Skip to main content

Al Mar (Spanish) [The Sea]

By Golu
This movie was just plain weird. I really went in wanting to like it, but the whole pretentious, overly poetic vibe, combined with this choppy editing that keeps hopping back and forth in these tiny five to ten second bursts, just made it feel dragged out for no real reason, way too self indulgent if you ask me. Honestly this could've been trimmed down to a fifteen minute short and lost nothing. And I still don't get what the deal was with women dancing along the beach while some overwrought, flowery narration plays over the top. The plot creeps along at a snail's pace, slowly building toward some confrontation that you can see coming from a mile away and that just gets duller the closer it gets. By the time it actually happened I'd totally checked out as a viewer, even with two genuinely good looking guys leading the film. The setup itself is pretty basic. Lorena and Diego are trying to settle into a new life in a small town by the coast, both nervously starting fresh ...
Post a Comment

Only Friends: Dream On (Thai Series)

By Golu

This series follows university students dealing with ambition, desire, jealousy, and messy relationships inside a performing arts program. It's made by GMMTV, and watching it felt like they pulled together every lead actor they've ever worked with, big roles and small. So many familiar faces pop up. There are three main couples plus a bunch of side characters who matter a lot to the story. It runs 12 episodes, each about 55-60 minutes.

The story starts with students prepping for a stage version of Romeo and Romeo. Jack is directing and holds open auditions for the roles. His ex Dean used to get the lead automatically in Jack's shows, but this time Jack says roles go only to whoever auditions best. Dean still wants Jack back and tries to seduce him, but Jack turns him down. Another student, Raffy, likes Jack and figures getting cast will help him get close to him, but Jack has no interest in Raffy at all. Jack's stepbrother Rome likes Raffy, but Raffy keeps brushing him off. Every time Jack rejects Raffy, Raffy goes to Rome and they hook up. The third couple is Rua and Arnold. Rua is Dean's friend, his roommate, and the show's costume designer, and he has a crush on Arnold, so he pushes him to audition for the lead. Arnold and Dean both land the two lead roles, while Raffy only gets a side part. As rehearsals go on, emotions get messier, and the line between love, jealousy, rivalry, and vulnerability starts to blur. The show gets that when people create something together, feelings don't stay contained. Ego, attraction, insecurity, ambition, old feelings, they all collide, and that's where this show lives. Between casting rivalries, old exes, and jealous impulsive choices, the story stays charged and easy to stay hooked on.

With this many characters, it's hard to give everyone equal focus, but the writers try. There's a lot of painful misunderstandings, jealousy, manipulation, and seduction. The show lets its characters mess up badly without turning them into just their mistakes. Everyone has real flaws and insecurities. We see why Jack and Dean broke up, how they eventually get back together, then hit another misunderstanding involving Dean and Arnold that puts both the play and their relationships at risk. Raffy's leftover feelings for Jack keep causing tension between him and Rome. It's honestly frustrating watching Raffy chase Jack again and again just to get rejected every time. My favorite pair by far was Arnold and Tua. There's a softness between them that balances out all the heavier drama happening around them. Even when problems come up, like Tua lying about the actors getting paid, or the mess with Arnold and Dean, their conflicts stay grounded and real instead of turning destructive. Jack and Dean are supposed to be the main couple. They were fine, but their whole arc felt predictable to me. Their relationship keeps getting stuck between who they used to be and who they became after hurting each other. What makes the show work is that the characters are flawed. Jealousy, insecurity, and desire are shown pretty raw and unfiltered, which keeps the conflicts feeling real and spontaneous. The show also uses old pairings from past shows for nostalgia, throwing in familiar names for cameos.

I really enjoyed the first five or six episodes, but after that it got repetitive, cycling through the same misunderstandings, affairs, breakups, and patch ups we've all seen before. Still, credit where it's due, handling a cast this big isn't easy, so that deserves respect. As a whole, it was solid, better than a lot of other shows in this space. (7/10)

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

By Golu
I think the budget of this film was probably too small, but for that, the film definitely offers a different and unique storyline without over dramatizing anything. Yes, some scenes were a bit amateurish but in the bigger scheme of things, that can be overlooked. The film is both beautiful and sad in its own unique way. Aek is a gay dad, whose partner died right around the time their son Nueng was born through surrogacy in a road accident. The relationship between father and son is unpleasant and unstable. We are not really told why, but it seems the father has been unsuccessful in caring and loving his son because of his partner's death. Aek continues to hook up wit hookers. Also, Nueng is constantly bullied by everyone around him for having a gay dad. He has no friends, except Nat, a neighborhood boy, who also happens to be Nueng's boyfriend. In a sudden turn of events Nat is found murdered along with another boy naked. Saddened by the events, Nueng jumps from roof and k...
1 comment
Read more

Gaya Sa Pelikula (Filipino Series) [Like In The Movies]

By Golu
Pinoy BL series seem to be catching up to the popularity of the Thai shows. And I must say that they are doing a pretty good job at it. Where Thai series started to get repetitive with so many shows based in a college setting with seemingly similar storylines, Pinoy series are offering the viewers with new and interesting stories and some really good sets and surroundings. This series was 8 episodes of about 25-20 minutes each. Karl, a 19-year old introvert architecture student is in the middle of an identity crisis. Prior to the start of the second semester in college and forced by his parents, he moves into his uncle's condominium unit so that he can learn to be financially independent. Karl takes on odd jobs online to do so. But when one of his major clients suddenly goes MIA, he is left short on funds and without a means to pay for his utilities. An opportunity presents itself when his cocky neighbor Vlad has to hide from his family and proposes to share Karl's space for th...
23 comments
Read more

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

By Golu
Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...
3 comments
Read more