Maybe we might bump into lenlen one day on the street in s’pore…ha!ha! but I maybe too star-struck to say anything tho’….even celebrities themselves get starstruck when they finally get to meet their idol…hee! Hee!
I’m so glad to hv met u too….u know wat, I realized we hv 1 thing in common (besides being lenlen’s fan). We like to analyse, discuss abt her movies, roles, etc. Did u take Lit in sch? Ha! Ha! I donch know, it’s kinda like a habit (or is it ‘hazard’ ?) that one does after learning to do so in Lit even tho’ it’s juz a tv series…of course, I’m not saying dat only pple who has taken Lit does so…
I’ve already finished watching “Guan” b4 I started on “Thank you, Grandpa” but I’m watching some of the 2nd half again. Yes, the 2nd part’s definitely much better. I like the part when anita & chilam’s characters are “juz good frens” & help the common folks, esp the part w/ the orphaned kid. Actually, it’s OK overall but I guess they put in too many modern concepts & terms like ‘tourism’, ‘marketing’ …..maybe they were trying to be funny by doing so but somehow it doesn’t turn out appropriate.
But I find that the characters in it don’t develop & grow as characters normally shd & do in any story. It’s quite strange dat they all seemed to start out the same pple & end up pretty much the same in the end. . If they did, it was so minimal, that u donch feel it at all. Hence, u donch feel so much for the characters. In fact, the only thing that I felt deeply was that anita’s character got the shorter end of the stick even tho’ chilam’s character went to sacrifice his life for her in an attempt to save her but I felt he was only doing so when it comes to life & death situations. Until now, I’m still not convinced dat chilam’s character really cares for anita’s character. He juz treats her like a very gd staff (of his magistrate) & takes her for granted all the time.
Both their characters really did not allow them to show their true acting talents. They were juz very average in there. Even anita was not as lively as she was in other similar roles. In “Grandpa”, she had much livelier expressions & was really cute. Of course, she was still very natural in “Guan” & handles such roles w/ ease.
And they hv no screen chemistry at all. The 2 supporting casts of Fang Rou & Wen Xi have much better chemistry & they actually look gd tog. In the beginning, I sorta like Wen Xi’s character & thot he had great charm but I didn’t like his character in the 2nd part, not ‘cos of wat he did (as it was kinda understandable to some extend) but somehow the character loses some of its depth or something. I actually find the “15 Prince”’s character rather charming. By the end of the show, I felt he has his own charisma & had helped anita’s character quite a bit.
I like anita’s father’s character in the show. I thot he’s such a cool dad. (a bit like the dad in mulan) They r more like frens! And actually, chilam’s character’s parents acted pretty well too, even tho’ they’re such suckers & so mercenary but at least they did have some conscience when it comes to the crux. They were convincing as the characters that they played.
The saving grace abt this China version (despite all the horrible stuff mentioned) was the gd dubbing. Everyone sounded natural as their characters shd & all the voices were juz rt.
I think they really shdn’t act tog again. Mebbe their on set diff affected their acting, screen chemistry & also strained their relationship at that time, somehow it juz doesn’t turn out really well tho’ it’s not too bad at all for a comedy type of drama. And for fans, when chilam’s character mistreat anita’s character, we can’t help but wonder how he treats he in real life, kinda hard to be objective when one watch it at dat pt in time, even tho’ we know better.
I can’t believe I actually like “Grandpa”. It’s quite rare that I like comedies. I found it very funny w/o being silly tho’ the 2nd half was not as gd & there were loopholes in script too. It was actually enjoyable. I think many of the jokes wld hv bin lost in the dubbed versions & esp for leslie’s role, I can imagine many jokes wld hv fallen flat in mandarin & his expressions wld hv then looked exaggerated. Anita was really cute in there & I guess watching her in her original voice also made a diff. She had very lively expressions. It reminded me of her gender bending role in “She’s a Man, He’s a Woman”. She was cute as a guy in there & pretty as a girl. I particularly like the scene where she was in this white top & pink dress..the scene where she changed fr guy to gal to meet her b/f in a restaurant & he kissed her at the end. She looked really pretty in it.
Now, for the bad stuff…..it had far too many kidnaps/abductions in there & was rather unrealistic that anita’s character (CK) became frens w/ 1 of the kidnapper so easily even tho’ it’s a comedy….and when her b/f (Ah Long) lost his memory & disappeared. Why didn’t his parents look for him? Only his dad was senile, his mum was perfectly fine. Wat happened to his parents? They didn’t even appear at his wedding in the end.
I found it totally illogical that when CK told Ah Long dat she was his g/f & had a son w/ him, he juz gave her a blank look, not believing her & when he bumped into annie ( CK’s evil couz & his ex-gal fren), juz ‘cos she showed him a photo to them tog & told him they were lovers & dat CK was the one who made him lose his memory), he was so easily convinced & hugged her! Unbelievable! He was almost hostile towards CK, wld rather be back at Shenzhen. (I know he sorta like dat Shenzhen girl but he was amiable to annie, gosh!)
And they way he regained his memory was also puzzling. It kinda juz happened (when he was abt to go back to Shenzhen) when all their efforts to remind him of his past had failed. The only logical expln I can think of is mebbe ‘cos they gave him lotsa pressure & he cldn’t think or made him felt like not thinking. Then when CK reluctantly gave up & said, “It’s OK, let him go. He’s been so unhappy all these days in HK. I’ve not even see him smile, I’ll rather he be happy & go.” Maybe dat actually set him thinking ‘cos only the person who loves u the most wld set u free & wld rather dat u r happy even tho’ he/she can’t be w/ u.
U know, when I compare these few tv series, it seems dat “Innocently Guilty”’s the worse of all. It can’t be beat a comedy nor an average drama. I think it’s ‘cos the characters are made out to be so one dimensional & script so melodramatic. How cld anyone sustain a relationship w/ a g/f who keeps shouting at him & takes him for granted all the time? Edmund’s character’s also had not depth at all & ‘no backbone’ too! Anita’s character, tho’ willing to fight for justice & truth at all cost, juz wasn’t endearing to audience. It doesn’t make us feel anything for her somehow. They don’t show her vulnerable side enuf & when they tried to, it wasn’t moving. And anita’s much more effective & moving when she’s juz looking sad or crying a little (like in mulan, sod, ‘c’est’ & even “grandpa” & “guan”) not when she’s crying buckets! It juz wasn’t sad at all when she’s like dat. Honestly, only actor who was PK & grandma (veteran Lei Heung Kam)’s acting was gd in there. Yvonne Lim was not too bad actually. Kenneth Cheng (‘fei luo)’s character/script didn’t allow him to show his acting abilities somehow. It’s juz average. For a legal issues type of serious drama, it was really bad, esp all the loopholes in the script. How cld the director/producer hv approved it, I wonder?!
Yah, I actually misread ‘prosecutor’ as ‘producer’.
It’s OK, u can lend me the dics/tapes whenever it’s convenient. I guess the “China Gongfu Grils” sounded really bad. Yeh, I heard she was stressed out trying to speak Mandarin in there & even had nightmares abt it! Poor thing! That’s why Wu Jing let her speak in Canto when they were filming “South Shaolin” ‘cos it makes her get into her role easier tho’ her Mandarin is said to have ‘passed’.
Yup, it’ll be gd to know other fans fr other ctries, wherever they r fr…..yes, it’s great dat her fans r such friendly pple..yup, it must be the “anita spirit”.
I’ve only managed to catch a some episodes of “Zhou Xiang Gong He”, started only half way thru’ & not all episodes in 2nd half too. It’s really gd tho’ controversial in China due to portrayal of some historical figures. I donch know why but personally, it’s too painful for me to watch China’s humiliating past, the part when China was divided into 6 or 7 parts & gets bullied by all the other nations. I’m not sure if I want to watch the whole thing on VCD (provided I can scout ard & borrow it fr someone or rent it) ‘cos I find that the Chinese used is rather difficult & w/o the subtitles, I may not understand all the dialogues fully.
I donch believe it, I also prefer Zoe to Fan tho’ I’m not anti nor a fan of any of them. I simply find Fan too ‘common’. She looks like another ‘sweet, looking girl’. Zoe has more charisma & ex-factor & can act better too.
Ha! Ha! I think u can sorta guess my age too since I’m already working & done w/ all sch
Sori, this has kinda gone for pges.....
Posted on Feb 9, 2004, 12:32 AM from IP address 203.117.33.24
