AF# 860 - Posted 10 February 2009 - 11:49 AM
Akazukin: Actually after WAB, my dislike against Charmaine has lessen since I think she has improved after so many years. After watching WAB, I was thinking of giving a chance to PITNOL but I hesitate since that series is filmed before WAB so I'm not assured of her acting skill (Well, I was forced to turn off the TV during 'Cuckoo' because of her). What is Steven's character like in PITNOL? Is he a romantic as well?
Tamaya: I thought Charmaine was rather cute and fresh in Cuckoo, though she was a most annoying character. Don't know why the guys go gaga over her. And her acting in WAB was much better than Gigi's. PITNOL is definitely not as good as WTLB. It's abundant use of flashbacks annoyed the heck out of me. Quite a bit of fast forwarding for me. But there are plentiful of sweet and romantic scenes between Steven & Charmaine, not that they would do anything for you, given your biasness. lol! In some scenes, Charmaine looks pretty & sweet, in some, surprisingly, rather plain and average looking. She displays none of the innate poise and elegance expected of an imperial princess, her humble childhood upbringing notwithstanding, inborn good breeding should naturally emanate from deep within. Overall, I wasn't impressed by either Charmaine's or Sonija's performance - (but then I never like Sonija's acting, eta-especially dislike her mincing way of talking.) The male cast did much better. Wasn't Steven's best performance but he did all right. Got him the most favorite male character. And also many Steven's fans became fans because of pitnol. So each to her own. The ending was terrible for me -- tvb had the gall to change a classic tragedy into a happy ending. Urg! Between pitnol & wtlb, pick the latter, you might change your mind on Ada. And Steven was absolutely gorgeous! And the series (WTLB), although, a tragedy, has a good story to tell and enthrall.
Akazukin: [..] Eh, I think romantic scenes between Steven and Charmaine won't do me any good. But what is his character like? Is he serious and loyal type? Or is he playful and loyal? Smart? Etc?
I never like Sonija's acting either, although I have a feeling she would do better in villainous role than kind-hearted roles. Didn't she also have a rumour with Steven?
Tamaya: [..]Steven's Sai Hin is a hero; a romantic, gorgeous, brave, righteous hero. I've enjoyed watching his performance, Moses' and Michael Tong's performances too. plus the storyline is interesting, and romantic too, so overall I did enjoy the whole series. But you might not. Watch WTLB instead.
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AF1752 Posted 09 September 2009 - 02:54 AM
Tamaya: As for pitnol, find the childhood story boring but the story picks up from there. Steven's Sai Hin cut such a romantic and dashing figure. Undoubtedly Pitnol has a very romantic storyline played against the crumbling Ming dynasty background which made the series very interesting to watch. Overall, besides the childhood story in the beginning, the altered corny, happy ending and the endless flashbacks to childhood scenes and their prayers, it was an enjoyable series to watch. But I personally prefer WTLB over PITNOL.
One of the most romantic scenes “ Sai Hin recognizes Fai Ni as Cheung Pin "
- epi 6 - ending scene
-epi 7 Watch the whole clip, if not then forward to these specific scenes.
- the episode starts with Sai Hin wanting to confront Fai Ni as Cheung Pin but is interrupted by the arrival of his fiance played by Annie Man
- after sending Annie home, Sai Hin rushes over to the factory to seek out Fai Ni, whom he is now ascertain is Princess Cheung Pin, but the latter pretends otherwise. Such a romantic scene.
- When Fai Ni finally admits to be Cheung Pin.
related screencaps - Dancing with Annie Man
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Agree, pitnol is a must see series for Steven fans. Enjoyed Steven's performance in both series. But Steven's performance and screen presence in Sits were so much more mature and poignant, making every scene counts. Moreover, Stevia's chemistry can't be beat. (except for Steven/Maggie's)
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Out of all the 4 fadans in Steven's mainland STAR interview (Maggie Cheung, Jessica Hsuan, Ada Choi and Charmain Sheh), Charmaine is my least favorite. I can't stand her voice, and her acting as the perfect princess (Cheung Ping) is not to my liking. In some scenes, she even looked haggard. She was so much better and prettier and fresher in Return Of The Cuckoo. Pitnol dragged too, esp. with all the flashbacks. But Steven looked marvelous as usual, he can't be beat in ancient costumes.
WAB=War and Beauty
WTLB = Where the legend begins
PITNOL= Perish in the name of Love
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related material: a blogger's episodic review
Verdict by blogger Funn Lim on pitnol reviews:
VERDICT
Too much emphasis on the love story, pushing everything else aside, and when the story goes back to everything else, it was much too late. The ending was God awful, no explanation whatsoever, it was like "Nah! You want happy ending? Here's your happy ending!". [.]. This series tried to give a new twist to a timeless tale of love, betrayals, falling kingdom and eternal devotion. I see plenty of devotion between two main characters when I wanted to see devotion in a bigger scale; the relationships between the characters and more. What I had was a glimpse of the surface of what could have been. Believe me, this series if given more care in scripting, more capable actors in certain key characters and a better director with an appreciation for classical dialogue, perhaps there may be a remake worthy of being called better than its predecessors. Now it is just pure messy nonsense.
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ETA nov 10 2015Verdict by blogger Funn Lim on pitnol reviews:
VERDICT
Too much emphasis on the love story, pushing everything else aside, and when the story goes back to everything else, it was much too late. The ending was God awful, no explanation whatsoever, it was like "Nah! You want happy ending? Here's your happy ending!". [.]. This series tried to give a new twist to a timeless tale of love, betrayals, falling kingdom and eternal devotion. I see plenty of devotion between two main characters when I wanted to see devotion in a bigger scale; the relationships between the characters and more. What I had was a glimpse of the surface of what could have been. Believe me, this series if given more care in scripting, more capable actors in certain key characters and a better director with an appreciation for classical dialogue, perhaps there may be a remake worthy of being called better than its predecessors. Now it is just pure messy nonsense.