Overrated

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I have no idea why there are so much critics for this movie. Different tastes i guess. But however, this movie is a great one and the sequel also. Maybe the story line is not satisfied for someone with not enough twist and turns but its simplicity is what i love about this movie. This movie reminds me and shows me the beauty of youth, friendship and love. Plus, those reviews saying the acting are bad, i love their acting, they are excellent and deliver well the characters from the novels. Extra credits for the pretty actors/ actresses. Great filming and editing, and amazing soundtrack too. Simple the movie it is, the magic of filming and movie editing really made the movie shiny and wonderful. I watched the first 2 movies of the sequel the other night and i cried my eyes out, i was so touched of their friendship. Absolutely recommend for someone looking for a simple and gentle movie.

I was curious about this movie because despite of its success in China, there is a very low ratings and very harsh critics on internet. I wanted to watch it by curiosity at first, and I am surprised to be caught liking this movie ! In my humble opinion (F,25years old,France) nobody would expect anything from this movie according to its ratings. so I think many people will be surprised by this movie ! it have the "drama" print. My first impression comes from the quality of images and filming. Specially in Tiny times 2, there are beautiful scenes and songs. The story is about humans relations, centered on the friendship of 4 women. it's a novel like movie. but behind that common story, there are interesting characters that I got attached to.I couldn't resist to watch the Tiny Times 2 after I saw the first one. Although I still don't understand what makes me quite addicted to it, I would just recommend you to give it a try, specially the female public.

Being a Chinese myself, I loved this film. I didn't expect it to be in American cinemas, so I understand that why the rating is so low- not everyone can understand this movie, especially when western people know very little about us, and the translation can bad, i know, but it was pretty good in Chinese. People in the theater cried and laughed... It could have been a little bit too luxury, I admit, but I loved the friendship, the love and all the other stuff that's really quite emotional to me. It did not have a happy ending, if you have read the 3rd book(which will probably not be filmed because of the characters)I loved those girls, especially Lily who seems to have cold heart, but is a dependent and loving young lady deep inside, and she has skills so she is not just a super rich girl that only spends her dad's money. This is more than those teen American films, it's deeper.

I have never seen such a ugly film and i think 郭敬明 can receive Razzie Award . Tiny Times tells the story of friendship between four girls from high school through college, with each girl also having her own love story. With a bit of a mix between The Devil Wears Prada and Gossip Girl, the story is told from the perspective of one of the girls who is an intern at a fashion and literature magazine. Differently, however, her boss is a handsome young man. Guo's own image is also reflected in the characters, but split into two roles: editor-in-chief of the magazine and an idolized young writer. Just like Guo's real life - a publisher who always prepares a plan B and a boy from a small town who gets famous at 17 and must face the pressure and loneliness of the world - the writer's characteristics and personality are recognizable in the film. The casting fits perfectly into different roles. These good-looking actors and actresses, mostly famous for pop television series or advertisements, all have their own fan base. However, it seems the acting potential of these young stars is not reflected in the film. Lead actor Ko Chen-tung's performance in Tiny Times is said to be not as good as what he did in You Are the Apple of My Eye. Few of the roles are fully represented even though the film is filled with voice-over to introduce the background. One of the ex-boyfriends, who can always lead to a strong emotional reaction from the girls, only appears twice in the whole movie. For those in the audience who never read the book, unconnected scenes and unreal details are everywhere. For instance, an extremely rich family does not have a guest room and has to tell the girl staying over the night to sleep in the room with the son - the college student played by Ko. In another example, the girl who carries different Dior bags everyday cries to borrow money from her boyfriend because she cannot afford a crystal glass she broke in her boss' office. The problem of featuring multiple leading characters but not making careful use of them all is a common problem for those new to filmmaking. For instance, Zhao Wei who directed So Young made similar mistakes. Spin off success Nevertheless, from a purely commercial point-of-view, adapting the story for the big screen is wonderful. Long before the film was released, gossips about Tiny Times and Guo appeared all over the place. More than half of the members of the production team come from Taiwan, a place where films specifically target young audiences with its own unique style. As a result, the fashionable setting and glamorous photography are comparable to the best chick flicks Chinese audiences have seen before. Various attractive trailers, music videos and promotional posters all suggested the film's potential of becoming the most popular film of the year as long as the script and film languages reached an average professional level. The film remains loyal to the novel and the script was also written by Guo. The major problems seem to stem from a filming style that looks like a string of TV commercials all stitched together. The result is a collection of scenes that are unlikely to satisfy film critics and industry insiders. What Guo has done is more like producing a mood piece or a long music video as a spin off for the book to fans who admire the invisible "vanity fair" that was created in the book. Controversy as a trend Controversy about a film is no longer a surprise. However, the discussions about Tiny Times have created a phenomenon that audiences could have totally opposite opinions towards almost every part of the film. The series of books, Tiny Times (1.0/2.0/3.0), have boosted controversy since first coming out five years ago. Guo's target readers are teenagers. What he became famous for was mainly beautiful languages and because of this, the excessive desire for luxuries mentioned in his books is seen as having a negative effect on youngsters who are still building up their values and ideologies. Such issues continue to be the main point of contention between the two camps that either love or hate the stories. The most frequent comment, especially by those who have no background knowledge of the novel, is that the story illustrates a warped value system-luxury labels appear every few minutes. The argument that Chinese films generally have been overly "teachy" and perhaps in the past spent too much time on values should allow the critics to switch focus on other problems or qualities that the film has. If the story was constructed upon an imaginary space like Twilight, some of the audience might forgive Guo's unrealistic details. Or, if the story was just about upper-class lifestyle like Gossip Girl, it would also be fine for many film critics. The main shortcoming lies on the contradiction that Guo wants to portray different people from different social backgrounds to reflect the status of the young generation in the current time period, as the name Tiny Times suggests. But the luxurious lifestyle and cartoon like characters are too much of a daydreamer's fairytale. Guo's success as a businessman is indubitable, but the film Tiny Times is exactly the same as the book - full of beautiful surface elements and never enough careful consideration. The disagreement between fans and film critics is a mirror of the gap between different generations. Youngsters would ask, what's so amazing about really deep thoughts?