What’s Up – March 2024

Quick Update on Reality TV Round-Up

The beginning of the year has been pretty crazy. I’m not sure why I expected otherwise as I’m pretty much back into the normal routine of working. With that said, there’s been a lot of delays on the monthly posts which I’m trying to stay on top of but not really getting anything done. While I can’t change a lot of the other posts without it being too bulky, I’ve decided to do the Reality TV Round-Up posts every two months now as I don’t watch as many variety shows or documentaries to have enough to talk about. Its already been the case for the first Reality TV Roundup post this year and it will continue with that.

With that out of the way, let’s get the show on the road with a very late What’s Up for March round-up! And yes, there is no books section because I haven’t really finished anything or started anything new other than cycling through my child’s books and re-reading a lot of them.

MOVIES

• The Bad Guys (2022)
• Joy Ride (2023)
• Nope (2022)
• Meg 2: The Trench (2023)
• Ghostbusters (2016)
• Bring It On: Cheer Or Die (2022)
• Missing (2023)
• Slaxx (2020)
• Tampopo (1985)
• She Said (2022)
• Door Mouse (2022)
• Paranormal Activity (2007)
• Halloween Ends (2022)
• Julie & Julia (rewatch 2009, Review)
• Before Sunrise (1995)
• Wonka (2023)
• Pig (2021)
• Damsel (2024)
• Before Sunset (2004)
• John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
• Chef (2014)
• Cobweb (2023)
• Spring (2014)
• Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

March viewings was primarily dominated by the one month Crave subscription I took for a Movies and Tea viewing. Looking back at March, some of these films feel like a long time away however there were some impressive offerings on Crave with an Awkwafina voice acting fix with The Bad Guys, a slightly awkward but entertaining Joy Ride, an outstanding alien invasion with Nope, a well-executed look at a true story adaptation with She Said, a stylistic offering with Door Mouse, a gripping cyber found footage with Missing, a truffle pig chase road trip with Nicolas Cage in Pig, a great action piece with John Wick: Chapter 4 and a fairly creepy offering with Cobweb and finally catching up with an overnight wandering in Vienna with Before Sunrise. Let’s not forget a musical adventure with Wonka.

Of course, it wasn’t only Crave that had some fun offerings although those titles really did stand out quite a bit. Tampopo was a fun foodie trip into ramen which has definitely become more impressive as I think back to it. Netflix’s new film in March Damsel starring Millie Bobby Brown had some issues but overall was pretty fun as well. However, the surprising find was definitely our first time into Paranormal Activity franchise with the first two films were sufficiently creepy. Those last few have reviews that will come out soon.

TV

• Asia Super Young (Season 1, 2023)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 7 rewatch Review)
• Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2017 rewatch)
• Closer To You Season 2 (我的刺猬女孩之念念不忘, 2023)
• Till The End of the Moon (長月燼明, 2023)

Currently watching: Memories Beyond Horizon S2, Run For Time S4, Is It Cake? S3

As my Gilmore Girls rewatch comes to an end in March, I’ve been trying to work in more Youku viewings with the last month of the streaming service subscription and I have to say that I picked two decent TV series to wrap it up. I still have a few more series on my radar from the service that I will probably sub again when the second season of Asia Super Young comes around.

Closer to You Season 2 is a fun series but the change in the female lead does impact the feelings toward it. While she did a great job, the first season definitely had a lot more going for it however for something angled around time travel, it worked for the most part and threw some decent curveballs at the end.

As for Till The End of the Moon, I’ve been a big fan of Leo Luo since last year with Light Chaser Rescue so I’ve been intrigued by his series and he does a great job here, much like Bai Lu which I can understand her popularity. Its a fairly typical fantasy romance drama full of heartache and breakups and tears and it also has kind of a time travel element as well but the chemistry and the execution is really great and it ended up growing on me especially the development of Leo Luo’s character.

GAMES

• Season: A Letter to the Future (demo)

Currently playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

Not a whole lot of gaming in general recently as I make a little bit of progress in the Ace Attorney as I edge to the end but not really finding time to actually finish it. A lot of the same expected in April as work takes over more so not a lot of time for gaming. However, I did get around to checking out a demo sitting in my archive since the last Steam Fest and in true forgetful nature, I can’t remember when that was so its probably been at least a month or two. The game is available already so it was just for fun to see whether its worth adding to my wishlist and its pretty fun as it adds in a biking element and definitely a more relaxing sort of game as the character goes through the story finding elements and taking photos to the story. That’s been my type of game lately.

We’re incredibly late with this one so expect the April What’s Up to be in about a week or so.
I need to catch up with the other monthly segments that hasn’t been done the past month.

Reality Show Roundup – January & February 2024

Things are really behind the last month so we’re going to be doing a double month wrap-up for Reality Show Round-up! Its also because I haven’t been watching a lot of variety shows lately and trying to catch up on some dramas so this segment is a little more quiet than usual.

Queer Eye (Season 6, 2021)

Season 6 returned in 2021 providing the positive breather in the middle of the pandemic as their production also got shut down during the recording of the first episode. I’m a big fan of Queer Eye on Netflix and its great to watch the Fab Five start as it started more along the lines of a makeover show but has now become a lot more than that because Karamo isn’t the only person who shares on culture and general mindset as the whole group has something to share depending on who they are working with.

Set in Texas this time, they pick an incredible ensemble of heroes. Its probably one of my favorite seasons because I liked 90% of the heroes they chose because these people really have some big hearts and great stories to tell in how they are using their own way to support their community and/or the inner struggles that they need to work through. I honestly can’t really decide which episode I love more but I’m always a big fan of the following episodes:

• Episode 1: Showdown at the Broken Spoke
• Episode 3: No More Bull
• Episode 5: Craw-Zaddy
• Episode 7: Snow White of Central Texas
• Episode 8: Gimme Shelter
• Episode 9: A Legend in the Baking

Queer Eye (Season 8, 2024)

Kicking off 2024 at the end of January on Netflix is Queer Eye Season 8 which offered a continuation in New Orleans with six episodes featuring an array of “heroes” of everyday people who was nominated for one reason or another to help them move forward in life in a better way. New Orleans has been an interesting area and Season 7 did introduce some interesting people that had their makeovers from different walks of life and needed different help.

This season structures around a little bit of the same which looks at a family man in need of resparking the romance in his relationship, a KISS fan, a clarinet virtuoso, a deaf athletics director, a former nun and a grieving chef. Queer Eye episodes at this point have managed to create some touching moments and even educational for their viewers. There’s always something to learn from each of these people and usually helps create positivity and confidence in life. While as a whole, I don’t personally feel some of these stories to be as strong as say Season 6, there are some pretty good ones this season as well with The Sweet Life and The Flying Nun being the two that really stands out in my opinion.

The Grand Tour: Sand Job (2024)

While my husband remains a devoted fan to The Grand Tour since Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond moved their trio to Amazon Prime, the most recent release earlier this year The Sand Job set as a driving challenge through Mauritania, is my first time in over a decade to sit down and watch a complete episode. Not surprising that it still has a lot of the comedic elements that this group manages to have especially with the silliness and recklessness of some of the decisions. Being the penultimate show for The Grand Tour with these three, The Sand Job offers another exotic location and another trio of cheap modified race cars selected by the trio here to take on this long, arduous journey. The part of the joy of these challenges is not only the trials and tribulations they go through on the journey as each of their cars break down, but also the challenges thrown at them and the sometimes outrageous ways they decide to choose to solve it. As outrageous as it is, its part of the entertainment from these three as they engage in their shenanigans.

The Sand Job offers a very one-sided element issues in terms of car issues however the environment is fairly exotic so it also has its own set of unknowns and there are some moments where they all get into some fun stuff. I’m not sure if its just getting into one of these episodes after so many years but at times, this feels like a road trip travel show but just taking a more mechanical angle. The Sand Job is an entertaining episode and the dynamic of the trio still remains after so many years. I suppose its time to go back and catch up on the previous Grand Tour episodes and get some more laughs.

What’s Up – February 2024

BOOKS

Currently reading: The Book and the Sword

I’m not going to lie, reading really didn’t happen too much in February. While I do want to read The Book and the Sword, the fact that my toddler now requires a different bedtime story time style has limited what I read. Instead, we’re cycling through a lot of the easier children’s books. I’ve read about 10 times of 2 Chinese books per day because he just loves it and then bedtime revolves around a mish mash of other books that I’ve already mentioned before. I’m hoping with less work during my downtime, I will be able to actually pick up a book to read. A part of that will be made easier once I do another more realistic reorganization of my storage space so that I can sort through my books a little easier.

MOVIES

• Lust For A Vampire (1971)
• The Lost City (2022)
• Bitch Ass (2022)
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (short 2023)
• The Swan (short 2023)
• The Rat Catcher (short 2023)
• Poison (short 2023)
• The Mummy (1999)
• Wild Card (2015)
• Love and Monsters (2020)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
• Enola Holmes 2 (2022 rewatch, Review)
• Opera (1987)
• The Tall Man (2012)
• Past Lives (2023)
• Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong (2015 rewatch, Review)

While everyone’s preparing for the Academy Awards and catching up with viewings, I’m surprised to actually review my February list and see that I watched one winner and one nominee with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Past Lives respectively. Both of which are really great films in their own way. As I truck along with the Oh My Horror Challenge and falling behind with the actual reviews, I’ve seen some pretty great movies this month which is making my first time watches list a little more respectable. All the short films on Netflix directed by Wes Anderson are pretty great. I finally watched the 1999 The Mummy which I’ve actually never seen before and absolutely loved it. Love and Monsters is an underrated film that is also incredible. As for a movie that grew on me more and more as I thought about it, that would be Past Lives.

TV

• Indulgence (染指, 2024)
• Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (Season 1, 2023)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 3 rewatch Review)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 4 rewatch Review)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 5 rewatch Review)
• The Grand Tour: Sand Job (Season 5, 2024)
• Justice in the Dark (光渊, 2023)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 6 rewatch Review)

Currently binging: Asia Super Young, Memories Beyond Horizon S2, Till The End of the Moon

I honestly don’t even know where to start for TV series. I had a lot of stuff to take care of so of course that meant a significant focus on the Gilmore Girls rewatch. I tried out one of the short dramas Indulgence, which are basically 10 minute episodes each on Youku. The best way to describe it would be best compared to reading trashy romance novels. The production value is not the great, the story has some old-fashioned plot points and the acting is below average for the most part but I can see why some people do enjoy these dramas.

We finished Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre and much like any anthology short film series, it has some that work better than others. I’ve never read any of Junji Ito’s horror manga but if this is even just dipping your toe into his mind, its absolutely wild. Some of these stories really go off the left field and some are pretty unique and others are simply terrifying. Like nightmare-inducing terrifying because I did end up getting nightmares when I first started the series.

Finally, for some shorter episodes, I don’t usually watch The Grand Tour but I did sit down for the latest season/episode The Sand Job which was a lot of fun. I also caught the 8 episode Youku series Justice in the Dark adapted from a novel Silent Reading by Priest. The series ended with so many loose ends but had some a great world building and concept that I ended up buying the novel series since it doesn’t seem like any sequel is in the works.

GAMES

Currently playing: Somerville, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy, I Love Hue

As expected, gaming took a similar hit to books. I actually ended up continuing on I Love Hue which is a relaxing mobile puzzle game where you have to rearrange colors according to the gradient level. Its one that I’ve been playing on and off over the years but still like to go back to every once in a while.

What’s Up – January 2024

Letterboxd Year in Review 2023

Film Logged: 168 (there’s 10 TV series logged in here)
Hours Watched: 485 Hours
Most Watched Actor: Bill Murray
Most Watched Director: Wes Anderson
Top Rated 2023 Films: Hidden Love (TV series), Once Upon a Studio, Sly
Most Watched Week of 2023: 11 Films on Week 45 (Nov 6-12)
Most Watched Day of 2023: Monday
Most Watched Theme: Emotional and captivating fantasy storytelling
Most Watched Nanogenre: Horror, Twist, Death

Honestly, I’m pretty impressed with how Letterboxd has gotten pretty detailed with the other statistics other than the most watched actor and director which, due to Movies and Tea, its usually pretty easy to guess who those two will be and I guessed this year’s with no hesitation.

WHAT’S UP

Books

• Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain

Currently reading: Boy: Tales of Childhood, The Book and the Sword

I can’t even remember when I started the book but it has to about 3 months to finish Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain. If you’ve only seen any of the adaptations, I’d say to try to look this book up because it is such a treat. The version I had included two short stories originally published in 1961: Blade-dance of the Two Lovers and White Horse Neighs in the Western Wind which were also pretty fun to read as well. Its not quite as well structured and executed as Fox Volant but Blade-dance had some fun ensemble of characters while White Horse dragged a little but had some interesting twists. I will eventually get the actual review up once I catch up with all the writing that’s fallen behind in 2024.

Movies

• Saltburn (2023 Review)
• Asteroid City (2023)
• Body Parts (1991 Review)
• The Flying Swordsman (2022 Review)
• Puppet Master (1989 Review)
• I Did It My Way (2023 Review)
• Miss Shampoo (2023)
• Prisoners (2013)
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014)
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015)
• The Neon Demon (2016 Review)
• Enola Holmes (2020 rewatch, Review)
• Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002 rewatch)
• The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018)
• Wolf Pack (狼群, 2022 Review)

I’ve worked really hard to keep up with movie reviews this month and I think it really shows some promise (even though this post is coming out incredibly delayed from usual). January was a great month for movie-watching. Not sure the actual movie quality was really good but I did get around to catching up with the rest of the film series for Hunger Games before it left Netflix and joined the Oh My Horror Challenge so its boosted up the film count and helped explore some interesting horror genres/subgenres.

My recommendations this month aren’t too plentiful but Asteroid City, Prisoners and Wolf Pack from my first time watches are definitely the stand-outs. While Puppet Master, Body Parts and Miss Shampoo had their fun parts, the first two also had some really weird moments that I’m not sure I’m totally behind and the last one is solely because I’m not a fan of the comedy style so some of the jokes really didn’t land well for me and while it was meant to be cringe-y over the top romance, some of it just felt really uncomfortable.

TV

• Dead Ringer (叠影狙击, 2023)
• Mountains and Oceans (你是我眼中的山川和海洋, 2019)
• Closer To You (我的刺猬女孩, 2020)
• Queer Eye (Season 7, 2023 Review)
• Queer Eye (Season 6, 2022 rewatch)
• Queer Eye (Season 8, 2024)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 1 rewatch, Review)
• Gilmore Girls (Season 2 rewatch, Review)

Currently watching: Asia Super Young, Singing With Legends S5, Justice in the Dark, Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre

While TV series kind of took a backseat at the beginning of the month and it was somewhat of a deliberate choice since I wanted to get back to writing movie reviews. The focus this month other than another Gilmore Girls run because its the best overtime companion was the new season Queer Eye and working through some of the Youku subscription which has some fun stuff and more Hong Kong series even if I just watched Dead Ringer which was relatively decent if not a little predictable and some weird acting but ruined it with a very lazy ending and then went through the Sabrina Zhuang series with Mountains and Oceans which I had some mixed feelings about throughout but it had a silent attack on me and caught me off-guard a few times and turned out to be pretty good but not quite as good as Closer To You which probably isn’t as good as a similar time travel series premise like Shining For One Thing but its a lot more fun.

Games

Currently playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Gaming really took stumble in January which usually happens because I’m just really busy with work. It doesn’t change even if I’m part-time because the workload just diminished in proportion for the most part. I did work through a a little bit more of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney but I’m at the episode 5 which is also the last and hardest one of the game. I’ve always had issues with this episode and with my crappy memory and its been probably the longest stretch between replays for this game, I basically remember the plot but can’t remember how to solve a lot of the stuff so its a new experience overall.

I apologize for the delay for this post but February wrap-up should be coming up relatively on time!
I have a few other posts to catch up on before we get there but I’m working on it!

What have you been watching/reading/playing?

Reality TV Roundup – October & November 2023

Michelle Wolf: It’s Great To Be Here (2023)

Follows comedian Michelle Wolf as she covers a wide range of subjects, including relationships, sexual harassment, racial issues, and adjusting to a new culture. – IMDB

I’m not sure how many people still remember The Break with Michelle Wolf but I was a big fan of it so I’m always there when Michelle Wolf gets a stand-up comedy gig. The latest one released a few months ago was a three episode show which basically angled around a few sets as she tours which covers a wide variety of social issues.

Much like any form of comedy, its pretty subjective. This show was overall pretty good where a lot of the jokes landed well for me as she does address a lot of funny observations. The first episode works the best as she talks about her life in Barcelona but there are a lot of other relevant issues that she tackles here which does have a nice effect.

Michelle Wolf is a rather unique comedian. Her voice is very distinctive but at the same time, the material she talks about also has a sharp edge to it that works well.

American Ninja Warrior (Season 13, 2021)

Netflix acquired one season of American Ninja Warrior. I’m not exactly why its one season and specifically this season but as someone who doesn’t have cable and I never used to watch American Ninja Warrior but I do love shows like Ultimate Beastmaster, its a pretty fun outing to watch all these different athletes from different walks of life challenging themselves to the many obstacles. The structure of these shows are pretty basic but its nice to see all the stories and this one specifically started featuring a lot of younger ninja warriors. The obstacle courses were pretty fun in each stage and had enough variation between the different groups at the start to stay refreshing and fun.

There’s not a lot to say about these shows. I’m sure that they have their own audience since its been going on for so long. For myself, while I can’t do any of this but I always find it motivating to watch these and get myself back into training.

Call Me By Fire 披荆斩棘 (Season 3, 2023)

“Call Me by Fire Season 3” takes “overcoming obstacles and striving for China” as the core, through the stories of 32 male guests who are constantly challenging, exploring, and striving to forge ahead, showing the fighting spirit of men. The program still adopts the panoramic competition variety show mode similar to the previous seasons. After the first stage, 5 song competitions and the cooperation and competition of the family birth night, the third generation of the hot singing family was finally established. – MyDramaList

I’m a big fan of Call Me By Fire. I finished pretty much all the previous two seasons. While I think that the first two seasons really had some heavy hitters with the renowned household names from the 90s and 2000s in Asia, this season fell a little bit short. Some of them were celebrities that I personally liked but felt like they had a bit of the one hit wonder or even just had more success in smaller TV series or did their thing and stayed in recent years out of the spotlight so it made it more challenging for them to garner audience interest right from the start. But, the great things about these shows are that they dig up some unseen potential from what we already know or even introduce some other unfamiliar faces.

This season, I learned about Thai singer Jeff Satur who has a fantastic voice and talent. At the same time, seeing as I just finished Hidden Love, I really continue to enjoy watching Victor Ma because he always seems so down to earth and hilarious. One of the actors I like watching also joined the show who was Zhe Ming Wei and while he didn’t seem to have a ton of popularity, it was a lot of fun to learn a bit about his background and see the different performances. Of course, there’s always some fun people who join making this season probably the one filled with the most laughs as you gather Tiger Hu, Jimmy Lin, Nicholas Teo, GEM, Nicky Lee and most importantly, David Wang.

I honestly don’t really care too much who ends up at the big finale but this season was hands down one of the most fun. Previous seasons dug deep into the nostalgia but this season had less of that and just a lot of laughter and creativity.

Let’s Fall In Love (Season 5, 2023)

Hosts: Annie Yi, Victor Qin, Yang Qing Zhou, Cici Wang, Zhen Yu Jiang, Hua Sen Chang

There’s probably one romance dating variety show on each popular streaming channels in China like Heart Signal in WeTV/Tencent or Yes I Do on IQiyi. Youku produces two of these. The first one is for its youthful romance set as a university graduation trip which I’ve talked about before HERE called Twinkle Love. Let’s Fall In Love or RelationShip is the normal romance dating one featuring people who have already established their career to a certain level. They always set different parameters of similarities in the group. This time its for people who are a little older nearing their 30s. Its interesting because this show started up right before the pandemic and was called Relation Ship because it was set on a cruise ship in two different legs where halfway through the contestants could choose to stay or leave for the second part where they’d get new contestants in. Post-pandemic, its no longer on a cruise ship but feels more normal but still structures around a trip and experience in a new location.

Season 5 actually starts with a pre-reunion which has the ladies having to choose who they invite to the house and after their initial meeting, they can all decide whether they decide to continue or not. Its an interesting twist on it. Let’s Fall In Love has become one of my favorite types of these kind of shows because they try hard to add in a refreshing twist to change things up from the previous season. While some people do say that these things could be scripted, I choose to view this as normal people interacting. There has to be a certain of control here seeing as your life is surrounded by cameras at every angle and at times cameramen following you on dates and such even if you are in control and are free to make a good part of your own decisions on how you react. This season was mainly dramatic because of two of the contestants which created most of the debate on how guys and girls should react and such.

In the end, these shows are sold not only for their contestants finding romance but also as a means of observation for those watching to learn a little something through the hosts’ discussions. This season’s hosts are great. I’m honestly becoming a big fan of Victor Qin because he is absolutely hilarious but the banter between him and Yang Qing Zhou is another level of funny. Either way, it achieved what I was looking for in some good entertainment.

Adventure & What’s Up – November 2023

ADVENTURES

Kinton Ramen – Quartier Dix30

Not a whole lot of adventures here except for the random meal outing. In this case, we went to check out the opening week of Kinton Ramen in their latest location at Quarter Dix30. I haven’t been to Kinton Ramen since before the pandemic except for the one time I did some takeout from one of the downtown locations so didn’t really know of any of the changes on the menu. The menu remains pretty simple but added a beef option now. The food was okay. The chicken donburi (left photo) was a tad salty in some spots but I got it for my toddler and he seems to enjoy the rice portion a lot. We also shared the ramen where the chicken was pretty good and the egg was cooked as it should be (which is an important element of the ramen bowl). I took the thin noodles which is my normal choice. I did also take the takoyaki which I forgot to take a picture of but was good. I wasn’t super impressed with the service but its the first week so I’m fairly understanding of it. Its a passable experience and at this point, its been open a couple of weeks so if you are near there, then you can go and form your own opinion about it.

Toddler Update

Nothing but good news on the 17 month update for Triple V. Our latest doctor follow-up visit included a full check-up and everything is doing so great, our next follow-up is at 24 months. He’s back on the curve and all his development seems to be hitting the mark as his toddling took a huge leap in the last month to walking and now its speed walking, shuffling, climbing, etc. A lot of more attention on the little guy is where we’re at but he’s also creating a lot of fun activities for himself like literally running circles around it. When he does that, he’s having a party of two or three because we’re having fun watching him so giggly and happy as well. The vocabulary and general comprehension is definitely improving but he is working with three languages in our house so the doctor also said as long as he is understanding, then he will pick up the talking gradually. Just have to keep on keeping on like we’re doing right now and continue finding more activities.

Holidays Marathon

As I try to get some type of movie reviews up and always seem to turn to TV binges instead, Holidays Marathon will happen but only in the week prior to Christmas, mostly because I’m running really low on what to review. I might even toss in some titles in December for films set around Christmas which happened to be a huge theme of November which was completely unintentional. We will see how it goes but I’m working on it.

Real Life & Minor Kitchen Renovations

Talk about a month of real life happening, normally this month would be when I’d share my awesome Black Friday hauls but this month included some sudden financial things like mortgage renewals, dentist appointment, and some minor kitchen renovations purchases. Of course, I did take advantage of Black Friday for very fun essential stuff like windshield washer fluid, ice melter and most importantly, diapers. You know it! Nothing beats buying diapers on discount because they are probably the most used item in the house right now. The serious part of this is probably that with minor kitchen renovations to work on, we will see how much Christmas we can get up when our normal Christmas tree spot is full of Ikea boxes as we install the new items ourselves gradually.

WHATS UP

BOOKS

Currently reading: Flying Volant of Snowy Mountain

Nothing too exciting on the reading fun as we continue on the slow bedtime reading of Flying Volant of Snowy Mountain. If anything, my Cantonese reading is getting much better now after exactly 200 pages, which is where I’m at with this book and that’s just about halfway. I’m halfway and the story is basically a lot of talking about the past and setting up the situation and now they are looking for a treasure in a icy cave in the snowy mountain. I wonder if the entire story will be set around this scenario. I can’t remember the adaptation but it didn’t seem so focused on one spot. However, that’s not to say that it isn’t good. It is pretty fun to see the story unfold as they tell their story and debunk another’s lies.

MOVIES

• Choose Love (Interactive, 2023)
• 365 Days (2020)
• 365 Days: This Day (2022)
• The Next 365 Days (2022)
• Book Club (2018)
• Sly (2023)
• Mean Girls (2004 rewatch)
• The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
• Hotel Chevalier (short 2007)
• Quiz Lady (2023)
• Nine to Five (1980)
• For The Birds (short 2000 rewatch)
• La Luna (short 2011 rewatch)
• Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
• A Haunting in Venice (2023)
• In Her Shoes (2005)
• Isle of Dogs (2018)
• National Treasure (2004 rewatch)
• Smile (2022)
• Nowhere (2023)
• National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007 rewatch)
• Cruella (2021)
• Eternals (2021)
• Drive Me Crazy (1999)
• Table 19 (2017)
• Toy Story 4 (2019)
• Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961 rewatch)
• Noelle (2019)
• Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool (2023)

The final month of discounted Disney Plus in play here as I try to catch up to a lot of titles from the recording of an upcoming season of Movies and Tea (you can guess the director) to Pixar which was a sorry effort and Marvel Cinematic Universe, which also wasn’t too great in progress but ended up catching a bunch of random titles on my watchlist instead. I guess that’s how it always is but I did find some interesting movies in the mix like finally watching 10 Things I Hate About You which I thought was pretty fun. I can’t really talk about Disney Plus without talking about Quiz Lady because of Awkwafina. I just love her. She’s such a shining point in everything that she’s in.

You can also noticed that I challenged myself early in the month at the 365 Days Trilogy which I’m trying to write about it but there’s just so many things that probably is worth more of my time to write about before the end of the year. As we talk about Netflix productions, the documentary for Sylvester Stallone called Sly is very good much like the stand-up comedy of Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool. The latter is really more because of the jokes landing because of the general age group landing around the people I know so I can definitely get a lot more of the jokes.

I watched a lot of movies this past month and I’m trying very hard to see how to get all these films written. You might start seeing groups of reviews come out especially since I’m trying to see how to write a little about all the Marvel movies I’ve watched this past year but not having to do full reviews because its a lot and some of it isn’t very diverse in discussion points. We will see where it goes.

TV

• American Ninja Warrior (Season 13, 2021)
• The Midnight Club (Season 1, 2022 Review)
• Call Me By Fire (Season 3, 2023)
• National Treasure: Edge of History (Season 1, 2022 Review)
• Let’s Fall In Love/Relationship (Season 5, 2023)

Currently watching: Light Chaser Rescue, Crush Over 2023, Singing With Legends S4, Asia Super Young

Writing TV Binges are a lot of fun, much like watching TV series is a lot of fun as well. This month might not seem too plentiful considering I only have a pair of eyes and they were spent watching movies during most of my spare time. Honestly, everything I’ve been watching has been really good. You can already read the reviews for The Midnight Club and National Treasure: Edge of History which were both entertaining to say the least. As for variety/reality shows, it will pop up in the next roundup. The very odd single season of American Ninja Warrior Season 13 got added to Netflix and I’m always a big fan of these things plus it got me motivated to get back into shape. The Chinese shows are the same but shows that I personally enjoy from dating shows to music shows.

GAMES

• Jusant
• Venba
• Cocoon

Currently playing: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Look at this gaming month, even I’m a little impressed with myself. Nothing like the stress of the ending of a subscription to give the perfect kick in the pants to play more games. I kept the Game Pass an extra month just to play Jusant and boy, did it not disappoint. While I’m not gaming as much as I used to, its definitely a sit back and relax sort of game as you go on a climbing adventure to the top of a mountain to learn about people who used to live on the side of the mountains but eventually had to move on with the lack of water and excessive heat. The soundtrack is just wow. If you aren’t a gamer but want to chill out, I recommend this soundtrack.

Venba is a short indie game about an immigrant family and the challenges between generations, trying to fit in and also keeping family tradition, in this case, cooking or trying to mend her mother’s recipes. Its only about 2 to 3 hours long. It almost feels like it could be fleshed out more with its cooking mechanics.

Cocoon was a last minute pick for myself and it was because I learned that this is from the game designer of Limbo and Inside, two games that I love a lot. Playdead director and designer may have gone their separate ways to different projects and Somerville is a game I’m going to play very soon but Cocoon is a fantastic puzzle adventure and the no narrative world is great. The puzzles are a little loopy especially by the end because of the world/orb travelling element but nothing so complicated that a little brain exercise can’t solve. Of course, that comes to say that you do have to enjoy a little challenging puzzle game.

Time to battle the Steam backlog now that I am Game Pass free (until the next $1/month promotion if it happens).

TV Binge: The Midnight Club (Season 1, 2022)

The Midnight Club (Season 1, 2022)

Creators: Mike Flanagan & Leah Fong

Cast: Iman Benson, Igby Rigney, Ruth Codd, Annarah Cymone, William Chris Sumpter, Adia, Aya Furukawa, Sauriyan Sapkota, Matt Biedel, Samantha Sloyan, Zach Gilford, Heather Langenkamp

The Midnight Club follows an octet of terminally-ill teenage patients at Brightcliffe Hospice as they gather at midnight to share scary stories. – IMDB

Based primarily on the 1994 novel of the same name by Christopher Pike as well as adapting some of his short stories of various other books, The Midnight Club is a horror mystery thriller directed by Mike Flanagan which takes place in a hospice and the eight terminally-ill young adults who form The Midnight Club, following a long line of patients who are part of this club that get together at midnight to share scary stories and have a pact that whoever dies first will find a way to reach out if they can. The admission of their latest member, Ilonka (Iman Benson) stirs up the group as she tries to find the truth behind a story about a past patient who disappeared from the hospice and came back completely healed.

While I haven’t read the source material, The Midnight Club has an appealing execution and series structure. There’s a sense of watching an anthology as each episode focuses around a story told by one of the young adults which seemingly reveals a part of their own story with a twist. At the same time, the main storyline also strings through their conflicts and realities that they need to face with family that struggles to accept their illness or simply their own personal issues. This structure does have similar anthology genre issues where some stories are stronger than others and the scary element varies from some that push the outwardly unnerving but others are more subtle psychological horror. While it might have a little of something for everyone, it might not hit everyone the same. The central storyline follows each of them but Ilonka is a central focus as she starts to encounter odd things in the establishment itself as well as discovering more about the area that the hospice resides as well, which gives character to the location as well (something that I’m personally a big fan of).

Running at ten episodes, The Midnight Club manages to its rhythm well. While the scares aren’t like its previous shows and its set as a limited series instead of a mini-series, the series sets up the foundation for its characters and creates a mysteriously sinister location with Brightcliffe Hospice as it explores both the supernatural, cultist and historical elements. The characters also have their own uniqueness whether its their terminal illness or their personality, which creates a good balance between the harmony and friction to better understand these characters.

Mike Flanagan’s creations usually bring back familiar faces from previous projects that fit into this one. In this case, a good portion of his previous project Midnight Mass is here while adding in some new faces from its main leads like Ilonka played by Iman Benson or Anya played by Ruth Codd in her debut role to veteran cast like Heather Langenkamp who takes on the role as the doctor who runs the hospice. The Midnight Club truly shines in its characters because its them who tells the different stories and also shines the light on their struggles with their respective terminal illnesses as they experience loss, friendship and acceptance as well as all the unknown creepy things happening around them. While Ilonka’s character feels the most fleshed out in the group and she even has her own little mission, investigation and even romance along the way, Ruth Codd in her debut role here as Anya truly does steal the show. Despite its young cast being the focal point, most of the characters are well-written and believably portrayed.

Overall, The Midnight Club isn’t exactly what Mike Flanagan has done before on Netflix but at the same time, it still sticks a lot to the atmospheric execution that he is very good at. While it might not be as strong as its previous Netflix offerings from Mike Flanagan (which is pretty high bar that he set for himself), The Midnight Club still offered a lot of fun moments and the concept itself is unique as it explores so much more than just death. With a slated limited run of two seasons, it feels like a silly thing to just cancel it with just one more season to do especially since the first season set up the foundation of the series and its character incredibly well and had quite a few mysteries left to explore. Pity that we won’t get to see what happens.

TV Binge: National Treasure: Edge of History (Season 1, 2022)

National Treasure: Edge of History (Season 1, 2022)

Cast: Lisette Olivera, Zuri Reed, Antonio Cipriano, Jordan Rodrigues, Jake Austin Walker, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Breeda Wool, Lyndon Smith, Armando Riesco, Darri Ingolfsson, Tommy Savas, Jacob Vargas

Jess Valenzuela, a 20-year-old Dreamer, sets off on an exploration to discover the mystery of her family history, and, with the help of her friends, seeks to recover historical lost treasure. – IMDB

After many years of developmental hell to green-light the third National Treasure, what came instead was a TV series 15 years after its 2007 sequel with a young strong female lead heading the treasure hunt with the help of her friends as she learns about her own history while trying to follow in the footsteps to protect a treasure that has been tasked for generations. While the film focuses mostly around this new trail of clues and has its own dangers and villains, it does write a story that involves a few of the characters of the film series and gives them some extra purpose as in the case of an retired FBI agent Sadusky reprised by Harvey Keitel as a guest appearance and Ben Gates’ friend and computer expert Riley Poole now moving up into the podcast world still talking about treasures and cryptography.

These two guest appearances help boost the appearance of initially smaller characters like the current FBI boss Agent Hendricks reprised by Armando Riesco but this time, becoming the main FBI on the case as he guides a newly transferred agent Agent Ross adapt to her surroundings and respond to what feels like an unbelievable report. Navigating between young romance and friendship, family and history, the 10 episode TV series manages to offer up more than just an elaborate treasure hunt.

While National Treasure mostly has mixed reviews, I’ve always been rather fond of whole deal: the treasure hunt, the clues and cryptography, the comedic duo of Riley and Ben Gates and Nicolas Cage as Ben Gates truly brings out that character really well. The sequel didn’t offer a lot of differences but it had the same fun element which was really what watching a treasure hunting film should be. However, revisiting something revived always brings some mixed feelings especially when it changes format to a TV series format because the flow and pacing is completely different, not to mention the majority of the young cast is fairly new in the acting business. While they are surrounded by some seasoned actors like Catherine Zeta-Jones as the main villain Billie, it will always have some doubts.

With all that said, despite all my doubts and carrying some skeptical optimism into this viewing, National Treasure: Edge of History was a fun time. I honestly could care less about the whole young romance and who likes who and the attempt to make a love triangle but never fully committing to it. All that isn’t so important because the treasure hunting elements and the tricks and clues at every corner between the group of friends and Billie’s team truly brings on some fun encounters and also keeps it grounded that these are some newbies to the business and having the talent of solving clues might not be enough to navigate some of the schemes of the seasoned treasure hunters which leads them to having some losses.

Overall, National Treasure: Edge of History is pretty fun. It keeps up with the entertaining treasure hunting tone from its films. The tv series format also allows for the hunt to be more detailed and takes the crew to a few different places. The ideas and heart is where it should be. Its a pity that its suffered the reality of streaming platforms and didn’t get renewed. It would have been nice to see a new season however, while it left space for a new series direction, it still ended the series well wrapped up enough to feel complete. There’s nothing worse than the feeling of a series being cut off incomplete, at least this one managed to keep itself self-contained.

Adventures & What’s Up – October 2023

ADVENTURES

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving (in Canada) was the big event this month as well as our 8th wedding anniversary which happens to usually be about the same time. While we forgot to take a picture of the actual Thanksgiving dinner which had an oven-roasted turkey, roasted delicata & butternut squash and mash potatoes, we did end up eating the turkey for two more days, one of them was the day after making a “hot chicken” but with turkey. Delicious meal courtesy of my husband.

Toddler Update

October was an eventful month for development as Triple V got to 16 months which just meant that he suddenly is having all these development leaps from suddenly getting on his feet on day to walk slowly to progressing incredibly fast by the end of the month. As part of the follow-up for the previous months’ curve drop, we finally got the dietician appointment which was overall pretty good as the dietician told us that he was having a good variety and balance in his diet and gave us some tips on how to efficiently work on hunger and body weight as he is pretty active throughout the day and gave some recipes for making yogurt melts and puree melts. Other than that, the big event was Halloween where you can see he dressed up a cute little panda. It was a pretty cold and he isn’t supposed to eat any candy so we didn’t partake in any trick or treating but did go out for an evening walk in costume to check out the neighbor and join into the fun. Although he was more focused on his own walking than anything else, it was a nice evening out.

Halloween Marathon

Talking about Halloween, we need to recap the Halloween Marathon which has been fully updated on its page HERE. We only got 8 movies reviewed even though I did have a few other ones watched but never got around to getting those reviews out. There will probably a gradual release of horror reviews especially since my intention to catch up on the The Conjuring films and finishing the Final Destination series as well as Tremors films are still on my to-do list. One of my lesser yielding technically but in reality, I did prep a bit just the writing was a little slower.

WHAT’S UP

Books

Currently reading: Flying Volant of Snowy Mountain

Suffice to say that nothing too exciting is happening in terms of reading as I bounce between bedtime reading of Flying Volant of Snowy Mountain to re-reading a lot of bedtime stories to my toddler. On top of that, October is full of other everyday life commitments so it became hard to work on anything more book-related. As we near the end of the year and re-evaluate, probably reading will take a turn back to how it was next year. However, I haven’t read a whole lot of Jin Yong wuxia novels but seen a lot of movie and TV adaptations. Flying Volant of Snowy Mountain is one that I had a seen a TV adaptation back in the late 90s or early 2000s but really liked the plot so here we are.

Movies

• The Barn Dance (short 1929)
• Creepy Crawly (2022 Review)
• Zero to Hero (媽媽的神奇小子, 2021)
• Final Destination (2000 Review)
• I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998 Review)
• No One Will Save You (2023 Review)
• Rushmore (1998)
• Cars 3 (2017)
• Coco (2017)
• Wynken, Blynken & Nod (short 1938 rewatch)
• Fast X (2023)
• The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
• Once Upon A Studio (2023 short)
• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
• Final Destination 2 (2003 Review)

This month is full of Halloween marathon and Disney Plus movie picks mostly because I got the Disney Plus 3 months deal so now I’m working through a lot of the nostalgia, Pixar and Wes Anderson films as well as the new horror picks that made it on the catalogue right in time for October’s horror month. On top of that, I even managed to get a Thai creature feature screener review up as well as well as a bunch of 90s horror films and their sequels. At this point, it seems like working through franchises I’ve left on the original films is a big theme in this current phase.

In terms of recommendations from this month, Final Destination, No One Will Save You and the rewatch of Wynken, Blynken & Nod was definitely highlights. The Royal Tenenbaums stood out from the Wes Anderson catalogue so far and I’d recommend that as well.

TV

• Michelle Wolf: It’s Great To Be Here (2023)
• You Are My Glory (你是我的荣耀, 2021)
• The Oath of Love (余生, 请多指教, 2022)
• The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

Currently binging: Let’s Fall In Love S3, Call Me By Fire S3, Singing With Legends S5, Crush Over 2023, Light Chaser Rescue, American Ninja Warrior S13, The Midnight Club

As the year approaches its end, my WeTV streaming service is ending at the end of the year so I’ve been working through some of the C-dramas that has been on my watchlist. The service is a bit pricey in comparison so for now, I have no intention of renewing so working hard on getting through a few more series. However, the two that I’ve caught up with were pretty good. There’s a very healthy and positive message from the stories and focuses a lot on reality and the balance of work, life and self-improvement. Its a pretty nice overall. Not quite one of the best of the year for me but still delivered some good times. Not being frustrated at c-dramas in general is a pretty big win usually.

As for Netflix, I’m always there for Mike Flanagan’s new series. Last year, I didn’t get around to Midnight Club but this year, I wasn’t going to miss out on The Fall of the House of Usher which was so good that I suddenly have an urge to brush up on my Edgar Allan Poe literature which I know the basics of but never have dived very deep into it other than the little bits in College English class. Its also gave us the push to start up The Midnight Club. Reviews for those coming up soon.

Games

• Trek of Yomi (incomplete)

Currently playing: Forza Horizon 5, The Legend of Tianding, A Short Hike

There’s been a good bit of gaming lately as I’m about to work on the backlog and unsubscribe from PC Game Pass for a while however with a lot of the games I intended to play on the leaving list, I had to give those a quick look to see how I felt about them. Trek of Yomi is the only one here as completed mostly because the combat is more than I could handle as parrying is one of those gaming things I don’t have down and eventually even the casual mode was a little too much so while the story and the game was like playing a samurai movie, I’m listing it as incomplete because I can’t beat it.

Forza Horizon 5 is still the gaming playground I go to for a little fun everything once in a while. I did also check out Legend of Tianding which is a really fun game and a nice tribute to 2D action platformer games much like the 10 minutes that I played of A Short Hike which had a lot of elements I like in games for their fun, colorful and relaxing feeling.

Reality TV Roundup – September 2023

Great Escape Season 5 (2023)

Cast: Yang Mi, Justin, Wowkie Zhang, Xu Kai, Guo Wei Zhang, Evonne Xie

Great Escape is one of the Chinese TV variety shows that I catch all the time and follow closely. Its pretty incredible to see how the staging for these elaborate escape rooms have developed. The puzzles themselves are sometimes unique as well. For those who don’t know what this is, its basically a big escape room puzzle in a big setting with an elaborate story where 5 celebrity cast works together to solve the puzzles to escape. I actually reviewed the first version of this before it became Great Escape called The Chamber of Secrets Escape. What Great Escape has become is truly something both scary but comedic. Part of the fun is watching the many settings scaring and challenging its cast.

Season 5 takes Great Escape in a different direction where it brings in a quests mode where every setting has 3 quests. Some of these are individual and some are team quests and this will give them all their own ranking. For those familiar with Mango TV shows, its taking a direction similar to that of Who’s The Murderer. It isn’t surprising since Mango TV is trying to cross-promote its different shows lately. Even Great Escape has a spin-off IP Encounter where celebrities from their other original shows like Call Me By Fire and Sisters Makes Waves, shows up for escape room setting. Not to mention the VIP blocked Master version which puts a bunch of young celebrities, a few of them with strong academic background, joining together to solve the escape rooms which sometimes are changed up or if the same, it shows a different approach. I haven’t watched the spinoffs for Season 5 so I won’t comment on it here.

This season, Great Escape also welcomes back season 1 regular Evonne Xie who has been joining into a few more Mango TV shows. The last one was in Run On Time 2023 which I talked about last roundup. She’s always a fun addition and a member that I missed from the first season because she always adds a bubbly happy vibe to the group. This season, the normal regulars like Yang Mi and Wowkie Zhang all seem less scared and this development makes it more comedic as now they aren’t afraid to interact with the jumpscare NPCs. However, the scaredy-cat role gets taken over by Xu Kai after his guest appearance in Season 4 as he challenges himself at the start of the season that he will be able to be more brave by the end, which he somewhat achieves.

Great Escape Season 5 keeps up its fun elements. This time, the settings are more elaborate and meticulous in its creation. The background story they have to navigate is also well structured and unique. As usual, it always has some kind of message to ponder. There is a central element of time travel in this season which adds the sci-fi element of the show which was always there since previous seasons always had the blue-blooded aliens story in between. This time, it builds up a deeper world full of different dimensions which brings them to different time periods. If there was something that I felt was lacking in this season, it probably is the lessened amount of physical obstacles. Still, its a great time and I’m looking forward to the next season next year.

The Next 2023

Mentor: Charlie Zhou, Ella Chen, Qishan Huang, Jay Park, Ningning, Amber Liu, Wowkie Zhang, Jackson Wang (Creative Director)

Contestants: Ziwei Xu, Weize Cai, Oscar Wang, Veegee, Caelan Moriarty, Jinxin Cai, Lok Tung Tsang, Meiqi Meng, Babymonster An, Wonderframe, Leezi, Yubo Huang, Weier Bao, Jeryl Lee, B3Rich, Yuzi Zhang, Wanlin Chen, Yu Pu, Tianze Li, Sunny Lukas, Wang OK, Yaotao Wu, Deying Dai, Lyly, Zheyu Lin, Haofan Shao, Muye Qiu, Haibai Mei

26 performers, who are at different stages in their music careers as well as in life, step up on stage to perform as their authentic selves. Through different challenges, they compete against the others to earn a spot in the top 5. – MyDramaList

Its been a while since I’ve watched music competitions especially after the boy and girl group shows got put on the backburner after what happened after the last season of Youth With You which got cut right before its final performance. This show is not one of those shows but it is Tencent’s way to promote young singers, some of which are completely new to the industry while a few have been there for a while. Its understandable to have some more popular young celebrities mostly because it helps to pull in the viewers at the very least if the mentors don’t pull some weight either especially since Jackson Wang is present but is doing background work as creative director.

Since we’re talking about Jackson Wang, its a good starting point to talk about the mentors for the show. If you look at the list above, the mentors are really well-rounded. All of them has their own background and experience from being the music industry and entertainment business. They also all have their individual musical styles which helps the contestants. Charlie Zhou is multilingual and has a background in opera and pop music and is known for his wide vocal range especially his soprano voice. Ella Chen who found her fame as part of the Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. also brings her knowledge from her exceptional vocal abilities. Jay Park is the international mentor who is the most objective in his opinions and has his own hip-hop background while the rock music representative who got her fame from being part of a band is Qishan Huang. Its a well-rounded group of mentors who all have their expertise to share and a pretty good dynamic as they double as the host of the show.

The contestants are a decent selection. There are a lot of 18 year old musicians who is still studying in music or independently making their own music while some others are more in the indie music scene in different musical styles and then there are the few who have a big following mostly because of other shows like Produce Camp, The Coming One, Youth With You, etc. What is unique about this show is that it doesn’t have to be individual singers but rather they could also join as a duo where there were 2 groups that were bands. There’s not a whole lot to say about the contestants since its all in their performances and you can find all of that on Youtube on The Next channel but in a nutshell, my faves were teamed up for a performance which also happens to be my favorite performance of the whole show.

The Next 2023 had a lot of discussion from its viewers and while I think the winner is pretty good but it was a pretty predictable and safe choice for a music show, the show did achieve its purpose for this cast of contestants by helping them gain popularity by having all these stages to share their talent. I do hope that this show gets another season.