12/03/2006
Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion
Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion
Starring: Raymond Lam Fung, Charmaine Sheh Si Man, Bosco Wong Chung Chak, Derek Kwok Jing Hung, Sonija Kwok Sin Nei, Sharon Chan Man Chi
Rating: 4.5 stars (5 max)
Summary:
The Mongols and the Haans have a long history of political struggle. Most of TVBs ancient series drama are based loosely on that brawl. Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion (LWOLAP) is based, also, on a Wu Xia story. I have to say that if I knew how to read Chinese, I would be devouring all of the stories because all the stories spun are engaging and very dramatic. And I want drama.
The Haans overthrew the Mongol King in an unscrupulous way – killing young boys for fear that the living Mongol Prince is still alive. A massacre occurred and countless Haans and Mongols died in the battle. Haans emerged victorious and the Haan King took over China.
Story
This story is fictional, as far as I know, but it is absolutely riveting! Nothing less. After China took over the reign, the King became obsessed about the Mongols coming back to get the throne back. Part of the reason why he was obsessed was because he killed many young Mongols while battling it out with them – he didn’t want the Mongol Prince to be alive.
Unfortunately, the Mongol Prince is…and Raymond Lam took the role of Fung Hang Lit who is basically non-chalant about life but focuses his attention on the girl(s) he loved. What he wanted out of life was peace and quiet. Fung Hang Lit lost his memory after the battle due to a wound to the head. Pong Ban, a devoted Mongol, wants to bring back the anger in Fung Hang Lit and went about doing it in an unscrupulous way – including sacrificing the person he loved to Fung Hang Lit. All this because he wants to bring back the Mongol Prince so that he can lead their troops to regain the throne.
After finding out that Gan Bik Wan (Sonija) is not REALLY in love with him, and that she is actually a Haan who defected to the Mongol’s side because of Pong Ban, Fung Hang Lit is distraught. And this is when Chun Mong Yiu (Charmaine Sheh) comes in to support him and bring him back to his feet. A slow and stable understanding develops between the two. They each sacrifice a lot to help each other and the love deepens.
Later on, Fung Hang Lit finally finds out that he is actually the Mongol Prince. Reluctantly, he takes on the role. Deep inside, all he wants is still a peaceful life and no war. But he is bound by duty to protect his people and to avenge the death of all the people who were killed – including his parents. And worse yet, the enemy is someone he loves and the people who have welcomed him into their homes despite the fact that he is actually a Mongol.
Unwillingly, Fung Hang Lit had to use the advantage that he had – and that is the trust that his Haans friends had in him. He used it to find out information and to form plans.
His betrayal is hurtful but he had no other choice. He could not let his people down and yet he couldn’t let the people trust him down either.
Review
This is one of the most engaging TVB ancient series shows I have seen for a long time. It’s all very well balanced out between the drama and the love story.
Raymond Lam (my fave) did an extremely good job in this series. He’s only 26 (if I am not mistaken) but everyone else who is older or same age as him has to call him ‘Fung Tai Kor’ therefore, he has to look much older than them. His girlfriends, BOTH OF THEM (different times, of course) Charmaine Sheh (30) and Sonija Kwok (31) is older than him and yet, he is supposed to be the Tai Kor (big brother) in the show! I had my doubts because to me, Raymond is actually a very youthful personality. He’s funny and very cheeky too – can he actually carry off this role?
The answer is – yes, he can! The makeup and hair had a lot to do with it, of course, but his bland acting, slow and steady speech, subtle reaction all gave Fung Hang Lit a very mature and sensible personality.
Charmaine Sheh – What do you expect someone who can just ‘cry on call’. During a show in China, there was a contest between Gigi Lai and Charmaine to see who can cry the fastest. And Charmaine shed tears within the first 10 seconds! Raymond Lam and Charmaine Sheh plays lovers in the show and they did a swell job! Their eyes spoke to each other and told a whole story in itself. It’s no wonder that Raymond Lam won the ASTRO Best Actor award and Charmaine Sheh won the Best Actress award recently.
Bosco Wong (picture right hand side) – Very funny and his acting has been improving all this while. In this show, his improvement shows because he goes from absolutely rib-tickling to angry to sad to powerful. His range in this series is much wider than Raymond’s and he has got the chance to show the audience what he can do in one single series.
Derek Kwok – Never doubted he could act. Although he’s not ‘leading actor’ material (don’t know why), I consider him to be a charismatic screen presence to be reckoned with. He can play good and bad at the same time – which is precisely what he did in this show. He didn’t fail me.
Evergreen Mak – Another riveting actor! He’s not handsome-handsome and I’ve seen him being funny-funny but not serious-serious like this. He’s the next in line to the throne. He’s fair and honest, noble and trustworthy. Sounds like a simple character to play? But Evergreen added new dimensions to the role to help audience understand his character more. An incredible job, I’d have to say.
Conclusion
All in all, I think anyone who is interested in TVB drama series should go rent this. It’s really quite good although the ratings in HK were not very encouraging. HK people just have different taste from the rest of the world – and as far as I know, the rest of the world is often right. HK people want silly stories that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever…like Virtues of Harmony (yikes!! Hate it). I want good acting, I want good script, I want excellent editing and good chemistry among all actors. Pretty people, in HK, make the ratings soar.
Well, if you’re not into renting videos, stay glued for this show on your ASTRO Wah Lai Toi a year later. I am quite sure Raymond and Charmaine are making a go for the Best Actor and Best Actress award this year.
05:15 Posted in TVB | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this
19/01/2006
Life Made Simple:: TVB series review
Roger Kwok reprising his role as ‘Ah Wong’ and Jessica Hsuen reprising her role as ‘Low Por Chye’. Anyway, ever heard of the old adage of the first time is always the best. Yes, I watched Square Pegs and LIKED the show (Note: not loved) and I thought Roger Kwok’s portrayal of Ah Wong was indeed, very loveable and extremely funny. He made a new name for himself with this role and even his opening speech had to be carried out in this child-like manner of speaking. His mannerism, which he said he copied from the average kids out in the street (he probably meant playground), was infectious. But there IS such a thing as too much of a good thing may be bad after all.
In the case of Ah Wong, this is true.
For one thing, it’s not Kwok’s fault that he portrayed the same character the second time. But after a while, you will feel agitated and extremely irritated with the exgaration. It’s cute for a while…and then it gets irritating.
Jessica Hsuen’s reprisal is the same as the character she played in Square Pegs….BORING and ordinary. Her role is merely there to ‘balance out’ the out-of-ordinariness of Ah Wong. As much as Ah Wong is imbecile, Jessica is too normal. Did I already mention that too much of a good thing can be bad? Well, humor me…let me say it again…too much of a good thing can be bad.
Surprisingly, I found that I liked the supporting characters better….as in Leila Tong, Bosco Wong and Raymond Cho better.
For TVB series fans, if you’ve watched Leila Tong better, she’s blessed with an angelic face that attracts goodie-two-shoes roles. She’s been portaying nuns and cute girls for far too long. In Life Made Simple, Leila Tong takes a turn…for the worse. Her performance was good….excellent, if I do say so myself. In fact, I always thought she was a pretty ‘stiff’ in most of the series that she has performed in. and yet in her portrayal in this Series, she’s cunning, she’s mean and most of the time selfish and inconsiderate. She betrays her friends, her boyfriend, her family and herself for the sake of money. Leila Tong in Life Made Simple changed the way we, TVB series fans, view her as an actress.
Bosco Wong portrays a rich man’s son who has everything. Apart from the beginning which was too farfetched (in my personal opinion – the yatch, lateness, the swooning girls and attitude is wrong), other parts of the show was believable. When I found out that the younger Bosco was going to have a fling with the older Jessica, I was skeptical. Would his baby face be able to carry out of the older-woman-younger-man relationship on screen? It was. Period. So much so that I was pining for the Jessica-Bosco combination instead of the Jessica-Roger ending.
Raymond Cho has always been one of my favorite actors. He’s good looking and can be much diversified when required. The opportunities are not there – but he can carry a bad character as well as he can carry a good character. In the meantime, Angelo Tong took on a ‘MONSTER’ challenge – like Charlize Theron in Monster, she took on a transformation from va-va-voom to ‘blergh’. The fake teeth and painted-on freckles were not high-tech nor are they believable but she did a good job except for some scenes where she took things too far. Being funny and professional is different from being too animated. We’re not talking cartoon here, right? But she did an incredible job and in return, she won an award for being the most outstanding Supporting Actress award.
Overall story line is boring, boring, boring, Because a lot of things are based on the original story, there’s almost no mystery or suspense at all. You basically can make a second-guess and come up with a close enough answer.
My guess is that this whole Life Made Simple series is filmed just to satisfy the many Ah-Wong and Low Por Chai fans out there who wants to see the couple (Jessica and Roger) come back to life…in modern life. For others looking for a good story, skip this series.
13:40 Posted in TVB | Permalink | Comments (5) | Email this | Tags: tvb, life made simple, series, tv series, jessica hsuen, roger kwok, ah-wong, ah wong
10/01/2006
Raymond Lam Fung’s well deserved win
Anyone watched Astro Wah Lai Toi’s award-giving ceremony on Saturday? I did! I couldn’t not watch since some of my favorite young stars were present and were being nominated. Among them, my faves were Raymond Lam and Myolie Wu. Well, Christine Ng and Chilam (Julian Cheung) rocks too.
<picture of Raymond Lam Fung>
Unlike people my age who shy away and restrain themselves from admiring younger stars, I have no qualms about it. In fact, me and my mother (who is also a TVB fan) share faves – Raymond Lam Fung.
For those who didn’t watch, Raymond Lam won the favorite leading actor and Charmaine Seh won the favorite female leading actress award.
Others
Favorite Drama – War and Beauty
Favorite Theme Song – Point of no Return
Favorite couple – Charmaine & Chilam
Favorite Dad – Damien Lau (Point of no return)
Favorite Mom – Christine Ng (Twin of Brothers)
Favorite Lethal Beauty – Gigi Lai (War and Beauty)
Favorite Shot – Wong Hee (Net Deception)
Most memorable moment – War and Beauty
Favorite Actress
Charmaine Seh Si Man won the award as Yee Sun in War and Beauty. I had it all planned – if Gigi Lai won the award, I would throw myself off the KL Twin Towers in protest!! No lah, I like Gigi Lai but I think Charm deserves recognition as well. Considering the fact that she’s got a huge following here, her win was expected. She did an extremely good job as well. Read on to the Favorite Lethal Beauty where I write why she deserves to win. Her portrayal of evil is superior to Gigi’s.
<Charmaine Seh & Raymond Lam>
Favorite Actor
I was in a limbo as to this award….Chilam or Raymond? Raymond or Chilam? If Ron NG Cheok Hei won, I would, once again, throw myself off of KL Twin Towers in protest. Raymond, Ron and Chilam are big here so it was really a toss. Roger Kwok did well too and he’s got lots of fans here too but his role in To Get unstuck in Time just wasn’t good enough. So, to me, it was between Chilam and Raymond.
And deep inside, I wanted Raymond to win and yet I knew Chilam was going to win. There they were sitting all in a row, Raymond with his arms crossed, Ron leans forward and Chilam staring straight ahead like in a trance. Miss Lok (the presenter) announces “Twin of Brothers” and the hordes of female fans SCREAMED. ChiLam is out – there’s only two left…Raymond Lam Fung and Ron Ng Cheok Hei. I was thinking….God, NNNNOOOOOO, NOT RON NG…..PPPPPLLLLLLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEEE!!!”.
<poster of Twin of Brothers>
Ray and Ron sat there glued to their seats, expressions remained the same. And then “Khow Chung” (Ray’s character) – no one moved – not even me, just in case it was a mistake. Then “Lam Fung” – it took several nanoseconds to register. Then, YES! Raymond beat other bigger stars to find his footing in Malaysia. Well-deserved, well-deserved. I don’t care what others have to say about Twin of Brothers (some people say that it was boring and too lengthy) but to me Raymond’s portrayal of Khow Chung was remarkable. It was one of the best portrayals ever – his one-screen chemistry with his long-time friend, Tavia Yeung Yi is expected – BEYOND EXCELLENT. But his chemistry with mainland China actress, Li Qian, was even better which goes to show that he has chemistry with just about anyone he acts with.
<pix of Ramond Lam & Li Qian in Twin of Brothers>
From a young and innocent (penniless) bloke to someone in love, from someone with ambition to someone with power, from someone with evil thoughts to someone who sacrificed his life (whoops, DEAD giveaway here) for the country – Raymond Lam Fung’s portrayal was formidable. There was depth and diversity on his side. Although Chilam did a good job too but we’ve seen Chilam do it before…but for Ray, this is the first time and it left a very big impression on me.
Good on you, Raymond Lam Fung!
Favorite Drama
War and Beauty took the award. What can I say? I secretly wanted Twin of Brothers to win but this result is totally predictable. We all expected it to win but considering the popularity of Raymond Lam and Ron Ng has here, I was cheering on their behalf anyway. And besides, I think it’s a really good ancient drama despite what others have to say about it. The shots were really good and revolutionary. It had many great scenes and fighting sequences that some people don’t take notice of. If you watched ‘the making’ of Twin of Brothers, you’ll agree with me. But not everyone is as fanatical as me, so, I forgive everyone who voted for War and Beauty.
Favorite Theme Song
I wanted, once again, Raymond Lam to win with his Twin of Brothers theme song but…my conscience comes a-calling. I like Chilam too and if I pitched Raymond Lam and Chilam together in a one-to-one singing competition, I would choose….Chilam. Not only is his singing slightly better (more experience) but the song is very difficult to sing with extremely off-the-beat kind of way. Most of the time, you’ll find Chilam chasing after the beat but it’s supposed to be that way – make no mistake about it. Even I have problems knowing where to come in and when to go off when I try to sing the song with him (AS IF I KNOW HOW TO SING A SINGLE WORD IN THE SONG).
Favorite Couple
Chilam and Charmaine deserved to win – period. They were formidable in other partnerships and in Point of no Return, they really rocked. No contest.
(pix of Charmaine & Raymond Lam with their awards on Saturday)
Favorite Dad
Personally felt that Ben Hui played a better father in To get unstuck in time. Ben Hui literally had no contact with Roger Kwok except for the end of the series. And the tears we see him cry in the show were all done over the phone. And yet, there was so much emotion there – it was simply brilliant. But Damien Lau won for his fatherly role in Point of no Return as a father to Chilam. Damien Lau did an exceptional job as the rotan-yielding rich man who had a hard time taming his son. A lot of times, I feel like picking up the rotan myself and whacking Chilam’s character too and his portrayal was intense and exceptional.
Favorite Mom
Despite her image as a sexy lady, Christine Ng won the favorite mom award. Although I feel that Gigi Chiu deserved to win this award more, I like Christine Ng, so…… J It was during the filming of Twin of Brothers that she built a very close relationship to her ‘sons’ in the show, Raymond Lam Fung and Ron Ng Cheok Hei. In real life, they got along so well that they become God mother and sons off the screen.
Favorite Lethal Beauty
Gigi Lai won the role – but I think Charmaine was more evil. Gigi’s character was out rightly evil, maybe too much so. There’s something about the way she blinks away that totally irks me. She’s pretty and very, very talented but in terms of being evil, I thought Charmaine was more so. Because? Well, Charm’s subtlety had something to do with it. Very quiet, very smooth, very evil. Some people think that in order to be evil, you have to SHOW that you are evil but Charm’s portrayal was better because her movements were very slight, a single look, a pause, a blink, a soft smile, a lingering glare, a slight raise of the eyebrow….bbbrrrrrr!!!!
<pix of Kevin Cheng Kaw Wing....yum yum)
Favorite Shot
Wong Hei won this award. The shot was him yielding two guns, Chow Yun Fatt, style shooting off at bad guys. No fight, no fight! Sure win, sure win. I would have wanted Kevin Cheng Kar Wing to win this award because he looks damn good in a suit with a gun in his hand too. But no one can compare to Wong Hei when he has guns in his hands. His upturned face, arrogant look, that smirk and that grin that totally speaks of confidence. He’s like saying, “Come on, you b******s! Shoot me, shoot me. Otherwise, if I pull the trigger, I won’t miss! Come on!”
The attitude, to me, is incomparable. Not even Chow Yun Fatt has his attitude. The only person I can think of who has mastered the GANSTA attitude is Simon Yam. The arrogance is despicable yet so loveable.
Most memorable moment
War and Beauty. The moment was when Yu Fei (Sheren Tang Sui Man) cried to the ‘sky’ (God) with her baby in her arms. I felt that Point of no Return should win. The scene that I chose was where Chow Ming Hin announces to his family that he was going to marry Yuk Heng (Gigi Chiu). His first wife objected, he’s married, but he shunned her and told her that if she didn’t like it, she can just pack up and leave. Otherwise, she’d better be contented with her position in the family. His wife begged and cried and asked Meng Hin not to be so cruel to her but Meng Hin has already given up on his first wife.
Oh, the shame. Oh, the embarrassment. Oh, the humiliation. By the way, she stayed on.
03:55 Posted in TVB | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: tvb, raymond lam fung, hong kong stars, award, astro awards, celebrity, chinese stars
08/12/2005
Michelle Yip Suen: Lady with GUTS
Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am a big fan of TVB shows. And I no longer spend time ogling men instead of appreciating the value and quality of the show. I spend a lot of time admiring the actors and actresses too. Being creative in nature, I like anything that’s beautiful…and to me, Michelle Yip is beautiful.
It’s got more to do with her style, her behavior and character…rather than just her looks alone. Michelle Yip Suen is her full name. She was born on Valentine’s Day (something I’ve stopped celebrating since college days…strange, isn’t it?). Michelle Yip was born in China (don’t know where) in 1980. That makes her about 7 years younger than me. Michelle Yip Suen cart wheeled into the HK entertainment circle when she won the coveted Miss Chinese International title. There were other more conventionally more beautiful women contesting at that time and her win was a surprise for almost everyone. She had a smile that won hearts and eyes that electrified. She won because she was smart and outwitted others. Her smile is genuine and her speech clear and concise. Her personality is fun-loving, cute and kind.
And THAT won her the title.
After entering the HK entertainment business, she’s improved a whole lot. I remember first seeing her act in her first TVB series….to say the least, I was disgusted. I thought to myself, “Heck, isn’t the singing industry already bad enough? Now, they have terribly actresses who look half good on camera who can’t act even if you had a knife to their throats” But through the years, Michelle Yip challenged opinions like mine and have developed and thrived as a budding actress.
Today, she is quite formidable in her portrayals as different characters in series and movies. Currently (2005) she released her new series with Patrick Tse and also a new movie with Leon Lai.
This 5’5” actress, Michelle Yip is from a broken marriage. I guess you could say that her independence changed my view of her. Her parents divorced when she was very young. She neither lived her mom or her dad. She was raised by a relative in China and she was independent most of the time. This is not a sad story she cooked up to win hearts over. As I can see from her personality and character (I don’t know her personally, but I read a lot, remember that and I am extremely resourceful on the Internet with videos and published articles), because of her childhood, she’s learnt how to survive the entertainment industry. Even when others called her ‘power house’ (cause she was thought to be constantly on a prowl for men), she didn’t respond and persisted with her career. Even when people say she can’t act, she did her best to change their minds. Through many difficulties (even today), she forges on with her career.
Michelle Yip is not afraid to make changes in her life. When she thought that TVB wasn’t giving her much credit for her work and that they did not appreciate her talents, Michelle made a very controversial decision – she left TVB, leaving behind her good friends (three of them being Rain Lau, Raymond Lam and Myolie Wu) and decided to create another career for herself.
While many others satback and wait for the axe to fall or wait for TVB to change their minds, Michelle Yip took it in her stride and changed direction. She’s not one to wait for things to happen – she MADE things happen.
So, today, she’s got a contract with ATV and also have started entering the BIG screen instead of the small screen.
To me, Michelle Yip is a go-getter. A very different kind of actress who is proactive and very energetic. I have seen videos of her sick with eye problems, fever, sorethroat and even an ankle injury…and yet she persisted with her work.
Discipline and dedication is the very core of Michelle Yip. And I have to say that I admire her…but not because she’s beautiful (she is…but) but because she’s gutsy!
Note: this is just a personal opinion, nobody has to agree with me and everyone have their own favorites.
marsha
www.marshamaung.com
12:30 Posted in Leisure , TVB | Permalink | Comments (10) | Email this