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Journey With You (Chinese Series)

By Golu
I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
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Helicopter Mom

By Golu
Probably the intentions behind this movie were nice but everything that looks perfect on paper may not necessarily translate into something meaningful. This becomes even harder when the subject is comedy. It is not easy to direct a comedy, so full marks to the film-maker for attempting this subject. Unfortunately a lot of scenes of the film just fall flat.

Lloyd Cooper, a high school, nerdy shy guy lives with his financially pressed, over-bearing single mother Maggie Cooper. Maggie likes to be involved in every detail of life – from homework to activities to love life. Lloyd hasn’t figured out if he is straight or gay and no intention yet to pursue a relationship. But this doesn’t stop Maggie from assuming that her son is gay. She even manages to ‘out’ him at the school. Even worse, she takes it upon herself to surreptitiously submit an application for him for a gay student college scholarship, forcing her horrified son to play along with the deceit. The proceedings then mostly show us how Maggie continues to force herself on anything and everything that Lloyd is involved in; we get to meet his father Max, who tries to empathy with him but can’t do much because of Maggie. We also meet Cassie, the cheer leader, who has a crush on Lloyd and finally becomes friends with him knowing very well that sexually Lloyd is still confused. Things turn ugly when Maggie barges in school prom and tries to sabotage Lloyd-Carrie relationship just so Lloyd can get the scholarship from the gay foundation for college. The film ends alright when Lloyd still manages to get scholarship, and heads for NYC. Will Maggie Smith finally stop interfering in his life. Guess not, when she shows up at his dorm unannounced in NYC :)

The plot is simple but a lot of scenes are sitcom-ish style and fail to draw laughs. Maggie after a point becomes supremely annoying and it would take a very very good son to not go crazy in her presence. Maggie acts well, I guess, since her character was supposed o be so annoying and over-bearing. Lloyd, for a change acted really well. He suited the part of a shy teenager, who is totally in shadow of his mom. Max, his father, is the only character that brings some normalcy in Lloyd’s life. The good thing is that the films not stretched beyond a certain time, so its easily manageable. Sure its probably a low budget independent film, but that doesn’t give it a free pass. A little more sensitivity in Maggie’s character or maybe some background in her history might have added some charm to the film.

Its a slapstick comedy. Don’t have too much expectations. (5.5/10)
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