Actually, I am rather eclectic, don't mind following some movie or drama stars ("idols"? hmm; to me a real idol is someone like JJ Lin, Jay Chou, Jolin Tsai, ...), but that includes for me some directors like Zhang Yimou or Chen Kaige. And on and off, I explore other things, just for the thrills of discovery, like the endearing Kazakh herders micro drama "To The Wonder" (8.9 on Douban now, and I was raving about it long before that verdict), silly but sizzling chemistry in "Embrace in the Dark Night" (eh! it's got lots of action too in its bite size!) which have had me now adding Jesse Ren in my little book, alongside Dai Gaozheng and Li Fei, lol. Spectacular abs and good kissers.
Currently embroiled in the dark adventures in the jungle of the latest out-of-left-field thriller drama that is skyrocketing to 8.2 Douban and astronomical hundreds of million audience : "Escape from the Trilateral Slopes". Although it's fully released since yesterday (in advance), the last episodes still lack subtitles and since there is quite a mix of dialects, foreign and invented language, subtitles at least in Hanzi are really needed. Besides it's being very quick paced. No or almost no romance (but I don't crave for love and kisses at every step), it's a male-centric one. To me, something like in the vein of the Jackie Chan song 男儿当自强. But the music is resolutely gritty and exhilarating hip hop, with a chorus chanting "Scared Money don't make no money" ----lol.
I am currently doing a companion piece for it, with notes on background, Golden Triangle zone, tapirs, the "White Night Theater" series from Youku (intended as competition for "Light On") which will soon air the next thriller, on Sept.3 : "The First Shot" is directed by Zhang Yimou, so that's enough to have me check that one out, if not only following from the thrills of the Escape, to which I did not come for Guo Qilin which certainly is a lesser "idol"/star since his support role in Joy of Life, nor for the famed Hong Kong actor, but... for the title. "Bianshui" sounded strange, and "Trilateral Slopes" of course made me think it was thinly veiled sulfurous Golden Triangle of Laos/Myanmar/Thailand, a place I did not visit although a former neighbor of mine was stationed for a few years in Vientiane. If you are in for thrills, not afraid of some gore, this is definitely up your alley of action/mystery/thrillers. -- Edit: oh yes, also attracted by the mention by someone that the director was the same one that did 2022 Reset, my all time favorite time loop drama, full of explosions and action, and a mystery !!
The music section of my companion piece has direct links to the hip hop songs Daban and Gou. I may move my notes about other songs occuring in the drama to that section, although there are some which I did not know yet, and am still looking for.
