Tag: review

BOYS OVER FLOWERS (CRAZE)

Here’s the catch.

I just recently finished watching Meteor Garden 2018 on Netflix with 49 episodes & I happened to check/google all the related shows similar to the same (which I always do in every series/movies/etc. I’ve seen) & found out that aside from the Original Taiwan version which I have also seen a few years back, there are also Korean and Japan version!

What is even more exciting is that they have the Korean version on NETFLIX too. And yes, since I’m not over the craze yet, I wanted to know and compare all the versions and write my self-review as usual, so I watched it too and completed in a little more than a week!😂

Not much different from all the versions where the story is based aside from the few little changes they  made to blend with the Country, situation, latest craze, culture, and traditions I assume, plus the change of sequences where some happened first on the Taiwan/Chinese version and happened later on the Korean version and vice versas.–> but all in all, it will come to the same happy ending with the Main characters of both versions Dao Ming Si & Dong Shancai and Gu-Jun-Pyo & Geum-Jan-Di ending up together.

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So, what I like in here? Of course, I will not mention that again, I developed a huge crush on Lee Min Ho (Gu-Jun-Pyo) because who else will not? –> and my husband Rj kept teasing me about this fine-young-man just like what he did when we were watching MG2018- Dylan Wang 🙂

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 Anyways, I super like his face especially when he smiles, super giggles!

I liked the fast-paced story. This has only 25 episodes which is shorter from the 49 episodes of Meteor Garden 2018 that some may actually bore the viewers (but not me) because of the sub-plot & additional story to spice up the series.

It’s more realistic and convincing, I think the Meteor Garden 2018 focused more on Cinderella-type Love story, Rom-com type while the Korean version tackles a little bit more of the usual daily living of an ordinary person, not only romance.

Geum-Jan-Di carries the character of an average person, not so beautiful, not so smart, not so gorgeous bod as what they want to establish in the series which made the Love story even more realistic.

In this version, Yoon Ji-hoo (Kim Hyun Joong) has a more significant role in Geum Jan-di’s life than the other versions, more strongly depicted as a romantic companion.

And yeah, it is more likable that they decided to get married after College Graduation (4 years later) rather than to marry immediately without completing their Education.

What I didn’t like? Well, I guess the lack of emotions from the characters to express their sentiments and emotions for all the problems they had to face in their relationship.

This is what I liked about in Meteor Garden 2018 anyways, both Dao Ming Si and Dong Shan Cai had given their best share and extreme efforts in proving how much they loved each other they are willing to defy all odds.

I wanted Geum Jan Di to express her inner feelings and hurt with a lot of emotions during the time Gu Jun Pyo was overseas trying to ignore her but failed to do so.

I also want to see Gu Jun Pyo fights for his love, but then, there’s a lack of emotions in here. That’s what I expect for someone who turned from a selfish bully rich kid to someone who got madly in love with a commoner despite his mom’s strong disapproval but he wasn’t able to articulate this.

Not to mention I’m longing to see the episode in Taiwan and Chinese versions where Dao Ming Si refused to eat for days in return to retaliate to his over domineering mom when she restricted him for going out of the house and later Dong-Shan-Cai went over to see him and how they talked outside his bedroom door with so much love and compassion that Shan Cai stood for days outside their home, days and night, rain and shine to support Dao Ming Si.

But then I love the way he said…“I’m in love with a girl. The first time since I was born and the last until I die.” Yay!

My thoughts about it? I liked them both with different feelings. I like the super cute yet childish ways that will give you romantic excitement to the bones on the Chinese version and I equally like the much more mature characters and outlook in life on the Korean Version.

All in, I love them both. Can’t wait to watch the Japanese version…soon!

Till next time!

Reposted from my Tumblr account- 2018

Hana Yori Dango

 

Oh well, I’m still not over the craze yet, *Giggles* Here I am, just completed the Season 1 & 2 of Hana Yori Dango with 20 episodes in less than a week, yaey! (This is the Japanese version of Meteor Garden & Boys Over Flowers). If I’m not mistaken, this is the TV adoptation of the versions where it was based, originally from the Japanese Shojo Manga written by Yoko Kamio.

The fact that I’m now very much familiar with the plot even with my mind shut as I’ve seen all the 4 versions of this story. This is also the second version I  completely watched with my husband RJ since he skipped the Korean version all because he didn’t like the way it was expressed. But for me, I loved them all with all of my heart, lol.

To refresh with, This is the story of MAKINO TSUKUSHI, a tough, hard-working, below class student of a prestigious school, Eitoku and how she immersed her life with the School legendary bullies which consist of four sons of the wealthiest and most powerful family, the F4 (FLOWER 4) when she got the red notice from them (anyone who gets this card will be the subject of bullying from the entire school at all cost until the target decides to quits or expelled).

Despite embarrassment and harassment, Makino refuses to quit, and her retaliation and declaration of war against them caught  DOMYOUJI TSUKASA’S (the leader of  F4) attention and made him fall in love with her. 

All the versions have the same plot but all shown in different flow/different impression to spice it up. But still, the story revolves around the love and courtship of the Main Characters,  Domyouji Tsukasa and Makino Tsukushi. How they faced various challenges and obstacles including their social status and social differences not to mention Tsukasa’s mother’s extreme disagreement with her.

I mostly liked Makino’s character in here. Not that loud, not that messy, not that clumsy. She has this tough character as a seaweed at the same time with a very sweet, innocent and refreshing personality. She is dainty and feminine here which is similar to Chinese Dong-Shancai ’s character rather than that of Geum Jan Di’s gracelessness, loudness, and clumsiness.

Tsukasa’s character is a bit different here as well. He is more funny, witty and comic that is different from all the versions and of course, not to mention (once again) that he is cute as ever. I literally liked all the series Lead Characters, tbh, (From Dao Ming Si of Taiwan & Chinese version to Gu Jun Pyo of Korean version and now Domyouji Tsukasa of Japanese version). -> exactly the same order how I’ve seen them. He is a bully and childish at the same time in a comical way, that is very original of him, like how he would always speak erroneous Nihonggo and how he would shudder with excitement like a kid just by talking about Makino on his friends.

Hanazawa Rui also shows obvious admiration for Tsukushi he becomes slightly perpetrator to the Main Character’s Love story but eventually gives in to Tsukasa on the latter part of the series.

Nishikado Sojiro & Mimasaka Akira were also cute in a different way. 

Moreover, I liked the part where Tsukasa develops an amnesia when he gets into an accident and Makino’s series of funny attempts in order to help him regain back his memory. After Tsukasa saved Makino from freezing to death in the blizzard, he develops a fever inside the log cabin, and while Makino is taking care of him, some flashbacks from the past made him remember Makino that is similar to the circumstance happened on their first date in Season 1, then finally remember the  “first girl he has ever fallen in love with.”

I also like the Soundtrack of both Season 1 & 2 especially the Opening Theme of Season 1 titled Wish & Love so sweet in Season 2 (Sang by ARASHI where Jun Matsumoto is a member.)

To be continued as I’m still going to watch the HANA YORI DANGO FINAL (film)

Reposted from my Tumblr account- 2018.

Best Apocalyptic Films you should watch

I know it’s kinda strange but aside from the Time Travel films, I’m also fascinated with the Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic films with the thoughts of what shall come after the end of everything.

There’s something strangely interesting to know how anyone would survive to live on the rotten & wasted land. How to live roaming around the destroyed earth in search of food and sleep on the abandoned buildings night after night, there ’s a shortage of food with no vegetation as it will be too cold to grow anything, and find anything left to eat from the abandoned supermarkets. To fight for your life against people who are also trying to survive. I also often daydream about myself living in this kind of world where it’s gonna be survival to the fittest and nothing else matters but to survive the day alive.

With these in mind, I decided to write down the list of the Best Apocalyptic films I have seen in no particular order.

1. BIRD BOX-2018

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The film follows a woman and a pair of children, who must travel through a forest and down a river blindfolded to avoid supernatural entities that cause people who look at them to commit suicide.

2. A QUIET PLACE-2018

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The plot revolves around a family facing struggles to survive in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind extraterrestrial creatures with an acute sense of hearing.

3. THE ROAD-2009

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In a dangerous post-apocalyptic world, an ailing father defends his son as they slowly travel to the sea.

4. 28 DAYS LATER-2002

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Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary. The plot depicts the breakdown of society following the accidental release of a highly contagious virus and focuses upon the struggle of four survivors to cope with the destruction of the life they once knew.

5. THE BOOK OF ELI-2010

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A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind. 

6. 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE-2016

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The story follows a young woman who, after a car crash, wakes up in an underground bunker with two men who insist that an event has left the surface of Earth uninhabitable. 

7. CARGO-2017

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In a world overtaken by a virus that turns people into zombies within 48 hours, the Rose family Andy, Kay, and their baby Rosie tries to survive.

8. IO-2019

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The film is set in a dystopian future, where Earth’s atmosphere has become toxic. Most humans have fled the planet, to live on a space station near Io, a moon of Jupiter.

Le Meridien Hotel

Le Meridien Hotel is a 5 Star Hotel directly attached to City Center, BH Largest Mall. With that, they have one of the Best Restaurant named Baharat that offers a variety of cuisine, International, Mediterranean, Sushi, European, and Asian among others and have the chance to experience the Live cooking stations.

Ik, the price is a little bit costly, BHD28++ inclusive,(something like PHP4k per person) free flow of alcoholic beverage and BHD19++ inclusive, free flow of non-alcoholic beverage, but then, the quality of food, the ambiance, and the service is excellent, plus of course, what do you expect for a five-star hotel?

It’s like we were planning to set dinner with my old friends (used to be Monday Group), for a very long time but as always, we couldn’t find the best time when everyone is free as one would always be out of the Country. Until finally, we all decided to get together this Wkend (though some are still out of the Country) and pick Le Meridian Hotel in Seef area.

TBh, I’m not fond of Sashimi and sushi, haha, strange but true, I think I’m one of the few who doesn’t eat much of this food, but since there are a lot of choices and it was a Seafood Buffet that night, with a variety of starters and appetizers, so I agreed.

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The food was exceptional, the seafood options were all so delicious and in good sized portions and different cooking. The choice of salads, cheeses, bread, sides, and desserts are exquisite. It is seafood night, but there are also choices for vegan, Asian, Indian and others. Free flow of unlimited drinks, I think I had a glass of pina colada, and a few glasses more of Mojito.

Not to mention that the staff was also so friendly, helpful and courteous and The band is great musicians, the whole experience with friends are a truly remarkable one.

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So I had Oysters and Lobsters and Prawns to name a few. 

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To end with, I had fun with old friends. That (almost) once a year get together was a night full of catching up from the long lost time since everyone is now busy with own family life. I remember how we used to drink and rock the different bars and hotels until the wee hours of the morning, about 8 years ago and how life would eventually change when you started to focus on the real life.

Good food, good friends, a night of catching up, perfect restaurant!

Mr. Nobody- Film

Spoiler ahead, haha!

As much as I’m fascinated with Time Travel and Sci-fi films and having a very little interest in Drama, I happened to cross over this Sci- Fiction Drama Film titled Mr. Nobody starring Jared Leto while browsing on Net Flix.

And to my surprise, it’s actually good, if not to consider one of the films that made a great impact on me. I literally cried (can’t help it) to the character’s life choices and decisions and the possible outcome on his multi-selves dimension.

To start with, this is the story of Nemo, a 118-year-old last mortal on earth (after the human race has achieved the immortality, year 2092) as he narrates the three stages of his life at the age of nine, fifteen and thirty-four. Beginning from the time he was obliged to make a very critical choice on his parent’s split-up and how alternate paths branched in between (two alternate storylines when he chose to remain with his father and the other story when he chose to live with his mother) showing all the possible outcomes and possible futures from his different decisions and life choices and how he tries to find the correct decision in every choice he made up to the conclusion of what could have been, what could have happened if he chose a different one.

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Interesting right? It’s actually Sci-fiction Time travel with a touch of reality. How life would be if we were able to see our future self ahead upon every single decision we make in life and have the chance to go back and choose a different path and re-correct the mistakes by having multi-versions of ourselves in different dimensions of our choice like NEMO with his different life- Life when he stayed with his mother, Life when he stayed with his father, Life with his three wives, with different kids, with different houses and different career, and all with different endings.

I’ve always had this weird fantasy sometimes I wish I could see the future me and I could go back and re-do some of the bad decisions I made in the past and to clearly see how would I be if I chose a different one.

But what amazed me was the conclusion at the end, that NEMO might have never been existed and wasn’t born after all. He was just a product of the nine- year old child imagination at the train when he is about to make a very critical choice in his life. 

This film is one of the most engaging piece of drama I have seen in such a long time. It was boring at the beginning but once you get to understand the story, with all the flashbacks and visions of his would-be life in the future, you will definitely get hooked. Tbh, the movie is difficult to follow for an ordinary watcher. I literally cried on some scenarios with his father, with his mother, how we waited for the love of his life, Ana, and how they never met in another timeline. The story’s sense and wide visualization of life and death and time and love and choices made this worth to watch.

Rating: 5 Stars

Hana Yori Dango Final

Here’s what happened here. Been trying for days to find a fast streaming site for this movie but to no avail. I even got irritated with my husband accusing him of over-using the internet we weren’t even able to watch the movie for a few minutes straight, haha. But that’s not the problem actually, the site is slow for wifi connection because when I tried to open the site in my office, to my surprise it played clear and straight without any interruption. The problem: I couldn’t watch continuously during work (well, of course!) so I happened to watch parts by parts whenever I’m free but without the husband, lol.

While watching the film, I noticed that some parts of the movie were shown on the Meteor Garden 2018 (Chinese version) like when Domyouji and Makino passed out inside the plane (from the spiked champagne the flight attendant served them) and woke up on the deserted Survival Island, but all with a different plot and twist.

To begin with, The film revolves around Domyouji and Makino’s engagement. At their parent’s formal meeting to discuss the wedding,  Domyouji’s mother presented Makino a Tiara (The smile of Venus) as a gift which symbolizes an endless love for the owner and her partner.

While inside the hotel, Domyouji and Makino are about to kiss when suddenly an unidentified stranger breaks the glass window, enters the room and stole the Tiara. Domyouji runs after the thief all throughout the hotel but the thief manages to escape. Much more to their surprise when they went back inside the hotel room, they find the glass window already fixed and that no one in the hotel seems to notice as if nothing happened earlier despite all the chaos and commotion they made while running after the stranger.

This is where the story begins. To find the Tiara. They travelled overseas to Las Vegas, and then to Hongkong just to get back the Tiara at all cost and later found themselves on a deserted Island, stayed there for more than a month without anything but to rely on their ability and skills to live and survive testing their patience if they would give up on each other which they all passed eventually that made them even stronger (though Makino’s starting to doubt him at the beginning) until the helicopter arrives to pick them up.

It is later revealed that this whole thing is just a plot by their family and everyone is involved in the scheme (this explains why the remaining F3 seems to have not been worrying too much) to ensure that they would be happy for the rest of their married life.

Then they got married in one of the best and memorable wedding ever attended by everyone. Then the movie jumps forward to a year later, they are back on the same uninhabited island and while writing the word “Love” on the beach, talking about their dreams, Makino pointed her hand to her stomach (a baby on the way) and says that it has come true. Overjoyed, Domyouji puts his ear to Makino’s stomach and carries Makino.

End of story.

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My thoughts about it? I liked the simple plot of the movie.  This is all about Domyouji and Makino without any other added subplot/irrelevant twists and turns or dramas in between.

Fast-phased with no dull moment. The almost 2 hr movie seems like just a thirty-minute series.

Domyouji, of course, is still cute as always on his bad-boy effect image. His loud voice, occasional grumpiness, and funny antics made this film more interesting.

Makino is on her usual innocence and funny personality.

Hanazawa Rui is exceptionally handsome in this movie, btw. His looks definitely mature a lot in here, and the same goes for the two other F4 members, Nishikado Shoujiro & Mimasaka Akira.

Overall, I love the movie!

PS. I also watch the very first Hana Yori Dango Film 1995 (that’s how I’m crazy about it right now, haha!) It isn’t as great as the succeeding versions, not even close, but what do you expect from the movie done in 1995 btw? 

Bohemian Rhapsody Film

Finally, The Long wait is over. Bohemian Rhapsody, the biographical film about the British Rock band Queen is now showing in Cinemas.  The story about Queen,  their Music and the extraordinary life of the Band Lead Singer- Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara in real life), on and off the stage life,  his drug addiction, his gay-life, exploited by the wrong crowd and friends and his battle after being diagnosed with AIDS infection.

My thoughts about it? Although it has been observed that a one and a half hour film wouldn’t be able to tackle and compress Freddie’s colorful life, only on limited measures since it fails to elaborate much of Freddie’s life and times and his sexuality. It feels like the story is being told in a fast-forward mode that the audience was completely left out disappointingly, wanting to explore more all the highlights of his story in a much more detailed manner.

I like the portrayal of almost every one of the cast. Rami Malek impersonation of Mercury is terrific. Although his transformation is slightly exaggerated particularly those dental prosthetics (that made him look a little bit like a rat)  and his accent is quite a little bit over-do. But then, he totally nailed how he deploys every move, even a snap of the finger,  the energy, and flamboyance of Mercury.

Gwilym Lee as Bryan May, (Oh well, I think Gwilym Lee is a much better Bryan May than Bryan May is Bryan May), Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, and Joseph Mazzelo as John Deacon looks similarly the same and did a great job on their portrayals as well, no doubt about that.

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Overall, It’s a great movie, great cast, something worth to watch because of everyone’s superb performance although some are entirely superficial. Rami Malek does a brilliant job and the film entirely relied on his portrayal. A masterpiece though it wasn’t written accurately.

Mercury is a Legend. Whether or not it is accurately told, the performance itself did well. The Live aid part (the highlight of the movie) actually made me believe that I’m watching it for real. 

Not to mention that for some reason, I felt sad when I re-watched the QUEEN Live Aid performance again that made me want to cry. Just by watching him perform that day, regardless of his illness, the high energy is actually heartbreaking.

Freddie Mercury and Queen indeed are one of the most beloved performers in the planet. They reached unparallel success during their time, and one of the GREATEST ROCK BAND IN HISTORY.

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Queen is definitely the Best Entertainer of all time! And yeah, I’ve always admired Queen for the longest time now…

5 Stars 🙂

QUEEN LIVE AID PERFORMANCE 1985

Review- Meteor Garden 2018

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As much as I liked the Meteor Garden I, I equally like the 2018 version which I completed in less than a month in NETFLIX. 🙂

Though some may differ from the old version, I have listed the things I love and hate about this series.

WHAT I LOVE

1. DYLAN WANG – Oh well, have you seen how cute, charming, and boyish at the same time  & extremely handsome this guy is? Just his smile will definitely melt your heart right away!

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Although I’ve fallen in love with Jerry Yan as well  in the first version which actually made me think of flying to Taiwan to see him 15 years ago, Jerry Yan’s bad boy look image with a touch of  silliness & childishness won my heart on this one,  but Dylan Wang’s portrayal of Daoming Si is nonetheless perfect! He also nailed the bad boy effect! Not to mention that he actually got the looks of a very spoiled rich-kid in this version, complete with different outfits, long coats, and sweaters, while Jerry Yan’s character wasn’t that convincing because he didn’t establish the real looks of a rich kid, but he’s equally cute tbh.

2. DARREN CHENG- As Hua Ze Lei! Yaey! Just like Dylan Wang, I got to like Darren Cheng as Hua Ze Lei so much too! With his tantalizing eyes and cute lips. His seriousness with a ready smile at the corner of his lips & the eyes that says a thousand words every time he stares is really just WOW!

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3. THE OUTFITS/ THE LOCATIONS/ THE VISUALS– Just like what I have mentioned earlier, the F4 wardrobes, the filming locations, the visuals are superb. They stabilized the concrete idea of being rich & popular, who all comes from a well-known family, whose able to afford everything including traveling overseas whenever they want and lots of partying.

4. THE STORY- Of course, what else is better than the story itself? I literally cried a river on Daoming Si & Dong Shancai’s Love story, I almost felt that I’m actually a part of this story (and not to mention that I sometimes feel like I’m actually Shancai, doing the same facial expressions, saying the same translated words, lol but not on purpose, haha!)

5. THE DIALOGUES- Who wouldn’t melt a heart with Daoming Si’s expression of his true love with Shancai? Like he will run and chase after her wherever she goes? Like he will never ever give up, not in the past, not in the present and definitely not in the future and a lot more! The sparkle on his eyes every time he looks at Shancai with so much love and admiration. Okay, I get it! He is so much in love that he will move everything, even heaven and earth just to prove his point!

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 WHAT I DONT LIKE:


1. I didn’t like Shancai ’s at the beginning part when she was not able to show her sincere affection towards Daoming Si and that she couldn’t clearly open her mind to him which is a little different from Barbie Sue’s portrayal. I love Barbie Sue on the original as she possessed the strong & fearless yet naive, nice, down to earth, playful and funny but willful character.

But overall, I like Shen Yue, her big round circling eyes full of surprise and happiness.

2. I DONT LIKE THE DREAM LIKE WEDDING ENDING- Am I the only one who didn’t like the last episode of the series? At first, I thought it was just a dream after they were taken to hospital due to water loss and hunger after a few days of not eating?

I was actually expecting a much dramatic epic wedding full of Love & surprises and a sweet marriage vow and not the dance wedding scene that looks like a dream but turned out to be real after all. I thought they have died or something and this sequence were just part of their hallucination.

3. SEASON II- As they got married in this season, I doubt if there will ever be part II just like the Barcelona version in Meteor Garden I? I really love those!

Oh well, that’s it! Overall rating, I 100% love this one!!! As I’ve’ said, I literally cried a lot in every situation and obstacles/sufferings Shancai & Daoming Si had to face and eventually passed. I’m still not over it as of now. I could still hear the theme songs continuously playing in my ears, the loud, authoritative and powerful voice of Daoming Si as he says the name, “DONG SHANCAI!!!!!!“ and cute little voice of Shancai as she utters the word “ DAOMING SII”

…And Dylan Wang, I think I’ve fallen in love with you, lol

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Can’t wait for the sequel!

CAMP SAWI

I’ve seen this movie sometime in 2016 when I was on vacation in the Philippines, and recently while taking advantage of my high-speed internet, lol, I watched it again. 

The usual plot actually, simple story about love, loss and moving on, but there is something unique about this movie that I love.

Although I’m not broken-hearted when I first see the movie, and even when I watched it the second time around, I just love how the characters portray their respective roles with so much compassion.

I love the character of Bela, who’s Bridgette in the movie. Oh well, I never see Bela as good as being Bridgette.

At the beginning of the movie where you would see her really crying out loud in pain because her Chinese boyfriend of ten years dumped her for someone of his race because they were not allowed to marry someone from different nationality as part of their tradition.

You would actually feel her inner sadness and deep heartache as she was still trying to communicate with her ex-bf,  calling him several times and when he answered, trying to open up a conversation even for a few minutes, trying to bring back their memories, hoping to have a second chance -> I guess, asking why is he not responding to  all her calls and text messages, begging for little time to meet him in person even for 5 minutes just to see him, and  patiently waiting for him to come but he didn’t, all the rejections and disappointment, crying and crying all over again….

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I felt her pain. I felt her rejections. I felt how it was like to be ignored just like that without reasons or at least a little explanation to make you feel better.

I felt how she was still trying to get in touch with the person, to be with him again even how much pain he caused her. Ouch!!!

Before the end of the film where she was seen meeting with the guy and the only thing she managed to ask him is “How are you? I just want to know if you are okay….” and left.

Oh well, you know, sometimes Life sucks for no apparent reason at all…and worse, you will be left with no other option but to force yourself to move on.

MOVIE SPOILERS, HAHA!

Since RJ is on vacay, I have a lot of free time these days after work just lying idle at home watching online movies.

And I’m not saying I was bored because definitely not. I was always looking forward to my alone-time every evening, lying on the bed with a bag of chips or anything to munch, dim lights, under my blanket, streaming movies online.

Just sad that every movie I picked to watch always turned out to be a good  Lovestory with a sad ending. 

But I love those!

To name a few,  Here’s the best I’ve seen: 

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Continue reading “MOVIE SPOILERS, HAHA!”