Our Times

This is very late! I watched Our Times (我的少女時代 is the Mandarin title) in mid-December which was also already quite late. I had to shamefully admit that I watched this online through a link that a friend shared. I felt ripped off as the proclaimed HDRIP quality turned out to be an illegal recording in a cinema -complete with shadows of people going to the toilet. A week later another friend shared a link to the HD version. It is really HD but I do not want to re-watch it haha... I actually wanted to watch it in the cinema but between free stay at MBS vs watching this in cinema, the winner is pretty clear.

Our Times had a lot of hype, particularly for the reference to the 90s. I belong to the 90s generation too so I am quite interested to see what the hype is all about. People also compare this to You are the Apple of My Eye. That is not exactly appleaing (meant to be a pun :p) to me as the only thing I remember about that movie is that there are funny scenes and the last kiss. I totally cannot remember the plot which means the plot is completely forgettable.

I am pretty glad that I did not watch this in cinema. Honestly, I felt so bored for almost the whole movie. Our Times does not offer anything new or unique pertaining to the 90s settings or high school love stories between a delinquent, a shy girl, and the most popular student at school. Although it is quite expected that the bad boy will end up falling for the shy girl (and vice versa), it is quite cute that he does not have the guts to confess. This is only revealed near the end when the boy leaves for America and leave behind a cassette recording for the girl.

The last 10 minutes, however, make all the yawning for the earlier 2 hours worth it. The girl is big fan of Andy Lau. After the boy's confession and fast forward a few years later, it seems quite random that we leave the lovey dovey part and back to the girl fangirling again. It is funny to see her frustrated for not able to ever get a ticket for her idol's concert for the past many years. So it is a big nice surprise when Andy Lau really makes an appearance (as himself!!) in this movie. It becomes to an even bigger surprise that the whole Andy Lau thingy is actually a fulfillment of the boy's promise many years ago to have Andy Lau sing for the girl. So manly tears are shed at this point and the music also creates the appropriate tear-inducing atmosphere. The movie ends with an exchange of "Long time no see" and although that does not give any closure to their love story, it makes the ending memorable. I can particularly relate to how they feel as there was no internet and international phone call was so expensive in the 90s. When someone moved overseas, you could simply lost all contact. When you unexpectedly meet that someone now (especially if it is someone dear to you), you will definitely get the 'feel'.

Oh ya, I am not a fan of Jerry Yan but I have to admit that I like to see him here as the adult version of the bad boy. 

The soundtrack