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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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The Graffiti Artist

By Golu
I am not even sure what was the point of making this film. It is a moody, gay-tinged drama about two rootless drifters who try to communicate with each other while painting the Pacific Northwest walls and object with graffiti. The film barely has dialogues lasting 15 minutes total. You can fast forward the whole thing and still not miss out on anything at all.

Nick, a young teenager lives a life that revolves around eating, sleeping and tagging empty wall space in Portland’s bleak industrial downtown. He shoplifts paints, fruits whatever he needs and ends up sleeping on streets many time. An unexpected bond established with Jesse, who is from a more affluent home but is also very much into graffiti. They tag together, photographing each other in front of their joint efforts and stay together. Jesse even advances sex to Nick one night but after that things change. Jesse rejects his further advances and decamps to Seattle. When Nick finds him, Jesse tells him that they are two different people which surprises Nick and he reminds Jesse that it was he who initiated sex. He walks away and continues to live his life.

It felt like the film maker wanted to more celebrate the whole art of graffiti and started to come up with a story narrative around it. The painting scenes are broken down into multiple angles in a way that celebrates the act that gives meaning to Nick’s life with details of him painting all over, taking photographs[hs and generally appreciating his work. The film likely got place in a few gay film festivals, which is also weird because barring that one night of hastily and sudden sex event between the two boys, nothing about the film screams queer. The two boys are good looking and honestly decent actors. It's the subject that gives them no opportunity to shine. Besides this, the film is mostly just bad tags, badly costumed "undercover" cops, some skateboarding, and a train ride. This is one of those art films that just stay as art and hardly find any takers who appreciate it. This is a film that has no plot to begin with and not even a proper ending. The movie just crawls back into its shell of silence and dies. A forgettable movie. (1.5/10)
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