The Proposal 2009 : A Review and Some Thoughts

My son's been itching to watch The Proposal, and I've been adamant in PG'ing it. My son's 10 years old and is at that age when kids are curious about grown up things and think/feel brave enough to take on "adult" stuff. Well, I'm one of those protective mothers who wants to keep her cub in the den... But heck, one adult said the "adult" scenes weren't obscene or lewd - and indeed they weren't and bless him, my son found the birthday suits scene hilarious. I was at wit's end trying to keep my protectiveness at bay while barely stifling guffaws!

I also had to tell him that love stories like those are just in the movies (yeah, ma, they're fiction, you've been saying that since I was little). I had to say that lest he thought it was ok to short circuit love... I had to say my brief spiel on love, friendship and respect...

God, to be a mom!

Eventually, Andrew and Margaret's characters grew on me, and the development of the story caught on my sentimental side, that I was actually crying (eeek, yes! it's one of my weaknesses!). My son asked "Do you like the movie ma?" And my reply was "Do you think I'd still get married?" (Haller?!!!) And then he hugged me. "Yeah, you can get married ma." Yep, that's my son.

Now when Margaret admitted to their charade in that barn wedding scene, I had to say "Now that's very brave! She did the right thing." ("You do like the movie.")

It was really nice, that movie. "But that's a fairy tale, kid."

***

Speaking of proposals, now I understand why the American husband of my friend looooves telling his proposal story where he gets down on his knee, opens the Tiffany box with the rock and pops the question. And he is astounded that my friend was speechless, she almost spaced out. All this in the backdrop of New York with the view from the Brooklyn Bridge (when I was not there LOL). And he loves telling that story over and over again.

I was reminded of this during the scene in The Proposal when Andrew's ex-girlfriend asks them to tell the proposal story... And the guests at their party were intent on listening to their story... Fast forward to the end where Andrew actually proposes to Margaret, his former tormentor, with purpose and conviction in his former concentration camp - the office, and the onlookers, their officemates were all dissolved into mush...

Gosh I wonder if that happens in real life... Come to think of it, romantic proposals worth recounting happened as it did to my friend. (She's the one who gets embarrassed each time her husband relates it with such gusto, you can't help but get engaged - no pun intended!).

That's The United States of Hollywood for you, and I have to admit, I love it too!

Wallpaper from this site.

Jerry F4ever ;-D

Sigh. It's past my bedtime and I just finished wrapping some presents for friends: a mother (her birthday tomorrow) and daughter (the latter being my godchild, whose Christmas present I ordered and just arrived). I thoroughly enjoyed wrapping the gifts - but it took me one hour to find the perfect motif for the ribbons and charms. So now, it is past my bedtime and tomorrow is the last day of the working week (yahoo!) -

To watch or not to watch? I'm now at episode 10 of The Hospital starring dreamy Jerry as Dr. Su Yihua, and am I having a ball!

This time around, I am enjoying my eye candy sans the anger and violence of Dau Ming Sz (of my all-time favorite Meteor Garden). In The Hospital, Jerry's character is more subdued as the underdog (ahem!!!). His acting is more dynamic than as he was in Magic Kitchen (where his acting was subject to criticisms, i.e., Jerry just smoldered. [lol!] - and I have to agree, his acting in Magic Kitchen was flat). But this time around, the variety of facial expressions of Dr. Su is absolutely - sigh - heartmelting.

Overall impact? Mushy in an Asian sort of way. I was thinking before that The Hospital was another poor imitation of Grey's Anatomy (which I avidly watched until I couldn't stand the musical chairs of romantic and sexual partners). Well, the producers of The Hospital, also known as White Tower, did follow the Western suit of creating TV serieses based on lives of professionals in the medical field, and though not an original concept (what's original these days, anyway?!), The Hospital is highly watchable (I'm biased :D).

Eye candy is number one, second is the Asian flavor of dealing with the issues (the ceremonies behind transactions, blind respect for hierarchy, the awkward fight for idealism which is a "new" concept for "obedient" Asians, to name some), and the assimilation of Western "values" into the Asian context is quite interesting. I would like to say I'm in it for the story. Well, maybe, but definitely I'm in it for the pleasure of watching Jerry move haha - and okay,I admit, to see the unfolding of the subplots, which are well, Asian kinda good.

And I love that, Asian kinda good...

To watch or not to watch. I'll decide while I take a bath (which reminds me, Jerry has a safe and sexy bath scene which almost made me faint! hahah!)

More on this latah!

P.S. Love his team up with Janine Chang! Sweet!

Got the image from tsinoy.com

Hot Shot/ Basketball of Fire 2008 - Review

Jerry Yan will be my hottie forever (according to my fan-heart)... And wow! Has the packaging of his stardom improved by meteorical measures since Meteor Garden (no pun intended). For one, his fashion sense has greatly, astoundingly improved...If in Meteor Garden I, he was up against his tacky clothes and reliant on his amazing looks, in Hot Shot, Jerry has become a real star!

But since this is not mainly about Jerry, let me get to the "review" part of this post.

All in all, I highly enjoyed the series. Surprisingly, it got lower ratings compared to high ones of Fated to Love You. Perhaps it's because Hot Shot wasn't all that emotionally sensational - again, compared to Fated to Love You. In fact, Hot Shot is a very easygoing watch, with its fair share of intriguing twists and turns and spectacular scene sequences (especially when they play basket!). I also love how they interspersed the comedy and drama of it.

But then again, my son and I were looking out for an important sequence at the end, which would have tied up the whole series and make the title truly worth being called "Hot Shot". The sequence we had in mind wasn't there.

Other than that, I should say it was worth watching. It was not sensational, but I must say it was really good!

Image from Crunchyroll.

Beatlemania Live!

I Will by Hikari San on Polyvore.com

For a couple of nights now I've been beating the drum pads of our Rockband like mad. Well, small wonder since I've loved the Beatles since high school.

It was in the middle of our junior year when one of my girlfriends lent me a Betamax copy of Steven Spielberg's '80's flick "I Want to Hold Your Hand" starring Nancy Allen (from "Carrie"). The movie was a total riot! Lucky for me I was able to get hold of a rare copy of it on DVD and still break into fits of laughter whenever I watch it.

On Christmas of my junior year, the sister of my late godmother gifted me with a Beatles songbook and I sung out most of the songs from their earlier albums.

Since then, I've been a staunch fan of the Beatles. My favorite (among my favorites, is "I Will", which you will hear if you click on the Polyvore image). Boyfriend after boyfriend, I have sung that song, and break up after break up, "I Will" has never grown old, never tasted bitter.

Now, my son and I enjoy The Beatles Rock Band so much. In fact, my son has memorized some songs which I never bothered with such as "Back in the U.S.S.R", "The End", "Paperback Writer"& many more.

I'm glad their music will never die. The Beatles' passion for music should live on!

"She loves you, yeah! yeah! yeah!!!"

Hot Shot - Taiwanese Series

Oh yeah!!! I have recently bought the DVD of Hot Shot, the Taiwanese series, starring none other but Jerry Yan. It took me awhile to buy another Jerry Yan series (I am/was fixated to Meteor Garden), and when I was about to launch into another MG marathon, I decided, enough!

So, I got a copy of Hot Shot and my son and I are enjoying the first two episodes so far. The director has done a great job so far (episodes 1 & 2), very watchable. Also, I love the comic relief of the movie.

Well, I have to admit, that though I am a Barbie Xu as Shan Cai fan, the girls in Hot Shot nice looking too. Oh, well, this is it for now.

My Favorite Anytime Vacation - Legendary

Meteor Garden I & II has approximately 50 episodes all in all. On the last week of September, while recuperating from the flu and pneumonia, the maid and I (both sick) watched another marathon round of this legendary TV series.

Legendary? To me, it is. Sure, the acting started out cheesy, the storyline common (because it was adapted), and for some it dragged on for too long. But I say it is legendary in a very personal sense. After approximately 8 rounds over the years since I purchased to VCD set of Meteor Garden, I still get that exhilarating feeling of having visited that place.

The maid and I finished all 50 episodes over 1 week. But the giddy feeling has remained.

Meteor Garden. It never fails to cheer me :D

Ethan Ruan - My Queen

I definitely think Ethan Ruan looks hot. He's definitely my type - he has the physical features which capture my fancy = in equal footing with Jerry Yan that is! :D

I was searching Ethan Ruan via Google and saw that he has a new series called My Queen. I checked out the synopsis through different blogs and drama-wiki which says it's about a love story between a 33 year old hardworking single career woman and a 25 year old guy with a regular job.

This post won't have spoilers as I decided that the storyline isn't my type, younger guy-older woman affaire de coeur. Oh well, different strokes for different folks.

I'm still in the parallel world of Fated to Love You. LOL.

(image source: http://www.crunchyroll.com/forumtopic-435074/my-queen/)