavericks 2020, Line Walker 3, The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter and Flying Tiger 2. Out of these 5, my pick would be Line Walker 3. I’m not mad if Brutally Young win too (my second pick). My second runner-up would be Legal Mavericks 2020. Not much comment on supporting actor and actresses, and other categories.

The TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 set to be held on 10th January 2021 will honour the best of TVB series released this year. Before that ceremony takes place, I’m here to publish my choices, similarly to what I have been doing for the past years. Hence, the result of the awards two weeks later will not affect or influence my judgement and this list is entirely based on my personal view and is also restricted to those series that I have watched (series that I didn’t watch will be left out).

For this year, I have watched a total of 11 dramas. They are:

• Forensic Heroes 4.
• Airport Strikers.
• Brutally Young.
• The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter.
• Flying Tiger 2.
• Death By Zero.
• Al Cappuccino.
• Go!Go!Go! Operation C9.
• Line Walker 3: Bull Fight.
• Legal Mavericks 2020.
• The Witness.

Here comes my top 5 picks for each of the following 15 categories and the one in bold for each categories are my selected winners:

OUTSTANDING CAST ENSEMBLE

• Legal Mavericks 2020
• The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter
• Flying Tiger 2
• Death By Zero
• Line Walker 3: Bull Fight

OUTSTANDING TV VETERAN ARTIST

• Susan Tse (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• David Chiang (Al Cappuccino)
• Lee Shing Cheong (Death By Zero, Al Cappuccino, Line Walker 3: Bull Fight, Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Paul Chun (Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Lau Kong (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, The Witness)

BEST TECHNICAL DESIGNS (VISUAL EFFECTS, SCORES, EDITING. COSTUME, MAKE-UP, PRODUCTION)

• Forensic Heroes 4
• Brutally Young
• The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter
• Flying Tiger 2
• Line Walker 3: Bull Fight

MOST FAVOURITE TV VILLAIN

• Jack Hui (Airport Strikers)
• Joel Chan (Flying Tiger 2)
• Kenneth Ma (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• David Chiang (Al Cappuccino)
• Tsui Wing (The Witness)

MOST FAVOURITE ON-SCREEN COUPLE

• Joel Chan & Vivien Yeo (Brutally Young)
• Vincent Wong & Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Kenneth Ma & Mandy Wong (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Moses Chan & Ali Lee (Death By Zero)
• Owen Cheung & Sisley Choi (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)

MOST FAVOURITE DRAMA THEME SONG

• ‘I Need You Every Minute’ by Joey Thye – ending theme song for ‘Brutally Young’
•  ‘Confession’ by Fred Cheng – opening theme song for ‘Brutally Young’
• ‘Mortals Do Not Understand Love’ by Hubert Wu – ending theme song for ‘The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter’
• ‘Feels Like Heaven’ by Raymond Lam & Hana Kuk – ending theme song for ‘Line Walker 3: Bull Fight’
• ‘If You Understand’ by Hana Kuk – ending theme song for ‘Airport Strikers’

MOST IMPROVED TV FEMALE ARTIST

• Vivien Yeo (Brutally Young)
• Roxanne Tong (Forensic Heroes 4, Airport Strikers)
• Gloria Tang (Airport Strikers, The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Kelly Cheung (Forensic Heroes 4, Legal Mavericks 2020, The Witness)
• Winki Lai (Al Cappuccino)

MOST IMPROVED TV MALE ARTIST

• Anthony Ho (Brutally Young, The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, Death By Zero, Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• Owen Cheung (Airport Strikers, Al Cappuccino, Line Walker 3: Bull Fight, Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Hugo Wong (Airport Strikers, The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Hubert Wu (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Tsui Wing (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, Al Cappuccino, Legal Mavericks 2020, The Witness)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Vivien Yeo (Brutally Young)
• Susan Tse (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Moon Lau (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Roxanne Tong (Forensic Heroes 4)
• Elena Kong (Death By Zero)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Willie Wai (The Witness)
• Dominic Lam (Brutally Young)
• Tsui Wing (Al Cappuccino)
• Hubert Wu (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Owen Cheung (Al Cappuccino)

MOST FAVOURITE TV FEMALE CHARACTER

• Mandy Wong (Brutally Young)
• Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4)
• Ali Lee (Death By Zero)
• Sisley Choi (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• Samantha Ko (Go!Go!Go! Operation C9)

MOST FAVOURITE TV MALE CHARACTER

• Kenneth Ma (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Vincent Wong (Al Cappuccino)
• Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• Bosco Wong (Flying Tiger 2)
• Moses Chan (Death By Zero)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Mandy Wong (Brutally Young)
• Ali Lee (Death By Zero)
• Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4)
• Samantha Ko (Go!Go!Go! Operation C9)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• Shaun Tam (Brutally Young)
• Kenneth Ma (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Wayne Lai (Death By Zero)
• Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020)

BEST SERIES

• Brutally Young
• The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter
• Flying Tiger 2
• Legal Mavericks 2020
• Line Walker 3: Bull Fight

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

The ceremony for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 (萬千星輝頒獎典禮2020) had just concluded a moment ago with 18 prizes presented out to honour the best of their series and programmes for the past year. Several nominated popular artists did not turn up and there is no special or heavyweight guest presenters at all; they are signs that this awards ceremony is losing its status as one of the most anticipated and star-studded ceremonies in Hong Kong entertainment industry. What we end up seeing are TVB actors/actresses presenting gifts to their peers, even for the best actor and actress categories.

Here are the list of winners for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 alongside my personal opinions:

Lifetime Achievement: Whole team of ‘Come Home Love’ series

Opinion: This award is presented to honour veteran actor/actress every year who have contributed immensely to Hong Kong entertainment industry for many decades. However, for this year, TVB decided to do something different (and also very weird) by awarding this to the whole cast and crew of ‘Come Home Love’. It’s more like a consolation prize to this series that is not able to win the best series award later on. It’s a very strange and poor act by TVB; they should really stick to the format and reserve it to recognize a particularly deserving veteran actor/actress each year. They just want to honour this long running series (that is still running now with over 1100 episodes to date) in a way by hook and by crook. Not a fan of this move.

Most Improved TV Female Artist: Angel Chiang (Al Cappuccino, Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: The nominees in this category this year are quite weak and the other true competitor I see besides Angel Chiang is Moon Lau. Moon Lau is more deserving but she only has one series this year while Angel has two. Angel also impressed many with her character as a stern female triad senior in ‘Al Cappuccino’.

Most Improved TV Male Artist: Brian Chu (Airport Security, Al Cappuccino, Go!Go!Go! Operation C9)

Opinion: Besides than Owen Cheung, I saw Brian Chu the most in the TV series I watched in 2020. He kept on appearing everywhere with different characters. Although he portrayed mostly minor or supporting characters, but he did good in each of them. Well-built, good looking and can act (so far), so why not?

Best Supporting Actress: Winki Lai (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: This is one of the categories that I most agreed on for the night. Winki Lai nailed the role as the eldest sister in ‘Al Cappuccino’. I would have prefer Susan Tse from ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter’ or Vivien Yeo from ‘Brutally Young’ to win though because they both delivered much more memorable performances but they are both not even nominated. TVB is weird.

Best Supporting Actor: Jason Pai (Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: I didn’t expect Jason Pai will win although I do hear good words on his role in ‘Hong Kong Love Stories (I didn’t watch this series). After seeing the nomination list, my pick would actually be Tsui Wing from his insane yet funny character in ‘Al Cappuccino’. I guess TVB don’t want ‘Al Cappuccino’ to win too many awards and dominate the whole night. Paul Chun should have been nominated too (and maybe even should win too) from his performance in ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’.

Most Favourite TV Theme Song: ‘Mortals Do Not Understand Love’ by Hubert Wu (The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter)

Opinion: Yes. That is what I predicted and what I hoped for too. This song stood out among the rest in 2020. The only win for ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter’.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB Leading Actress: Katy Kung (Death By Zero)

Opinion: I am in quite a shock hearing Katy’s name called as the winner. Her performance in ‘Death By Zero’ is just average and is not worthy of award. Unnecessary heavy make-up and absurd clothing choice didn’t do any help to that character too. She didn’t deliver enough depth to that role and yet she is crowned Malaysia’s best actress…No!

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB Leading Actor: Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I don’t have much objection to this because Vincent didn’t get to win this several years ago in ‘Legal Mavericks’ on Malaysia’s side. And he is as usual, solid in this role as the blind lawyer in this sequel.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB series: Al Cappuccino

Opinion: While I do like the premise of this series, but I don’t find it deserving of major win like this because I felt it didn’t quite manage to pull it off with lackluster performance by some cast members and a plot that is not engaging. Why people do not appreciate better series like ‘Brutally Young’ or even ‘Line Walker 3’? I am particularly terrified that ‘Brutally Young’ is totally ignored and snubbed in this ceremony despite it being my best series in 2020.

Most Favourite On-Screen Partnership: Vincent Wong, Owen Cheung and Brian Chu (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: I’m fine with this group winning as they are very compatible with each other in ‘Al Cappuccino’. Previously, people were already praising the chemistry between Vincent Wong and Owen Cheung in their previous collaborations. Now, with Brian Chu added in in this drama, things even get better.

Most Popular TV Female Character: Katy Kung (Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: Don’t have much comment on this because I didn’t watch ‘Hong Kong Love Stories’. My personal pick would be Ali Lee from ‘Death By Zero’ or Sisley Choi from ‘Line Walker 3’. Looks like TVB is now seriously pushing Katy Kung to be next leading actress we are going to see a lot in following years. You can’t just push it too hard. I still cannot see her as leading actress material yet.

Most Popular TV Male Character: Owen Cheung (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: I am expecting Vincent Wong to win from the same series, but it is Owen Cheung that crosses the finish line in this category surprisingly. Both are equally popular and had almost similar screen time in ‘Al Cappuccino’ but I felt Vincent should get it because he has not win this one before although he had won best actor in the past already. His character is also nicely executed and portrayed too. Another way by TVB to heavily promote Owen Cheung to leading actor status.

Best Leading Actress: Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I have to say that she really improved a lot in her acting over the years. From the same role few years ago, she had already won ‘Most Favourite TV Female Character’. Now her character matured and so does her performance as well. However, I don’t find her time has come yet for this coveted prize. I felt she needed another two years. Anyway, the competition for this category this year is very weak and I would rather see her winning than Mandy Wong (another hot favourite) because Mandy’s performance is mediocre only in ‘Line Walker 3’. Ali Lee should have won but due to political reason recently, she won’t be winning unfortunately. But in terms of performance last year, Ali should have won.

Best Leading Actor: Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I pitied Raymond Lam. Lost again. Out of the final 5, he is the only one who has not win best actor before and I do see that he gave solid performance in ‘Line Walker 3’. However, once he didn’t turn up at the ceremony, I knew his chance is very slim. Some people just don’t have luck for awards. Vincent Wong won again for second time from the same role (he last won this award based on this role too in the first series). Wow…both the main lead actor and actress for ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ are crowned best actor and actress respectively. And Vincent Wong won the most awards for the night, at 3.

Most Popular Mini-Series: Hong Kong Love Stories

Opinion: TVB purposely created this new award at the very last minute to award to the only one series eligible under this mini-series category; Hong Kong Love Stories. TVB is getting very funny. After hearing very recent positive feedback on this series, TVB decided to present yet another consolation to another series that is not going to take the best series prize (after ‘Come Home Love’). What’s the point when you decide to award almost everyone and then ignore really good quality drama like ‘Brutally Young’.

Best Series: Al Cappuccino

Opinion: Again…where is ‘Brutally Young’? I really cannot understand the taste and judgement of Hong Kong audiences. ‘Al Cappuccino’ has quite a refreshing story but it does comes with several notable poorly done aspects as well. ‘Brutally Young’ easily comes out on top for me due to the impressive acting and suspenseful plot it has. ‘Al Cappuccino’ ended up becoming the biggest winner of the night with 5+2 wins.

No comment for the other two remaining categories; ‘Best TV Host’ and ‘5 Best Variety Programmes’. For this year’s winner list, I do agree to half of the list but not the other half. Sometimes, I am really surprised and dumbfounded by TVB decision in some of the categories as explained above. It happens almost every year (such as awarding consolation prizes obviously, presenting to least deserving winners, etc).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First released in Malaysia on last November, ‘The Offliners’ is finally getting its local release in Hong Kong end of last month. Since most of its episodes are released in January, I consider it as a 2021 series rather than 2020. Hence, this is the first TVB series of the year that I have completed watching. And it looks like TVB is now fine to release Jacqueline Wong’s dramas after her explosive scandal with Andy Hui in 2019.

‘The Offliners’ is a 20-episode drama that revolves on a nerd yet an IT genius (Owen Cheung) who begins to develop his passion on IT and joined a tech start-up company. He then grow close with his colleagues, his love interest (Moon Lau) and also his lady boss (Katy Kung) who he later developed feeling for as well. Besides Owen, Katy and Moon, the series also starred Jacqueline Wong, Karl Ting, Jason Chan, Brian Tse, Joseph Lee, Bowie Wu, Akina Hong, Suet Nei, etc.

This drama is never meant to be big but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s relaxing and entertaining to watch it every evening after work. Owen Cheung is very convincing in this role and I can see his effort in portraying as a nerd in this drama. He nailed it. Katy Kung is also doing well as the first female lead here and she has a good chemistry with Owen too. She is very natural and I do impressed with her emotional scenes. It looks like Owen can just pair very well with any actors/actresses in any dramas he is in.

This pair did well on last Sunday too when they won Most Popular TV Male and Female Character respectively at the TVB Anniversary Awards for their performance in ‘Al Cappuccino’ and ‘Hong Kong Love Stories’. I do see huge improvement from their acting over the years and it looks like they are prepared for more leading roles.

Even the supporting cast are doing great in the series. Every characters including the supporting ones are given important story to develop and no one is left out. Particular credit to Joseph Lee as the stern father who turns good in the end and Akina Hong who portrayed his wife for her breakdown scenes after the death of her son. As for Moon Lau, I just don’t like her voice and expression that seems to be acting cute the entire time. I knew she didn’t mean it but that’s all I can see from her performance. She needs to broaden her range of expressions and work on her voice too maybe.

‘The Offliners’ is not pretentious and is able to deliver on what it needed to be from its straightforward and light-hearted plot and solid acting. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Offliners’ a total of 7.7. Yes…tomorrow is Friday already. Weekend is coming!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Yay! My one-week long Chinese New Year break officially begins now after having finished my work few hours ago on the last day before the holiday. Tomorrow is already the CNY’s eve. I managed to catch the last few episodes of ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ (陀槍師姐2021) just now, a TVB series that I have been watching recently. So here comes my quick review to the second TVB series that I have watched so far this year.

‘Armed Reaction 2021’ actually does not have any link to the first 4 series in its franchise besides than retaining the character of Chan Sam Yuen, portrayed by Joyce Tang. For me, it is unjust to name this series as part of the franchise which was once very popular back in late 1990s to early 2000s. It was just a tactic to attract more viewers who once loved the earlier series in this particular franchise. This series should be treated as an independent police comedy drama, which sounds more right.

The 30-episode series starred Moses Chan, Jessica Hsuan, Him Law, Joyce Tang, Benz Hui, Tony Hung, Gloria Tang, Toby Chan, Fred Cheng, etc. It has quite a remarkable line-up of cast for both the main and supporting roles. Moses is the main male lead but I find that his role is too ordinary here. There is nothing wrong to his performance but this role is simply too lackluster. It was Jessica who steals the show with a more interesting character and she nailed every scenes from hilarious, to intense or emotional ones. Her effort here deserves a compliment.

Joyce appeared in first few episodes and then disappeared for most of the series before returning back in the last few episodes. What kind of arrangement is this? I thought she is one of the female leads too since she is the main part of the original ‘Armed Reaction’ franchise. Now, she has been relegated to more like a supporting role here. What a pity…By the way, special mention to Gloria and Toby who improved significantly in their performances here.

The plot for this series is very predictable. TVB fails to offer new twist or surprises again. From the beginning, I already knew who would be the main villain and where the story will lead and end to. There isn’t any originality especially after you have watched so many past police dramas by TVB with similar formulas. Anyway, the series is still quite entertaining at times and I do enjoy the chemistry between Moses and Jessica. Things do get draggy and boring in the middle and I felt the series would be more enjoyable if it is squeezed into 25 episodes. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ a total of 7.3. There are also a number of cameos to look out for throughout the series although they were pointless.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Not long after Zack Snyder’s Justice League version is released, another one of his works is out to the public this year too. It is ‘Army of the Dead’, a zombie heist film that follows a group of soldiers who plan a Las Vegas casino heist amid a zombie apocalypse. The film starred Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Theo Rossi, etc.

It is a fairly entertaining and enjoyable zombie movie to watch especially on a comfortable Saturday’s night at home. We have got to spend most of our time now at home again due to the current ‘heightened alert’ of Phase 2 reopening in Singapore which saw increased number of daily Covid-19 cases in the community and more restrictions kicking in including ban on dining-in.

Let’s get back to the movie. The gore is there, the visuals are great and the actions are cool. However, the movie is lacking emotional punch extensively; I couldn’t feel the characters including the story arc between the main lead, Ward with his estranged daughter. The runtime of the movie is also extremely long (it’s nearly 2 hour and 30 minutes long, untypical for a zombie movie). I have to skip some of the unnecessary scenes.

Out of 10 points, I would rate ‘Army of the Dead’ a total of 7.1. It’s stylish and quite entertaining but even with a ‘zombie tiger’ in it, it still hasn’t manage to cross the line yet.

Recently, I have been watching three TVB series concurrently; ‘Shadow of Justice’, ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’. As mentioned earlier, more time at home means more time for movies and TV series. The first of out of the three to end is ‘Shadow of Justice’ (伙記辦大事), a 32-episode crime drama starring two TV kings, Bobby Au and Joe Ma. The drama also starred Joey Meng, Jeanie Chan, Mat Yeung, Pierre Ngo, Winki Lai, Timothy Cheng, etc.

I am purely disappointed with this drama. I am expecting to see more screen time of Bobby showing his intelligence in solving difficult cases and his chemistry with Joey. However, the drama is overly filled with Jeanie Chan’s love relationship with Joe Ma and Mat Yeung. It looks like as though Bobby is just playing a supporting role here. Jeanie is more suited for supporting role and she isn’t ready for leading role yet. Instead, she was given the most amount of presence here in this drama and it mostly revolves on her absolutely boring love storyline with Joe and Mat (also not to mention the huge age gap between Joe Ma and her which made the whole thing awkward too).

Both Joe Ma and Joey Meng delivered nothing to the show, thanks to their very stiff expression and poor acting. I still can’t get over how Joe Ma can win best actor few years ago over Dicky Cheung in that year. The one who shines in this series is not any of the main actors but a veteran actor who played an antagonist role here as a pervert rich businessman. He is Timothy Cheng, and he nailed the role.

The story development of the drama is also a mess. Bobby get to have his own story arc, Joe Ma has its own part too and it is up until 20 episodes only then they start to bump into each other. It is way too slow. People are expecting to see the dramatic clash between the two and it only started after two third of the whole series. That’s lame.

Out of 10 points, I can only rate ‘Shadow of Justice’ a total of 5.0. The lowest rated drama of the year so far (also among the lowest in recent years). It is bad…near to being awful. The drama should be called ‘Shadow of Love’ rather than ‘Shadow of Justice’. Jeanie Chan’s super frustrating, awkward and boring love storyline occupied 80% of the whole series. The clash between Bobby and Joe came in too late. Poor use of Bobby Au’s talent. What a waste. I’m glad this series is finally over. ‘Sinister Beings’ and ‘AI Romantic’ are way better.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First of all, Happy Wesak Day to all who are celebrating the festival! It’s the day to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha and devoted Buddhists and Hindus will pay a visit to temple and be a vegetarian for the day. Wesak is a public holiday (in both Malaysia and Singapore) and it gives me a much needed short break in the middle of the week filled with countless online meetings.

Just yesterday alone, I was already occupied with 6 Teams meetings that took nearly 7 hours of my time. That’s very exhausting. Having online meetings are much more convenient now to discuss on work progress and unresolved issues in this time of pandemic. However, this made it so much easier for everyone to simply organize plenty of such meetings (of which some are meaningless and repetitive…and some even beyond normal working hours) and sacrifice all the time to truly work.

I’m going to spend the day chilling at home and watch some new movies. By the way, I have completed another Hong Kong drama series yesterday. The series is called ‘AI Romantic’ (智能愛人), has 30 episodes and starred Ali Lee as a high-end AI robot who accidentally loses her way while being shipped from factory and ends up among a family of weirdos as an AI company employee (portrayed by Luk Wing) found her and decided to keep her for himself. The family eventually developed strong bond with her and she even begins to experience human emotions, love and desires. The drama also starred Crystal Fung, Mayanne Mak, Angelina Lo, Ram Chiang, C Kwan, etc.

It’s a very refreshing theme for a TVB drama as I believe TVB has never produce any drama yet with AI (artificial intelligence) robots as the theme. I’m also pleased that we are seeing some fresh faces taking on main roles in this drama such as Luk Wing and Mayanne rather than seeing all the recent usual actors again. Ali Lee nailed the role as the AI robot. It’s a very challenging role as it requires her not to exhibit any emotion with robotic movement while slowly transforming into a much more ‘human’ robot as the series progresses.

All the story arcs including the ones that involve only the supporting characters are interesting and engaging. This is quite uncommon for TVB standard nowadays. They are very funny to watch too. Besides that, the chemistry among the cast portraying the family is fantastic too. Basically, it’s all compliments from me to this drama. A good effort and an interesting premise further supported by excellent performance, I rate ‘AI Romantic’ a total of 8.2.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

It’s Friday 10pm and I’m still in front of my office laptop in my bedroom…working. It’s been a very busy week for me as I have to update over 250 sheets of drawings for submission on next Monday. I’m all alone in this workload without getting any assistance. The worst thing is that there should be two colleagues to assist me on the authority aspects and submissions but they have abandoned the project to work on other jobs. The pending works ended up back in my to-do-next list which is already piling up high. It’s not going to be easy for me for at least another month.

The paragraph above is just for me to vent out my frustration. Very imbalanced distribution of works among the staff in my office. That’s the summary. To relieve my stress and to get back to the Friday mood, I treated myself a durian to satisfy my craving for it these few days. The durian tastes good and I enjoyed it while watching the final episode of a Hong Kong series called ‘Sinister Beings’ (逆天奇案) a moment ago.

Yup…a quick review to this 30-episode crime television drama that starred Ruco Chan, Ben Wong, Rosina Lam, Crystal Fung, Joman Chiang, Jonathan Cheung, Moon Lau, etc. The drama carries a very typical TVB formula for a police-based plot. Some of the crime cases are quick, predictable and unimaginative. I think I only find the last case (expected) to be the most interesting with an expert hacker pairing up with his wife to carry out the evil deeds. This is also elevated by solid performance by Jonathan Cheung who portrayed that hacker. Moon Lau did improved in her role as his wife but I still don’t quite like her disturbing cute voice.

I have not seen Ruco’s drama for quite some time and it’s good to see him back as he is a solid lead actor and it is very hard to find one nowadays in TVB. Ben is good too but he never truly shines in any of his roles (even lead roles). Many have been criticizing Crystal’s acting recently but I actually find her doing well here. It is Rosina Lam who couldn’t deliver as the first female lead in this drama. Her acting is so wooden. There is a scene of her finding out that Ruco cheated on her which is supposed to be very explosive and emotional and she gave a very dull performance (there is hardly any tear from her in that scene which felt so forced). The one that stood out from this series is surprisingly a junior actress / newcomer called Joman Chiang who portrayed a lawyer and she nailed it in such a convincing way.

As for the ending, it’s okay but I don’t quite like how it turns out that all the relationships between the main characters do not pull off. None of the romance works after 30 episodes of putting them together. This series do has a number of great action scenes and I quite like one of the theme songs for this drama. It’s called ‘Secret Garden’ by Hana Kuk. I have to find it later at Youtube. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Sinister Beings’ a total of 7.5. That’s all for my review (not really a quick review though as it already took 3 long paragraphs).

Have a great weekend everyone! It’s Chinese Dragon Boat Festival (famously known as Dumpling Festival too) next Monday. Time to feast on some traditional rice dumplings.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

My dad just told me that he had finally received his first dose of vaccination today and is scheduled to take the second dose next month to complete the vaccination. Seniors above 60 years of age are among the most vulnerable groups to the health effects of Covid 19 and it’s a relief for me to hear that my dad had completed at least the first dose today especially knowing the very slow progress of nationwide vaccination for Malaysia. He took the China-made vaccine, Sinovac which is his first preference too.

He sent me a picture this afternoon doing what most people did after their injection; posing in front of a cardboard cutout with the words ‘I have been vaccinated’. Many have shared such pictures in recent weeks. Both of my sisters are opting for the AstraZeneca vaccine which is not under the national vaccination programme but my sisters had successfully registered for it last month and will be taking the first shot next week.

How about me, over here in Singapore? There is a news today stating that 50% of Singapore’s population has received at least a dose of vaccination. It means that I’m in the other 50% who is still waiting and waiting. Well, this is expected because I’m a foreigner and is only a long-term pass worker here, hence I have to be at the back of the queue. I’m estimating that it will be my turn for first shot end of next month and the second shot in September. The government has opened up for everyone to register for vaccination by now, and all we have to do are just to wait for the appointment. I’m eagerly waiting for my SMS now.

Hopefully with majority of population (over 90%) fully vaccinated near end of the year, more things can probably be opened up and I can then return home to Malaysia or even travel to certain low-risk countries for leisure travel by next year. Vaccination isn’t a 100% answer to this Covid-19 pandemic. All the safe measures are still have to be followed and the situation depends largely on the rate of vaccination and infection rate of other countries too.

Staying at home most of the time is still the best thing everyone can do to limit the community transmission. This is the only time when being introvert is recommended. I do have more time to learn and cook new recipes and also more time to catch up on movies and series. Now I have a habit of cooking new dishes on every Sunday for dinner.

By the way, I have also recently completed another TVB series. It is ‘Final Destiny’ (一笑渡凡間), a 20-episode comedy fantasy series that starred Edwin Siu, Roxanne Tong, Sammy Shum, Rebecca Chan, Jessica Kan, etc. This period drama tells about a man who is intelligent in solving crime cases in the town and slowly learns that he has supernatural powers that are proven to be useful later against a vengeful black demon who happened to be his best friend.

It’s a fast paced light-hearted drama and there is actually nothing more for me to comment. The storyline is very predictable (I knew who are the antagonists already at the beginning of the series before they are revealed) but still quite fun to watch though. Edwin Siu plays the male lead role very well and he is very suitable for this type of quirky role. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Final Destiny’ a total of 6.9.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

It’s just the mid of July and I have already completed 9 TVB series. It looks like I’m going to break the record of having watched most number of TVB series by end of this year. Well, it is highly possible since I have been spending more time at home now like everyone else due to the current pandemic.

‘Murder Diary’ is a 25-episode series that revolves on a police officer, King Fung who has dissociative identity disorder caused by his mother, Bik Sum who herself suffers from mental disorder and almost killed him and his younger sister when they were children. The series starred Vincent Wong, Kara Hui, Philip Keung, Benjamin Yuen, Mandy Wong, Chris Lai, Alice Chan, Venus Wong, etc.

The plot isn’t as simple as what I have described above. In fact, it is way far more complicated and is quite hard to digest if you don’t really invest into the series as it progresses. I find it difficult to invest into it due to the boring storyline despite featuring some bizarre crime cases. The dark colour palette for the visual made the series very distressing. The story also features many ‘crazy’ characters that made it not family-friendly. I do admire the effort by the production team on this fresh new attempt to deviate from typical light-hearted themed series but the outcome for this one just didn’t quite appeal to me.

Anyway, the drama do contains excellent performances by the cast, particularly Kara Hui. She is well known for portraying emotionally unstable characters (and thus won many acting awards before) and this role should give not much of a challenge to her. She is very good but I felt that she had portrayed such characters countless of times. Vincent Wong also shines for portraying his character that has split personality. He can change realistically from one personality to another in a second. Both of them had a shot to clinch best actor and actress respectively again for this year’s awards ceremony.

Vincent is good but he always has no chemistry with his on-screen partner. He isn’t compatible at all with both Mandy and Venus in here. By the way, this line-up of cast is so similar to another past TVB series called ‘The Defected’. Almost the same cast. I prefer to shake up the cast a bit by replacing Benjamin and Mandy as both of them delivered nothing to the show. Always wooden acting from both of them. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Murder Diary’ a total of 6.0; quite low rating because it doesn’t appeal to me. Everything just went too dark and complicated. All the points are given for only the acting and the fresh direction used.

Next up is my review for ‘Plan B’, a much light-hearted series (also has 25 episodes) that revolves on the hardship of a couple in bringing up their young daughter while attending to the challenges posed by their own family members and jobs. The series which starred Kenneth Ma, Eliza Sam, Kiki Sheung, Mimi Kung, Hugo Wong, Joseph Lee, Yoyo Chen, Jonathan Cheung, etc is an indirect sequel to another popular series in the past called ‘Who Wants A Baby?’.

I do have a good time watching this series and each episode taught us on a lot of meaningful life lessons (like the need to be more positive, accepting, patient and understanding, etc) derived from the storyline of the series itself as it moves forward. Kenneth is really very suited for this kind of family-guy role while Eliza is not the best pick, but I can see that she has placed effort to portray the female lead role here. She isn’t an experienced actress and her delivery of dialogues may appear unnatural at times but overall it is still bearable. The veteran actors and actresses are all very solid in their roles as the parents of Kenneth and Eliza. They played huge roles to hold the series well and they deserves huge compliment, if not awards.

Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Plan B’ a total of 7.8. Quite engaging and touching at times, this series do connects with the audiences because of the realistic portrayals of hardship of a young family of which many will feel very relatable to. Alright. That’s all for my reviews to these two dramas. It turns out to be quite a lengthy post already.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

The nomination list for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 is finally out today. TVB hold a press conference this afternoon (broadcast live through social medias) to announce the nomination list for their annual awards presentation. The presentation ceremony will be held on the evening of 10th January 2021 and there will be a total of 17 awards to be presented including 3 new awards that represents votes from Malaysia for favourite drama, leading actor and leading actress.

I won’t list down the full nomination list (because it is very long, and basically if you have acted in a TVB series released this year, you are basically nominated…hence there is not much of a high value of being nominated actually). This year, we see a lot of very young, inexperienced and unfamiliar faces getting not even one but multiple nominations (well, that’s actually what we see in these recent years too). Most of the popular artistes have left the station unfortunately.

I have watched a total of 11 TVB series this year. My top 5 pick for best actor would be Shaun Tam (Brutally Young), Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3), Wayne Lai (Death By Zero), Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020) and Kenneth Ma (Line Walker 3). Out of the 5, only Shaun and Raymond have not win it before and in terms of experience, I would give it to Raymond since Line Walker 3 is also his comeback drama after many years. He is nevertheless doing good in the series too and he is considered overdue as well.

My top 3 pick for best actress would be Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4), Ali Lee (Death By Zero) and Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020). Why only top 3 pick for actress? Well, the category for leading actress is very weak this year. I can’t choose anymore from the list to fill in to 5 slots. Also in my opinion, I felt Samantha Ko should be nominated for Go!Go!Go! Operation C9 instead of Al Cappuccino and Mandy Wong for Brutally Young instead of Line Walker 3 (would have higher chance for that but still won’t be able to win).

My top 5 pick for best drama would be Brutally Young, Legal Mavericks 2020, Line Walker 3, The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter and Flying Tiger 2. Out of these 5, my pick would be Line Walker 3. I’m not mad if Brutally Young win too (my second pick). My second runner-up would be Legal Mavericks 2020. Not much comment on supporting actor and actresses, and other categories.

The TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 set to be held on 10th January 2021 will honour the best of TVB series released this year. Before that ceremony takes place, I’m here to publish my choices, similarly to what I have been doing for the past years. Hence, the result of the awards two weeks later will not affect or influence my judgement and this list is entirely based on my personal view and is also restricted to those series that I have watched (series that I didn’t watch will be left out).

For this year, I have watched a total of 11 dramas. They are:

• Forensic Heroes 4.
• Airport Strikers.
• Brutally Young.
• The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter.
• Flying Tiger 2.
• Death By Zero.
• Al Cappuccino.
• Go!Go!Go! Operation C9.
• Line Walker 3: Bull Fight.
• Legal Mavericks 2020.
• The Witness.

Here comes my top 5 picks for each of the following 15 categories and the one in bold for each categories are my selected winners:

OUTSTANDING CAST ENSEMBLE

• Legal Mavericks 2020
• The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter
• Flying Tiger 2
• Death By Zero
• Line Walker 3: Bull Fight

OUTSTANDING TV VETERAN ARTIST

• Susan Tse (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• David Chiang (Al Cappuccino)
• Lee Shing Cheong (Death By Zero, Al Cappuccino, Line Walker 3: Bull Fight, Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Paul Chun (Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Lau Kong (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, The Witness)

BEST TECHNICAL DESIGNS (VISUAL EFFECTS, SCORES, EDITING. COSTUME, MAKE-UP, PRODUCTION)

• Forensic Heroes 4
• Brutally Young
• The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter
• Flying Tiger 2
• Line Walker 3: Bull Fight

MOST FAVOURITE TV VILLAIN

• Jack Hui (Airport Strikers)
• Joel Chan (Flying Tiger 2)
• Kenneth Ma (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• David Chiang (Al Cappuccino)
• Tsui Wing (The Witness)

MOST FAVOURITE ON-SCREEN COUPLE

• Joel Chan & Vivien Yeo (Brutally Young)
• Vincent Wong & Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Kenneth Ma & Mandy Wong (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Moses Chan & Ali Lee (Death By Zero)
• Owen Cheung & Sisley Choi (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)

MOST FAVOURITE DRAMA THEME SONG

• ‘I Need You Every Minute’ by Joey Thye – ending theme song for ‘Brutally Young’
•  ‘Confession’ by Fred Cheng – opening theme song for ‘Brutally Young’
• ‘Mortals Do Not Understand Love’ by Hubert Wu – ending theme song for ‘The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter’
• ‘Feels Like Heaven’ by Raymond Lam & Hana Kuk – ending theme song for ‘Line Walker 3: Bull Fight’
• ‘If You Understand’ by Hana Kuk – ending theme song for ‘Airport Strikers’

MOST IMPROVED TV FEMALE ARTIST

• Vivien Yeo (Brutally Young)
• Roxanne Tong (Forensic Heroes 4, Airport Strikers)
• Gloria Tang (Airport Strikers, The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Kelly Cheung (Forensic Heroes 4, Legal Mavericks 2020, The Witness)
• Winki Lai (Al Cappuccino)

MOST IMPROVED TV MALE ARTIST

• Anthony Ho (Brutally Young, The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, Death By Zero, Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• Owen Cheung (Airport Strikers, Al Cappuccino, Line Walker 3: Bull Fight, Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Hugo Wong (Airport Strikers, The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Hubert Wu (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Tsui Wing (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter, Al Cappuccino, Legal Mavericks 2020, The Witness)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Vivien Yeo (Brutally Young)
• Susan Tse (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Moon Lau (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Roxanne Tong (Forensic Heroes 4)
• Elena Kong (Death By Zero)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Willie Wai (The Witness)
• Dominic Lam (Brutally Young)
• Tsui Wing (Al Cappuccino)
• Hubert Wu (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Owen Cheung (Al Cappuccino)

MOST FAVOURITE TV FEMALE CHARACTER

• Mandy Wong (Brutally Young)
• Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4)
• Ali Lee (Death By Zero)
• Sisley Choi (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• Samantha Ko (Go!Go!Go! Operation C9)

MOST FAVOURITE TV MALE CHARACTER

• Kenneth Ma (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Vincent Wong (Al Cappuccino)
• Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• Bosco Wong (Flying Tiger 2)
• Moses Chan (Death By Zero)

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Mandy Wong (Brutally Young)
• Ali Lee (Death By Zero)
• Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020)
• Selena Li (Forensic Heroes 4)
• Samantha Ko (Go!Go!Go! Operation C9)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Raymond Lam (Line Walker 3: Bull Fight)
• Shaun Tam (Brutally Young)
• Kenneth Ma (The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter)
• Wayne Lai (Death By Zero)
• Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020)

BEST SERIES

• Brutally Young
• The Exorcist’s 2^nd Meter
• Flying Tiger 2
• Legal Mavericks 2020
• Line Walker 3: Bull Fight

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

The ceremony for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 (萬千星輝頒獎典禮2020) had just concluded a moment ago with 18 prizes presented out to honour the best of their series and programmes for the past year. Several nominated popular artists did not turn up and there is no special or heavyweight guest presenters at all; they are signs that this awards ceremony is losing its status as one of the most anticipated and star-studded ceremonies in Hong Kong entertainment industry. What we end up seeing are TVB actors/actresses presenting gifts to their peers, even for the best actor and actress categories.

Here are the list of winners for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2020 alongside my personal opinions:

Lifetime Achievement: Whole team of ‘Come Home Love’ series

Opinion: This award is presented to honour veteran actor/actress every year who have contributed immensely to Hong Kong entertainment industry for many decades. However, for this year, TVB decided to do something different (and also very weird) by awarding this to the whole cast and crew of ‘Come Home Love’. It’s more like a consolation prize to this series that is not able to win the best series award later on. It’s a very strange and poor act by TVB; they should really stick to the format and reserve it to recognize a particularly deserving veteran actor/actress each year. They just want to honour this long running series (that is still running now with over 1100 episodes to date) in a way by hook and by crook. Not a fan of this move.

Most Improved TV Female Artist: Angel Chiang (Al Cappuccino, Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: The nominees in this category this year are quite weak and the other true competitor I see besides Angel Chiang is Moon Lau. Moon Lau is more deserving but she only has one series this year while Angel has two. Angel also impressed many with her character as a stern female triad senior in ‘Al Cappuccino’.

Most Improved TV Male Artist: Brian Chu (Airport Security, Al Cappuccino, Go!Go!Go! Operation C9)

Opinion: Besides than Owen Cheung, I saw Brian Chu the most in the TV series I watched in 2020. He kept on appearing everywhere with different characters. Although he portrayed mostly minor or supporting characters, but he did good in each of them. Well-built, good looking and can act (so far), so why not?

Best Supporting Actress: Winki Lai (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: This is one of the categories that I most agreed on for the night. Winki Lai nailed the role as the eldest sister in ‘Al Cappuccino’. I would have prefer Susan Tse from ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter’ or Vivien Yeo from ‘Brutally Young’ to win though because they both delivered much more memorable performances but they are both not even nominated. TVB is weird.

Best Supporting Actor: Jason Pai (Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: I didn’t expect Jason Pai will win although I do hear good words on his role in ‘Hong Kong Love Stories (I didn’t watch this series). After seeing the nomination list, my pick would actually be Tsui Wing from his insane yet funny character in ‘Al Cappuccino’. I guess TVB don’t want ‘Al Cappuccino’ to win too many awards and dominate the whole night. Paul Chun should have been nominated too (and maybe even should win too) from his performance in ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’.

Most Favourite TV Theme Song: ‘Mortals Do Not Understand Love’ by Hubert Wu (The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter)

Opinion: Yes. That is what I predicted and what I hoped for too. This song stood out among the rest in 2020. The only win for ‘The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter’.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB Leading Actress: Katy Kung (Death By Zero)

Opinion: I am in quite a shock hearing Katy’s name called as the winner. Her performance in ‘Death By Zero’ is just average and is not worthy of award. Unnecessary heavy make-up and absurd clothing choice didn’t do any help to that character too. She didn’t deliver enough depth to that role and yet she is crowned Malaysia’s best actress…No!

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB Leading Actor: Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I don’t have much objection to this because Vincent didn’t get to win this several years ago in ‘Legal Mavericks’ on Malaysia’s side. And he is as usual, solid in this role as the blind lawyer in this sequel.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TVB series: Al Cappuccino

Opinion: While I do like the premise of this series, but I don’t find it deserving of major win like this because I felt it didn’t quite manage to pull it off with lackluster performance by some cast members and a plot that is not engaging. Why people do not appreciate better series like ‘Brutally Young’ or even ‘Line Walker 3’? I am particularly terrified that ‘Brutally Young’ is totally ignored and snubbed in this ceremony despite it being my best series in 2020.

Most Favourite On-Screen Partnership: Vincent Wong, Owen Cheung and Brian Chu (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: I’m fine with this group winning as they are very compatible with each other in ‘Al Cappuccino’. Previously, people were already praising the chemistry between Vincent Wong and Owen Cheung in their previous collaborations. Now, with Brian Chu added in in this drama, things even get better.

Most Popular TV Female Character: Katy Kung (Hong Kong Love Stories)

Opinion: Don’t have much comment on this because I didn’t watch ‘Hong Kong Love Stories’. My personal pick would be Ali Lee from ‘Death By Zero’ or Sisley Choi from ‘Line Walker 3’. Looks like TVB is now seriously pushing Katy Kung to be next leading actress we are going to see a lot in following years. You can’t just push it too hard. I still cannot see her as leading actress material yet.

Most Popular TV Male Character: Owen Cheung (Al Cappuccino)

Opinion: I am expecting Vincent Wong to win from the same series, but it is Owen Cheung that crosses the finish line in this category surprisingly. Both are equally popular and had almost similar screen time in ‘Al Cappuccino’ but I felt Vincent should get it because he has not win this one before although he had won best actor in the past already. His character is also nicely executed and portrayed too. Another way by TVB to heavily promote Owen Cheung to leading actor status.

Best Leading Actress: Sisley Choi (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I have to say that she really improved a lot in her acting over the years. From the same role few years ago, she had already won ‘Most Favourite TV Female Character’. Now her character matured and so does her performance as well. However, I don’t find her time has come yet for this coveted prize. I felt she needed another two years. Anyway, the competition for this category this year is very weak and I would rather see her winning than Mandy Wong (another hot favourite) because Mandy’s performance is mediocre only in ‘Line Walker 3’. Ali Lee should have won but due to political reason recently, she won’t be winning unfortunately. But in terms of performance last year, Ali should have won.

Best Leading Actor: Vincent Wong (Legal Mavericks 2020)

Opinion: I pitied Raymond Lam. Lost again. Out of the final 5, he is the only one who has not win best actor before and I do see that he gave solid performance in ‘Line Walker 3’. However, once he didn’t turn up at the ceremony, I knew his chance is very slim. Some people just don’t have luck for awards. Vincent Wong won again for second time from the same role (he last won this award based on this role too in the first series). Wow…both the main lead actor and actress for ‘Legal Mavericks 2020’ are crowned best actor and actress respectively. And Vincent Wong won the most awards for the night, at 3.

Most Popular Mini-Series: Hong Kong Love Stories

Opinion: TVB purposely created this new award at the very last minute to award to the only one series eligible under this mini-series category; Hong Kong Love Stories. TVB is getting very funny. After hearing very recent positive feedback on this series, TVB decided to present yet another consolation to another series that is not going to take the best series prize (after ‘Come Home Love’). What’s the point when you decide to award almost everyone and then ignore really good quality drama like ‘Brutally Young’.

Best Series: Al Cappuccino

Opinion: Again…where is ‘Brutally Young’? I really cannot understand the taste and judgement of Hong Kong audiences. ‘Al Cappuccino’ has quite a refreshing story but it does comes with several notable poorly done aspects as well. ‘Brutally Young’ easily comes out on top for me due to the impressive acting and suspenseful plot it has. ‘Al Cappuccino’ ended up becoming the biggest winner of the night with 5+2 wins.

No comment for the other two remaining categories; ‘Best TV Host’ and ‘5 Best Variety Programmes’. For this year’s winner list, I do agree to half of the list but not the other half. Sometimes, I am really surprised and dumbfounded by TVB decision in some of the categories as explained above. It happens almost every year (such as awarding consolation prizes obviously, presenting to least deserving winners, etc).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

First released in Malaysia on last November, ‘The Offliners’ is finally getting its local release in Hong Kong end of last month. Since most of its episodes are released in January, I consider it as a 2021 series rather than 2020. Hence, this is the first TVB series of the year that I have completed watching. And it looks like TVB is now fine to release Jacqueline Wong’s dramas after her explosive scandal with Andy Hui in 2019.

‘The Offliners’ is a 20-episode drama that revolves on a nerd yet an IT genius (Owen Cheung) who begins to develop his passion on IT and joined a tech start-up company. He then grow close with his colleagues, his love interest (Moon Lau) and also his lady boss (Katy Kung) who he later developed feeling for as well. Besides Owen, Katy and Moon, the series also starred Jacqueline Wong, Karl Ting, Jason Chan, Brian Tse, Joseph Lee, Bowie Wu, Akina Hong, Suet Nei, etc.

This drama is never meant to be big but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s relaxing and entertaining to watch it every evening after work. Owen Cheung is very convincing in this role and I can see his effort in portraying as a nerd in this drama. He nailed it. Katy Kung is also doing well as the first female lead here and she has a good chemistry with Owen too. She is very natural and I do impressed with her emotional scenes. It looks like Owen can just pair very well with any actors/actresses in any dramas he is in.

This pair did well on last Sunday too when they won Most Popular TV Male and Female Character respectively at the TVB Anniversary Awards for their performance in ‘Al Cappuccino’ and ‘Hong Kong Love Stories’. I do see huge improvement from their acting over the years and it looks like they are prepared for more leading roles.

Even the supporting cast are doing great in the series. Every characters including the supporting ones are given important story to develop and no one is left out. Particular credit to Joseph Lee as the stern father who turns good in the end and Akina Hong who portrayed his wife for her breakdown scenes after the death of her son. As for Moon Lau, I just don’t like her voice and expression that seems to be acting cute the entire time. I knew she didn’t mean it but that’s all I can see from her performance. She needs to broaden her range of expressions and work on her voice too maybe.

‘The Offliners’ is not pretentious and is able to deliver on what it needed to be from its straightforward and light-hearted plot and solid acting. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Offliners’ a total of 7.3. Yes…tomorrow is Friday already. Weekend is coming!

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Yay! My one-week long Chinese New Year break officially begins now after having finished my work few hours ago on the last day before the holiday. Tomorrow is already the CNY’s eve. I managed to catch the last few episodes of ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ (陀槍師姐2021) just now, a TVB series that I have been watching recently. So here comes my quick review to the second TVB series that I have watched so far this year.

‘Armed Reaction 2021’ actually does not have any link to the first 4 series in its franchise besides than retaining the character of Chan Sam Yuen, portrayed by Joyce Tang. For me, it is unjust to name this series as part of the franchise which was once very popular back in late 1990s to early 2000s. It was just a tactic to attract more viewers who once loved the earlier series in this particular franchise. This series should be treated as an independent police comedy drama, which sounds more right.

The 30-episode series starred Moses Chan, Jessica Hsuan, Him Law, Joyce Tang, Benz Hui, Tony Hung, Gloria Tang, Toby Chan, Fred Cheng, etc. It has quite a remarkable line-up of cast for both the main and supporting roles. Moses is the main male lead but I find that his role is too ordinary here. There is nothing wrong to his performance but this role is simply too lackluster. It was Jessica who steals the show with a more interesting character and she nailed every scenes from hilarious, to intense or emotional ones. Her effort here deserves a compliment.

Joyce appeared in first few episodes and then disappeared for most of the series before returning back in the last few episodes. What kind of arrangement is this? I thought she is one of the female leads too since she is the main part of the original ‘Armed Reaction’ franchise. Now, she has been relegated to more like a supporting role here. What a pity…By the way, special mention to Gloria and Toby who improved significantly in their performances here.

The plot for this series is very predictable. TVB fails to offer new twist or surprises again. From the beginning, I already knew who would be the main villain and where the story will lead and end to. There isn’t any originality especially after you have watched so many past police dramas by TVB with similar formulas. Anyway, the series is still quite entertaining at times and I do enjoy the chemistry between Moses and Jessica. Things do get draggy and boring in the middle and I felt the series would be more enjoyable if it is squeezed into 25 episodes. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Armed Reaction 2021’ a total of 6.8. There are also a number of cameos to look out for throughout the series although they were pointless.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)