練‧戀‧舞 (Step by Step) is a 2009 film out of Taiwan. The movie stars Joseph Chang and the lovely Janel Tsai (蔡淑臻). I have been looking forward to this film since March.
The movie takes place in a nursing home. Joseph Chang plays the resident nurse. In trying to get the old folks some activity, Chang hires Janel to come teach them. During their first lesson, Janel discovers a peeping tom and cancels all classes.
Chang first bumbs into Janel in a underwear shops and is immediately smitten by her. Chang starts a to woo Janel. Will he succed?
Another sub story is that the residents of the nursing home are a little abnormal. They cause Chang lots of problems. One of the problems is not paying their bills. That and a death from 2 years ago eventually lead to the shut down of the nursing home.
Hoever, the old folks want to enter a dancing competition.
Did you get all that? The movie was very entertaining. But it was also all over the place with the characters and subplots. In the end, I felt the movie dives into the purpose of what you do and what your impact is on them. Especially if you don't notice your impact.
I happened onto 天使情人 (Angel Lover) in early February and March of 2007. I was running out of Wusia series to watch and hadn't watched a Taiwanese idol drama in awhile. The picture looked good and I rented the first disc. Man, was I hooked. I watched the series of 40 episodes within the next couple of weeks. I bought the OST on YesAsia shortly after.
Angel lover stars Ming Dao, Bianca Bai, and Coco Jiang. The lovely Janel Tsai is featured in a story arc.
The premise of the series is that Ming Dao is a optimistic good guy down on his luck. A company that works on an Angel's behalf helps people find their true love. They recruit Ming Dao and he goes to work and finds himself and his love interest. Along the way, Ming Dao and the rest of the Angel Lover cast are assigned tasks separated out into different story arcs. In all, there are roughly 10 stories and some subplots.
4 of those story arcs are quite good! The arcs with Janel Tsai, Li Jia Ying, and Lian Ti were my favorite. The main story arc is Ming Dao and its wrapped up in the end of the series.
Ming Dao's character reminds me of Zhang Wu Ji of "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" but in modern times and its not martial arts as his weapon, its his heart.
The ladies of the series are all very lovely and very very easy on the eyes. Bianca Bai has a very prominent role here and grew on me. I was really digging her at the end of the series and she's one of my favorite up and coming actresses.
Since I rented the version I watch, I ended up purchasing one off ebay and convincing my wife to watch it. My wife really liked it too, but thought 40 episode was way too much. I would've enjoyed another 20 more!
Haha, watch the clips, pick up the DVDs from ebay and watch for youself.
I had orginally wrote about Angel Lover back in March 2007, here's the excerpt:
It may hold a place in my heart as the best I've seen in years. Its out of Taiwan called "Angel Lover" starring Ming Dao, Bianca Bai, and Coco Jiang. I immediately felt an affiliation with the lead's character, personality, and sense of humor. The lead's love interest was just as, if not more, interesting. The series has distinct story arcs and I only fast forwarded through one of the arcs. The songs are pretty catchy as well. I'll have to search for the OST around town. I have no idea where the story originated from but I thought it was quite unique and kept me on board for most the ride.
