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...
Just Out Of Reach (USA)
A young man wakes up alongside an older gentleman. As he tries to sneak out, he is caught in the act. An ultra-short film that captures a brief moment in time, this is about that feeling of uncertainty upon remembering the night before.
Toto Forever (USA)
Through flashbacks we work out that a young delivery boy gets involved with a gangster who owes money, with a violent outcome. It owes a lot to the manga tradition, and indeed slips in and out of graphic depiction. Its a complicated story more than it meets the eye.
Men Don't Cry (Greece)
Petros is surprised to receive a visitor Ilias, a younger man whom he met several years before on a night out. Petros wants his uninvited guest to leave, but Ilias is refusing to go. A film about confronting uncomfortable truths, the tense narrative is interspersed with grainy black and white footage of the night they met.
Alger La Blanche (France)
Its about relationship between Farid, of Algerian heritage, and his illustrator boyfriend Jean. Set in the suburbs of Paris, it tells us that Farid wants to return to Algeria and take his secret partner with him. But when Farid becomes embroiled in a police matter, both his passionate private life and conservative family life hurtle towards one another with explosive results.
Unconfessions (Brazil)
Luiz Galizia died young, one of the victims of the early days of the AIDS Crisis. He left behind a large personal archive of materials from his life, which his niece, Ana, has lovingly assembled into this documentary biopic thirty years later.
Same Difference (UK)
Twin brothers spend all their time with each other and we are also made to believe they are pursuing the same girl, till one of them makes a declaration of his own by kissing another boy from the team whom he likes. Sometimes twins may not know everything about each other.
Boychick (USA)
In the American suburbs, a decidedly ordinary boy is mollycoddled by his overbearing Jewish mother, who calls him Boychick. As he tries to build up enough courage to speak to his crush at school, he is suddenly visited with spectral assistance from pop sensation Ashley Hart, with whom he is obsessed.
Although this collection was historic and brings you blast from the past, I sadly hav etc say that none of the stories really held my attention. It was the shorter ones about twin brothers or the first one that I really cared about. (4/10)
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