#The Winner adaptation

[latestnews-now]

Tom Holland is stepping into a brand-new role as a producer with the launch of his production company, Billy17! Partnering with his brother Harry Holland and Will South, Tom has signed an exclusive deal with Sony Pictures. Their first project, Burnt, written by Academy Award-winner Rodney Rothman, is already generating buzz. Plus, adaptations of The Rosie Project and The Winner are on the way! Dive into all the exciting details in this video. Don’t miss out—hit that like button, subscribe, and join the conversation in the comments!

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR HORSEY CHAMPION, EPONA!

Thank you to all who participated in this tourney! I'll be back with more polls after the Holiday season!

[bestanimal]

I just spent the last several hours compiling a list of all 220 orders of Round 3 so far and y’all… I’m sweatin

…so many fish…

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Me: *points at Rangi before Kyoshi is found to be the Avatar* Me: Sugar Mama-Nepo Baby. Me: *points at Rangi after Kyoshi is found to be the Avatar and inherits all of Jianzhu's wealth* Me: Sugar Baby-Nepo Baby.

[fairytale-poll]

MODERN ADAPTATION BRACKET WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST!!!

We have finished another tournament (or rather, two mini-tournaments!) Thank you guys for another great one, the results really surprised me this time around!! I apologize for deciding not to hold a Loser's Bracket & Mod's Choice poll this time around, but both will be back for the next tournament.

Before we go into the winners, however, I want to say that this blog is officially a year old! I opened submissions for our first tournament, Red Riding Poll, on July 26th of 2023, and the first rounds of the poll came in the early days of August 2023! Since then, we have hosted 4 tournaments (Red Riding Poll, Cinder Poll, Little Merpoll, & Modern Adaptation Brackets) and it's truly been a great experience! I can't wait to see how many more brackets we will do in the future :)

Okay, onward to the winners!

We will start with the Best Modern Bracket. The quarterfinalists for that one were Once Upon a Time and The Sisters Grimm! Once Upon a Time has been a decisive pick, being both on the Best and Worst brackets, but since it only placed in the Best bracket it must have some merit to it! :) As for the Sisters Grimm, it was definitely a popular choice and probably would've won the whole bracket if it did not have to go against the eventual first-place winner/that said first-place winner wasn't in the tournament. I've never read it, but if I were to give "fan favorite" award for this bracket it would definitely win it. Congratulations to fans of both of these fairytale crossover series for the bronze medal!

The semifinalists of the Best Modern Bracket was Hook! This is another one that I haven't watched, but Robin Williams' old movies are definitely great nostalgic picks (RIP). Though technically Peter Pan isn't a fairytale, I think that it is often listed with them enough that it should count, so congrats to Hook for carrying that win!

Finally, the winner of the Best Modern Bracket was none other than the magical girl classic, Princess Tutu!!! This is one of my favorite anime series that I don't see often, so I was more than surprised to see it not only submitted but win (and by a lot, too! It practically swept every poll it went against, even things like Ponyo which I really thought was going to carry the win due to how universally loved it is!) A delightful series that definitely deserves the love, I couldn't be happier to see that this little duck made it all the way to the gold <3

Applaud to the Best Modern Bracket winners!!! Now, get ready to point and laugh at the Worst Modern Bracket winners!!! (Or losers, in a way, if you think about it). Okay, but in all seriousness, if you like any of these listed for the Worst Modern Bracket, try not to take offense! This is all in good fun :)

The quarterfinalists for the Worst Modern Bracket were Avalon High and Sydney White! Sydney White was one of those that were in both brackets, but it only ranked in the Worst one. As for Avalon High, I have been told that the dislike for this one was more so for it being a bad book-to-movie adaptation, which is interesting to hear. Anyway, I haven't watched either, so I have no witty comments.

For the semifinalist, we have Hooked! Another Peter Pan adaptation in the 2nd place, go figure... Well, I feel as if this book was more well-known, it could've gone to #1 as people tended to have a lot of strong feelings on this. I admit, the summary doesn't make it sound too appealing to me... well, here it is with the silver for that!

The winner was obvious to me as soon as the bracket started. And I was right on the money, for none other than Beastly got the winning title of the Worst Modern Bracket! It has all the pitfalls of bad Beauty and the Beast adaptations that I've noticed and it's certainly quite infamous (especially after the Jenny Nicholson video)! I distinctly remember seeing the commercials for it on TV when I was a kid and thinking "that movie looks weird... is that what teens like?" Apparently not, since it didn't do so well! Nobody deserves the honor of being called the Worst Modern Bracket like this movie, good job!

aaaannnnndddd that's it for the modern bracket polls! Thank you everyone who participated. Our next tournament as voted on by you guys will be Best Fairy Godmother. I don't have a figure of when I will open submissions, but I would say at least two weeks. See you then! <3 <3 <3

[save-the-data]

My Dear Gangster Oppa | S01E05

Thai Drama - 2023, 8 episodes

Episodes| Gaga | Viki | YouTube | iQIYI | WeTV | Tencent | Catalogue

[thollandnewsbra]

In light of the rumors of this new movie... if I were you, I'd read this review and PRAY for someone like Paul Verhoeven or Todd Haynes for directing with Tom as the lead. This sounds exactly like what he needs. A fucking monumental pop culture moment who hits the zeitgeist and it's an adult role.

I'm on my way to find this book and start reading ASAP. It sounds fascinating (and no, nothing at all like Challengers. The tennis here is very background).

Tennis Triangles and Dark Twists: A Review of Teddy Wayne’s “The Winner” – Vol. 1 Brooklyn (vol1brooklyn.com)

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I’m largely pleased with BL & pissed with Kpop

April 2023 Wk 3

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Thai Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 1 of 10 (MDL says 12, but I think it’s just 10) - Abused intern trope is a go! I wasn’t sure I would like the lead, but he’s totally adorable. Although (I gotta say it) who tf eats a croissant with a knife & fork? Also.. the main couple has good chemistry! Hallyfuckingluya! In fact, the quality of the acting and sound etc is generally superior to a normal pulp. It’s good! This is a good show? How exciting! 

Our Skyy 2 (PondPhuwin) eps 1-2 - Honestly, I was nervous to watch this but I liked it a lot! Doomed soulmates + paranormal time travel to fix the past. I’m happy for the outfits and the dancing (if not the singing). It’s not a bad premise and it’s nice to see GMMTV lean into its high production values for a change. I could’ve watched this as an actually full length BL. Gotta say, Puhwin’s English is so good and v west coast USA accent (international school kiddo got skillz). Meanwhile, loved seeing MarcPuwin again. My Gear & Your Gown disappointing us wasn't their fault. *Hilarious that Marc is side couple in 3 BLs airing simultaneously, that’s a record! (Waves at Marc X1.) I’ll be rating each of these installments separately, as I did the first time around. This one gets an 8/10 from me.

Bed Friend (Sat YT, GaGa & iQIYI uncut) ep 10fin - A very Check Out the series ending. Disastrous sun glasses. King being shy was adorable. Nevertheless I do think the final 2 eps felt a little tagged on and superfluous excess. Ultimately? This just wasn’t as good as the first 5 episodes set us up to hope for. Series review below.  

Pastsenger (Thai Weds Gaga) ep 7 of 12 eps - Cute confession and boyfriends phase. The bit with brothers’ boyfriends serving each other food was kinda charming. Could do without blushing maiden trope. But hey ho. (Waves at Marc X2.) 

A Boss and a Babe (Fri YouTube) ep 8 of 12 - Cute phi/nong convo and teasing, but this is largely boring. I do like that the conflict is all about business loyalty, cubical friendships, and coworker gossip. This is as it should be in an office romance. But I wish the characters were consistent.  

Tin Tam Jai (Tues Gaga & iQIYI) ep 9 of 12 - The boyfriends phase. I just know with this show that the moment it ends I’m going to entirely forget about it. It’s boring.  

Chains of Heart (Sat iQIYI) ep 10fin - What a waste. Seriously don’t bother. It seems to end unhappily, but maybe not, but also who tf cares? 3/10 Series review below, for my sins. (Waves at Marc X3.) 

Future (Thai Sun YouTube & Gaga) ep 5fin - It was Songkran so no new ep until tomorrow. May your New Year be blessed. 

The Promise (Thai Weds YT & WeTV) ep 7 of 10 - the put YT on a week delay off WeTV, so I will watch it next week. I have WeTV but I prefer YT. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unintentional Love Story (Korea Thurs iQIYI) 9-10 fin - Awe a crying kiss. My fav! This one was fine. Not a v good kiss but KBL has to bow to form on occasion. The sides didn’t get much of a resolution. (Although we know why.) It was a solid ending. Series review below. 

Our Dining Table AKA Bokura no Shokutaku (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - this ep was a little slow for me, oh I know, that’s what this show is doing, but yeah. Still it’s soft and sweet and wonderful. Why are you not watching it? Go. Now. 

The Eighth Sense (Korea Weds Viki) eps 7-8 of 10 - Honestly? I checked out a bit this installment. Possibly because JaeWon checked out as well. I mean, I understand what the narrative is doing, portraying JW coping (badly) with loss and the complex knot of guilt, love, fear, lust, and shame. But I don’t really feel drawn into a romance when the main characters are separated for most of an hour. I do like JiHyun’s personality shift and aggressive stance on renewing the relationship. That’s fun to watch. And I do love his besties. Of course ep 8 ends with major heartbreak and pain. I expected nothing less from this show. Gotta admit I’m a little mad tho, I wanted it to EXCEED my expectations. 

My Story (Pinoy Sat YouTube) ep 2 of 10 - I don’t like one of the couples (not side dishes, this is a 50/50 split) but I weirdly like Sky’s new arc, even if he’s with someone new. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 2 of 12 - it’s just so odd. I can’t believe THIS is the JBl we get 12 eps of. This one?  Japan, must you? (How many times a year do I type that phrase?)

Finished this Week

Unintentional Love Story - A boy who just lost his job due to faked corruption charges accidentally discovers his ex-boss’s favorite artist, now a recluse. His ex-manager offers him his job back if he can convince the artist to rejoin society. Instead, they fall in love. Gongchan (maknae of B1A4) carried this show (which I don’t expect from the idol element). He was luminous with extraordinarily expressive eyes. That said, he had weak chemistry with his co-lead. But everything else was quietly queerly KBL pristine and beautifully executed, even the conflict. I’m not sure on rewatchability for me, and it didn’t whip me into a verbal frenzy the way some KBLs do but it’s still getting a solid 9/10 

Bed Friend - Office frienamies transition a flaming hot one night stand into a f-buddy relationship, that is essentially built on a puppy/cat dynamic (and kinks into it at one point). Our puppy is loyal, smitten, and protective with endlessly worshipful eyes, while our cat is snarky, prickly, and deeply damaged (ALL THE TRIGGERS). NetJames give lovely high-heat with excellent chemistry and tuned-in performances of surprising depth, unfortunately the story ultimately failed them. Had the show had the strength of its convictions and kept to a tighter, darker, harsher 8 eps it would have been the first high heat to earn 10/10 from me, but once they fussed with it, it dropped to a solid 8/10. Could have been great but they overworked it. Still if high heat is your thing, this one will not let you down. Full review here.

Chains of Heart - This was a terrible show, unbelievably confusing, badly subbed, with characters behaving illogically, nonsensically, and heartlessly. What’s worse? The leads had fantastic chemsitry, were willing to do high heat (and do it well) and were pretty! So they squandered a decent cast and some actual production money on a shoddy scrip and terrible directing - what a waste. Seriously, don’t bother. It maybe ends unhappily, maybe not, but you should neither care nor bother to find out. 3/10 

It’s Airing But ...

Love Syndrome (Thai Sat WeTV) stopped at ep 2 of 12 - I’m just not into any aspect of it (except Lee Long Shi and I can watch him in Tin Tem Jai) - saving to binge if the end is solid.

Venus in the Sky (Sat YouTube) pilot/tester?) 0 of 10 - not entirely sure what’s up with this one distribution-wise, but the pilot was classic university-set pulp. I hope it happens because the leads are cute with good chemsitry and I thought it was fun. However, this pilot holds together as its own little short too.

Make a Wish (Thai Weds ?) stars Fluke Natouch (OhmFluke UWMA etc...) & Judo (The Miracle Of Teddy Bear) in a medical-fantasy. About a doctor who sees ghosts and a deity who resides in a Bodhi tree that earns merits whenever he fulfills a wish, based on a y-novel by Sammon (Manner of Death, Triage). Same as above.

Stormy Honeymoon (Vietnam) - 3rd in this series and the ULTIMATE in domesticity. New side couple is cute too. But I’m kinda over the leads at this point. (see comments)

In Case You Missed It

BL Express has a post on upcoming GL. I don’t track this, but they do. 

I decided to hold off and binge Cafe in Love and Destiny Seeker. So I’ll be watching and reporting back after I’ve collected all the eps. I realized that I miss binging BL. That said I have been siting on To Sir, With Love forever. Not sure why I am so reluctant to dive into that one. 

[ Not into Kpop? Skip to “next week.”] 

Peak Time pretty much ended exactly as expected, which was also exactly how it started. Our BL boy Karem got booted for the grave sin of being a, ya know, 2nd gen idol dude bro. But it was the superior survival show. BLK made me cry, so did MASC for that matter. We have discussed this before, I am a sap. I look forward to seeing where Vanner go next. 

Boy’s Planet was ultimately disappointing. I watched some predictions about who Mnet actually wanted to win, and they were mostly correct. With the delightful upset of China scooping the #1 spot. (Delightful bc I am a chaos money who lives for politics fucking with soft power and watching China give the jaundice eye to S Korea for half a decade bc they Hallyued their way into winning the culture war using Kpop, and NOW China is doing what we all knew they would which is... infiltrate. Ultimately? Boy’s Planet was nothing more than an exercise in manipulative editing, they just accidentally manipulated the global vote into Zhang Hao winning. Not to slag off that baby boy’s serious cuteness - I genuinely thought he was great, actually. Frankly, I emerged cackling and mostly just v. disappointed in Pentagon fans. I think they deserve to lose their group for how little they supported Hui. Let’s be truthful? They are likely losing their group or Hui wouldn’t have been on the damn show in the first place. (Cube seems highly disinterested and their 7 year contracts are uppity up.) This is neither the first nor the most extreme version of me being disappointed by Kpop fans. There’s a reason I don’t participate in that fandom. 

In more relevant news to THIS fandom, JiWoong made it into ZB1, which means we will NOT see him or the Kissable Lips pair back on our screens anytime soon (if ever). 

RIP the pretty.... 

Whatever, it is still the golden age of Korean BL. Our Dating Sim happened. We will all be fine. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Happy Merry Ending starts Weds April 26 on Gaga (with ep 2 the next day) 8 eps total. It looks cute: opposites attract, musicians, giving me Wish You vibes. It’s from the Our Dating Sim’s Kidari Studio. Adapted from the manhwa of the same title (해피메리엔딩) by dorae (도래). Stars Lee Dong Won (main rapper of KNK - yes that’s Semantic Error’s Park Seo Ham’s group) opposite actor Byun Sung Tae. Also stars Kim Kyu Jong (of SS501) and actor Shin Myung Sung (The Heavenly Idol).

The Eighth Sense ends, thank fuck. I don’t think I could take much more of the tension with that one. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

This week’s fashion hall of shame:

those glasses, both useless and ugly 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Leaning into their brand. 

Leaning outside of it but looking sexy AF. Thank you GMMTV! 

What do I always say? I love it when a drama reviews itself. 

All Our Skyy 2: Never Let Me Go (PondPhuwin) 

(last week)

Current Kpop earworm? Winner’s Remember. I got nothing to say about it except it’s great and everyone always seems to forget about Winner but they just keep singing, and that’s kinda the sentiment of this song.

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

November: Oscar Winners

Hamlet / Jean Simmons as Ophelia

Year: 1948

Designer: Roger K. Furse

For the first decade or so of its existence, the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was split into "black and white" and "color." This film was the winner of the very first "black and white" Oscar for costume design.

I'm not entirely sure what period they're going for here, but the embroidery is very pretty.

[bellamysgriffin]

I’m gonna say something and let’s all be nice to me about it if it angers you but

the fact that everything everywhere all at once and all quiet on the western front did a sweep at the Oscar’s the same year we got TAR and THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN is crazy…. bc tell me how did those movies go home with nothing after what they were up against

[theropoda]

watching life on our planet and im not even halfway into the first ep and i already feel like this

[thatgeekwiththeclipons]

Happy 60th Birthday to Academy Award Winning, Golden Globe Winning, SAG Award Winning actor Nicolas Cage! ^__^

[canadachronicles]

[save-the-data]

My Dear Gangster Oppa | S01E01

Thai Drama - 2023, 8 episodes

Episodes | Gaga | Viki | YouTube | iQIYI | WeTV | Tencent | Catalogue

~~ Adapted from the webtoon “The Ideal Relationship” (호형호제) written by Ken (켄) and illustrated by Nod

[thollandnewsbra]

guys this is nothing at all like challengers LMAOOOOOOO why are you all pannicking and asking him to jump out of it? they could very much still change the sport if he asked to (but tennis is a very competitive tense sport, so it makes perfect sense). of course ppl will talk, but don't they always? the book got rave reviews and plus

we have NO idea if he's reading just for fun (it came out on the UK a week ago) or if he's actually attached to the project. on regards of amy: she's an excellent producer. she has spiderverse, the spider trilogy, barbie and project hail mary under her belt. MADONNA accepted her as a producer of her biopic. what on earth are you all complaining for? lol.