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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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One Summer Night (Korean)

By Golu
I really wanted to like this film but for non native speakers, these movie leaves a lot to be understood and the way scenes were unfolding in front of me, I wasn't sure many times what was really going on. The story had potential button getting any back story on any of the characters limited my ability to empathize with any of these actors.

Film starts with two North Korea military guys Yong Joon and Jae Sung having sex and they are caught red handed and they run. Three years later we see Yong Joon in Seoul leading a very mundane and poor life. He has a boyfriend Tae-Kyu, who is a weird guy. He is carefree, doesn't do any work and is completely emotional and financially dependent on Young Joon. In fact, even Yong Joon will go to any lengths to protect him , fend for him and taking care of him to the extent of even taking up prostitution. Suddenly one day Jae Sung appears in their life again. His motivation is not clear but it is obvious he wants Yong Joon back in his life, who has already moved on. But he needs to decide how and where these two men fit in his life with an over possessive and slightly mentally abused current boyfriend and a passionate ex-lover. 

The film sounds straight forward but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. All three characters have obsessive nature. They can't let go of their issues and hangups and barely communicate with each other. According to me, all three of them are unstable in one way or the other.  As you can expect, with characters like this, the film is not going to end well and sure enough it didn't. From an acting perspective, Yong joon stands out. You can feel his pain, anguish and loneliness but why does he feel the need to be the sole caretaker of his boyfriend is never explained. Its not even that they share an excellent chemistry or anything. The other two boys are strictly ok. I was tired of watching the constant guilty expression on Jae Sung after a while. The whole blind boy and his father scenarios that kept reappearing was all so confusing and made absolutely no sense. I don't think tings were getting lost in translation with the subtitles, but I think this has more to do with the direction and execution. And hey, did I mention that this has a few very graphic scenes including hard dick scenes. There is a lot to be desired in this film and I don't think I will recommend it. (3.5/10)
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