#li zhen

[zegalba]

Zhang Ahuei: Li Zhen (2023)

[daily-linkclick]

daily link click: 6/15/23

behind the scenes in episode 2 (happy pride)

[chrilm]

Cringetober day 9: [Rarepair]

[guzhuangheaven]

Legend of Zhen Huan :: Zhen Huan’s red jifu

[mydaylight]

PERIOD DRAMA APPRECIATION WEEK 2024: Day 1, Favorite TV show - Empresses in the Palace/Legend of Zhen Huan, directed by Zheng Xiaolong, starring Sun Li, based on the novel of the same name by Liu Lianzi.

To return to the palace, there are some things you must give up. Including...your heart. A cruel heart is still a heart. What you must do is to be cruel, without a heart.

[comicaloverachiever]

Don’t cry. This isn’t real.

In the Mood for Love / 花樣年華 (2000) dir. Wong Kar-wai

[maggiecheungs]

Meimei, you are the jewel in His Majesty’s crown. Anything less than this is not worthy of you.

SUN LI as ZHEN HUAN in LEGEND OF ZHEN HUAN | Episode 67

[imsorryandthankyou]

I have been in a love/hate relationship with this video for 2 years, making sure it was perfect, but I'm so happy and proud of how it turned out. This is my first Nirvana In Fire video, and hopefully, I will be making more.

This video is dedicated to @not-saying-revolution-but after she made me a gifset from Guardian.

Drama: Nirvana In Fire (琅琊榜) Song: This is War Artist: Thirty Seconds to Mars Edit: imsorryandthankyou

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

Kung Fu Panda 4 Review

Ok, I saw the movie yesterday and I have some thoughts. I think the film is good, but no where near the level of the first two. It's more like the third tonally. But tbf, nothing can top the second film in my opinion. KFP 2 really stepped up in its depth both in terms of its villain and message. The fourth film is very much the opposite. It's also very predictable and you can easily figure out what was gonna happen pretty early on.

What I liked: the animation is still gorgeous. Seriously, there were some very visually pleasing shots. The character models all looked great and I thought it was cool how the villain still has scales when she transforms. The music is also really nice and fun to listen to. The voice acting was also good and I thought Awkafina did a good job (major step up from Scuttle).

Po's dads were also really fun when on screen. It's nice to see them bond over Po and they do work well off of each other. They were the best part of the film, animation aside. The villain is also pretty cool with her abilities. We will talk about her more in a bit. And I did like Zhen and I'm looking forward to see what they do with her in the future. She's energetic and I did like her design.

What I didn't like: too. much. comedy. Ok look, I know this is an animated film for kids, but what made the first three films (particularly the second one) so good is that the balanced the jokes with depth. This film does have some messages, but it's intercut with so many jokes during dialogue that it takes away from it. They really needed to let this film breathe and have more serious moments to just talk and let things sink in. The villain brought back the old villains and stole their abilities (this was in trailer so not really spoiler). Why don't they do more with that? There is so much untapped potential here.

And that's my other big issue with the film: so much potential. Some of the ideas in this film are really, really good, but they only scratch the surface with it. I wanted to know more about the villain. I wanted to see our fave villains interact more. I wanted to see the villain use her powers more. But we don't get that; we only get the bare minimum. In simpler terms, there's no big "wow!" moment that the other films had.

Spoilers below (tread carefully)

Why did they bring the villains back if they were going to do almost nothing with them? The climax of the film was the Chameleon stealing the villains' abilities and fighting Po but we pretty much saw that in the trailer. Tai Lung gets to do some stuff, but I wanted more. Half of his lines were jokes anyway and I didn't vibe with it. Why did they bring him back if he was just gonna comment on things? I don't remember our favorite snow leopard being this comical. He did quip, but there was still a hardened edge to him. Idk. Maybe he got therapy in the spirit realm. Shen and Kai get crumbs, but again, they could've done so much more. And wasn't Kai destroyed completely?

With Shen and Tai Lung, I would've wanted to see more. I'm glad Tai Lung did finally come to respect Po and it does make sense. But Shen? The last time we saw him he rejected Po's help. Unless he too got the same spirit realm therapy Tai Lung did, him bowing to Po does feel very OOC. Nitpicking further, why was Shen brought back anyway? The Chameleon presumably doesn't know who Po is and Shen isn't a kung fu master. With the exception of the fanservice route, this choice only makes sense if the Chameleon was aware of Shen's actions in Gongmen and thought his level of evil would fit her vibe.

Nitpicking aside, there was so much opportunity for Po to confront his villains again and have a deep, serious moment with them. Whether either side likes it or not, they're reunited for a short amount of time. Why not capitalize on this great opportunity?

Speaking of the villain, so much untapped potential. Her design is great, her abilities are really cool, and Viola Davis does a good job voicing her. So why doesn't she get to do more? Imagine a really cool fight sequence where Po confronts her, but she shifts so much that it begins to mess with his head. Or she transforms into the older villains and Po is caught off guard? Instead, we get half the climax spoiled for us in the trailer. What was really cool about the other three was that we got multiple fight scenes with them to showcase their abilities. Thus, the final battle dialed it up to an 11 and we got a truly epic finale. Here, it feels like there should've been more, but there wasn't. Even her backstory feels lacking. It's there... but only surface level. Even Shen, arguably the cruelest of them all, had nuance and depth.

Also, why couldn't we get more of the Furious Five outside of a glorified cameo? Tigress and Po friendship is truly amazing.

As much as the jokes miss, there are some good bits. Shifu trying to deal with Po's shenanigans always crack me up. I also like the bit where Po tries to meditate and his thoughts get in the way. Because hey guess what, that's what my head is like and it's really freaking hard to quiet it down. So, there's that. I just wish the writers didn't feel like they had to insert jokes in almost every line of dialogue, you know? Li and Ping dad adventures are great except half the lines are jokes about how worried they are for Po or how not tough they are. Why not have a deeper conversation? I think it would make everything feel more natural.

I also wish Po himself was a tad more mature. I'm not expecting Shifu or Tigress levels of seriousness, but I felt that he kinda was a bit too childish. Po is one of those characters who loves to have fun, but knows when he has to be serious. However, he also likes to lighten things up with comedy. In this movie, it felt like he only really leaned into the comedy side of things. He had his moments, but I'll be honest, I really missed the "the only thing that matters is what you choose to be now" levels of dialogue. The proverb joke got old real fast, ok?

Grace Randolph from Beyond the Trailer described this movie as episodic and I can see it. The story bits are very segmented between the villain, heroes, and Po's dads. The flow and pacing of this film really needed to be upgraded.

Ok, that's all I got for now. I'm sure I'll think of something else to say (aside from encouraging everyone to rewatch KFP 2 because I'll never get enough of that film).

[chinesedramaoutfit]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ— Men try to convince us that they are capable of loving a whole harem of women equally. Liars. They are only capable of loving themselves.

[palaceoftears]

the vibes are immaculate

[night-rider-lily]

IS THIS A SIGN TO REWATCH MYSTERIOUS LOTUS CASEBOOK?

YES!

I miss the time and feelings i had when it was still airing, waiting patiently for the next episodes but i gotta admit, getting to see all the episodes right away is pretty sweet～

[guzhuangheaven]

Legend of Zhen Huan :: Sun Li as Zhen Huan

[mydaylight]

I remember that year when I entered the Prince's manor, was entitled ce'Fujin, and became the most favoured woman at His Majesty's side. There were so many women in his estate. Everyone was afraid of him, except me. He often took me horse-riding and hunting. He said I was the only one he liked.

LEGEND OF ZHEN HUAN | Episode 42

[daily-linkclick]

daily link click: 6/30/23

sleepover (hope everyone had a happy pride!)

[admireforever]

In the Mood for Love