Wednesday, March 24, 2010

2012 (2009)

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Cast (as taken from Wikipedia)
•John Cusack as Jackson Curtis, a struggling science fiction novelist who occasionally works as a limousine driver.[15]
•Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dr. Adrian Helmsley, geologist and scientific advisor to the President.[16]
•Amanda Peet as Kate Curtis, a medical student and Jackson's ex-wife.[17]
•Liam James as Noah Curtis, Jackson and Kate's son.
•Morgan Lily as Lilly Curtis, Jackson and Kate's daughter.
•Thomas McCarthy as Dr. Gordon Silberman, Kate's current boyfriend and a plastic surgeon.[18]
•Danny Glover as Thomas Wilson, the President of the United States.[8]
•Thandie Newton as Dr. Laura Wilson, the First Daughter.[8]
•Oliver Platt as Carl Anheuser, the President's Chief of Staff.[8]
•Zlatko Burić as Yuri Karpov, a Russian billionaire.
•Alexandre Haussmann as Alec Karpov, one of Yuri's sons.
•Philippe Haussmann as Oleg Karpov, Alec's twin brother.
•Beatrice Rosen as Tamara, Yuri's Russian girlfriend.
•Chin Han as Tenzin, a worker in Tibet.
•Osric Chau as Nima, a Buddhist monk and Tenzin's brother.
•Lisa Lu as Grandma Sonam, Nima and Tenzin's grandmother.
•John Billingsley, as Professor Frederic West, an American scientist.
•Johann Urb as Sasha, a Russian pilot and Tamara's boyfriend.
•George Segal as Tony Delgatto, an elderly traveling musician.
•Blu Mankuma as Harry Helmsley, Adrian's father and Tony's musical partner.
•Jimi Mistry as Doctor Satnam Tsurutani, a scientist who helps discover the events that are to come in India.
•Stephen McHattie as Captain Michaels, the captain of the ark.
•Woody Harrelson as Charlie Frost


The Mayans have predicted and have revealed that the beautiful Earth that we are living on, too, is subjected to expiry and this is marked in the end of the calendar year in 2012.
We have heard of the Doomsday theory, and also the End of the World or Judgment Day as preached in Christianity but there were no scientific theory to support that the Earth will eventually evaporate or just disappear from existence.

The story starts in the year 2009, where the an American geologist; Adrian Hemsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) made a shocking discovery which he immediately alerts the White House.
The President, Thomas Wilson (Danny Glover) and Carl Anheurser (Oliver Platt), House Chief of Staff made arrangements to alert the other leaders of the world and together they embarked on a secret plan to arrange for deployment through the huge arks which will be built to ensure continuity of the human race.
The scientists and geologists continue their work of research in a race against time to continuously inform the leaders on the changes in the Earth, and the impact on the upcoming disasters.

In Los Angeles, Jackson Curtis (John Cussack) is a science-fiction writer who had been separated from his wife Kate(Amanda Peet), who lived with their children, Noah(Liam James) and Lily (Morgan Lily). He drove a classy limousine to their house to pick his children up for a weekend camp which they looked forward to. It was later revealed that he also worked for a rich Russian billionaire with a bossy and arrogant attitude, Yuri Karpov (Zlatko Buric) as a part-time driver to drive his two spoilt twin boys, Alec and Oleg.
Noah and Lily looked forward to the trip and Jackson drove them to the famous Yellowstone National Park. While they were there, they were surprised to see camping grounds being taped and blocked from further access due to the active and gurgling seismic activities on those grounds. Jackson ignored the prohibition and trespassed on the grounds; an act which could have gotten him and his children prosecuted had he not revealed his identity as the sci-fi writer whom one of the soldiers happen to be fond of.

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During their camping experience there, Jackson bumped into Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson) who was a bizarre and eccentric radio show host who kept telling him about the Mayans’ theory that the world is coming to an end in the year 2012 and that he even knows about the big secret that the government is hiding, and he has the map with him on the location and arks for the humanity race preservation after the world ends.
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Brushing him off as someone with insanity, Jackson ignored his warning until he sensed something amiss while driving his children home to Los Angeles.
The increasing seismic activities along the coast has led to a series of catastrophic earthquakes which left Jackson with only a race; against time to save his family.
He rushed back to warn his wife and children who disbelieved him, and Kate even thought he had gone out of his mind until they witnessed the earthquake themselves.


Jackson rushed them into his rented plane and force Kate’s then boyfriend, plastic surgeon and amateur pilot, Gordon Silberman (Thomas McCarthy) to drive the plane and lead them out of the massive earthquake in L.A.
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Jackson directed them to Yellowstone to locate Charlie Frost and obtain the full information on the government’s secret for humanity and also the map to lead them to the destination.
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Jackson escaped with the map in the nick of time while Charlie Frost embraced himself and waited for his death in Yellowstone National Park with the eruption of the volcanoes.
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Heading to China where the arks were believed to be, they had to make an emergency landing in Las Vegas as they were running out of gas and that was where they met up with Yuri, his sons and his girlfriend, Tamara (Beatrice Rosen), and his pilot, Sasha (Johann Urb) who were waiting to board the Air Force One along with Adrian, Carl and the First Daughter, Laura Wilson (Thandie Newton).
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The President refused to leave and would rather stay back to embrace the will of God along with most leaders of countries.

Sasha flew the plane and landed with a crash in China; where he sacrificed himself for the rest to escape. They were held back by the People Liberation Army of China, who only allowed Yuri and his two sons to pass as they were holding the tickets; which cost about one billion euros per person. Yuri refused to help the rest, including his girlfriend Tamara whom he revealed her affair with dead pilot Sasha and Jackson and his family, along with Tamara were left to fend for themselves.
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The whole world continues to collapse in havoc and massive chaos were caused everywhere, volcanoes erupting everywhere and tsunamis washing away all the major architectures of the world; the Statue of Christ, the Redeemer, Eiffel Tower, and all the holy pilgrims praying together in vigil at the Rome’s St Peter’s Basilica, witnessing the crack separating the touch of God’s finger to man in the earthquake.
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Jackson flagged down a truck with Nima, a Buddhist monk from Tibet who was enlightened by his Dalai Lama to leave, and his parents and brother, Tenzin in the truck and they decided to lend a helping hand to the troop.

When they arrived, most of the world’s influential and richest people were boarding the arks which cost one billion euros per ticket (no wonder only the VERY affluent folks can afford it) and during the boarding, there was a mega tsunami approaching, causing massive chaos and panic attacks as the people rushed to board the arks.
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In this ensuing struggle, Yuri and Tamara both died and also Gordon while in the meantime, the arks were unable to deploy due to a mishap in the main engine/driver of the ark and Jackson managed to solve the problem at the very nick of time.
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The arks departed when the tsunami hits the Himalayas and it was a relief for everyone on board.
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The sun rises, and soon they arrived in the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

Was it a happy ending?
Well, perhaps, for most of the main characters, as usual, but I only have one word to describe this movie: CATASTROPHIC

It was terribly depressing (at least it was for me) and the anxiety rises along the movie.
I could not help feeling devastated and upset when the first earthquake hits the screen, at Los Angeles.

I could not describe that sinking feeling as I watched all those massive destruction happen before my eyes and wiping out all the people and everything possible on the face of Earth or at that point of time, that place. I know it was just the effects and that this was a sci-fi movie, but still, the visuals clearly affected my emotions to the very core.

Born in a country free of disasters that you could practically call it a paradise makes me ignorant of the consequences and aftermath that follows when disaster struck.
Watching suffering and the agony of the human beings depicted in educational films and also in this movie makes me feel so unhappy beyond words.

Of course, despite that, I have to comment on some of the coy effects which could have been observed to make the movie more realistic and close to the world.
1. How can all the earthquakes happen like it was cleverly directed or designed that it just folds after the main characters? I don’t think in actual earthquakes, there are actually such uniformed and rhythmatic sequences in the occurrence.
2. Again, the tsunami and collapse of buildings seem to happen in a way that it was making way for the plane to escape. I mean, c’mon, I do know that it’s a movie but it does not have to be so deliberate that it is obvious! Of course, flipping to the other side of the coin, if we kill the main characters, then there is no movie, right?

The movie clearly underlines values of true humanity and passion and takes a deep look at what lies beneath our conscience.
As depicted in the movie, despite the shared knowledge that there is already a major disaster predicted (something as major as the end of the world is more than what we should raise alarm), I could see the simple nature of human being whereby selfishness is still dominant in most selves.

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Take for example, the Chief of Staff, Carl, who was clearly so arrogant and just plain full of himself in everything he thinks. He thinks that only the affluent or the ones whom he referred to as the better breed should be the chosen ones to continue humanity. PAH, who is he to judge who the better breed are? The rich are only rich in materials; such as money, and it is not substantial to their true character.
Yet he thinks he is doing the right and most admirable thing of all *rolls eyes*

The closing of the door of the ark and the speech made by Adrian was perhaps the most memorable thing and no doubt the main highlight in the movie. Of course, there was another small part which most would have missed out, which is the lending of hand by Nima and Tenzin’s mother to save the Curtis’s family. It was such a small part, but yet, I feel that was also another true depiction of compassion.
In times of chaos, one would always care for their own family, but this woman, took the risk of their own safety to save another family. It was a very touching and self-less act which is much admired and it was truly emotion and thought provoking.
Will I be able to do the same when I am even unsure of my own future/safety?
Maybe, since I am already unsure, and leave it to God, since humanity will be wiped out and if I just abandon another, what is humanity anymore?
That was exactly the content of Adrian’s speech, and it was just remarkably said (or written in the script!)

All the drawbacks sidelined and ignored, this is actually a good movie to watch and it really touches you deep down to that inner self and got you thinking, “Are we all prepared for the End of the World?”

It definitely did make me feel grateful for each day I have lived and also thank God for his blessing. We will definitely feel more appreciative of what we have and live by the moment, so that we will not have much regret, whether or not 2012 is a truth or myth.

Of course, finally, I guess I should be thankful for the country that I am living in, shouldn’t I?

Thursday, March 18, 2010

TVB: Witness to a Prosecution 2 (2002) 洗冤錄

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Cast:
Bobby Au Yeung Chun Wah - Song Chi
Charmaine Sheh - Yuen Yuk Chu/ Chu Yuk Yuen
Stephen Au - Chow Zi Long/ Ah Chung
Joyce Tang - Yeung Tan Fung/ San Fung
Angelina Lo - Heung Koo (San Fung's mother)
Halina Tam - Yuen Yuk Pou
Jay Lau - Princess Chi Ha
Liu Kai Chi - Chan Ming/ Royal Doctor
Ellesmere Choy - Chin Kit
Law Lok Lam - Chin Pou Tau/Chief Cop/Kit's father
Raymond Cho - General's Son
Irene Wong - Pak Yu Mong
Peter Lai - Yuen Seng Cheung / Yuk Chu and Yuk Pou's father
Mary Hon - Yuk Pou's mother
Felix Lok - Ko Tai yan
Lee Kwok Bun - Ha Hau Kwok Tung/ Princess Chi Ha's husband


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Reprising his role as Song Chi, Bobby Au Yeung Chun Wah continues to play the famous chief coroner, who had introduced new discoveries and made way for forensic science in the ancient times.
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This was supposedly the sequel; but with the exception of Song Chi, the whole cast had changed in this second installation where Song Chi was traveling with his two wives, Lip Fung and Tong Si (played by Marianne Chan and Jessica Hsuan respectively) when they were killed in a freak fire at the motel they were staying, started by an obsessed husband whose wife had been wrongly accused in Song Chi’s first case at the start of the series.

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Feeling responsible for his wives’ death and losing motivation in his job where he starts to have doubts of, he decided to take off from the place of sadness and to find a new life.
His ship was wrecked in a storm and he landed in Chong San town, where he was pronounced dead on arrival and was sent to the local mortuary.
Chow Zhi Lung, or better known as Ah Chung (Stephen Au) by the villagers due to his laziness and character, was the caretaker of the mortuary and in a moment of greed, he stole the jade from Song Chi’s belt.

While we were introduced to the other characters/local townspeople in the place, Song Chi inadvertently woke up and even helped to deliver a baby from a dead pregnant woman, much to the surprise and awe of Ah Chung and Chu Yuk Yuen (Charmaine Sheh) and they quickly became friends with him. Yuen Yuk Chu or better known as Chu Yuk Yuen or Porkballs (direct translation) did not get on a good start with Song Chi due to a few misunderstandings and he ended up working for Chu to pay off his so-called debts.
In the process, Chu fell for his wit and intelligence in solving most of the cases in the town while Chi maintained his distance as he believed that he could bring ill fate to anyone he ends up with.
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Song Chi’s identity remained hidden until the case of local porridge seller, who was accused of murdering a general. Song Chi had severe headaches and it had gotten serious at that time, and local doctors can only recommend a unique acupuncture by the name of Cherry Blossom to heal him and there is only one who knows it, who was the husband of Princess Chi Ha (Jay Lau), played by Lee Kwok Bun. Ha Hau Kwok Tung, the Princess’s husband, on the contrary, concluded that Song Chi only had ten days left to live and prescribed him some ginseng tablets to help him through the period.
At the same time, Chu discovered by accident, that the local porridge seller, Uncle Ming (Liu Kai Chi) was not who he seemed to be as he seemed to know the art of acupuncture required to save Song Chi and begged him to help Song Chi. Uncle Ming refused at first but finally obliged and it was this incident which revealed his identity as the once royal doctor, and also the senior of Ha Hau Kwok Tung, who called to arrest him for the crime he committed 5 years ago, for murdering a prominent general in their region.
Uncle Ming professed his innocence and Song Chi, in gratitude to repay Uncle Ming’s kindness, decided to step forward and reveal his identity to recall the investigation of the case.
Song Chi managed to prove Uncle Ming’s innocence and convicted the Princess’s husband of murder, with the help of the 10th Prince, who was his best friend.

Following this case, Song Chi resumed his role as a coroner and was based in Chong San, where he continued to solve more cases and assist the local magistrate.
He then accepted Ah Chung as his student and taught him the skills required in the forensic arena to groom him to be a capable coroner.

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At the same time, Song Chi had to deal with his own relationship complications with Chu, who was upset with his constant denial of his feelings for her and started a relationship with Ah Chung, only to realize that Ah Chung was in love with her best friend, Yeung Tan Fung/San Fung (Joyce Tang).
Song Chi and Chu had to go through more tribulations and face the possibility to be beheaded in the revenge act staged by Princess Chi Ha, with the help of Ah Chung who had turned to betray Song Chi.
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However, unknown to all of them; Ah Chung was actually trying to help them.
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Chu’s injury led Song Chi to believe that he was indeed the one causing misfortune to his loved ones and decided to depart from the town.
When Chu recovered, she went on a search for Chi and did they end up together?

Review:
I used to think that there was probably another installation coming up, with a cliffhanger ending like this in Part 2, however, I guess not since it has been so long since this series.
Overall, WTAP 2 did not lose the momentum of homicide cases and how Song Chi continues to charm us with his wits in solving the cases.
The new cast, to my surprise, was not that bad either, and it was rather refreshing to see all the different faces who fitted so comfortably into their roles although I was rather disappointed with the missing face of Michael Tse as Sit Dan, his court advisor.

This sequel focused a lot on the relationships of the characters and I do admit, some of the cases were rather boring and predictable. At the same time, it was not that bad to that extent that you can dump this series into the rubbish bin to be totally missed as I found it quite entertaining too.

New cast include:
Stephen Au Kam Tong as Chow Zhi Long/Ah Chung
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This is your local lazy boy in town, who had neither ambitions nor aim to succeed in life and just live his life on a day-to-day basis. He changed when he fell in love with Yuk Po and decided to learn the coroner’s skills from Song Chi. He eventually fell for Yuk Chu for a brief period and San Fung. (What is wrong with this guy, he seemed to switch from one girl to another very quickly!) He rose to fame and then he became sort of a bad guy with the skills he had mastered and even used it against his own mentor, Song Chi, in aid of Princess Chi Ha to destroy Song Chi’s reputation and life. He was badly misunderstood along the way. Stephen’s performance was definitely good here, and I never thought that I’d actually like watching him as most of his performances were rather dull since his days in ATV. Here he played his role in such a comical way that you do feel entertained when it is his screen turn.

Charmaine Sheh as Yuen Yuk Chu/Chu Yuk Yuen
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As usual, Charmaine has that annoying squeaky voice and how she always tries to drag her voice to that certain pitch I dislike. She plays a unfortunate girl who was branded as the bad luck charm by her towspeople due to her failed marriages to two different men; one of whom was Chung’s elder brother. Furthermore, her job as a make-up artist for the corpses gained her only despise and frowns in town. She was a very outspoken person for that same reason, to protect herself and her mother from the mean townsfolk. She never learnt to trust anyone, except Chung and also San Fung and then, she finally fell for Song Chi. However, she was hurt when Song Chi did not reciprocate her love and turned to be with Chung instead. Surprisingly, she was not upset when she realized Chung actually loved her best friend, San Fung and consented to their relationship while she continued to pine after Song Chi, who even left her when she was hurt by Princess Chi Ha. She never gave up and pursued Song Chi and I guess they finally ended up together.
Charmaine was just at average here in this series, as I still find her trying to find her right pitch when she speaks, which could come out pretty annoying (most) of the time.

Joyce Tang as Yeung Tan Fung/San Fung
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Fung was a filial daughter who helped her mother to cheat using the way of superstition in the town. When they were busted, Fung even went to the local brothel to earn a living to support her mother. She then took over the porridge stall left by Uncle Ming with her mother to continue the business. Starting as loggerheads with Chung, she then fell in love with him and was disappointed when Chung only had eyes for Yuk Chu. However, their time spent together soon changed Chung’s mind and they started their relationship which was disrupted by Chung’s sudden change in character. Joyce, was just being her usual self, naturally fitting into her role to be the noisy and irritating girl in town whom people like and yet dislike.

Ellesmere Choy as Chin Kit
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A cop who is afraid of blood, Kit was pressured to follow his father and elder brothers’ footsteps in pursuing a career in the law enforcement area. He fell in love with a well-educated prostitute and had to bridge the gaps to convince his parents in accepting their relationship; even though it meant angering them with his defiance. He slowly overcame his phobia of blood and became a firm and mature cop.

Pak Yu Mong
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A prostitute not by her own choice, she is a kind-hearted and compassionate person. She was also well-educated despite her surroundings. She fell in love with Chin Kit, but faced lots of obstacles and had to back off due to the objection of Kit’s parents and had to marry another man instead. However, she was unfortunate to lose her fiancé before marriage and was even suspected of murder. She was cleared of the charges and soon started her own welfare home for the orphans and the refugee children and cared for them. This is one of the kindest characters in the series, and a pitiful person as well.

Halina Tam as Yuen Yuk Po
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The half-sister of Yuk Chu, she was a materialistic and deceptive person. She appeared kind on the outside but had her ulterior motives for everything she had done for others. She cared only about reputation and wealth, and taking advantage of her own beauty, she used all means to get to her objective. Initially she wanted to enter the palace and take part in the royal consorts’ selection and after that failed, she married a rich restaurant owner who was twice her age. Her husband died, and she was found to be responsible for his death along with his younger brother, with whom she had an affair with and plotted the murder. Halina never disappoints in all performances and I just loved the way she acted so kind and gentle and then an evil smile in the next.

Comparing this sequel to the first part, this slightly lacked the humor and interesting homicide cases from the former. At the same time, I think the change of cast was disappointing at first but not devastating as they made a fresh start.
I noticed that TVB loved to do that and yet they liked to call it a sequel; now what is a sequel when you changed the whole cast? It is pretty much a whole new series by itself.
Another thing about this series is the rushed ending as towards the end, everything seems to be forwarded with speed. All of a sudden, Chung became an expert coroner while Yuk Chu and Song Chi’s relationship progressed rapidly. It was all too ridiculous; particularly the part where Chung became acquainted with Princess Chi Ha and even helped her?

I would still prefer the Part 1 to this one, but since I love watching case and mystery solving type of dramas, this was not too bad either.

TVB: A Pillow Case of Mystery (施公奇案) 2006

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Cast
• Bobby Au Yeung as Sze Sai Lun
• Kenix Kwok as Mai Heung Yung
• Benny Chan as Wong Tin Pak
• Tavia Yeung as Ming Chu Gak Gak / Princess Ming Chu
• Eileen Yeow as Ga Sau Yuk
• Annie Man as Chin Lai Su
• Rosanne Lui as Pong Got Ngoi
• Lo Hoi Pang as Tong Do Fuk / Jam San (Pillow Spirit)
o Lawrence Ng as young Tong Do Fuk
• Mary Hon as Siu Gau Neung
• Cheung Ying Choi as Lo Si Yea
• Savio Tsang – Golden Fox
• Chun Wong – Chang Kak Nam/
• Henry Lo

Summary of story:
The town welcomes a new magistrate, and the court assistant, Mai Heung Yung (Kenix Kwok) staged a welcoming show with the villagers. Si Sai Lun (Bobby Au Yeung Chun Wah) arrived with his mother and three wives and got on the wrong side with Heung Yung, whom they call Mai Nga Por. Sai Lun disapproved of her mean ways of soliciting money everywhere.
Si Sai Lun(Bobby Au Yeung Chun Wah) arrives at the village as the new magistrate and soon got on the wrong side of court assistant Mai Heung Yung/Mai Nga Por and her younger brother, Wong Tin Ba (Benny Chan) due to his wrong conclusion on a case which took their close friend’s life and at the same time, his disapproval of Nga Por’s solicitation of money from others.
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The townsfolk soon discovered that Sai Lun was not the magistrate meeting their expectations when he failed to even solve a simple case of a petty dumpling thief. Under pressure and during his search for evidence, Sai Lun slipped and fell atop a pillow in the forest, where his blood dropped onto the pillow and he was sucked into a dream where he met a wise old man (Lo Hoi Pang) who gave him hints to solve the case. With the help of the pillow, he managed to solve most of the cases, with the tips and advice from the mysterious man in his pillow dreams.
His relationship with Heung Yung improved following their cooperation in solving most of the cases and also his belief that Heung Yung was his luck charm, as told by the mysterious man in his pillow.
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Sai Lun fell in love with Heung Yung and married her as his fourth wife, promising her that he will never marry again in the future, no matter what happens.
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Heung Yung started to grow suspicious of Sai Lun’s attachment to the pillow and when Sai Lun told her about his secret, he brought her into the dreams to meet the mysterious man who helped him in solving his cases. Heung Yung then realized that the mysterious man was actually her deceased maternal grandfather and soon was involved in the investigation of her whole family’s mass murder when she was a child, where she started to suspect Sai Lun’s father as the murderer. This possibility led to the rift between Heung Yung and Sai Lun’s relationship and Heung Yun decided to leave him while Sai Lun worked hard at tracking the evidence to prove his father’s innocence.

In the meantime, Tin Ba had also fallen for Princess Chang Kak Ming Chu (Tavia Yeung) who initially pretended to be a pickpocket on the streets to cheat others and was caught by Tin Ba.
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Ming Chu turned out to be the foster sister of Sai Lun and soon, during the series of events, their friendship turned to a close relationship, and they only realized their feelings for each other when Ming Chu’s fiancé, the 14th Prince arrived in town to bring her back to the capital.
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Tin Ba was worried for Ming Chu’s future upon seeing the Prince’s behavior and tried to persuade her to stay back with him. Their love, upon being discovered by the Prince, led to Tin Ba as the target of his revenge. When they thought they can finally be together after the Prince’s death, Tin Ba was involved in his family’s mass murder investigations.

Tin Ba then found out that Ming Chu was responsible for all the misunderstandings leading to Sai Lun’s father to be accused of his family and it even led to the bigger picture, where Ming Chu’s father, Prince Chang Kak Nam was the one behind the whole picture.
Ming Chu felt guilty about the whole incident and decided to leave Tin Ba, who found out that she was paralyzed from waist down while trying to save him from being hurt by her own father.
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Heung Yung reconciled with Sai Lun and it was a happy ending for the whole series.
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Review:
This is a simple and humorous drama with a unique twist to your usual flavor of case-solving stories.
The pillow was not just an object but was also the main subject in the drama as it was not just the key to the mysteries solving but it was actually the key to the complex story behind both the main characters.

I find it a rather refreshing idea to an ancient drama series and Bobby, somehow, still reminds me of his role as the coroner and not a magistrate as depicted here.
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He somehow looked weird as a magistrate, or perhaps he had too much of a stereotypical role as a coroner and a medical examiner in both ancient and modern series that it just does not deem fit to see him in other roles.

Kenix Kwok on the other hand, had been too long away from the screen and it was good to finally see her in this drama, playing a materialistic and calculative woman who soon matures towards the end, taking on a calmer posterior when dealing with matters in life.
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I do find some of her acting and reactions in the drama a little exaggerated and unnatural sometimes too, guess it's all that being away too long from screen?
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Benny Chan’s performance in here was a little exaggerated in his emotions and facial expressions. I don’t know why, somehow Benny seems to be have deteriorated in his acting over the years, and I just feel that he over reacts in most of his scenes; carrying that exaggerated expression in every scenario. However, he was more natural when he portrayed the doe-eyed lover towards Ming Chu.
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Tavia Yeung was as usual, just good and natural to look at in her role. Playing the mischievous and spoilt princess to perfection, Tavia also never failed to show that she too has her compassionate side when she cared about Tin Ba and also her father.
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It was another character which progressed towards the end, whereby she had learnt to give herself up for others to seek true happiness.

The other supporting characters; Rosanne Liu, Eileen Yeow and Annie Man who played Bobby’s other three wives respectively.
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Rosanne Liu was just normal playing the calm and simple-minded first wife, which is just almost her generic role in almost every drama, except that most of the time she plays a kind and fair empress, while this time, she had to play dumb.
Eileen Yeow was not bad, playing the busybody and nosy second wife, who always had to poke her nose into everyone else's business and creating small chaos in the family.
I love the scenes with all the wives, they were just so cute! (although I am not fully WITH the idea of having so many wives!)

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I must say Annie, being my favorite actress, did not disappoint me at all, though it was rather weird that she played the role of being Bobby’s third wife.
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I just don’t think they look compatible to be husband and wife, perhaps due to the age gap. They just look more like brother and sister!

Mary Hon and Liu Kar Fai was another hilarious couple, I just love the way they teased and flirted with each other; giggling like young teens in love!
It was really sad that Mary Hon had to die in the end, just when they were finally married! =(
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It was a light-hearted comedy and slightly suspense-filled drama which was quite entertaining throughout the series.
I enjoyed it, well, being a TVB drama, it does not usually disappoint me.
I heard that there is a sequel to this, but the cast has changed and it is to be released this year? Yet another sequel but with a change of cast makes one wonder, what is the point of having a sequel when you don’t have the main cast anymore?
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