it's in the news #2

This post is dedicated to Annisa as an early birthday present. She turns eighteen tomorrow - December 4. Happy Birthday 'em em!' Hope you have a special day and get tons of gifts and endless wishes.

Sacrificing to be a 90-pound beauty

[TVB Musings Daily 03/12/06]

"I sacrificed too!"

Recently aired anniversary series To Grow With Love focuses on the discrimination and pain of fat people. Because of this, Myolie Wu, who plays the leading role as "Fat Tin," was asked to gain 50 pounds for the role. Many people praised Myolie for her daring action and great sacrifice. Since Grow started filming, all eyes were on the chubby Myolie.

Myolie's weight gain has been a hot topic in the past year in Hong Kong, but she's not the only one who sacrificed for Grow.

Newcomer Selena Li also made a great sacrifice to act as "Kwok Bo Lok." No one knows about her sacrifice though.

Selena explains, "I was on vacation and had no idea I was casted in the series. I was pigging out and gained a slight amount of weight." (What did they say to you about your role?) "The producer wanted me to lose some weight so that the contrast between Myolie and I would be even clearer." (How many pounds did he want you to drop to?) "Ninety pounds."

Myolie had a few months to gain all of her weight, but poor Selena only had a week or two to lose around ten pounds.

(Was it difficult?) "Of course. The old saying is that it's easy to gain weight, but hard to lose it." (But you managed to lose it?) "I'm a stick compared to 'Fat Tin,' of course I lost it." She laughs. (But do you think the audience noticed that you're only 90 pounds in the series?) Selena shrugs her shoulders. "The producer wanted a sharper contrast between our weights, so I did as I was told." (Do you feel it was worth it?) "Um... The result was satisfying. Besides, I got to lose the fat I gained on my vacation plus more!"

We then asked Producer Kwan about the issue.

(Your cast had to sacrifice a lot for To Grow With Love.) "Yes, Myolie was a real trooper with her role." (Selena Li also sacrificed.) He pauses and thinks about our statement before a light shines in his eyes when he recalls her sacrifice. "Ah yes, she did. Selena and Myolie both did very well." (How come Selena didn't receive recognition for her sacrifice?) "Everyone notices Myolie's weight gain, but Selena's weight loss wasn't so noticeable." (So why did you have her lose weight if it wasn't very 'noticeable?') "That's not what I meant. It's radical for a girl to gain 50 pounds, so people are curious and interested, but for a girl to slim down... it's too typical. People aren't going to talk about it." (But why have Selena lose weight if people aren't going to notice?) "It's for credibility. I wouldn't have Myolie wear a fat suit because it's not real. If Selena didn't lose the weight, the contrast wouldn't be as great. Making a TV series is an art and it's real, it imitates life. We have to be realistic and true." (Is a ten-pound difference on an already-skinny girl that important for the sake of 'art?') "Of course! If you paid for twenty pounds of meat but only got ten pounds instead, that's a big difference, isn't it?"

Behind The 'Satire': The basis for the article is factual. I recall reading a message from Selena about To Grow With Love and she was telling fans how she pigged out while on vacation and came back to Hong Kong with the discovery of this "90-pound" project. She was saying that if she had known about the role sooner, she wouldn't have pigged out. I think Producer Kwan is crazy. Does he think we have a scale or something so we can weigh our stars? "Oh no! Selena weights 91 pounds. It's a big lie. She's not a 90-pound beauty. She's fat!" God. It's just ridiculous.

Producer Kwan has quickly topped my "dislike" list. I hate the series he produces (Scavenger's Paradise, War of In-Laws) and feel he's too full of himself. Apparently, he's promising Myolie another "breakthrough" role so she can win Best Actress next year. He feels they will be "back" and "stronger" in 2007. It's great to have confidence, but I think he's too overly confident and frankly overrated. War of In-Laws' win for Best Series last year was so not deserving. Myolie needs to get away from him. He limits her acting potential and capabilities and his productions are half-baked and awful. Grow was another half-baked idea and really wasted the sacrifices and efforts that Myolie, Selena, and Jack Wu [who also receives little credit for his weight gain] made for the series.

Also, does anyone else find it sickening how they asked Selena to drop specifically down to around 90 pounds?

programme highlights '06 - issue iv

The fourth and final issue for this year of TVB's Programme Highlights has been released. Much thanks to TVFANSQUARE for scanning it and sharing the booklet with all of us! As stated in July, I'll be discussing each issue of the Programme Highlights and expressing my thoughts on them as they come. Because of my pervasive indifference towards most of the series included in this issue, I'm going to be doing this feature a bit differently this time around.

When will they be out already?!
I am not interested in what TVB has to offer lately, so I'm dying waiting for the following series to release.

Heavenly In-Laws (Nancy Sit, Joey Leung, Linda Chung, etc.)
I'm suffering from L.C.W.D. (Linda Chung Withdrawal Disorder). I swear TVB is torturing me by making Linda Chung film all these series and not releasing any of them in the longest time! I haven't seen Linda since Forensic Heroes and I really miss watching her act. She is so charming and just makes my day. There are two new pictures of Linda in this issue and she looks real cute. My anticipation continues to build as my neck grows long awaiting Heavenly In-Laws' release. This is Linda's first costume drama, so I hope she does well. I was looking at old TVB Weekly scans from during its filming and Linda's expressions and looks for Heavenly are super adorable. Apparently, Linda's character (who is a goddess) wants to re-enact Ngau Long and Jik Lui because she is so moved by their romantic story. Of course, since this is a comedy, things won't be so idyllic.

The series starts off in ancient costumes (since Nancy Sit & Linda are mother/daughter goddesses) and will then proceed to mid 1900's as the two of them live life as mortals... Linda falls in love with Joey Leung's character, but Nancy greatly opposes this couple. I think this series should be entertaining albeit cliché and not very different or breakthrough. I hope Linda will show continued improvement in this series. I've grown a lot fonder of Heavenly since last time and just hope TVB will release it soon!

The Price of Greed (Bosco Wong, Sammul Chan, etc.)
My reasons for anticipating this series remains unchanged.

Brink of Law (Steven Ma, Ron Ng, Bernice Liu, etc.)
I fell in love with this series since the costume fitting. Producer Mui Siu Ching always picks the best people and yes, since this is her production, I am confident that Brink of Law will be excellent. How awesome does the poster look?! This series will revolve around business, horse racing, and fashion. True to Producer Mui's style, I'm sure that this will essentially be a family drama (and I love those) with lots of twists and turns. The cast looks so good. It's always interesting and fascinating to watch dramas about rich people. Steven Ma and Bernice Liu look so good together and I have confidence that they (like Frankie Lam and Linda Chung in Forensic Heroes) will have chemistry. It's so nice how the Virtues of Harmony "partners swap" is working wonderfully, creating great new pairings. I haven't seen Bernice in so long, so I miss her. I hope her acting has improved because Bernice has always been a little shaky with dramatic roles. She's fine in comedies and light dramas, but not so good in heavy dramas. Michelle Yim is consistently superb, so I hope they will put her talents to good use in this series. I'm okay with Ron Ng and Kate Tsui.

The only drawback to this series is... Shirley Yeung. There's always a drawback, isn't there? Just when everything is so right, there's that one that ruins everything. Shirley's terrible in her normal roles when she "acts" like herself (loud, stubborn, obnoxious). How bad is it going to be now that they're forcing her to really "act" as a villain?! I don't even want to begin imagining. I'm hoping that whoever made this pamphlet made a mistake because there is no way that Shirley is leading over Bernice (nor Kate for that matter). I will just have to live with her in this and hope she doesn't ruin the series too much.

All in all, I cannot wait for Brink. It is tied with Heavenly In-Laws as my most highly anticipated release out of the series included in this issue.

Standing in the middle of two roads
These are the series that I cannot make up my mind whether I'm going to watch or skip. I'm very picky and thrift with my TVB rentals (especially these days since I have limited time), so I cannot afford to watch any mediocre or bad series. The following series are ones that attract me in some ways, but repulse me in another, so I'm stuck with indecisiveness.

Dicey Business (Bobby Au-Yeung, Jessica Hsuan, Bosco Wong, etc.)
What in the world was TVB thinking when they created this poster? It is so cartoon-ish and to be blunt, down right appalling! Many people are wondering if this series is really a "drama" because the looks for the characters are a bit too "animated." Bobby Au-Yeung with his fake pot belly? Bosco Wong with his hair and glasses? Tavia Yeung with her fake breasts? But then, the fact that Hacken Lee is singing the themesong, the fact that it's a grand production, the premise of gambling, and the title suggesting a "turbulent casino" make this series seem like a true drama?

Does TVB want us to take this series seriously or what? I have no idea! I'm not a big fan of gambling series and from what I've read/seen, Dicey Business isn't all that appealing to me. However, I do have to admit that I am very attracted to Tavia's image for Dicey. She looks really good! Whether or not I watch this series will depend on reviews and when I get a better idea of what this series is truly about.

To Grow With Love (Myolie Wu, Andy Hui, Selena Li, etc.)
Initially, I was attracted to this series because it looked quite cute and funny. Sadly, I've been hearing that it's silly and over-hyped, so this has turned me off. I also found out that To Grow With Love's producer also did War of In-Laws (which I hated), so I'm skeptical about whether I will enjoy his attempt at a modern romantic comedy about the struggles of fat people. I have to say I am in love with the songs from this series though. I haven't completely crossed it off the list yet though, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Glittering Days (Liza Wang, Roger Kwok, Charmaine Sheh, etc.)
I'm not into musicals and Glittering Days seems a bit long and silly to me. However, since it is a grand production and an anniversary series at that, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. TVB won't put so much backing into such a series, right?

No light of day
These are the series that I'm going to pass on - no doubt about it.

Devil's Disciples (Kevin Cheng, Bosco Wong, Bernice Liu, etc.)
Since Jin Yong no longer lets TVB adapt his novels, where do they turn to for wuxia ideas? Why, video games of course! Devil's Disciples is based on a video game, which explains its heavily computerized dependence. It's a recipe for disaster. The costumes are a big turn off as well. Kevin Cheng, Sharon Chan, and Shirley Yeung are even bigger turn off's. What a pity for me in regards to Bernice Liu - this is her first leading role, her first martial arts role, and the first time she's pairing with an actor around her age (Bosco Wong)... and I'm going to miss it all. I'd rather watch Face to Fate before this series.

At Home With Love (Lawrence Ng, Yoyo Mung, Chung King Fai, etc.)
It changed its poster since the last programme highlights issue, but my thoughts are still in agreement with four months ago. I am not watching this series for the same reasons as stated before.

So... which series are you most looking forward to? What are you going to watch or skip and why?

series 411: "to grow with love"

One of TVB's 2006 Anniversary Series...



English Title: To Grow With Love
Cantonese Title: Fei Tin Hei See
Vietnamese Title: Tinh Yeu Chan That
Casts: Myolie Wu, Andy Hui, Jack Wu, Selena Li, etc.
Length: 21 episodes (Cantonese) // 16 tapes (Vietnamese)
Release Date: October 2006 (Canto) // January 2006 (Viet)
Genre: Modern Comedy/Romance/Drama

Note: Please credit "MetalAZNWarrior" and/or this site if you should use my translation of the series' plot! I worked hard to translate it, so please don't just steal or use it for another site without my permission and/or credit. Thank you!

Synopsis:
Does the number of candidates at your feet really have an inversely proportional relationship to your body weight?

Since childhood, Filipino-born Chinese Ho Mei Tin (Myolie Wu Hang Yi) has been chubby. She receives much ridicule in the slimming obsessed Hong Kong. Disheartened, she decides to return to the Philippines. However, she discovers that someone has been replying to her perspectives on love. She decides to stay to find this person.

Tin's boss, Daai Hei (Andy Hui Chi On) is displeased with her chubby figure, so he always picks on her. He could never have imagined that one day he would fall in love with her. To forget Tin, he quickly marries his girlfriend, Sung Man Yi (Claire Yiu Ka Nei). Meanwhile, the hopeful romantic Tin puts her efforts to running a wedding planning shop. Unexpectedly though, her first customer is Hei!

My thoughts: To Grow With Love is said to be the HK version of Bridget Jones's Diary. I find it really commendable that Myolie Wu was able to gain and lose so much weight in such a short amount of time. She looks so adorable as "Fat Tin" - just really cute! Selena Li looks quite pretty from pictures as well. I haven't seen Andy Hui act, so I don't know what to expect from him and honestly, from clips, I don't think he's going to be that good.

I didn't look forward to this series because I really don't like over-hyped productions and I'm not into the whole slapstick/physical comedy thing. However, after watching TVB's three-part advertisement for it, I found it quite charming and funny. The thing with "these" type of series (about "ugly" people for lack of a better term) is that in order to be entertaining, it must be charming and witty. It's very easy for these series to fall into the trap of being corny, ridiculous, and predictable, especially if they are plot-driven. The characters and acting are what drive these series. If Grow has heart, then this series should do well and be enjoyable.