(no subject)

[puddleshark]

Finished watching Chinese costume romance A Dream of Splendour on YouTube. And yes, there were weaknesses in the writing, but they were small flaws, and did not outweigh the things that the drama did well: fabulous cinematography & choreography, a real chemistry between the male and female lead, and the solid friendship between the three female leads.

Also, not a baby-talking, skipping, cutesie female character in sight (hurrah! Actually, the only one who might qualify as baby-talking was one of the male villains, a character some people found irritating, but whom I rather liked).

The ending wasn't quite as tautly written as the beginning, but the writing never descended into outright stupidity. So, yes, I enjoyed this one.

And talking of stupidity...

Started watching Chinese costume romance Love Like the Galaxy on Viki.com, and it's "Welcome to Plot Hole Central".

On the plus side, it's high budget. There are horses, which worries me a lot, but so far it hasn't featured any crashing horse falls, and the horses look expensive and well cared for.

Stylistically, it's interesting. The puppet theatre themed opening credits are gorgeous, and the production seems to be trying to incorporate a little of the sense of puppet theatre into the actual scenes, in the way the characters are arranged on set, and the ways crowds are choreographed. This really, really does not work with the male lead Leo Wu, though, because it makes him look like a puppet. (Not sure if he really is a bad actor, don't think I've seen him in anything else).

This wants to be another Minglan - I believe it's based on a story by the same author - but the writing is just not that clever. Not sure whether I will finish this or not. So far it's entertaining enough for me simply to roll my eyes at all the plot holes, and carry on watching.


Also watching, Korean magic fantasy Alchemy of Souls on Netflix, which is surprisingly good (even if some of the secondary characters are idol actors who look very pretty in their costumes but don't seem to do much in the way of acting). I like the play between the male and female lead: the (imperfectly) reversed servant/master relationship, the partnership of ruthlessness (on her side) and desperation (on his).

***

Re-watched the first series of Stranger. Again. Because I love Prosector Hwang Si-Mok and Lieutenant Han, those two upright souls. And because, even knowing whodunnit and how, it's still fascinating to watch how everything unfolds. And there's one character, a secondary character (who also shows up peripherally in series two), who just breaks my heart, every time.