TVB 48th Anniversary Awards: Red Carpet Fashion Critique

Another anniversary awards season has come to an end, and while the winners were all very deserving and satisfying, the fashion left much to be desired… We throw in all the comments, quips, and sarcastic remarks we have regarding the fashion at this year’s awards show.

Iris: As the obvious TV King and Queen of the night, Roger and Charmaine were dressed to make an impression. Charmaine looked like she had stolen something straight from Ingrid, the Snow Queen’s closet from “Once Upon a Time.” From the shoulders down it looks okay, but the collar looks like it's eating Char's neck and going for her head. 

Roger looked so confident he was going to win, he ditched a tie for a crown ornament. The children on his jacket, which are supposed to represent his son and daughter, are sweet and meaningful. However, had I seen him in person, I'm pretty sure I would've been left blinded by all the white. "MY EYES!"

Niki: Every time I look at Charmaine’s picture I have trouble seeing her as a whole person simply because that collar is so distracting. Her head seems to just be floating in mid air and then an inch down is the rest of her body. The only thing I really like about this dress is the sheer waist that managed to hug her curves and prevented her from looking like a complete stick.

As for Roger, I think he looks quite dashing in the all white outfit, but Iris is right, had I seen him in person I probably would've had to put on sunglasses. The details on his jacket is definitely a sweet sentiment and I’m sure his kids would love it when they see their dad accepting his award with them in mind. I actually love his crown ornament in the pictures he took without his jacket. It gave the eyes something to focus on in an all white ensemble and it’s definitely a fun accessory piece. However, with the jacket on it felt like there was too much going on. No matter how you look at it, these two definitely took the spotlight in this year’s award show.

Iris: These two look strange standing next to each other in their vastly contrasting looks. Linda's simple updo hairstyle and gold headband and earrings are perfect. Her hair, makeup, and accessories make her look absolutely gorgeous, but I'm indifferent to the dress. A bit too princessy to me, but I'm glad Linda isn't trying to pull anything too weird anymore (Remember this disaster?)

Despite the full cameo... This is the least weird and eye-opening look I've seen from Bosco at an awards show in a while.

Niki: I think I’ll call this one “The Princess and her Bodyguard”. Does it not look like it?
I also think that Linda did an amazing job choosing her accessories and makeup. It was a simple but elegant look, which fits her perfectly. I don’t have anything to say about her dress, except for the fact that she looked like she was performing in a ballet more than attending an award show.
Even though I’ve only seen a couple of award show pictures, I can tell that this was a safe outfit for Bosco.

Iris: Plaid, plaid, and...yep, more plaid. And somewhere under all that plaid is Him. At the least, he is clearly shown to be wearing a jacket and not looking like a Scottish red bird like Ron last year.

I'm a bit surprised by Kate this year... The whole look is so simplistic. The dress is boring and basic, but I guess she wasn't trying to get attention this year. Glad she has stopped slicking her hair back though. The updo and jewelry are still nice.

Niki: My eyes actually dilated when I first saw Him’s outfit. It was so glaring that I didn’t even see who it was at first, all I saw was a patch of plaid. If I stare at it long enough I’m sure I’ll manage to somehow hypnotize myself. (I could go on, but I’ll stop here)

Kate kept it very simple and safe this year, which isn’t an entirely bad thing. While the dress is on the boring side, I do like her choice of jewelry.

Iris: Leave it to Kristal to go for the edgier look. I like the contrasting black and white and train of the dress, but don't dig the leggings/pants underneath. It's just too much for me, but I love how she's not afraid to be more bold and different.

Niki: Kristal really rocks this punk and edgy style, she definitely gets points for thinking outside the box. From the waist up I wouldn’t change a thing, but the sudden cut out in the front is awkward at best.

Iris: I didn't get as good of a look while watching the anniversary awards, and thought Eliza's dress looked quite nice. But when looking at actual pictures, the print of the dress looks like she took her comforter to a designer's office to have converted into a dress. I'm not sure if the comforter look or her usual prom look is better.

Niki: Iris basically stole what I was going to say. From the pictures I’ve seen from her it looks like she’s either dressed for prom or she’s drowning in her dress (sometimes a mixture of both). The material also seems to be on the thicker side, coupled with the ballgown cut it only adds more weight to her small frame.

Niki: Vincent looks so warm and cozy in his navy trench coat that I can’t help but love it. He carried this look well, considering it could’ve ended up making him look skinny and bean pole-ish given his height. Even though I can’t say that it’s a vintage look, something about it does remind me of the 1950’s.
Josie looked like she was dressed to go to the club instead of an award show. Her makeup was too dark and heavy and the dress is a bit too short for this occasion.

Iris: I agree with Niki on both counts. Vincent pulls off the trench coat, making it a nice change from the classic suits and outrageous outfits the men usually go with. Meanwhile, Josie just looks totally inappropriate for an awards show.

Niki: If you look really closely this is a very nice dress, but sadly on Natalie it blends a little too well with her skin tone making difficult to see the dress’ details. The other unfortunate issue is that the vertical patterns on the dress makes Natalie look even skinnier than she already is.

Iris: The gold color should have been either a darker or bolder color, but instead makes Natalie look washed out. The dress indeed has nice detailing, but does not do anything to accentuate her very thin figure.

Niki: Nancy looks sharp and fierce this year in her shiny silver dress. My favorite part of her look has to be how the tiny silver plates reflect the light. The deep slits on the side create a sexy feel without being too revealing and black belt cinches her waist nicely and prevented the dress from looking too baggy. The coral lipstick was also a nice makeup choice as it was a refreshing look and it gave her a splash of color that highlighted her face very well.

I think a suede suit, particularly in this purple/blue combination, would bug me if it was on anyone else besides Raymond, but somehow he makes it work. To me, he’s very charming and adorkable, as always, with this clean cut look.

Iris: Nancy definitely looked sharp in this dress and was able to show some skin without going overboard. After seeing her sport an eye-popping orange dress earlier, it's nice to see her exhibit some boldness in a different way. With the coral lipstick, this is a relatively simple but eyecatching look. As usual, Raymond goes the more dorky but still cute route. I agree I probably would not like suede on another guy, but he has a way of pulling it off.

Iris: "My name is Tony, I am zhe French paint-uh" is basically what he's saying with this get up. I'm going to guess Priscilla laughed at him for about 5 minutes straight when she first saw him. Not a good look for Tony... but I guess with his shaved head and mustache right now (for the filming of "Cheung Po Jai"), avoiding looking silly would be hard. Priscilla's dress looks more flattering from the side and back than the front, but overall the dress isn't too bad and quite sweet looking while her side swept hair is a nice and attractive change. Still, these two and their playful friendship never fail to make me smile.

Niki: Maybe he recognized that there was no getting away from looking ridiculous with that mustache and haircut so he decided to go with it ;D. Priscilla looked clean and sweet in her dress and I quite like her hair pulled to the side this way. Not to mention that this has got to be my favorite picture out of all of them, these two are just too adorable together (in a completely platonic way of course).

Iris: Tavia always plays it safe, and this year was not an exception. However, it is an improvement as the dress hugs her curves to give her a more flattering figure. Her dresses and overall looks are always on the mature side though. While I don't want her to go all prom queen on me, I would like her to try something more youthful. As for Ruco, I just hope his hair grows back soon. Hats can be appropriate for awards shows, but this was playing it too casual. And for the nth time, I wish he wouldn't wear those dorky glasses to hide his handsome face.

Niki: The lace details on Tavia’s dress is just amazing and she’s definitely benefiting from the silhouette of the dress. Even though it does make her look more mature, I would say that this is one of the times where she does look more youthful because the dress played with her curves so well. I agree, Ruco’s look was a bit too casual this year. I think that was mainly because of the beanie, if it had been any other hat then it wouldn’t have been as bad.

Iris: Sharon, I'm happy that you got married this year, but please stop wearing wedding-inspired dresses to award shows and events. Every dress she has worn since becoming a Mrs. has screamed that she's still in the wedding mood. At the least, the influence is not as seen here as it was for the gala and Starhub Awards. High low dresses can be fun and different, but for Sharon, it's gotten boring. Sammy is a pretty good looking guy, but kind of looks like a grandpa here, mostly due to the jacket

Niki: Getting married is a wonderful thing, wanting to share your happiness is also great, but after a while it just feels like you’re rubbing it in the faces of single people. Sharon, you look nice, but stop it. Sammy’s look may not be the most stylish, but I actually think it’s kind of cute, in a dorky hipster kind of way.

Iris: I like the lilac color of Mandy's dress, but with its simplistic cutting, there's nothing to go "wow" about. It looks like Oscar decided to compensate for Mandy because there is a bit too much going on in that suit.

Niki: I think Mandy’s dress would’ve been more flattering if the waistline had been just a little bit lower, but the color does look very nice on her and the overall look as a romantic feel to it. The prints on Oscar’s suit reminds me of the decorations in the castle in “Beauty and the Beast”. It’s outfits like these that make me wonder whether I should blame the designer or the buyer more.

Iris: The silk duo? Ben is able to mostly pull it off (still too creme-colored looking for me though) since he paired it with black pants, but Maggie's black silk shirt and pants made it look like she was wearing her pajamas. Throwing on the fur coat and vintage hairstyle just made the look more strange.

Niki: “The silk duo”, just what I was going to say. The black pants definitely helped Ben’s look, but I just personally cannot stand the creme-colored jacket. The vintage hairstyle complemented Maggie just fine, it looks great on her actually. I think she had the potential to look amazing if she had chosen something different to wear. The high-waisted crinkly black pants were horrible and the fur coat is just confusing to me.

Iris: I think this kind of top style is sweet and a nice change from the usual sleeveless, but Becky's dress would have worked a lot better with a scoop neckline or at least a regular v-neckline instead of this widely spread apart one. Her hair doesn't look bad either but the clip makes her look a little more childish.

Niki: I think this look is nice and sweet, but it’s also a little bit promy, maybe because of the baby pink color and hair clip.

Iris: Leanne needs to stop wearing lingerie to fancy events. Okay, she's not actually wearing lingerie, but the silk and lace combo sure makes it look like it. While this is a lot more subtle than the shocking dress she wore to last year's gala that left little to the imagination, she should try something else. The cutout below her chest bothers me, and she would have benefited from a silver necklace to match her bracelet.

Niki: Unlike some of the other ladies she should try a thicker fabric next time. I do, however, like the lace details on the side of the dress (maybe I’m just a lace person).

Iris: "And for the first day of Christmas, I want Louisa So..." Wait, what? The print of the dress as well as the design makes Louisa look like a wrapped up Christmas present. Nothing much is wrong with Wayne's simple black suit, but his hair kind of makes me laugh.

Niki: Not only does the dress look like Christmas wrapping paper, but the pattern makes it look like those old fashioned ones. It also made Louisa look bulkier than necessary with the huge pleat on the front. As for Wayne, he looks sleek in his suit and the mini bow tie was a cute touch. But I’m more amused by his expression than anything else.

Iris: Although Louis sometimes likes more trendy and flamboyant clothes, I'm glad he decided to choose something more classic, and he looks very dapper. Not too simple but not too busy. Samantha always seems to wear a variation of the same deep v-neck dress so this rose-printed strapless one is more modest and actually quite refreshing and flows nicely.

Niki: Can I give Louis the “If looks could kill” award? haha. Louis is probably the best dressed out of all the guys. His look is clean, sharp, and classic without being too simple. Samantha was the only one to pull off a vintage-inspired look this year. Her rose-printed dress gives off a romantic yet fun feel. She made a wise choice to balanced her bold makeup and dress out with the neutral silver necklace.

Niki: Lin Xia Wei had one of my favorite looks this year. The nude underlining highlighted the black lace and tulle, creating a contrast that helped her dress pop, even with the usually neutral colors. The top is well structured, complementing her figure and is intricately adorned with black lace while the bottom transitioned into a softer look. It was one of the few ball gowns that didn’t totally engulf its wearer. Matt’s blue suede suit with leather lining doesn’t look completely horrible on him, but it’s just too much.

Iris: The lace-adorned top of Lin Xia Wei's dress is actually very pretty while still classy and flatters her figure. It's a quite elegant look and despite the neutral colors, she does not look washed out. The suede suit does nothing to help Matt's handsome looks.

Iris: Pastel colors galore! I love the lilac color even more than Mandy's dress and the top part is very pretty, but the train just seems too exaggerated and...fluffy. Pal's pairing of a light yellow jacket and baby blue slacks with sneakers is just wrong in so many ways.

Niki: This is one of those statement dresses that you can’t miss, even from a mile away. Oceane figure looks amazing in this and who knew lilac would be such a complementary color. The only thing I’m wondering is how she was able to walk in that dress. I think Pal went the silly and fun route with his outfit. The only thing I have to say is, it could be a lot worse.

Fashion Awards

Best Dressed
Male: Louis Cheung

Iris: The guy can really pull off a suit. Louis just looks so dashing and was the one guy who hit the right note of simple and classic.

Niki: Simple and classic is the way to go boys. Louis proved that you don’t need wacky gimmicks to stand out from the crowd.

Female: Nancy Wu

Iris: There's not one that I really love, but if I had to choose one I'd pick Nancy. Her look is relatively simple yet so eye catching. However, Linda gets my pick for best hair, make-up, and accessorizing.

Niki: Nancy’s look was bold and sexy, yet it still maintained that classy aura.

Honorable Mentions

Male: Vincent Wong

Iris: Vincent's trench coat was a pretty refreshing choice.

Niki: Vincent managed to make a difficult article of clothing work and achieved a look that’s both stylish and comfy. (I kinda want to borrow his coat, but I would drown in it.)

Female: Samantha Ko, Kristal Tin, Lin Xia Wei

Iris: There are many I quite liked.I really like Samantha's slightly vintage rose-print dress, which shows her figure without going overboard. Kristal's edgy ensemble is another great one if it weren't for the leggings underneath. Lin Xia Wei's was also full of intricate details.

Niki: I love the romantic and vintage feel of Samantha’s dress as well as her bold choice of make-up. Kristal can pull off some of the wildest and daring looks, so I have to give her credit for that. Lin Xia Wei’s dress matches my personal preference the most, which is why it’s one of my favorites. But it was also a pretty typical style of dress and didn’t make as big of an impression as Nancy’s look.

Worst Dressed

Male: Him Law

Too. Much. Plaid. And he almost hypnotized my partner Niki here. I love Tony but he is another bad one, but at the least he's given me a new thing to poke fun at. Oui oui?

Niki: How did Him decide that layering one of the most jarring patterns in the history of mankind was a good idea...My poor eyes...

Female: Josie Ho

Iris: Josie's look was just completely inappropriate for an awards show. She went way overboard with the make up and like Niki said, she really did seem like she was about to go hit a club.

Niki: Perhaps Josie was going for an edgier look, but she just came on a little too strong in the end.

"Slow Boat Home" Review

"Slow Boat Home" had promoted itself to be a refreshing youth-oriented and romantic lighthearted comedy. While the first half of the series did manage to be quite enjoyable and deliver many laughs, a closer look and one can easily tell that it quickly morphed into another typical TVB family drama. Although quite funny in its earlier episodes, it became yet another series with poorly written story lines weeded together and love stories that lacked a romantic factor that turned it lackluster and draggy.

The four leads all deliver, but the development and outline of their characters was sloppy.

Raymond Wong is solid as always and delivers as "Cheung Bo Jai". The character would have easily become annoying with his obnoxiousness in the early episodes, but instead Raymond made him quite hilarious. Yet, Cheung Bo Jai found himself primarily pining after Bo Bo (portrayed by Aimee Chan) and caught in the middle of family drama, lacking his own direction in life. Although he has a dream of owning his own boat, not much is ever done with this subplot until - you guessed it - he buys himself a huge yacht in the last episode.

Aimee Chan is surprisingly pleasant and very likable as "Bo Bo". She is charming and appears very comfortable onscreen due to the tailor made role and casual atmosphere. However, it is actually her character that puzzles me the most with her odd actions and behavior. She so readily settled down into life at Cheung Chau and gave up her career as a director that it was simply bizarre. I find it hard to believe Bo Bo would not return to New York when she could, had such a good attitude about working as a waitress when she was formerly a director, and so easily gave up on looking for her father (the reason she came to Cheung Chau) after learning it is not Mui Kei (portrayed by Ngok Wah).

As a huge fan of Ruco Chan, I become giddy every time I start a new series with him as lead. Now, this giddiness literally lasted all through out "The Other Truth", yet wore off for me here after just a
few episodes. Why? "Fit Wing" offers absolutely no challenge to Ruco's acting skills and range, and didn't present much more substance than that of a fool blinded by love.

Selena Li is given more of an acting challenge with "Heidi", who goes from greedy to good to being even more greedy than before and finally back to well, volunteer work doing, no make up wearing good. She does what she can with the role and it's nice to see her exercising her abilities a bit, but Heidi's character changes were abrupt and poorly done.

As said above, the love stories lack actual romance. Ruco and Selena share so much sweet and genuine chemistry, yet Fit Wing and Heidi's relationship was a constant back and forth with Heidi's regression, hurting and using Ruco as well as his loved ones time and time again, only to end with him forgiving her. And then the cycle repeats again. And again. Their relationship was dysfunctional and kept suffering the same setbacks. I feel teased that two such lovable and endearing onscreen love interests were given such a terrible love line.

Raymond and Aimee's line fared better. They were entertaining during their take as the classic bickering rivals turned couple, but I failed to see when Aimee started to return Raymond's feelings for her. Although they were fun together and shared chemistry, they too lacked romance.

However, "Slow Boat Home"'s most significant setback is how disconnected from each other the four main characters are. At first, the series seemed to tell two completely different stories, with one taking place in Cheung Chau and one in Hong Kong. Although this improved when Ruco and Selena's characters relocated back to Cheung Chau, it still couldn't hide the fact that the four were very much disconnected and lacked cohesion.

Friendship was a theme that would have been enjoyable to see develop, but the bonds beyond the two couples was not explored. Aimee and Ruco do not even share a scene together until almost halfway into the series, and Raymond and Selena had almost no interactions despite being childhood friends. It focused almost solely on the two couples and unnecessary family drama.

The most enjoyable aspect of the series though, was the bromance friendship between Raymond, Ruco and Matt Yeung. The three guys appeared very comfortable together and their friendship looked realistic, resulting in fun and warm scenes. However, these scenes were limited, particularly with Matt's minimal screen time and once again, disconnection to the group overall. Poor "Chuen So Kei" was constantly lost about what was going on between the four and almost consistently the last to find out.

Easily the most refreshing thing about "Slow Boat Home" is its location filming in Cheung Chau. It was a breath of fresh air to not see the same boring sets and filming sites yet again and instead see the natural beauty of this small town. Of course, this alone was not able to keep "Slow Boat Home" entertaining and fresh.

What becomes most evident about halfway through the series is that there is no actual point to it. There is no central story line, and just a bunch of poorly written story lines weeded together while the two main couples were pushed apart and back again and again. Not only does it become mixed with trite family drama, but allows itself to fall victim to cliched and random story lines like Oceane Zhu's and Elaine Yiu's. These subplots added nothing to the overall story (whatever that was) and seemed like they were simply included to drag out the series length. In addition, Lee Yee Man's character can probably go down as the most annoying character of the year.

Here's a fun fact: when the series was first proposed, it was supposed to have a music theme and showcase the musical talents of the cast. Ruco and Aimee were to play together on the guitar and piano respectively. Sadly, what showed up in the final script was Ruco strumming random guitar chords two or three times and no use of music as a theme. This is disappointing as it could have helped make "Slow Boat Home" more refreshing, particularly with its musically inclined cast (Ruco can play guitar and sing, Aimee can play piano, Selena can sing and compose and plays the piano, and Cilla was originally a singer). My guess is TVB backed out of this original concept to ease and simplify the filming and production process, since they love taking the easy way out. I would have loved to see music incorporated into this series.

Overall, "Slow Boat Home" is a series that starts off funny and entertaining, but its humor quickly wears off and goes down the trite family drama route traveled a hundred too many times by TVB series. All four leads are strong and likable, but either poor or inconsistent characterization keeps them from being utilized to full potential. If it weren't for the large amount of free time I have on my hands these days and the main cast, I would probably have dropped it by the last five episodes. There was plenty potential, and marketed as a youth-oriented romantic comedy, it had the opportunity to be something fresh. As most TVB series these days though, it is once again wasted potential.

Rating: 2.5 stars

"A Great Way to Care 2" Review by Lynne

If you ask me whether "A Great Way to Care 2" is better than it's prequel or not, the answer would be no. But if you ask me whether it's a good series or not, I would say that it was an enjoyable watch. So depending on the question, this review will come out differently. For this review, I'm just going to be talking about "A Great Way to Care 2" without making any comparisons to it's prequel. (I will then later write one comparing the two.)

General Storyline: With a mixture of psychiatry and police work, "A Great Way to Care 2"'s story line weaves in between the two forces as they work together and solve the cases. From the forensic psychiatry branch: Alex Fong, Yoyo Mung, Edwin Siu, Power Chan, Oscar Leung, Eric Li, Henry Lee and Christine Kuo. The police force consists of Ben Wong and Tavia Yeung. Aside from these two main teams, other supporting characters also includes Ram Chiang, Aimee Chan and Leanne Li.

Waste of a Good Cast? I initially wanted to list all the character names of the artistes but as you guys can see, there were just too many names. Unfortunately out of that chunk, only a few were focused on. There were just too many necessary characters, or should I say, the characters were too small for the assigned artistes. With other series lacking artistes, they just had to throw a bunch into "A Great Way to Care 2". Trying to make it 'star-studded'?  Meh.  I found it frustrating.

You know what? It would've been alright if the series focused on the cases alone. But no, that didn't happen.  Instead, there were a bunch of unnecessary side-stories thrown into the script to distribute the screen time to all the characters. That's why the typical cases that are usually 1-3 episodes long stretched to 6-7 episodes. While I was okay with it in the first 1-2 cases (because they had to introduce the characters), it got on my nerves afterwards as I struggled to focus on the continuously "disrupted" cases.

Overall comments, a lot of the cast members could have been put to better use.

picture credit http://starphoto.joinbbs.net/

Characters and Acting:

Alex Fong
I was not a big fan of Alex Fong, but I've begun to like him since "A Great Way to Care". Resuming his role as Ko Lap Yan, his character did not differ much beside the huge screen-time cut! It is such a pity because I actually like Ko Lap Yan alot, and was looking forward to watching him every time he appeared onscreen.

Best scene? It'd have to be the one where he was reading Monkey's (Kate Tsui) letters. Didn't think Alex would be good in an emotional scene like this, but he proved me wrong.

Though Alex often comes off monotone, there is something about the guy that makes him interesting to watch. I cannot clearly describe it, but it's definitely not something a lot of actors can do nowadays. So despite the fact that he had little screen-time in each episode, I can still feel that he's leading the series.

Edwin Siu
His character had the potential to shine but that did not happen. If I were to define Leung Kai Wing by a geometric shape, he'd be a circle. Absolutely pointless. Wanna know his story line?

"I have a crush on this girl and is trying to woo her (lasted for half of the series). Finally got together with her! But wait, my childhood friend. I want to be there and protect her too. So in the end, who should I choose? I love both Q.Q Becomes a two-timer. Busted. Realization. Too late."

While I may have exaggerated this a bit, it's still pretty close to what actually happened.  Honestly they should have just crossed Scarlett (Christine Kuo) out of the whole picture (bias here because I actually really enjoyed the scenes he had with Aimee Chan).  Personally disappointed by how much they focused on his love life instead of his profession when he's one of the main characters.

Acting wise, Edwin is a capable actor and was funny at times in the series.  Unfortunately his story line was just nonsense.

Yoyo Mung
Don't let her position on the poster fool you. As a matter of fact, she and Edwin should switch places on that thing! Yoyo Mung barely had any screen-time and when she did, her sub story was boring and random. Maybe the scriptwriters/producers realized that they did not give her any screen-time even after the first 8 episodes or something, and so had to squeeze in that story about Franco And speaking of Franco, we never got to see his face or anything but at least we got to see his shadow right? Had an entire episode dedicated to that guy! Overall, she serves little purpose to the series and is only there because TVB wanted to push more stars in.

Putting my rants aside, Yoyo's "Cheuk Wai Kui" was pleasant to watch. I really liked her personality: stubborn and straight forward. Her relationship with her subordinates is quite cute and I love how they call her "Big Brother". And when she got "together" with Alex Fong, they called Alex dai sao (sister-in-law). Though this character is nothing new for Yoyo, I still enjoyed seeing her again (which is why I am unhappy that she did not have much screen-time).

Tavia Yeung
If there's a character worth watching for, it would be Lam Chung Yan. She first appeared as the daring and spunky prostitute who then turns out to be an undercover cop. TVB always like to surprise us don't they? Anyways, after she finished her case, Chung Yan returned to being a cop and begins to work under Chung Kwok Ban (Ben Wong). Growing up as an orphan, Chung Yan endured many hardships and there were a number of times when she almost lost her life too. But even then, she continued to live on an optimistic life. Unfortunately there is a limit to all of us and she eventually reached the level that she herself could no longer handle...

To be honest, I think a majority of the series was dedicated to Tavia Yeung. Thus she ended up being one of the very few with a decent character development. Thoroughly enjoyed Tavia's performance and notably in episode 23.

As for her pairing with Ben Wong, there was nothing special going on. Instead, I think that it would've been better if Alex paired up with Tavia since I liked the two of them together. But then, Alex would be dating another police woman like he did in the prequel. What are the possibilities of TVB copying something from the prequel into the sequel? BTW, this is within that rare percentage that they did not.

picture credit http://starphoto.joinbbs.net/

The 'Others':  While I would love to talk more about the other characters, there is little to talk about due to their minimal screen-time. So I'm just going to sum it up that the rest of the cast were great with the exception of Christine Kuo.  I'm relatively easy going when I talk about newcomers (or at least I think I am), but Christine has driven me to the point where I want to bang my head against the wall.  More so than the bad acting, it's the fact that her acting is going absolutely nowhere.  Back in "Ghetto Justice 2", I understand that her character in there may have been too complicated for her to portray.  But even in here, she's still not giving me much to look out for.  Acting in 8 or so series already, I expect her to be a bit better than now.

**To make it clear I am not criticizing her accent because I do not know Canto :P  Just the acting (ie. facial expressions, body language etc).

The Cases:  I would talk about each individual case if I wasn't so confused which case is which.

While there are a few main cases that are featured in the series, there were also a lot of sub-cases within those big cases that confused me.  So I'll only talk about a few:

Otto Chan and Aimee Chan:  Wrote this in a separate post before-hand.

The Pedophile Case:  This case focused on Chung Yan (Tavia)'s childhood friends, who she considers as brothers.  They grew up together in an orphanage: Chiu, Wai, Man and Yan.  Unfortunately Man disappeared when they were young.  Chiu and Yan then ended up working for the government (police officer and the other a lawyer).  On the other hand, Wai is crippled and often went into debts.  On with the case; a few murders took place.  Father, the one who took care of them (Yan, Chiu, Wai and Man) then confessed that he was the one who killed them.  Why?  Father works as a volunteer for a kids recreation center and cares a lot for the kids.  Later, he discovered that some of the kids were being sexually abused by a volunteer, foster father etc and thus couldn't stand it and killed all those pedophiles.  Eventually, we find out that he's taking up the blame for someone else (though the true murderer is also killed for the same reason).

While the identity of the murderer did not surprise me, I liked how the case slowly unwrapped itself.  Though the subject (issue) is something that's also used in other series, the length and the pace this one went at made it even more disturbing.  Honestly, I just really wanted the case to end because as it goes on more victims would be discovered and I just couldn't handle it.  More so, as it progressed I began to think of such situations happening in reality (which I know are not rare cases) and I just felt worse from there...

There are things in life you just wish you did not know because you won't have to worry or get hurt by it.  But then if you don't know about it, you can't do anything to help solve the problem.  On the other hand, there are so many things that is not within our power to resolve even when we do have knowledge of the issue.  I find it quite ironic how Ah Chiu is the murderer even though he's a lawyer.  Though he may work in the legal field, Ah Chiu couldn't see how law can punish those pedophiles and therefore took the matter into his own hands.  Thus this case in turn displays the imperfections of our justice system (nothing is perfect).  I personally pity Ah Chiu despite his wrongdoings and was saddened by his death in the end.

***Pedophilia is actually a psychiatric disorder.  

Serial Killer Case:  A number of people are killed and the police is investigating who the murderer is.  This is the last case of the series and it was quite interesting to watch.  Though I must say that its ending felt kind of disrupt.  (Not going to talk about it anymore since I don't want to give away spoilers.)

The Unnecessary Bits:
1)  Just cross out that whole love triangle between Edwin, Christine and Aimee.  More so, just cross out Christine because I liked Edwin's and Aimee's characters together.
2)  Yoyo getting a sperm donation from Alex.  While it increased their interaction with each other, it just felt ridiculous.  Although I know that they wanted to get the two 'together', this development was too hard to absorb.
3)  You know what, there's probably more but those two up above were the most frustrating to watch.

The Ending:
Here we have two professional psychiatrists helping a murderer escape.  Sounds a bit sketchy?  I can understand why they would want to help her, but yet at the same time, their whole set up is kind of ridiculous.  More so, even if she did manage to escape from the police, how in the world is she going to board the plane?  I'm sure the police would have restricted her (passport profile) from crossing the borders (or something like that).  Overall, it just seems too irrational.  I guess TVB wanted to be creative and add a "twist" to the ending.  Unfortunately, it didn't turn out so well.

Overall Thoughts:
"A Great Way to Care 2"'s story line did not run as smoothly since it kind of jumped from one character to the next, but the series overall is not bad to watch.  It's actually one of the more enjoyable series released this year and if you have time, I would recommend it.  But if you're one of those who loved the original "A Great Way to Care", just watch this without comparing it too much to the prequel, since it focuses less on psychiatry and more on the police force.

"The Last Steep Ascent" Review (by Lynne)

The story behind it all
"The Last Steep Ascent" is based off of a true story of a couple who eloped to the mountains. The man is 10 years the woman's junior and to add onto that, she was also a widow with children. This was not accepted by society back then. Then up in the mountains, the man spent 50 years to carve a trail of steps for his wife. This is a truly inspirational love story that touches all it's readers.

TVB's remake, "The Last Steep Ascent"
No doubt Lee Tim Shing successfully brought back another couple that managed to make my heart ache for them again. It was indeed a touching love story between Sun Yuet (Maggie Cheung) and Miu Tin (Moses Chan), yet it didn't fulfill what I expected it to. Of course as a remake, I will forgive that, and won't link it to much of the original story.  Besides the idea of a younger man loving an older woman and the stone steps from the original, it's a typical TVB series.

So let's talk more about the series!

Maggie Cheung as Sun Yuet
There's a reason why Lee Tim Shing insisted to use Maggie Cheung for the role and nobody else, since she fitted into the role perfectly. She has the elegance that suits the pre-modern period and her eyes delivered the emotions of Sun Yuet perfectly, especially the scene in episode 19, where she walked away from Miu Tin. That scene teared me up there.

 As for the role of Sun Yuet, I like how she endured everything with a smile. I wouldn't describe her as a "strong/independent" woman though, as I feel that she's rather weak and trusts too easily. Overall, not the type that is career-minded or with the capability to resolve issues that I had initially suspected her to be, but rather an ordinary woman who only wants a simple life with children and a partner.  That's why I found it easy to connect to her character: not much complications.

Moses Chan as Miu Tin
Once again, not a role that shines or that interesting to watch as these characters are the typical main leads. What saved Miu Tin's character from becoming incredibly boring is his dedication and faithfulness and care for Sun Yuet that spanned for over 20 years. As for the portrayal by Moses Chan, it's the usual Moses Chan we see...nothing outstanding.

***Oh!  One scene that cracked me up:  Sun Yuet climbed up the hill in order to find Miu Tin.  And when she did...haha the expression on Moses face.  I know that it's suppose to be touching and all but I couldn't help but laugh!  Maybe it's just me?  Moses expression was really odd haha.


Miu Tin and Sun Yuet
Their relationship took a smoother turn than I had expected.  Of course there were obstacles, but they were not as "dramatic" since Sun Yuet got a loving mother-in-law behind her.  As far as the issue of age, it wasn't the talk among the people but rather an internal conflict within Sun Yuet's.  I am surprise that "society" didn't get more involved with this, since age difference like that between a man and a woman would have been a big deal right?  Not to mention she's from a well-known family, so things should've been more intense....leading into why they had decided to live in seclusion.  Let's just say, "The Last Steep Ascent" turned out much happier than I initially thought.

 Overall, I really enjoyed seeing them together.  Their relationship was bitter at times, but in the bitterness there was also some sweetness.

 ***In the original story, Moses character is ten years younger than Maggie's but the age difference is nowhere noticeable at all.  I personally think that they should've replaced Moses with someone else.  BUT then in one episode, Miu Tin said something related to that and it cracked me up.

Sun Yuet was wondering how the boy (Miu Tin) that she touched the teeth of on her wedding day grew up to be like, and was thinking of how old he may be now compared to her (she also kept on referring to what an "old" lady she was).  In reply to that,  Miu Tin told her that, maybe she's not as old as she thinks.  Since she lives in a wealthy family, he said that the guy may also look as old as her since he had to work on a farm...therefor aging more than he should (in terms of looks).

 So that's how TVB explained that!  I like how they put that part in though, because it does make sense when you think about it....?

 

Kenny Wong as Cheung Kiu 

Cheung Kiu is just like his friend, Miu Tin, a guy who will whole-heartedly love one girl and would do anything for her.  At first, Cheung Kiu was rather hot-headed and I did not like that as it is a similar characteristic to Kenny's roles.  But of course, he's still a good guy and therefor is quite likable, especially how protective he was of Oi Tai.  I am not particularly a fan of Kenny's but I still like to watch him.

***Whenever I see Kenny, I think of Moses.  Whenever I see Moses, Kenny pops up!  Lols  They've had so many series together! 

Aimee Chan as Oi Tai 

Oi Tai is indeed a very, very tragic character and you can say that Aimee improved in here.  She gave a decent performance.  Still, even though she's improving in her emotional scenes, I don't think it's up to the level where such a tragic character like Oi Tai is meant to be at yet. 

Something else that I'd like to talk about is Oi Tai's miscarriage.  Her pregnancy is brought upon by the rapist, so I can understand why Oi Tai may not...how should I put this...want to think of the baby too much?  So maybe that's why there was not much talk about the miscarriage?  Honestly, I really wished that TVB could've shown how Oi Tai felt about that miscarriage.  Afterall, it was still her baby....

Cheung Kiu and Oi Tai

I like the pair but their relationship seems more like friendship than anything else.  Still think that the person Cheung Kiu loves the most is his wife.  Overall though, I was very happy that they got a happy ending.

Edwin Siu as Sai Ho
Edwin plays the main antagonist of the series, who wanted to destroy Ho Ching Tong.  Surprisingly, Edwin did not have much screentime since the series was pretty focused on the couples (especially Cheung Kiu and Oi Tai).  Anyways, after this performance, I would love to see Edwin in another evil role.  He has this charming smile that he often shows in his sweet and nice roles, but he can also use them in this evil role!  Very nice!

  ***Yvonne Ho plays as Edwin's wife.  I really like the actress, but just found it odd how she played as Sai Ho's wife since she looked abit older than him.  Look wise, it's not Moses and Maggie who have the age difference, but Yvonne and Edwin.

Joel Chan as Boss Chai
I'll say that this role can represent as Joel's breakthrough role, as it was the most eye-catching of the whole cast!  Boss Chai is neither a good or bad guy, but likable in a sense because he's got a dictating yet loving personality.  When he cares about someone, he does not tell them because he wants "face".  That is his greatest fault, but I think his sense of "brotherhood" can make up for that.  Whenever Miu Tin was in trouble, Boss Chai was willing to let go of his pride to help him out and that's what very sweet of him.  Boss Chai can be arrogant, but towards the ones he cares about, he cares for them whole-heartedly.

  ****There are rumours of Joel taking a "break" from acting for awhile since he's getting married soon.  Such a pity, because I enjoy watching him onscreen alot....

Samantha Ko as Madame Yim
Madame Yim is Boss Chai's third wife.  Even though she still has to work on her crying scenes, Samantha definitely surprised me as Madame Yim.  Not to mention she also rocks her attire!  I like Madame Yim alot because she's not the "traditional" kind of woman you'd see, so we get to see the fun side of her, but at the same time she's not the kind of woman that goes after men for money.

Boss Chai and Madame Yim
They're going into my top 10 couple list of 2012!  Unlike the others, they're not so serious but rather funny though still sweet.  Then there's this mutual understanding between the two, making them an even lovlier couple.  As I stated before, Madame Yim likes to flirt but Boss Chai never gets mad, not because he doesn't care, but because he knew that it's her personality, and that she's faithful to him.  On the other hand, Madame Yim reads Boss Chai like a book, understanding when he's upset, etc.

I personally found them to be quite a touching pair, especially towards the end where they continued to support each other through the roughest time when Boss Chai went blind.  With Boss Chai's bad attitude at that time, I honestly wouldn't blame her for leaving, but she didn't.  She stood by him the whole time and endured his attitudes.  My eyes got teary when he finally gave her a ring and told her to be his wife (I'm guessing that she was just a mistress before?  I don't know, but don't care either.  Just know that it was a very sweet scene).

 
Helena Law as Granny Ho
I've been wondering why Helena Law came back to TVB (starting in The Hippocratic Crush)?  For whatever reason though, it's TVB's fortune to have a veteran like her back!  She pulled off the role of Granny Ho effortlessly, and was great in her emotional scenes.  As for Granny Ho, she's also a great and fun character to watch onscreen!  Unlike the usual arrogant mother-in-laws we see, Granny Ho was very understanding and considerate towards her daughter-in-law, Sun Yuet.  I admire her complete trust for Sun Yuet despite the negative rumours, and the interactions the two shared.  If only I could have a mother-in-law like Granny Ho, I would be very happy.

***The scene where Granny Ho asked Sun Yuet to leave.
I think this was one of the most touching scenes of the story, and I'm glad that the two got to share this one last scene together.

After the family got back their business (thanks to Miu Tin), Granny Ho decided to pass on the business to her son-in-law (Matt Yeung) and move out to live with her son (Benjamin Yuen) at a different place.  She did all that though because of Sun Yuet.  Granny Ho wanted Sun Yuet to go live a life she wanted (with Miu Tin) and be happy.  The most touching part of the speech was when she told Sun Yuet to take her children with her too.  It's obvious that Granny Ho loves her grandchildren alot, but at the same time...she knew that they had to be with their mother (Sun Yuet).  It as heart breaking to see her leave Sun Yuet and the grand children.  Despite how much she loved them, she was willing to let go in order for Sun Yuet to find true happiness.

Sze Hang's POV
I'm glad that the later generation (Sun Yuet's kids) got a say in what they think of their parents' relationship.  I thought it was really cute how Sze Hang (little Raymond Wong) complained how his "parents" (Miu Tin and Sun Yuet) always looked lovingly at each other.  "I mean...what is there to look at?" -Sze Hang

Then there's how Sze Hang grew up (Raymond Wong appears as a guest star).  Like his "dad" (Miu Tin), he thought he could love one woman for his entire life but instead his relationships failed one after another.  That's when he realized how hard it was to keep on loving someone.

I particularly like these scenes very much because they reflected on how loving someone is not as simple as one may think.

The Ending
What Miu Tin said to Sun Yuet before he died was touching, but the scene could've been better if Moses actually sounded like a dying man.  Honestly, his voice was the same as the other scenes he was in...

Overall
This series was nice to watch, even though you may have to be a bit patient with it.  Recommended for fans of Maggie Cheung, Law Lan, Joel Chan and Samantha Ko.  Maybe Edwin Siu's fans too since you get to see an evil side of him, but I thought there were just too little screentime of him.