Tuesday, July 6, 2010

The Mysteries of Love Review

And TVB disappoints us...again. The Mysteries of Love was one of the most anticipated productions this year but as usual, we are let down.

Characters and Performances

Raymond's a great actor, but his roles continue to become more and more boring. "Kingsley" was an unrealistic character who literally knew everything about anything relating to science. The fact that he did bothered me a lot. Kingsley studies physics, not every aspect of science. While I'd find it understandable and acceptable if he happened to know a bit about different scientific fields, how he was able to chime in with tons of information and observations honestly drove me nuts. Raymond's performance in the series was just mediocre, and his hair in the series was not any better.
Siu Lai does no justice to Tavia's great acting skills. In fact, I still refuse to call Siu Lai "Awesome" because to me, she is not awesome at all. Despite how physically strong Siu Lai may be, she is (very) emotionally weak. I did not enjoy her character at all. I have to give props to Tavia for the scene where she is acting all bubbly and happy at work after going on her first date with Kingsley. She was so adorable in that scene, especially when she was interrogating that suspect. PC was looking and listening to her in disbelief!
With a great hair style and wardrobe, Kenneth managed to look more handsome than Raymond. He was so cool/"yau ying" as Lo Sir. It was fun seeing the professional side of Gordon at work and the playful flirty side of him in his personal life. At times, I'd have to remind myself they were the same person. Kenneth was average in the role, his performance as "Koo Yu Tong" in A Fistful of Stances was a lot better.

The status of second female leads continues to fall lower and lower.  Bernice was more of a guest star than the second female lead.  It's great to see her on screen again, and she looks gorgeous, but there was nothing special about her performance.  The fact that her name "Nicole" was spelt "Nickole" and prounced "nickel" drove me nuts, as did the character's English.  Don't get me wrong, Bernice's English is good, but Nickole, you're in Hong Kong.  Speak Cantonese!

Cases. Not too interesting. The cases were rather boring.  The writers tried too hard to fit physics into the cases.  Ruco Chan and Raymond Wong's cases were the best, especially the latter.  It was thrilling and fast paced.  That case was perhaps the only one that even made you bother to think about it.  Unfortunately, its conclusion was rushed and abrupt.  Raymond's case was the last one, and was literally solved within the first five minutes of the last episode.  It was a very bad ending for such a suspenseful case.

Chemistry.  The couples have great chemistry, but it couldn't make up for the poor development and writing of their love storylines.  Raymond and Tavia (affectionately known as "FungYi") are cute, but Kingsley and Siu Lai were simply boring, if not irritating.  To me, they looked more like friends.  Although I haven't watched Into Thin Air, I love the Kenneth and Bernice pairing.  The two are rather adorable and they are so comfortable working together.  However, their "friends with benefits" storyline was sloppily written.

Conclusion. Many anticipated this series.  Many carried high expectations.  And yet, many were disappointed.  The Mysteries of Love is extremely mediocre.  It is apparent that TVB was aware they had an "all star cast", therefore they didn't bother too much with constructing a decent plot.  While sad to realize, most of us know that TVB knew the cast was awesome, and that it was guaranteed to bring in high ratings.  In the end, this series does not even come close to going in my highlights of the year.

Ratings: 2 1/2 stars

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Presenting The Beauty of Critique

Remember my blog Speak4Myself?  Well, it is now no more!  Speak4Myself has been completely relaunched with the new name The Beauty of Critique.

Some questions you may be asking...
  • Why the new name and where did it come from?
  • What will you blog about?
  • How will TVB Interaction and The Beauty of Critique be similar and different?
  • Why relaunch Speak4Myself at all?
If you want to know why, visit my blog at its new URL (http://beautyofcritique.blogspot.com/) to find out the answers to all these questions!  Please support me and The Beauty of Critique!  I wish for it to be successful as TVB Interaction. 

With love,

Iris

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Farewell, TVB Sensations

I meant to put this post up a while ago when Liling decided to say goodbye to blogging for TVB Sensations, which was on June 23, 2010.  I didn't get the chance to until now...


Many TVB bloggers have said their goodbyes, and Liling of TVB Sensations is the latest to do so.  Ironically enough (or not), all TVB bloggers "retire" for the same reason: lack of interest.  Liling is of no exception.  The passion she used to hold in TVB and updating her blog is of no more.  For the last few months, when she updated, it was because she felt obliged to, not because she truly wanted to.

Liling is a great writer.  Some of her best pieces include her satires and features.  With each crappy series that releases though, Liling's love for TVB decreases.  As a result, that disinterest is reflected in her latest posts.  Try comparing her older reviews to her more recent ones.  They're much shorter and less detailed.  She's lost her creative "edge" in her posts.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying her writing is getting worse.  Naturally, when you write about something you're not passionate about, you simply can't get your best work out of it.  That's why despite feeling sad, I support Liling's decision in discontinuing TVB blogging.  Her full writing potential won't be fulfilled if she blogs about TVB.

Rest assured, Liling won't disappear.  She still actively tweets on Twitter (and some tweets are of her thoughts on TVB series).  Follow her if you haven't already here.  I've also told her that I know she will miss writing and blogging.  We really do know each other far too well, because not long after telling her did she actually start to miss writing and blogging, two of her favorite hobbies.  While I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, I wouldn't be surprised if Liling returns with a new blog.

This is the end of yet another TVB blog, but I also see a new beginning.  Even if I'm proven to be wrong, I'm happy I'm still best friends with Liling and still keep in very close contact with her.  :)