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michaelkingi
Reviews
Xiang Mi Chen Chen Jin Ru Shuang (2018)
Epic Fantasy Chinese Folklore Love Story!!!
I wonder if there are some out there that wish they were the Jinmis of the world or the Phoenix.
Not a fan of romance or love stories if the truth be told and the only one I ever really liked was Titanic, however, this Chinese drama and one other has changed that for me over the last few weeks.
I hope the world gets to see such phenomenal dramas like this that are so well executed that films like Romeo and Juliet pale quite significantly.
I actually woke up this morning with what felt like a broken heart all because of Ashes of Love and watching the last 10 episodes last night.
It took me a little while to get into this as the first 20 episodes are a warm up to what is really to come and it just gets better and better as it progresses. Epic!!!
Not that those first 20 episodes are boring or anything as it has some amazing moments.
I have lots of favourite parts like the main love scenes between the two lead characters, the wedding scene between Muci and the Underworld Princess, the tomb episode, the mortal world episodes and on and on an on.
I liked most characters although wasn't too keen on the Queen Empress or Sui He because they were easy to dislike.
The betrayal by Jimni cut me like a knife - I wanted to reach though the screen and take her out!!! I didn't feel she deserved any happiness after that or forgiveness - not one bit.
There were these little minor not so important parts that I really liked as well like:
1) Jinmi throwing a tantrum about eating vegetables and fruit and challenging the Heavenly realm about them having to "eat their family and friends" and her getting her way by eating a piece of chicken.
2) The Phoenix teaching her valid lessons like her inability to transform so he changes her into a rabbit, seated bench, cabbage and even chopsticks!
3) The line in the puppet show where Jinmi says something like: "Your already pretending to be blind. Are you now deaf?!"
Not major scenes at all, but I really really liked them and am sure there are more.
Runyu I liked as well and felt really bad for him, but what was fantastic is that no matter what happened the Phoenix still came through for him when he needed him most which was more than he deserved. His younger brother wasn't like him at all even when he became a part of the Demon realm and walked the six realms looking for Jinmi.
I WILL BE WATCHING THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN AND IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
Thai Cave Rescue (2022)
Good To Watch If...
You know nothing about the story or minimal information.
I thought this was acceptable to watch, but may have overlooked the real heroes behind the scenes.
Ben Reymenants & Maksym Polejaka.
The kids acting in it are believable and the overall cast is great!
In regards to the actual rescue there were a number of people dedicated to finding these 12 boys and coach from what I have watched and read, some became heroes, and some were sidelined for whatever reasons.
Everyone involved, really speaking, should have been recognised for whatever effort was made except maybe the two British cave divers that came in right at the end to take all the glory
Well, they were there at the start, but decided to back out as they thought it too risky so they stayed well and truly out of it until the way was cleared.
The Navy seals that were there to execute the rescue didn't have the same experience as some of the professional cave divers that were there yet made up for it with their bravery and hard effort even though it meant risking their own lives, and unfortunately, Saman Gunan lost his life and one year later another navy seal diver lost his life after picking up an infection from the cave.
The two cave divers that actually did what was needed more than anyone else was Ben Reymenants and Maksym Polejaka as they were the ones that were able to get passed the flooded caverns and secure red rope from one end point to the one cavern no one else could find or reach due to poor visibility and such. Once that cavern was found and pegged off - the rest of the cave was relatively easy to manoeuvre through all the way to where those boys and coach were located. In fact, Ben and Maksym probably would have gone further had they had more rope on them and if Maksym had more air in his diving tank as he only had 1-2 hours left. Might I mention there was one moment there that could have ended quite tragically for them both.
A lot of people collaborated to save these 13 young lives and that shouldn't be ignored at all, however, the real heroes that made the difference as far as I'm concerned are Ben and Maksym if what I saw in their interviews is anything to go by.
There are other heroes too, but for different reasons.
Films and tv series would be great if they kept close to the real events and who really was who or at least give credit where credit is due.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)
Something Just Didn't Mesh...
I am a huge fan of Harry Potter and was really looking forward to this movie because I do have a soft spot for the "fantastic beasts", but unfortunately this third one, for me, left me feeling a bit flat.
It was like a cake recipe being put together with all the right ingredients only for it to not reach one's expectations because a step was missed or rushed.
Result: A bit bland and not balanced.
Great scenery.
Solid cast.
Thematic moments.
No real story development.
No real character development.
Fantastic special effects.
Not sure about the plot.