Adventures & What’s Up – May 2023

ADVENTURES

Baby Update

As we approach Triple V’s first birthday next month, its truly amazing how fast time flies considering as I write this, I’m monetarily done with my maternity leave even though I did take an extra month to sort out some 12 month appointments next month. Triple V’s been growing height-wise quite a bit but not so much weight wise, something that we will probably need to mention at the next follow-up. With weather being better, we’ve been outside a little more and he’s touched the curious green stuff on the ground that he seems to like. He is crawling around like a champ and using everything to climb to standing position to touch whatever he can (including a few orchid tumbles which I wasn’t particularly a huge fan of cleaning) reminding us everyday of something else to babyproof that has slipped out minds. He loves crawling after me wherever I go and we’ve been starting to play around with fluctuating his routine a little here and there and seeing how much we can push the times for certain things. He can eat all by himself except when its something that requires a spoon. Its pretty great to think about how it was just last year we were waiting for him to arrive and in a blink of an eye, he’s already almost walking.

First Mother’s Day

Triple V was born right in time for Father’s Day and this month was his first Mother’s Day or well, my first Mother’s Day. I can’t say I feel very different from usual since my daily routine didn’t change much so we went and made a big deal by buying flowers for the grandmothers instead. We had a big feast with my mom, marking a little lobster tasting for Triple V and we ordered in food with my in-laws.

Gardening Update

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Much like the past years, the week of Victoria Day means a greenhouse visit and gardening. We decided to pick the hottest week to work on the garden. We’ve swapped things around quite a bit this year with the vegetable patch moving the green peppers, cucumbers changing places but two assortment of tomatoes going in ground instead of in containers. The containers now have eggplants, 4 other peppers (orange, red, sweet red, yellow) and all the zucchinis. We’re still working through the flowers as I’m still finding little time here and there to clean up the flower patch.

WHAT’S UP

Books

• The BFG
• The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
• Esio Trot
• The Magic Finger
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Billy and the Minpins
• The Twits

Full steam ahead with bedtime reading of Roald Dahl book collection. So far, there’s a few that actually feel pretty familiar, some of them feel like tongue twisters and some are just a fun ride. I will be putting up some kind of review for them eventually. I’m not sure why but The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me was probably one of the most fun to read.

Movies

• Nightmare Alley (2019 rewatch)
• Veronica Mars (2014 rewatch, Review)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
• Black Widow (2021)
• Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)
• Love and Leashes (2022 rewatch, Review)
• Too Cool To Kill (2022)
• On The Rocks (2020)
• Herstory (2018)

There was a nice selection. A few for Movies and Tea production, some are rewatches, some Disney Plus and then some screeners which you will be seeing the reviews pop up very soon. If there are some definite recommendations, it would probably be surprisingly the Marvel films since both films were pretty fun but Black Widow was a great back story. The screeners also delivered some great stories, Too Cool to Kill was a good comedy for the most part and Herstory was an eye-opening look at comfort women from Korean in Japan in WWII who are fighting for compensation and apology from the Japanese government.

TV

• Sex/Life (Season 2, 2023)
• Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Mini-Series, 2023 Review)
• Veronica Mars (2019)
• Queer Eye (Season 7, 2023)
• Business Proposal (2022 Review)
• XO, Kitty (Season 1, 2023)
• Beef (Season 1, 2023)
• How To Build A Sex Room (Season 1, 2022)
• Black Knight (Season 1, 2023)

Currently binging: Who’s The Murderer S8, Light the Wild, 1899, Youth Pi Plan, Barbecue Showdown S2, Wonderland S3

As I look back at this year, I have so many TV binges in the works right now. Netflix came back pretty strong this month and released a bunch of stuff that I was interested in. If you noticed that the Reality TV roundup was missing last month, the main reason is that it will be grouped into this month’s since that will have a lot more to talk about. I actually had fun with a lot of these series, making Sex/Life Season 2 the one that I wasn’t a huge fan of, which isn’t shocking considering I didn’t really like the first season a lot either. XO, Kitty was not horrible but it was disappointing since it didn’t seem to do the character of Kitty justice or the promise of the whole South Korean exploration. As for 1899, we started it up on the dub version which affected my interest but I later realized there is an original audio version which I will probably restart in this version.

If I had to choose highlights of the month, It would probably be Queer Eye and Black Knight.

Games

Currently playing: G30, Coffee Talk Episode 2: Butterfly and Hibiscus

I’m about halfway through Coffee Talk Episode 2 right now and its still such a joy to play and an incredibly relaxing experience. I finally decided that I’d go with an annual plan for Google Play Pass since I do enjoy gaming on the phone a little here and there and there’s still some game that I wanted to check out. With that said, it brings us to G30 which is a puzzle game which is pretty entertaining so far. I’m not sure how many levels there are to the game but it does feel like it will end at some point

That’s it for this Adventures and What’s Up for May 2023!
What have you been up to?

TV Binge: Business Proposal (2022)

Business Proposal (2022)

Creators: Seon-ho Park, Sul-hee Han, Bo-hui Hong

Cast: Hyo-seop Ahn, Se-jeong Kim, Min-kyu Kim, In-ah Seor, Duck-hwa Lee

In disguise as her friend, Ha-ri shows up to a blind date to scare him away. But plans go awry when he turns out to be her CEO – and makes a proposal. – IMDB

Despite the fact that I’m incredibly behind on most Chinese drama reviews, something everyone should know here is that I’ve pretty much been swimming in the world of Asian dramas specifically about romance or romantic comedy. Lately, its been a bit of a break to just take a breather and wait for something better to come along. I’m not going to lie that Korean romance dramas are not my first choice since I never got into that hype. However, when my friend recommended Business Proposal, it did sound like a fun time.

The foundation for the story of Business Proposal is quite simple and straight forward. It doesn’t deal with anything different from the basic romantic comedy-drama series. Fake relationships, rich boss-type perfectionist male lead, simple normal female lead: its all been there done that. In fact, there’s quite a big hype of this type of thing (fake relationships/marriages) in the past few years. However, where Business Proposal does stand out is in its comedy. Its story grabs right away with the over the top blind date experience right from the get-go. Nothing goes quite as planned and despite all this, the entire attempt to hide her identity as his employee makes for some even funnier moments. Of course, there’s also a question of how different can someone look with and without the makeup and fancy clothes that can make them unrecognizable apparently.

Running at a 12 episodes, its one of the great elements of Netflix series that keeps things concise and well-paced. Despite that, Business Proposal’s usual plot does still at times make the flow feel slow and predictable but the overall pacing and progression of events is relatively good. The series runs on a parallel focusing mostly on Ha-ri and Tae-moo’s relationship as the focal point with the secondary relationship between Ha-ri’s best friend, Young-seo who was supposed to be paired with Tae-moo but ends up being attracted to Tae-moo’s secretary, Sung-hoon. Between them and the lies that are trying to stay hidden for Ha-ri and then Tae-moo’s grandfather’s constant desire for the marriage to be sealed regardless of the girl as well as the company politics and work colleagues itself, the show already has a lot of elements to work around.

Looking at the casting choices, everyone feels well-casted. While Korean series has been on a new level of hype because of various past successes, the faces do tend to be revolve a lot of new ones rather than a lot of repeat views. However, Ha-ri is played by Se-jeong Kim, who was previously in Uncanny Counter (review) in a different style of role but also was fairly comedic in a different way. It was nice to see how she was able to fit into this romantic comedy role. Ha-ri’s character is the equivalent of a Cinderella-type role which in Asian dramas in general just means that its always lots of barriers to marry rich. It is fun that she does choose to make that comparison with an over-dramatized tv series that is playing throughout the series to add that extra bit of humor that makes fun of these types of soapy dramas. Tae-moo, played by Hyo-seop Ahn is a pretty generic male role. He is a good-looking guy and there’s a good contrast from pre-romance discovery to post-romance. The other familiar face here is Secretary Cha, played by Min-kyu Kim who plays as the secondary male lead and was previously in The Battle of Jangsari (review). In some ways, his role, much like the secondary female lead, Young-seo played by In-ah Seor are much more vibrant roles, especially the latter.

Overall, Business Proposal doesn’t change a lot of the formulaic story. The best way to compare it would probably be to Chinese dramas like Love O2O which featured a relationship that had a supportive male lead despite the challenges that would hit especially after the relationship commenced, it was a level of trust that wasn’t easily waivered which is usually one of the frustrating elements of other shows. Faking relationships is a rather over-used back story at this point but there is a fresh and fun take here that makes this one well worth a watch. Plus, Se-jeong Kim in the female lead is truly an extra fun time.

TV Binge: Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Mini-Series, 2023)

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023)

Creator: Shonda Rhimes

Cast: India Amarteifio, Adjoa Andoh, Michelle Fairley, Ruth Gemmell, Corey Mylchreest, Golda Rosheuvel, Arsema Thomas, Sam Clemmett, Freddie Dennis, Hugh Sachs, Julie Andrews (voice), Tunji Kasim

Betrothed against her will to King George, young Charlotte arrives in London on her wedding day and faces scrutiny from the monarch’s cunning mother. – IMDB

Queen Charlotte is a spin-off mini-series for the Bridgerton TV series which is adapted from the book series by Julia Quinn. While the main series focused on the ton of the society and the romances of the Bridgerton children, Queen Charlotte is a prequel and bridge to the next season about how Queen Charlotte and the palace became the way it is as well a glimpse of the origin story of Lady Danbury and the connection to Violet Bridgerton. It even adds a side story of the Queen’s secretary Brimsley and his little romance with the King’s man, Reynolds.

Its a great angle to take because the world of Bridgerton is not only fascinating for the steamy and attractive romances that the two Bridgerton children that we’ve witnessed so far but one of the things that I personally love are the characters of Lady Danbury and Queen Charlotte who are incredibly dynamic characters in their mature years in the present and now their origin story helps craft their characters further, not only giving some substance to the inner workings of the characters of the palace, answering those questions about why King George is the way he is and what his affliction is but also how Queen Charlotte has taken over with much of the ruling and responsibilities of the palace while also sharing how Lady Danbury got her title and her respect in the society. There’s some secrets and scandals along the way but intertwined it also reminds us that the present world is more than the Bridgerton children and the Palace also has its own issues with a much welcome Lady Whistledown narrating that bit as well.

Running at six episodes, Queen Charlotte is well-paced and in the heart of period films, provides wonderful outfits and hairstyles. Queen Charlotte herself sporting some of the truly beautiful ones as they are much less extravagant in her younger years but in the present, still having some creative ones in the mix. While this Bridgerton story is primarily drama and romance, there is a good deal of comedy in there. The present day scenes focus around Queen Charlotte trying to get her fifteen kids to finally settle down and give her another royal heir when Princess Charlotte unfortunately dies. The conversations she has in her encounters with her offsprings are done in a serious manner but harness a lot of comedic elements. Its probably one of the more entertaining parts of the mini-series especially when paired with Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton’s blooming friendship as Violet starts having new desires in her life that she isn’t quite sure what to do about.

The cast is relatively well selected. Queen Charlotte played by India Amarteifio in her younger days and still Golda Rosheuvel in the present day is a wonderful fit for the character. There is a true development in the character of a princess from Germany who ends up marrying to another country and trying to find her footing especially with a husband that sells her a beautiful relationship at the start but ends up leaving her alone. What happens to her soon crafts the Queen she chooses to become in order to hold up the responsibilities of the palace but still protect her husband when his delusions set in. From the start to the finish, its mostly about her merge into the status of Queen but also how she gained her respect and how her friendship with Lady Danbury solidifies. The young Lady Danbury also has a similar origin story but on a less fortunate spectrum and played very well by Arsema Thomas who essentially has her story show that she is the one that chooses to be alone because of her past.

Looking at the male cast, its sad to say that the romance of this one is rather well done and unique but King George’s character, despite his ailments is not quite as immersive. Its probably just the writing bit more female-centric that his character progresses in struggle and therapy for most of the series. Corey Mylchreest is a handsome and charming choice for the role. However, its definitely the Queen’s secretary Brimsley that truly stands out played rather well by Sam Clemmett. Brimsley may be the subordinate of the Queen but despite the initial rejection, he does remain very loyal and honest to her.

Overall, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a decent mini-series. There does seem like a little bit of a perpetuity issue when looking at the present day since this Queen Charlotte isn’t what it seems but then, it feels like its deliberate to give her a different side because this time, most affairs of dealt with behind the palace doors as family matters which makes her re-evaluate herself as a mother. The series itself is rather binge-worthy but the whole series truly culminates for the touching final moments in the present which reflects the relationship through the years between her and King George despite how it always seems like she is waiting for her husband to pass away. It gives the audience a little bit extra to consider that maybe those emotions are much more complex. Its a welcome fun entry to bridge the wait until Season 3 of the series itself.

Music Obsessions – May 2023

Welcome to (a slightly delayed) Music Obsessions! We continue on with our focused look at Cantopop as this time we turn over to a female singer, Miriam Yeung that I actually watched her step into fame when she came in as first runner-up at the 1995 Hong Kong New Talent Singing Awards. While her career started out with its share of issues, over the many years, she has garnered a certain level of professional attached to her work both as a singer and as an actress. Of course, we’re looking at the singer elements as I dive into a few songs that I’m a big fan of mostly from the start of her career but also looking up some newer songs that have caught my eye.

抬起我的頭來 Lift Up My Head- 楊千嬅 Miriam Yeung

We’re going through Miriam Yeung’s discography in order of release this time to see the growth that she’s had as well as how I’ve been introduced to her music through certain songs. The first song that hit my radar was this one which was not part of her debut album but in the Summer Story album launched four years after the singing contest. You can hear the potential in her voice and the youthfulness but there still lacks a certain polish. This song is very optimistic and encouraging in its lyrics and its one of the reasons why I liked it a lot when it was first released.

姊妹 Sisters – 楊千嬅 Miriam Yeung

To me, my favorite album that solidified Miriam Yeung as a singer to keep an eye out for was her album Miriam in 2001 which I personally own and has a lot of good songs. While there’s no doubt that the hit of the album was Wild Child and I do love that song a lot, I’m a big fan of this song, Sisters. It seems to be mentioned much less but its such a great song both in the music elements but also the lyrics.

假如讓我說下去 If You Let Me Finish Talking- Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅

Much like this song which I translated roughly but this is by far my absolute favorite song of Miriam Yeung’s. I’m not quite sure why but it might have to do a lot with teenage angst back in the day. I do come back to this song every so often and still feel like its rather underrated and do believe that it still holds up with how good it is. Especially the build-up part for the final verse, it gets me every time.

勇Courage- Miriam Yeung 楊千嬅

Released in 2002 as the theme song of a action comedy that she was a female lead, marking something of a debut to her acting career in Love Undercover, Courage is probably one of Miriam Yeung’s most popular songs and rightfully so as it delivers a positive message about courage in life reflecting the film really well but also to young women at the time it was released. Its one of the songs that has stuck around with the general public, probably only two or three other songs really meet that same level of familiarity like Kisses Everywhere and Too Bad I’m Not An Aquarius.

滾 Get Out!- 梁漢文 Edmond Leung/ 楊千嬅 Miriam Yeung

A big fan of this song which I believe is part of Edmond Leung’s discography BUT this song really leaves a strong impression since its the rare song where the song itself is a conversation and argument between a couple of a husband suspecting his wife of cheating on him. The suspicions and the doubts in a relationship all gets put to the forefront in their argument throughout the song. It has such a nice pacing to the whole song. The play on words of the title of the song is always a little tricky since it can be interpreted as “Get Out!” or “F**k Off” but is also the word for Cheating in Cantonese. I’m not quite sure how long this focused discography of Music Obsessions will last but if it lasts for a while, we will definitely get to Edmond Leung eventually.

還有事情可慶祝 There Are Still Things Worth Celebrating- 楊千嬅 Miriam Yeung

Every time I choose these singers, I always choose the last song as their latest release or a newer song that I’ve discovered recently. Despite the many love ballads about heartbreak and such, Miriam Yeung’s discography has been relatively cute and positive. Its obvious this was released during the pandemic or as the tail end of it as an encouraging song that even in the hard times, there’s always something to celebrate. Its also a nice showcase of the start of her singing career to now, she’s really polished and refined her voice into such a powerful and soothing one.

That’s it for this Music Obsessions!
What have you been listening to?

Movies and Tea #63 – Kingdom of The Spiders

Next episode of Movies and Tea is up as we continue our season long look at Creature Features. This time we head into the 70s creature feature with Kingdom of the Spiders as we see how the tarantula spreads fear in a farm town in Arizona. Head on over to Movies and Tea and give it a listen!

Movies and Tea

Kim and Elwood’s season long look at the evolution of the Creature Feature continues with Kingdom of the Spiders in which William Shatner plays the rural town vet who discovers that the town is being invaded by tarantula’s which have moved on from feeding on the local livestock to feeding on the town. 

We also question the worst places to encounter a spider, the insane behind the scene production stories and ridiculous faces of death!!

Listen to the Show

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What’s Up & Adventures – April 2023

Its time for this month’s What’s Up & Adventures! Yet again, not a whole lot of adventures per se as its all pretty normal life stuff and I’m even talking normal as per the pre-pandemic life like actually going to a restaurant to hang out with friends without masks the entire time. Its a big step for me since I’ve been pretty much keeping things fairly protective especially with a baby at home. Our biggest adventure as a family which I’m not going to write an entire section about: our first power outage. I mean a legit one where it took 8 hours to get back the electricity and we all had to bundle up at home to stay warm.

ADVENTURES

Baby Update

Triple V has gone through some big developments this month. Over the course of the month, he’s been still practicing how to work and after a lot of guidance and motivation, he has started to crawl recently. He’s also able to eat his own finger foods and starting to get curious about how the spoon works whenever we use it for the puree. The baby gates have finally been unboxed. As of very recent like this morning, he’s also starting to learn to go down the stairs on his own with his butt. The crib has finally been dropped to the lowest level since he’s been able to stand up on his own in there and being a tall baby also stands pretty tall over the edge. We’re at the 10 1/2 months now and its been lots of first times and memories. Its also great that we had our first playdate after a few stroll dates with my best friend and her baby.

Brunch With Friends

After trying to get together repeatedly since last fall until now, the gettogether with my friends finally happened. My husband relieved me of the baby duties for a few hours so that I could go out for a brunch. It was a lot of fun to go out although after 10 months of being 24/7 with my baby, it did feel a little weird to be out. With that said, the restaurant’s service was rather poor although I think that it had to do mostly with lack of staff which is an issue with most restaurants nowadays. However, the chat was my friends were great as we caught up with everything between brunch and some window shopping and bubble tea at Real Fruit where I got a Jasmine Green Tea Light Sugar with grass jelly and mango jelly. Its the first time I’ve had Real Fruit Bubble Tea. Their Jasmine Green Tea is pretty good and I’m glad that I got light sugar since the mango jelly was surprisingly sweet so it balanced out the drink.

Building Blocks Puzzles

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While I probably should be writing and reading more, I find that building blocks really help clear the mind with the sheer concentration it takes to dig through these tiny pieces and put this together. With that said, they are looking gorgeous on top of my bookshelf so I decided to grab the set of the zodiac and take my time to put them together.

WHAT’S UP

Books

• My Illustrated Classics Collection

Currently reading: The BFG

I’m still spending most of my time reading books to my little man. While I’m sure he doesn’t quite understand any of it and just likes it as a means of soothing him to sleep, I’m starting to go through some books that I’ve bought for when he gets older and using this time to read through them and see when is suitable for him. We just started the Roald Dahl boxset (bought from Costco) and going through them all. I’ve read a few of them when I was a kid but its good to revisit as well as check out the ones I haven’t read before. Book reviews should be popping back soon.

Movies

• The Witch Part 2: The Other One (2022 Review)
• Monster Hunter (2020 rewatch, Review)
• A Short Story (2022 short)
• Saint Maud (2019)
• Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018)
• The Menu (2022)
• Ride On (龙马精神, 2023 Review)
• Saludos Amigos (1942)
• Fresh (2022)
• Anita: Director’s Cut (2022)
• Disenchanted (2022)

Due to upcoming Movies and Tea season preparation, I ended up getting a month of Disney Plus so a lot of films this time are from there as I try to make the most of the month (with not a whole of success) but still managing to catch some decent titles. As I work through the titles I haven’t seen from animated films and watched Saludos Amigos which was pretty average with one or two more charming shorts, I also caught mostly Searchlight films catching some newer films like The Menu and Fresh. I’m working on those reviews so they should be posted in a few days. Disney Plus also acquired Anita but the Director’s Cut version, a film that I’ve been meaning to watch so I settled for this version and still trying to figure out where to find the theatrical version and see where the differences are. Much like the end of my MUBI subscription made me finally be able to catch Long Day’s Journey Into Night which I’ve heard great things when I was chatting up with other reviewers back when I was doing press during film festivals.

TV

• Veronica Mars (Season 2 rewatch, Review)
• A Love So Beautiful (rewatch, Review)
• Come Sing With Me我想和你唱 (Season 4)
• Veronica Mars (Season 3 rewatch, Review)

Currently watching: Light The Wild, Who’s The Murderer S8

As you can see, everything got affected. I decided to rewatch A Love So Beautiful before it left Netflix, a series that still holds up and is a lot of fun. Of course, you can still catch the Korean version of it which I have yet to watch. I’m mostly focusing on rewatching Veronica Mars with my husband who is watching it for the first time. We caught up to everything for the original series so that we can experience the first watch of the “Season 4”. I’m basically trying to catch up and finish all the stuff I’ve started so first up is Chinese variety show, Who’s The Murderer Season 8.

Games

Currently playing: Coffee Talk Episode 2

I had tons of intentions of what to play this past month but a few things occupied my evenings so only recently I’ve been able to start playing Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus and Butterfly. While its not for everyone, I loved Coffee Talk (review) since it was such a fun little experience set in an alternate Seattle and the only thing to do was just making coffee for the clients who dropped by for a chat and share their stories. The second Coffee Talk happens after the first one and I just started so just met two new characters. So far, its still really fun and I’m looking forward to mixing and discovering some new drink mixes.

That’s it for this month’s Adventures/Updates and What’s Up!
What have you been up to?

Ride On (龙马精神, 2023）

Ride On (龙马精神, 2023)

Director (and writer): Larry Yang

Cast: Jackie Chan, Haocun Liu, Kevin Guo, Yueting Lang, Andy On, Jing Wu, Shenyang Xiao, Joey Yung, Rongguang Yu

A washed-up stuntman and his stunt horse become an overnight social media sensation when their real-life fight with debt collectors goes viral. – IMDB

For most Jackie Chan fans, Ride On is a film made by a director who is a big fan of his as well as he gets to work with someone that he praises but also creates an alternate storyline of a character that has the life of Jackie Chan but is called Luo who is a stuntman who knows gains a second fame with his stunt horse, Red Hare. There’s no doubt that this film almost feels like a farewell film from Jackie Chan as it feels a lot like a tribute as Luo’s character rewatches the Jackie Chan blooper reel of all the accidents he has had at one point. At the same time, the film does highlight Jackie Chan (and his fellow stunt peers) who has lived their lives at the heyday of Hong Kong action films and their dangerous stunts that they had no choice but to do for their living but has now moved forward to try to provide a much safe environment, praising both the hard work and the fight from the past stunt actors (and actresses) but also the respect and pride of the career being more than the authenticity of doing the stunts but also accepting that there is a better way in today’s technology because its important to protect the lives of those involved even if its just a horse in this case.

Ride On is more than just about the stuntman life although everything else around it does feel like the result and sacrifices of choosing this life. The film runs at around 2 hours with Jackie Chan’s Luo portraying an older man who has gone through his career hardships to finally be a washed-up stuntman living at the Hengdian World Studios with his horse Red Hare. When the man who sold him Red Hare gets taken over, the company tries to get back their property, Red Hare, sinking him into a seek for legal help which leads to him trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Xiaobao (Haocun Liu) who is a law student dating a young lawyer Mickey (Kevin Guo). Despite the rocky start, he soon bonds with his daughter through this case but also a constant breaking point when his new fame takes him and Red Hare to more and more dangerous stunts which Xiaobao doesn’t agree with and constantly tries to convince him to stop before they both get hurt. While this is categorized as an action comedy, its hard to deny that when a father and daughter relationship and a man and his horse ‘s relationship is put to the test, there’s a fair amount of drama that will inevitably be involved.

With that said, Ride On has a lot of tangents and side plots and side characters which aren’t completely all necessary to make this story’s point but some of it is added for the comedic moments, some is there to give more classic Jackie Chan comedic stunt action with a new twist and some of it is to give it the stronger backup cast it needs to give this film more credit with small roles like successful action stars like Jing Wu and Joey Yung playing as Luo’s disciple and Andy On as the debt collector. The story does have some lull moments but Larry Yang crafts a story that truly gives such a shining light primarily to the relationship between Luo and Red Hare right from the first scene that makes all they go through in these two hours all the more connected to them by the end when their final fate lies in the final verdict. Boy, were my heartstrings pulled. I never thought I’d feel so much for a horse.

Now’s a great time to talk about the cast though. This film is a tribute to Jackie Chan’s career so casting him in his role and having him rewatch those reels is a strong moment. Growing up on Jackie Chan films, its been crazy to watch his career get to where it is now and at his age (almost 70) still being able to carry out these stunts. The man truly respects this life a lot and its what aligns with this character of Luo. The daughter Xiaobao is played by Haocun Liu which is a decent job. Her role does feel like it lacks the depth and feels a little more by the books since her relationship with her father does play a big role but its never quite as strong as his with Red Hare. Mickey, also called Naihua is played by cross-talk actor (Traditional Chinese style stand-up comedy) who is the main comedy outlet here as his interaction with Jackie Chan is one of a future father-in-law trying to craft his future son-in-law to be strong enough to protect his daughter while creating some reluctant interaction with Red Hare. The fear of both Luo and Red Hare from Mickey makes it all the more humorous, which is great when it cuts into some of the more tense moments between their relationship and gives the film a good balance. The English subs are truly fantastic giving him the name Mickey and when they meet his parents, their names are Donald and Daisy. Its not really a big part of the film and not a spoiler by any means but just a good example of the fun moments.

The star of Ride On has to be Red Hare. While this film shows Red Hare as a stunt horse, in reality, he is a retired professional race horse which is also carefully chosen so that his champion race horse stubbornness would play well into Red Hare’s personality here and gives him a certain playfulness. Red Hare is probably one of the most endearing animal characters which didn’t need to talk but the directing and cinematography and I guess choreography managed to give a great performance and truly make the audience care about him from worrying about the possibility of him getting hurt in the dangerous stunts and being scared for him when he was scared or even feeling bad for him when Luo was giving him a hard time for not completing his tasks on par.

Ride On isn’t probably what anyone expects when they first turn on this film. Its not as plentiful in the stunt department although there is one big scene. There are little moments in the film that you can recognize as variations of Jackie Chan’s past stunts. There’s a playback of his reels where he got hurt through his film career. The tribute is done in a really great way. If this is Jackie Chan’s final film (but nowhere has announced it to be), it would be a fitting one. Since it isn’t, its a fun and touching one and especially memorable and well-appreciated for Jackie Chan fans.

*Screener provided by Well Go USA*

Movies and Tea #62 – The Birds

Time for the next episode of the Creature Features season as we head into the 1960s with Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds! Head on over to Movies and Tea and give it a listen.

Movies and Tea

Continuing their season of films looking at the evolution of the creature feature Elwood and Kim look at the Alfred Hitchcock classic The Birds as a small coastal town finds itself under attack when the birds revolt against humanity

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Double Feature: The Witch Part 1 The Subversion (2018) & Part 2 The Other One (2022)

The Witch: Part 1 The Subversion (2018)

Director (and writer): Hoon-jung Park

Cast: Da-mi Kim, Min-soo Jo, Woo-sik Choi, Min-Si Go, Hee-soon Park, Byeong-Ok Kim, Jung-woo Choi, Da-eun Jung, Ha-Na Kim

A high school student with amnesia tries to uncover what has happened to her. All leading her into deeper troubles ultimately revealing a darkness she could not have imagined. – IMDB

The first part of The Witch trilogy sets off the story as a girl ends up in a small town home and grows up for many years there. As she enters her teen years, odd people start showing up insinuating that there’s more to her and trying to snap her out of her amnesia. When we look at typical Asian storylines, traumatic amnesia is probably one of the most frequently used plot point. What Hoon-jung Park does with the script sets the story apart as he takes this plot into a deeper horror thriller with a young protagonist with super powers and intelligence full of twists and turns that take the audience by surprise as it steps into a new sudden change in narrative when it seems to be going steady down one path. What starts off as a more teen drama takes a sudden turn into psychological thriller that turns into an action-packed horror.

There’s a lot to love about Part 1 The Subversion. First parts always does the job to set the foundation for the story at hand from the setting to the characters. Its does a great job at doing this especially when the story revolves around an evil corporation of sorts and super humans. The first part ends with a lot of set-up, a cliffhanger of sorts and a few unanswered questions that leaves intrigue. As much as I have a massive pet peeve for films that aren’t standalone enough, this one closes enough doors to feel like it has somewhat drawn a decent story plus it does sell as multipart so its a lot more acceptable.

With that said, the cast in Part One is pretty good. Da-Mi Kim carries this super human role perfectly grasping the innocence at the start when amnesiac but also finding a wild side when things start going crazy. Playing as somewhat of an enemy but also her memory stimulator is a group of young English-speaking witches lead by Woo-sik Choi’s character. The other character that deserves mention is the older cast member who is the head showrunner of the corporation and this experiment Dr. Baek played by Min-Soo Jo which embodies a lot of a manipulative authority figure.

The Witch Part 1 The Subversion is a great film. Its a two hour wild ride that has a bunch of twists and turns. There’s blood and action, strong narrative plot and a great foundation for its next part.

The Witch: Part 2 The Other One (2022)

Director (and writer): Hoon-jung Park

Cast: Cynthia, Min-Soo Jo, Da-Mi Kim, Eun-bin Park, Jin Goo, Jong-suk Lee, Yoo-Bin Sung, Justin John Harvey, Ji-min Kim

A girl wakes up in a secret laboratory and meets Kyung-hee, who is trying to protect her from a gang. When the gang finally finds the girl, they are overwhelmed by an unexpected power. – IMDB

The Witch Part 2 The Other One tells of another one of the super power kids which we soon know is a “twin” of Ja-yoon in the first part. With this, the story of what hides further in these experiments start becoming much more apparent. Part 2 is a different type of story. What this girl goes through, albeit also rather small-town, is full of much more threat and cluelessness, making her character a little more dangerous and unpredictable.

There’s a lot more dark humor injected into Part 2 mostly with the going on and the interactions, making this feel a little bit more of a fish out of water story but at the same time also had a few side plots going on from a military duo trying to track her down to Dr. Baek and her sister’s confrontation from another leader of the organization also trying to track her down and a look at the past with a pregnant teen girl who falls into a elaborate plan just to get her baby. In some ways, it makes the story a little more convoluted and while there is a decent bit of action, the film takes a turn for an over the top style with a lot of computer graphics.

The acting for the most part is on point. The characters, while more to follow this time around, do still have its own distinctive personality that contributes to their purpose. The only characters that seem to not have truly exposed their purpose is the military duo who also has special abilities and adds to the internationalism of the organization but seems to perhaps have gone rogue (or not). The conversation between these two revolve around a lot of nagging and bickering in English which at times angles on annoying but has its comedic purposes. There are more characters or maybe because its more in-your-face since the audience already knows the basics of the story, its trying to set up for the next part while tying up some loose ends from the first part.

The best part of the film is definitely not the length since you do feel the drag especially in the middle part. Overall, the film feels less of a wow factor since the big reveal was already revealed in the first part but what they find digging deeper and whether this girl is as powerful as the other. The best parts of the film is where the Girl will have her unpredictable moments from her reactions which still has a mild psychological horror effect.

Overall, The Witch Part 2 is a more straightforward action horror film with some comedic moments as relief. The film is a little longer and the story feels like its partially meant to set up the stage for Part 3, which I’ve read is the last part (you can correct me if I’m wrong). However, it loses the unpredictable level but maintains some bloody over the top action sequences (even if its computer graphics heavy). Its still a fun watch even if its a little convoluted since it sets up enough to anticipate for the next part.

Movies and Tea #61 – Them

Kicking off our Season 8 with a season long look at the progression of Creature Features! We’re starting with the 1950s as we take a look at giant ant invasion in Them! Head on over to Movies and Tea and give us a listen. Let us know whether you’ve seen this one!

Movies and Tea

Kicking off our season long look at the evolution of the creature feature is the B-Movie classicThemas radioactive testing in the New Mexico desert has caused the ant population to grow to gigantic size wrecking havoc on the local population and their sugar supplies!

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