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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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Apenas Coisas Boas (Portuguese) [Only Good Things]

By Golu
This film is intriguing, engaging, erotic yet a mindfuck of a tricky flick. Honestly the first half of the film was quite visually appealing. The makers tried to make this an art film, but what the hell happened in second half. IT was like watching two different movies. Fro the lush landscapes of Brazil in the 80s to modern day times in the city, the film leaves viewers with a lot more question that answers. I mean, I can probably try and read online to make a sense of what it all meant, but then what's the point f I cannot understand while watching the film!!

Set in rural 80s, we meet Antonio (a hunk straight out of a leather bar) an isolated farmer who lives a quite mundane life. Fate makes him meet Marcelo, an injured motorbike driver, whom he nurses back to health. A worried affair starts between the two and they are having long slow-mo sex acts shown explicitly but also falling in love with each other with a lingering question of whether Marcelo will suddenly up and leave? But Antonio’s homophobic dad has sent a disruptor to his farm and things take a tragic turn. Antonio packs up the farm and drowns himself with a dead (?) Marcelo. The movie suddenly turns gears and we are now in an alternate universe? Or a dream? Or a nightmare? We jump to a much older Antonio, a successful artist living a huge house in the city. Marcelo has suddenly disappeared, walked away without telling and it seems that Antonio is relived he is gone. A few days later, Antonio gives away their dog to random gay couple and starts having an affair with his assistant, all the while the housekeeper wondering what happened? The film becomes thriller but just abruptly ends. 

Where did Marcelo go? Why did he leave? Is he alive? Dead? Living his best life in São Paulo? But then, the movie gets distracted because it’s more interested in showing Antonio having sex with his personal assistant and then running off to the woods to have group sex with men who mysteriously pop out of nowhere like horny forest spirits. This was the most bizarre ending honestly. It is a shame because when the film started off, I had huge hopes. Despite most of the scenes in the film being almost silent, there was a visual appeal to it all. In fact I thought the first few sex scenes were both emotionally and sensually charged, but the nude scene kept coming. The erotically-charged, somewhat hardcore sex scenes and oodles of nudity will certainly attract the gay crowd, but everyone would leave frustrated because of so many open ended questions. It is a shame because the artistic poetic first half wasn't bad at all. It was visually stunning and watching these two absolutely gorgeous men in their full glory was a feast for the sore eyes. Having seen the whole thing now, it feels like this is another skin flick that prides itself on being artistic, not porn, because it has tragedy and angst to accompany the nudity and sex. A beautiful story that had potential, that was ruined by the makers ambitious artistic aspirations. (4/10)
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