小時代 - Tiny Times

小時代 (Tiny Times) is an 2013 film out of Zhong Guo. The four main gals are Yang Mi, Amber Kuo, Hsieh Haden Kuo, and Hsieh Yi-lin. The four male leads are Kai Ko, Rhydian Vaughan, Li Yue-ming, and Cheney Chen. The movie was a big box office hit in Zhong Guo, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.



The four female leads start the film performing at their high school graduation. The voice over is Lin Xiao, played by Yang Mi. The movie centers on her part time job at a fashion magazine, M.E. Amber plays Lily, a buddy leader of people. Haden plays Nan Xiang, a artist at heart trying to make her way into the fashion as a designer. The comic relief is provided by Hsieh Yi-Lin as Ruby, the not so feminine badminton athlete that dreams of being the toast and beauty of the party. Ko plays Gu Yuan, Lily's boyfriend, as a spoiled rich brat. Rhydian plays Gong Ming, the publisher of M.E. and Lin Xiao's boss. As they find their way through college and a future, a fashion must happen. Along the way, romance happens, hearts are broken, and the show must go on. The fashion show that is.



This film is strange to me. I am no longer in that "coming of age" demographic. My life is set, I've kids to raise and mortgage to pay off. These kids are out of high school, trying to find life after college. They have their whole future ahead of them. Their collegiate coming of age story in a sense. However, this was from a Zhong Guo perspective. Yet, it's not much different than how we do things here in the good ol' US of A. Succeed and be good at what you do. There are specific mainland themes, but money wasn't all much of a factor in general. There's are rich kids, middle of the road kids, and poor kids. The four gals and doods covered the spectrum.



I've mentioned this in other post of Zhong Guo films with a modern coming of age themes. I hope that the youth and trend setters look to set new one born out of ideas on the mainland. I hope they don't rely on trends from the US, Europe or even Japan. Because I am based in the US, when they copy, it looks cheezy. How does Tiny Times do in this regard? I think they still look to the US for their trends. Yet, there's a modern Zhong Guo feel to the movie.

Another side note is that 3 of the four gals and 2 of the four doods are Taiwanese. And rightfully so, the recent "hip" youngsters coming out of Zhong Guo don't look so "hip". And all four main gals are post mid twenties. Maybe its because the Tiny Times movie series will take them through various life stages.

I enjoyed the movie and do recommend it. I look forward to watching Tiny Times 2 soon.

Tiny Times 2 - 小時代:青木時代 - Upcoming

Tiny Times 2 (小時代2/小時代:青木時代) was released over the weekend in Zhong Guo, but it could not beat Pacific Rim. The follow up to the first Tiny Times, it continues their story into their careers.



The Los Angeles Times got into the act and had a review for it last week while it was also released in the Los Angeles area. I didn't catch the first one last month. I am a fan of Amber Kuo and Yang Mi. But I was not able to get out.

瑪德2號 - Saving Mother Robot - Upcoming

瑪德2號 (Saving Mother Robot) was released in Taipei this past weekend. It didn't do so hot the box office and placed 13th. So far, this summer has been brutal for Taiwan's very own. However, I can see why locals would assume it was just another film from the mainland. Starring the mainland's current go to leading man in Huang Xiao Ming. That guys IS in everything it seems.

The movie combines fantasy and the real world in the minds of a child and the creative nature of a photographer. The trailer is super confusing and I really don't have a need to watch this. But I will someday, it stars Vivian Hsu, one of my favorite actresses, still.

小時代 - Tiny Times - Upcoming

小時代 (Tiny Times) was the top movie in Zhong Guo's box office last weekend. I had seen the trailers for it a month or so back and totally forgot about its release. I would have to rank this movie as one of the top releases of the year. The reason is due to the cast. A mix of mainland China and Taiwanese young stars comprise the leading roles. Will this usher in a new "style" of cinema for mainland films? I have a feeling that it will.

I for one will be looking forward to seeing this in the near future. 蘇打綠 (Sodagreen) also contributes an amazing song for the movie.

It'll be released in Hong Kong and Taiwan later in July.

The Bullet Vanishes - 消失的子彈

The Bullet Vanishes (消失的子彈) is an 2012 film out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Nicholas Tse, Sean Lau, and Yang Mi. The movie was released here in Los Angeles the same weekend it was release in Zhong Guo and Hong Kong. It did modest business in the USA.



The movie follows two detectives investigating a murder in a factory. The murder victim was killed, but the bullet vanished. Thus the two investigators set out on the quest to find out who killed these people. The investigation goes from rabbit hole to the next. I can't reveal much more less I give the story away.

The movie was pretty good. Think Sherlock Holmes with two Hong Kong doods in 20s shanghai gear with a modern twist. The way they go about it is very crafty and does leave me wanting more. Part two please.

For Hong Kong movie buffs, this is a much watch. I watched at a local AMC.

Chinese Paladin 3 – 仙劍奇俠傳三 – 仙劍三 – 仙劍3 – 仙劍奇俠傳之靈珠神劍 - OST - 電視原聲帶

I was able to finally get the Chinese Paladin 3/仙劍奇俠傳三/仙劍三/仙劍3/仙劍奇俠傳之靈珠神劍 (OST/電視原聲帶) this month. I had been waiting for YesAsia to get it since they sold out of the China versions back in June. I finally did the smart thing and looked on ebay. This month, YesAsia started carrying a Taiwan version of the OST.



The OST has 7 songs and the other 7 are instrumentals.



As I had it on in my rocking mini-van, I was reminded of the series and its good points. Not all 7 are great, but



I liked the booklet it came with. The material is very sturdy. The picture quality is also very good.



The other side of the booklet was nice too. Pictures of the artist and lyrics.

I can't read Chinese well so it didn't matter to me if its traditional or simplified.

Chinese Paladin 3 - 仙劍奇俠傳三 - 仙劍三 - 仙劍3 - 仙劍奇俠傳之靈珠神劍

Chinese Paladin 3 (仙劍奇俠傳三/仙劍三/仙劍奇俠傳之靈珠神劍) is a 2009 wuxia fantasy series. The 5 main stars are Hu Ge, Yan Mi, Wallace Huo, Cecilia Liu, and Tiffany Tang. The series runs 37 episodes with each running an average of 42 minutes each. I got my copy via YesAsia. I would rank it as one of my favorite wuxia series. The story is based on a video game called The Legend of Sword and Fairy.



Characters
Hu Ge as Jing Tian / Long Yang / Fei Peng (19 years old) - Stinky Tofu/Veggie Teeth
Yang Mi as Tang Xue Jian / Xi Yao (18 years old)
Wallace Huo as Xu Chang Qing (27 years old) - White Tofu
Liu Shi Shi (Cecilia) as Long Kui (1000 years old)
Tang Yan (Tiffany) as Zi Xuan (200 years old)



Jing Tian is a worker at a antiques pawn shop, but has magical dreams of grandeur. One night, while watching falling stars, Jing Tian is given a jade. This jade is the other half of a pair. You can make a wish with it. Tang Xue has the other pair and they are bound to become one. Xu Chang comes to Tang manor to investigate some "poison" people. Let the fun begin.

I think that's enough of a synopsis for you to want to give it go. Jing Tian is pompous, arrogant, speaks his mind and arguementative. If that bothers you, you won't make it through the series.

The story goes into roughly 5-6 story arcs. Each requires the group to accomplish a goal at each juncture.



So, having so much screen time for Yang Mi, Cecilia Liu and Tiffany Tang was great! These are 3 very beautiful women and they had mucho screen time. Tiffany Tang reminds me a lot of a younger version of Hao Lei. Yang Mi and Cecilia both show up in other Jin Yong wuxia series.

I want to thank the casting director for putting together such an amazing set of beautiful women together. I hope all three have long and productive careers.



In comparison to the first Chinese Paladin, this one seemed so much better. I made another atempt to watch Chinese Paladin I a few months ago. I had to stop after a few episodes. No matter if you throw Sweety, Crystal Liu, and Ady An at me, the characters and story were annoying. No eye candy can prevent that.

But Chinese Paladin 3 was so different in story, structure, and characters that I was instantly drawn in. The eye candy made it that much better.

You should make sure you watch this.

The production value was very high as well. Were there cheezy CG effects? Yes, but it's ok, it's fantasy wuxia much better than 80s/90s style TVB stuff. Will the CG stand the test of time? No way! But for 2009, you should watch it and enjoy it for what it is. The CG moves the story along.

The music is great too. I need to pick up the OST later in the month.