AsleepWatcher

Oh, I actually haven't watched it. I really should soon.

Initial audience reviews are looking good, it will be great if this does well. I think that will open doors for big movie productions starring young actresses

JDY won at Cannes almost 20 years ago, iinw. That means she didn't get many offers even in her 30s.

I do agree that a box office flop doesn't necessarily mean it's a "waste" in any way. Plenty of good movies flopped at the box office. Burning sold 500k in SK (note this was before covid and the industry crisis), but is still being called a masterpiece now.

JDY is at goddess-tier status with all her awards, so people were shocked when she said she doesn't even get that many offers. On the other hand, JCW is a good actor but I truly think it's his international popularity that gets him so many projects.

This is a crime drama, which is the genre where SK has released many acclaimed hits in the past. It has an audience of its own so I don't see how this "could never have been a hit". Other than that, while I partially agree with your points, this is a business in the end. Jeon Doyeon recently talked about how she didn't get much script offers even after winning an award at Cannes. What gets actors hired is still the success of their works. Granted the actors involved are all established, a flop on their filmography is still not going to be a good thing.

The humour isn't clicking for me which makes it feel a bit like an ineffective sitcom. It seems more like those daily soap operas than a weekend drama... And writers nowadays sure love to add a serial killer mystery to a perfectly fine plot. It's very jarring here and they're trying making us suspect the main character? Seriously?

Honestly for movies, the cast doesn't matter much for the box office anymore. Not just Wonderland, look at the performance of Song Kangho's recent movies. Bad reviews automatically leads to poor box office. Plus JDY is more of a critically acclaimed actress and never had much box office power. The director isn't a hitmaker in the first place and it will probably be hard for him to get investments in the future.

It sold ~150k tickets in its first 4 days. For reference, Wonderland sold over 300k in its first 4 days and ended with 600k+ in total. The breakeven point for Revolver is above 1 million I believe, and the audience ratings are kind of lower than Wonderland's so... yeah...

....You just stated an opinion, not a fact. Forget it, we're not even on the same page. The conversation is going nowhere.

I'm not here to argue with you. I'm just letting you know that you're trying to argue against someone who didn't even start an argument (or even state any opinion). And I don't see how saying she's great is a disservice to anyone just because you think she isn't. That's just called having an opinion, it's not that serious. You don't have to make roundabout arguments to convince others that their opinion's wrong.

The OP was simply saying that critics/industry people's opinion of SHS matches the generally good consensus of her acting on the internet, which makes it strange to describe her as "overrated". Your roundabout speech doesn't even have any connection to their comment.

Also, I'm sorry but you being an older person (as you're implying) does not mean your opinion is more "correct" or superior. Especially since you're talking about artistic quality here, not the quality of a steak. And what even is your basis for assuming the age range of an internet stranger? Their profile picture? Lmao.

I pretty much agree that it's probably either Exhuma or 12.12, but 12.12 might have a bigger chance. But yeah, I don't recall any movies not made by the huge directors actually getting a nomination, even if they were selected.

People can criticize her looks how ever they like, but she's still the biggest draw here. In fact, more people are avoiding this drama no-thanks to the ML.

Directors have their own vision and sometimes disregard how the story will appeal to the public. Or maybe they just don't have the talent lol.

Tbh, I don't think this will be selected to be submitted for the Oscars. And out of the selected k-movies, actually getting a nomination is very very rare. E.g. Last year's Concrete Utopia was selected but not shortlisted.

The truth is this is a commercial film, and even for those that are aiming for critical success, nobody wants their movie to be a commercial failure. Decision to Leave was very critically acclaimed but Park Chanwook was visibly upset about the number of viewers during stage greetings (tho it eventually broke even iirc). Times are bad now so you can see that even the A-list Chungmuro actors are going on variety shows to promote their films, even JDY did for this movie.

I'm surprised that the CGV egg index is only at 70 despite pretty good critic reviews... I guess it's just not a movie that appeals to the masses, so unfortunately this prob won't do well at the box office.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking... She definitely has the charisma for her modern badass roles, but idk about the gravitas and dignity of a queen in a historical drama. If you watch dramas from the Goryeo period, you know the actors (especially those playing royalty) carry themselves very differently, from posture to the way they walk. But I wasn't really seeing that from her in the teaser. I'll reserve judgment till the drama is released though.

A good movie doesn't need its audience to have "lost someone dramatically in their life" to appreciate it... And you don't seem to realize that, even for many young people who haven't experienced it, the fear of losing a loved one is universal. Because it will happen to us all eventually. Good storytelling resonates with you by putting you in the characters' shoes; regardless of who you are. And when it fails to do so too often, maybe something's missing in the movie itself.

Well, that was a very odd viewing experience. It felt like a confusing hybrid of a sentimental arthouse film and science fiction drama. But whatever it was trying to do, it didn't really work. The constant shifting between stories and lack of development made the narratives seem unnatural. During the more emotional scenes, I was either busy wondering why characters were acting the way they were (mostly Park Bogum), or what exactly the character was (Gong Yoo), or why the AI were even capable of these emotions in the first place. Perhaps that stopped me from feeling emotionally connected.

Also, what exactly is the movie trying to say? It sometimes hinted at how exploitative the service was, both financially and emotionally, and how there was an obvious lack of restrictions on the service (Imo, creating an AI replica of a comatose person without their consent is completely unethical). This was interesting, but they never delve into any of these issues. Then at other times it implies that the AI, being programmed with the person's old memories and having created new ones, essentially become... almost another living being(?) deserving of love(??) That's questionable at best, if you ask me.

There was also something mildly awkward throughout the entire movie, which might have been the visuals which sometimes looked like advertisements, or the odd music placements at some places. So yeah, sadly I think it's yet another unsuccessful attempt at science fiction from SK.

Err, he was vaping on a filming set with colleagues/staff around. It's illegal to smoke indoors (and inconsiderate obviously since it's working hours), which is why koreans lash out at celebrities who were caught doing so. I think JCW is a fine actor but he did deserve criticism for that. And what does that have to do with this particular article anyway?