BEST OF BL 2021
BONUS CATEGORY: BEST SHORT FORM CONTENT
It would be remiss of me not to mention my favourite BL movies, minis, specials, short films and other non-series content this year.
Movies
Hello Stranger: The Movie (Black Sheep/YouTube) | Dir. Dwein Baltazar | Cast: Tony Labrusca, JC Alcantara | The Philippines
My heart. Xavier struggles with his mixed-up ideas of what it means to be a good person, breaking his own and Mico's hearts in the process before eventually realising that the heart can only want what it wants. Mahal kita.
Gameboys: The Movie (The IdeaFirst Company/Netflix) | Dir. Ivan Andrew Payawal | Cast: Kokoy de Santos, Elijah Canlas | The Philippines
Cai and Gav fall even deeper in love and navigate the beginnings of a sexual relationship, surrounded by the best little found family in BL.
To My Star (Movie) (H & Co/EnergeDic/Viki) | Dir. Hwang Da Seul | Cast: Son Woo Hyun, Kim Kang Min | Korea
Kang Seo Joon and Han Ji Woo fall in love in this cosy slice of life domestic odd-couple drama. I preferred the movie cut to the series purely for pacing reasons.
Minis
A First Love Story (Strongberry/YouTube/Vimeo) | Dir. Eom Ju Ho | Cast: Kim Hyeong Won, Jung Jae Woon | Korea
This 2-episode micro-series from Strongberry gave me more in 15 minutes than a lot of BLs can do with 12 full-length episodes and a special. When Min Gyu hugged Jae Seong and said 'don't go' my cold dead heart came to life.
Short films
Last Twilight in Phuket (Nadao Bangkok/YouTube) | Dir. Boss Naruebet Kuno | Cast: Billkin Putthipong Assaratanakul, PP Krit Amnuaydechkorn | Thailand
I KNOW y'all are sick of me and all things ITSAY, but what a work of art. 14 minutes of breathtaking cinematography and heart-fluttering emotion.
Half My Life, All My Heart [The Story] (GMM Grammy/YouTube) | Cast: Earth Pirapat Watthanasetsiri, Mix Sahaphap Wongratch | Thailand
13 minutes long (18 if you include the MV that completes the story) and the FEELS. Earth and Mix have unbelievable chemistry and the story of Whale and Talay is so deeply told in the short runtime.
Close Friend (Night/Mek) (SHORYUKEN Production/ViuTV) | Dir. Chacree Rujiviphat | Cast: Jimmy Karn Kritsanaphan, Tommy Sittichok Pueakpoolpol | Thailand
I don't know what kind of magic Tommy and Jimmy somehow manage to create together, but give me more of it. Penpals Night and Mek fall in love in the hazy pre-internet 90s.
Summerdaze (Crowdfunding Trailer) (Telescope Studios/YouTube) | Cast: David Eung, Alfred Sng | Singapore
A concept trailer that makes you want the whole series immediately. The story of two actors who fall in love while shooting a BL. First ever BL to come out of Singapore.
My Broken Love Story (Part 2) (YouTube) | Cast: Xia En, Xia De, Ryan Hsu | Taiwan
A retrospective on a breakup, told in snippets and snatches. Ryan Hsu plays the cheating boyfriend of one of the twins from Make Our Days Count.
Specials
Lovely Writer Special Episode (Dee Hup House/WeTV) | Dir. Tee Bundit Sintanaparadee | Cast: Kao Noppakao Dechaphatthanakun, Up Poompat Iam-samang | Thailand
Well I had fun with it. Part horror fantasy, part romantic comedy, pure crack, as we check in on Nubsib and Gene two years into their relationship.
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May 4, 2021: The Host (2006) (Recap)
NO NOT THAT ONE
Stephanie Meyer goddamn sucks. I realize that I’m not exactly the first person to say that, but she’s terrible. Not only is she not a good writer, but she also has some very disparaging views about science fiction and its fans, which led her to make her own science fiction book and film. ANd yeah...it’s terrible! No surprise there.
So, no, not the 2013 critical and commercial flop known as The Host. No, this post is about 2006′s The Host, AKA Gwoemul, AKA 괴물. I haven’t ventured to far into the world of Korean cinema, and with this film, my repertoire includes only the films of director Bong Joon-Ho. And if that name sounds familiar...it should.
Bong Joon-ho DESERVEDLY made headlines last year when his film became the first non-English language film to win for Best Picture, and the first time Asian writers won for best screenplay! His Oscar speech in accepting best director is genuinely one of the best and most sincere speeches I’ve ever heard from a director, and I love the dude.
Oh, and if you’re wondering which film it was, then, like me, you also really need to watch Parasite. And because I’m terrified of spoilers, I’m not gonna look for GIFs of that movie. Instead, I’ll put in a GIF of one of my favorite sci-fi films, and the only other Bong Joon-ho film I’ve seen.
God, I love Snowpiercer. And if this is anything like that, I’m probably going to love this movie. Now, I don’t really know much about this film, other than the fact that it’s a monster film. And if there’s any science-fiction subgenre more iconic than monster films, I don’t know it. Well...OK, aliens, robots, and more, but monster films are still a big part of the genre. But where does that begin? Is it here?
Definitely an argument you can make, since Frankenstein’s Monster is a creation of science gone wrong, from the book to the movie. Fun fact, Mary Shelley based it on a real-world experiment by Italian physiologist Giovanni Aldini, who used a corpse to illustrate the connection between electricity and muscles. Neat, huh? So, yeah, that’s a solid launching point.
But that’s more of a horror story. What about something a little more monster-y? Well, from the UK to Japan we go!
OHHHHHH YEAH, THAT’S THE GOOD STUFF
Toho’s 1954 film Gojira is one of the most classic monster films ever made, and singlehandedly launched the kaiju genre in Japan. And it’s really well-known that it was made as a response to post-World War II tensions about nuclear warfare. Which, in Japan, is kind of understandable, no? But nothing demonstrated the destructive power of science more than that moment in history.
So, Godzilla arrives. And the US also makes more monster movies, most of which take place in contemporary settings, making many of them lo-fi sci-fi. Now, some dipped into horror or fantasy, but the science fiction roots were there. Which eventually would bring us full circle to films where monsters were made and go loose. You know, like this:
It’s a franchise that defines the ‘90s, and lab-grown monster movies exploded around that time as well. At the same time, environmental concerns REALLY started to build by this point, and those concerns leaked profusely into film all over the world. And by the time we get to 2006...well, let’s get into it, huh?
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Recap
In a mortuary, a U.S. military doctor (Scott Wilson) instructs his assistant (Brian Lee) to dump bottles of formaldehyde down the drain of the facility, which goes directly into the Han River. The assistant protests, but the doctor insists, despite the risk of polluting the river. AAAAAmericans.
In the river about two years later, two fisherman see something strange looking in the river. Then, four years later, in 2006, a suicidal man is about to jump into the river, when he sees something dark in the water below.
Later that year, we meet Park Hee-bong (Byun Hee-Bong) and his son Park Gang-du (Song Kang-ho), who run a food truck and snack bar near the river. Gang-du’s not exactly a hard worker, to his father’s chagrin. His daughter, Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung), is a student who comes home from school, where her drunken uncle Nam-il (Park Hae-il) comes to her chagrin. She and her father watch TV, where his sister Nam-joo (Bar Doona) can be seen competing in archery.
As he’s bringing food out to customers, he joins them in observing something strange and massive hanging off of the bridge. And at this point, I would be running the fuck away. Literally, the news just said that there was a body found with the legs missing, and these people are throing cans at it after it plunges into the water. One girl asks if it’s a dolphin. Mother...HAVE YOU SEEN A DOLPHIN BEFORE?
NOT THIS
Yeah, this thing just comes bounding along the shore, slapping people into the water with its tail, and batting aside others. Doesn’t look like its actively killing anybody yet, but it’s definitely hurting people at least. That is, until it goes into a trailer where a bunch of people have gathered, and appears to eat a bunch of them. So, yeah, dangerous.
Gang-du, to his infinite credit, actually attempts to confront and hurt the creature, with the help of Donald White (David Joseph Anselmo). And it works, but at the cost of the creature aggro-ing onto him. Back at the snack truck, his sister’s lost the title, much to the chagrin of Gang-du’s daughter and father. She goes outside in frustration, only to be thrown into the midst of the chaos with her dad. He grabs a girls hand in the chaos, only to find that it’s a different child entirely. And...unfortunately...
The creature grabs her with its tail, and leaps back into the river, disappearing. Fuck. Poor Hyun-seo, and poor Gang-du. Gang-du IMMEDIATELY goes to get her back, jumping into the river, but the creature takes her across to an island, out of reach. That night, an impromptu funeral is held for the victims, at which Hyun-seo is being honored as well. There, both Gang-du’s sister and brother also attend, and all four of the break down dramatically and publicly.
Nam-il blames his brother for letting her die, which is unfair, but understandable. The family eventually calms down and discusses the circumstances of Hyun-Seo’s birth and death, both of which were accidental. As they do, a man in a protective suit comes out, and asks who was at the river incident. Nam-il protests this, and asks what’s going on. The man doesn’t explain, and the room is instead gassed, as everyone is ushered towards the entrance.
In the process, Gang-du (stupidly) reveals that he was hit by some blood splatter. He’s immediately stuffed in a bag and kidnapped by the authorities. Meanwhile, the news reveals that the creature is carrying a virus, and anyone who has been in contact with it has been infected. Because of this, the entire family is taken to a quarantine hospital, which oddly has very few actual quarantine procedures in place. And additionally, Gang-du is feeling a bit itchy.
That night, in the hospital, Gang-du gets a call on his cell phone! It’s Hyun-seo! She’s alive! And she’s trapped, in a sewer somewhere near the river. Meanwhile, a group of men in protectve suits are outside patrolling the river. One man finds money on the side of the road, and goes to pick it up, only for the men to be attacked by the creature. But it’s then that we discover that the creature is not killing or eating people, but simply taking them own to its lair. Also in said lair is Hyun-seo, trapped and with a now dead phone.
The next day, the family tries to get an officer to look into the call, only for the officer to be, frankly, an absolute piece of shit to this grieving family. Gang-du tries to explain, and his explanation is ENTIRELY RATIONAL, but the officer and doctors are absolutely terrible about it.
Because nobody’s listening, the family manages to escape from the hospital in order to try and save Hyun-Seo, and they hop into a van, taking it and running. This is a good place to mention that, despite this being a monster movie, it's also...weirly funny sometimes. Like, that whole scene is pretty great. After bartering with a group of gangsters for supplies (and after Hee-bong basically gives away all of his credit cards), the group manages to get a map and a new car. But they pretty quickly get stopped at a checkpoint into the city, and are nearly caught, but manage to escape and get to the riverfront. Once there, they begin searching the sewers to find Hyun-seo. And I gotta say; this may be an extremely dysfunctional family, but they’re a devoted family all the same.
Of course, that eventually gives way to arguments within the sewer itself, but that’s interrupted by a noise heard somewhere around them. They fire at it, using weapons obtained from the gangster but conclude that it was nothing. What it actually is is two brothers, older Se-jin (Lee Jae-eung) and younger Se-joo (Lee Dong-ho), homeless kids who are foraging the sewers in the abandoned city. But, of course, they eventually run into the creature, which attacks them. Meanwhile, an asleep Hyun-Seo dreams of dinner with her family, only to be woken up by the arrival of the creature, who deposits the bodies of the two boys in the sewer with her. Se-joo has survived, but Se-jin hasn’t, sadly.
Meanwhile, the rest of the family is gathered at their snack bar for the night, and prepares to set out or the morning. The to younger siblings appear to not give a single shit about Gang-du, but Hee-bong attempts to set them straight, talking about how he blames himself for the way Gang-du is now. However, the two just fall asleep during his speech. Poor Hee-bong. Also, he can apparently identify Gang-du’s health condition based on his farts because they spend so much time together, it’s dumb, and funny.
Also, poor the rest of them, because Gang-du wakes up to see the creature just waiting outside, watching them. Hee-bong fires at it, but the creature attacks and knocks over the bar. However, Hee-bong manages to hit it directly in the head, knocking it off, but not killing it. The family goes out to finish the job, but it runs away before they can kill it. They run after it, and are almost completely out of bullets. Hee-bong volunteers to go after it himself, but in the process...
Hee-bong doesn’t make it. The creature kills him, and the commotion attracts the military to their location. Gang-du is again captured, while Nam-il and Nam-joo escape, only to later be separated regardless. Meanwhile, the virus kills Donald White, the sergeant from earlier, and it continues to spread across Korea. To kill the creature, the government plans to release a chemical into the river called Agent Yellow, which feels...controversial.
Nam-il meats a colleague, “Fat Guevara” (Yam Pil-sung), who is easily able to provide a location for Hyun-seo using the number, which the cop earlier insisted was nearly impossible to do. Plus, both the sergeant and Gang-du encountered the creature together, and he seems to be just fine. Which probably means that something very wrong is happening now. Even worse, though, is the fact that Guevara’s appeared to trap Nam-il, as a massive reward is sought for his arrest. A gang of people surround hi, with the plan to capture him, but he VERY cleverly escapes by causing an electrical short, and AFTER having found Hyun-seo’s location! Nice, man! He takes off, now knowing exactly where his niece is.
Nam-joo, meanwhile, is literally living inside of the snack bar, and she gets a text from Nam-il with her location. He tags out, and she tags in, running to the location where the call came from. But she immediately runs into the creature, which knocks her down and unconscious. She manages to call Gang-du, who is currently about to be sedated. Now knowing where his daughter is, he tries to escape, only to be tackled by the doctors. He tells them where she is, but they don’t appear to listen. More importantly, the anesthetic doesn’t appear to work, much to the confusion of the doctors. Something is verrrrrrrry wrong here.
An American doctor (Paul Lazar) comes, and asks what’s wrong, and he tells him exactly what’s wrong. However, despite his words SEEMING to be heard, they once again call him crazy and delusional, and decide to give him a lobotomy to isolate the virus once and for all, like FUCKING ASSHOLES. Turns out that the virus? Yeah, it doesn’t exist whatsoever! It doesn’t exist even a little bit! Which means that this entire thing is a wild goddamn goose chase for a virus that DOESN’T FUCKING EXIST!!!
And the best thing is that Gang-du, despite not actually knowing English, still understands the words “no virus”, and know he fucking knows! However, because he knows, they now have to give him a lobotomy. Fuck me, man. Panicking, he cries for them to stop, and cries for his daughter, who’s still alive in the sewer.
Speaking of, Hyun-seo and Se-joo are bonding in the sewer, as they work to make a rope from things they find there. But in the process, they’re attacked by the creature, who know is actively eating the bodies, and presumably other people. Whoof. They manage to escape, but barely.
Back with Gang-du, who’s just gone through the lobotomy, which...hasn’t worked at all. Holy SHIT. Not sure what the hel is UP with this dude, but that’s a question in and of itself. He escapes by taking a nurse hostage, threatening them with a syringe of his blood, full of a virus that doesn’t exist!
Nam-il wakes up at the same time, not accompanied by a homeless man (Yoon Je-moon), who agrees to take him to the bridge to find Hyun-seo. In the sewer, the two kids have survived, and the creature appears to be asleep. Like a GODDAMN BOSS, she runs up the creatures back, and jumps onto a rope that she had made, and that was hanging far out of her reach. Unfortunately...the creature catches her with its tail. Fuck. It sets her down, and...lets her go? But as soon as she runs, it attacks bother her and Se-joo.
Just then, Gang-du gets to the lair, and uses the rope to climb down. Below him is a pile of bones, and no kids to be seen. The creature goes by, and Hyun-seo’s hand is dangling out of its mouth. And once again by coincidence, that’s when Nam-joo wakes up and reunites with her brother. The creature runs to the waterfront, only to be greeted by...a crowd? They’re gathered there to protest the release of the dangerous chemical into the river.
It all collides at once. The creature swims towards the crowd, Gang-du runs towards the creature, Agent Yellow is released over them both, causing the creature to faint. Gan-du runs up and grabs the bodies of his daughter and See-joo from its mouth, apparently too fucking late. Shit, man. This would’ve been avoided if they just HELPED him. Fuck. He carries her body away as more chemical is released onto the flailing creature, and the chemical causes everyone else in the area to violently hemorrhage as well. Meanwhile, Nam-il and Nam-joo arrive to see their deceased niece, grieving all over again. It’s...fuck, man, it sucks.
And Gang-du is fucking PISSED NOW. He grabs a street sign and attacks the injured creature, fueled by pure rage. Nam-il joins in with Molotov cocktails as it runs away. The homeless man douses it with gasoline, and that makes it easier for Nam-il to set it on fire...until he drops the bottle. And then, Nam-joo uses it to light an arrow on fire, hitting the creature with it, and setting it ablaze. It runs to the water, only for Gang-du to stab it through the head with the street sign, finally killing it in revenge for his father and his daughter. Fucking bad-ASS. And also quite tragic, given the circumstances.
And despite the tragedy, there is one happy circumstance: Se-joo lives! In fact, Hyun-seo died saving his life, like the real goddamn hero of this story that she is. Fuck. That’s terrible, but I’m happy that her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. From here, we fast-forward to the winter, where a clean-shaven and well-kept Gang-du is is now caring for Se-joo. The news is on in the background, but the two ignore it, happily eating together after the ordeal they’ve been through.
Whoof. That’s The Host, or Gwoemul! And yeah, that’s one hell of a movie, I tell you what. For a monster movie, it’s quite dramatic, and they don’t try to humanize the monster AT ALL. And honestly, I really like it! A Pyrrhic victory at the end, but nothing wrong with that! I’ll elaorate a bit in the review! See you there!
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SAL vs DOB Dream11 Prediction, Korean Baseball League
Korean Baseball League | Match | Samsung Lions vs Doosan Bears (SAL vs DOB) | Live Score | Live Streaming | GL team's |
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The Baseball match Samsung Lions vs Doosan Bears, Korean Baseball League will be played on June 16, 2020 03:00 PM
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Betting tips and cricket predictions :-
Match :- Korean Baseball League
Time & Date :- June 16, 2020 03:00 PM
Match Between :- Samsung Lions vs Doosan Bears
Who will win today match :- SAL
Live Score and Live Streaming :- Fancode
SAL Dream11 Predictions Today Match and Team News :-
SAL has obtained the seventh position within the standings with 0.472 winning percentage. thus far they need played 36 matches during which they need won 17 matches and lost 19 matches. Lastly, they played against the team Kt Wiz during which they won by scoring 12 points and restricted the opponent team to attain no points. before this win, they lost to an equivalent team by scoring 4 points while the opponent team scored 7 points. Their streak is one. Their form within the last 5 matches are W L W W W. they need to stay up the streak to require the higher position within the standings.
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Kim Dong-yeop, Park Chan-do, Tyler Saladino, Lee Won-seok, Won Tae-in, Kang Min-ho, Kim Sang-su, Lee Hak-ju, Lee Sung-gyu
DOB Dream11 Predictions Today Match and Team News :-
Doosan Bears has obtained the third position in the standings with 0.6 winning percentage. So far they have played 35 matches in which they have won 21 matches and lost 14 matches. Lastly, they played against the team Hanwha Eagles and lost by scoring 2 points while the opponent team scored 3 points. Prior to this match, they played against the same team and lost by scoring 6 points while the opponent team scored 7 points. Their losing streak is two. Their form in the last 5 matches are L L W L W. They should try to reduce the failures in the upcoming matches to retain the current position in the standings.
Playing 11 today match for :-
Kim Jae-hwan, Jose Fernandez, Oh Jae-il, Choi Joo-hwan, Chris Flexen, Park Se-hyuk, Kim Jae-ho, Park Kun-woo, Jung Soo-bin
SAL vs DOB Pitch Report, Ground Stats and Player Records :-
Match played at Korea
SAL vs DOB Captain and Vice-captain Choice for Fantasy Cricket Teams of :-
Kim Dong-yeop
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Oh Jae-il
SAL vs DOB Dream11 prediction team:-
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The full Squad of SAL vs DOB :-
The full Squad of SAL :-
Choi Seon-ho, Kim Dong-yeop, Kim Heon-gon, Koo Ja-wook, Lee Sung-gon, Park Chan-do, Park Hae-min, Park Seung-gyu, Choi Young-jin, Kim Jae-hyun, Kim Ji-chan, Kim Sang-su, Kim Sung-pyo, Lee Hak-ju, Lee Sung-gyu, Lee Won-seok, Park Gye-beom, Tyler Saladino, Yang Woo-hyun, Baek Seung-min, Baek Jung-hyunH, Ben Lively, Choi Chae-heung, Choi Ji-gwang, David Buchanan, Hong Jung-woo, Hwang Dong-jae, Im Hyun-joon, Jang Ji-hoon, Jang Pil-joon, Kim Dae-woo, Kim Shi-hyun, Kim Yoon-soo, Kwon Oh-jun, Lee Seung-hyun, Noh Sung-ho, Won Tae-in, Woo Kyu-min, Yoon Sung-hwan, Heo Yoon-dong, Oh Seung-hwan, Kang Min-ho, Kim Do-hwan, Kim Eung-min, Kim Min-soo Sr
The full Squad of DOB:-
Yang Chan-yeol, Ahn Gwon-su, Jung Soo-bin, Kuk Hae-sung, Kim In-tae, Baek Dong-hoon, Park Kun-woo, Kim Jae-hwan, Lee Yoo-chan, Kwon Min-seok, Seo Ye-il, Hur Kyoung-min, Choi Joo-hwan, Jose Fernandez, Oh Jae-il, Kim Jae-ho, Oh Jae-won, Moon Dae-won, Jo Je-yeong, Chae Ji-sun, Choi Won-joon Sr, Yoon Myung-jun, Park Shin-ji, Lee Dong-won, Lee Hyung-bum, Kwon Hyuk, Ham Duk-joo, Park Chi-guk, Kim Kang-ryul, Lee Hyun-seung, Chris Flexen, Kim Seung-hui, Lee Young-ha, Raul Alcantara, Yu Hui-kwan, Lee Yong-chan, Hong Gun-hee, Park Jong-gi, Chung Sang-ho, Jang Seung-hyun, Park Se-hyuk
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