Like in the Movies (2020)

Profoundly Realistic

This series is hard to describe. It starts out with a comedic flair to it and it is funny to a point. The screenplay for this series is one of the best. It captures in a very profound esoteric way the pain of coming out and how individualized it all is. Some are never able to make that transition while others make it almost instantly while others suffer through it perhaps in a torturous state , sometimes for years. The ending may put you into a deep funk but yet it is so realistic for many, many individuals who are trying to grapple with being gay. My full review of this very likeable and realistic story is at ppbongi.medium.com.

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Gayest BL Ever!

Let me tell you, I am emotionally wrecked from this. First things first, I just spent 5 minutes rocking myself and crying after watching this because I was so distraught. I am a bisexual girl and although I enjoy BLs because I enjoy romance, I have never really ever related to them because although they're romantic they don't actually represent the queer experience. This one is different, so different.

First, the story is incredible. It has cliff hangers and plots twists that feel very realistic to me. I have trouble seeing a couple in distress or who aren't together, so this show was difficult during the last two episodes, but I just blame that on me and not on the writers. In terms of writing, the coming out and approach to sexual orientation feels almost too real to me. When Vlad is describing his knowledge of being gay and just being really happy about a guy that talked to him, I felt that. That's how I felt about girls sometimes.

Next is the acting. This is my biggest issue with Filipino shows. Sometimes, I feel like the acting kind of feels off (maybe it's a cultural thing IDK) and although I feel it a smidge, it doesn't greatly impact my viewing pleasure and I have no complaints. The actors landed their emotional moments and they have great chemistry with each other.

Then, there's the music. This soundtrack is the best soundtrack I've ever heard on any Asian drama. Whoever created it is a literal genius. Indie and Gentle, but also manages to be current and pop. It also tells the main characters story perfectly which is always nice. I love it when a show does that, has the soundtrack tell the story. It's just such a great detail to include.

Finally, there's the rewatch value. I would rewatch this again and again because just like UWMA I want to experience the euphoric highs and lows again. It's like going on a beautiful rollercoaster ride and never knowing what'll happen while you're on it. Sometimes, there might be a cute moment, sometimes your heart might get ripped out and abused.

In general, this is my favorite Filipino show ever. It is filled with the soft conversations that I love and never disappoints. I would like to address the scandal with the writer in this review and say that I in no way condone his actions. What he has done is absolutely horrendous and it gives the LGBTQ community a bad name. This time I am definitely in favor of canceling and gatekeeping him from the queer community. Anyway, now that that's done. WATCH THIS! It's worth it.

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Filipinas, se te critiquei me perdoe

Aqui eu paguei pau real para a Filipinas. Esqueçam o BL, é uma série LGBT+ que todos os dias se reproduz com milhões de pessoas pelo mundo! A história é linda, sem os excessos comuns nas obras de lá, um elenco coeso e um roteiro muito, muito bom. Assistir essa série é uma experiência única, especialmente para as pessoas da comunidade LGBT+, que conhecem o processo que Karl estava vivendo, e o porquê Vlad não pensava como ele. A princípio existe uma diferença gigante de personalidade. Vlad é o filho desgarrado, aquele que a família precisa monitorar, tem alma livre e não sente necessidade de esconder seus desejos de ninguém. Karl é alguém totalmente diferente, inicialmente, muito submisso aos pais, a ponto de esconder até mesmo o curso que quer fazer para satisfazer a vontade da família e suas necessidades financeiras, até pq, pelo que percebi, ele temia ser estigmatizado como o único que quebrou a tradição de se virar sozinho a partir da maioridade. O surgimento inesperado de Vlad, tão diferente e talvez por isso tão encantador, trouxe à tona a sexualidade de Karl, que eu acredito que ele já sabia qual era, mas escondia até de si próprio. Essas duas personalidades são encarnadas todos os dias por milhares de LGBT+ em todo o mundo, uns se conhecem, se assumem e vão à luta. Outros acreditam que não precisam se assumir para ninguém, pois não precisam de validação (afinal ninguém se revela hétero), e um grande grupo, creio que os que mais sofrem, antes de lutarem contra o mundo, lutam primeiro contra si mesmos e sua própria natureza, e pra esses, talvez a aceitação nunca chegue, tão profundo é o preconceito estrutural que o mundo vivencia.

É um BL que traz muitas emoções, alegrias, dramas, lagrimas e por fim um final feliz. Fiquei meio que sem entender o título, mas compreendi que foram os filmes que os aproximaram. A irmã de Vlad, com toda aquela casca grossa, afinal era um amor, e a vizinha então... gostaria de ter sido melhor detalhada sua história como mãe solo. Não precisou de cenas quentes pra fazer nosso coração transbordar de emoção, bastou a química do casal, e os momentos lindos embalados por uma das melhores osts que já ouvi. Não sei se existia um bom investimento nessa série, pois os cenários e o cast é limitado (não que isso atrapalhe em nada). A cena em que Karl dança é perfeita! Me senti muito representada enquanto membro da comunidade, de uma forma muito respeitosa e saudável a série chega a ser didática. As frases finais eram sempre a cereja do bolo... mas a última de fato me fez chorar, trouxe à tona a menina assustada que um dia eu fui, que por fora era uma guerreira, mas por dentro não conseguia entender o que estava acontecendo comigo: "Um amor libertador e direitos iguais para cada um de nós. A verdadeira luta está do lado de fora. Iremos te receber quando estiver pronto. Até o reencontro." É sobre isso, sobre sermos comunidade e entendermos que cada um tem seu tempo, sua história e suas limitações, mas que independente disso, quando chegar agora deve ser acolhido e respeitado, pois talvez já venha cheio de cicatrizes causadas pelas pedradas que levou da sociedade, família, amigos...
Uma das séries que mais indico, e que amo rever. Traz sempre uma sensação de volta para casa.

Leggi di Più

One of the best bls out there.. fell in love with every single scene and the ost is just *chef's kiss*
Some scenes got me laughing, some made me tear up and some just gave me butterflies.....
Worth watching and re watching again and again.....
The songs in the ost are now in my playlist too! They just fit so well with the vibe of the show and i feel refreshed after listening to them!!....
The show was able to portray everything it was meant too nothing was too overdone or left incomplete....
The two lead actors are just so cute and it didnt feel like they were acting.....
They really did justice to this role!!
Im so glad i watched this show and now im never gonna stop rewatching it!!!

Leggi di Più

Awesome series

The Pilipino BL series are certainly not following a script like the Thai BL mostly do. And Thank-you for that. The scene the topics the scenario's are all very unique and interesting. Some do fulfill the initial interest and some exceed the initial interest. that's the case with Like in the movies. Warm touching and engaging. That describes the characters and the script. Ian certainly gets my Top actor award with Paolo very close runner up. Paolo's character was a bit more challenging so maybe he would win in the technical merit category. Anyway, Salute to all involved in creating this series. It will be viewed for many many years. I'm sure!

Leggi di Più

A low budget but beautifully made series

This is my very first review ever on this site so maybe there are some hype in it, but it's true that I really like this series.
This series has the visual, the characters, the story and it reflects gay people - things that ironically many BL series seem to ignore.

Story: The setting of this series is nothing new: a seemingly straight guy got forced into rooming with his neighbor whom he disliked from the start, only to ended up falling in love with that hot, handsome neighbor in the end. However, while many other BL series are fan services as a whole, focus sorely on the shipping: how they met, how they got attracted to each other (or not, they just deep down "like" each other from the get-go), their intimate moments and their cliché jealousy from their over-possessive characters; this series is a story about gay guys that tackles on gay problems: the acceptance and attitude of family members, self-discovering, self-acceptance and fear, expectation of parents and desire of one's own, the unfair need of coming out and its hindrance, etc. It has a story to tell and we can see a little more into the lives of the characters and their struggles (at least the main characters) instead of just love. And that love was viewed from the scope of gay people instead of that of the heteros, as many other BL series made me feel so.

Acting: The lines, actions and movements was delivered naturally and smoothly. While there is no complicated moments or conflicts of emotions to challenge the actors' skills, it's still good acting nevertheless. The interactions between the two leads are sweet, cute and believable. That's all I need.

Characters: There are very few characters in this series, but we still have a diversity of characteristic: an out-and-proud gay dude having a cold war with his family, a lost guy carrying the burden of expectation from parents without chances to know and do for himself, a self-proclaim ally that's cheerful outwardly but fierce inwardly, a nosy neighbor but helpful and understanding, a sarcastic and blunt best friend. While it lacked in quantity, it made up in quality.

Music: It's agreeable enough in my opinion. The music is nice. It's just... that I'm still getting use to Filipino so I find their songs to be hilarious. Maybe it's just me.

Visual: As I have said before, I think this is a low budget series. In this series, you can see that they use two apartment rooms, the front of the apartment, some public areas of that complex, the inside of a taxi. That's it, the whole filming scenes; and eight characters in total: two mains, three supports, three minors. However, with what they had, they made it good. The scenes, the camera works, the color and the lighting are no less than that of other series. The makeup is good, not make me grossed out with faces too white or lips too red like some series I have seen. Above all, I guess the cuteness and handsomeness of the two male leads blinded me and made me cannot see anything else that may be flawed *LOL* And the dance. Gosh, I love it. Like a scene plucked out of a fairy tale.

With those interesting characters, good visual and interactions of those two cutie pies, and the way they cared about the scope of gay people, I don't mind watching it again.

Strongly recommended.

Leggi di Più

I liked it

Gaya Sa Pelikula is a good BL, I think, because it manages to show that it cares about gay people and their experiences, their stories. This isn't a series for a female, straight audience to thirst after and swoon, but rather the story of two people who could exist irl and have very real issues. It wants to send a message, and I appreciate it for that.

The acting is great. The two main actors are incredible together, they both show such vulnerabilty and emotion that I almost cried a couple of times. They make you feel for both of their characters. It also felt very natural when they were together, their interactions as a couple were relaxed and seemed improvised (idk if they were though). I'd also like to point out that the actor who plays Vlad has such beautiful, expressive eyes. That's it that's the tweet.
The secondary characters are good as well! Anna especially is my favorite, she's supportive and amazing but also has her own problems that she's dealing with. And the sister.. well she's quite messy tbh but she's funny regardless.
The music is on point. I'm adding a few of these songs to my playlist. The one for the dancing-in-the-living-room scene? Loved it
This series has an overall chill, cozy feeling about it - it's simple, it's natural, and most importantly it's real. Karl's fear is real. I liked that.

The reason why I'm giving it a 7 is one I'm happy to have seen other people bring up - the preachy-ness. This series wants to send a message, yes, but I think it's quite clumsy when doing so. There's no subliminal messaging, no subtext, no 'show-don't-tell' (not in general, at least). They don't let the audience come to those conclusions themselves - they force-feed them to you in case you didn't catch them. Vlad in particular got on my nerves at the beginning lmao, like "I don't want to be the plot device that triggers someone else's sexuality crisis" what is this?? Who talks like that?? I've said he sounds a little bit like a Twitter essayist and I stand by that.

Leggi di Più

This movie sets a high standard.

First of all, I have to say everyone should watch this movie. This movie sets a very high standard not only among the Pinoy BL series but also among the BL series worldwide. The story is well written. It's one of the coming of age categories but different from other BL drama. It's also educational about coming out, which many LGBTQ+ find challenging and also the relationship issues. But this movie is so sweet. The two main actors are handsome and cute together. Their acting skill is phenomenal. The chemistry between them is so good. The cinematography is beautiful. Another thing I like about the drama is the OSTs. They introduced one OST in each episode but every song is great and fit very well with the drama. I decided to watch it again as soon as I finished the last episode. Looking forward to more BL series like this one.

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I May Have Cried More Than I Care To Admit

Gaya sa Pelikula is a must-watch!

The soundtrack is on-point and is meticulously picked to fit the story. It bravely tackles issues that not many series in this genre does not do as well, sometimes to a fault (to the point of being too preachy, but the author has repeatedly acknowledged that this is deliberate, so with that said, this might come off as such to some). No moment is wasted and all the puzzle pieces fall into place to deliver an extremely solid story.

Backed by supporting characters that are not sidelined and have their back-story, an agenda, and a message to the masses, Gaya Sa Pelikula expertly weaves the overarching message about the biases of society against gay individuals (and how this is so ingrained even to queer individuals themselves) with the budding romance between queer individuals.

Honestly, Gaya Sa Pelikula ruined BL for me, somewhat. I have watched other BLs before and I have been forgiving of the cringe-y moments and the other things that don't give weight to the story or are just plain contrived. However, since diving into GSP, I now find myself looking for and failing to find more meat and substance to these otherwise just-OK stories. Gaya Sa Pelikula is that food you find incidentally but is now your benchmark for all the other ones with the same flavor. You try to go and have a taste of the ones you usually have but now you find yourself unsatisfied with what you used to have before. And now you find yourself uncomforted by the shallow waters that you start yearning for someplace deep to dive into.

It's profound what Juan Miguel Severo has created. I have not yet seen or maybe I am much too unseasoned a media consumer to not have seen any other story in this context that furthers the queer agenda while also beautifully delivering what the consumers' hearts clamor for.

The ideologies behind the advocacies that the characters are fighting for are not dispensed for the sake of the usual romantic excitement. What Gaya Sa Pelikula masterfully does is very seamlessly blend the two, forming a cohesive narrative -- one that does not only deliver a message but also provokes thought and, satisfies and invokes a myriad of emotions.

Gaya Sa Pelikula has really set the bar high on what a BL series can be and do. A perfect combination of chemistry, good talent, a story with substance, and most importantly, unwavering purpose to tell and take back our story.

In the end, it says that "the real fight is outside," reinforcing its message that it is but one part in the many parts of the fight against homophobia and the rally for gender equality. Truly, GSP is that long, tight, warm hug that queer people want from society, and their loved ones.

Leggi di Più