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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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John

By Golu
Inspired by the French. Neorealism style of film making, John tells the struggling story of LGBTQ sex workers in Hollywood, LA. It's a thought-provoking, emotionally charged journey through a world that remains largely hidden from mainstream cinema. Personally, I have never enjoyed. That style of film making and I am also not sure what really was the maker trying to tell us through this film. There have been many more better made documentaries that show us the plights of LGBTQ sex workers.

John is an eighteen year old Latino male prostitute, living in the poorest area of Hollywood, L.A. He often steals condoms and medicine from the local stores to support himself, due to his inexperience in the hustling world. Peaches is a black trans prostitute, who often helps John financially. Miguel is an older hustler that teaches John how to please men. John often spends his night wandering through the street, looking for older men to buy him for the night. His clients, men who come from all level of society, share with John their stories and secrets. This is pretty much what the film is about. John is young and naive and while he learns the ropes of this world, he has to also deal with HIV scare because of some bad choices of customers that he makes.

Shot with an iPhone, casting mostly non-professional actors for the sake of authenticity, this film was not my cuppa tea at all. The actor playing John tries to bring an authentic portrayal to the role he is supposed to play but overall, I kept looking for where is the film headed to. He is cute and all and brings a nice mix of naiivity and hopes to survive, but thats not enough. The actor (or real life sex worker, I don't know) playing Peaches was so over the top ; it was almost blinding. The whole equation between John and his friend trying to teach him the online world of sex was also very confusing. How do they know, what's the interest etc; it all just baffled me. I was quite disappointed by the overall result. And then when I goto IMDB and check the seven 10/10 reviews, I couldn't help but chuckle on things people will do to get good ratings for their film. And for God's sake why is this film called an "action" film in all those reviews is beyond me. Save your time and watch some other more relevant documentaries on this subject. (2/10)
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