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Reviews
Roswell (1999)
Unexpectedly great--Amazing Character Development
(Skip to the Numbers if You Want my review the paragraph below is more like my introduction)
First, I turned this on fully expecting to turn it off because it came out in the 90s and while I watched Buffy as a kid, looking back I can't re-watch the series because it is too goofy. This show is extremely well written.
For further context, I really, REALLY wanted to like the Vampire Diaries, a show often on the 'You May Also Like....' but did not like it because of the annoying love triangles and bad writing. It was too exaggerated, too silly.
You may want to know, isn't the premise of this silly? Yes, yes it is but I am a fan of how you execute your story, I could care less about originality. And this show was just really, really well written. For the first two seasons. Season 3 it kind of goes down hill. And there were maybe three-four episodes that were cringy bad.
What This Show Does Right
1)Being a Teenager on the cusp of adulthood is a great plotpoint because you can have your dramatic flair without it being silly. And they incorporate it all in a manner that isn't unbelievable. These are young adults navigating life and struggling to make sense of difficult situations. They are learning how to be responsible so naturally we have good conflict written in as they make mistakes and learn from them. We can watch them evolve into different people. Adults are less likely to change but these are 'formative years' for a reason.
2)Like J.K. Rowling, the setting-high school-is great because you already have a contained universe which allows for the focus on character growth. Not knowing anything (think Harry Potter) creates interest because you want to know what-and where--these aliens came from (just as Harry Potter wants to know about his parents/wizardry)
3)The Sexual Tension and chemistry between the actors is very tangible. It all flows, especially between the other couple, Michael and Maria. And we have a lot of it because when you're young, it isn't exactly easy finding a place to uh, explore your raging hormones when you have parents and school interfering so you have to uh, be creative, if anyone reading this can remember.
4)I think this show shines in the area of character development and growth. The characters all grow and are different at the end. We aren't TOLD necessarily what is person is like, we watch them, and as the audience, draw our own conclusion of where they are headed, although naturally the characters will discuss some actions of some people because of the impact. Naturally they are going to discuss relationships.
5)No PSA's. Thank god.
Issues:
The Third season for me saw a drop off in content and writing.
There were a few episodes that were just...cringey. Like the episode(s) where they go to NYC.
Opinion:
I liked the main characters--there are like six or seven total--but for whatever reason, (this is just personal preference) I really enjoyed the relationship between Maria and Michael. I thought that the two created a nice balance between Liz and Max because Maria and Michael were more direct and more emotional, but overall, I thought that there relationship was more fierce however I thought Liz and Max's story was also excellent. I did wish that the former had more on screen time and I was frustrated by the decision to downplay Michael's intelligence because early on we learn that he essentially is very smart and even may have a photographic memory (he can quote obscure literature no problem down to the page) but I just thought that maybe they thought it might distract from Max who was supposed to be the smart one, the grounded one, the wise one (making his mistakes all the more epic when they occurred, while Michael, who was always making mistakes, had a bigger impact when he did something 'right').
Conclusion:
Most tv dramas aren't fantastic. And even more love story-teen dramas are not great. But this show is really very good, I think.
Roswell, New Mexico (2019)
Terrible, terrible, terrible writing
On it's own, this show suffers from a lack of good writing. Watching it felt like the writers decided to update the original not by changing anything other than making us know that the time period has changed, achieved through the incredibly unsubtle inclusion of political and social commentary.
Nothing came across as functionally normal. I often find that people don't manifest their anger in such direct ways--it is extremely obvious that the female lead is unhappy about how she is being treated--more often than not people normalize everything and it comes out differently--people seem to only directly discuss their feelings on being marginalized unless you directly ask them or they won't discuss it all people who talk about it this way are sort of like the way professors in a sociology class point out all the problems and then you have a group discussion--it just felt very unreal and more like a college classroom discussion or news debate.
In contrast, the original series featured aliens who were just like you and me and acted like you and me because they just happened to be people who were alilens--a thematic element of the original series was that it doesn't matter, you are who you are, and you decide, and are responsible, for what happens in your life. It rejects victimization and encouraged empowerment. In a much more subtle manner.
With so much rich subject material, it still boggles my mind that the writers bungled this. If you have seen a movie like Moonlight, watched The Thing or Stranger Things, the writing is so good, and we are SHOWN things through actions, choices, etc, but this show TELLS us things, making it boring, uninteresting, and flat. I've seen cartoons written better than this.
So as you can read, my criticism is the writing. It is so bad. If you are going to feed an audience something, don't try to serve us something fresh and great when what we are getting is garbage.
As an aside, I do think the original is better, and I am watching it concurrently with this. I was a kid when the original came out. I was actually really surprised by how great the original is. I was told that it was done by the same person who wrote Friday Night Lights and Parenthood.
Zhi fou zhi fou ying shi lü fei hong shou (2018)
Fantastic
I wrote both an article and a much longer review for mydramalist.
I don't think this show is for people who want action or more epic-ness like Eternal Love. This is a historical love story with meticulous attention to detail, character development, and growth. All the characters are important. It is filmed beautifully.
A lot of viewers have compared it to nirvana in fire in terms of quality. Others to masterpiece BBC pieces like Jane Eyre. It is incredibly done. I say give it ten episodes, if you don't like it, then maybe it isn't for you, but if it isn't your type don't give it a bad review--I only give dramas that aren't my 'type' a bad review if they do a poor job executing whatever plot device/trope/type of story they are trying to deliver.
San sheng san shi shi li tao hua (2017)
Excellent Story
This drama weaves in a number of subplots but at its heart it is a story of love surviving anything, including death. There are two sets of couples, one being the primary and the other is secondary. The first is Bai Quian, the Queen of the Fox tribe and Ye Hua, the crown prince of the Celestial Tribe. Our second couple is Feng Jiu, the niece of Bai Quian, and Dong Hua, an ancient deity from prehistoric times (compare to Greek primordial deity).
This series has three major arcs:
Kunlan/Su Yin
In this arc Bai Quian is still a young immortal (about 20,000 years old) and disguises herself as a boy 'Su Yin' in order to train under the God of War & Music, Mo Yuan. She grows a lot and experiences a number of painful events that contribute to her growth.
The pivotal plot points of this arc center on the conflict between the Celestial Tribe and the Ghost Tribe. As an act of good faith, Mo Yuan created a bell and gifted it to the ghost tribe. This bell has the power to swallow up the whole world in hell fire, destroying everything, including deities (this occurs before the show starts). Unfortunately, the Ghost emperor uses it when he triggers a war. While the Ghost emperor is sealed in the bell, only a powerful god can stop the bells destructive path. Mo Yuan sacrifices his life to seal him in the bell and his soul is split into thousands of pieces (hindering him from even reincarnating).
Later, Bai Quian who knows the secret of the bell (that it will run out) re-seals the emperor but he curses her to live in the mortal realm, as a human, with no memories.
Mortal World/Su Su Bai Quian lives her quietly until she saves an injured Ye Hua. Ye Hua falls in love with her, gives her the name of Su Su, and they marry. But through a series of tragic events a number of misunderstandings arise between them. After giving birth to their child Su Su leaps to her death.
Heaven/Bai Quian
She has her memories back and has ascended to high goddess--apparently this was her trial (the love trial) to become a goddess. Filled with depression, she drinks a potion that erases her memories as a mortal. Ye Hua encounters her and immediately recognizes her as Su Su.
Important Arc that is a step below primary in terms of screen time/importance:
Feng Jiu & Dong Hua 'Repaying a Kindness'
Dong Hua saves her life, Feng Jiu seeks to repay his kindness. She enters his mansion as a servant and causes a number of mishaps in her heart felt (but clumsy) attempts to pay him back. She falls in love with him.
'The Mortal Emperor' Dong Hua chooses to experience the bitterness of being mortal and chooses to live a lifetime as a mortal. He is born an emperor. He plans ahead for Feng Jiu to help him with his love trial (experience the pain of heartbreak/betrayal). He does it to entertain her dream of being his consort, something which he says he cannot do as a deity.
'The Invulnerable God'
Feng Jiu is hopelessly in love with Dong Hua but he coldly rejects her time and time again, making it clear that he cannot entertain a relationship. If you want to know why, watch the show.
SUB PLOTS Li Jing & Xuan Nu Xuan Nu is Bai Quian's cousin. She falls in love with Li Jing (who becomes emperor after his father is sealed away). She chases after him, but he only has eyes for Bai Quian. Nevertheless they are married. She is filled with envy for her cousin and has very low self esteem.
Si Jin
YH's foster sister, who is a primary antagonist in the story. She is in love with Ye Hua and is willing to do anything to have him, including sabotaging his relationships. She is very clever and manipulative and appears nice.
Mo Yuan
Much of the series follows trying to resurrect him, figure out where his body went, and learn the identity of his disciple, Su Yin.
The Mermaid Clan A proud warrior clan that rebelled with the ghost clan during the epic war. They start another war later.
The Celestial Emperor
A rigid thinker whose ambition for his grandson, Ye Hua, causes a lot of problems.
There are other subplots but these are the ones that come to mind.
CONS
The CGI is not good PROS The sets and costumes are beautiful. The acting is great.
Side Note: This is based off a novel that has come under fire for being plagiarized. However, this is an issue that is almost impossible to address in China as their laws are different and it was copied from a boys love/gay novel which is considered taboo in China. It's sequel, the pillow book, was not, and follows the relationship of Dong Hua and Feng Jiu.
Karuto (2013)
Give it a chance
1. This film has no Gore. If you are into that skip it.
2. I enjoy the understated nature of this film. Some argue that is a weak argument for poor writing. I disagree.
3. I have seen so many horror films it is difficult to scare me. I watch these films to see the story unfold. So I can't speak to how scary it is.
4. I enjoyed the interaction between the actors especially the guy who shows up mid movie. His indifferent behavior and rudeness kind of reminded me of a manga character. In a good way.
5. I thought the way the spirit was portrayed was both bizarre and strange and seemed realistic to me. If you actually met an evil spirit I mean really met one it could look like that. You don't know.
6. I disliked the strange faces in the beginning they looked like stock image.
7. I disliked that they never really explain Ed why the girls were taking on such a strange job. Maybe i missed it. Or maybe they were just broke needed the money and didn't ask.
8. It left a number of unanswered questions at the end. I wasn't sure if that was a deliberate cliff hanger and there is to be a sequel or not but I wanted a more solid end. But based on my theories about the male character it could make sense.
All in all I think you should watch it if you like found footage style films, don't need blood in your horror, and aren't annoyed with not full closure endings. I can't compare it to Noroi because that is a different movie on a different level. I also think his films get lower reviews because everyone compares it to Noroi and you shouldn't do that I mean that's like comparing two different kids.