Monday, December 29, 2014

Year in Review

Amazingly, I've watched almost every single series aired by TVB this year. Here's my year in review:

Top of the Crop



Never Dance Alone - A series that was unexpectedly enjoyable and heart-warming. Featured some of the best acting of the year by the 7 leading ladies and their young versions. [Review]

Storm in a Cocoon - The best thriller of the year with a well-crafted mystery that kept audiences at the edge of their seats, followed by a classic family-business struggle. [Review]


Exciting Thrillers



Black Heart White Soul - A compact, griping thriller with an unravelling mystery and chilling characters. A fine performance by Roger Kwok that is 100% deserving of the TV King title. [Review]

Line Walker - A suspenseful series that will keep you chasing after it, despite the presence of Sharon Chan and the non-stop looping of sub-theme song. [Review]

Ruse of Engagement - An engaging series that also had an excellent mystery, even if it makes some giant leaps (literally) in logic.


Entertaining Ancient Comedies



Gilded Chopsticks - A good mix of comedy and palace drama. Wong Cho Lam shows off his real talent when he's not dressed as a girl or trying to speak with an accent.

Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain - Fun characters with a bunch of decent cases. [Review]


Disappointments



Tomorrow is Another Day - A series that promised an unprecedented look behind the mysterious prison walls, but in the end focused on the wrong things.

Overachievers - The business battle that never happened. [Review]

The Ultimate Addiction - The only addiction in here is TVB's addiction to love triangles and dumb revenge plots. [Review]

Tiger Cubs II - It's almost a chore to watch the incompetent SDU squad plus a crazy bulging eye madam running around like idiots every week.


Decent Fillers



Outbound Love - A nice little series filmed in Malaysia with a playful Ruco Chan. Enjoyable while it lasted.

Return of the Silver Tongue - Don't even remember anything about it except that it was about ancient lawyers.

Rear Mirror - A mellow series about a bus driver and a CEO *yawn* [Thoughts]

All That is Bitter is Sweet - The series doesn't move along until at least half-way through, but Natalie Tong was a highlight to watch.


Waste of Time



Queen Divas - When even 15 episodes is too much...

Swipe Tap Love - An aimless plot with a miserable mood.

Come On, Cousin - A random mash-up of lame comedy. Quite possibly the worse anniversary series ever.

ICAC Investigators 2014 - No effort whatsoever was put into the story-telling of the cases.

Shades of Life - The attempt to examine the social issues of Hong Kong was superficial and sometimes propaganda-like.


Skimmed/Skipped



Coffee Cat Mama - Caught parts of it, mostly of Vincent Wong and Nancy Wu's storyline.

Lady Sour - The cheesy-sounding plot was all I needed to stay away from this series.


Friday, December 26, 2014

Noblesse Oblige Theme Song

The theme song for Noblesse Oblige is sung by Ronald Law and Grace Wong, called "Gossip" (是非).



Theme Song MV



Friday, December 19, 2014

Overview - Noblese Oblige



Nuns-to-be Tavia Yeung and Cilla Kung are desperate to find money to treat the head nun's illness. By coincidence, they meet the wealthy heir of a bank (Kenneth Ma) and are forced to become maids at his household to repay their debts. Tavia often has to save Kenneth from trouble with her superior martial arts skills. Although they disagree with each other, they still support each other during critical times and unconsciously develop a strong bond. With the help of a nobleman, Kenneth becomes a magistrate. His career goes smoothly with help from his brother Joel Chan, who is a governor, and good friend Benjamin Yuen. However, Kenneth soon discovers the corruption and abuse of power in the political world. People around him will act in perverse ways for the sake of personal gain. When he discovers the truth behind the massacre of Tavia's family when she was young, it gets them both thrown into jail...

Noblesse Oblige Promo Clips

As one fan pointed out, "noblesse oblige" is a French phrase that means "obligation of nobility". It is the idea that people of noble status have an obligation to act kindly and generously towards others, particularly those of lower status.