Yu Zheng‘s The Swordsman, a complete massacre of the classic wuxia novel Smiling Proud Wanderer, is so so SO bad I cannot even write about it. Talking about that atrocity is like pouring boiling water over a fresh burn. Much as I would like him to retire from producing dramas immediately, the man isn’t going anywhere and he has in … Continue reading →
Shoop shoop, new couple alert in TW-entertainment! I gotta hand it to Rainie Yang – the girl does not have a type at all. Her first boyfriend was Xiao Gui (Alien Huang) when they were both in high school. Next came Yuan Jun Hao, followed by a high profile romance with Roy Qiu, then a not-so-subtle fling with Sunny Wang. … Continue reading →
Is anyone watching the daily Taiwan drama Love, Now or the weekly drama Love Me or Leave Me? LN is the cute drama with Annie Chen playing a workaholic who is falsely told she is about to die and she jets overseas and has a torrid love affair and marries George Hu, only to return to Taipei and learn it … Continue reading →
I’ve made no attempt to sugarcoat just how stupid a drama Ring Ring Bell is, and conversely I am more than happy to shout from the rooftops about how winning the two leads Janine Chang and Peter Ho were in that dumber than bricks drama. But a crucial factor in their chemistry was that they played against type – Peter … Continue reading →
In the limited Russian Roulette of Taiwan actor and actress pairings, Vic Zhou and Janine Chang doing two dramas together already not that surprising. I loved both their characters in Black & White, and was rather disappointed they didn’t have even a what-if love line. A few years ago Zai Zai and Janine filmed Coming Home, a Taiwan-Mainland China collaboration … Continue reading →
Reunions stemming from fond memories are the best. Even though people have aged, with it comes an appreciation for the moment in time long ago as well as the current state. Of Louis Cha‘s famous Condors trilogy, which is really two novels and then a third one loosely connected with the first two, my least favorite is the final book … Continue reading →
Either Yu Zheng has got connections at SARFT or else he’s simply got carte blanche to do whatever he wants because his adaptation of Yun Zhong Ge just got official SARFT permission to air despite not even filmed a single frame, whereas Tangren’s drama adaptation of the prequel to YZG Da Mo Yao has finished filming 8 months ago and … Continue reading →
This isn’t just a potential train wreck, the pre-filming histrionics is approaching flaming wreckage strewn everywhere levels of destruction for the upcoming Bu Bu Jing Xin 2. Somewhere Yu Zheng must be cackling like a madman, likely getting kicks out of watching his rival Tangren‘s ladyboss Karen Tsai literally turn into a vengeful beyotch and melting down in public. January … Continue reading →
I am officially pre-shipping the heroine Linghu Chong with the villain Dong Fang Bu Bai in the upcoming wuxia C-drama The Swordsman. This is my conclusion after watching the 9-minute long trailer just released (linked below) and finally wrapping my mind around the changes producer Yu Zheng did to the original novel The Smiling Proud Wanderer by Louis Cha. It’s ridiculous, … Continue reading →
The casting has been completed for The City of Devastating Love, the drama adaptation of Tang Qi Gong Zi‘s period fantasy romance novel Hua Xu Yin (The Lure of the Hua Xu Tune), and I’ll use this as another reminder not to believe in early reports. Initially the word was Kevin Cheng, Jiang Xin, and Yuan Hong were the three leads … Continue reading →
I have this weird problem in that I’m severely allergic to Roy Qiu‘s C-dramas but I love the man to pieces. It’s like loving chocolate but eating it makes one break out in hives. Ottoke? It was fine and dandy when he was back in Taiwan these past two years doing TW-dramas. I loved Office Girls despite its slowdown towards … Continue reading →
I’m loving Taiwan’s revamped mandatory military service, which used to be two years for decades on end and has now been shortened to less than a year (and will soon go to a full volunteer military force by 2014 though all males as of the age of 18 must still complete four months of military boot camp). Such a drastic … Continue reading →
I’m sure slick and soulless mega-producer Yu Zheng was just savoring all the slings and arrows shot his way during the filming of The Swordsman last year, when he cast actress Chen Qiao En to play the male Big Bad character of Dong Fang Bu Bai and gave the character a love line with hero Ling Hu Chong, who was … Continue reading →