Here’s another drama that popped up on my Netflix.
Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity, starring Mark Chao and Deng Lun (he’s the guy in black). lol. Couldn’t the director make it more obvious that these two male characters are complementary to each other?
I don’t know anything about this except that I’m watching it for Deng Lun and aesthetics — wait! isn’t that redundant? Deng Lun and aesthetics?
Here’s some trivia about him from imdb.com.
The role of “Boya” is responsible for nearly 80% of the action scenes in the whole movie , and almost all of them didn’t allow the director to use a martial art stand-in. The movie crew specially assigned for Deng Lun a personal fitness coach as assistance. During the filming, he strictly followed the fitness diet(“pure water boiled, only a little sea salt in the soup”)for 8 months. He also gained additional 5 kg of muscle for the role through grueling training.
When some of the staff first entered into the crew of “Yin Yang Master”, they didn’t dare to be too close to Deng Lun, fearing that any failure of the details would make him upset, but they soon discovered that Deng Lun’s stretchy crispy shell broke easily. In fact, he was just a little bit nervous.
credit: imdb.com
I’m a fangirl as you can tell. So is @agdr03.
I’m not going to give any synopsis because I want us to just dive in.
The thread is now open for comments, discussion and spoilers.
Let’s enjoy the show.
Ok I’m sold. You had me at that link to “Deng Lun or Yang Yang”. I hadn’t read that earlier, but anyone who is comparable to Yang Yang is worthy of being viewed. I’m watching this tonight after work😇
This Chinese fantasy movie is adapted from the novel series Onmyoji written by Japanese Baku Yumemakura, directed n written by Guo Jingming (also wrote L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties which I like).
From the actors, action choreography, vfx, costume, makeup, etc. were fine, although I thought they could have chosen a more prominent face for the FL, maybe a Chinese-Uyghur actress that won’t stretch the budget lol. Unfortunately, Guo’s script n prolly his directing here is disappointing. I expect more but the story is monotonous- flat- I dozed off mid-way
I saw Miracle23’s comment that Mark Chao reminds her of Takeshiro Kaneshiro, lol yeah, agree. Both actors are the type that can do away with excessive facial expressions n just by their ceramic face act out an immaculate role.
Meanwhile, Deng Lun is a natural in acting I think. I’ve never seen him in a drama though, but had watched the variety show Where Are We Going, Dad? S5, he has an endearing boy next door charm there. N surprisingly he played the character Bo Ya with such grace, stripped of that next door boy image.
If the FL was more convincing in her role/acting, I would’ve endured till the end. Maybe the role wasn’t fit for the actress. Anyway, the bigger problem for me was really the screen writer. Too bad this movie ain’t good enough to divert the media’s attention from his plagiarism controversy. Guo is a talent, but in 2004 he was sued for plagiarism in his second novel and this matter was rekindled in late Dec’20.
My fav exchange between the two was when QingMing asked Boya why he put so many ears in his room, in the middle of the night, what did he expect to hear… and Boya threw out QingMing’s eyes asking the same, why so many eyes, what did he expect to see lol… these two just killed me with that lines while both maintained their poker faces lmao!
Girlfriend @Phoenix, where is the link to “Deng Lun or Yang Yang?” LOL. I haven’t seen it. 🙂
I will watch this tonight too. Yes! I am a fangirl of Deng Lun! 🙂
It’s under “Bitch Talk” category. Title is “Deng Lun or Yang Yang?”
Stretchy crispy? Makes me think of Lee Min Ho eating a chicken leg in TK:EM.
Thanks! I found it 🙂
Oh Han Shangyan and Tong Nian has a cameo for Dt. Apple Dog’s Time drama. It’s Wu Bai’s love story this time but Shangyan and Tong Nian get married in there. In GGS, they registered their marriage remember?
I’ll wait for their cameo to come and watch them. 🙂
@agdr03 Girlfriend, how are you doing? Didn’t know you were a fangirl of Deng Lun..then I’m sure to like him, and his dramas will be an auto-watch for me because our likes are always so similar🙌
@packmule3 Started watching this movie yesterday night and was liking it till I was able to watch sleeptime. Will continue amd finish it today and share any comments I have. Thank you for recommending this😊
@Phoenix girlfriend, I am well. Thank you. 😘 How are you?
How come I’ve never mentioned that I like Deng Lun too? 😉 I first watched him on Sweet Dreams with Dilraba. Then after that I watched S5 of Where Are We Going Daddy for him. 😂 I enjoyed that series too. Then My True Friend with Angelababy.
I know there’s two more dramas but I haven’t seen those ones. ☺️ I’m sure you’ll like him too because we’re drama twins, oh wait were drama triplets with Queen here. 😉
@agdr03 Gppd to know you are well😊Now that I know, girlfriend, I’ll try to check out all Deng Lun’s dramas🙌 We always like the same MLs and dramas 💕 Haha..Drama triplets 🤣
Drama Triplets indeed, sad there’s no emojis for triplets. 😂
Yes, do check out Deng Lun’s dramas and let me know if you like it ok. ☺️
Sure, will do, girlfriend 🙌 💕..starting with this one! Will finish it today 😍
I really enjoyed this film!
I wasn’t into chinese dramas. So, Deng Lun was a revelation!
@Agdr03 Hey there ! Good to know that you are better!
Hi @Cleopatra! Thank you! 😘 How are you? I’m excited to watch River Where The Moon Rises. ☺️ Hopefully it’ll be a good one.
I’m glad you enjoyed this film and watching Deng Lun. 😊
@agdr03,
So far I am fine. :-* There are some issues that need my attention, but we have it under control.
I am waiting for these series to come out as well! 😀
Yeah, I did. At times, the visuals reminded me Dr. Strange!
As for Deng Lun, he is indeed a fine male specimen!
Update: I just finished this and I did like it – liked the fight sequences. @agdr03 I do see why you like Deng Lun🙌
Don’t leave me hanging, Phoenix. Tell me why you like Deng Lun here. 😂
Like 2uke, I watched him on that variety show, “where are we going, Dad?” He looked dependable — and this is a weird quality but I like it — finicky. He was the only pretending to be a dad on the show. The other guests were real dad-and-offspring duos.
Anyway, it’s on YT if you want to watch the series. 10 shows?? I can’t remember now.
Haha, @packmule3, I liked Deng Lun in this because he looked good in black while playing the flute 🙈🙈(sigh..very shallow of me, I know).
I kind of liked the other hero too, Mark Chao (I think I’m easily swayed🤔🤔😝😝).
Need to do more research on all the reasons I might like Deng Lun🧐🧐🧐..Your earlier post mentioned some other C-drama of Deng Lun’s, don’tremember the name..let me go check that post out again. I’m not really a variety show/reality show kind of person, I prefer to watch his dramas.
Ashes of Love:
This was his breakout cdrama. Costarring Yangzi (“Go Go Squid”) couldn’t stand Yangzi’s silly and girly character here so I didn’t even finish the first episode.
But yeah, he supposedly was dreamy here.
Sweet Dreams
Costarring Dilraba Dilmurat
48 episodes
@agdr03 liked this.
I think he was a flower company owner or something.
My True Friend
Costarring AngelaBaby.
He fell in love with her quickly but the problem with this drama is its length. 48 episodes. And for the most part, AngelaBaby was in love with another guy. Hence the title “My True Friend.” He was a friend for most of the drama. Lol.
But if you just like to watch him, then this is a good one. He had lots of airtime. 😂
Mr Fighting
Costarring Sandra Ma (“Oh My General”)
44 episodes
He plays a has-been actor.
This was on my list but the # of episodes scared me off. As usual. When it comes to drama, I have an attention span of a mosquito.
That’s all I know.
But he’s good in variety shows. He likes those detective game shows. They suit him bec he’s competitive and quick-witted.
Thank you, @packmule3😊😊 I see Ashes of Love on my Netflix and will check him out in that..think I like him doimg stylized martial arts sequences on rooftops wearing flowy dresses..I’m weird that way🤣🤣
I have Mr.Fighting on Viki (I see you were referring to that one with Sandra Ma in your earlier blog post). Will give that a try too. But
I’m not sure I can handle any drama beyond 30 episodes..I have a very low boredom threshold 🙈
I don’t like Dilraba..something about her eyes or face just puts me off. She’s beautiful but creepy (don’t ask me why🙈🙈)
I had my laugh with Queen’s ‘don’t leave me hanging with why you like Deng Lun’ @Phoenix 😂
Girlfriend @Phoenix, I haven’t seen Ashes of Love because it has 63 episodes. 😱 But if I’m left without any cdramas to watch then yeah I’ll give it a try. My cousin said it’s pretty good. I forgot your not into Dilraba but Sweet Dreams was good. ☺️
There’s also other dramas like Because Of Meeting You and Begonia Rouge. Haven’t seen both.
I still have 20 minutes to watch of the movie. I had to stop watching because I was falling asleep already due to tiredness. I’ll finish it today and give some comments. 😊
@Cleopatra , yes about Dr Strange whenever those gold circle portal comes on. 😁
I haven’t really done much appreciation when the male specimen came out from the Spirit Animal. I’m definitely going to rewatch that scene. 😂
Oh no, girlfriend, 63 episodes!!😱😱😱 And here I was trying to avoid 44 episodes of Mr. Fighting😝
I don’t think I’ll have the patience, so for starters I will do what the Queen suggests and watch that 10 episode variety show on YT. If they are detective shows where contestants are supposed to solve cases, then they are different from the regular reality TV shows which I hate (never seen detective ones before). Think I’ll try one out and see how it goes.
@Phoenix, I think you’ll like the variety show because Deng Lun’s pretend daughter is so cute! There’s only 2 girls in the show but the son’s of the other Dad’s was having a crush on Deng’s daughter and they were cute and funny. Watch it and you’ll see what I mean. 😂
Oh do the contestants have pretend children on the show too? So cute💕 What is the variety show called by the way, @agdr03? Will check it out, girlfriend, as soon as I finish my Valentine’s Day special romantic movie viewing spree that @packmule3 has inspired me to embark on😝😝😝
Girlfriend @Phoenix, no the rest of the other Dad’s have their own kids on the show. It’s only Deng who has a pretend daughter because he’s not married and no children yet. ☺️
Mots all on YouTube like Queen said. 😊
@Phoenix, corrections, there’s 3 girls altogether in the show. 😊
It’s Neinei, Manggis and Puff. Puff was the one who had Jasper and Eu-nh’s attention. She’s very cute. All of them are but you’ll see what I mean. ☺️
You have me curious now, @agdr03🤔🤔 Will see if I can check out the subbed version of that reality show on YouTube over the weekend🙌
You’ll enjoy it especially watching the kids. The Dad’s are great too and Jasper’s Dad even had tears at one of the episodes because he said he was finally able to connect with his young son. ☺️
I finished it and I did enjoy it. ☺️ Both Mark Chao and Deng Lun was good but I did feel that I didn’t get a lot of emotional expressions from Deng. ☺️ I thought as well that Boya’s powers were a bit meh? I mean, he was saved by Qingming a few times. 😁 But it was the end that really gave him that boost and oh that entrance as a spirit animal, oh yeah! 😍😆
The special effects especially on the snake was good. I hate snakes the most but for Deng Lun, I can handle it.
That hair demon is nasty but the hair was luxurious! 😂
So it looks like there will be a continuation base on that last scene?
I’ll move on to the Netflix and Chill series now. ☺️
Good morning. Made my cup of coffee, and now thinking of my next “Netflix and Chill.”
Okay. Deng Lun playing the flute reminded me of his costar in My True Friend “playing” the violin in the rain. 🙂
Will watch this tonight. I just skimmed through it to see if anybody important died in the end. Lately, I’m not in the mood for death. ☠️
How’s your mom?
@agdr03 I too thought Deng Lun got less screen time than Mark Chao, but his black wings in the end were awesome! I’m all game for more in the series..the martial arts moves in the movie were kind of cool👏👏
@packmule3 Thank you for the Valentine’s Day “Netflix and Chill”😊😊. All thanks to you, I’ve started watching romantic movies in languages I haven’t explored before. Just finished watching “One way to Tomorrow’, a Turkish Netflix original on two people meeting on a train, by accident or coincidence. I will recommend it, because of the witty dialogs.
Now I’m watching a Filipino love story called “Barcelona- An Untold Story”. Apparently it was quite a hit movie, mid-way through it; so far, so good.
Also planning to check out “Tune in for Love”, the Kim Go Eun and Jung Hae In starrer, and German romantic movie called “Issi and Ossi” (another language movie I’ve never explored).
You made my Valentine’s Day binge watching special this year🤩🤩
Good morning! ☀️
There’s 2 already so I’ll get on with those this weekend. ☺️ We’ll wait for your next one. ☺️
Oh yeah, the would be boyfriend of the FL at the beginning played the violin. I remember that too. No, no one important died here and yeah I thought it was just the right ending.
Mom will visit the cardiologist in a weeks time to discuss her heart monitor test, I’ll be with her and Dad. Hopefully it’s all good. I’ve been spending more time with her like taking her to my sister’s place, going to groceries, window shopping and going to First Friday mass. She’s ok so far. Thank you. ☺️🙏
*sorry that was “Barcelona – A Love Untold”.
@packmule3 May your morning be bright and your coffee be strong☕☕☕
@agdr03 Good to know your mom is better and you are able to spend more time with her😊
Girlfriend @Phoenix, I enjoyed Tune In For Love. ☺️ I think it’s @nrllee that recommended it here and I saw it. Good movie!
Barcelona the movie was definitely a big hit in the Philippines. The lead actor and actress there are a real life couple. ☺️ There’s a few more movies of them in Netflix. I liked Can’t Help Falling In Love. 😉
Deng Lun with wings and muscles, bring it on! I’m a proud resident of Shallow Island. Thanks! 😂
Love those First Friday masses/devotions to the Sacred Heart. It’s a good way to start the month and the first weekend. Back in the days when I could just dash to the church near my office, I’d attend mass during my lunch break. Then Saturday mornings, we’d drive one of my sons to his altar-serving duty. Then Sunday was well, Sunday mass.
Sigh. Everything has changed bec of this virus.
Yes! We have our Sacred Heart group and the first Friday mass for the Black Nazarene. Yes again because it changed because of covid. 😞
Thanks @Phoenix, 😘 I’m happy too that I’m able to spend more time with Mom.
Ooh @agdr03: Didn’t know you and @nrllee have watched “Tune in For Love”. Going to check it out next then.
Are the couple in “Barcelona: An Untold Story” a real life couple? Wow! Didn’t know that! They are cute. I think I’ll go check out “Can’t Help Falling in Love too” on Netflix. If you liked it, I will too😊
I also want to check out a Thai romantic movie, maybe “One Day”.
Oh let me know about the Thai movie. I haven’t seen any so that might be a start.
Queen recommended Thai Lakor drama but I haven’t watched it. 😬
Okay. Let me watch “One Way to Tomorrow” then. Thanks for the recs.
See “Netflix and Chill” isn’t a bad thing, right? 😂
@packmule3: LOL…I’m going to confess again..I didn’t know that “Netflix and chill” was an euphemism for sex (another educational post here for me 😛 ). But seriously, this is a great way to check out movies from other cultures 🙂
@agdr03: I’ll tell you how “One Day” goes, okay, and if I manage to end it, it means I did like it enough to finish it. I’ve never tried watching a Thai movie before too. Hehe…looks like a wonderfully diverse movie watching experience for me now, thanks to @packmule3 🙂
I watched Tune in For Love several months ago. It was okay, but didn’t grip my heart. Watching it was where I learned, after being inspired to do some research, about the Korean tradition of eating tofu after being released from jail. I’ve since seen that tradition incorporated into other Korean productions.
In watching Tune in For Love, I was once again befuddled by Korean sensibilities about responsibility. I couldn’t understand why the character played by Jung Hae In was found guilty of the death of a friend when several had been playing together and it looked like an accident caused by stupidity shared by many, including the victim. I felt the same confusion in While You Were Sleeping when in one potential version of life, the FL’s mother was financially responsible after her daughter was framed as being the driver during a fatal traffic accident in snowy conditions.
I watched YYM:DoE a couple of nights ago and will admit to being confused at some points, but overall was entertained. The production values were top notch. In particular, the CGI was stunning, and the costumes were fabulous, especially ones worn by the princess. I did also appreciate the plethora of pecs displayed, but was concerned about lusting after actors that are younger than my children. Darn! My body ages, my chronology increases, but inside my head a high schooler lurks.
@Welmaris I must confess I’ve often been surprised too by the extent to which Korean culture takes the concept of responsibility. I do remember that occasion in “While You Were Sleeping”, and also read how celebrities apologize to their fans to something very personal in their lives. This overwhelming sense of responsibility is there in Japanese culture too as I’ve heard office colleagues apologizinh profusely befor going on approved two/three day anbual leaves!
Lol..I love the last comnents in your post😜😜😜 Inside all our heads, a fabgirl lurks, I think at whatever age the heart can remain young💗 That’s why ww are all Shallow Islanders🙌 Just yesterday I watched “After” and “After We Collided” which are made from the hugely popular book series by Anna Todd and fell hard for Hardin (lol punn), the bad boy ML. More than the character, I’m crushing over the young actor, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, who is barely in his early 20s 🙈🙈🙈 I guess one needs to disregard age while fangirling😜😜