Curse of golden flower movie

 Gold is too much, gave me a headache with all that glitter. Gorgeous detailed setting but I never realized gold was such an ugly color. Too much of a good thing. There's this scene in Tudors, where the mad king wears silver on grey on steel? That was one scene, this is an entire movie of shades of gold. 

SPOILERS -
Crazy is the plot. Mad world.
The old general marries the King's daughter. Earlier deceased wife gave him a son. Not really dead, ex-wife marries Doctor and has a daughter. General king names son Crown Prince.

The new Queen has two sons, and her husband has been feeding her medicine every two hours for 20 years. The taste changes and the queen finds out the new addition is slowly killing her with fun side effects of madness and uncontrolled shakes. A slow painful deteriorating death. No reason, just the king's will. Nope, says the Queen.

The queen seduces the Crown Prince. The queen asks her biological son to help her usurp the kingdom. The biological son agrees to do it to stop the daily medicine feed but is still loyal to his father.

The Crown Prince is loyal to his father but in love with his stepmom. The Crown Prince seduces the Doctor's daughter. The doctor's wife reveals poison to the Queen. She still has a vendetta against her ex-husband who slaughtered her clan.

OOF, now I can't reveal any more details or you won't watch it. 

Where's the picture for this film? Bling bling warning.

recap and refresh post

alright, alright, alright.

I'm back, and hope to stay! Let's get some realistic goals in place. One post per fortnight. We will try. 

Anyway, Covid is over? Or is it? I'm keeping a stash of masks, it might be suitable for the next time.

I'm waiting on good news right now, so there is nothing to share presently. 

Feeling grateful and so thankful to the people who are mine in this world, who actually support and encourage me. I would be no one without you cheering me on forward.

It is perfectly alright if your future is taking time to materialize. You're working hard on your dreams. You alone decide the worth and value of your life. What you want to hold dear, important, and meaningful is your choice. Some chase money, some chase fame, and some chase memories. You pick your own life. 

And if there is a SOB in the back, screaming insults, you can turn down the volume and wear some headphones. They really don't deserve your empathy, your emotional investment, your positive energy, your sincere affection, or your honest care. Take care of yourself. 

Whatever happens, there will be no takebacks. I won't have regrets. I am going to try. Feel the fear but do it anyway. Emotion is only a temporary state of mind.

Respect like love, should be requited. Don't waste your authentic self on people who mistreat and abuse you. 

Code Geass

 This is awesome. I love every character in it. Especially Lelouch. Read the manga or watch the anime. I order you to do so now. LOL.

Similar to Death Note, but Light Yagami does not regret anything. SPOILER - except for L's death. Light felt no guilt or remorse. He believed he was in the right until the very end.

SPOILERS - Code Geass!
Alternate Universe where the British Empire never left their colonies and Washington failed in his rebellion. Colonial Rule taken to its most powerful potential.

Lelouch and his sister are of royal blood. Their mother is a famous warrior of commoner blood (Nightmare fighter - think Gundam mobile suits) and their father is the emperor of the Holy Britannia Empire.
 
Lelouch is looking for the murderer of his mother and the identity of the enemy who permanently crippled his sister. He suspects someone closely related to him, one of his powerful siblings or his cruel father.

Lelouch is haunted by his conscience with every step he takes to destroy the Holy Britannia Empire, including the murder of his siblings who stand in his way.

Lelouch donned Zero's mask as a teenager and has to face his best friend in battle as his greatest enemy. His handicapped sister is used as a pawn against him. His noble friends hate Zero and his 'seven' commoner allies, but the 'seven' rebels don't trust him. Despite all the obstacles in his path, he outmaneuvers and succeeds in his goals. But the cost of victory is too high. His heart is full of regrets.

Think Hamlet, but this guy moves his chess pieces and then mourns the losses. Never guilt-free with an active conscience.

I won't give any further spoilers, because you must watch this for yourself. This anime gave me so many highs and lows, that I was utterly torn when it ended. Watch it. 

Death Note.

 This is a classic, must-watch anime, a manga, a set of live-action movies exploring L's life, and two light novels.

SPOILERS - 

Light is a genius kid whose father is a cop. He finds a supernatural notebook that kills the person whose name you wrote in it, which is owned by a god of death named Ryuk, and Light starts judging criminals with the sentence of death.

The world notices because Light is not stingy with his warped sense of justice and the world's greatest detective known only by the initial L decides to bring the mass murderer Kira to justice.

Light knows he can't go free forever, so he has a contingency plan for an exit strategy on the game route. L suspects Light to be Kira. L has no evidence to prove it until Light decides to play. And how he plays, yes, unrepentant Light fan here.

I need a better description of this plot. Take my word and watch it. No regrets, guaranteed. If I could, I would wipe my memory and watch it again.

Netflix has a new version of this series in movie format, with a surprising twist on the tale.  Honestly, the quality is not bad but not great. Interesting but they didn't give the source material much weight.

unREAL - into the everlasting fairytale! HULU!

 It's been a while. 

unREAL is unreal, but let me stop you right there. 

OK, let's start with the warnings - I'm a particular kind of person. I can handle a lot of triggers without flinching because I see both light and the shadows that hide beneath them. Some people allow themselves to be blinded by the brightness, in the foolish desire to deny the shadows. The world we humans create is full of humanity and that makes us human. Not angels or demons but a creature in between, that can exist in both light and shadow. In us, mirrored in the world, both good and evil exist.

So, Trigger warnings - child abuse, rape, murder, drugs, physical assault, parental neglect, adulterous sex everywhere. Everything is bad and human. 

unREAL is based on real dating shows like The Bachelor. Certain incidents actually happen in real life, on these dating shows and certain characters are modeled on actual people. OMG, yes, I'm aware of the falseness of acting, but this show was still an eye-opener to me. 

every character on this show is a monster. They know it, the twisted family that produces Everlasting.

SPOILERS FOR ALL FOUR SEASONS - 

Rachel Goldberg! Wow, what a character. Bullied children become bullies? Maybe it's about power and the fear of being powerless all over again. If all you get is negativity, you want to aim that at someone else and spread out the pain so you don't suffer alone. Her mother and her father, oh boy. The mother is a psycho psychiatrist who plays pretend wife to her patients - fucks them in her house and calls it therapy. 

Quin King is her replacement mother, and in some areas just as cruel and manipulative as her actual mother. In a self-destructive, obsessive affair with Chet. that mirrors Jeremy and Rachel.

honest talk? I think Rachel hated herself until she learned to love herself. Still a monster, but in season one she was trying to pretend she wanted to be good. unreliable narrator. Lady Elon Musk was right. Rachel loves who she is and what she does, Rachel loves her insane family, and her insane family loves her right back.

Himbos - so many from seasons 1 to 4. Adam to August. weird inside joke about African Aid babies that Rachel professes to want to help - because? no idea.

Ouroboros

 I might be a bit biased on this one because I'm reading the manga and it is so good. Incomplete manga, translators please help.

But this drama definitely deserves my praise. What a plot. What brilliant acting. What an awesome display of emotions. What a shocking ending, kept me on the edge of my seat.

SPOILERS - The story is about two orphans who witness the murder of their beloved caretaker and are unable to forget or forgive the culprits. The police silence them with threats and the kids grow up in foster homes separately, but they never surrender their desire for vengeance. They renew their promise at their teacher's grave and take different paths to achieve their joint goal, one becomes a cop, and the other joins the mafia. They keep their quest a secret and ask for no aid from outsiders. However, their unusual association raises questions for the people who surround them. Is he a corrupt cop? Is he a confidential informant? Can he be trusted?

The story differs between manga and drama, so enjoy both.

Super Secret Spoilers - Read at your own risk.
The adoption home is an underground market for organ trade. The kids who get adopted vanish without a trace. The teacher was an undercover cop. 

There is a mysterious background to one of the boys, could he be an enemy? Will he change sides, at the last moment? I won't tell you. Watch this to find out.

IMPASTOR

 O.k, I should be cleaning up my blog and I am in the process even as we speak here, but I saw Smallville and I thought Lex Luthor, what an actor that guy Michael Rosenbaum is, what's he doing now?

Damn, he's stuck in that actor curse, when the previous role is too powerful, see Anthony Hopkins and his role of Dr. Lecter. I mean he's Odin and I still think Cannibal. Don't lose hope, let's take another look at his shows. Impastor, let's give it a try.

WIN, 777, and the coins gush out. Not a gambler but that is a picture alright. Good show.

SPOILERS - The dude is deadbeat loser and owes money to sinister thugs.  Got a bartending girl who ditches him when he fouls up for the umpteenth time. Decides to end it all by jumping off a bridge. A car squeals to a stop next to him and a Pastor runs out. Trying to prove his sympathy and understanding, the Pastor falls off the edge. Oops. Stroke of luck for our hero who takes it as a gift from heaven. He uses the dead guy's identity to start a new temporary life as a gay Pastor. But is it that easy to leave the past behind? Like a fool in love, he calls up his girl, and his call gets traced. Troubles never die, they only sleep, paraphrasing here. And this is just the first episode.

 

Nirvana in Fire

 Gorgeous, tricky, crafty plot! I see a lot of female schemers in drama but this guy tops them all. Mei Changsu. Brilliant characters, fantastic acting, wow storytelling.

This is based on a novel and the author wrote the screenplay, so guarantee of quality right there. This proves my theory of originality, if the original source/canon producer does the second part, with the same passion and interest, the standard remains excellent.

Love it all, from the good guys to the bad guys, no one strikes me as false. There is no noise in this harmony. Bravo, may all creative people bring forth more dramas like this one. Wish the ending was not so tragic, but still perfect. Made me cry. I actually wanted more. And I don't enjoy things that cause me tears. Khaled Hosseini!

No SPOILERS cause you really should watch this on your own. I can't steal into your house and tie you up in front of your computer, even though I really want to. Addictive show.

ok, ok, ok, ok, I'll do it, super secret spoilers begin now -
12 years ago,( timelines are a little off track but who cares for that tiny detail,) there was a great battle at a frozen mountain ridge, actually, there were two battles, one with their enemies (and directly afterward as they were tending their wounds and catching their breaths,) the other with their own forces, when they were framed of treason and plotting against the paranoid king.
Fast forward and the sole survivor of that battle comes seeking vengeance, cause he won't get justice from that awful crazy king. Plus the king intermarried a lot of families using his harem, so everybody is related to a traitor or is mourning for their loss, but no one says a word, lest the king orders a head chop. It's this unspoken secret that everyone shares and there are no mourning tablets for any of the dead. Think no coffins, no graves, no funeral procession. The spirits are not at peace. 
Mei Changsui is the name he adopts. His survival was touch and go for years; only an experimental treatment has kept him alive all this time. He builds the world's top secret alliance that acts as a spy service for him from nothing.

He reinvents himself, he was the brave soldier who scoffed at political intrigue and sneered at scheming in the shadows. He becomes the thing he hated the most, a puppeteer of human lives. 

He does what he must do, he regrets the innocence he destroys, but he does it all for justice, for the dead.

I can't retell it all without infecting myself with the desire to rewatch this series. I don't have enough time, this is 50-plus episodes of breathless moments and rewind to watch that again.