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 8.0. My highest rated TVB series so far for this year!

(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)

TVB, Hong Kong’s largest television station had successfully held its 54th anniversary gala on last Friday with the attendance of over 200 artistes from both the acting and singing fields. Popular veteran actor Eric Tsang may have hosted the annual gala show many number of times in the past but this year’s gala is the first under him as the newly appointed general manager of the station in charge of content operations.

Famous actors and actresses in attendance include past TV kings (Vincent Wong, Kenneth Ma, Moses Chan, Ruco Chan), past TV queens (Natalie Tong, Sisley Choi, Ali Lee), Mandy Wong, Chris Lai, Benjamin Yuen, Shaun Tam, Elaine Yiu, Owen Cheung, etc. Famous singers present at the gala include Hacken Lee, Gin Lee, Joyce Cheng, Hana Kuk, Jinny Ng, etc. Carol Cheng, Nat Chan, Liza Wang hosted the gala along with many other young artists.

Recently, I have completed watching another two TVB series, ‘Take Two’ and ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. These two are part of the four anniversary series this year. Out of the two, I find that the former is better with more interesting and engaging plot although the twist at the ending is short-sighted.

‘Take Two’ is a 25-episode series that revolves on a engineer who is transported back to months before (yes…time travel!) the collapse of a residential building and his death to find out the culprits behind all these. The series starred Shaun Tam, Gloria Tang, Brian Chu, Cheung Wing Hong, Angel Chiang, Moon Lau, Gilbert Lam, etc. This drama has quite an interesting storyline only to be disappointed by the plot twist at the end which I have highlighted earlier. Shaun has improved in his acting and even Gloria did quite well taking on her first ever lead role here. Gilbert Lam nailed the villain role. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Take Two’ 7.9. Second highest rated TVB series this year so far.

The same cannot be said for ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. This medical drama which has quite a strong cast (Kenneth Ma, Kevin Cheng, Linda Chung, Him Law, etc) couldn’t excel in my opinion although I have read from reviews that many actually quite like this series. I’m in the opposite. There are quite a lot of sad or touching cases involving sick children in the hospital of this drama but I just couldn’t feel or get immersed into their stories that only scratch at the surface level. They just couldn’t pull me in unlike past similar drama like ‘The Hippocratic Crush’. Full of realistic surgeries’ scenes but lack emotional drama or intensity. The cast performed fairly well but that’s not enough. I’m starting to get tired of seeing Kenneth Ma portraying a doctor again. People are touched by Linda’s crying scene in this drama but I don’t find it exceptional as I have seen the same from her in the past. Same goes to Kevin who did not bring anything new to the screen after not acting for quite some years. Just an average medical themed drama that will be easily forgotten. Out of 10 points, I rate this series 6.6.

So..whose names are brought up so far in contention for best lead actor and actress for this year’s TVB Anniversary Awards? While it is still quite early and the nomination list is not out yet, I am starting to predict that the best actor race will be between Owen Cheung (from the upcoming ‘The Ringmaster’), Shaun Tam (Take Two), Roger Kwok (The Forgotten Day), Kenneth Ma (Plan B) and Vincent Wong (Murder Diary). Vincent gave the most impressive performance but he had won it twice already and ‘Murder Diary’ series performed badly in rating (so nope). I am thinking Shaun Tam may take it.

Best actress race will be between Ali Lee (AI Romantic), Kara Hui (Murder Diary), Eliza Sam (Plan B), Priscilla Wong (Battle of the Seven Sisters) and Linda Chung (Kids’ Lives Matter). Kara Hui gave the best performance out of the five but the series is not for everyone and failed in rating as mentioned earlier (so nope). My second choice would be Ali Lee but I don’t think TVB will give the award to her again so soon. The trophy most likely goes to Linda Chung. Where is ‘Barrack O’ Karma 2′? I thought this series will be released end of this year (anticipating it for very long already!). If so, it will give a good fight for the awards.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

It’s almost end of November. One more month left before we say goodbye to 2021! It is yet another full year of Covid-19. That’s unfortunate. More on the recap of this past one year will be detailed out soon in one of my posts near end of December as usual. And by the way, my 30th birthday is just around the corner; it will falls on this coming Saturday! Steady…steady…

Okay..let’s get back to the two main topics of this post. TVB had recently released its nomination list for their annual TVB Anniversary Awards for the year. As usual, everyone is nominated as long as you are involved in anything in this whole year. TVB should really cut down the nominees to like top 5 or top 10 rather than nominating everyone. There are also several new categories introduced this year (they are breaking down hosting award to male and female categories, etc). The awards presentation will be held on 2nd January 2022.

My choice for best drama would be ‘AI Romantic’ but I think TVB will give this to ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. My choice for best lead actor would be Vincent Wong from ‘Murder Diary’ but my prediction would be Shaun Tam from ‘Take Two’ or Owen Cheung from ‘The Ringmaster’ (this series had just started airing…so we will see how it goes). No particular choice for ‘Most Popular TV Male Character’. My choice for best lead actress would be Kara Hui from ‘Murder Diary’ or Ali Lee from ‘AI Romantic’ but the one predicted to win is Linda Chung from ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. Ali Lee will most likely take home ‘Most Popular TV Female Character’ instead since she had won best actress before while Linda has not win any. ‘Murder Diary’ is a very complicated but boring drama (not up to majority’s taste and with very low TV rating) but we can’t ignore that the series showcased excellent performances by the two leads, Kara and Vincent. However, they both won before and so their chances are close to zero of winning again this soon.

The late Anita Mui was one of the most beloved Hong Kong artistes who tragically died from cervical cancer at the age of 40 in December 2003. Famously known as ‘daughter of Hong Kong’ and Cantopop diva, she excelled in both her singing and acting careers. Although she is in the era earlier than my generation but I do like some of her iconic songs and movies (especially her comedy films). There is a new biopic film titled ‘Anita’ that tells her story from being a kid performer to her death in 2003. I watched the film yesterday. It is quite a moving film (especially near the end) with excellent performance by Louise Wong who portrayed the late Anita Mui. The film also boasts great cinematography and production design.

The only downside of the film are the draggy plot involving her futile love life and the exaggeration of her loneliness, sadness and perhaps depression from small causes (that may seems to be not the actual case) in this film. Anyway it is still a very beautiful and touching film that brought us back to the golden years of Hong Kong from 70s to 90s. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Anita’ a total of 8.1. I do really admire Anita Mui’s unmatched dedication especially from her decision to hold her farewell concert just 45 days before her passing. She is truly a legend and it is very understandable why she is so beloved even until today, 18 years after her death.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘The Ringmaster’ (拳王) is a 25-episode TVB drama that is themed on boxing and starred Wayne Lai, Owen Cheung, Brian Chu, Elaine Yiu, Winki Lai, Shaun Tam, Huge Wong, Timothy Cheng, etc. It is one of the 4 anniversary series in conjunction with TVB’s 54th anniversary celebration this year. It is my 15th watched TVB series of the year and is also the last.

I couldn’t avoid but to be quite harsh on my review to this drama. The storyline is boring. I couldn’t get myself engaged to the dramas the characters are going through in the series. I hate that they kept on putting in intense powerful background score to lift up intensity of many scenes that aren’t really climactic or dramatic at all. It doesn’t work that way and it puts me off every time.

Owen Cheung put in a lot of effort to bulk up his body for this role. I am amazed by his effort and dedication but I think that has taken a toll on his acting. I find that his acting is a bit expressionless, stiff and bland in here. Wayne Lai is still a very solid actor but he alone cannot save the boredom of the storyline. And I can’t stand the fact that Owen defeated Wayne for this drama to be placed in top 5 in running for best actor next weekend. Wayne’s acting is much more refined and layered as compared to Owen’s bland performance here. Owen’s dedication in bodybuilding for this drama is not equal to his acting performance! Certainly poor judgement by these Hong Kong voters. And now I keep seeing Owen and Brian Chu in many recent TVB series. It is very obvious that TVB is heavily promoting them…and their muscular body. Brian especially…I knew it is not his choice but in both ‘Take Two’ and ‘The Ringmaster’ (back to back series), he has to purposely take off his shirt in some scenes. He has to show and prove his acting, not his body. TVB, please take note!

Although Shaun Tam only plays minor role in this series (as the deceased elder brother of Owen Cheung), but his storyline is actually the most engaging one. Elaine Yiu is the first female lead here but I don’t really see her presence as the lead. There is a huge group of friends of Owen in the boxing circle in the drama and each of them has their fair share of story arcs too but I couldn’t care less. By the way, Jacky Cai is the most annoying of all. I couldn’t stand her character. She has to magnify her voice and expression every time she act in this drama and that is very disturbing. I have not seen her before in any previous series too.

Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Ringmaster’ 6.6. Features quite a number of award-winning actors and actresses but felt flat due to its boring and unappealing plot. Quite disappointed. Even the final episode contained very draggy and unnecessary long scenes of closures for each characters. They should have aired ‘Barrack O’Karma 2’ (expecting it to be good as its predecessor) instead of this series to end the year with a great finale.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

TVB Anniversary Awards 2021 took place a moment ago to recognize the best from TVB series and programmes aired last year. Although there is no live online streaming of the event on Youtube (unlike last year), but I was still able to watch it from TVB Anywhere app via my mobile phone fortunately (but have to be patient with the unstable streaming).

This is the first time I’m not seeing Carol Cheng hosting the awards presentation ceremony. I wonder why. I’m surprised also at more number of heavyweight guests that are able to be invited to present awards this evening. I think mostly due to Eric Tsang’s (he is general manager of TVB now) many close ties in the industry. Here below are the results along with my opinions (only series related awards are shown. All non-series related awards are excluded as those are not of my interest):

Lifetime Achievement Award – David Chiang

Opinion: Very deserved win for David Chiang. He is a very solid veteran actor who has acted in TV series from 1980s all the way to the present. He had also acted in over 100 films to date. Even my father who doesn’t really remember names of popular actors of his generation also does know his name.

Best Supporting Actor – Brian Chu (Take Two)

Opinion: Disappointed with this result. Brian Chu’s performance in that drama is only average. Cheung Wing-hong or Him Law displayed much better performances last year.

Most Improved TV Female Artiste – Lesley Chiang

Opinion: Didn’t watch any of her works last year and so couldn’t comment much. I also have no particular preference for this category.

Most Improved TV Male Artiste – Joey Law, Karl Ting

Opinion: Happy for both of them winning. Both of them put a lot of effort and deserved recognition. Karl is very energetic on his works in non-series programmes and he is also very good and natural in ‘Battle of the Seven Sister’. Didn’t see any Joey Law’s works last year though.

Best Dressed TV Female Artiste – Jeannie Chan

Best Dressed TV Male Artiste – Shaun Tam

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Leading Actress – Linda Chung (Kids’ Lives Matter)

Opinion: She is my second choice. I prefer Ali but I’m not too disappointed with Linda winning. However, she had won this award (Malaysia) before. Ali has not if I’m not mistaken.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Leading Actor – Shaun Tam (Take Two)

Opinion: Yes. He is my pick. The competition is very weak last year for lead actor categories. Out of the nominees, the ones who have not win before is Owen and Shaun. Out of these two, Shaun has the edge. His acting still has huge room of improvement but is certainly much better than Owen’s stiff acting in ‘The Ringmaster’.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TV Series – Kids’ Lives Matter

Opinion: Disagreed with this outcome. This series is so boring. My choice is ‘AI Romantic’ which is more fun and interesting.

Best Supporting Actress – Yoyo Chen (Plan B)

Opinion: Quite a well deserved win. She had been in the industry for over 17 years but had been always sidelined to minor roles. She finally had a breakthrough year in 2021 with her winning a voice-acting contest show and a great performance in ‘Plan B’ as a fierce mother.

Most Popular TV Partnership – Mandy Lam & Jack Hui (Come Home Love: Lo and Behold)

Opinion: Didn’t watch this long running sitcom so nothing to comment for this category. The top 5 lists are also not of my interest.

Most Popular TV Male Character – Kenneth Ma (Kids’ Lives Matter)

Opinion: Wow…this is his 4th time winning this award. He is really super popular. I would prefer Billy Luk from ‘AI Romantic’ to win instead. Kenneth Ma won too many times. He doesn’t feel anything already after this 4th win which he himself find very surprising too.

Best Leading Actor – Shaun Tam (Take Two)

Opinion: Luckily is not Owen. Like I said earlier, if between Shaun and Owen, my choice is Shaun. Although his performance is not really exceptional but is good enough in 2021. Owen delivered a very bland performance in ‘The Ringmaster’. Shaun’s character in ‘Take Two’ is more interesting and he quite succeeded in it. Looking forward to see him further improving on his acting in future works.

Most Popular TV Female Character – Ali Lee (Beauty and the Boss)

Opinion: Didn’t watch her performance in ‘Beauty and the Boss’ but I do really like her in ‘AI Romantic’. I’m still glad she win though. She never win this before despite winning best actress few years ago. A very solid young actress.

Best Leading Actress – Rosina Lam (Battle of the Seven Sisters)

Opinion: I am almost 100% certain that Linda will take this. I’m very shocked now. She is robbed. I didn’t expect Rosina Lam to win. Her performance in ‘Battle of the Seven Sisters’ is indeed better than in ‘Sinister Beings’ (both were aired last year). But I still felt it is not her time yet. Her emotional scenes were still quite unnatural and felt forced. Perhaps it is TVB’s way to keep Rosina to continue filming for the station while Linda is now staying mostly at Canada already. This is supposed to be Linda’s year. Her emotional scenes in ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’ were great and many were already picking her.

Best TV Series – Battle of the Seven Sisters

Opinion: Disagreed with this series winning best series. Nothing spectacular or outstanding about this series. Out of the top 5, my choice is ‘Sinister Beings’. Disappointed that ‘AI Romantic’ does not even make it into top 5. It was my personal favourite in 2021.

Ok. That wraps up TVB report card for 2021. Time for new TVB series to watch this year soon.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘The Righteous Fists’ (鐵拳英雄) is my first watched TVB series of the year. The 30-episode action period drama set in Bangkok’s Chinatown in 1960s has a story that follows the struggles of Chinese locals who are skilled in martial arts. The series starred Ruco Chan, Joel Chan, Natalie Tong, Elaine Yiu, Grace Wong, Philip Ng, Yuen Qiu, Cheung Kwok Keung, Jimmy Au, Carlo Ng, Tiffany Lau, etc.

When I first watched the series last month, I was immediately reminded of ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’, another action period drama that also starred many similar cast members and had won best series and also gave Ruco Chan best actor at TVB Anniversary Awards that year. And indeed…both stories are very similar. If you enjoyed ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’, you will enjoy ‘The Righteous Fists’ too. Same formulas applied all around.

Ruco Chan still has the charisma to take on this first male lead role that requires a lot of both physical and emotional effort. I usually am not impressed with Natalie Tong’s acting but I do enjoy her performance and character in here. Some have complained of her exaggerated acting in this drama but I felt that it actually suited her character and brought a bit of delight to the scene. Joel Chan should be given more lead roles. He is very good and his chemistry with Elaine is fantastic. Even all the cast playing supporting or even very minor roles in this drama performed well too (especially the veterans!).

The action sequences are something that I have high expectation on and I’m not disappointed. There are a variety of different styles of martial arts shown in this drama and some fighting scenes are indeed impressive and are full of energy. And again similarly to ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’, this series had us curious on finding out who is the big boss (main villain) as the series reached its later part. Although the plot twists are kind off predictable, but they do add interest and excitement as each episode progresses.

The only minor complain I have is the over exaggerated sound effect made to the fighting scenes to amplify the magnitude of each strikes. They do too much on that and distracted me a bit. In general, the series is solid with formulaic yet still workable storyline, great performances and awesome fights. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Righteous Fists’ a total of 8.2. What a good start for TVB series in 2022. I thoroughly enjoyed this series.

Images in this post are from various online sources)

I didn’t go to the cinemas for over a month and after returning from KL two weeks ago, it’s time to compensate by paying a visit to the cinema once every weekend. There are quite a number of newly released movies that I’m looking forward to watch. I watched ‘Moonfall’ last weekend and went for ‘Uncharted’ this weekend. Haha…I guess that’s enough…no more visit to the cinema for the next weekend or two.

‘Moonfall’ is a sci-fi disaster film co-written, directed and produced by Roland Emmerich, a man who is very popular for his past disaster films like ‘The Day After Tomorrow’, ‘Independence Day’ and ‘2012’. I enjoyed this type of films and always thought that he did very well in producing these films. ‘Moonfall’ delivered to my expectation although there isn’t much disaster scenes in this film. What’s interesting from the movie is its unexpected plot and unique take on the origin of the Moon. I won’t spoil any further. There are still some exhilarating scenes though, captured with impressive visual effects and excellent score. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Moonfall’ 7.5.

‘Uncharted’ on the other hand is an action adventure film based on a video game series of the same name and starred Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg. I didn’t play the video game and only knew that this is going to be a treasure hunt film similarly to the past ‘National Treasure’ or ‘Tomb Raider’ film series. ‘Uncharted’ couldn’t match those films but it is still an enjoyable adventure film with the currently very popular young actor, Tom Holland as the main lead. Whenever we see him on screen, we immediately thought of Spiderman now. Haha…Many scenes are not making sense (Tom can stand very stable on a car floating on the sky, helicopter holding a huge decaying old ship and flying it around with so much manoeuvring and the ship still does not fall apart unbelievably, etc). Less puzzle solving and actions but the movie is still quite entertaining overall. I rate ‘Uncharted’ 7.1 out of 10.

Right after finishing ‘The Righteous Fists’ last week, I managed to complete another TVB series in just a few days. The series is called ‘Freedom Memories’ and only has 15 episodes (hence I managed to finish it this quick). This drama is based on the Hong Kong TV industry in the 1980s, featuring characters who were TV artists in that era and how they later worked their way to become Hong Kong TV’s future superstars. The series starred many junior artistes like Karl Ting, Dickson Yu, Joey Thye, Tiffany Lau, etc.

This series surprises me a bit with very refreshing storyline and cast lineup. It is a very motivational drama and is a great opportunity to groom the younger generation of the actors and actresses in TVB. I guess Karl Ting’s character is inspired by Stephen Chow while Dickson Yu’s character is inspired by Andy Lau. The series also brought us back a lot of good memories from the past (Hong Kong in their golden era in 1980s with many classic hits and superstars). Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Freedom Memories’ a total of 7.6.

(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 8.0. My highest rated TVB series so far for this year!

(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)

TVB, Hong Kong’s largest television station had successfully held its 54th anniversary gala on last Friday with the attendance of over 200 artistes from both the acting and singing fields. Popular veteran actor Eric Tsang may have hosted the annual gala show many number of times in the past but this year’s gala is the first under him as the newly appointed general manager of the station in charge of content operations.

Famous actors and actresses in attendance include past TV kings (Vincent Wong, Kenneth Ma, Moses Chan, Ruco Chan), past TV queens (Natalie Tong, Sisley Choi, Ali Lee), Mandy Wong, Chris Lai, Benjamin Yuen, Shaun Tam, Elaine Yiu, Owen Cheung, etc. Famous singers present at the gala include Hacken Lee, Gin Lee, Joyce Cheng, Hana Kuk, Jinny Ng, etc. Carol Cheng, Nat Chan, Liza Wang hosted the gala along with many other young artists.

Recently, I have completed watching another two TVB series, ‘Take Two’ and ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. These two are part of the four anniversary series this year. Out of the two, I find that the former is better with more interesting and engaging plot although the twist at the ending is short-sighted.

‘Take Two’ is a 25-episode series that revolves on a engineer who is transported back to months before (yes…time travel!) the collapse of a residential building and his death to find out the culprits behind all these. The series starred Shaun Tam, Gloria Tang, Brian Chu, Cheung Wing Hong, Angel Chiang, Moon Lau, Gilbert Lam, etc. This drama has quite an interesting storyline only to be disappointed by the plot twist at the end which I have highlighted earlier. Shaun has improved in his acting and even Gloria did quite well taking on her first ever lead role here. Gilbert Lam nailed the villain role. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Take Two’ 7.9. Second highest rated TVB series this year so far.

The same cannot be said for ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. This medical drama which has quite a strong cast (Kenneth Ma, Kevin Cheng, Linda Chung, Him Law, etc) couldn’t excel in my opinion although I have read from reviews that many actually quite like this series. I’m in the opposite. There are quite a lot of sad or touching cases involving sick children in the hospital of this drama but I just couldn’t feel or get immersed into their stories that only scratch at the surface level. They just couldn’t pull me in unlike past similar drama like ‘The Hippocratic Crush’. Full of realistic surgeries’ scenes but lack emotional drama or intensity. The cast performed fairly well but that’s not enough. I’m starting to get tired of seeing Kenneth Ma portraying a doctor again. People are touched by Linda’s crying scene in this drama but I don’t find it exceptional as I have seen the same from her in the past However, that is actually good enough to win best actress in TVB standard nowadays. Same goes to Kevin who did not bring anything new to the screen after not acting for quite some years. Just an average medical themed drama that will be easily forgotten. Out of 10 points, I rate this series 6.6.

So..whose names are brought up so far in contention for best lead actor and actress for this year’s TVB Anniversary Awards? While it is still quite early and the nomination list is not out yet, I am starting to predict that the best actor race will be between Owen Cheung (from the upcoming ‘The Ringmaster’), Shaun Tam (Take Two), Wayne Lai (The Ringmaster), Kenneth Ma (Plan B) and Vincent Wong (Murder Diary). Vincent gave the most impressive performance but he had won it twice already and ‘Murder Diary’ series performed badly in rating (so nope). I am thinking Shaun Tam may take it.

Best actress race will be between Ali Lee (AI Romantic), Kara Hui (Murder Diary), Rosina Lam (Battle of the Seven Sisters), Priscilla Wong (Battle of the Seven Sisters) and Linda Chung (Kids’ Lives Matter). Kara Hui gave the best performance out of the five but the series is not for everyone and failed in rating as mentioned earlier (so nope). The trophy most likely goes to Linda Chung but my own preference is actually Ali Lee but she had won before. Where is ‘Barrack O’ Karma 2′? I thought this series will be released end of this year (anticipating it for very long already!). If so, it will give a good fight for the awards.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

It’s almost end of November. One more month left before we say goodbye to 2021! It is yet another full year of Covid-19. That’s unfortunate. More on the recap of this past one year will be detailed out soon in one of my posts near end of December as usual. And by the way, my 30th birthday is just around the corner; it will falls on this coming Saturday! Steady…steady…

Okay..let’s get back to the two main topics of this post. TVB had recently released its nomination list for their annual TVB Anniversary Awards for the year. As usual, everyone is nominated as long as you are involved in anything in this whole year. TVB should really cut down the nominees to like top 5 or top 10 rather than nominating everyone. There are also several new categories introduced this year (they are breaking down hosting award to male and female categories, etc). The awards presentation will be held on 2nd January 2022.

My choice for best drama would be ‘AI Romantic’ but I think TVB will give this to ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’. My choice for best lead actor would be Shaun Tam from ‘Take Two’ (Vincent Wong did very good in ‘Murder Diary’ but that series is a flop). No particular choice for ‘Most Popular TV Male Character’. Maybe Billy Luk from ‘AI Romantic’ but his chance of winning is very slim. My choice for best lead actress would be Linda Chung from ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’ (Kara is excellent in ‘Murder Diary’ but as mentioned earlier, the drama is bad). Ali Lee will most likely take home ‘Most Popular TV Female Character’ instead since she had won best actress before while Linda has not win any. ‘Murder Diary’ is a very complicated but boring drama (not up to majority’s taste and with very low TV rating) but we can’t ignore that the series showcased excellent performances by the two leads, Kara and Vincent. However, they both won before and so their chances are close to zero of winning again this soon.

The late Anita Mui was one of the most beloved Hong Kong artistes who tragically died from cervical cancer at the age of 40 in December 2003. Famously known as ‘daughter of Hong Kong’ and Cantopop diva, she excelled in both her singing and acting careers. Although she is in the era earlier than my generation but I do like some of her iconic songs and movies (especially her comedy films). There is a new biopic film titled ‘Anita’ that tells her story from being a kid performer to her death in 2003. I watched the film yesterday. It is quite a moving film (especially near the end) with excellent performance by Louise Wong who portrayed the late Anita Mui. The film also boasts great cinematography and production design.

The only downside of the film are the draggy plot involving her futile love life and the exaggeration of her loneliness, sadness and perhaps depression from small causes (that may seems to be not the actual case) in this film. Anyway it is still a very beautiful and touching film that brought us back to the golden years of Hong Kong from 70s to 90s. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘Anita’ a total of 8.1. I do really admire Anita Mui’s unmatched dedication especially from her decision to hold her farewell concert just 45 days before her passing. She is truly a legend and it is very understandable why she is so beloved even until today, 18 years after her death.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘The Ringmaster’ (拳王) is a 25-episode TVB drama that is themed on boxing and starred Wayne Lai, Owen Cheung, Brian Chu, Elaine Yiu, Winki Lai, Shaun Tam, Huge Wong, Timothy Cheng, etc. It is one of the 4 anniversary series in conjunction with TVB’s 54th anniversary celebration this year. It is my 15th watched TVB series of the year and is also the last.

I couldn’t avoid but to be quite harsh on my review to this drama. The storyline is boring. I couldn’t get myself engaged to the dramas the characters are going through in the series. I hate that they kept on putting in intense powerful background score to lift up intensity of many scenes that aren’t really climactic or dramatic at all. It doesn’t work that way and it puts me off every time.

Owen Cheung put in a lot of effort to bulk up his body for this role. I am amazed by his effort and dedication but I think that has taken a toll on his acting. I find that his acting is a bit expressionless, stiff and bland in here. Wayne Lai is still a very solid actor but he alone cannot save the boredom of the storyline. And I can’t stand the fact that Owen defeated Wayne for this drama to be placed in top 5 in running for best actor next weekend. Wayne’s acting is much more refined and layered as compared to Owen’s bland performance here. Owen’s dedication in bodybuilding for this drama is not equal to his acting performance! Certainly poor judgement by these Hong Kong voters. And now I keep seeing Owen and Brian Chu in many recent TVB series. It is very obvious that TVB is heavily promoting them…and their muscular body. Brian especially…I knew it is not his choice but in both ‘Take Two’ and ‘The Ringmaster’ (back to back series), he has to purposely take off his shirt in some scenes. He has to show and prove his acting, not his body. TVB, please take note!

Although Shaun Tam only plays minor role in this series (as the deceased elder brother of Owen Cheung), but his storyline is actually the most engaging one. Elaine Yiu is the first female lead here but I don’t really see her presence as the lead. There is a huge group of friends of Owen in the boxing circle in the drama and each of them has their fair share of story arcs too but I couldn’t care less. By the way, Jacky Cai is the most annoying of all. I couldn’t stand her character. She has to magnify her voice and expression every time she act in this drama and that is very disturbing. I have not seen her before in any previous series too.

Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Ringmaster’ 6.6. Features quite a number of award-winning actors and actresses but felt flat due to its boring and unappealing plot. Quite disappointed. Even the final episode contained very draggy and unnecessary long scenes of closures for each characters. They should have aired ‘Barrack O’Karma 2’ (expecting it to be good as its predecessor) instead of this series to end the year with a great finale.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

TVB Anniversary Awards 2021 took place a moment ago to recognize the best from TVB series and programmes aired last year. Although there is no live online streaming of the event on Youtube (unlike last year), but I was still able to watch it from TVB Anywhere app via my mobile phone fortunately (but have to be patient with the unstable streaming).

This is the first time I’m not seeing Carol Cheng hosting the awards presentation ceremony. I wonder why. I’m surprised also at more number of heavyweight guests that are able to be invited to present awards this evening. I think mostly due to Eric Tsang’s (he is general manager of TVB now) many close ties in the industry. Here below are the results along with my opinions (only series related awards are shown. All non-series related awards are excluded as those are not of my interest):

Lifetime Achievement Award – David Chiang

Opinion: Very deserved win for David Chiang. He is a very solid veteran actor who has acted in TV series from 1980s all the way to the present. He had also acted in over 100 films to date. Even my father who doesn’t really remember names of popular actors of his generation also does know his name.

Best Supporting Actor – Brian Chu (Take Two)

Opinion: Disappointed with this result. Brian Chu’s performance in that drama is only average. Cheung Wing-hong or Him Law displayed much better performances last year.

Most Improved TV Female Artiste – Lesley Chiang

Opinion: Didn’t watch any of her works last year and so couldn’t comment much. I also have no particular preference for this category.

Most Improved TV Male Artiste – Joey Law, Karl Ting

Opinion: Happy for both of them winning. Both of them put a lot of effort and deserved recognition. Karl is very energetic on his works in non-series programmes and he is also very good and natural in ‘Battle of the Seven Sister’. Didn’t see any Joey Law’s works last year though.

Best Dressed TV Female Artiste – Jeannie Chan

Best Dressed TV Male Artiste – Shaun Tam

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Leading Actress – Linda Chung (Kids’ Lives Matter)

Opinion: She is my second choice. I prefer Ali but I’m not too disappointed with Linda winning. However, she had won this award (Malaysia) before. Ali has not if I’m not mistaken.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite Leading Actor – Shaun Tam (Take Two)

Opinion: Yes. He is my pick. The competition is very weak last year for lead actor categories. Out of the nominees, the ones who have not win before is Owen and Shaun. Out of these two, Shaun has the edge. His acting still has huge room of improvement but is certainly much better than Owen’s stiff acting in ‘The Ringmaster’.

Malaysia’s Most Favourite TV Series – Kids’ Lives Matter

Opinion: Disagreed with this outcome. This series is so boring. My choice is ‘AI Romantic’ which is more fun and interesting.

Best Supporting Actress – Yoyo Chen (Plan B)

Opinion: Quite a well deserved win. She had been in the industry for over 17 years but had been always sidelined to minor roles. She finally had a breakthrough year in 2021 with her winning a voice-acting contest show and a great performance in ‘Plan B’ as a fierce mother.

Most Popular TV Partnership – Mandy Lam & Jack Hui (Come Home Love: Lo and Behold)

Opinion: Didn’t watch this long running sitcom so nothing to comment for this category. The top 5 lists are also not of my interest.

Most Popular TV Male Character – Kenneth Ma (Kids’ Lives Matter)

Opinion: Wow…this is his 4th time winning this award. He is really super popular. I would prefer Billy Luk from ‘AI Romantic’ to win instead. Kenneth Ma won too many times. He doesn’t feel anything already after this 4th win which he himself find very surprising too.

Best Leading Actor – Shaun Tam (Take Two)

Opinion: Luckily is not Owen. Like I said earlier, if between Shaun and Owen, my choice is Shaun. Although his performance is not really exceptional but is good enough in 2021. Owen delivered a very bland performance in ‘The Ringmaster’. Shaun’s character in ‘Take Two’ is more interesting and he quite succeeded in it. Looking forward to see him further improving on his acting in future works.

Most Popular TV Female Character – Ali Lee (Beauty and the Boss)

Opinion: Didn’t watch her performance in ‘Beauty and the Boss’ but I do really like her in ‘AI Romantic’. I’m still glad she win though. She never win this before despite winning best actress few years ago. A very solid young actress.

Best Leading Actress – Rosina Lam (Battle of the Seven Sisters)

Opinion: I am almost 100% certain that Linda will take this. I’m very shocked now. She is robbed. I didn’t expect Rosina Lam to win. Her performance in ‘Battle of the Seven Sisters’ is indeed better than in ‘Sinister Beings’ (both were aired last year). But I still felt it is not her time yet. Her emotional scenes were still quite unnatural and felt forced. Perhaps it is TVB’s way to keep Rosina to continue filming for the station while Linda is now staying mostly at Canada already. This is supposed to be Linda’s year. Her emotional scenes in ‘Kids’ Lives Matter’ were great and many were already picking her.

Best TV Series – Battle of the Seven Sisters

Opinion: Disagreed with this series winning best series. Nothing spectacular or outstanding about this series. Out of the top 5, my choice is ‘Sinister Beings’. Disappointed that ‘AI Romantic’ does not even make it into top 5. It was my personal favourite in 2021.

Ok. That wraps up TVB report card for 2021. Time for new TVB series to watch this year soon.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘The Righteous Fists’ (鐵拳英雄) is my first watched TVB series of the year. The 30-episode action period drama set in Bangkok’s Chinatown in 1960s has a story that follows the struggles of Chinese locals who are skilled in martial arts. The series starred Ruco Chan, Joel Chan, Natalie Tong, Elaine Yiu, Grace Wong, Philip Ng, Yuen Qiu, Cheung Kwok Keung, Jimmy Au, Carlo Ng, Tiffany Lau, etc.

When I first watched the series last month, I was immediately reminded of ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’, another action period drama that also starred many similar cast members and had won best series and also gave Ruco Chan best actor at TVB Anniversary Awards that year. And indeed…both stories are very similar. If you enjoyed ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’, you will enjoy ‘The Righteous Fists’ too. Same formulas applied all around.

Ruco Chan still has the charisma to take on this first male lead role that requires a lot of both physical and emotional effort. I usually am not impressed with Natalie Tong’s acting but I do enjoy her performance and character in here. Some have complained of her exaggerated acting in this drama but I felt that it actually suited her character and brought a bit of delight to the scene. Joel Chan should be given more lead roles. He is very good and his chemistry with Elaine is fantastic. Even all the cast playing supporting or even very minor roles in this drama performed well too (especially the veterans!).

The action sequences are something that I have high expectation on and I’m not disappointed. There are a variety of different styles of martial arts shown in this drama and some fighting scenes are indeed impressive and are full of energy. And again similarly to ‘A Fist Within Four Walls’, this series had us curious on finding out who is the big boss (main villain) as the series reached its later part. Although the plot twists are kind off predictable, but they do add interest and excitement as each episode progresses.

The only minor complain I have is the over exaggerated sound effect made to the fighting scenes to amplify the magnitude of each strikes. They do too much on that and distracted me a bit. In general, the series is solid with formulaic yet still workable storyline, great performances and awesome fights. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Righteous Fists’ a total of 8.2. What a good start for TVB series in 2022. I thoroughly enjoyed this series.

Images in this post are from various online sources)