After trailer - WOW! After actual series - WTF?!
There are many independent production teams that don't have many sponsors or rely on YouTube subscribers donations. There are also many BL movies/series/mini-series worth watching despite apparent small budgets or newbies actors. Unfortunately, The Star is not one of them, and here's why.Good cinematography is largely about money. Production team, actors, equipment, etc. all require some resources - without that, not a move. You just need money to make a series. But if you think the main problem here is a small budget - better think twice.
For me, the failure of this series is the wrong business decisions. When the trailer consisting of super hot 18+ scenes was released, I thought The Star could aspire to be the hottest series of the year (!). But then I noticed that it's not a series just a movie, which means that international viewers will have to wait several months from the day of release. Tough luck, I'll wait. Then it was change - from a movie it became a mini-series: 2x25 min, and I was like: WTF? How can a movie be edited into two short episodes?
The story itself had potential, but the creativity here was lacking. The lousy first 25 minutes do not encourage you to watch the second part, which (note!) is only 17 minutes long. Why? The remaining promised 8 minutes are "exclusive content" available only to subscribers of the company's YouTube channel at certain levels. You need to pay at least 7(?) dollars to see what they have prepared for us. And guess what? I'm all for supporting young creators and actors as much as possible. Their work is sometimes worth more than the "works" released by well-known studios. But this 8 minutes content - it's just not worth it. This is not an uncut episode as one might expect. It's 8 minutes of cut NC scenes that couldn't appear on YouTube. Yes, the notable sexy scene from the trailer is also there.
If you've already seen The Star - I'm sorry you had to watch it. If you haven't yet - let it go. The low budget stings all the way through, But even money won't help if you don't know how to make the narrative interesting. The actors give it their all, but the dull script, weird editing and general lack of sense don't help the reception of this series. There's nothing interesting here, and it's not a matter of difficult subject matter as some claim, it's more of a really bad execution.
Perhaps I had too high expectations, but this is completely not what I expected. The Star turned out to be one of those productions you look forward to, only to rub your eyes in amazement later, wondering: what am I even watching? It seems that all the potential of the series was stolen by the one-and-a-half-minute trailer, the rest is better left out of silence.
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This review may contain spoilers
Playboyy as an unexpected trip down the rabbit hole (Alice in Wonderland cries in the corner)
Sex, nudity, prostitution – Playboyy the Series from the trailer is a revamped version of Not Me and porn films in a slightly different reality. What the audience actually saw on the screens may have surprised them. Playboyy turned out to be a conglomeration of scenes and stories that defied expectations from the start. Maintained in the style of black comedies, filled with easter eggs and seemingly mocking itself with sex scenes so bad that second hand embarassment is nothing next to it. Could it have succeeded? Supposedly not, and yet it does. Playboyy fails and attracts at the same time – nothing is as it seems, and this non-obviousness, surprising twists and characters that are in vain in other Thai dramas really make this show something else. This time in a positive sense.What is Playboyy about? The search for the missing brother is just an excuse to reveal the cards our characters play. In the meantime, they have sex, fall in love, make bad decisions to finally get serious about finding the truth about the missing twin. And that's when things start to get funny – the elaborate torture the missing man's brother uses is a punch right in the face for the real thugs. Interestingly, up to a certain point, he gets away with everything he does, and the audience can watch him slowly change – it's hard to say whether this is the result of our naughty Prom, the situation he finds himself in, or perhaps the truth about the brother and his life, or maybe everything at once. In any case, the current twin is just as crazy and unhinged as the rest of this gathering, so he fits in perfectly with the group.
Playboyy is not another candy story, you can say goodbye to fluffiness. It is a story where nothing is black or white – everything and everyone has different shades of grey, where what is seemingly sweet and innocent can be more dangerous than the obvious threat. The fight between good and evil is only a pretence, as no one here is really good – characters have their own flaws, which are clearly shown in the following episodes, they are selfish and act impulsively often without thinking about the consequences. Despite the large number of characters (7 pairings!), everything is interconnected and ultimately comes together.
Whoever never wanted to be a detective, let him be the first to throw a stone. Nont has fulfilled the childhood dreams of many of us, unfortunately under unpleasant circumstances. He is no Sherlock Holmes or Hercules Poirot, but hey! he has something to work with. So he decides to discover the truth by making out with every suspect. When that doesn't work, we move on to horrifyingly effective (really!) torture – who wouldn't want to be tickled to death by such a torturer?
Who has never thought of having a nice time with the sexy twins? Prom and Nuth wouldn't want to miss it. Especially Prom, who knows full well that you don't have to worry about missing your lover if you get your hands on another one – by chance looking exactly the same.
Who didn't plan to open their own business when they were young? Captain didn't need to be told twice – he turned his love of films into a profitable business. Actors don't always know they are starring in a film, so cutting costs is not a problem.
Anyone who has never watched anime and hentai should hide. Zouey has not only watched, but still memorised a few lines and will not hesitate to use them. "Thick japanese accent" activated.
Who has never wanted a sweet little virgin for themselves? Teena just wanted to seduce a rich kid and walk away. And boom! Instead of sex, there was affection. It's just a shame that his virgin isn't a virgin, what's more he's the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. And in a flash Teena himself has gone from playboy to 24-hour muse.
Who has never ordered a pizza with home delivery? Soong delivers pizza and more. Our pizza boy pops up here and there, but only stays with the blonde-haired BDSM lover for longer. Probably because they both have a weakness for playing with food and cringe dress-up straight out of Z-grade porn movies.
Who hasn't had to coddle in college? Puen doesn't look for problems, it's the problems that look for him. So instead of finding a quiet, normal job, he chooses the Playboyy Club. And instead of competing for a place on the team on the pitch, he does it on his knees. Smart move, right?
Who has never dreamt of Prince Charming? Nuth may not have arrived on a white horse, but Phop doesn't seem to care. Why does he need peace of mind when, as well as selling himself on the internet, he can still sell drugs, make weird movies for his boyfriend and make an unexpected mistake that changes the course of the whole story? Phi!
Who has never thought about barely legal boys? Hopefully none other than Jason Lee. The sexy sugar daddy likes to take advantage of those weaker than himself, something he shouldn't get away with. Right? RIGHT?
Is it hard to take your eyes off the screen? Yes. Should we talk about food fetish (yes, First and Soong it's about you two), unconditional love of cameras, colourful drug-fuelled sex or humiliating your partner? It's not for me to judge, although the trauma of some scenes will stay with me for longer (once again FS and their thermometer, ketchup and literally "sex/food" obsession).
Does this series make you repeat over and over again: "Why? Just why?" Yes. And not just in relation to the actions of these gaggles, but also to your own mental health. In the course of watching, more than a few have asked themselves: "Why?", "For what reason?", "How?". And most importantly: "What am I doing with my life?", "Don't I have more important things to do?". But once you've fallen down the rabbit hole, you're not going to get out so quickly.
Has Playboyy earned its rating? Both yes and no. It's a show not for everyone, and watching only the first episode should not be an excuse to judge the whole series. Unfortunately, MDL is a collection of individuals from all over the world who don't understand that you don't judge a book by its cover. It is worth seeing at least half of the episodes and only judge the efforts of the crew and actors. And if the show is that bad, watch five minutes and drop the hell out. Why waste your life on bad series?
How do you watch Playboyy? Without much expectations. It's impossible to predict what's going to happen – the characters live their own lives and the scriptwriter, to the delight of the audience, has clearly created the plot on a high or, on the contrary, forgetting the prescribed medication. As a result, the show is engaging in its maddening unpredictability slowly revealing its cards. What could initially be seen as bad writing, bad editing and "bad everything" is planned down to the smallest detail. The dynamics of the show change as do the relationships between the characters – NCs scenes take on a life of their own, with a plot lurking somewhere in the corner. And just every move of the characters still remains an unhinged mystery.
Who would I recommend Playboyy to? To anyone with an open mind. Despite appearances, it's a demanding show with a non-obvious plot line (yes, we have a plot here). So if you are a fan of simple copy-paste stories, you may not be able to bear the weight of Playboyy. This isn't a sweet tale of a search for a missing brother decorated with hot romance – everything here is unhinged, and you start to question yourself as you watch. Are you bored of standard dramas with a predictable plotline? Do you cringe at the word fluff? Do you think a conversation is invalid if it lacks English interjection? Are you a weirdo or a psychopath? Playboyy might be for you.
You know you're doing it right when the final product evokes so many emotions, even if they are so extreme. That's why I would venture to say that Playboyy was a success on several fronts.
Firstly, it certainly wasn't boring. And although for some the storyline of the series is as lost as one of the twins, that's just miserable slander. Just open your eyes (and watch more than one episode) and somewhere in the vapour of sex and absurdity you'll find a pretty solid plot spiced up with plenty of plot twists.
Secondly, Playboyy lives a life of its own. It is something new, unexpected and bizarrely entertaining. At a time when you've been everywhere and seen everything, such productions are a rarity. Especially as it is unlikely to be a commercial success.
And finally thirdly, the Playboyy comments section is the least toxic and one of the most active communities on the site. Compared to other hot and more normal positions, where passive-aggressive comments and high school-derived opinions dominate, Playboyy's audience is a balm to my heart, and it's amazing.
To summarise, Playboyy is an unhinged, roller-coaster ride. There are really bad sex scenes and really sexy NCs, naked buttocks worthy of sin, scenes straight out of romantic comedies, plenty of treats for connoisseurs of culture (musicals, cinema, literature and even japanese AV!) and an ending that brings even more unknowns to the whole story. Also noteworthy is retro fashion at its most quirky. Twinks reign supreme here, but fashion gems can be seen in most of the characters. And here the question arises: who actually dresses like this? Without a doubt, Playboyys fashion is nothing more than a stylist's wet dream ;) It is a show that teaches you to expect the unexpected and not to take anything for granted, because the scriptwriter knows better anyway :) And note: Playboyy is like a bar of chocolate – you never end up with just one piece. THE END
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