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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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A Night Like This (UK)

By Golu
The summary of the film says "A stone-broke gay actor and a privileged fuck up with a failing business cross paths on a winter night and join forces in a quest around London to find a meaning to their miserable lives, but when their unlikely connection turns into something deeper, fears and demons from their past come to jeopardize the whole mission." I thought this sounds interesting and should be a good watch, but oh man! was I disappointed! The execution of the film is so bland and uninteresting, it just feels like it's going nowhere. 

Brash and cocky, Oliver enters an empty bar asking if someone could buy him a pint? Sitting at the bar nursing his beer is Lukas, who wants none of the entitled fratboy energy this loser is giving off. What Oliver doesn't know is that before he ended up drinking alone on Christmas, Lukas came dreadfully close to jumping off a bridge (which we find out much later). The two men happen to meet again in a bus a short while later. Oliver suggests that the two hang out. Lukas agrees but makes clear that he is gay. Each is saddled with his own demons. Lukas, the gay man from Germany, struggles with his acting career, while Oliver juggles singing aspirations and a failing nightclub. The whole film is about the duo hanging out and slowly opening up about their past, their fears and future plans. We don't know about Oliver's sexuality clearly, although the two end up kissing in the middle of night. Regardless of whether Oliver and Lukas' bond is strictly platonic or whether it could ignite sexual heat, these two feel good together.

The film is laced with the many lengthy conversations between Lukas and Oliver unfolding primarily in dully functional repetitive shot/reverse shots. The lighting is flat and the writing lacks depth of any kind. The two actors share a good chemistry, but I felt also cheated thinking this film is gonna be a queer love story, but it was nothing like that. The two hold hands and there is another kiss towards the end, but that's about it. Honestly besides Lukas being gay, there is really no hint of his sexuality at any point. We also get a 16 year old teenager aded to the group for a while but that also goes nowhere. Overall, I fettle film is extremely uninteresting, too dialogue heavy an don't sure where it was headed. Maybe it's about trying tomato connections, but what's the point if audiences can't wait for the film to end. The two actors are charming and good looking but that can take you only so far when the script itself doesn't have much to offer in the first place. (3/10)
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