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Not Me The Series Boxset (2021) (DVD) (Ep. 1-14) (End) (English Subtitled) (Thailand Version)
Gun Atthaphan Phunsawat (Actor)
| Off Jumpol Adulkittiporn (Actor)
| First Kanaphan Puitrakul (Actor)
| Sing Harit Cheewagaroon (Actor)
When it comes to Thai BL series, GMMTV pretty much popularized the blueprint for sweet and safe youth romance dramas starring young TV idols. While the cute school romcom genre is sure to stick around, the studio has also ventured into darker themes and more mature topics. These efforts yield some of the most narratively and visually interesting titles of the GMMTV roster, like Not Me. Based on a novel by Saisioo, Not Me leads with the reliable pairing of Off Jumpol and Gun Atthaphan. Gun flexes his acting talents in dual roles as twins White and Black. Returning to Thailand after years abroad, White assumes the identity of his estranged brother who has fallen into a coma after getting... [read more]
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The Crossing (2018) (DVD) (Korea Version)
Huang Yao (Actor)
| Carmen Tong (Actor)
| Ni Hong Jie (Actor)
| Sunny Sun (Actor)
The Crossing technically isn't a Hong Kong film, but it very much looks and sounds like one. The feature debut of director Bai Xue, the Chinese drama follows teenage girl Peipei (Huang Xiao) who traverses the boundary between Shenzhen and Hong Kong every day. She lives in Shenzhen with her single mom (Ni Hongjie), and goes to school in Hong Kong where her father (Liu Kai Chi), a Hong Kong resident, has another family. At age 16, Peipei cares the most about hanging out with her best friend Jo (Carmen Tong), and earning money for their planned trip to Japan. It's her desire to make money for airfare that leads her to secretly befriend Jo's boyfriend Hao (Sun Yang) and join him in a parallel... [read more]
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F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers The Series Boxset (DVD) (Ep. 1-16) (End) (Thailand Version)
Tu Tontawan Tantivejakul (Actor)
| Dew Jirawat Sutivanichsak (Actor)
| Bright Vachirawit Chivaaree (Actor)
| F4 Thailand
Is this the best Boys Over Flowers adaptation?I had my doubts when F4 Thailand: Boys Over Flowers was announced. As much of an all-time favorite Hana Yori Dango may be, many aspects of Kamio Yoko's classic shojo manga story, which began serialization in the early 90s, don't hold up great without rose-tinted glasses. When I tuned into F4 Thailand, it was more out of the usual curiosity about how this latest cast and version would hold up against past adaptations. I didn't expect it would turn out to be one of the best Boys Over Flowers dramas. GMMTV churns out glossy youth romance dramas, so the studio is in comfortable territory with F4 Thailand. The story is the same old one that we know too well. Poor but lionhearted schoolgirl Gorya... [read more]
April 19, 2022 Picked By Sanwei See all this editor's picks
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Bad Buddy Series Boxset (2021) (DVD) (Ep. 1-12) (End) (English Subtitled) (Thailand Version)
Ohm Pawat Chittsawangdee (Actor)
| Nanon Korapat Kirdpan (Actor)
| Jimmy Jitaraphol Potiwihok (Actor)
| Drake Sattabut Laedeke (Actor)
GMMTV changed the game for Thailand BL dramas in 2016 with SOTUS which took the genre to a new level of mainstream and international popularity. Elevating genre standards with better production values, promising young talents and savvy marketing strategies, GMMTV turned BL into a mainstay cash cow of its teen and romance roster. SOTUS was followed by SOTUS S and other hits like Theory of Love, Dark Blue Kiss, Fish Upon the Sky, A Tale of Thousand Stars, 2gether and Bad Buddy. Of these, I would choose Bad Buddy to be GMMTV's best BL series to date. Directed by Backaof Noppharnach Chaiwimol, Bad Buddy stays in the familiar territory of school romance. Pat (Ohm Pawat Chittsawangdee) and Pran... [read more]
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Gundala (2019) (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Tara Basro (Actor)
| Ario Bayu (Actor)
| Arswendi Nasution (Actor)
| Donny Alamsyah (Actor)
The beginning of the Bumilangit Cinematic UniverseFrom The Raid series to the horror films Satan's Slaves and Impetigore, the international profile of Indonesian cinema has been on the up in recent years. As the director of those latter two horror hits, Joko Anwar is a key name in the rise of Indonesian genre films. His 2019 feature Gundala takes on that most commercially alluring and technically challenging of genres: comic book superhero. Gundala is the ambitious first film of the Bumilangit Cinematic Universe, Indonesia's answer to the MCU and DCEU. Created by Hasmi, the lightning-wielding Gundala made his first appearance in 1969, and has remained one of the country's most popular and classic comic characters. Typical of the first... [read more]
January 31, 2021 Picked By Sanwei See all this editor's picks
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Happy Old Year (2019) (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Aokbab Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying (Actor)
| Sunny Suwanmethanont (Actor)
| Apasiri Nitibhon
| Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit (Director)
Remember when we were all obsessively Marie Kondo-ing our homes? Jean (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) takes it to the next level in Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit's sensitive drama Happy Old Year. Having returned from living in Sweden, the designer is determined to transform her family home into a minimalist design. She has a specific aesthetic in mind and plans to convert the first floor into her office. Doing so will require major refurbishment and clearing away many years of accumulated possessions. Marie Kondo's method of decluttering recommends keeping that which sparks joy, but Jean's take-no-prisoners approach seems to have little to do with joy, as she simply drops the decision on her... [read more]
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The Cave (2019) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)
James Edward Holley (Actor)
| Ekawat Niratvorapanya (Actor)
| Jim Warny (Actor)
| Nopadol Niyomka (Actor)
Remember the Thai boys soccer team that was trapped in a flooded cave? That was only two years ago, though it seems like an eternity has passed since. Even as the events were unfolding, we all knew that the Thai cave rescue would become a movie, because it was such an amazing, made-for-the-movies story. The question was more how it would be told onscreen and who would be telling it. After the rescue, the Thai government was very protective of the soccer team, and the rights to the boys' stories were granted to SK Global Entertainment with Netflix. Thai-born, British-raised director Tom Waller's The Cave is not so much about the boys trapped in the cave, but rather the mission to rescue the... [read more]
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Premika (2017) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Taiwan Version)
Nutthasit Kotimanuswanich (Actor)
| Kidakarn Chatkaewmanee (Actor)
| Natthacha De Souza (Actor)
| Anongnart Yusananda (Actor)
I'm one of those people who can't properly complete a song at karaoke if my life depended on it. Inevitably, I will go off-tune, lose my place, mess up lyrics or forget the melody. Sometimes, I just forget how to read. If I was one of the people challenged to karaoke in the Thai horror comedy Premika, I would be dead for sure, probably within seconds. Written and directed by Siwakorn Charupongsa, Premika works overtime as a horror, slasher, satire, mystery, musical and comedy with campy special effects on a modest budget. It's the kind of movie that plays well at genre fests and midnight screenings. The title Premika refers to the film's vengeful ghost (singer Gena Desouza), an unidentified... [read more]
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Dark Figure of Crime (2018) (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Kim Yoon Seok (Actor)
| Ju Ji Hoon (Actor)
| Kim Tae Gyun (Director, Writer)
| Kwak Kyung Taek (Writer)
The actual number of crimes committed is always higher than the official documented figures, because many crimes go unreported or undiscovered. Crime experts call this missing figure of unreported crimes the Dark Figure of Crime. Inspired by a tragic real-life case, Kim Tae Gyun's crime drama brings attention to what this dark figure means: unknown victims for whom justice can never be served. Dark Figure of Crime unfolds as a cat-and-mouse game between a persistent detective portrayed by Kim Yoon Seok and an incarcerated killer played by Ju Ji Hoon. Narcotics detective Kim Hyung Min (Kim Yoon Seok) meets informant Kang Tae Oh (Ju Ji Hoon) for the first time at a restaurant, only to see him... [read more]
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Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (Blu-ray) (US Version)
Oshii Mamoru (Director)
Oshii Mamoru and Urusei Yatsura? It is now almost hard to imagine that Ghost in the Shell director Oshii, the master of cyber punk and artful alienation, first made his name with Urusei Yatsura, a hectic off-color anime series about a lecherous high school student and his turquoise-haired, leopard-bikini-clad alien girlfriend. When Oshii embarked on Beautiful Dreamer, it was his second go at a feature-length Urusei Yatsura film, and he did things a bit differently this time around. While the first film was a competent, fairly faithful extension of the manga, 1984's Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer was an entirely different and beautiful beast. Manga writer Takahashi Rumiko and die-hard... [read more]
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Pad Man (2018) (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Hong Kong Version)
Akshay Kumar (Actor)
| R. Balki (Director)
| Sonam Kapoor (Actor)
| Amitabh Bachchan
Akshay Kumar is known for his man's man action hero image, but lately he's become Bollywood's unlikely onscreen hero for the cause of public health and sanitation. In last year's Toilet, Akshay Kumar played a man whose marriage begins to unravel because his new wife cannot accept the lack of a toilet in their home. The film's unabashed focus on toilets and what goes in them may seem like crass humor, but it actually broaches the very serious issue of improving sanitary conditions in rural India. In this year's Pad Man, he plays a man whose marriage begins to unravel because of sanitary pads. The film is produced by writer Twinkle Khanna, whose short story "The Sanitary Man of Sacred Land"... [read more]
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Wake Up Season 1 & 2 (DVD) (PTS TV Drama) (Taiwan Version)
Tiffany Ann Hsu (Actor)
| Lego Lee
| Chris Wu Kang Ren (Actor)
| Huang Jian Wei (Actor)
Aired in 2015, the first season of Taiwan mini-series Wake Up swept multiple awards at the Golden Bell Awards with its brooding yet riveting story of a weary anesthesiologist framed for malpractice amid a bigger medical conspiracy. Two years later, the series returned with similar themes and wider-reaching conflicts in an ambitiously complex tangle of medical procedural, human drama, crime suspense and socially conscious drama. Compared to the first season's lean six-episode run, Wake Up 2 doubles its length to 13 episodes, and more than doubles the production budget and cast. The first season's main cast of Huang Jian Wei, Tiffany Hsu, Chris Wu and Michael Huang all return, but in... [read more]
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Circle (2017) (DVD) (Ep.1-12) (End) (tvN TV Drama) (Malaysia Version)
Yeo Jin Goo (Actor)
| Kim Kang Woo (Actor)
| Gong Seung Yeon (Actor)
| Kwon Hyuk Soo (Actor)
When Circle began airing in May 2017, it wasn't very clear where exactly this drama would be going considering its story would involve two worlds, two time periods, two brothers, murders and an alien. Is it really possible for a 12-episode original series to pack in this much stuff and not be a hot mess? Somehow, Circle makes it all work in thrilling and thought-provoking manner. For most of the series, Circle splits each episode into two equally compelling halves. The first part of each episode, titled Beta Project, is set in the present day and follows Yeo Jin Gu as college student Kim Woo Jin. The harried youth has a troubled twin brother, Bum Kyoon (Ahn Woo Yeon), who has been obsessed... [read more]
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Wake Up (DVD) (Ep.1-6) (End) (Taiwan Version)
Michael Huang (Actor)
| Tiffany Ann Hsu (Actor)
| Chris Wu Kang Ren (Actor)
| Huang Jian Wei (Actor)
Insomnia sucks, especially when your job involves putting in long hours and putting others to sleep. But things are about to get a lot worse for the hero of PTS's medical suspense drama Wake Up. Winner of Best Mini-Series/TV Movie and Best Director at this year's Golden Bell Awards, the six-episode Taiwan series stars Huang Jian Wei as weary anesthesiologist Hsiao Zheng Xun, a curt but skilled doctor who just wants to do his job and has no interest in hospital politics. Hsiao's wary refusal to go along with unreasonable demands puts him at odds with hospital director Chen (Michael Huang), who is trying to acquire funding to expand the hospital. With the department understaffed because of... [read more]
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The Four (2015) (DVD) (Ep.1-44) (End) (English Subtitled) (Malaysia Version)
Zhang Han (Actor)
| Mickey He (Actor)
| Yang Yang (Actor)
| William Chan (Actor)
Flower boys and The Four are a killer combinationSince making their debut in his 1973 novel, Woon Swee Oan's four elite constables have captured the public imagination throughout the Chinese-speaking territories. The thrilling, action-packed adventures of The Four, each gifted with a particular set of martial skills, practically screamed for screen adaptations, and in 1984, ATV made this a reality with The Undercover Agents. This first screen outing unleashed a torrent of adaptations, with the latest being 2015's The Four. Hunan TV's 44-episode series stars Zhang Han, Yang Yang, William Chan and Mao Zijun, four of China's flower-boys-du-jour who could hardly ask for a better vehicle than Woon's classic swashbuckling tale. As TVB's 2008... [read more]
August 31, 2015 Picked By Frood See all this editor's picks
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Sunflower Occupation (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Cai Chong Long (Director)
In September 2014, the world’s media descended onto Hong Kong to cover what is now known as the Umbrella Movement. The densely populated but geographically tiny city, barely visible on a standard world map, played host to the world’s foremost news organizations, which breathlessly covered the student-led civil disobedience movement that cried out for democracy. It may come as a surprise to some that mere months before the Umbrella Movement, a remarkably (one could even say eerily) similar movement was mounted by Taiwanese students. The Sunflower Movement, which began on March 18, 2014, and lasted 23 days, did not attract the rapt attention of the world’s media. But it should have. As the... [read more]
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I Fine..Thank You..Love You (DVD) (Thailand Version)
Sunny Suwanmethanont (Actor)
| Ice Preechaya Pongthananikorn (Actor)
| Mez Tharatorn (Director)
| Aoi Sola (Actor)
In Asia, learning English can be a true-life challenge for ambitious white-collar workers. English tutoring is such a huge industry in Japan that schools have the money to hire the likes of Ishihara Satomi and Kitano Takeshi for their commercials. Director Mez Tharatorn (ATM) recognized that the arduous effort of learning English can be the stuff of great comedy when he decided to make I Fine…Thank You…Love You. The story of a popular English tutor forced to help a brutish engineer get his girlfriend back by teaching him English, the GTH romantic comedy was a smash hit in Thailand that set new box office records and became the highest grossing Thai film of 2014. Reuniting with her ATM... [read more]
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The Teacher's Diary (2014) (DVD) (Thailand Version)
Bie Sukrit Wisetkaew (Actor)
| Ploy Laila Boonyasak (Actor)
| Weir Sukollawat Kanarot
| Nithiwat Tharathorn (Director)
Two people from different times communicating to each other with or without magical means is an interesting formula that has resulted in films like Ditto, Frequency, Il Mare and Closed Note. Thailand's Nithiwat Tharatorn and his co-writers bring the idea back to the real world with Teacher's Diary, a delightful comedy that shows how a simple, familiar formula can still be interpreted in new ways. The script follows two parallel storylines: In 2011, rebellious teacher Ann (Laila Boonyasak) is sent to run her school's houseboat branch in the countryside after refusing to remove her tattoo. In 2012, former medal-winning wrestler Song (Sukrit Wisetkaew) takes up the houseboat teaching duties... [read more]
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Make Me Shudder (2013) (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Puvadol Vechwongsa
| Worachai Sirikongsuwan
| Kittipat Samarntragulchai
| Rittichai Tasarika
A high school horror comedy buoyed by its castYou've probably all heard this one before. A group of teenage boys, led by a wannabe daredevil, decide to sneak into a cordoned-off building in their school that's off-limits to students. They'd heard that the building was haunted and wanted to see for themselves. Full of nervous bravado, the boys enter the building – only to find that the rumors were true. If you think this sounds exactly like the setup of the hundreds upon hundreds of high school horror films out there, you're completely right. There is one crucial difference with regards to Thai director Poj Arnon's (The Unborn Child, Haunting Me) 2013 movie Make Me Shudder, though. It's not 100% a horror film. Carrying on the tradition... [read more]
November 28, 2014 Picked By Frood See all this editor's picks
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Queen (2014) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)
Kangana Ranaut (Actor)
| Rajkummar Rao
Though its biggest hits still have women objectified as scantily-clad sex objects for men, Bollywood does create a strong female-oriented films once in a while. Enjoyable and inspiring at the same time, Queen can proudly join that pantheon, even though it uses one of the oldest Hollywood chick flick clichés in the book. Growing up in a protected environment all her life, Rani (Kangana Ranaut) thinks that her life is practically over when her fiancé calls off their engagement just days before the wedding. Not wanting to cancel her European honeymoon plans, Rani decides to step out of her shell and take the trip on her own. In Paris, she learns to put down her sorrow thanks to encouragement... [read more]
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