Skip to main content

Opposites Attract (Korean Mini-Series)

Honestly I can't believe we're still getting BL series this bad in 2026. This mini series runs about 7 to 8 episodes with a total runtime of just about an hour and it is so boring that I genuinely struggle to find the words. The actors are awkward, the story is as basic as it gets and there is almost nothing about this show worth saving. The makers do try to stir up some drama here and there but even that falls completely flat. Ho Won is a 23 year old university student who spots a man sitting alone at a gay bar and gets attracted to him. The man is Min U, a 33 year old who brushes Ho Won off immediately saying he's too young. Ho Won lies about his age and since he's made a bet with the bartender that he'll get this man home before the night is over, he switches tactics and eventually the two end up at Min U's place and sleep together. Despite being complete opposites in every way there's some kind of pull between them and they go on a couple of dates. But t...

Keep The Lights On

I am lacking so far behind on catching up on some of the films, it is getting a little tiring but I am gonna try my best to keep up with it. Released earlier this year, in this film the central relationship is between gay men but the film manages to touch on failing/toxic relationships in general and offers up some noteworthy and humorous ensemble performances. We haven't seen in many gay films how you would like to hold on to your true love and would be ready to do anything for them and to keep the love of your life close to you.

Erik is in his 30s and is a documentary film maker. He is addicted to casual sex after breaking up with his long term boyfriend. A casual phone sex hook up leads him to meet Paul, who is initially closet. Friendship soon leads to love between the two men. Paul is a drug addict and self-destructive right from the beginning but Erik ignore these signs initially. When things get so bad and Paul stops showing up at home for days at a stretch, Erik decides to intervene. He forces him to go to rehab while getting his life back together. Erik's set of close friends give him a moral support during these hard times. After Paul is back, for some days things are ok and Paul is grateful to Erik but old habits die hard and Paul's disappearing acts soon follow. This time things get even worse. Occasionally Erik keeps going back to his habits of phone sex but deep down he still deeply deeply loves Paul. Years pass again. Its almost 9 years since the 2 have been together. Paul comes back again ( I guess from another rehab). They try to be friends and casually date. But Erik is not sure this time. He still truly deeply loves Erik but cant figure out what does he want to do with the relationship. How long can he stand being taken advantage of. Finally he takes a stand and tells Erik that he loves him but he cannot be with him anymore. He cant take it. The 2 part amicably but Erik has lost his love finally for good.

While writing this review, I can imagine the potential this film could have had with a little more polished direction. One of the major flaws is that the film is supposed to be happening between 1998-2006 but not once do we feel that era is talking, clothes, environment etc. The way people act, makeup, dress up etc, it could easily have been a story of just a month. Even the looks or clothes of the led actors hardly change over a period of 8 years. The film should have paced well a little. But the film had good moments too. It is hard to see someone like Erik, so madly and deeply in love with Paul that he sees everything that Paul does but still ignores all of it just for the sake of love. One of the most emotionally disturbing scenes in the film is when Erik finally finds Paul in a hotel room, all drugged up and he just sits with him while he is having sex with a random person. Things that you would do for love! Acting from Erik was good but as a viewer I was a tad bit emotionally disconnected with the storyline and this is where the film fails.

The film had potential to be really good but ends up just being average. (6/10)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...

Drug Shore (Chinese)

Apparently tis film was adapted by a true story Well, true or not, movies/series about drugs are not easy to watch. I have always said that drugs is like the end of life for anyone. For those who sink into this sea of addiction, some manage to swim upstream to recovery, while others cannot make it to the shore. The film may not be the best, but it does have a noble intention to remind everyone of the evil affects of drugs and combining that with sex. Ah Zhe is in a happy relationship with his influencer boyfriend. On his partner's birthday, they end up going to a party, which interestingly is being hosted at a drug dealer's house and this is where for the first time he is exposed to the world of drugs. The duo somehow do it just enough and come back home but next day Ah She gets invited by the dealer Xiao Fei for a meal. The dealer has a soft corner for Ah Zhe, but before anyone realizes, Ah Zhe's life spirals out of control when slowly he starts doing more and more drugs, ...

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...