Ever had the vapors from watching a trailer? Yup, it just happened to me. The just released hot-off-the-mixing-room teaser trailer for one the biggest budgeted period C-dramas of 2012 just hit, and I almost swooned from the intensity mixed with the shock. Huang Xiaoming has officially stopped being smirky and smarmy and decided to forget that he’s one ridiculously gorgeous man and focus on the acting. The rest is sooooooo amazing I started fanning myself when I watched him in action in the upcoming epic The Patriot Yue Fei. You can’t be Chinese and not know who this man is, it’s like being American and having no clue who George Washington is.

I was completely wary when Huang Xiaoming was cast of a certifiable national hero, but he fairly jumps out of the trailers with his charisma and gravitas. I spent all of Return of the Condor Heroes laughing at him for his crazy eyes overacting, so it’s with great pleasure to be able to appreciate his pretty face without wanting to mock his bad acting. The drama itself looks kick ass, with money spent on all the right places and cinematography that makes the story come alive. Gallen Lo does what he does best, play a loathsome villain, while for the first time Ruby Lin doesn’t annoy me, because she’s not pretending to be a teenage bimbo and is for once playing her age as the wife of Yue Fei. The drama will also be the first C-drama ever broadcast on HBO. Woo hoo, from the early looks of things, it’ll be deserving of that honor. Continue reading →